It was almost dark by the time Su Mo finally left the underground section of Pingtan Shelter.
His discussions with Hunter Tiger about rebuilding the western suburbs had ended in failure.
The big bald man looked foolish, but he was actually far shrewder than ordinary people.
The fact that he had become an administrator and remained firmly in that position for more than a decade already proved that he would never stake everything on some plan or prospect.
The reason for the failure was simple enough.
It came down to the same old saying.
To build infrastructure, you either needed people or money.
Pingtan Shelter could still afford the former, but the latter was like a bottomless pit.
Until they found a new Trading Point for resources, no one was willing to take their reserve supplies and throw them into that pit.
Even after calming down and thinking it over, Su Mo realized that rebuilding the western suburbs was not a plan they should be undertaking at this stage.
Damn, that idiot Hunter Tiger led me astray.
"At least until winter is over, worrying about these things is unnecessary."
As the airship flew over the Warning Wall, Su Mo gazed at the scattered lights below and pondered silently.
Aside from the failed rebuilding plan, today's other gains had been extraordinarily substantial.
Not only had he successfully borrowed two thousand combat-ready people from Pingtan, but he had also negotiated the next three months of material supplies, along with several minor cooperative arrangements.
Exactly how much they could earn back was not important. What mattered was promoting the circulation of the territory's economy.
Once money began circulating, its growth would accelerate at an astonishing rate.
It was easy to foresee that after this winter, the territory's first-generation residents would quickly grow wealthy.