Located on Mingguang Street, the Golden Roc Bank is one of the most magnificent buildings on the street. At the entrance of the bank are twelve stone pillars that require two people to encircle. In the center of the building above the stone pillars on both sides of the bank's entrance, there is a huge relief of a four-winged golden roc with outstretched wings, which is more than ten meters long. This bird with four wings is the symbol of Golden Roc Bank. In the Hua Clan mythology, it is the ruler of the sky, the earth, and the sea, and it feeds on dragons.
Stepping into the lobby felt like entering a palace. The black marble floor gleamed. Unlike other banks in Black Flame City, there were no easily visible service counters. Instead, there were two rows of service booths. People were coming in and going out of the booths, and each booth served only one customer at a time. Here, every customer's privacy was absolutely guaranteed.
Customers who arrive wait in the sofa area outside the service room. Only after a customer leaves will the bank staff inside open the service room door and politely invite the next customer in.
The rulers of Black Flame City have changed, but the business of Golden Roc Bank has not been affected in any way; on the contrary, it has become even more booming. Whether it is the Andaman Alliance or the Norman Empire, it makes no difference to Golden Roc Bank.
Hua Clan can enjoy some special services at Golden Roc Bank – for example, they don't have to queue!
Under the somewhat envious gazes of a group of well-dressed, portly gentlemen in the rest area, the unassuming Zhang Tie walked directly to the door of a service room. This was a service room exclusively for the Hua Clan at Golden Roc Bank. What distinguished this service room from the others was that its door was not dark red, but rather the golden yellow favored by the Hua Clan.
Standing at the door of the service room was a young Hua Clan man in his twenties. Upon seeing Zhang Tie arrive, he simply gestured for him to enter, then followed Zhang Tie inside and closed the door.
The bank's service area was small, less than 20 square meters, but it was clean and tidy, with every item carefully chosen: a table, two chairs, and a sofa. Behind the table was a transaction window, somewhat similar to those at other bank counters, and nothing else.
The young bank clerk led Zhang Tie to a chair by the table and began speaking fluent Mandarin.
"It's a pleasure to help you. How can I help you?"
Zhang Tie took out the crystal gold note worth 5,000 gold coins from his pocket and handed it over, saying, "I want to withdraw the cash!"
The bank clerk in his twenties took the gold note. He wasn't surprised by the amount on it, but carefully examined the security features, the subtle patterns, and the unique identification code. After a few seconds, he nodded. "All of it?"
"All!"
"Okay, please wait a moment!" The young man took the gold note, turned around, and went to the transaction window behind the table. He gently pressed a bell on the window, and after a "ding," the window opened, and the bank clerk handed Zhang Tie gold note inside. "The customer wants to withdraw cash, all of it!"
In those few seconds, Zhang Tie, bored, picked up a service card on the table introducing Golden Roc Bank's business and started looking at it. Besides normal banking deposit and credit services, Golden Roc Bank's other business types were simply all-encompassing—wealth management and investment, asset management, auctions and pawnbroking, debt processing, merchant group financing, armed escort, stock reclamation and land reclamation, underground exploration, special personnel employment, information consulting and dissemination... Zhang Tie was visiting Golden Roc Bank for the first time, was dumbfounded. This was no bank; it was clearly a monster formed by a bunch of super merchant groups.
Seeing Zhang Tie's stunned expression, the young bank clerk approached and asked, "Sir, are you interested in any of our other services?"
"You can provide all the services listed on this card?" Zhang Tie asked incredulously, pointing to the information on the card.
"Yes! We can provide all the services listed above. Our bank also has a large network of rigorously certified and reputable partners. We can meet any of your requirements!"
Does Golden Roc Bank provide pioneering services?
" The Wilderness Home Guild, the most powerful in Black Flame City, is our partner. They have business representatives here. If you need, I can call their representative over to discuss things with you!"
Zhang Tie was surprised to find a merchant group that could provide land reclamation services at Golden Roc Bank, which saved him a lot of trouble. He had originally planned to find a land reclamation service merchant group to purchase building materials, but this saved him a lot of trouble.
"Okay! Thank you for your help. I'm looking for a merchant group that can provide land reclamation services!"
"Okay, please wait a moment!"
A bank employee in his twenties left through another door in the room. Just a minute later, a middle-aged man in his forties, slightly balding, entered through the inner door of the room, carrying a stack of documents. He sat down in front of Zhang Tie. Presumably, this man had already learned about Zhang Tie's payment ability from the bank, so he was exceptionally respectful to Zhang Tie as soon as he entered.
"Hello, I am Lange, a business representative of the Black Flame City Pioneer Home Merchant Guild. I heard that you are very interested in our guild's business!"
"Yes, a few friends and I have found a place we like in the wild, and we're planning to settle there in a few days. We heard that you can quickly help Prospector build houses in the wild, so we wanted to inquire about it!"
Upon hearing this, the bald Lange became delighted. "Sir, you've come to the right person! This is exactly what our merchant guild excels at. If you're planning to settle and reclaim land in the wilderness, having a safe and comfortable place to stay is crucial. Our guild can quickly design and customize a house to meet any of your specific needs. Can you tell me your requirements?"
It is very difficult to find materials to build a house in the wild, so many Prospector who are preparing to settle down prefer to have their houses custom-made and then assemble them at their chosen location. Black Flame City has many merchant groups and companies that provide this service, and Wilderness Home is one of the best among them. Wilderness Home provides services that cover almost all the problems that need to be faced when pioneering and settling in the wild.
"Yes, the house I need can accommodate about twenty people, and it needs to have a particularly large food warehouse. The construction of the house cannot be too complicated. In the event of a shortage of manpower, it would be best if only one strong man could assemble the house..."
"Do you need a house with strong protection against wild animals? If so, we can provide different building materials and external mobile housing armor according to your different needs?" Lange asked as he picked up a pen and began to carefully record on a form.
"No need. There aren't many wild animals where we've chosen to settle. Even if there are a few, they're just for our meals. The only concern is that there aren't many natural resources available to help us quickly build our houses!"
"If that's the case, I suggest you choose the No. 3 cabin provided by our Wilderness Home!" Lange said, pulling out a document from the files beside him and handing it to Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie took it; the document showed two neat cabins with triangular roofs, one single-story and one double-story, with several pictures below showing the cabins' structure and perspective views from various angles.
"Will this No. 3 wooden house meet all my needs?"
"Of course not, this is just a sample to show you the general appearance and structure of this kind of outdoor cabin. Cabins number three come in single-story and double-story structures, and for each type, we provide six sizes for you to choose from, ranging from the smallest 30 square meters to 380 square meters. You can choose the cabins you need to combine and match..."
"Could one person build this kind of wooden house?"
"Building this kind of wooden house is not much more difficult than a child playing with building blocks!" Lange smiled. "This kind of wooden house is specially designed for Prospector to settle in the wild. The wooden house adopts a modular construction concept. All the materials needed to build this wooden house are standardized steel components and standard wooden components. Everything will be categorized and placed. As long as you follow the instructions, it is easy to build this wooden house."
"How much would a wooden house like this cost?" Zhang Tie was somewhat tempted.
"Based on the floor area, the cost per square meter for a single-story wooden house is 23 silver coins, and for a double-story house it's 34 silver coins. Double-story houses are more efficient in utilizing space and materials, so they are relatively cheaper. Of course, this only covers the cost of the materials. If you need us to build it for you or transport the materials outside of Black Flame City, labor and transportation costs will be calculated separately. The furthest transportation distance we can currently provide is within the exploratory map area of Black Flame City where trucks can travel, and we will charge a transportation fee of one percent of the house's construction cost for every five kilometers."
"I'll handle the transportation myself. I've rented a warehouse in Black Flame City Black Flame City. You just need to deliver the goods there!"
"If the delivery is only within Black Flame City, then we will not charge any transportation fees!"
Zhang Tie was contemplating his proposed modifications to the Castle of Black Iron, while also calculating the cost of the wooden houses. Two-story houses seemed much more cost-effective and utilized space more efficiently, but single-story houses appeared to be quicker to build. After a few seconds of deliberation, a picture formed in Zhang Tie's mind—within the Castle of Black Iron, centered on the Little Tree, directly north of the Little Tree was a two-story wooden house covering over 200 square meters, primarily for living. To the west of the Little Tree were two slightly shorter, single-story wooden houses, which would serve as his food storage. To the east of the Little Tree was a smaller, two-story wooden house, which would function as his laboratory.
The four wooden houses surrounded the Little Tree and the spring, making it feel like a small, rustic estate. (To be continued, please search for the novel for better and faster updates!)