Chapter 367

The potbellied president of the Gold Rush Town Mining Association thrust out a belly that looked ready to deliver after ten months of pregnancy and waddled down the road, touring Glimmerstone Town under the vice mayor's escort.

He had come to learn from their advanced experience, hoping to apply it in Gold Rush Town.

In other words, he and Wood were actually peers. The difference was that Wood had sneaked in under cover, skulking about to steal intelligence, while he had come openly, learning in broad daylight.

In fact, if Wood had revealed his identity and paid a direct visit, Glimmerstone Town's officials would have gladly received him. They would have covered his food, lodging, and escort; aside from a few secrets, they would have explained most things to him in detail.

However, Wood had made a mistake—he instinctively believed intelligence was extremely valuable, and that Glimmerstone Town would surely keep its experience in every aspect of construction secret upon secret upon secret. Without some special means, he would never obtain the information he wanted.

It was not his fault. After all, he came from the land of mages.

In the Arcane Tower Federation, the importance placed upon knowledge had reached the point of obsession. For mages, knowledge was the most valuable thing there was. They had carried that attitude into their lives and governance, and over time it had gradually become the style of the entire Arcane Tower Federation.

To the people of the Arcane Tower Federation, knowledge? Secrets? Intelligence? Naturally, those were things one had to exhaust every effort for, pay an enormous price for, perhaps even let several people die for, before one could obtain them.

You could just casually knock on someone's door, ask, and they would tell you all about their experience building a town?