In the months since Xu Yi announced that he would release steelmaking technology in exchange for slaves, the Xinfei Merchant Guild had taken in more than thirty thousand slaves.
Xu Yi sent all these slaves to the islands overseas, using them as manpower to establish the Xinfei Merchant Guild's control over those islands.
The islands varied in size. The larger ones could accommodate thousands or even tens of thousands of people, while the smaller ones could hold only a few hundred. Even after all thirty thousand slaves had been sent there, they had filled only a fraction of the islands. Dozens of islands Xu Yi had previously selected still lacked sufficient manpower.
Xu Yi was in no particular hurry. After all, the island chain development plan would take a very long time and an enormous investment. It certainly could not be completed overnight.
According to the plan, the initial development would focus on islands off the Stantin Duchy's coast, along with those farther north off the Black Rice Wasteland and farther south off the Rulson Kingdom.
Once all the islands in these waters had been developed, the next step would be to develop the islands in the Candel Empire's Southern Waters, as well as... those off the Sark Kingdom's coast.
In April of the year 3787 of the continent calendar, early spring in the Stantin Duchy was already slightly hot, much like early summer elsewhere.
At this time every year, crowds would gather on the beach at the Xinfei Merchant Guild's main base whenever they had time to spare.
Bikini swimsuits had long since become thoroughly popular throughout the Stantin Duchy. Now, a glance across the beach revealed beautiful women strolling everywhere in sexy bikinis. Bodies with skin either snowy white or a healthy bronze moved back and forth across