Newhaven City’s greatest commercial advantage was its ability to bring together goods from both the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric.

Once everything was fully integrated, anyone with enough money would be able to buy almost anything here.

Only Caelum had the power to make that happen.

Whether the merchants liked it or not, Caelum was determined to implement the necessary policies.

From now on, every merchant and caravan doing business in Newhaven City had to clearly register the quantity and price of the goods they intended to sell.

All of that information would then be made public through the Merchants Guild.

This was Caelum’s plan to consolidate the city’s trade networks.

From that point onward, the Merchants Guild became the center of commerce in Newhaven City.

It gathered the buying and selling information of every merchant in the city, with each merchant and caravan serving as its own supply channel.

Any caravan or major merchant looking to buy or sell large quantities of goods could find the relevant information through the guild’s public listings.

Interested parties could then conduct the transaction through the guild as an intermediary.

Taxes on large transactions were abolished.

Instead, the Merchants Guild took a share of every deal it arranged. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

This greatly improved the disorder that had plagued trade in Newhaven City.

With large transactions made fully public, countless supply channels and business opportunities were brought together.

The convenience of trade and the efficiency of connecting buyers with sellers improved enormously.

The volume of commerce in Newhaven City began rising at a terrifying rate.

Revenue poured in like a flood.

Most of the trade between the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric passed through this city.

The daily transaction volume was almost impossible to count.

The guild’s commission alone was enough to support the entire city.

There was also the harbor outside Newhaven City.

Cargo ships came and went without pause, moving staggering quantities of goods.

Caelum ordered the harbor warehouses expanded.

This increased cargo capacity while also allowing the city to collect storage fees.

Business flourished, and money came in faster than robbery could ever provide.

The constant movement of caravans and merchant fleets also brought vast numbers of people into Newhaven City.

Combined with the influence of the academy policies, the city’s population was growing rapidly.

Large commercial deals were not the only profitable opportunities.

Small businesses also thrived.

Food, clothing, housing, transportation, and countless other daily needs all created demand.

Caelum encouraged ordinary people to open shops and conduct small trades.

He lowered the tax rate and raised the threshold at which taxes became necessary, making it much easier for commoners to start businesses.

With the Merchants Guild providing most of the city’s revenue, Newhaven had no need to squeeze every minor profit from the people at the bottom.

Only by bringing the lower levels of the economy to life could wealth begin to circulate.

Once small businesses prospered, more service jobs appeared, giving more people ways to earn a living.

Newhaven City was growing far too large for Caelum to manage it the same way he had managed the old settlement, where he personally supplied all the food.

Only by developing commerce on a massive scale could he support a population numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Lucan remained in Newhaven City for two full months.

During that time, he personally witnessed one policy after another issued by Caelum and watched the city transform at astonishing speed.

Caelum established a cement plant dedicated to mixing and firing raw materials, providing a continuous supply of cement for the expansion and reconstruction of Newhaven City.

He also built a steelworks.

The steelmaking technology from the technology tree was adapted for large scale production, allowing the city to refine enormous quantities of steel.

Over those two months, cement buildings rose one after another.

Their construction speed far exceeded anything Lucan had imagined.

Newhaven City seemed like a savage beast beginning to stir.

It was devouring the surrounding land at a terrifying pace.

Steel formed the frame.

Brick and stone formed the structure.

Enormous buildings made from cement and concrete towered over the ground.

They were taller than the city walls.

They were even stronger than the city walls.

As Lucan took in scene after scene, a suffocating sense of panic tightened around his chest.

It felt as though the Grand Concord Dynasty and Newhaven no longer belonged to the same era.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thunderous blasts echoed in the distance.

The training grounds constantly rang with the sound of thunder and flame.

Lucan had heard that this was the power wielded by the Wardens.

Valdren itself had fallen to that thunder and flame.

Every time the sound reached him, his heart tightened.

"Return to Shengjing."

Lucan had lost all the calm he possessed when he first arrived.

His expression was grave, and fear flickered deep in his eyes.

He no longer dared remain here.

"Return to Shengjing immediately. I must report everything about Newhaven to His Majesty."

The people of Thalric might be called barbarians, but they were hardly fools.

There were many among them with exceptional foresight, and the delegation included such people.

After witnessing the speed of Newhaven City’s development, the Thalric envoys were equally alarmed.

Once they recognized the ambition and threat represented by its ruler, they returned to Thalric with deep concern.

They had wanted to witness the legendary power of thunder and flame.

They were also extremely interested in the formula and production process for cement.

Anyone could see the immense potential of both.

However, on the night the Thalric delegation sent agents into the training grounds and the cement plant, gunshots rang out from both locations.

The infiltrators were never seen again.

The next day, the Thalric delegation fled in haste.

The speed of Newhaven City’s growth and the strength of its military were plain for all to see.

Countless people coveted the secrets of firearms, gunpowder, and cement.

Every so often, several reckless thieves were caught trying to steal them.

Caelum could not even be bothered to investigate.

They were all executed on the spot.

He had no time to waste on such minor matters.

The Wardens likewise had neither the time nor the energy to trace every infiltrator back to whoever had sent them.

After several months of educational reform, Caelum’s development finally entered its next stage.

A very small number of exceptionally gifted students had already completed the advanced curriculum at their academies.

It was time to decide where they would go.

Following the construction of the academies, enormous factories built entirely from steel, brick, stone, cement, and concrete were completed one after another.

Among all the academies, the Engineering Academy currently had the largest number of students who had finished advanced education.

Many of them had originally been carpenters or craftsmen in other trades.

They already possessed strong practical foundations.

Because of that, they learned at extraordinary speed.

These factories had been designed and built by those students.

In a sense, the buildings were their graduation projects.

Their work was remarkably impressive.

The completed factories served both as research facilities and as centers for assembly line production.

This allowed the students to make full use of their abilities.

The chemical factory conducted chemical research and produced a wide range of chemical materials.

The other factories followed similar models.

Only the military factory stood above all the rest in importance.

It was responsible for preparing black powder, producing flintlock muskets, and manufacturing all kinds of light and heavy artillery.

Large groups of Wardens guarded the grounds outside the factory.

No one was permitted to approach.

Hospitals were equally essential.

Students from the Medical Academy and Biology Academy were assigned there after completing their education.

Some conducted research and experiments.

Others became physicians.

In every sense, Newhaven City had begun its advance into the industrial age.