After a lively dinner, the men moved from the living room to the outdoors. They gathered around the newly built fire pit and lit a bonfire.

The roaring flames danced, casting a warm glow that illuminated everything around them.

Around the fire pit, the men held their beers, their faces beaming with contentment.

Zhang Kai raised his beer. "Brother Feng, we’re heading back home tomorrow."

"My family’s been hounding me to come back, otherwise I’d stay here for a year, no questions asked." Su Ziweng looked glum, clearly reluctant to leave Crown Territory so soon.

SMACK!

"Nonsense. Your mother gave the order; you think you have a choice?" Feng Yang slapped his nephew, then glanced at Sun Jia and Zhang Kai. After they both nodded silently, he turned to Feng Shan.

"Brother Feng, since we have some time, there are a few things on my mind I’d like to talk to you about—specifically, about the development of Crown Territory."

"Feng, please, go ahead," Feng Shan said, putting down his beer and sitting up straighter.

"This place!" Feng Yang gestured around the camp. "It’s great. Tourism is a profitable venture, but your development has been a little slow. There are so many good projects that have stalled simply because you’ve been slacking off."

"Let’s start with the soft infrastructure. For tourism, you can’t just have nice scenery. You also need to provide visitors with a variety of recreational activities and cultural experiences."

"The miniature log cabins for lodging are very distinctive, but food is a major issue. Eating at your house every day is nice, but what happens when you have more tourists? You can’t have several hundred people eating in your home; Jenny wouldn’t be able to keep up."

"Then there are the amenities. Hunting is an excellent activity, but the animal population in Crown Territory isn’t infinite. Eventually, they’ll be hunted out. You need to develop a few more activities."

"Feng is right. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. If you’re serious about tourism, it’s better to formalize things a bit," Zhang Kai chimed in, agreeing.

Su Ziweng immediately piped up, "Exactly! Ms. Zhan’s cooking is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but I want to order from a menu."

"If you can’t say something right, then shut your mouth!" Feng Yang smacked his tactless nephew again and quickly clarified. "What Ziweng means is that the dining options should be more open and diverse. There’s another layer to it, too. As the saying goes, a single flower doesn’t make a spring, but a hundred flowers in full bloom bring spring to the garden."

Heh.

’An experienced man really knows how to phrase things.’

’A single flower doesn’t make a spring, but a hundred flowers in full bloom bring spring to the garden.’

Feng Shan understood the meaning behind Feng Yang’s words. In fact, he’d been thinking about it himself recently. He, Jenny, and the few others here couldn’t possibly support a full-fledged tourism business on their own.

They could handle small groups of ten or less.

But if a tour group of a hundred people arrived, the skeleton crew at Crown Territory—this ragtag bunch of "old and infirm," as he thought of them—would work themselves to death and still not be able to serve everyone.

The best solution was to attract investment and outside businesses.

’The tavern was a step in that direction.’

Seeing Feng Shan’s silence, Feng Yang gave an awkward smile, thinking he’d made Feng Shan angry. He quickly added, "I was just thinking out loud, I didn’t mean anything by it."

Feng Shan waved his hand dismissively.

’As the saying goes, a fence needs three posts, and a good man needs three helpers.’

’Why look far and wide for help when it’s right in front of you? Why should I fumble around on my own when I have expert teachers right here?’

"It’s fine. I’ve noticed the problems too, I just don’t know where to start. Feng, Brother Kai, I could use your guidance."

Hearing Feng Shan say this, Zhang Kai and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

’The worst thing is when someone won’t listen to advice.’

The atmosphere around the fire pit grew lively once more as everyone began brainstorming ideas for Crown Territory.

Zhang Kai set down his beer bottle and thought for a moment. "Brother, let’s go through this one point at a time."

"Crown Territory is currently facing two main issues: resource allocation and personnel management."

"On the resource side, you need to ensure every investment yields the maximum benefit without any waste. As for personnel management, you need to clearly define roles so that everyone knows their responsibilities. That will increase efficiency."

Feng Yang nodded and picked up the thread of the conversation.

"Exactly. For example, Jenny could be in charge of food and beverage management, and Yves could handle security. Assign everyone a specific role. That way, when a problem comes up in a certain area, you know who to go to. Don’t have a situation where everyone rushes in at once, and then suddenly no one is responsible."

"Okay, personnel. What else?" Feng Shan made a mental note and continued to ask for advice, swallowing his pride.

Feng Yang took a swig of beer to wet his throat, then put on a look of profound disappointment.

"Attracting investment! I heard from Mr. Frank about Crown Territory’s special status. The fact that you have tax exemptions and the autonomy to set your own tax rates has been completely overlooked! You could easily invite merchants to open shops in Crown Territory, diversifying your offerings while also collecting tax revenue."

Su Ziweng jumped in again. "Exactly! Brother Feng, if you agree to let people open businesses in Crown Territory, I’ll open a restaurant here. I’ll cover the construction costs myself; you just need to give me a plot of land."

This time, his interjection didn’t earn him a beating from his uncle. Instead, Feng Yang nodded in approval.

Sun Jia, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

"I can put up the money if you provide the firearms and the space. We could open a shooting range in Crown Territory."

"Damn, how did I not think of that!" Su Ziweng shot to his feet, his eyes gleaming. "Sun, how about you count me in for a share?"

Hu Zi and Black Hide, who had been sitting on the side without a chance to speak, also chimed in with suggestions.

"Boss, we could also open a supermarket," Hu Zi said. "Otherwise, it’s a pain to buy anything."

"And transportation," Black Hide added. "It’s a hassle to always be borrowing snowmobiles from Yves. We could start a rental agency. Whoever needs a vehicle can pay to rent one."

Feng Shan smiled and nodded, looking at his two brothers.

"Alright. I’ll fund a supermarket, and it’s yours, Hu Zi. Same goes for the rental agency—it’s yours, Black Hide."

What!

’He’s giving us a supermarket and a rental agency?’

Hu Zi and Black Hide hurriedly shook their heads, refusing.

"It’s settled. From now on, you two are the only ones who can run the supermarket and rental agency in Crown Territory. But you won’t be short on your taxes by a single cent," Feng Shan said, ignoring their protests and finalizing the decision.

’With these two businesses, let’s see if they still think about going back home.’

’Killing two birds with one stone. Not a bad idea.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Zhang Kai and the other three guests looked at Hu Zi and Black Hide with envy. They were just handed two businesses for free. Once tourism in Crown Territory took off, they’d be rolling in it.

"Right, and about the tourist activities," Zhang Kai continued. "Right now, the offerings at Crown Territory are a bit one-dimensional. Hunting can be the star attraction, but I think you need to develop a few new activities. In the future, you’ll definitely get tourists who aren’t interested in hunting."

Feng Shan was well aware of these issues, and he shared his plans.

"I was planning to check out the nearby snow-capped mountains after you all leave—just like Ziweng mentioned, for mountain climbing, skiing, and things like that. Oh, and regional tourism is also an option. I have pretty good relationships with a few of the local towns and villages. We could take a boat out on the Ice Sea to see whales, seals, and walruses up close."

Hey!

Su Ziweng slapped his thigh, his eyes widening as he looked at Feng Shan with mock indignation.

"Brother Feng, are you doing this on purpose? We’re about to leave, and *now* you tell us we can go see whales and walruses? If you’d said so earlier, I wouldn’t be leaving!"

Zhang Kai’s expression showed he was tempted as well.

After all, opportunities to see whales with one’s own eyes were rare, to say nothing of other purely wild animals like walruses.

"I didn’t know you were leaving tomorrow! Next time you visit, I’ll take you personally," Feng Shan said with a helpless laugh.

Everyone laughed, knowing, of course, that there would be plenty of opportunities to visit Crown Territory again.

As they were about to call it a night, knowing they had a flight to catch tomorrow, Feng Yang suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead.

"I almost forgot."

"Younger Brother Feng, I was walking around the camp and noticed something. Why aren’t you using hydroelectric power? Kerosene lamps are retro, I guess, but having no electricity is a real pain."

"You have a river right here. You could easily install a hydro-turbine generator."

’A hydro-turbine generator?’

Feng Shan blinked, confused. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about power generation, but Crown Territory’s location was so remote that the cost would be astronomical.

There were basically three options. Thermal power would require burning massive amounts of wood and coal, which would not only pollute the environment but also consume a huge amount of resources.

As for wind power, people had tried it on the Tundra before. It worked well at first, but the Tundra’s cold, humid winds would often freeze the turbine blades, eventually encasing the entire generator in a block of ice and causing it to collapse.

Hydroelectric power required building a dam, a massive engineering undertaking where the effort wasn’t proportional to the reward.

Feng Yang smiled and explained.

"You don’t need to build a dam. I think it’s a type of hydro-turbine generator invented in Turkey. The construction is minimal; you just need to dig a diversion channel. I’ve seen the elevation drop of the river here at the camp. You could absolutely build a small hydro-turbine station, and the power it generates would be more than enough for the camp."

"You should consult an expert about it, but I don’t think it would be a problem."

’A hydro-turbine generator?’

Feng Shan nodded, making a mental note of the name. He’d contact Manager Sam from the North Slope Petroleum Company’s construction team about it later.

As the group dispersed, Feng Shan called Nash over.

He was startled to suddenly see Wawa standing beside Nash.

"Wawa, what are you doing here in Crown Territory?"

’Is my presence really that weak?’

"Khilla, I’ve been here ever since you got off the plane," Wawa said, dejected.

Feng Shan gave an embarrassed laugh and quickly changed the subject.

"How is Justice?"

"He was dealt with according to tribal tradition. As for the other two accomplices, the tribe has already reported them to the Indigenous Alliance."

Wawa delivered the news matter-of-factly, and Feng Shan nodded in silent understanding.

’He could only imagine what that ’tribal tradition’ entailed. It was certainly a different kind of justice.’

Immediately after, Wawa dropped to his knees with a thud, pressing his forehead firmly to the ground.

"Khilla, I want to follow you, to protect you, to give my life for you."

Feng Shan frowned slightly and glanced at Nash, who still wore his usual poker face.

’I probably scared the kid when I activated the Totem Wooden Statue on Saint Paul Island that night.’

"Does your family know about this?"

"I have no family. I’m an orphan. A long time ago, my father was knocked into the Ice Sea while hunting walruses," Wawa said in a low voice.

"Forget it, get up." Feng Shan had noticed there were many orphans among the Indigenous People. Some were abandoned by their parents, while others lost their parents in accidents. "From now on, you’ll follow Nash."

Hearing him agree, Wawa scrambled to his feet excitedly.

"Come on, walk with me."

Feng Shan turned and walked over to the fire pit where the tribe’s Fire Seed was lit, and began to communicate with it.

The leaping flames instantly pulled Feng Shan’s consciousness into a wondrous realm.

In his mind’s eye, the area illuminated by the Fire Seed’s glow appeared. Patches of newly cleared land were undergoing a subtle transformation.

The once barren, snow-covered land now seemed to teem with infinite life. The soil was gradually turning a deeper, more fertile color.

The slender yet tenacious root systems of mosses and other vegetation spread and wove through the soil like a spiderweb, taking hold first.

They clung tightly to the earth, bringing the first stirrings of life and stability to this land.

Before long, this section of soil would transform into a vibrant layer of Tundra.

’Looks like I really do need to plan things out properly.’

SCREE! SCREE!

A falcon’s cry echoed through the night, its sharp, clear call piercing the silence.

A sharp flapping of wings followed.

A pure white Falcon landed before Feng Shan, followed closely by seven or eight black-and-white ones.

Led by the white Falcon, they all lowered their heads in unison.

Seeing this, Wawa began to tremble with excitement.

’The Spirit of All Things, the king of the skies in this frozen land, had to bow its proud head before Khilla.’

...