The development plan Elena had drawn up for Windmere—comprising about a hundred pages of blueprints and detailed instructions—was quite different from the one she had prepared for Goldenveil.

Unlike Goldenveil, which stretched across relatively flat terrain, Windmere sat in a rugged region, with several plateaus at varying elevations rising dozens of meters above sea level.

Elena, naturally, planned to take advantage of every inch of that terrain, transforming it into four distinct subdivisions.

This would not only facilitate population control but also serve as a powerful line of defense, since sealing off entire areas would be much simpler when necessary.

After reviewing the blueprints page by page, Ethan finally set them aside. His hand drifted down casually, coming to rest on Elena’s ample ass as she still nestled comfortably in his lap.

He gave it a pat and the soft, plump cheek yielded beneath his palm with a gentle bounce, sending a slow, languid ripple through the supple flesh before it gradually settled back into its full, rounded shape.

"Come on, it’s time to get to work."

He smiled, holding her firmly by the hips as he stood up, gently setting her down on her own feet.

Initially, he had planned to head straight to the site chosen for the new city, but before that, he made a stop at a building that looked as if it might collapse at any moment.

No one passing by would ever imagine it was a new building, yet that was precisely Ethan’s intention.

It was nothing more than a rustic shell of a commercial building, hastily erected in just two days by a workforce of highly questionable quality.

The place had a small courtyard, a modest commercial area, and a corner set aside for an office, along with a makeshift wooden safe. It was barely large enough to accommodate three employees.

In the future, this would serve as the base for Ron’s chamber of commerce.

Of course, not in the deplorable state it was in now.

Pressing his palm against the crumbling wall, Ethan activated his instant construction ability, consuming one of his two remaining monthly upgrades along with about ten thousand gold coins.

It was an expensive investment, but Ron would arrive in Goldenveil in a few days, and Ethan had promised the man a main branch for his chamber of commerce.

Considering how much Ron had helped him, he decided not to skimp.

Taking a step back, Ethan watched as the construction transformed before his eyes.

The crumbling walls trembled, then began to stretch and expand, devouring the entire plot before rising majestically into an elegant commercial building over ten stories tall.

Out front, a spacious courtyard unfolded, revealing crystal-clear lakes and colorful gardens overflowing with flowers, while the first three floors were claimed by a vast commercial area.

The fourth and fifth floors were set aside exclusively for a luxurious auction area. Above them, the remaining floors formed an office complex, while a hidden basement served as a service area.

Such an imposing building naturally attracted curious glances from the entire population of Goldenveil, but Ethan kept it sealed off.

Now, it was time to found the mining town of Windmere.

That very day, the citizens from the pops cards he had accumulated over the winter—just over seven hundred in total—were due to arrive in Goldenveil.

Along with a few hundred already-trained miners, he intended to send them straight to Windmere.

With a light sigh, Ethan quickened his pace, leaving Goldenveil behind and finally setting off toward the chosen site.

Alone, a gentle smile playing on his lips, he stopped before the old abandoned mine, now completely renovated.

He chose a strategic plot of land for the lord’s mansion, then retrieved one of his two supreme city-creation tokens from the system inventory.

They were high-level tokens, though far inferior to the divine city tokens he had used in Goldenveil.

The moment he placed a drop of aura on one of them to activate it, a flood of system notifications filled his field of vision.

[Do you wish to use the supreme city-building token?]

[Yes] [No]

[You can use a pre-designed blueprint to define the city’s initial layout.

You can invest an initial amount of gold to guarantee a development level based on the provided blueprint or, if none is presented, on a random system.

Supreme city creation tokens allow for an initial investment of up to one hundred thousand gold coins.

All uses of your instant construction ability for a month will be consumed if the investment exceeds one hundred thousand gold coins.]

Upon seeing those notifications, Ethan smiled and, without hesitation, clicked to confirm the investment, pouring practically all his wealth into the new city.

In the end, just over three thousand gold coins remained in the vaults—enough to sustain Goldenveil’s current budget for nearly four months.

The next moment, he took a few steps back, his eyes shining with anticipation.

The first thing to appear was the lord’s mansion, an imposing structure superior to the one Aerick owned, though still far inferior to Ethan’s personal mansion in Goldenveil.

Shortly after the two-story mansion materialized, tall walls began to rise from the ground—four in all—enclosing a vast expanse.

Meanwhile, houses, stone-paved streets, commercial establishments, and government buildings sprang up throughout the city. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

What Ethan beheld from outside the grayish walls was a true fortress city.

The walls stood even more imposing than those of Goldenveil, the streets stretched out in perfect order, and a vast industrial sector promised wealth Goldenveil could never hope to match.

Thinking of the city-building token still in his hands, he smiled with satisfaction.

Truly, it was an absurdly OP item.

Next month, he would build the region’s first foundry, capable of refining iron and turning it into steel. For now, however, simply getting the mining operations underway was enough to leave him satisfied.

With a look of satisfaction on his face, he glanced at Windmere’s status screen, and his eyes lit up the next moment.