Chapter 312
“Let’s do some research first,” George answered. “Let’s find out if people support the changing species of the primary crop. If they do, what species do they want to change to? If they don’t, what are their reasons?”
Stephen’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “That’s a great plan!”
By researching and understanding everyone’s opinions first, there would be no mistakes!
At that thought, Stephen instructed, “Let’s get people working on this right away. Also, let’s find out what kind of tea plant people would support introducing.”
After their successive failures, both Stephen and George had become much more cautious.
Julius looked at the two, somewhat surprised. The sentiment online had pegged those two as useless, seeing as they always caused more harm than good.
Truth be told, when he first heard that the notorious duo was coming, he panicked. He thought about the tragedies that befell North Hill City, Seaside City, Aqua City, and Celestial City, concerned that they were about to repeat themselves in Hill City.
However, seeing the duo now in person, things were different. Stephen and George seemed calm and collected, unlike the mess they were portrayed online.
“Could the rumors be false?” he wondered.
Noticing Julius staring at him, Stephen asked, “Is there something on our faces?”
“No, nothing.” Julius snapped out of it and said, “I’ll get the survey ready right away.”
After Julius left, Stephen asked George, “Do you think there’s anything wrong with this mayor?”
George shook his head, “I’m not sure. I can’t tell right now. We’ll just have someone keep an eye on him from now on.”
Stephen agreed.
Later that evening, the information gathered on Julius came back. Everything seemed normal. He had no dealings with foreign entities or connections with local businesses. He spent his days working tirelessly for Hill City. Sometimes, he would even climb several mountains just to understand the plight in some villages.
Stephen said, “He seems fine from the looks of it, but we should still keep an eye on him.”
The previous mayors–Shawn Hill, Danny Brooks, and James Parker–had all been exceptional actors.
“What if he’s been lying low all this time, just waiting for an opportunity like today? If I get
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Chapter 312
fooled by a mayor again, I might just slam my head against a wall and bid this life farewell!”
To prevent Julius from tampering with anything, Stephen and George also wrote a survey and had people distribute it in various villages and the city. At the same time, they also started preparing to construct new highways, and the first step was to acquire the villages and houses along the planned route.
Although they left that task to Julius, George would accompany him throughout the process. That would prevent Julius from foul play, and George could gain experience too!
The highway to be built was fifty kilometers long, passing through more than twenty villages. This time, Stephen followed Ethan’s original plan to the letter. He and George had analyzed Ethan’s plan and concluded it was the option that passed through the fewest villages and provided the most direct route.
Julius set out after receiving the order. However, when he saw George accompanying him, he realized that Stephen did not fully trust him. In fact, Julius could understand why, especially since the mayors from the previous cities had all been problematic to varying degrees.
He did not mind because he knew he was different. He was wholeheartedly devoted to the people, always wanting to help the residents of Hill City live better lives.
He was born in Hill City and had lived through Riveria’s most chaotic times. Back then, Hill City’s land was hilly, making it unsuitable for growing crops, which meant people lived in extreme hardship. Some even resorted to eating leaves off trees in the mountains, while others dug up roots for food.
To make things worse, enemies would hide in the mountains, using the complex terrain to implement guerilla tactics. It was nearly impossible to track them down. Even today, there were many caves and tunnels in the mountains dug by those enemies.
It was not until the Grand Marshal arrived that the situation in Hill City started to improve. He managed to bring food from other regions, so people could at least eat again.
Then, later on, Ethan led the efforts to build roads, allowing people to clear mountains to plant crops and mine stones. People finally earned their first income and could eat their fill.
Having experienced the lowest point of Hill City and all its advancements, Julius did not want Hill City to return to how it was before!
