Chapter 319



319 The Fastest One First

Selma Payne’s POV:

“I’ve thought about this too, but the positioning of the Yellow Leaf pack and the Floodwater Packs is too awkward. The population is scarce, the land is barren, the technology is backward, and the existing industries are almost all half-dead, and there’s no way to pick one that can make a living. However, this place also has its advantages because it’s close to a natural forest and the industry is undeveloped, the natural environment here is very good. I think we can develop high-end medical and healthcare industries here. It just so happens that we can open bids to pull in capital and technical investment, killing two birds with one stone.

“And then there’s tourism. Perhaps you know that there are three ancient castle ruins left behind in the Floodwater pack? They are not well-preserved, but they would be beautiful if professional archaeologists and engineering teams were to repair them. It’s a natural tourist resource. If we can find out what historical events are related to these castle ruins, it’ll be better to make a name for ourselves.

“Also, this place is close to the elf forest and far from the known elf fortress. It’s the ideal landing spot for explorers. If we can get the support of the academic community and accept the task of receiving research groups, then we’ll undoubtedly have another source of revenue.

“This is what I think is more feasible at the moment. In fact, I think education can also be considered, but it doesn’t have that much of an advantage compared to medical care and tourism. It might not obviously affect the economy, so it’s not considered for the time being.”

I said many things like a machine gun, and then I became nervous. My ideas probably sounded like child’s play in my father’s eyes. Were there any obvious flaws? Was everything too simple and childish?

On the other end of the phone, my father was silent for a long time. Just as my heart was beating like a drum and I was getting increasingly nervous, he suddenly sighed and said, “Selma, you really are a natural-born Queen.”

“What?”

“What I mean is that you’ve done a good job. Although there are some flaws, at your age, with your experience, you’re already ten thousand times ahead of most politicians in considering all aspects. Most importantly, I feel your sincerity to the people in your words. You really do it for their benefits and want to give them a prosperous life, not for your political achievements and face to do some flashy but useless work.”

I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at such a compliment. “I’m not as good as you think. It’s just my shallow personal opinion…”

“‘Shallow opinion’? But even with such a shallow view, it’s something many people can’t even think of in their lives.” My father was very pleased and immediately agreed, “Do it, child. Don’t hold back. I will help you share the pressure from the Council of Elders. As long as you succeed in the merger, you can easily shut the mouth of the stubborn old people, and in the future, they will be a little inferior in front of you!”

I was overjoyed to get my father’s approval, but I immediately thought of another thing. “But what about the search team? I’m going to set off immediately after they arrive. I can’t do anything in such a short time.”

“That will depend on your position. Child, do you want to be a commander or a vanguard?”

“Can’t I do both?”

“Unfortunately, we have to give and take sometimes because we cannot split ourselves.”

I understood what my father meant.

Being the commander meant that I should be the brain that planned everything, and after researching the regulations, I would send them to the nerves and limbs to complete them. This meant I only needed to plan the development plan after the merger, then form a team I trusted and let them execute it.

Being a vanguard meant that I should be a person who put it into practice and led my team to modify and merge the pack step by step. I had to give up on the search team’s mission and pass this responsibility to someone else.

To be honest, I really wish I could clone myself. That way, all my problems would be solved. However, the current situation was that I had to give up one of the two options; the pack or the search team.

In the end, I chose the search team.

The modification and combination pack would be a long-term, large-scale project that might not be completed in three to five years. The timeline would be very long. However, it was different for the search team. This mission would take anywhere from ten days to half a month. They had to end the mission regardless of whether they found anything. Otherwise, the elves might see through them and provoke a diplomatic incident.

It was obvious that I didn’t need to choose anything. I just had to finish the one that took a short time, then the one that took longer. Even if the merger were confirmed, the people would still need time to adapt to it, and my search team mission would serve as a buffer.

It was decided that the original plan would not change, and the modified pack would be discussed after the search mission.

As this was an emergency investigation, the voting time for the public went up to six in the evening.

As soon as six o’clock passed, Jordin, who acted as my secretary, immediately showed me the results of the investigation-surprisingly, more than 70% of the people agreed to the merger.

It was already very good to exceed 50% of my expectations. This result could be considered a surprise.