Landlord in the Arctic

Not far away, Yves and the old veterans stood together, all smiling as they whispered amongst themselves.

The moment Feng Shan appeared, it was as if he had his own spotlight, instantly becoming the center of everyone’s attention.

"Where did the fireworks come from?"

"A gift from Tom. They were in the plane’s cargo hold. We saw them while unloading and gave them to the kids to play with," Yves replied with a laugh, his eyes full of relaxed joy.

"Be careful. Don’t set the houses on fire!" Feng Shan nodded. Once he’d confirmed the situation, he didn’t dwell on it. He turned his attention to Ma Wei and the others, asking with concern, "Are you getting used to the accommodations?"

"It’s fantastic. My mind has never been this calm. I think I’ve already fallen in love with this place," Ma Wei said with a sincere expression.

After getting off the plane, they had been shown to their guest rooms. The bumpy journey had left them wanting nothing more than a good rest, and they had even forgotten to take their medication. Normally, if they didn’t take their medicine before bed, they would wake up with an uncontrollable sense of agitation. But today, they woke up feeling exceptionally calm and comfortable.

The other veterans all nodded in agreement with Ma Wei’s words.

"That’s good. Stay for a while longer, and you’ll be able to stop taking the medication. Trust me!" Feng Shan gave a mysterious smile and continued, "From now on, you’ll be with Yves. I’ll have him get you Sheriff’s credentials later."

"Understood, Boss!" Ma Wei and the others raised their hands in a salute.

Seeing this, Feng Shan laughed and waved his hand dismissively. "No need to salute from now on. In Crown Territory, we’re all brothers and sisters, no different from one another. You can call me Boss or Chief, whatever feels more natural. Just be casual!"

Just then, the clear ringtone of a cell phone broke the lively, cheerful atmosphere.

Feng Shan gestured that he had to take a call, then pulled his phone from his pocket. A closer look at the screen showed Alvin’s number.

He swiped the screen lightly to answer the call, and immediately, Alvin’s voice, full of excitement, came from the other end.

"Boss, we’re about to arrive at Crown Territory." Feng Shan couldn’t help but be a little surprised; he had originally thought it would take them a few more days to get there.

"So soon?" Feng Shan said, a hint of anticipation in his voice.

"It’s already been delayed. As soon as I got the call, I started preparing gifts and booking planes. I just asked the pilot, and we can land in half an hour."

"Alright, I’ll come get you!"

After hanging up, Feng Shan clapped his hands. The sharp sound drew everyone’s attention.

"Folks, our colleagues from Saint Paul Island will be landing in half an hour. There might be quite a few of them, so get ready to welcome them."

Hearing that new friends were about to arrive, everyone instantly perked up and began bustling about.

Some went to prepare accommodations, others prepared food, and still others got transportation ready. Three little girls furtively ran to one side and started whispering to each other.

「Half an hour later.」

Feng Shan’s phone rang right on time. A glance showed it was Tom calling.

He answered the call and heard Tom ask him to join the flight channel on his walkie-talkie to help out with some temporary air traffic control.

The reason for this was somewhat exasperating. Apparently, too many planes were arriving, and the airport runway simply couldn’t handle the landing demand all at once.

Feng Shan was quite puzzled by this. ’How many planes could there be?’ he wondered. ’The crew of the River Beach is 30 people. Even if each of them brought two family members, that’s only 90 people. If they’re flying P-750s, ten planes at most would be enough.’

However, when the swarm of planes actually appeared in the skies above Crown Territory, the sight stunned Feng Shan.

The entire sky was filled with the flashing red, green, and white navigation lights of countless planes densely packing the airspace.

With so many planes in the air, they were burning through a massive amount of fuel. If they had to wait too long, running out of fuel would lead to a disaster of crashed planes and lost lives.

There was no time to lose. Feng Shan immediately led everyone into a tense working state.

He issued commands over the walkie-talkie.

"First plane, you are cleared to land."

Soon, a six-seater propeller plane began its slow descent through the night sky.

Fortunately, there were runway approach lights. Guided by the lights, the plane, despite some turbulence, landed smoothly on the runway and came to a steady stop.

Feng Shan immediately ran forward with his people. He went to the cockpit first, rapping on the window and shouting.

"Do you need to refuel?!"

The pilot shook his head through the window, then made a gesture indicating an immediate takeoff.

At the same time, Yves and his team were quickly helping the passengers deplane. Afterward, they immediately organized personnel to clear the runway, ensuring the safety of the subsequent landings.

Seeing this, Feng Shan picked up his walkie-talkie and cleared the plane for takeoff.

The six-seater slowly started up, its engine noise growing louder as it continuously picked up speed.

Finally, like an arrow loosed from a bow, the plane leaped into the night sky, heading into a different sector of airspace as it departed Crown Territory.

Just as the first plane took off, a second one swiftly appeared at a low altitude, preparing to land.

The planes landing first were mostly those low on fuel, so Tom had prioritized their landing order.

"Boss, I’m here!" Among the first group of people who had just disembarked, a young man with long hair walked briskly toward Feng Shan.

Feng Shan recognized him at a glance—a deck crew member in charge of fishing operations.

"Buddy, now’s not the time to chat. Take a snowmobile to the camp first. We’ll have a good drink later."

"Got it!" The deckhand knew the situation, so he nodded and led his people off the runway.

Feng Jun and Wawa were in charge of driving the snowmobiles, transporting the disembarked personnel to the camp.

After all, there was still some distance between the airport and the camp, and the temperature in areas not warmed by the Fire Seed was still frigid. They couldn’t let everyone wait outside for long.

Soon, after dropping off its passengers, the second plane also departed immediately.

The disembarking passengers left in an orderly fashion, guided by the camp staff.

Then came the third plane, the fourth, the fifth...

...

One after another, the planes landed like migratory birds returning to their nests, then took off again like arrows loosed from their bows. The roar of engines on the runway rose and fell in a continuous chorus.

The passengers, like a tide, came wave after wave, pouring endlessly from the planes.

Feng Shan watched the bustling crowd, inwardly shocked. The number of people far exceeded his earlier estimate of 90.

A rough estimate suggested the number had at least doubled.

He couldn’t help but complain in his head.

’Damn it!’

’These foreigners can really procreate, popping out a whole litter at a time.’

The round-trip travel cost for so many people was no small sum. The thought of it made Feng Shan wince. He was going to have to shell out a huge amount of money this time.

However, when he saw the looks of anticipation and longing in everyone’s eyes, he felt that it was all worth it.

After all, these people were about to become a new force for Crown Territory’s development, bringing more life and vitality to this land.

"Boss, I’m here!" Just then, Alvin limped off the plane, his arm affectionately wrapped around a blonde, blue-eyed woman.

"Fuck, I told you to bring the crew’s families, not organize a tour group." Although Feng Shan grumbled irritably and shot Alvin a glare, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face as he stepped forward to embrace his capable money-maker.

Alvin chuckled, his face full of cunning, and pointed to a large family not far away.

"Boss, when everyone heard you had such a great place in the Far North Tundra where they could eat and drink for free and have all the fun they want, of course they had to bring their whole families. Look at Raphael—he even brought his father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Feng Shan shook his head with a helpless, wry smile. His previous words had just been a casual joke. ’Now that I have such a big operation, there’s no way I’d be afraid of these people eating me into poverty. Just on the ranch alone, there are over three hundred cattle and sheep. Even if everyone ate to their heart’s content, they wouldn’t be able to finish it all in a short time.’

"Boss, we didn’t come empty-handed. We brought you a gift!" Alvin’s face broke into a mysterious smile. He turned around and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Sam, hurry up and unload the gift! If you break one of its legs, I’ll break one of yours and stick it on!"

Sam was the First Mate of the River Beach, a born-and-bred native of Saint Paul Island.

When it came to work, he was as serious and responsible as they come. Sometimes, when they were short-handed on deck, he would always run over to help without a second thought.

Hearing Alvin’s shout, someone in the darkness called back in a strained voice.

"Damn it, this thing is heavy as hell! Why don’t you come over and help?!"

....