The glass doors of Solace City's Town Hall slid open with a soft chime as Isla stepped inside.
The first floor was spacious, measuring 20 by 15 meters, and entirely built of polished wood. The floors gleamed, and the walls were smooth and warm. Sunlight streamed through rectangular glass windows set evenly along the walls. Their wooden frames matched the interior, letting in light while offering a view of the surrounding raft and sea.
Directly ahead stood a four-meter semi-circular wooden reception desk. On top were two monitors, a scanner, and a card printer specifically designed to work with the system's camera for taking residents' photos for city ID issuance.
[Only residents with official IDs can enjoy privileges when the system launches city-wide events in the future.]
"Events like what?"
[Festivals and holidays like New Year's. The system will provide limited-time activities and funds, which the host and her residents can enjoy.]
Isla never expected the system to care about occasions. She asked eagerly. "Will there be unlimited booze too? By the way, what month is it now? When is the next holiday?"
[Host, the next holiday is still far away. It is only the second month of the year.]
Only second month?
She hoped time would flow faster.
"Anyway, what about the e-wallet IDs of Bear and his team?"
[They can upgrade their e-wallets to Official Resident IDs if they re-register in the Town Hall.]
Hearing this, Isla Lane re-registered her own e-wallet and retook her photo. The image profile updated, replacing the haggard picture she had taken before. The border of the card turned pink, and under her name was the line: "Mayor of Solace City."
Isla Lane blinked.
Well, I guessed I can't slack off anymore!
Stuffing the card into her skirt pocket, Isla turned to the right, where a small projection screen was embedded in the wall. It displayed a simple map of Solace City: the main raft, the Town Hall, the Bread Store, the Noodle Shop, the greenhouse, the Milling Station, and the wooden cabins in the west. Faint golden outlines shimmered around each structure, highlighting the early beginnings of the city.
Next to the map stood a public notice board, currently empty.
[That's where you'll publish the city rules. The system will help you enforce them and punish violators.]
"Rules? Then, cutie system, help me think of some later." She had no experience in management. This cutie system clearly knew more than she did.
[Okay, Host!]
Nearby, smaller boards listed the current rental prices and available jobs. At present, only the wooden cabins and small boats were listed for five cores and thirty cores per day respectively, and the only job posted was cleaning garbage around the raft for thirty cores over six hours.
On the same side, a neat waiting area was arranged. Wooden chairs with cushions lined the wall, allowing visitors or residents to sit comfortably while waiting for their turn at the desk.
Along the left wall were separate washrooms for men and women, each with three cubicles. Inside were toilets, sinks with running taps, and rectangular mirrors mounted above them.
At the back of the hall, a staircase led to the second floor, where Isla's private quarters and office were located. The office measured 50 square meters, while her personal space spanned 250 square meters.
It now had a living room with cushioned sofas and a table at the center. Next to it was a small dining area with a table and four chairs, positioned beside a personal kitchen equipped with a two-burner stove, a sink, and a running tap.
Above were shelves storing cooking utensils, including a knife, pan, pot, plates, cups, spoons, forks, and a ladle.
The washroom and bedroom spaces had expanded threefold.
Inside the washroom, there was a bathtub. Tonight's bath experience would be absolutely fantastic!
It was a slight disappointment that the bed was not a water bed or a massage bed, but the upgraded soft foam mattress was far more comfortable than before.
It was extra soft, like sleeping on cotton candy.
After claiming her previous rewards, Isla began building the small dock and the small boat rental shop. She dragged their icons one hundred meters east of the main raft.
On the eastern side of Isla's floating settlement, a one-hundred-meter-long, slightly raised walkway wide enough for two people to pass appeared. Thick ropes ran through black, meter-long wooden posts along the sides, acting as handrails. At the end, a wooden dock stretched twenty meters over the water, built of wood with metal supports underneath.
The dock area was divided into two connected sections.
The first section was the visitor dock, with five parking spaces for private boats. Each boat had its own numbered berth, and there was enough wooden walkway between them so owners could step on and off safely without climbing over other vessels. Strong mooring ropes hung on the posts along the edges, and rubber bumpers protected boats from scraping against the dock.
[The parking fee at the Visitor Dock is 2 cores per day. Guests can rest assured when parking their boats. The system will prevent any robbery incidents.]
Connected to the visitor dock by a short walkway was the rental dock. This section also had five berths for rental boats. Since Pal and Bear had rented the first boat, the first berth was vacant. Only four modified wooden boats remained, tied securely to their mooring posts.
Near the entrance of the dock stood a small rental shop, about four by four meters. The front wall and door were made of clear tempered glass, with glass windows on both sides. A wooden sign above the door read, "Boat Rentals."
Inside was a wooden counter facing the glass wall. Built into the counter was a digital register with a screen displaying rental details. Beside it were two narrow slots, one for sliding a card and another for inserting cores.
[When someone completes payment, the system assigns a dock number. The matching boat's rope lock automatically releases. The renter simply walks down the dock, slides their ID or E-wallet card into the rental tracking machine on the boat's stern, and they are free to go.]
Isla checked the time on the system interface. She had not noticed how much time had passed during the inspection.
It was now 5 p.m.
The sun in the west was beginning to set. On her map, two green dots were leaving the cabins and heading toward the Noodle Shop.
It was undoubtedly Ron and Wells.
Since night would fall soon, Isla dragged the streetlight icons.
Each lamppost had a thirty-meter lighting radius. In the east, she placed one near the entrance of the dock, three along the walkway spaced thirty meters apart, and one near the boat rental shop.
Around the residential zone, she placed one post for every two cabins, with two more along the walkways.
At the Town Hall, she installed two lampposts at the entrance and additional ones at the corners and edges of the main raft, spaced forty meters apart.
She also placed a lamppost between the two shops in the north and along their walkway.
As she was positioning the streetlights, she noticed green dots approaching the northern boundary of Moonstone Province.
Isla's eyes lit up. She quickly boarded her cleaning boat and teleported to the boundary.