God of Technology: Creating the Internet in Another World-Chapter 458: One Train Every Five Minutes

At full gallop, a horse can cover fifty kilometers in an hour.

A loaded wagon can travel ten to thirty-five kilometers per hour.

A magic-powered vehicle can go one to two hundred kilometers per hour, depending on road conditions.

An ultra-high-speed rail train can go six hundred kilometers per hour.

The difference was ridiculously obvious.

And that was before you even considered the terrifying cargo capacity!

Under these circumstances, did construction costs really matter?

Under these circumstances, who could refuse having a station in their territory?

These big shots were very clear, absolutely no one could refuse. At most they’d jack up the price, trying to make the railway builders pay them a huge fee.

All the big shots’ heads were buzzing right now.

"Everyone also needs to understand, once the tracks are built, it’s not like only one ultra-high-speed train can run on them."

Viscount Roster reminded them at just the right moment. "If needed, we could even have one pass by every 5 minutes, over a dozen trains per hour through a station, hundreds per day."

"Of course, under normal circumstances there’s no need for such frequent service, since transportation volume probably wouldn’t reach that level."

As soon as he said this, there was another uproar.

Right!

Who said only one train could run on the rail system? Once the tracks were built, you could schedule tons and tons of trains.

Looking at it this way, the ultra-high-speed rail system was even more convenient than they’d imagined, and way more valuable.

Watching the big shots’ expressions, Viscount Roster continued. "The ultra-high-speed rail system is pretty special. If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll establish an independent company to operate it."

"This company currently has three shareholders. Roster Territory Group Company owns 30% of the equity, Southern Development Corporation also owns 30%, and Dragon Delivery owns 40%."

"But that’s just the initial equity arrangement. Going forward, everyone can freely invest. We’ll gradually dilute the shares."

"For example, if Mr. Robert wants to invest for 10% and puts up enough gold coins or land or whatever else, once we reach a deal, Roster Territory Group Company’s shares would drop to 27%, with that 3% going to Mr. Robert."

"Same goes for the other two companies."

"In the future we’ll keep using this model. I can confidently say that the ultra-high-speed rail company will become one of the largest companies in the world."

The big shots who’d been in shock finally had their moment of clarity, understanding the main purpose of this trip.

Turned out it wasn’t just to show them the rail system, it was to bring them into the fold.

But when you thought about it carefully, this was totally normal.

The cost of the ultra-high-speed rail system was just too high.

The interests involved were just too many.

It simply wasn’t something one person could handle.

No, even a dozen people would have trouble handling it.

Building this transportation system was destined to require bringing everyone into the partnership.

Though even so, hearing that the dragons would also be participating still surprised them.

But then it also felt natural.

Once this transportation system was built, Dragon Delivery would probably be the biggest beneficiary.

Just then, the train slowly came to a stop.

When people turned their attention back to the windows, they realized they’d already reached the border between Dawn’s Southern territories and the Gray Fort Empire.

Looking at the time, only about 20 minutes had passed.

In the old days, this journey would have taken at least three days.

Even when the super-powerful Church of the God of War believers, enhanced by divine power, still needed a day and a half.

Viscount Roster quietly watched the amazed people.

He didn’t mind giving up part of the profits from the ultra-high-speed rail system. This thing simply couldn’t be swallowed by a single faction.

During construction, many things required cooperation from many different forces.

The simplest logic: if he wanted to build this transportation network, he’d definitely need to enter other countries, like the Gray Fort Empire.

Could he just build into it by himself?

Obviously not.

No matter how much the Gray Fort Empire desired it, they couldn’t just let him in directly.

At best, after long negotiations, the track specifications would be changed, resulting in trains from the Kingdom of Dawn needing to swap out some components before they could continue running in the Gray Fort Empire.

This clearly didn’t match Viscount Roster’s vision.

And that was just the issue between major powers. Between territories, some people would inevitably try to jack up prices, and you’d definitely run into some stubborn folks who just wouldn’t let you build.

Go around them?

Obviously that wouldn’t work either.

You couldn’t just use military force, right?

If this were in the Kingdom of Dawn, Viscount Roster definitely wouldn’t mind using force.

As long as it pushed forward industrialization, Viscount Roster wouldn’t mind doing anything.

But using force in other countries would inevitably trigger bigger backlash, causing a whole series of problems.

Better to bring everyone into this new company.

When the trains were running, everyone could profit. The transportation capacity brought by train stations would also let everyone get a piece of the pie.

That way, things would go much more smoothly.

At least most people would be able to accept it.

Once most people accepted this, even if a few remained stubborn, the people around them would deal with them.

Viscount Roster had already planned out the first trunk line. If nothing went wrong, people would soon witness the ultra-high-speed rail system’s impact on surrounding territories.

When all territories along the line, even including those around them, were profiting, everything that came next would go incredibly smoothly.

As for Viscount Roster, all he wanted was management authority. As long as he could manage this rail system, giving up some profits didn’t matter.

From a certain perspective, what Viscount Roster really had his eye on was the countless factories that would need to be built during the ultra-high-speed rail construction process, the countless workers, and the countless business ventures it would drive after completion.

Only by converting more people into workers could magic-tech industrialization truly proceed smoothly.

Of course, Viscount Roster actually had another idea: dividing the ultra-high-speed rail company into a parent company, Dawn Company, Gray Fort Company, etc., with Dawn Company having Southern Company, Western Company, and so on underneath.

Using this method, profit distribution could become clearer and more transparent.

But these were all minor details. He wasn’t hung up on it. They could study it more later.

As long as more people could participate in this venture, that was enough.

Clearly, he’d already basically succeeded for the most part.

Next he’d drop one more bombshell, and it would be completely done!