I run a casino in the immortal realm.

It was midday, and the streets of Liuhua County were bustling with people.

The men, dressed in dark brown official robes and carrying daggers with goose feathers at their waists, naturally exuded the imposing air of government officials as they walked down the street.

When the vendors and passersby saw them, they all made way for them, their eyes filled with a mixture of awe and a numb indifference.

Zheng Yifei walked at the front, his steps steady.

The Wei army lagged behind by half a body length, closely following from the side and rear.

The four Foundation Establishment stage yamen runners obediently followed at the back. After what had just happened in the yamen, they didn't even dare to breathe loudly, for fear of angering this newly appointed ruthless character.

"Sir, let's walk east along this main street. After we exit the east gate, it's another two or three miles, and that's Shunfeng Wharf."

As Wei Jun walked, he quietly pointed out the way from the side.

Zheng Yifei nodded without saying anything.

As he walked, he discreetly observed the everyday life of Liuhua County. The buildings here were mostly simple and sturdy, and shops lined the streets. Besides the usual restaurants and inns, the most numerous shops sold various cultivation resources.

Although most of the cultivators walking on the street were low-level rogue cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, it was enough to demonstrate the prosperity of the cultivation world in the Eastern Divine Continent.

Once outside the east gate, the view suddenly opened up.

A gust of wind carrying a heavy, damp, and salty smell blew in my face, mixed with the fishy smell of shrimp, the fresh scent of wood, and the sour smell of sweat.

We've arrived at SF Express Terminal.

It's less of a dock and more of a huge natural bay.

A wide river meanders from the inland and flows into the vast East China Sea here.

Wei Jun explained that this river is called the Bailong River, which is the main waterway connecting Liuhua County with several large inland counties.

Zheng Yifei stood on a high earthen slope and looked out. The entire coastline stretched for more than ten miles, densely packed with countless boats.

Some of the ships were enormous, like floating fortresses, with intricate defensive patterns carved on their hulls.

Some were deep-draft three-masted sailing ships, while countless small awning boats and fishing boats crisscrossed among them. A thousand sails raced, masts like a forest, creating a truly magnificent scene.

To the south is a fishing pier.

Most of the boats moored there were fishing boats, and rows of simple wooden sheds were set up along the shore. The air was filled with a pungent fishy smell.

Countless shirtless fishermen and low-level cultivators, their skin tanned dark by the sea breeze, were unloading baskets of still-living spirit fish and sea creatures from the boats.

The shore was a huge open-air market, where buyers and sellers argued loudly over prices, and the sounds of bargaining and seabirds' cries mingled together, creating a noisy scene.

To the north lies the cargo terminal, a completely different scene.

The ground here is paved entirely with thick bluestone slabs, and there are dozens of huge wooden suspension bridges built along the shore.

Giant merchant ships laden with cargo docked one after another, and countless laborers dressed in short clothes chanted in unison as they carried heavy packages of goods off the ships and into the rows of large warehouses behind the dock.

"Sir, don't be fooled by the chaos of this place; it's the real treasure trove of Liuhua County."

Wei Jun pointed to the mountains of goods to the north and explained in a low voice, "The goods that come in and out of here every day are priceless."

Zheng Yifei frowned slightly as he watched the laborers, sweating profusely, carrying sacks. "Since the cultivation civilization in the Eastern Divine Continent is so advanced, why don't these trading companies use storage magic treasures to transport goods? Instead, they hire so many low-level cultivators as laborers?"

In the Southern Wilderness, although there are laborers, large-scale resource mobilization is usually carried out by high-level cultivators using large-capacity storage bags or storage rings.

Wei Jun smiled and explained, "My lord, you are unaware of the fact that the Shunfeng Wharf mainly deals in and transports grain, spirit ore, crudely refined pig iron, and large quantities of building timber."

These items are enormous and incredibly heavy, but the value of each individual piece is not high.

"Common low-end storage bags on the market have an internal space of only a few square meters, which is not enough to hold much stuff."

High-level storage magic treasures with internal spaces of tens or hundreds of square meters are extremely expensive to manufacture, costing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, and they also require a large amount of spiritual power to maintain the stability of the internal spatial array.

If high-level storage magic items were used to store these ordinary grains and timber, the profit wouldn't even be enough to buy storage bags and replenish spiritual energy. The trading company would absolutely not do such a loss-making business.

Wei Jun pointed to a large ship on the river: "As for the catch from the fishing docks in the south, it's even less likely that we can use storage bags."

The storage bag is a dead space; if you put a living thing inside, it will suffocate in no time.

Once those spirit fish and sea beasts die, their spiritual energy dissipates rapidly, and their flesh becomes tough and unsellable. Therefore, they can only be transported here in specially made water-hulled boats and then unloaded ashore by hand.

Zheng Yifei suddenly realized that this was actually the same as the logistics system in the Southern Wilderness: high-value, small-volume items were transported by air (storage magic items), while low-value, large-volume items were transported by sea and land.

As long as there is physical circulation of bulk commodities, it will inevitably generate huge demand for labor and logistics networks.

"It is precisely because these commodities and living creatures cannot be separated from waterways and human labor that gangs of all sizes have sprung up on this dock."

Wei Jun continued, "The fishing docks in the south are basically controlled by the 'fishing gangs.' They monopolize the fishing rights in the near sea and the pricing power for seafood. The fish caught by independent cultivators must be sold to them at low prices, otherwise they can't even leave the docks."

"The cargo terminal in the north, the scheduling and berthing of merchant ships on the water, are under the jurisdiction of the 'Grass Canal Gang'."

The laborers loading and unloading cargo on shore were all members of the "Black Tiger Gang." Merchant ships had to hire Black Tiger Gang laborers to unload their cargo, and the wages were determined by the gang.

"In addition, there are several streets around this dock, filled with inns, restaurants, gambling dens and brothels. Merchants and sailors who travel by boat always eat, drink, gamble and whore when they get ashore."

There are also gangs that specialize in lending money at exorbitant interest rates, specifically targeting unaffiliated cultivators who have lost money gambling and small business owners in dire need of funds.

Wei Jun sighed: "Sir, these gangs have been rooted in this dock for decades, and their connections are intertwined. On the surface, they are very polite to the county government, and they will send people to give them some tribute during festivals."

But in reality, the rules at the docks are set by them. Because they all have powerful figures backing them up.

"For example, the Black Tiger Gang, whose leader is a cultivator, is said to be a sworn brother of a young master from the Zhao family in the city."

Behind the canal gangs, the Qian family's shadow looms. When our police station comes here, unless it's a major case of murder in the street, we usually turn a blind eye.

Zheng Yifei listened quietly, his gaze sweeping across the dock. He knew that Wei Jun was reminding him not to act rashly.

"Let's go. Now that we've taken office, we should at least get acquainted with the place."

Zheng Yifei withdrew his gaze and gave the order in a calm tone.

"Sir, where should we go first?"

"Let's first visit the big merchants at the docks and collect this month's 'peace money' while we're at it."

Zheng Yifei said.

Wei Jun was stunned for a moment. He originally thought that this powerful new constable was going to find some gang to establish his authority on his first day at the dock, but he didn't expect him to be collecting protection money in a routine manner.

However, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and immediately led the way.

The group of six walked into a wide street behind the cargo terminal, where tall storefronts lined both sides, displaying signs for various businesses.

Wei Jun led Zheng Yifei into a shop called "Sitong Grain Store".

This grain store occupied a huge area and was filled with hundreds and thousands of bags of spirit rice and coarse grains.

The grain shop owner was a chubby middle-aged man. When he saw several yamen runners in official uniforms enter, he was slightly taken aback at first, but then immediately put on a big smile and came forward to greet them.

"Oh, Deputy Constable Wei, what brings you to our humble shop today?"

The portly shopkeeper greeted them familiarly, but his gaze fell on Zheng Yifei, who was walking at the front. When he saw the word "Catcher" on Zheng Yifei's chest and the tiger badge on his waist, he immediately realized: "This must be the newly appointed head constable! My apologies! My surname is Sun, and I am the shopkeeper of Sitong Grain Store."

Zheng Yifei nodded slightly, without saying a word, but stood in the center of the hall with his hands behind his back, casually looking around at the furnishings of the grain store.