Brude Haven, a small East Coast town not far from Gotham, also lies along the coast, but its climate is drastically different, even diametrically opposite, to that of Gotham. Here, the sun shines brightly all year round, boasting periods of sunshine and intensities of sunlight top-ranked among all the cities on the East Coast.
Originally, this place could have developed into a magnificent tourist city, but its small area, surrounded by lots of hilly and mountainous regions, with a short coastline and few city facilities, failed to meet the demands of a large number of tourists.
If it were closer to Metropolis, it might have developed earlier because if the drive from Metropolis was within half an hour, tourists could even go to Metropolis to take care of their accommodation and dining needs.
However, no tourist would be bold enough to venture into Gotham for accommodation. Plus, tourists come to coastal cities for the sun and beach – the perennially rainy weather in Gotham would ruin their good mood for the day, so the development of Brude Haven has always been lukewarm.
But, since the phone call from Mayor Roy of Gotham City, the prejudice towards Gotham's high crime rate and chaos has somewhat improved. Realizing that the chaos is partly due to the government's inaction, many curious backpackers decided to observe the situation here. They chose Brude Haven as their base.
Furthermore, the development of Gotham's logistics industry has led to a significant increase in labor demand. Many people wanting to try their luck for jobs here chose Brude Haven as their outpost because it's only a 20-minute drive to Gotham. If Gotham's lifestyle doesn't appeal to them, they can still turn back and leave.
After all, Gotham's cost of living and rent are no joke. Although the people here are rough, they're not necessarily poor; or rather, within the endemic system of Gotham, they might be deemed poor, but in general, they would belong to the middle-income class.
It may be compared, in general, that a common mob enforcer working as a doorman for nightclubs in Gotham is considered low-income in Gotham. However, if they come to Brude Haven, they surprisingly represent a comfortable lifestyle.
Some might ask, wouldn't their life be better in Brude Haven? Why bother fighting and killing in the mob?
But not only are they mob enforcers, their fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers are all mobsters too. All their social relationships are maintained within this system, making it difficult to change things. If the mob boss disagrees, they cannot run, or the sharks will have their next meal.
Moreover, the income of Gotham's mob is good, not because they possess the skills to survive or because they have a good educational background. The mob enforcers are uneducated without any skills. If they leave the system of Gotham, they're unlikely to find jobs with such high salaries again.
This is a problem residents from high income, high-cost areas will encounter when they move to low income, low-cost areas. They want high salaries with low costs, but low-cost areas usually don't offer high salaries and lack sufficient facilities. So, they prefer to endure the high costs instead of moving to low-cost areas.
That's why as Gotham's neighboring city, Brude Haven has good security.
In other words, Gotham's residents don't even care about this place. Their monthly hard-earned wages here might be less than what they could earn from working for a mob in Gotham for a week. Even though the cost of living in Brude Haven is low, the supplies here are scarce, and there are things they still have to buy in Gotham. So why not just live in Gotham? At least the locals are familiar with it, and it's even safer.
Many backpackers who visit Brude Haven comment that it's the heaven closest to hell. Weather, scenery, culture – Brude Haven is second to none compared to the tourist towns on the East Coast.
Similarly, unlike the bustling metropolises like Gotham, Brude Haven is a small town with a laid-back lifestyle; locals are quite relaxed, thanks to the rich fishing harvests on the East Coast.
The industrial structure of this place also centers around fishing docks, seafood processing, export, and logistics industries. The entire town has three docks in total, one of which, built later, is bigger than the other two, established by Europeans during the colonial period, which are now relatively old.
"Sir, you might have never heard of this dock. It was broken down three or four years ago. The Mayor said there was no need to repair it, so it was converted into a fishing dock," a little boy clad in overalls and a fisherman's hat, ran up to the wooden platform of the dock and pointed at the front, speaking to Shiller behind him.
"Can you see those boats? Those are experience boats prepared especially for tourists. Tourists can get onboard to experience shallow sea fishing. Fishermen on the boats will teach them the basic skills for shallow sea fishing. They can use fishing rods, or try the fishing nets."
"For just five dollars, you can take home the fattest fish. If you're willing to give me an extra fifty cents, I'll take you to a restaurant nearby. The boss there cooks really delicious fish soup and fish gruel."
"Five dollars is too expensive. I don't particularly like eating fish. Of course, if it can be cheaper, I'd be willing to give it a try." Shiller also walked up to the wooden platform of the dock to gaze at the fishing boats. He had to admit that it was quite characteristic.
Sea fishing is usually quite costly. At least, ordinary families on vacation cannot afford to rent fishing boats. That's a toy for the rich.
The tourist project launched by Brude Haven looks more like a rudimentary beggar-style version. The fishing boats are just ordinary wooden boats equipped with electric motors. The fishermen on the boats are just local fishermen who have been fishing on such boats all their lives. The nets they use are nothing fancy; some are even a bit ragged.
But it can be seen that almost every fishing boat is full of tourists who are having great fun. Although the speed of these fishing boats is far from trawling, and casting the net is purely dependent on luck and doesn't catch many fish, most tourists, especially family tourists, are having a great time.
Shiller started to admire the wisdom of the Mayor of Brude Haven. After all, in this era, the majority of the tourism industry caters to the rich, where many tourist cities are yet to cater to the common people effectively.
In most of the seaside tourist cities, apart from the free use of beaches, any venture into the sea, like sea fishing, diving and so on, comes with exorbitant prices.
"Alright, Sir, three dollars, does that work?"
"My best offer is two dollars and fifty cents, of course, I can tip you an extra fifty cents, consider it an invitation for lunch." Shiller laughed, patted the young tour guide boy on the shoulder, and said, "Go get me a boat."
The little boy cheered and ran down the dock to the seaside. In no time, he found a boat for Shiller. The boy ran back to Shiller and boastfully said, "Sir, I'll bet you nobody else could've found a boat that suits you as well as this one."
"As you mentioned earlier, you're a university professor, so I believe you'd prefer to converse with younger individuals. But the fishermen around here are mostly elderly, and sometimes their stubbornness gives me a headache. I was worried that you won't get along well with them. Therefore, I found you the only young fisherman around here..."
"Come over, Viking, this is Professor Rodriguez, my new client, he's a very generous university professor. He wants to experience your fishing boat. Catch a good fish for him and I'll treat you to dinner later."
Shiller turned around and saw the man the little boy was calling out for. He was bare-chested, wearing shorts that revealed his sculpted, muscular physique. He had golden hair, long sideburns that joined his jawline beard, but his chin was clean-shaven, giving him a wild and reckless appearance.
First, he surveyed Shiller with his hawk-like eyes, then he shifted sideways, leaving a place for Shiller. He pointed at his boat and said, "Climb aboard."
Shiller glanced down at his feet. He was still standing on the beach, and the fishing boat was floating on the sea at least three meters away from him. He gaped and asked, "How do I get on?"
The tour guide boy smacked himself on the forehead and yelled at the man, "How could you forget?! Where is the boarding ladder? Didn't old Wayland teach you the rules of treating tourists? Have you forgotten them all?"
The man on the boat grabbed a plank as if suddenly remembering, secured the boat, and put the plank down, finally allowing Shiller to climb aboard.
Shiller waved to the tour guide boy, feeling the boat begin to sway beneath his feet. The blond man was rather silent. Curious, Shiller walked over to the side of the boat — that's when the man finally grumbled, "Don't keep staring at the sea, you'll get seasick."
Shiller slowly shifted his gaze and asked, "The tour guide told me your name is Viking? That has to be a nickname, right?"
"Yes, but I don't like it very much; I'm not a pirate." The Viking went by the cabin and began to tidy up his tools. He asked, "Are you going to use a fishing rod or a trawl net?"
"Let's start with fishing. Can you help me find a decent fishing spot?" Shiller asked. The Viking squatted down and started tidying up the fishing lines and rods. As he sorted them out, he said, "You didn't come at the ideal time. There are too many people around, and all the good fishing spots are taken. I know a few other decent spots though..."
"Oh, I see. If I catch a fair amount today, I'll happily give you a fifty percent tip." Shiller walked forward and squatted down, watching those fishing rods of varying lengths.
"No, you misunderstood. I'm not asking for a tip; I just mean that fishing at those spots might call for a good fishing skill."
The Viking started to sort out fishing lines, while Shiller stood up and looked out at the sea. Just as the Viking had mentioned, almost all areas of the sea visible from there were claimed by fishing boats. However, there wasn't a single boat in the direction the Viking was heading towards.
"My fishing skills are not great, but they're also not terrible. We can check it out. If we don't catch anything, that's fine. I don't care for fish anyway." Shiller shrugged, appearing agreeable, which made the Viking look up in surprise. Taking the initiative, the Viking asked,
"You're a university professor? Where do you teach?"
"Gotham University."
The fishing lines in the Viking's hand tangled up into a mess.