HLM – Chapter 7 Sunset Town

The next morning after breakfast, once the courthouse opened for business, Charlie took Wang Bo to officially receive his inheritance.

The process was surprisingly simple. The court had arranged a lawyer for Wang Bo—a German gentleman with blond hair and blue eyes, around forty years old. He was dressed in a formal suit, his golden hair neatly combed, exuding the composed and refined aura of a high-level professional.

“Good morning, Mr. Wang. My name is Karel von Müller. I work at Sidda Law Firm. I will be assisting you in the process of claiming your inheritance. My fee is 850 NZD per hour, which will be covered by the New Zealand government. Do you have any objections?” the German lawyer greeted Wang Bo with a friendly handshake.

Wang Bo shook his head. He didn’t have to pay, so what objection could he possibly have?

He had expected the inheritance process to be complicated, but for him, it turned out to be rather straightforward. Lawyer Müller verified the validity of the will and the related inheritance documents. Once everything checked out, the lawyer signed first, and Wang Bo followed with his own signature.

Charlie explained that if there were ever any legal issues regarding the validity of these property documents, Müller would be the one held responsible. So, although foreign lawyers earned high fees, their responsibilities were also very heavy.

Sir Roberts hadn’t left much behind—mainly a land certificate and a property title for the castle. Once Wang Bo signed, the presiding judge handling the inheritance on behalf of the state also signed, and just like that, the 1,000 square kilometers of land and the towering castle became his.

The inheritance transfer took less than thirty minutes. The next step—handling the procedure to establish a town on the territory—was a bit more complicated.

First, Wang Bo had to change his nationality. Charlie took care of that part; once he collected the necessary documents, it was no longer Wang Bo’s concern.

Next, Wang Bo needed to submit an official application to establish a town. That application would be reviewed by the Otago District Council and the New Zealand Parliament. Only if both deemed it necessary would they approve the town’s establishment.

To set up a town, he also needed a name. Charlie asked him to come up with one. Wang Bo’s mischievous side emerged. “How about calling it ‘King Town’? Or ‘Little Wang Town’? Maybe ‘Wang Family Town’?”

Charlie advised him, “No, Wang, you should be more careful. Towns in New Zealand need to be profitable—either through agriculture or tourism. If you want your town to thrive on tourism, it’s best to pick an elegant, dreamy name. Something like Queenstown, Arrowtown, or Jade Town.”

This gave Wang Bo a bit of a headache. He thought for a while but still couldn’t come up with anything fitting. Müller, who was helping on the side, gave him a suggestion: “It’s not that complicated, young man. Think back to your territory—what moved you the most? Name it after that.”

Wang Bo closed his eyes and recalled his first impression of the territory. It was that beautiful, gentle evening—the setting sun, the sky bathed in red clouds, a cool breeze blowing above, green grass swaying below…

“Sunset Town! How about that?” He looked at Charlie. The name also fit nicely with the Territory Where the Sun Never Sets.

Charlie clapped and smiled. “That’s a great name. Sunset Town—it hasn’t been used in New Zealand yet, so it should be fine.”

With the town now named, the rest of the process had little to do with Wang Bo. Müller and Charlie handled most of it; all Wang Bo had to do was sign wherever necessary.

Next came the approval stage. The documents had to be sent to Wellington and then returned. It was not something that could be resolved in just a day or two.

Charlie suggested they stay in Omarama and wait. But after Wang Bo received a whole bunch of keys, he couldn’t wait any longer to see his castle and insisted on moving in right away.

Left with no choice, Charlie agreed. The two of them bought some food, bedding, toothbrushes, toothpaste, facial cleanser, and other daily necessities from the small town, then boarded a helicopter and flew back to the Territory Where the Sun Never Sets—or rather, Sunset Town!

Once again, their return trip was in the afternoon. But this time, Old Wang had no interest in admiring the scenery outside—He was too busy mourning the money he’d just spent today.

Charlie told him that the money spent on daily necessities couldn’t be reimbursed—Wang Bo had to pay out of pocket. Although biological and material goods weren’t particularly expensive in New Zealand, he was spending New Zealand dollars here! And the exchange rate was more than 4 to 1 with the Chinese yuan. For instance, the bedding set he bought cost 440 NZD—didn’t seem expensive, but converted to yuan, that was 2,200 RMB!

Wang Bo did the math. This round of daily necessities had cost him over 5,000 yuan, and he had only brought 20,000 RMB with him on this trip abroad.

The helicopter landed near the castle. After a few words with Charlie, the pilot took off again, leaving the two of them at the foot of the mountain.

The castle was halfway up the slope, at least 400 meters above the ground. With backpacks on and luggage in tow, the two of them began to climb.

On the way up, Charlie explained to Wang Bo that the castle was built in 1860—over a century and a half ago. It was the oldest castle in New Zealand, and one of its oldest buildings altogether.

In reality, Wang Bo had never seen a real castle up close. He was fascinated by this kind of architecture—especially since this one now belonged to him. His curiosity drove him to pick up the pace, climbing faster and faster. Charlie, unable to keep up, panted as he struggled behind him.

Wang Bo grew impatient and said, “Charlie, hurry up!”

Charlie was on the verge of tears. “Wang, my dear friend, not everyone’s in such great shape as you. Honestly, I read your file, and it said you were a programmer. But I don’t believe it. You must be a rugby player—an ace player at that, right?”

No wonder Charlie thought so. The mountain path was actually quite rugged and overgrown with wild grass and shrubs, barely distinguishable from an actual mountain trail. But the Lord’s Heart gave Wang Bo a constant stream of energy and subtly improved his organ functions and strengthened his muscles. Hiking up a mountain was nothing to him.

The Southern Alps were the tallest mountain range in New Zealand, stretching across the central-western part of the South Island. Its highest peak, Mount Cook, rose to 3,764 meters. The range spanned 320 kilometers in a northeast-southwest direction, and its starting point lay within the borders of the Territory Where the Sun Never Sets. Coincidentally, the castle was built halfway up one of the range’s starting peaks, at an altitude of over 400 meters.

By the time they reached the 400-meter elevation, Charlie looked half-dead. He collapsed onto a patch of wild grass in front of the castle, gasping for air with no regard for dignity.

Wang Bo was panting too—but only to avoid raising suspicion. In truth, he still had energy to spare.

Standing in front of the castle, Wang Bo looked up at the structure that now belonged to him. From afar, it appeared majestic and imposing, its stone walls towering and grand. But up close, it became clear that the castle was ancient and rundown, exuding a desolate and dilapidated aura.

The stone walls stood 10 to 20 meters tall, with wild grasses growing from the cracks and vines like ivy and creeping fig crawling up the surface. The exterior was rough and weathered, like the skin of an old farmer exposed to years of wind and sun. Many of the stones had holes in them, resembling age spots on elderly skin.

Seeing Wang Bo’s interest in the castle, Charlie—still catching his breath—began introducing it: “Well, buddy? Pretty impressive, isn’t it? I’ve read the architectural records. It’s said that the Roberts family used 500 tons of cement, 2,000 cubic meters of lime, and 150,000 bricks to build this castle. As for the stones—they used whatever was available locally, so there’s no way to calculate how much.”

“If you knew how primitive the technology was back then, you’d understand just how difficult this construction was. They built this on a mountainside! They had to use steam-powered cranes to lift materials, then transfer them with special tilt-body carts to intermediate stations, and finally move them to precise locations using a calculated pulley system. Pretty amazing, right?”

Wang Bo was truly astonished after hearing this. He asked, “How much did it cost to build this castle? New Zealand didn’t have much manpower at the time, right? How did the Roberts family hire workers?”

Charlie replied, “At the time, the Roberts family had just fled England and still retained a lot of their wealth. Even so, they practically poured their entire fortune into building this castle.”

“To be honest, they miscalculated. They thought New Zealand would become the next Europe, where nobles could fight and claim territories. The Roberts family built this castle on the mountain as a stronghold to dominate the South Island. But looking at it now… that idea was pretty foolish.” Charlie chuckled mockingly.