50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 898 "Sloth" Greece
Although it was frustrating, the money had already been paid, and all that was left was for him to come and complete the handover procedures for the island to be finalized.

If he abandons the island now, it will eventually be nationalized by Greece. Sun Zhiwei isn't stupid; he certainly won't let them get away with it.

Therefore, he could only swallow his frustration and transfer the island to his own name.

Actually, it was fortunate that the former owner of the island had very strong connections within Greece.

Otherwise, for a foreigner like him to own an island in Greece, the procedures would be ten times more complicated, and he might not even succeed.

Of course, the key issue is not the numerous procedures, but rather the extremely low efficiency of the entire Greek government.

Because Greeks value a "slow life," doing everything at a leisurely pace, he noticed this from the moment he got off the plane.

At the airport exit, several drivers holding signs to pick up passengers leaned lazily against the wall, looking ready to take a nap at any moment.

The taxi driver chats with you in broken English, speaking so slowly it's like reciting poetry.

The street scenes in Athens on the way from the airport to the city center are truly eye-opening.

The old buildings and modern cafes are mixed together.

On the streets, there are far more people drinking coffee and sunbathing than those rushing around; the whole city is a perfect blend of leisure and casualness.

Greece has its own charm: the azure Aegean Sea, the warm Mediterranean sun, and the slow-paced lifestyle.

Leisure and entertainment are the only themes here.

The days in Greece are so hot that it's impossible to concentrate on anything, and even a short walk outside makes you feel tired.
To avoid the afternoon heat, many shops only operate on the morning and evening shifts, with a fixed lunch break from 2 pm to 5 pm.

In Greece, banks are only open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday. They are only open for 6 hours a day, five days a week, and close at 2 p.m.
Greek civil servants have even shorter working hours, from 9 am to 2 pm, with an hour's lunch break, which means they actually work four hours a day!
If you urgently need to meet someone in the afternoon, then sorry, they are enjoying their sacred and inviolable lunch break.

This kind of lunch break isn't just a simple nap; it's a collective shutdown of the entire society. Small shops close, banks close early, and even government agencies go into "do not disturb" mode.

It can be said that at noon, the whole country falls into a deep afternoon nap.

If you don't understand this pattern, you'll definitely get a headache doing things in Greece because of this pace.

Greeks love coffee, and a wonderful day begins with a strong cup of coffee.

Many people enjoy spending their days in coffee shops, ordering a black coffee and chatting about everything under the sun.

In Greek cafes, you often see this scene: a group of friends sitting around a table for three or four hours, probably only ordering one cup of coffee during that time.

The conversation ranged from the morning weather to the evening Champions League match, from politics to the neighbor's dog—they talked about everything except work.

In short, everything here is slow. Not only is the work slow, but the service is also slow. In restaurants, it's considered fast if it takes an hour to serve food.

Transportation is slow; there are no high-speed trains and very few subways. People mainly rely on buses, taxis, and private cars for getting around.

If you're waiting for the bus, be prepared that it will require a lot of patience, because the concept of "on time" is rather vague here.

This kind of life is something everyone longs for, especially tourists.

Once you arrive here, the slow pace of life around you will passively relax you, allowing you to enjoy the beautiful Aegean Sea like everyone else. However, if you apply this relaxed state to a country, it would give the impression of an elderly person, walking unsteadily and lacking vitality.

It's suitable for young people to come here for a few days of leisure occasionally, but living here long-term will ruin their health.

After arriving here, Sun Zhiwei also passively experienced a period of leisure.

He spent seven days in a café in Athens before finally completing all 32 steps of the transfer process with the help of the former island owner, officially becoming the owner of Ialos Island.

However, the matter is already settled, and there will likely be many troubles in the future, but Sun Zhiwei will not sit idly by and wait for his fate.

As the saying goes, "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure." No matter what the policy is, there's always a way to circumvent it, and Sun Zhiwei is no pushover either.

After obtaining the island ownership certificate, he immediately submitted an "Application for Security and Renovation of Iyaros Island" on site.

If we compare an island to a house, then this is actually a house renovation application.

Just like renovating a house, theoretically you should first apply to the local construction, community, fire protection, water and electricity departments, and construction can only begin after all departments have approved it.

For example, your renovation cannot affect your neighbors in the community, you cannot cut off water and electricity lines and pipes, you cannot pose safety hazards such as fire, and you cannot pollute the environment, etc.

The development of islands should also follow similar assessment and approval processes.

For example, polluting industrial facilities are not allowed to be built on the island, and domestic sewage from residential areas must be disinfected and filtered before being discharged into the sea.

Sun Zhiwei once completed the construction of an entire island, which is now Anatahan Island, so he has a good understanding of the island construction process.

Because Oyars Island is only 5 square kilometers in size, construction was simpler than on Anatahan Island.

Of course, though small, it has all the essentials; after all, it's a place for people to live, so it should have everything it needs.

For example, a small dock, a small seawater desalination plant, a small power generation unit, a small sewage treatment plant, and so on.

Since this is a private island that is not open to the public, corresponding security measures must naturally be built as well.

Sun Zhiwei planned to exploit a loophole in this area by building a breakwater around the island.

In name, this breakwater is meant to reduce the erosion of the island by the waves, but in reality, it can also be used to prevent strangers from coming to the island.

Normal breakwaters cannot serve this purpose, because modern breakwaters are built behind the beach and are simply dikes made of cement and stones.

While these breakwaters can protect against waves, they also hand over the beach to other areas.

Sun Zhiwei planned to draw inspiration from the breakwater design of later generations and build the entire dike in the seawater a hundred meters away from the coast, so as to weaken the waves before they approached the island.

These breakwaters are no longer just walls made of cement and stone.

It will be a hollow dam constructed by stacking reinforced concrete blocks called "quadrangular pyramid wave-damping blocks".

(End of this chapter)