[@MonkeyBusiness] slyboy mentioned that the western continent was far more fertile, so the channel also seems to imply that whoever gets access to boats that can transport goods first will have a nice time [url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3091853?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents]trading grain[/url] or other foods, which historically was sort of the reason that western Europe advanced rapidly once we started buying Polish grain, which was somehow cheaper than farming it ourselves, freeing up time to learn other trades. I think the channel will be very important :lol.