Chapter 809: Good People Don't Live Long in Chaotic Times

Chapter 809 Good People Do Not Last Long in Times of Chaos

Just as Miss Bella had said, the situation within the urban area of Mammoth City was entirely different from the "concession" of the Silver Moon believers; it was, quite literally, two completely different worlds.

The latter boasted beautiful marble architecture and clean, tidy streets, where most pedestrians went about well-dressed, looking hardly any different from neighboring Silver Moon Bay.

The former, however, was a scene of utter devastation and mess, where not to mention stone buildings, there was not even anything that could properly be called a street.

Most of the dirt tracks were formed merely by the continuous stamping of footsteps, with nothing but two open drainage ditches dug along the roadsides.

And flanking those roads stood shanties and shacks thrown together out of timber, tree branches, or sheets of plastic.

The locals referred to them as row houses, structures into which two or three families were often crammed, packed so tightly that there was scarcely any room to set foot down, yet people still had to squeeze themselves inside.

After all, quite a few families here were no different from the slums of Port Golden Gallon during the Nihark era, where an entire family could not patch together two decent pieces of clothing, and they could hardly stand naked in the streets.

As for privacy among the multiple families, they could only make do by setting up crude partitions inside the shanties.

Furthermore, young men were almost nowhere to be seen.

The local youth and the able-bodied had either enlisted in the army, gone to help out in the nearby factories or the concession, or boarded labor-export ships bound for the North Island, which was currently undergoing reconstruction.

As for the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children left behind, those who had clothes to wear sat by their doorways working, while those without clothes sat staring blankly at home, waiting for the soup kitchens to open and distribute relief.

If one were to speak of hardship, the people here were indeed suffering, but the authorities had not left them to starve to death either, still distributing what little remaining grain they had.

After all, the authorities still needed their men to work with every ounce of their strength.

Sisi did not walk inside to look around, because Rourou’s massive size made it highly inconvenient, and she also feared scaring the people here, so she merely gazed from afar at the sprawling slums that stretched beyond the horizon.

Beside the relief station stood rows of wooden boards scrawled with hurried, sloppy slogans, such as "One worker from every family, and every family eats their fill."

"...This is practically treating human beings as mere merchandise." Deeply touched in her heart, Rourou could not help but mutter under her breath.

She was a straightforward and outspoken person who always said whatever was on her mind, never harboring thoughts in secret.

Just moments ago she had felt that Laxi might be a decent man, but now she felt he was no good thing after all.

Sisi pondered for a moment before speaking.

"...From beasts of burden to merchandise, it is hard to judge whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, but at least they have food to eat now."

Bella did not seem to want them lingering here for too long either, as no one liked having their scars laid bare, so she spoke up hurriedly.

"The road ends ahead, let me take you to see other places."

Sisi nodded.

"Yes, thank you for the trouble."

The group returned to the main road and walked toward an industrial zone bordering the sea.

This was likely one of the places where reconstruction work had progressed most smoothly in all of Mammoth City, save for the leased parish.

Particularly around the factories of the Lister Group and their surroundings, almost no traces of the recent disaster could be seen.

The tall factory buildings sat upon the higher terrain of Mammoth City overlooking the sea, with a wide concrete highway tightly connecting them to the port area, alongside a railway transport line that was already open to traffic.

Processing plants and workshops of all sizes surrounded the central factory buildings, extending continuously along the solitary highway toward the train station.

Most of these were properties of Lister, though a portion consisted of enterprises set up by locals who had followed the trend, particularly in hardware tools, machinery repair, and even munitions production.

Weiba and Rourou were even astonished to discover a scrapped Conqueror No. 10 tank parked right there!

"Holy crap! A tank from the Legion!"

"My goodness... was this captured?"

Looking at the shouting and clamoring Weiba and Rourou, Sisi said thoughtfully.

"Ninety percent chance it was captured, the Legion wouldn't go so far as to sell arms here... I reckon the local government doesn't have many dinars left in foreign exchange reserves either, and this stuff isn't cheap."

The structural hull of the entire tank was largely intact, save for its two severed tracks.

It was evident that this tank had its tracks blown off on the frontline, after which the Imperial crew abandoned the vehicle and fled, allowing the guerrillas to haul it back from the battlefield.

Two mechanics wearing exoskeletons were currently gathered around the tank, with an officer of no small rank standing beside them, seemingly pondering together how to repair the machine.

Although the layout of this area was somewhat crude and hurried, it already possessed the embryonic form of an industrial zone.

And on the outer fringes of that industrial zone sat rows of "corn buildings" that carried a heavy flavor of the Alliance.

These residential buildings assembled from precast concrete slabs could be considered the most "luxurious" structures in the entire area.

What impressed the locals was not just the sturdy roofs, but also the accompanying facilities that could be described as "extravagant."

Aside from the smoothly polished concrete roads, every few buildings were equipped with a boiler room, collective baths, a public cafeteria, and a literacy school that taught children during the day and adults at night.

The configuration here was completely replicated from the dormitory buildings of the Boulder City industrial zone, with a few modifications made on the original basis to suit local conditions.

For instance, winter in Mammoth State was not as cold as in the River Valley Province, and the December weather required nothing more than an extra jacket, so the dormitory buildings were not installed with radiators, and the boiler room only heated water for bathing.

The workers living here were the "new money" of Mammoth City.

To secure a job at a Lister factory, even if it was just chopping vegetables in the employee cafeteria or working as a sorter on the assembly line, was enough to make one a respectable person in the eyes of all Mammoth City.

Although the authorities had also spent money to build a batch of affordable housing in the city, the accompanying facilities were still far inferior to the employee dormitories of the Lister factories.

It was no exaggeration to say that the quarters where these workers lived were even slightly better than those of the Resistance officers, to say nothing of the vast majority of civilians in the city who still lived in row houses and ate relief porridge.

Perhaps Lister himself had never expected that while he was viewed as a "scourge" by the Workers' Association back in the Alliance, he would become a great philanthropist in the eyes of the locals here.

The local people spared no praise for him, and rumors even circulated that if any household could produce a worker to enter the Lister factories, it meant the ancestors' graves were practically smoking with good fortune!

It was precisely because of this that when Bella brought Weiba and the others here and introduced the situation, a touch of envy could not be concealed between her brows.

"...This entire factory area belongs to Mr. Lister, with more than ten thousand people working for him directly or indirectly. He introduced production lines for steel, aluminum, and solid hydrogen batteries to our settlement, though at present, the only products we can proudly present are hydrogen ejectors, high-pressure storage tanks, and fuel electrodes."

Sisi gazed out at the towering factory building and remarked with sincere emotion.

"Given that you have no industrial supporting infrastructure whatsoever here, being able to produce these is already very impressive."

Recently, the electrification process of the Alliance had advanced from household appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and air conditioners into the private vehicle industry, and the South Sea Alliance even intended to rebuild large-scale ocean current power stations, resulting in an extremely robust demand for both small and large energy storage equipment.

The three items—hydrogen ejectors, high-pressure storage tanks, and fuel electrodes—were all key components of solid hydrogen batteries, and the latter possessed a massive market in both the Alliance and the South Sea Alliance.

Particularly since the Lister Group itself operated industries involving exoskeletons and new energy vehicles, as long as the quality of the manufactured goods met the standards, there was absolutely no need to worry about a lack of buyers.

It was evident that Lister was indeed very optimistic about this market; otherwise, he would not have placed the production of such crucial components here.

"Indeed, the foundation here was far too poor, and it is thanks to that gentleman's help that we have been able to come this far," Bella nodded, gratitude clear in her eyes as she continued to count their achievements like family treasures. "Before he arrived, there was not a single factory in all of Mammoth City. And now, we not only have coal-fired power stations, railways, highways, steel mills, and aluminum plants, but we can also process some export products."

"I heard that the monthly output value of this factory area has already reached 10 million silver coins, and the production capacity is still growing continuously!"

"If things keep developing at this rate, it might very well grow to 30 million next year, which translates to three hundred million in our own currency! Mammoth State's escape from poverty and path to wealth depends entirely on it!"

Looking at the radiant young girl, Sisi could not help but smile gently.

"You shouldn't underestimate yourselves too much either. The most we can do is bring a few sparks, but building the fire ultimately depends on yourselves. If one day you successfully become prosperous, it will never be solely because of our help, but much more due to your own diligence."

In this process, the Alliance naturally stood to profit as well, for prosperity was a phenomenon that fostered mutual growth.

Take the Alliance and the South Sea Alliance, for instance.

Before entering the Baiyue Province, the Alliance's "Tick-style" engineering armor could only handle projects on shore, but after absorbing the underwater construction technologies of the southern seas and contracting the project for underwater freshwater pipelines, it immediately evolved into a series of models including the "Crab-style" and "King Crab-style."

Now, whether along the coasts of the Baiyue Strait or across the islands of the southern seas, development was taking off like a rocket.

To say nothing of the even earlier Luoxia Province, where the Alliance's fertilizers, seeds, and agricultural machinery had caused grain yields to more than double. Not only did the residents of Luoxia Province come to enjoy a better life, but the residents of the River Valley Province were also able to eat their fill.

If Mammoth Prefecture, and even the entire Bolo Province, were to join the ranks of the civilized world like Golden Granary Port, it would be a great boon for both the locals and the Alliance itself.

If all survivors on the wasteland were to unite, this era of suffering and death, the Wasteland Age, would surely come to an end.

May that day not be too far off...

...

The entire day, Sis and Tail and their group were surveying the industrial district near Mammoth Prefecture.

On the whole, it was a thriving market; many factories had the potential to grow big, but they lacked technology and capital—the very things the Alliance now had in abundance.

It was no exaggeration to say that even buying a few plots of land here and developing them into properties waiting to appreciate would never be a loss.

They wandered until the sun set before returning to their inn in the parish district.

The trip had been quite fruitful.

The only regret was that, in the end, Tail and Roro never saw the mammoths they had been longing for...

The night deepened, and along the entire coastline, only the parish still glowed with lights.

One of those lights belonged to the office of the Customs General Administration.

Though it was already after hours, Yashi had not left; instead, he paced back and forth before his desk.

After waiting a long time, he finally heard the telephone ring on his desk. He hurried over, grabbed the receiver, and before the other side could speak, he asked urgently,

"How is it? Are the distinguished guests from the Alliance satisfied?"

All day, he had been preoccupied with this matter, afraid something might go wrong.

Soon, a voice came from the other end of the line. Bella, standing in the post office phone booth, reported meticulously,

"...On the whole, they seemed quite satisfied. Their evaluation of us was above neutral, and they were very interested in the local development potential. I heard from the lady named Sis that they plan to invest in opening a branch here to assist us with financial reforms."

Upon hearing this, Yashi’s face lit up with ecstasy, and he clenched his fists excitedly.

"Excellent!"

Although the White Bear Knights’ influence was far less than that of the Baiyue Company, it was still a bank of considerable scale.

It had started in Petra Fortress during the war in the Luoxia Province, later established itself in Silver Moon Bay, and expanded overseas along the Alliance’s trade routes. Its business now spanned the Bolo Sea coast and even the southern seas, incubating many promising enterprises and merchant groups.

If they could attract the White Bear Knights Bank here, it would be no less significant than successfully attracting another Lister Group!

Hearing the delighted voice on the other end, Bella paused for a moment before continuing her report,

"Also, there is another matter. Although I advised them to stay within the parish as much as possible, they still went to the nearby urban areas. I couldn’t refuse, so I had to take them to visit the industrial district and the surrounding residential areas... But on the way, they inevitably saw the slums."

The slums of Mammoth City were like an ugly scar; anyone who saw them could not feel any goodwill toward the authorities.

Though the authorities had made some efforts, it was not a problem that could be solved in a short time.

Hearing that the Alliance’s distinguished guests had been there, Yashi immediately grew tense and asked cautiously,

"Did they say anything?"

Bella carefully recalled the earlier events and then shook her head.

"Not really."

Actually, it wasn’t entirely nothing—they had spoken in a language she didn’t understand, so she couldn’t make out what they said.

Yashi, standing before his desk, fell silent. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"...I can only hope they understand our difficulties."

He could sense that the purpose of these distinguished guests in Mammoth City was not merely a business inspection; they might also be carrying tasks assigned by the Alliance’s administrators, such as studying whether the Mammoth Prefecture authorities were worth the Alliance’s investment.

Though it was hard to admit, the Alliance’s support was far too important to them.

He wished they would give a definite answer, even if it were negative—so he could either explain or use their opinions to make improvements.

But they said nothing at all, which made him most uneasy.

"Is there anything they were dissatisfied with? Any complaints or anything... Tell me everything, no matter what aspect!"

Bella was taken aback. After a moment’s hesitation, she said in an uncertain tone,

"Uh... The lady named Tail seemed disappointed that she didn’t get to see a mammoth. That’s about it."

Could that even be considered a complaint?

Just as she was puzzling over this, Yashi slammed his hand on the desk.

"Quick! Contact the Mammoth City Militia immediately and have them capture one—no, two mammoths from the north bank of the Tasan River and send them to her! One male and one female!"

Hearing this absurd order, Bella was dumbfounded, her mouth hanging open.

"Send... send two mammoths?"

Did this man know how huge those things were?

But Yashi was unperturbed, speaking with conviction,

"This is a necessary investment! And it’s for the future of Mammoth City! Do as I say—we must not let the Alliance’s distinguished guests leave with regrets!"

Seeing that he wasn’t joking, Bella had to suppress her bewilderment, pull herself together, and accept the order.

"Yes, sir!"

...

At the same time, on the border of Mammoth Prefecture, inside the tent of the Imperial Gray Wolf Army.

General Arayang, the commander of the Gray Wolf Army, was staring at the list sent by the logistics officer. His thick eyebrows gradually twisted into two tangled centipedes.

The logistics officer standing before him dared not even breathe loudly, trembling as he stood there.

But what was coming would come.

A sharp gaze shot toward him. Arayang slapped the list onto the command table and stared at the logistics officer, pressing him aggressively,

"Where are the tanks? Why haven’t the Conqueror X tanks I requested arrived? This batch of supplies is nothing but light weapons and rations!"

The logistics officer’s heart was full of grievances. He grimaced and quickly explained,

"Sir, you may not know... Recently, the Alliance and the Legion suddenly had a dispute. The Alliance seized the arms that were originally promised to be sent to the Falcon Kingdom for the Legion."

Arayang was stunned, his mouth agape for a long moment.

"The Legion’s weapons... were seized by the Alliance?"

The information was too much to process at once.

How did the Legion’s weapons end up with the Alliance? And why did they have to go through the Alliance to reach his hands?

This was the problem caused by information blockage. Being at the front, he knew neither what agreement the Empire had reached with the Legion nor what the Legion and the Alliance had argued about at the Covenant Assembly.

A vague feeling crept into his heart—he was like a pawn caught between two fists.

And not just him; even Rasi, standing across from him, was the same.

They had been dragged from an unresolved contest into a new game.

His instinct told him that this war would not end so easily...

The logistics officer sighed helplessly.

"That's all I know... Not to mention you, even His Majesty is anxious now, but this matter is precisely something we cannot rush. According to what the Legion says, if the Alliance finds out that the arms were shipped all the way here after a long detour, things will become troublesome."

Actually, originally he didn't need to be so polite with this Alaiyan. In the past, it would have been the latter who had to speak nicely while looking up to him.

But unfortunately, the local powers were becoming increasingly disobedient, and all that Tiandu could rely on was this central army that was suppressing bandits on the border.

Now this Alaiyan was at the zenith of his power in the Xilan court; whether the emperor or the dukes and marquises, all regarded him as their lifeline.

Looking at the helpless logistics officer, Alaiyan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice.

"What do we do now? Those rebels are armed with Alliance equipment, and they've fortified their defenses like an iron bucket. Without heavy equipment support, we simply cannot break through! Even a frontal assault would only send our soldiers to die in vain!"

The logistics officer's eyes darted about, and after stammering for a moment, he said.

"If it really doesn't work... we could slow down the offensive on the front line. The Legion's message is that they will find a way to solve the problem, so we should stay calm and wait."

If the Alliance cannot find the evidence they are looking for, in the end they will have to fulfill the contract and release the seized arms.

And even if they do find evidence, they cannot confiscate those arms; at most, they will send them back to the Weifu Wasteland and let the Legion handle it themselves.

The Legion also has ships; those equipment will eventually be delivered here, but it will take some time... at least that's what the Verant people told them.

"Slow down..." Alaiyan sneered. "If we slow down any further, the rebels will have built their railway right up to the front line!"

He had no idea where those paupers had gotten so much steel and cement.

The spies he had sent into Mammoth City to gather intelligence had yet to find out anything substantial, only hearing that some of the ships carrying construction materials came from Golden Gallon Port, and some from the Southern Sea.

"If that doesn't work... there's another way," the logistics officer gritted his teeth and finally played his last card. "Before I left, His Majesty instructed me that if the battle situation becomes truly dire, the General may recruit troops and purchase horses on his own in the Ma and Niao regions."

Upon hearing this, Alaiyan immediately narrowed his eyes and stared fixedly at the logistics officer.

"Did His Majesty really say that?"

Sweating coldly under that gaze, the logistics officer said tremblingly.

"Absolutely true! How would I dare deceive you in such a matter?"

Alaiyan stared at him expressionlessly.

"Is there any relevant document?"

The logistics officer quickly shook his head.

"No... His Majesty only gave me verbal instructions."

Alaiyan gave him a meaningful look, then glanced at the list in his hand.

No wonder they sent so many rifles—so this was the meaning...

"I understand. You may go now."

"Yes, my lord!" The logistics officer finally breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully withdrew.

Watching the logistics officer leave, the staff officer Gopal, who had remained silent, turned to Alaiyan.

"His Majesty allows you to recruit troops and purchase horses locally—isn't that a good thing? Why does the General look so troubled?"

"A good thing?"

A complex emotion flickered in Alaiyan's eyes, and after a moment he said calmly.

"Can't you see... once this war is over, we will be abandoned pieces."

Without documents, only verbal orders—when the time comes, His Majesty can either acknowledge it or not with a single word.

If he acknowledges it, that's fine.

If not, at the very least it would be driving the people to the front line as cannon fodder.

And if His Majesty wants to pursue the matter further, it would be a capital crime of rebellion.

It might even implicate our families.

Seeing the concern in Alaiyan's eyes, Gopal merely smiled faintly.

"Whether we are abandoned pieces or not, in the end, the soldiers are in our hands."

Alaiyan's eyes narrowed, and his gaze toward Gopal carried a hint of danger.

"What are you trying to do?"

Gopal continued without changing his expression.

"The Wolf people will not follow you, after all, their families are in Lang Prefecture, but the Horse people and Bird people may not be the same. In my opinion, you should not only follow the decree but follow it vigorously—only, instead of using those Horse and Bird people as cannon fodder, you should instead cultivate your own loyal core—"

"Enough! Say no more!" Alaiyan shouted angrily, cutting him off.

Interrupted, Gopal was not angry; he merely bowed respectfully.

"I am only offering a suggestion..."

"The Empire is about to fall into chaos; good men do not live long in turbulent times."

Having said that, he left Alaiyan with a face full of uncertainty and turned to walk out of the military tent alone.

While the Empire's Gray Wolves were stalled due to the lack of heavy equipment support, the opposing Moon Tribe resistance was busy sending people across the river at night to catch mammoths.

Clearly, every family has its own difficult problems; the outwardly glamorous Mammoth Prefecture authorities were also having a hard time.

At the same time, new changes were brewing on the wasteland.

The next day's morning sun had just risen above the horizon of the Southern Sea when the Alliance's submarine carrier Conch surfaced near Coral City.

At that moment, a small transport plane from Ideal City flew in from afar and slowly landed on the helipad on the Conch's deck.

It was a model Chu Guang had never seen before; it looked somewhat like the Alliance's Viper, presumably another new gadget from the Corporation, and quite possibly a copy of the Alliance's design.

But it didn't really matter; Chu Guang was quite open-minded about it.

After all, the Alliance had also plundered the Corporation's wool plenty of times—the engine of the "Overlord" transport was simply salvaged from the "Orca" transport, so it was only fair to let them reciprocate.

And what pleased Chu Guang was that the shut-ins of Ideal City had finally wised up.

The Corporation's council had probably finally realized that they too were part of the wasteland; if some madman really stirred up trouble, in the end they would have to step in to clean up the mess.

That was exactly the trouble with the Torch Church.

If they had intervened early in the crisis at Singularity City, things would never have spiraled out of control as they later did.

Based on their reflection on their own problems, they had recently become more active in wasteland affairs, and various long-range, ultra-high-speed aircraft were springing up like mushrooms after rain.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes stepped out of the cabin.

He had a bright, sunny smile on his face and extended his right hand from afar toward Chu Guang, who was standing by the helipad.

"Dear Administrator, it's a pleasure to see you again!"