Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 695 A Different Corner

Two days later, in a medium-sized fortress in the Dark Glory Continent.

"Name?" "La...Lakan Alte"

"Age?" "2...21 years old."

"Have you learned pyroxene magic?" "I have learned a little bit of zero-ring pyroxene magic theory, the kind taught in the elementary textbook."

"What is the extent of the infection with pyroxene disease?" "13.87%."

"How is your literacy level?" "I have no problem with the commonly used ones."

"What can I do?" "Uh... this, can I... can I perform some daily maintenance on small pyroxene equipment?"

"Very good, you are hired. Here is your employment certificate. It has facial recognition activated and can only be used by you. It contains a simple program that will tell you where to work. Remember to find the person in charge to register after you go in. Someone will tell you what to do. There is no internship period. You will be paid according to the amount of work you do. Three meals and accommodation are provided. You can go today or report tomorrow, but you are not allowed to delay until the day after tomorrow."

"Okay...Okay! Thank you for your help, sir!" "Well, send him away, next one."

In the open square filled with noise, Lakan tightly grasped the work certificate made from a simple pyroxene communication device in his hand, and kept expressing his gratitude to the interviewer in front of him as if he had found a savior. But before he could answer a few words, he was picked up by a robot that looked like a large trash can and sent out of the crowd along a fixed safe passage.

[Ding~! Arrived at the designated destination, starting the return procedure! ]

It was not until a pleasant electronic sound was heard that Lakan suddenly came back to his senses. He hurriedly climbed up from the open space, touched his pockets, and finally looked at the card-like work certificate in his hand nervously. Looking at the information written on it, he held it in his hand and murmured with red eyes:
“Finally…Finally there is a solution…!”

The first one...

This is the first job that pays at or above normal level since Lakan contracted pyroxene disease.

Since contracting pyroxene disease, Lakan's life has almost fallen into despair. His wife left him, his family members died of illness, and all his old friends cut off contact with him. He could only live a fearful life in the lower city, always worrying that he would be selected and wander outside the fortress.

Not only that, because of pyroxene disease, Lakan could not get any job with normal pay, and naturally had no extra money to buy drugs to treat pyroxene disease. He could only watch his pyroxene disease infection level increase little by little, and spend every day in extreme tension and fear. Lakan even had thoughts of suicide at one point.

And now...Lakan finally saw a glimmer of hope.

……

[White Frost Fortress·B052 Mechanical Factory Work Certificate]

Name: Lakan Alter
Age: 21 years old

Race: Terran

Pyroxene disease: confirmed infection (current infection level 13.87%)

Position: Intermediate Machinery Operator (to be appointed)

Salary: 60 crystals/big round (80 minutes)

Drug subsidy: pyroxene disease inhibitor * 1 tube/day (to be collected today)
Dormitory: (to be assigned)
……

One bottle of pyroxene disease inhibitor every day, and the work remuneration is as high as 540 crystal coins per long rest hour. If it were a few days ago, Lakan would not even dare to think about such a good thing.

In fact, when a group of warlocks who claimed to be from the command of Lord Black Sword showed up in the small fortress where Lakan originally lived and said they wanted to recruit people to work in the factory of the medium-sized fortress, Lakan signed up with the mentality of giving it a try.

After all, in the small fortress where he was, many people said that Lord Black Sword was not the heir of Lord Black Crown and Lord White Crown, but a demon who killed the crown masters. Moreover, many people felt that the other party's generous recruitment conditions were actually a cover-up, with the purpose of luring them to other fortresses to serve as sacrifices for the demons in evil rituals.

It can be said that if Lakan had not been completely desperate about life, he would not have had the courage to board the transport ship. At that time, he really boarded the ship with the idea that even asking for help from the devil was better than being tortured to death by pyroxene disease.

However, when he officially embarked on the journey, Lakan discovered that many things were completely different from what he had imagined.

There were neither demons nor evil rituals along the way. The only things that appeared were the strange robots in the transport ship that kept explaining various things to them, and the warlock apprentice who did not show any annoyance or disgust towards these pyroxene disease patients and claimed to be one of the recruiting officers of this medium-sized fortress.

Not only that, along the way, Lakan even saw several times half-Aliens with alien features living normally with humans, and learned that many fortresses have been divided into "coexistence areas" specifically for accommodating half-Aliens, even Inhumans, pyroxene disease patients, and a small number of humans who do not reject these groups.

It can be said that although only one day had passed since they stepped onto the transport ship, and they were merely transferred from one fortress to another, Lakan felt as if he had gone through an extremely long period of time, and had a dreamy feeling as if he had entered another world. He even woke up several times during his nap, fearing that everything before him was just a dream that would be shattered once he woke up.

"Oh... That's right! I can also get a bottle of pyroxene disease inhibitor today!!"

Suddenly, Lakan, who was staring at the work permit in his hand with a silly smile, seemed to suddenly remember something. Without caring about anything else, he quickly followed the popular science he had heard and the movements he had seen from other people who had passed the interview before, and tapped on the work permit.

[Ding~! The guidance program has been activated and is locating your destination and planning your route...]

[Ding! Planning completed, please follow the current route, you can switch to 3D map mode in the upper left corner! ]

Wow... so awesome, it's just like what others said...

A pleasant electronic sound rang out, and the content on the work permit quickly changed into a detailed map route that even a child could understand, causing Lakan to stare in amazement.

Although he had also seen the pyroxene communicators produced by the tower, in his opinion, those communicators were so expensive that a normal first-level warlock apprentice had to work for a whole month to buy one. They were not as technically valuable as the thin chip work certificate in front of him.

[Ding~ It is detected that your location has not changed. Do you need to re-plan the route? ]

The pleasant electronic sound rang out again, bringing Lakan, who was looking up and down at the work permit in his hand, back to his senses. He realized that he almost forgot something important again.

"No...No need! Just stay like this!"

Lakan spoke in a panic, not caring about anything else. He looked at the route map shown on his work permit, identified the direction, and hurriedly ran on the crowded street. The face that should have become gloomy and desperate due to pyroxene disease and various discriminatory treatments was now filled with the color of hope.

Just like the other pyroxene disease patients in the square who were either crying with joy or hugging each other excitedly.

This is just a glimpse of what is happening on this earth.

……

……

Dark Glow Continent, Wilderness.

“Woohoo~!”

The faint howling of animals, accompanied by the cold wind in the wilderness, hit the windows of the transport vehicle. In the gloomy wilderness, only wandering infected people were seen sitting in the car, looking tired.

"Okay, ahem... this should be fine."

In a corner of the carriage, Antoine coughed weakly. He looked at the lion-haired man with a blood-soaked bandage on his right arm and took back the treatment unit in his hand. The lion-haired man, who was sweating profusely from the pain during the treatment, heard the sound and moved his right arm. Then he took a long breath, nodded, and said in a rough voice: "Thank you, Mr. Antoine."

"It's my duty. Without your help, the children and I wouldn't have survived until now... ahem!"

Antoine was halfway through his speech when he suddenly covered his mouth and coughed violently twice. The weakness on his wrinkled face became even more serious. Seeing this, Lion Fang at the side hurriedly supported him, with a hint of worry in his eyes, and said:

"Mr. Antoine, you should rest. If you continue like this, your body will not be able to support you..."

"Boss! Radar detected a convoy approaching from the north!!"

Suddenly, a somewhat hurried shout came from the communication device, interrupting Shiya's words.

A convoy approaching?!
Upon hearing this, Shiya raised his head abruptly. After several thoughts flashed through his mind, he decisively said to the communication device:

"Calm down, notify the others, and go on alert! At the same time, send an anonymous signal to the convoy to see if we can get in touch with them!"

"Roger that!"

A hasty reply came from the communication device, and then Lion Fang looked at Antoine in front of him and said:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Antoine, I'm afraid I have to leave here for a while."

"No... ahem... it's okay, Mr. Lionfang, just mind your own business..."

"Boss, we've made contact, but..."

Before Antoine could finish, the report came again from the communication device, and this time, the other party's voice seemed a little hoarse.

"What's going on? Is it the Gusa Federation's convoy?!"

Upon hearing this, Shiya asked, and at the same time, he had a bad feeling in his heart.

"No... they are not from the Gusa Federation, but from the Tower Gathering Area. However... they said they escaped from the Black Eagle Gathering Area, and also said..."

"The Black Eagles' Great Gathering Area has fallen."

As soon as the words fell, the atmosphere in the entire car seemed to fall into silence for an instant, and the words on the lips of the lion-haired man froze there.

Because...their original destination was the Black Eagle gathering place.

Pfft!
In a trance, the lion-haired man felt as if his heart was being grasped by an invisible hand. It palpitated violently, and a strong sense of suffocation emerged from his throat, making him unable to speak, until the urgent voice in the communication device sounded again:

"Boss! It's bad! They told us to run away quickly! A wave of beasts is coming from the direction they escaped from! It's huge!!"

A beast tide? Why would there be a large-scale beast tide in a place like this? !

Wait, if it was a beast tide, then the destruction of the Black Eagle Gathering would not be something incomprehensible...

Hearing the information reported by his subordinates, Shiya instinctively shuddered. Without time to think, he decisively grabbed the communication device and shouted:

"Retreat! Find out the direction of the beast tide and flee diagonally!"

"learn!!!"

A hasty reply sounded, and the next second, there was a roar of a power furnace running at full speed coming from the front of the transport vehicle. Dust and haze rose in the wilderness. The transport vehicle, which was originally resting on the spot, turned its back to the wind and sand, turned around and ran wildly across the wilderness, like a small boat on the sea.

There is no deafening roar of artillery fire, no massive war with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, no generous rewards that can make people cry with joy, and no lucky people who unexpectedly welcome new hope in life.

In this remote place where even small fortresses are rarely visited, there are... just a group of small people who are forced to struggle to survive in the wilderness due to the great changes in the world.

This is also a corner of what is happening on this land.

……

……

Meanwhile, at Kota Fort.

[Ding~ Statistics completed, today's total pyroxene crystal expenditure report is as follows]

...

Pyroxene crystal expenditure: 13489.62 standard units
Pyroxene crystal income: 3087.23 standard units
Total: -10402.39 standard units
Remaining pyroxene crystal reserves: 44430.96 standard units
...

"Lord Black Sword, today's fortress expenses should have been reported to you. May I ask if you have received it?"

"Well, I saw it, it was done well."

An intellectual female voice sounded from a luxurious room, a bedroom specially prepared for the crown warlock. Xin Lailai, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, opened her eyes, glanced at the report information displayed in front of her, nodded slightly, and answered with satisfaction.

In fact, if the six surviving Crown Warlocks were to see his financial report, even the Black Crown, who was the least sensitive to wealth and power, would probably look bewildered.

More than 20,000 tons of pure pyroxene crystals were destroyed in two days.

This resource consumption rate is difficult to achieve even if all the equipment sent from Kota Fortress is operated at full power. You should know that a doomsday-level pyroxene heavy artillery with a cooling time of 24 hours only consumes 5000 standard units of pyroxene crystals, and this is already the thing that consumes the most pyroxene crystals in the entire Order Tower.

But for Xin Lailai, this rate of resource consumption was nothing at all. In other words, he even thought that it was being consumed too slowly.

"Xiaobai No. 1, how is the production progress of the entire tower going now?"

[Ding! Command confirmed, data collection in progress...]

[Statistics completed, the current progress of the High Tower camp's technology production is as follows]

……

Number of large machinery factories: 135 (an average of 4 factories added every hour)
Number of medium-sized machinery factories: 839 (an average of 20 factories added every hour)
Number of small machinery factories: 3904 (an average of 83 more per hour)
Destroyer III Tactical Scout: 10000 units (production is suspended, currently 9598 units remaining)
...

...

G-07 deep sea diggers: 4033 units (118 more per hour on average)
Ocean Deep III: 976 ships (an average of 32 ships per hour)
Current average pyroxene crystal consumption rate: 649.97 standard units/hour
……

(End of this chapter)