Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

And the talks didn't break down, so naturally they enjoyed the food. The food in Syracuse was closer to Lao Xia's taste, but Swire wasn't quite used to it.

The main reason is that Syracuse cuisine is accustomed to "cooking until done," which means cooking food thoroughly rather than cooking it only three or four minutes done in pursuit of tenderness. Raw food is almost never eaten.

However, the food was still Western in style. The little tiger was just not used to it, but it wasn't to the point that he couldn't eat at all. Moreover, when the Godfather wasn't talking about serious matters, he could be described as a witty and refined old man.

This is not only true for him; every gentleman in high society, when it is not about personal gain or how much blood is on his hands, can be considered a "good person" in the conventional sense.

Xia Lin chose to cooperate with the mafia instead of these gentlemen for the same reason: everyone's hands are stained with blood, and no one is cleaner or more tidy than anyone else.

In fact, because the Mafia recognizes that they must rely on the power vacuum between ordinary people and gentlemen, they may actually have less blood on their hands.

Killing people with knives and guns is no different from killing people with famine, factories, or bonds, but the former also requires physical strength and guns, making it a losing proposition.

The latter, however, can make money. Putting aside everything else, the number of people the Corleone family directly or indirectly harms and kills in a year is less than one-tenth of the number of people Theresis kills by forcibly requisitioning grain and livestock as military rations.

Meanwhile, the merchants and knights' association in the northern Kazimierz cause five figures in direct casualties each year just from the bandits they tolerate, while the Corleone family is considered extremely brutal if they kill a hundred or so people in a year.

After a series of detailed agreements were reached on the Syracuse strike, the dinner ended. After sending Xia Lin and Swire back to rest, the Godfather's face darkened. He called over his two sons and his unmarried youngest daughter, saying, "Don't do anything unnecessary, and don't try to question anything. You should act as if nothing has happened."

"Yes, Father, I will get along well with my brother-in-law. Maybe I can go to his casino and play a couple of rounds."

The youngest son's nonchalant attitude only made the godfather smile and nod. The men of the family should learn to hide their hostility and sharp teeth; those who bark and howl are dogs, not wolves.

"Okay, Father," the eldest son reluctantly agreed, and the godfather could only sigh. As for the youngest daughter, she was completely bewildered and had no idea what was going on.

Meanwhile, at the Kazdel border.

"It's fixed..."

"Thank you so much, young lady," the old man said, lifting the repaired farm tools onto the cart with great effort. "However, we only have this much money left." A crumpled stack of LMD coins, along with a few early Kazdel coins, amounted to no more than 20 dollars.

"It's alright, it's just a small favor..." The girl with white-streaked hair took the money. In this late autumn, she was still dressed very lightly, wearing only a tube top and hot pants, with a large white hooded jacket over them.

The guy who appeared in Kazdel as a wandering blacksmith, crossing the border between the Great Flame and Lungmen, was undoubtedly the one codenamed "Year." Wandering blacksmith was a very good identity.

Because it's impossible for a blacksmith to support himself by staying in one village for a long time; he must travel between several towns and villages with his tools and small furnace.

Simply put, because of the needs of a village, he and two assistants completed the task in just a few days. If he hadn't traveled back and forth like that, the money wouldn't have been enough to cover expenses and food.

"If you don't mind, I can hitch a ride..." Nian packed up her makeshift tools, slung a large backpack over her shoulder, and jumped into the vehicle. "No problem, girl. We're on our way to Satie's place. Would you like to try your luck there too?"

“Sati?”

"It's that place recently. I heard that people there are living very well. We're also preparing to move because we can't make a living in our hometown."

Originally living on the outskirts of Lungmen, they were refugees who fled during the Kazdel Civil War. Lungmen refused to allow these Sarkaz to enter, so they settled them on the outskirts of the city.

Now, the unemployment rate in Longmen is rising day by day, and jobs are becoming increasingly difficult to find, while the cost of living has not decreased.

The price also rose gradually due to the approaching winter, forcing some Sarkaz who could no longer make ends meet to move back.

Especially after hearing from some fellow countrymen that the Satina area seems to be short of people and has a good standard of living, I thought I might go back and try my luck.

If they weren't truly desperate, who would willingly become a refugee, forced to leave their homeland and be looked down upon by others?

"Since there are so many people, there must be a lot of metalwork to do. I'll go over there and look for some work..."

The white-haired girl smiled and explained that she was quite nice to ordinary people, especially when she needed to disguise her identity.

Those are members of Project Sail; if they don't disguise their identities, they're guaranteed to be caught. That's what happened to the Great Yan group back then. However, in the end, none of them succeeded.

One side wants to centralize the authority of a few people and forcibly activate the modules of the Sail constellation to start the Ark, while the other side has completely abandoned the Ark project and is wholeheartedly trying to use the resources and knowledge of the Ark to manage its own empire. The conflict is irreconcilable.

When they crossed the border, they encountered a slight problem, or rather, a problem that could hardly be called a problem. They were stopped by a patrol of cavalry who told them that there was military activity ahead and that they should wait for two days.

Of course, a few camping tents and an Originium heater were provided, but no food was provided.

After circling half of the camp, he couldn't find out any news. He only saw half the night sky illuminated by firelight, and the continuous clanging and banging sounds echoed all night. "Hmm, the sound of automatic weapons and artillery. Has their technology been restored to this level?"

Of course, Nian knew that the ancient people did not use magical devices to fight. For them, Originium magic, or rather, Originium magic, actually represented scientific research and production tools, not weapons for war.

The early inhabitants used a different type of high-powered ammunition containing Originium, known as etched bullets. For the modern Terrans, etched bullets are very difficult to manufacture.

However, for the precision industrial production lines of our ancestors, manufacturing etching bullets was not difficult.

It can't be said that Lataran's imitation of firearms went astray; it was just closer to the Ming Dynasty's all-firearms army. It wasn't that the weapons were bad, but rather that the production capacity and economic strength were insufficient to support the popularization and large-scale deployment of such weapons.

"It seems they've finally figured out that the etching bullets are formed by high-pressure shaping of Originium rather than by cutting and carving."

The complex internal structure, external circuits, and triggering mechanism of the etching projectile are certainly not created by cutting and carving and then piecing together layers of Originium. Instead, it is shaped into a column by using prepared Originium dust and other raw materials under high temperature and ultra-high pressure and then processed.

The trigger mechanism is also a special Originium component, similar to the one made by Sesa, which can be used without any special Originium Arts. The guns that lack these two arts are the ones that Laterano has.

However, they managed to painstakingly restore a portion of the etched bullets using clumsy cutting and carving techniques.

The power of the etched bullet is more than twice that of conventional ammunition, which is the same bullet that can crit in three shots from the cat's head.

However, this is only part of the story. For the Terrans, the etched bullets they use now are essentially just black powder instead of smokeless powder in fixed bullets.

True etching rounds can produce the same effect as the old Xia's thermal melting weapon, generating a high-temperature explosion or an electric arc explosion upon impact. Armor-piercing etching rounds can even achieve an effect similar to micro-jet armor-piercing rounds.

However, these require a synthetic jade outer shell and a more complex internal structure, which, with modern Terra production processes... well, forget about it.

The battle lasted all night, or more accurately, the actual frontal combat lasted only 25 minutes. After that, the time was spent capturing people everywhere. The next morning, the patrol cavalry informed them that they could go. On the way to the Satti Oasis, Nian saw the cavalry escorting a string of prisoners toward the concentration camp.

These were not Theresis's combat troops, but rather bandits who had not been incorporated into the army and Sarkaz who had run away from the south and returned to their old ways.

What awaited them was five to ten years of hard labor. As for those who had blood on their hands and committed heinous crimes, they were executed on the spot and did not even live to enter the concentration camp.

As for the forced labor in the concentration camps, it took many forms. The simplest job was to inspect the railway with a railcar and repair tracks damaged by natural disasters and wild animals, while the most arduous job was to go to the snow mountain ice mines to extract ice.

The ice layers that had remained frozen for millennia due to the weakened strength of the tower heating circuit were destroyed with explosives and magic. The entire ice surface was then knocked down and fell into the ice-melting tank. Heated by the tower heating pipelines on both sides, the ice quickly turned into clean fresh water, which flowed down the mountain through the karez wells and into various water storage stations, irrigation wells, and water systems.

After more than a year of work, a small triangular gap has appeared near the snow line of the snow mountain, which is very conspicuous on the snow-white mountain peak. The ice and snow in that area have been completely removed, exposing the dark blue-black rocks. However, there is still water inside these rocks, which will seep out little by little.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Our Light...

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

The next day, at the Godfather's manor, the young blonde girl was led to the reception room by a maid. Somewhat shy, she clung to the maid's skirt and peeked out from behind to observe the people in the reception room.

Seemingly finding no threat, she tugged at her skirt and performed a very standard ladylike greeting, "Good morning, my name is Lisa." Her fluffy tail twirled behind her, seemingly revealing her owner's nervousness.

"What a well-behaved child..." Xia Lin observed the other person for a while and found that there were no obvious crystal marks on her body. Was it because the condition was not serious, or was it cleverly concealed?

"The child's mother is a member of the family, a lady I trust very much. Given her current special circumstances, I cannot disclose her name or whereabouts."

After all, any group is made up of people. If Xia Lin's people are victims of the mafia or her mother's victims, it would be detrimental to the child's treatment and safety.

"And her father was a clergyman from the Eastern Kingdom, and I heard he was a disciple of the gods..."

"Divine beings?" Xia Lin frowned. The doctor had mentioned these people. They were the original mutants, strictly speaking, failed experiments. Their traits were too singular and could not be stably inherited. They were also usually accompanied by relatively serious genetic diseases and conflicts.

However, just as the Maya believed that deformities indicated an extraordinary bloodline, the Terrans seemed to regard these people as exceptional beings with divine lineage. In fact, according to the doctor, the Wendigo was the ideal product.

Originium has amazing resistance, a robust physique, and is not afraid of most conventional pollution. It can obtain the memories and learning results of its own kind through cannibalism. Most importantly, it can eat people.

During the long journey on the Ark, there is a possibility that the population will increase due to lax management, leading to problems with the food cycle. The Wendigo can control the population by cannibalism, and at the same time, prevent the loss of knowledge.

Not only that, the exoskeleton covering their bodies also provides a certain degree of protection when entering new environments. The powerful control over Originium particles can form a protective layer, thus protecting them from environmental damage in alien environments. In short, the cursed races, and even demons like the Sarkaz, were the original successes.

However, because it was too successful, it was a product of desperation in the face of the catastrophe of civilization extinction, and all its shapes were extremely anti-human, so it became a cursed race.

The other one was so successful that it became ubiquitous, and because of the widespread hatred of the Mineral Patients, they both ended up as villains on Terra.

In contrast, the so-called divine people, due to their small number, are considered a noble and rare bloodline, which is quite an interesting phenomenon.

"Does Lisa have any other genetic diseases?"

Why do you say that?

"It's nothing, just asking," Xia Lin shook his head. "From a doctor's perspective," he did have a medical license, well, a veterinary license, so saying that couldn't be considered lying.

"At least I don't know," the Godfather thought for a moment, then shook his head. He had many things to do and couldn't possibly keep an eye on one of his subordinates' daughters all the time.

In other words, the fact that he has gone this far shows that he is very humane and has even exceeded his duty as a "godfather".

“Alright, I will arrange her treatment and surgery. She may need some time to recover. Would you mind if Miss Lisa went to Kazdel for treatment?” “If I had minded, I wouldn’t have asked for your help,” the Godfather added. “Besides, her father has also agreed to her going to Kazdel for treatment…”

"Can I meet with them?"

"That might be a bit difficult. Her father has already left Syracuse, perhaps he went to search for her mother?"

The Godfather sighed. It was a great pity that the man hadn't been caught. After all, the assassination attempt was partly due to the man's involvement. He wanted to return to the Eastern Kingdom. It was easy to imagine that there was a lot of history behind a God's citizen being stranded in Syracuse.

However, due to her loyalty to the family, Lisa's mother disagreed; she preferred that the man stay in Syracuse and remain with the family.

However, the Godfather, from the perspective of a father and a man, also understood the other party's thoughts—how could a noble citizen of God continue to live under someone else's roof and be supported by his wife?

If he were in his shoes, he would seize any opportunity at all costs, and even if he wanted to stay in Syracuse, he would still need to have his own career and status.

Moreover, although no conclusive evidence was found in the previous attack, all indications suggest that, from all perspectives, only that man would have done something like hiring that lone wolf to take Lisa away.

After all, if it were Lisa's mother, the Godfather wouldn't stop her from taking her away, and she would never take her daughter away without even asking a question. That would be a great disrespect to the Godfather, and everyone knows what happens to those who disrespect the Godfather.

"So, what does Miss Lisa herself think?"

"Huh?" The blonde nine-tailed fox loli looked at Xia Lin with some confusion. "Are we going to a very far place?"

"Yes, Kazdel, a very far place."

"Can Nalisa bring her own doll?"

"Sure, don't worry about your luggage. But aren't you scared about being so far from home?"

"Hmm, a little bit, but Lisa will try her best to get used to it..." The blonde girl obediently indicated that she would try her best to adapt to life in a foreign land.

"Then we'll take her with us on the return trip, so she can stay at home for a little longer and there's no need to rush..."

"That's wonderful." The godfather nodded, then gestured for the maid to take the little girl away, as they were about to discuss some serious matters.

"Regarding the 'festival,' what scale do you plan for it to be?"

"Ideally, all the people of Syracuse could enjoy it to their heart's content..." Xia Lin stirred the espresso in her cup, showing no intention of drinking it.

"That would be too difficult. Such a grand celebration cannot be accomplished by a single family."

"Therefore, I will visit other families as appropriate, and I believe they will definitely agree."

"Because you offered them a price they couldn't refuse..." The Godfather certainly knew what this visit meant.

However, he did not object, because it was advantageous for the Corleone family, so why object?

The so-called celebration was actually a plan to organize a large-scale strike by workers on the day of the Syracusean festival, demanding higher wages. The mafia, who would normally try to stop them, would not only allow it but would even secretly fan the flames. Of course, they would also do their best to ensure that the process appeared to be just an ordinary event.

The people of Syracuse are also known for not dealing with things immediately; whatever the matter is, they will leave it until after the festival dinner.