Ark Journey

"Thank you."

Throwing down these two words, W took Xue Zhi away.

In the deserted corridor, Kal'tsit leaned against the wall tiredly, and no one knew what she was thinking at the moment.

Following W through several turns in Rhodes Island, Xue Zhi saw a thin man carrying a large crossbow.

After some communication, W successfully got what she wanted.

Putting the documents close to his body, W pulled Xue Zhi's clothes and said, "Let's go."

"Ah."

After leaving Rhodes Island, the two men rode their bikes without stopping and began to chase the assassins who had not yet run far.

Along the way, W remained silent, but Xue Zhi could still feel her inner pain.

......

This journey lasted for five whole days. The two killed all the assassins they could find, and W, who hadn't had a good night's sleep for several days, was exhausted.

Holding the already asleep W in her arms, Xue Zhi slowly rode her bike towards the base.

He didn't understand why some assassins, when faced with W's revenge, chose to die bravely as if to atone for the crime of assassinating Theresa. If they were like this, why did they still do so? It was really confusing.

There are also some people who completely erased their Sarkaz features in order to assassinate Theresa. They are comparable to the assassins in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Even though they were hunted by them and even though they felt guilty towards Theresa, they still used their lives to prove that Theresa's choice was correct. Xue Zhi could not evaluate those assassins.

When the moon was at its zenith, the two finally returned to their base.

Hedley and Inès rushed over upon learning of their return, and Xue Zhi had just settled W.

In an open space far away from the tent, the three people started chatting.

With Xue Zhi accompanying W, they didn't have to worry about any accidents. With his abilities, he could definitely handle most of the problems they encountered in Kazdel.

However, some psychological problems are inevitable.

"what happens?"

"Theresa is dead. She was assassinated."

As a Sarkaz, Hedley respected the princess very much, and was shocked when he heard the news of her death: "What!?"

Xue Zhi sighed: "I didn't lie to you, but we don't know the specific situation. We have been hunting down the assassins who survived these days."

Hedley was silent for a long time and could only sigh.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. How is W doing?"

"She's in a very bad mental state, but don't worry too much." Xue Zhi took out various things from the warehouse. These were written on the note that Hedley gave him when he left. "It was W who suggested buying these things. After clearing out all the assassins, I was planning to bring her back directly, but W said there were some things that the fellow villagers needed to buy."

Glancing towards the tent, Ines praised W, "What a good kid."

Xue Zhi continued, "Yes. I will try to cheer W up. Hedley, the rest depends on whether you can combine what I give you with Theresa's wish so that she can have something to do."

"Don't worry, I've learned a lot and I won't let you down."

After chatting for a while, the three of them returned to their own tents, but W, who had already fallen asleep, was sitting on the blanket.

Holding her in her arms, Xue Zhi asked softly:

"Don't you want to sleep a little longer?"

"I don't want to sleep. Xue Zhi, you say..."

Burying her head in Xue Zhi's arms, W hadn't finished speaking yet before her words were completely drowned out by very low sobs.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing to be able to vent. During the desperate chase these days, he didn't see W shed a single tear. The tense emotions conveyed by him made him feel suffocated.

Feeling W's strength in holding her gradually increasing, Xue Zhi didn't know what to say and could only gently stroke her back.

After crying for a while and calming down a little, W continued:

"Her Highness Theresa is such a good person, why, why did those people want to kill her?"

Xue Zhi expressed her own understanding:

"There are always people who hold different ideas. Perhaps they think that Theresa's approach cannot lead the Sarkaz to prosperity."

W said nothing, but just shed tears silently.

Xue Zhi noticed this and slowly held her cheeks to wipe away her tears, then hugged her tightly.

"Don't cry, W. I'm here."

It was not until very late that the tired W fell into a deep sleep, leaving Xue Zhi, who was still awake, sitting alone and worried.

The next morning, Hedley sent Xue Zhi and W to contact the villagers and exchange the purchased items for some food.

Following Hedley's instructions, Xue Zhi took W, who had recovered somewhat, and a flatbed cart of things to the place where they used to trade.

There were already quite a few people waiting there.

Salt, ironware, medicine, and daily necessities are not convenient for some elderly Sarkaz in the village to go outside to get them, so they can only buy them from some merchants. In recent years, due to the civil war in Kazdel, there are fewer merchants.

An old man who was holding a bag of powder made from some unknown crop and exchanged it for a large bag of salt touched Xue Zhi and said, "Young man, I want to ask you something."

There was no one else around, so out of respect for the elderly, Xue Zhi jumped out of the car: "What do you want to ask, old man?"

"Is the battle outside over?"

"Yes, I just finished it."

After receiving the news, the old man limped away with the things he had exchanged: "It's over, it's finally over. Thank you, young man."

W walked up to Xue Zhi, looked at the old man's receding back and whispered, "His son died in a previous battle. He brought back only an identity card. The land here is too poor to support too many people, so his son had to go out to make a living."

Chapter 63: A New Beginning

When Xue Zhi saw the old man, she felt something indescribable echoing in her mind for the first time.

He was not puzzled by the death of the old man's son in battle. He himself had blood on his hands. What he really didn't understand was the civil war that led to the deaths of so many people.

"It makes no sense. It makes no sense."

He repeated this sentence in a low voice.

From his perspective, the ideas and paths of both the Tower of Babel and the Military Committee are the same.

But he also understood that his ideas were too metaphysical.

As an outsider born in a peaceful era, my feelings cannot be compared with those of those who have experienced everything personally. For those people, both sides have their trustworthy points, and this civil war has a unique meaning for them.

Aliens, foreign enemies, civil strife, hatred, misunderstanding, ambition, natural disasters, civilization, mineral diseases, all these factors combined to create the current tragic situation.

And a war is enough to release the old grudges accumulated over the years, and then accumulate new hatred, which will continue to ferment and trigger the next war and the next tragedy.

[The general trend of the world is that long-term division will eventually lead to unification, and long-term unification will eventually lead to division. Our ancestors never lied to me.]

With a heavy sigh, Xue Zhi dispelled all the thoughts in his mind. He planned to do something. This idea appeared in his subconscious mind since he gave some books to Hedley. Now it just officially emerged in his mind.

Taking W's hand, Xue Zhi asked in a low voice:

"W, are you willing to join me and try to change the world?"

"of course."

W couldn't fully understand Xue Zhi's thoughts, but she would definitely stand with him.

You are really despicable, Xue Zhi, for saying such things when a girl is vulnerable!

That afternoon, Hedley gathered most of the people, even a few respected elders in the village, and then announced the future plans of the mercenary group. He planned to build a town here, and then gradually cancel the name of the mercenary group and turn it into a town government.

Maybe it will be merged with the village in the future, but no one can predict what will happen in the future.

Those in the mercenary group who have various talents but have been delayed by the war can pick up their skills again, and those who are best at fighting will be organized into new combat units.

At the same time, teachers will be invited from all over the place to teach, or craftsmen in the village will be sought to learn. In short, universal education is imminent.

He didn't mention the more subtle details, as the people below couldn't understand such complicated things.

Finally, Hedley handed over the power of choice to the people below. He would not interfere whether they chose to stay or leave. If they chose to leave, they would receive 1.5 times the due reward.

But surprisingly, no one chose to leave. They all felt that following Hedley was a good decision, and most people were tired of wandering and fighting for so many years.

What's more, Xue Zhi is here and can provide medicine to suppress mineralogy. With this, only a fool would choose to leave.

There was nothing much to say about the village representatives. The villagers were all elderly people or women and children who had no ability to protect themselves. It was good to have a trustworthy group around them, not to mention that some girls in the village had secret crushes on some of the guys in the mercenary groups. It would be best for them to live around them.

Seeing that no one chose to leave, Hedley standing on the stage laughed, and then said a few simple words:

"Thank you for your trust. The specific arrangements will be issued in the next few days. You can walk around these days and see if there is anything you can use. Now we are no longer a mercenary group running around, but we need to take root. Finally, I hope we can have a bright future."

After the meeting, the mercenaries were not too surprised. This was not the first time this idea came up. They just gathered in twos and threes to discuss what could be obtained in the surrounding environment.

Xue Zhi and W, who listened to the entire process, returned to the tent. They didn't know much about the surroundings, so they didn't participate in the mercenaries' discussion, but prepared to use their own abilities.

Taking out paper and pen, Xue Zhi knew a lot of knowledge, but except for his major in materials, he didn't know much in depth, so he planned to come back and write down what he could do first.

"First of all, we need to improve agriculture. The land here is barren and needs to be fertilized with green manure. I remember there is a river not far away. We can open a canal for irrigation..."

W leaned on Xue Zhi. Although she couldn't understand the Chinese characters he wrote on the paper at a very fast speed, just leaning next to him and listening to his voice made her feel peaceful.

While Xue Zhi was making plans, all the command fairy drones took off and began to conduct a large-scale survey of the surrounding environment and draw a topographic map.

Most of the mercenaries also dispersed in an attempt to find some useful resources around.

In the evening, Xue Zhi found Hedley with a roughly written plan.

Because of his writing habits, he subconsciously used Chinese characters, but then he remembered that he had to show it to Hedley and copied it again in Kazdel language.

Admiring the neatly organized house layout and various facilities on the paper, Hedley was a little confused: "Town planning? You still know this?"

Xue Zhi spread her hands and said, "I definitely can't, but I can still understand it by copying it."

Because the current scale of the settlement is not large and the surrounding terrain is very flat, only residential areas and small commercial areas need to be planned, so Xue Zhi just walked around in her mind and found a suitable planning plan.

Without dwelling on this aspect, Hedley pointed to the river that meandered through the side of the town on the map: "That's fine. I'm more curious about the river that runs through the town. I don't need to calculate, just estimating the amount of earthwork, I know it's not a small project. But once it's completed, it should provide a lot of convenience for the village."

Xue Zhi was full of confidence: "You don't have to worry about this. I can handle the project by myself."

Hedley sighed, then pulled out the paper with the agricultural plan written on it: "It's really thanks to you. I don't quite understand the part about agriculture you wrote below, so I'll leave it to you. Ross in the mercenary group knows more about this, you can go talk to him."

Xue Zhi nodded: "Yes, I know him, he was also in the team I led before. In addition, Hedley, education should be put on the agenda."

Hedley, who understood the importance of education, agreed: "I know, I have sent people to find my old friends, I hope they can get us a few teachers, if not, we have to go to Scar Emporium to hire people. I also plan to start a night school tonight and start teaching everyone to read, do you want to join us?"

Xue Zhi thought about her task and replied, "It's not very convenient these days. I plan to dig a canal at night."

"Okay, you get busy first."

"Ah."

Chapter 64: Quietly Accelerating Progress

Before leaving, Xue Zhi remembered something and turned back to ask Hedley:

"Are you short of money?"

"It's in short supply, do you have any?"

It would cost a lot of money to reorganize the mercenary group, and they still have to pay the previous salaries. Although no one asked him for money, there is no doubt that giving enough money would be enough motivation to work.

"I really do have it. Do you have the Pure Originium?"

Hedley took out a piece of pure Originium and threw it to Xue Zhi.

“It’s the last one.”

"to make."

As a reward for the profiteer, Xue Zhi released a cubic gold nugget, the huge weight of which caused the ground to sink a little.

Hedley couldn't believe what he saw. He pointed at the huge red gold he had never seen before and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"This is to show you how much money I have on hand. Of course, you can take it directly, but it's too heavy and inconvenient to use. These are for you."

Using the piece of gold as a table, Xue Zhi took out a black box filled with portable versions of the gold that he had cut in advance into 100g pieces.

In order to ensure that the box could withstand the weight of so much gold, Xue Zhi also specially used order elements to strengthen it from top to bottom.

"That's pretty much it."

Hedley lifted the box, but the huge weight made him stagger as he was unprepared. He managed to steady himself after exerting force with his arms.