Ark Journey

"West side."

Xue Zhi casually repeated it, and then asked:

"West, do you know what's ahead?"

"do not know."

"It seems you are wandering?"

"almost."

"Can you tell me why?"

"The natural disaster destroyed our homeland. We are the only ones left in the entire village."

When he uttered the word "natural disaster" through gritted teeth, Xue Zhi felt the bodies of the team members behind him stiffen.

[It seems that natural disasters are still scary]

Putting aside her thoughts, Xue Zhi bowed slightly, expressed her condolences to the deceased, and then extended an invitation.

"I'm sorry to have reminded you of bad things. Please accept my apology. From here forward is our settlement, which is currently under development. I wonder if any of you are interested in joining us."

Blau was frozen by Xue Zhi's sudden flowery speech and actions. He didn't remember the mercenaries having such a high cultural level. What he heard next made him open his eyes wide, as if he saw hope of life, but he still remained alert.

"There's a settlement ahead? Are they going to capture us and take us to mine?"

Xue Zhi was amused by his straightforward words and immediately made a joke as well.

"If you like mining, we have mines anyway, but most of the time we are still reclaiming the land for farming. And you are too weak to take on the task of mining."

Indeed, the long-term wandering caused them all to suffer from mild malnutrition, not to mention the mineral disease that was devouring their lives.

Seeing that Blau didn't answer for a long time, Xue Zhi threw out some more bait. Manpower was too important now, and they were also rather pitiful.

"What do you think? We are just starting out and can enjoy many benefits, such as drugs to suppress mineralogy."

Blau, who was still thinking, looked shocked.

"Ore sickness inhibitor!?"

Xue Zhi nodded, and at the same time took out a tube of purifying water and passed it over using telekinesis.

"Yes, if you join us, everyone will get one. As for the effect, you can try it first."

"this..."

Blau took the test tube, a little hesitant, as he was afraid that it was poisonous. But suddenly a man walked out from the crowd behind him. Xue Zhi looked closely and found that it was the man who was previously diagnosed with acute Originium disease by the mercenaries.

"Brother, let me give it a try. If it works, we'll join in. If it doesn't, run away quickly."

Although there was some hesitation, Xue Zhi watched quietly. In a place like Kazdel, it was very difficult to easily gain the trust of others.

They argued for a while, and after the voices died down, the man drank the water of purification, and then the effects visible to the naked eye began to manifest. The parts of his body that were wrapped in bandages but still showed signs of disease quickly recovered, and large pieces of Originium fragments fell from his body.

"!!!"

Blau was extremely surprised by the effect; it was much more effective than any potion he had seen in the past twenty years of his life.

Xue Zhi smiled again and asked:

"How? Have you thought about it?"

"My name is Blau, and I am considered their leader. I hope Your Excellency is not lying to us."

"Xue Zhi, you will be glad you made this decision."

Xue Zhi took the initiative to extend her hand, and then the two hands were clasped together. The first batch of members of Kazitun officially appeared today.

Chapter 75: Government-sponsored Study Abroad

After letting go of her hand, Xue Zhi briefly explained a few words to the mercenary, and then said to Blau:

"Let my team take you back first. I still have patrol duties to perform."

Blau bent down to show his obedience. He didn't intend to say anything more after Xue Zhi gave each of them a bottle of mineral sickness inhibitor. What's more, Xue Zhi also gave some food to each of the children who had been hungry for a long time.

"It all depends on your arrangement."

"Ah."

After allocating the personnel, the mercenaries led these people towards the settlement, while Xue Zhi and W continued patrolling.

The drone that changed its position in order to track these people returned to its original surveillance position, and W, who was watching them walk away, elbowed Xue Zhi in the waist.

"I thought you trusted these people, but you sent all of them back except for us two."

Blocking her iron elbow, Xue Zhi smiled and said:

"You shouldn't have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against them. There are at least 20 of them, so we have to keep a close eye on them."

"That's right, let's keep going."

After returning to the designated patrol route, the two walked slowly. Apart from the endless wasteland, they could only see a few Originium worms at most. Even slightly larger creatures were not seen.

"It's really desolate. It won't be easy to develop it in the future."

"You're thinking too far ahead, Xue Zhi. We don't know when we can expand the town to here."

“It will be achieved one day.”

After reaching the farthest point and not finding anything unusual, the two began to walk back.

"Sing me a song, W. I remember you can sing a Sarkaz tune."

W rolled his eyes in response.

"You are really leisurely. Let's go on a mission now."

Xue Zhi smiled and came close to her and said:

"Don't look at me like this now. I can sense any disturbance within a few kilometers."

Knowing that he was not lying, W sighed and then slowly began to sing.

The melodious tune was carried far away by the wind. It seemed to be a song composed more than two hundred years ago. Xue Zhi could feel the unwillingness and confusion of the Sarkaz when they were besieged from the melody and the surging spirit of W.

The second part of the song suddenly becomes exciting. The six heroes lead the Sarkaz in resistance. The legendary cat lover Mr. Dat cuts off the cat head of the green-haired old lynx with one sword.

Xue Zhi combined her knowledge of Sarkaz history with W's singing, quietly feeling the past events and emotions that were integrated into history.

In the evening, the two men returned to the settlement after finishing their patrol. W told Xue Zhi that he would take him to try a newly opened restaurant, so the two did not return to the tent.

In a shop surrounded by several iron sheets, Xue Zhi and W found an empty table and sat down. He estimated the location and said:

"I remember this place was planned as a commercial street. How come someone has occupied the space so quickly?"

After taking off all the equipment and putting it away, W took the water that had just been handed to him and drank it all.

"Of course, there are always people with quick minds. And this person's craftsmanship is pretty good, you can look forward to it."

"Ah."

The meal hasn't arrived yet, but other people who came back earlier have also arrived here.

They sat around Xue Zhi and chatted with him while taking orders.

"The Minister is also coming here to eat?"

"Come and try it, what are those people like?"

"We have just settled down and found a place to set up tents outside our group. We also went to the clinic to check them out. There is no big problem. At most, they are a little malnourished. They will be fine after a few days of rest."

"Well, have they looked into the idea of settling down here?"

"Yes, a few relatively healthy men are already looking for work. They will probably be able to go to our fields tomorrow. They know something."

"Good."

After chatting for a few words, the boss brought all the meals to everyone. Because the business was not yet well-established and there was no small amount of money, they all kept accounts first.

Xue Zhi ordered a bowl of noodles. As a northerner, he really liked eating noodles. There were also a lot of condiments on the table for free. When he saw those bottles and jars, he remembered that when the peddler came that day, he seemed to have seen the boss going shopping.

W ordered fish and chips, and those who cast nets in the river finally got some catch.

The taste is good, the noodles are chewy, and the ingredients added are quite flavorful.

After eating and paying the bill, as the minister, Xue Zhi treated them today, and he still had some small change to use.

But just when he was about to go back to the tent to hang out with W, Hedley intercepted him halfway.

There was no choice but for the two to follow Hedley to his tent.

"In the next few days, I plan to go to the Scar Mall. Do you want to come with me? Although I found a few teachers from my old friends, it's not enough. I need to recruit a few more."

"Go, take W with you. There should be craftsmen there who know how to engrave Originium, right? I want to develop the fertilizer industry."

"No problem, but they're asking a lot of money."

Xue Zhi waved his hand nonchalantly, and then put forward his idea:

"Problems that can be solved with money are not problems. By the way, how about finding those in our group who are good at using Originium skills and sending a few of them out to learn this technology? With W, many industrial products can be made directly using Originium skills first, and then the casting units that store specific spells can be made for mass production.

As for whether they are willing to teach and the tuition fees, I believe they cannot withstand the Red Gold Offensive."

Speaking of this, Xue Zhi started laughing. She could only say that having money is really good, and many problems can be solved by spending more money.

Government-sponsored study abroad, started!

Hedley also found this suggestion very attractive.

"Okay, I'll prepare in the next few days and find those people to ask them what they think."

"Well, now that we are not short of money, remember to pay them enough wages. They can even become a fixed point for us in the Scar Mall, which will be convenient for us to do something or pass on information in the future."

"I'll give this to Inès. By the way, I remember you brought back some people today?"

"Yes, I just settled it in. It seems to be fine."

"That's good, finally we have more manpower."

After chatting for a while and finding nothing serious to do, Xue Zhi and W returned to the tent.

This time, I took W with me to remove the storage source stone skill and start the fertilizer industry. I also wanted to buy some clothes. Although he could change them directly from the system panel, it would be better to have some exotic clothes.

After a short rest, W picked up his pen and started studying today.

"Running around and doing homework is really tiring."

Holding her in her arms, Xue Zhi slowly massaged her shoulders and temples. The perfect strength and electric stimulation made W close her eyes comfortably.

"Tell Hedley about this in a while, and let you concentrate on your studies. If you do well in chemistry, it can't be stopped by a few people."

"Don't lie to me."

"of course."

Chapter 76: Go to Scar Mall Again

The next day, Xue Zhi, who had just finished her morning patrol, found Brown and his group camped at the edge of the mercenary group.

"Blau, how are you adjusting?"

Seeing Xue Zhi coming over, Bulao quickly stopped weaving the basket he was working on.

"It's good. Nothing is expensive here, and they provide us with some free stuff and medicine."

Xue Zhi noticed that he was weaving a small basket, but she wasn't sure what the material was.

“Can you knit?”

"Well, there are a lot of plants around our original village, but now we use what we collected on the road. We just arrived in a new place, so we got some things that we can use ourselves and sell for some money."

Xue Zhi felt like she had picked up a treasure. If it wasn't a treasure, it was at least a good thing.

"Very good. Have you noticed the forest to the north of the settlement? The plants there are very suitable for weaving when they grow up. They also grow very fast. You can go and have a look if you have time recently. We are currently lacking many craftsmen, and some daily necessities are also in short supply."

"North? I'll keep an eye on it."

After looking around here, Xue Zhi left. He just started to inspect the situation of the things he had made from the edge of the mercenary group.

After crossing the river and heading south, there is a thriving artificial forest. Although it is still deserted, Xue Zhi believes that it won’t be long before she sees many small animals coming from the native forest.

I looked along the woods and finally came to a bamboo forest. This thing grows very fast and is now almost as tall as a person's waist.