A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

It takes about an hour by rail to get from the capital to Del Knight.

There are no railcars available now, and it takes quite a while to get here from Dale Knight.

"Hmm... the safe zone is destroyed." The girl's mood began to sink, as if something tragic had happened in that safe zone.

Strong people don't exist everywhere; Dale Knight is a typical example of a place without enough powerful people to protect it.

What destroyed the entire safe zone was not a simple monster, but a Silver-tier one.

Even without any concept of it, the Silver species are not something that normal low-level species can deal with. If they were willing, destroying a safe zone would be a piece of cake.

The question is simply what their motives were for destroying the safe zone.

Destroying the safe zone generally doesn't bring any benefits to Silver-ranked individuals, so they won't do such a thing.

The decision by the Silver Seed to destroy a certain safe zone was largely driven by individual hatred.

For example, in the Imperial Capital Safe Zone, there are probably several Silver-ranked individuals eyeing it covetously; there are just too many hateful guys in there.

Bray himself is one of them.

“Everyone is hurting others for their own sake. My father was killed by our former neighbor.”

“…” Upon hearing this, Bray paused slightly in his pushing of the cart.

In this era, it's not surprising that anyone dies, and it's not unusual no matter how tragic their death is.

However, if possible, Bray would not want to see deaths caused by infighting.

While human life may indeed be worthless, Bray cannot condone the act of killing people who are just as worthless as grass.

Humans are indeed selfish, but selfishness does not mean that one should destroy everything except oneself.

Bray let out a long sigh.

This young girl has had a tough time. Thinking about it this way, Luo Shiqi has also had a tough time.

"Gurgle—" Just then, a wild beast's roar echoed from the edge of the surrounding ruins.

The lowered voice revealed an undisguised desire.

The monsters gathered around without them noticing, and this group of harmless people became their perfect prey.

Bray glanced at the well-hidden monster.

However, saying they are well hidden only means that they are difficult to spot with the naked eye; with all that noise, everyone knows these guys are lying in ambush.

Of course, Bray had already noticed their movements before they made any growling noises, but he didn't say much to the group behind him.

To avoid causing panic, Bray was more concerned with the group's own disarray than with the threat posed by the monster itself.

Bray didn't stop, but instead exuded the aura he usually kept under wraps.

The monsters' growls disappeared, and the monsters that had finally gathered gradually dispersed.

The brutal roar sounded and then disappeared, as if telling everyone that the sound just now was just an auditory hallucination.

The little girl looked up at Bray... What had he just done?

“You’ve had it tough too,” Bray said, patting her on the shoulder. The Middle Continent wasn’t just home to the Will Empire—though that empire had long since been completely destroyed.

The Commonwealth of Leicester is also a country that occupies most of the central continent.

Similarly, this country was also destroyed, utterly annihilated by those demigods whose very existence was destruction.

Since then, there has been no president.

Only one disabled middle-aged man remained, stubbornly clinging to life as a former federal citizen.

Pride Orman, who is nearly 60 years old, is sitting in a wheelchair, gazing at the view of the Federal Security District.

His face was still angular, but it had become more weathered.

His eyes were still so firm, but unfortunately he looked a little old.

The reinforced concrete and the steam permeating every corner give one the illusion that this place has not been destroyed at all.

It was as if all industry was still going on, and all production had never stopped.

The idea that it "has not been destroyed" is indeed an illusion, but production in the Federal Safety Zone is indeed still ongoing.

It's just that with technology and everything else, we're starting from scratch.

Unfortunately, production did not collapse, but public order did.

This is subtly the opposite of the state of the Imperial Safe Zone.

If information hadn't been completely cut off, and if Pride knew about the order of the Imperial Capital Safe Zone, he would have swallowed his pride and gone to ask for advice.

His actions were not for personal gain, but for the entire Federation. Even if the Federation was destroyed, the true Federation of Leicester would still remain in his heart.

As long as Pride doesn't die, he might one day witness the revival of the Federation, and he sincerely hopes to see that day.

It's not that I'm afraid of aging and death, it's simply that I want to see the Federation in my heart revived once again.

Even if he were to die after witnessing the Federation's recovery, he would gladly accept such a death.

After all, he thought he would die in this disaster, but in the end he only lost his two legs.

Pride was far less powerful than Carrasco, who was at his peak, and he had no way to stop the Silver Saints.

So he risked his own life and the lives of other soldiers to forcibly defend this safe zone.

The temporary peace bought with bloodshed is not wrong in itself.

As for the Empire, Pride wanted to express his gratitude to that "perennial colonel."

Basically, everyone in the Middle East knows what Eric did.

For many, Eric failed.

But for Pride, he succeeded; his actions saved many people, including those in the Federation.

Therefore, even if the other party is from the Empire, Pride is willing to express his gratitude.

As for the Empire and the Federation... there's really no point in distinguishing between them now.

They all share the same identity: refugees in a post-apocalyptic world.

“You sewer rat, you look like you’re living a very comfortable life now,” Pride said to the man behind her, sitting in her wheelchair, bathed in the warm sunlight.

Goode sat on the table, with Tristia, the elven ranger who was even wearing a hood, beside him, and Laurentina, who was expressionless.

Tristy and Laurentina were not lucky to survive this disaster.

Although this elf's strength is nowhere near the level of Greed, it is beyond the scope of lower-level species.

As for Laurentina, she was a monster created by the Silver Race themselves, so it's not surprising that she survived in this apocalypse.

"I see you're having a pretty miserable time, Mr. President," Gurid said coldly, fiddling with an unidentified prop in his hand.

"So you're here to rob us? Finally, instead of stealing, you're openly robbing us." Pride said casually, without even glancing at Gureed.

Pride had to admit that he didn't like Goreid.

This greedy person embodies all the base desires of humanity, and it's difficult to find anything respectable about him.

Even Tristey, who was his attendant, admitted that she didn't like a guy like Gride.

The only one who likes Greed is probably Laurentina, a girl with no personality or emotional intelligence.

"That's right, is everything prepared for me?" Then, just as Pride said, he came to seize one of the few resources in the safe zone.

"The people at the door will take you to get it." Pride waved his hand, not speaking to Gureed in any angry tone.

This is normal, because Gurid's behavior of arbitrarily taking resources from the safe zone is something he tacitly approves of.

It sounds absurd, but that's exactly how it is. If you don't know the whole story, it's hard to understand why someone with Pride's personality would do such a thing.

Pride would do such a thing for a very simple reason.

That means if it weren't for Gurid, the Federal Security Zone would have been reduced to ruins long ago.

Leaving aside the question of resources, whether anyone could even survive was a problem.

However, Gulid's intervention was not driven by a sudden surge of righteousness, but rather by a self-interested act of saving the capital of the Leicester Federation—Modonia.

If there is no place with living people, Gurid will not get what he wants.

His greed cannot be satisfied by a barren land alone...

After being rescued, Pride tacitly approved of Gureed's almost bandit-like behavior.

From petty thieves to robbers, there's not much difference in essence; they're all "stealing."

"Very good, I wish us a pleasant cooperation in the future."

"I hope you don't die of old age too soon." After saying that, Gureed kicked open the already dilapidated door and walked out.

Laurentina followed Gurid off as well.

Laurentina lacked a clear sense of right and wrong, so she was unable to judge what was right and wrong.

Let alone her, many people themselves are unable to judge right from wrong.

Tristy did not leave immediately, but instead looked deeply at the crippled Federal President.

“I’m sorry, but this will put the safe zone in a difficult situation again,” Tristy said after a moment of contemplation.

She was actually conflicted. She didn't know anything about what Greed had done, but she had no choice but to follow her in order to become stronger.

“It doesn’t matter. It will be a bit worse, but no one will die because of it,” Pride said quietly.

Goody took away more than just food.

"If I can survive on a starving beast, I'm willing to endure the hunger." This former president's life is far from comfortable now.

He may very well be living a worse life than some of the ordinary people below him.

But he was still able to say those words...

“Surviving the apocalypse without paying a price is impossible,” Pride said, then drew the curtains.

The light dimmed instantly, and Tristey's expression dimmed along with it.

Some people might think that all the great people in history were sages.

That's right, only those with sufficient intellect can be called great people—that's what everyone should think.

Leading people through a cultural revolution, braving storms to find a new continent, and enduring sandstorms to establish a nation in barren lands...

These people deserve to be called great men, but what is truly admirable is their so-called "intellectualism."

Calmness, rationality, and so on are all important, but they are not the most crucial point.

What makes great people so incredible is their unique kind of "foolishness."

Which intelligent person would risk being nailed to the pillar of shame to revive civilization? Which intelligent person would risk their life to search for a continent that may or may not even exist? Which intelligent person would build a habitable place in a barren land?

Everyone who accomplishes great things is a fool, but the kind of fool who can proudly call himself "stupid."

Therefore, Eric felt that he must be a great man too!

Yes, it must be.

He bore so much infamy, yet saved the vast majority of people; he will surely be called a "great man" in the future.

I wonder what future generations will call me? "The Father of Ice Cream"? That sounds wonderful.

“Captain, I have a feeling I’m going to be world-famous,” Eric said to Alice, who was sitting next to him, as he worked on his desk.

"Please wake up a little. Do you really want to say that you will become a great person?"

“Is that not allowed? I believe I already meet all the criteria for a great person,” Eric said, pursing his lips.

“No, Colonel, you don’t meet all the requirements.” Alice worked at a leisurely pace, her attitude not as lazy as Eric’s.

“You haven’t even gone into your coffin yet,” Alice said quietly.

"I lay there."

"..." Alice glared at her former boss and current husband.

After being glared at by Alice, Eric backed down and immediately fell silent.

Although he wasn't henpecked, he knew when it was better to be a little submissive, and he realized he might have said something wrong.

“You will become a great man, because you are Colonel Eric,” Alice said after a pause.