After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1346

Chapter 1346: Aftermaths of Town War (Part 1)
[Congratulations! Your Prison (Lv1) has been upgraded to Prison (Lv2)! Would you like to upgrade for 5000 Wood, 5000 Stone, and 5000 Gold?]

[Prison (Lv2): Capacity 3000 prisoners. Capable of completely weakening Level 40 Elementalists and below.]

She accepted and the change immediately took effect. Because she built downwards before, this upgrade built upwards.

Morbidly, the requirement for the System Prison upgrade was to consume a certain amount of life force. Because they had so many prisoners on the stronger side, it also upgraded relatively quickly compared to others.

She didn’t have to remove the current inmates either, it’d just build upwards.

As for the manual prison, she didn’t want to expand it. Even if they expanded their population, she hoped that the crime would still be at a manageable level.

Anyway, since they started the program of the minor criminals obtaining the right to low-tier dorms—with much less amenities and space than the normal dorms—the prisoners indeed worked even more efficiently to retain their rights to proper beds.

Of course, the points payment for the bed rental was very expensive, so they’d take even longer to make up for their Atonement Point debt.

However, since they were already living in a livable environment despite being slaves, it wouldn’t be too bad for them. It might even be better than some prisoners’ previous situations.

For example, there were those who had lived life at the edge just to get a bite to eat. In contrast, digging mines the whole day was too easy if it meant they could eat a few times a day and sleep on a decent bed at the end of the day!

However, the Elders made sure to separate the work areas of the prisoners from the general population as much as they could, assigning only those with minor sins in jobs that would mingle with others, such as janitorial work.

There was understandably a lot of tension between the prisoners and the citizens. After all, although there hadn’t been many deaths in Alterra since its inception, they existed.

A lot of these prisoners would inevitably remind some of the bereaved of the people they lost, and there had been cases—more than a handful, in fact—wherein citizens attacked a prisoner because he was a member of the enemy territory that killed their loved ones.

Most recently, there had been a scuffle involving a newly captured slave and a citizen. His brother died while inside the home, attacked by the enemies after managing to get inside the walls.

It was one of Tim’s roommates back then. Tim had fortunately made a recovery, but one of his teammates was not so lucky.

The rules forbade the general population from causing harm to others, in general, regardless of whether they were slaves or not.

And so, the attacker was temporarily teleported to the crowded manual prison, and would later be transferred to the low-tier dorms when the warden there judged that he could do so.

The System prison had its own rules to accommodate its various functions, so inmates could beat each other up all the time. In Manual prisons, there was no such thing. Otherwise, that person could’ve been in danger.

He was quickly bailed out by friends though. However, he was definitely traumatized. He had to go through a bit of therapy to have a semblance of recovery.

Speaking of losses, the funeral was being held today. As of this date, a total of 40 people had perished. The rest had stabilized so, they hoped, there were no more casualties from this war.

The names of the dead were read out loud by Mathilda, with her making a speech about their contribution and how they would not be forgotten.

Althea stood in front with the other elders, staring at the crowd, eyes focused especially on the bereaved and friends of those who died.

In front was the Crow Trio as well as the children. Their eyes were red, definitely bawling up until recently.

They lost an important friend in the war. His name was Koo Yu, and they broke into sobs when his name was called.1

A lot of goblins bawled, too. Koo had gotten very close to them, especially after he babysat goblin children. It was difficult to imagine he was gone for many people.

“Koo Yu was an endearing young man,” Mathilda began, her soft voice echoing across the plaza. “Although his mind was simple, his heart was one of the purest we’ll ever see.

“The world already feels darker without him and his bright light.”

She had seen him play with the kids as if he was one of them, joining them, and his innocent giggles blending with theirs. Wherever he went, there would be a heartwarming sight of fun and innocence, and it felt heavy to think a good part of that was now lost.

According to the information, he died after saving a child, an aborigine named Mamu. She was unsure what this would imply, but she hoped they’d get through this.

As for Jane—Koo’s poor mother—she had fainted as soon as she saw her remaining son’s lifeless body and had not woken up since. She had lost both her sons on top of her own experiences with Higson. Althea was afraid she would never recover.

Althea sighed and closed her eyes, shifting her gaze back to the stage and at Mathilda, listening intently to her words.

“United in grief for those we lost, we will go through this as a community. We will remember their memories, and—together— we will never forget their sacrifices.

“We have weathered storms before, and while some of us had lost beloved companions, you are not left alone.

“In the coming days, please reach out. Connect with one another. We are Alterrans, and we will always help each other.”

“Today we mourn…, but tomorrow we will rebuild and heal our hearts again, moving forward to what is—still—a long way to go.”

They once again lit the pyre. Soon, strong flames emerged, enveloping the corpses. Unless their relatives hoped to keep their ashes, the rest of them would be joining Alterra’s land and be buried under the trees.

These plants would characterize Alterra, and would serve as a reminder to those people, as if they would continue to shield them, to provide for them.

Alterra had never faltered, and its citizens would rise above the losses—as they always did.