After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Cynicism (Part 2)
They were a group of a hundred-plus people, some familiar, and some unfamiliar.

The past few days were incredibly dangerous, and they encountered many small mobs along the way.

Fortunately, most who had survived for so long had already killed one or two monsters, and their survival rate was higher than when they just arrived here.

It was that time that they met this group of so-called guards and no one died anymore.

They traversed the forest with relative peace, as the guards dealt with the mobs they attracted with relative ease.

As they walked, he couldn’t help but notice a little boy—a somber and quiet child—wordlessly following at the back of group. After a while of observation, he realized the boy was alone.

And… Jun was quite certain he wasn’t with the original group. Did he join them halfway?

He patted his wife’s shoulder to tell her he was going somewhere, pointing in a direction. She looked at the boy curiously but didn’t follow, simply holding their daughter’s hand as they continued to trek.

Jun walked slower than others, soon ending up near the little boy not older than his own daughter.

“Hello there,” He said with a smile. But the boy’s frown seemed frozen on his face.

He blinked and walked in front of the boy, and the boy stopped just before hitting him.

He smiled, slightly bending to the little boy’s level. He gently asked, “Are you with anyone?”

The boy shook his head.

“Want to come with us?”

He shook his head again.

The guards of their potential third territory saw the exchange and approached them. Jun watched them as they walked closer. Despite the clumsiness of a few guards, the others seemed quite well-trained and very confident.

However, while their bearing somewhat impressed him, he still did not have much of an expectation for this new territory.

“The territory is building an orphanage,” the guard said, “We can handle him if there’s no one to take him in.”

An orphanage? Really?

He was a little surprised and apprehensive. People bothered with orphanages? In this situation?

The guard saw his cynicism but didn’t call it out.

“You’ll see,” was all he said, and the topic was killed as such.

Another hour passed by and he saw the guards looking around. Jun followed their sights and saw markings.

“We’re almost there.” One of the guards told them with a reassuring smile, as if noticing their tension.

He felt a little dazed, as most of the guards from the previous territories were haughty and didn’t take moneyless people like them in their eyes, especially now that they didn’t have one clean spot in their bodies.

Their group of one hundred people huddled together as they walked closer and closer to the new territory.

“What do you think this one will be like?” Billy asked him. Jun looked at the middle-aged man with a sigh.

Billy, along with a few others, had traveled with him all the way from the first territory. While they had lost a lot of people along the way, they also followed him for an early escape.

Strictly speaking, they’ve been through three territories together and naturally had the same reservations.

There was no way. They suffered too much. Not to mention, they really weren’t strong enough to be able to live well with just their strengths.

While some of them reached level 2s after escaping, most of the others were still level 1.

It wasn’t that there were no brave adventurous souls that aimed to strengthen themselves by training. But the monsters here were really… abnormal, to say the least. Dealing with them without proper guidance and expertise would pretty much mean certain death.

Maybe not immediately, but eventually.

They couldn’t help but wonder if they’d still be occupying the bottom of the pyramid in this place?

However, they soon forgot about their worries when the guards stopped in their tracks.

They didn’t absorb it at first until they caught sight of the fence.

No, not a fence. A wall.

As they looked up at the more than three-meter tall wall in front of them, as if impenetrable.

There were also menacing towers every hundred meters, ready to attack enemy landing within their range.

The refugees couldn’t help but look at each other, eyes wide with disbelief.

It felt a bit…safe?

…

[You have entered Altera Village (Lv2)! Please pay the entrance fee of 5 copper.]

“Only five copper?”

Everyone was surprised. The previous entrance fees alone were at least 10, the last one even asked for 50…

After paying immediately, as if afraid it would suddenly change, the group soon stepped into the gate.

Beyond the gate wasn’t something they expected to see. It was still a vast forest, but the road was very wide. There was even a delineation of carriageways and sidewalks and even greening in-between.

The greening was still planned well using permeable pavements and soil around the tree in consideration of its growth.

He was no urban planner, but his uncle was. This was definitely a sign of forward-thinking.

“What about residency? Can you tell us more?” Jun asked the guard politely, peeking out of his guarded shell that had been afraid of expecting anything.

“I mean, how much and how does it work?” He added. Though he didn’t have much money yet—only a few silver and a few hundred copper now—it was best to know early.

“Residency is now done in the Village Center. Temporary residency is only 1 silver and it is valid for 1 month.” The guard said.

“Permanent residency is a bit expensive though, at 10 gold. But I hear you can waive this fee if you exchange a certain amount of contribution points.

“Renting and buying housing will also be done in the village center. Don’t worry I’ll take you there.” The guard said very naturally, as if it was no big deal, but the people gaped at him in response.

The amounts alone echoed in their ears.

So cheap!!

Although permanent residency was indeed expensive, it was still cheaper than others. Not to mention there was an alternate way to pay.

“What’s a contribution point?” He asked as he followed the group along the wide carriage way.

To be honest such a large road surrounded by lush trees looked oddly beautiful, like a stairway to heaven.

“If you do tasks for the territory, say killing beast waves during the beast tide, you can earn it. You keep the experience and the copper from the kill, so basically you double your earnings.”

“A lot of people got rich during the last beast tide,” He paused with a chuckle, recalling a couple of memories. “I hear some people wishing it would happen more often.”

The refugees looked at him as if he was an alien.

What they’ve been hearing so far tugged some strings in their hearts. But their now-cynical natures prevented them from being too excited.

However, soon they started hearing chatters and noises and a lively crowd greeted them… along with sumptuous aromas that absolutely killed their stomachs.

Wait, sumptuous aromas?

No… right?

They asked all these in disbelief, but their legs were moving much faster than before, hoping to find the sources of the chatter and aroma.

And what they saw next made them believe they were dreaming.

The pinched themselves and pinched each other. Someone even pinched too hard and earned himself a knuckle on the head.

Whatever it was the pain ensured them they were very much awake, and yet they still couldn’t believe what they were seeing in the end.

This is… impossible, right???