After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 802

Chapter 802: News
Early that morning, the messenger birds were sent to the satellite territories of Alterra: Iron Mountain and Limestone Valley.

The allied territories, on the other hand, didn’t have access to the messenger birds and would have to get access to the news on their own.

Because allied territories, and even subsidiaries, could get disconnected from the leading territory after the contract ended, Alterra didn’t dare expose too much of their current mode of long-distance communication to others.

So, at least not until they found more advanced or updated methods, sending a newspaper to these places was already kind enough.

Anyway, they—Belluga and Bright—always sent caravans to Alterra at least once every few days so they would get informed by then.

Speaking of the Newspaper, there were also a lot of copies in circulation within Alterra. The Newspaper—named ‘The Alterra Times’—was created to update the citizens about the events of the territory, as well as to provide some sort of entertainment—much like how newspapers functioned back in the day.

It could be read in the library for free. It would also be arranged in chronological order to create a sort of historical documentation for the territory.

At the same time, it could also be purchased for personal use in the new bookstore on West Market Street.

Here, not only newspapers, but also pens, pencils, papers, and other stationeries were sold.

Speaking of the new Bookstore, when it finally opened, people naturally went crazy. The queue was long even when the purchase limit was small. Basically, a person was only allowed to buy a bit of everything—which was just about the average use of a person for a week.

No one complained though—having a few notebooks and sets of pencils, pens, and ink was already amazing to them!

Terrans were happy some conveniences they had taken for granted before were finally in Alterra. On the other hand, most of the Aborigines were taken to a whole new world.

In particular, it was the aborigines who went with Jonathan that were affected the most.

Because their social status allowed them to have more access to the papyrus and were literate, they were the ones who could really tell how innovative these things were.

One, they had never seen such thin and convenient pieces of paper!

They could be stacked up by a lot and were relatively sturdy. The surface was extremely smooth and almost white and the contrast to their writing made it seem like they were popping up!

There were also such gorgeous pens that could hold so much ink at a time! And the lines had equal thicknesses! Their hands didn’t even have to be so strained because it was so relaxing to use!

And pencil! Apparently, its writings could be erased?!

According to the salesperson, it could be used to show ‘shading’ (whatever that meant)?!

Unfortunately, supply was still limited so the purchase limit was small, and this was why books were still not commercially available for now. Regardless, the Bookstore added to another unique market item for Alterra.

For the associate villages, on the other hand, the newspapers were sent to update them of the events around Alterra. At this time, Limestone Valley received their copy, while Iron Mountain’s was on its way.

The Loft in Limestone Valley was located on the meeting room floor of the Village Center. The upper floors of the Village Center were guarded by the system and, at least outside of wars, it was an extremely safe place to put the facility.

Anyway, when it landed, Victor and his father were discussing a proposal for the development of an area. It flew over them both, with Henry being hit on the head with the larger-than-usual packaging.

Victor looked at the bird standing in front of him in awe. To be frank, although this wasn’t the first time he received a message like this, it felt like he’d never tire of it.

Surprisingly though, the birds seemed to be carrying something bigger, a large piece of paper almost their size. The soldier took the ‘letter’ from the bird, and it squeaked, flying towards its loft.

As if no longer seeing Victor or Henry there, it happily ate the meals and treats there, and it’d rest there for a while until it was sent to do its next task.

Victor sat back down to read the contents of the letter, while Henry opened the larger package. They soon realized that, along with the respective messages, there was a Newspaper written in the Terran lingua franca!

The father-and-son looked at each other with wide eyes and they hurriedly began reading the contents of the newspaper and letters. They didn’t even have to discuss, Victor immediately called the team for a discussion.

A few minutes later, everyone arrived and sat in their own seat in the meeting room. In Limestone Valley, the Village Center was refurbished to function similarly to Alterra’s, so it had its lounges and a few meeting rooms.

The top floor with the array remained inaccessible and connected to the warehouse, and no one questioned too much.

Anyway, this team included Henry, Victor, Vanessa, Benny, and the others. Now included in the inner circle were the young Amos and Juni, as direct representatives of Alterra as well.

“Alterran Times, eh?” Benny mumbled, looking at the piece of paper passed around the team. However, some of the news was disturbing and his joking attitude immediately turned dire.

“So Vismont Village has fallen,” he said, sighing. The news was primarily to warn them before heading in that area, and to be careful if they encountered people from there.

To be honest, everyone thought that Vismont was the most secure village next to Alterra. It was its subsidiary, after all.

“It goes to show anything can happen in this world,” Henry said as he shook his head. “We always have to be prepared, never complacent.”

The rest nodded and continued reading the articles.

The article was written by a woman named Vivian, a known news reporter back in Terran and were someone from the former Fargo Territory. It was good to know the people who had moved there were making a name for themselves in Alterra.

It was written in Terran of course, for now, so it was like a Terran-exclusive news source. More than the exclusivity though, it was done primarily because not everyone could read Xeno language quite yet.

Anyway, the article mentioned that the enemy territory had permanently settled there in Vismont, now called ‘New Shrao Village’, and comprised of immigrants from a fallen territory. While they didn’t seem to be openly belligerent, it cannot be taken lightly.

It even stated that the average level of Shrao Village was quite a bit higher than theirs. Next to Alterra, they had the strongest human force.

They were satellites so they wouldn’t be attacked (at least during the duration of the contract), however, the power of the system was reduced outside of the territories. Not to mention, Shrao could break away from Alterra after a year.

“So we have a potential enemy so close to us,” Victor sighed as he read the news along with the rest of the team. “And they’re not weak.”

“It’s closer to Alterra and they could handle it better there.”

“What else does it say about this territory?” Ken asked Benny, wanting to take the paper away but the latter was reading very intently.

“They have Terrans in high positions. The most prominent man was a man named Cain—”

“What?”

They turned to look at the source of the exclamation, a little startled.

“Juni?” Victor asked in concern, his hand extending to hold hers. She pursed her lips and held his hand tightly, as if finding strength there.

“A-Ah… I’m not sure,” she said, “I’ll… tell you when I confirm it, okay?”

Victor nodded, before returning his attention back to the newspaper.

The group continued to discuss the news, absorbing it and hopefully creating a good plan to adjust. For one, they would be temporarily forbidding passing through Vismont. Limestone Valley was West of both Vismont and Bright, and all their caravans could just go through Bright instead.

Victor led the meeting, and included there was the improved training regime for their forces. The discussion went deep, and Victor was completely preoccupied, temporarily unaware of Juni’s internal struggles.

The voices faded to the back of Juni’s head, a single thought running through her mind. She grabbed the fabric of her pants. Her eyes sharpened and her entire body boiled in anger.

Cain…! I finally found you!