After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 903

Chapter 903: More Refugees from the North (Part 1)
Soon, the long-awaited dusk arrived and the activities slowly intensified. The nightlife was once again at its peak with all industries gearing up, and everywhere in the territory there was some sort of activity.

The newcomers were shocked to see how the people and the territory literally seemed to gear into motion before their very eyes.

There were about a couple of dozen people who had just entered the territory. This was led by Perrot, the engineer from Rows Village who went the other way.

When they found out their previous path was hopeless, they immediately headed in the other direction, hoping to get lucky. However, the previous night’s mob caught up to them, immediately killing a few.

They could only run to the best of their ability, pushing themselves to sprint for hours on end, with the monsters thinning them out bit by bit. They tuned out the screams, the horrid sound of crushed bones, and spine-chilling echoes of squelched meat behind them.

With their pitiful strengths, the single way to live was to focus only on their own survival.

Squelch!

Crunch!

“Shit…”

“Wu….”

They ran and ran, just hoping to find a ray of hope somewhere. The only reason any of them were still alive in that situation was because the mob wasn’t that big. Further, they would stop to feast on whoever they caught up with before following the rest of them.

Perrot—in a moment of bravery—turned back to see what was happening. It was terrifying and he almost tripped. However, it was because of this that he noticed that some monsters were headed in another direction instead of following them—as if they were more attracted to something elsewhere.

This bloody chase went on until they reached the river. People screamed in celebration and most of them just jumped in directly, allowing the flowing water to carry them away.

On the other hand, Perrot thought that it’d be more likely to find a territory upstream of the river, primarily because he saw a few monsters head there.

However, knowing one thing was very different from making use of it. They were weak and at the end of the rope already.

In the end, Perrot could only jump down the river as well, to be carried until he found a rock to hold on to.

The others… if they had the energy to keep swimming or floating in this situation… good for them, but he was sure he wouldn’t last long and he’d just end up drowning.

Several others stayed on the rock with him, thankful that their scents had been washed off and were therefore ignored by beasts—though some monster did pass by soon after.

Those were incredibly tense moments and some people had to pull others under the water because they were making too much noise.

Their dozen or so people survived like this for a few hours until they were certain there were no beasts nearby. They carefully swam perpendicular to the flow, eventually reaching shore. They were gasping for air, their bodies devoid of energy and it took them a while before they could stand up and walk, aiming to find a territory once more.

They were carried by the water farther than they thought though, and there was no territory nearby when dawn came. Fortunately, they found some light logs along the shore of the river, presumably used for roofing by other people.

It was a relief that they found some roofing, but they were extremely weak and their steps were slow. They also had to stop often to drink water from the river. For much of the day, at their snail’s pace, they simply followed the upstream of the river until they finally found a territory.

When they saw how big it was, they were in disbelief. Was there a town nearby them all this time? In that case, it was no wonder those beasts so far away targeted this place.

They arrived just before dusk, and therefore before the mobs came. This was incredibly lucky because they were really at the end of their ropes. Another day like that would definitely be their last.

[Welcome to Alterra Village (Lv3)! Please pay 5 copper.]

A village… and 5 copper as entrance fee…

“I’m delirious…” he heard someone beside him say as they dragged themselves through the gate. “Yes… that must be it.”

Perrot did not disagree, but he was too weak to open his mouth to answer his companion. He just focused on moving his feet in this heat, to finally find a permanent cover that could shield him.

The moment they entered the threshold, they already felt the difference. It was actually cooler inside the walls!

Perrot looked around, realizing it was because of the dense foliage, which had higher survivability rates within territory walls. The buildings were also designed to handle the heat, which was amazing, though sadly his brain was too fried to think too deeply about anything else.

“HEY!” They looked up to see some guards above eye level, settled coolly inside a sentry. “Read the signs!”

They blinked, realizing that there were a lot of boards by the side of the road.

While there was sun, there was no one who was outside on the streets. The guards were settled nicely in their shades and wouldn’t want to bother with them either.

Fortuantely, there seemed to be signages by the gate that had various information telling them where to go. For instance, where to go to rest, where to go to buy food, and the like.

They gulped, using their remaining strength to head to the marketplace. If they had any excess energy and life, they’d also appreciate the path there, but they were really on the verge now.

Fortunately, they didn’t actually have to go so far at all. “Hey! Here! Here!”

They blinked and turned to the side, realizing that some shophouses were open. This one had a long canopy covering its entrance and they entered the relatively cool insides… with an electric fan!?

What in the world—

Anyway, pushing that aside they saw the available drinks and snacks and they practically threw money at the shopkeeper, who was very happy to make money off of them.

They gobbled up their food and drinks, and they were so happy they could die. They placed order after order. Fortunately, they had savings and the food here was unbelievably affordable!

However, just before they finished their nth set of order, a deep bell rang, resounding across the territory.

They lifted their heads looking at each other. “What’s that?”