Chapter 612 The Ownership of the Disaster Refuge
Walking into Ninglan Township Fort, in the most prominent central conference hall, I saw the figure of Ninglan Qiuyue.
At this moment, she was standing beside her large desk, facing away from me, listening to a report from another official nearby, with a thick stack of documents piled up in her hands.
Coming here felt like stepping into a workplace with very casual communication; the intricate sounds of exchanges were the main melody here.
“Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, I’m so sorry. Please follow me to the reception room first; I’ll go inform City Lord Qiuyue.”
“Sure, go ahead.” I nodded and didn’t make it difficult for her. After all, I was invited here. If Ninglan Qiuyue really had matters to attend to, she wouldn’t have needed to invite me over.
However, it was clear that as the city lord, Ninglan Qiuyue was indeed busy with official duties.
Of course, it could also be that there had been significant developments in Ninglan New City recently, and many reports needed to be reviewed. Managing the information of an entire city was undoubtedly a considerable pressure.
Yet… for Ninglan Qiuyue, who possessed the Great Knowledge Seed, this shouldn’t be much of a challenge. She could fully grasp those reports and information using the Earth Vein Identification Technique.
But I couldn’t be bothered to understand what she was thinking. After arriving at the reception room, I immediately chose a spot to sit down, ordered a cup of black coffee, and began to admire the fruits nearby.
However, these fruits… didn’t seem to be a specialty of Ninglan New City. I expected the fruit displays in Ninglan Township Fort to be more contemporary.
Peeling an orange, I popped a segment into my mouth, savoring the burst of citrus flavor, enjoying the stimulating sensation of the juice against my palate while lightly inhaling the fruit’s fragrance.
This was a practice of taste and smell.
I hadn’t eaten much these past few days; I had a good meal when I left Ninglan New City, and afterwards, I had been casually dealing with food due to research, which seemed to consist of fruits from surrounding plants and some food from storage equipment.
Those unfamiliar fruits brought me an entirely new experience and offered a fresh model for my sensory training.
That was… tasting.
An unknown tasting experience was enough for a refreshing and eagerly anticipated sensory training experience.
From the initial discovery, to picking the fruit within reach, then to the light sniff before tasting, and finally, savoring the fruit’s flavor and the crisp sound of chewing.
Generally, external stimuli seemed to have little effect on my sensory training. The elevated threshold during the training process made it difficult for me to find new discoveries in daily repetitive content.
Perhaps the plants in the Expanding Realm could be a breakthrough. Given the chance, I even wanted to try the subtle differences in the flesh of mutated beasts.
However, after waiting for a while, Ninglan Qiuyue finally arrived at the reception room before my black coffee.
“I’m really sorry to have kept you waiting, Sister Xiao Han.”
“It’s only been a few days, but judging by your appearance, you do seem quite busy.”
“Yes, the recent activities in Ninglan New City have been quite substantial, primarily coordinating actions.”
“May I ask, are you not planning to use the Great Knowledge Seed to assist you in these matters? It should save you quite a bit of time,” I suggested.
“Of course, I have been using it. However, when it comes to the information sent over by those officials, it creates misunderstandings. They might think I’m doing nothing and yet claim that I understand everything, which they find hard to comprehend. They are not incapable of understanding the power of spells; it is a basic matter of mutual respect. At least in Ninglan New City, this perception is hard to change instantly.”
“Alright, it’s clear you’re quite exhausted. Since you’re so busy, there’s no need to have me here for small talk, right? That would waste time.”
“Talking to someone like you, who has the ability to change the overall situation, doesn’t seem like a waste of time to me; on the contrary, it might save us a lot of trouble.” Ninglan Qiuyue chuckled lightly and sat down beside me.
“Is it that serious? I haven’t done anything; at most, I’m just about the same as an ordinary student,” I shrugged and asked.
However, I did resonate with Ninglan Qiuyue’s statement; anyone capable of changing the broader environment should be understood. As they said, any unstable factor must be taken into account, even if it appears inactive.
“Sister Xiao Han, you are still overly modest. Your reputation in Ninglan New City is quite significant now. As the first founder of the super-large refuge outside the city, once it’s completed, the Disaster Refuge will be able to accommodate all the refugees outside Ninglan New City. It won’t be long before the Disaster Refuge likely becomes a new star alongside our Ninglan New City in the Expanding Realm.”
“Do you have such high confidence in the Disaster Refuge? It seems you have quite the ambitions, but you really don’t need to flatter me. I don’t believe you don’t know how the Disaster Refuge came about.” I waved my hand.
“I know, of course. But what the outside world spreads is your name; it doesn’t matter who built it. What matters is who spreads the praise.”
“And then push me to the forefront as a mascot or a shield? In the end, you reap all the biggest benefits while I bear all the hidden dangers?”
Is that the most disgusting part?
They take all the benefits, leaving me with the aftermath. After all, from the very first time I engaged with them, I felt uncomfortable, so I naturally speculated with the most sinister thoughts about their intentions.
“This… how could that be! Sister Xiao Han, it won’t be like that!” Ninglan Qiuyue stood up immediately, expressing her shock.
“Let’s just talk. If you don’t believe it, then fine. Just like me, I’ve been too lazy to inquire about what they have done for the Disaster Refuge, directly leaving it to the seven leaders within the refuge. I don’t even care whether they will betray me.”
“Do you really not manage anything? What if other Extraordinary Academy students approach you for cooperation then?” Ninglan Qiuyue asked.
“Cooperation with other Extraordinary Academies?”
“Yes, you know this exploration of the Expanding Realm is not exclusive to our Witch Academy; other academies are the same. However, Extraordinary Mentors seem to have agreed not to participate directly, so other academies must establish a stable transport channel to connect with their own academies, similar to how Ninglan New City is with the Witch Academy. If you are the first to complete a large refuge, it would be their first choice.”
“But I am from the Witch Academy, right? Do they dare to use it?”
“There is nothing that cannot be solved with interests in this world. The Witch Academy already has Ninglan New City as a transportation hub, and the refuge you build doesn’t belong to the Witch Academy unless you publicly state that you are willing to include the refuge under the Witch Academy.”
“Alright, so it seems you all are quite curious about my choice?” Hearing Ninglan Qiuyue lay it out so clearly, I could roughly guess the meaning; they were curious about how I would choose.
Would I choose the interests to ally with other Extraordinary Academies, or choose cooperation and affiliate it with the Witch Academy?
However, it seemed like whatever choice I made would bring them some benefits; it was just different responses.
If I directly declared this as the property of the Witch Academy, then as students and teaching assistants of the Witch Academy, they could naturally and justifiably reach out.
If I cooperated with other Extraordinary Academies… They would probably wrangle over the benefits in the form of investment since promoting the funding and support for the Disaster Refuge could easily shake my reputation there, after all, I hadn’t done anything but just gained a title. If they ended up backstabbing me afterward… it was entirely possible.
Otherwise, why would they be promoting my name at this moment? Isn’t it just to push me down at a critical time?
And to them, I seemed indeed to have no means to retaliate because this was a fact; I couldn’t just cut them all down, could I?
That would make things even more complicated and would violate the Witch Contract.
Moreover, they had strong channels for communication with the refugees who were about to settle in, so leveraging those refugees settled in the Disaster Refuge to stir public opinion would be quite troublesome.
After all, this group would become the primary population of the refuge, and it seemed they would be seizing the territory primarily, so ultimately the seven leaders I chose were unlikely to have anyone follow them.
They had been in contact with those seven for some days, and they could probably see that these people lacked leadership abilities; they were merely ordinary folks who fortuitously found themselves on the peak of a wind-swept wave.
Once my reputation was discredited in public discourse, they would lose all standing.
Ultimately, those teaching assistants would step forward to reach agreements with other Extraordinary Academies, and as long as they didn’t touch my bottom line, they were confident they could “smooth things out.”
Then, the transport channels of other Extraordinary Academies would also be open for them to intervene, especially regarding intelligence gathering which they could do quite accurately.
If I were in their position, I thought I might reach this level as well.
“Choice?” At this moment, Ninglan Qiuyue was taken aback, then quickly reacted, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just wanted to share what I have learned based on the information I’ve gathered; I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
“That’s fine.” I glanced at Ninglan Qiuyue, seeming genuinely unintentional, “However, I also don’t care about what you mentioned. The Disaster Refuge won’t belong to me. It won’t nominally belong to the Witch Academy either, nor will it cooperate with other Extraordinary Academies under my request. Can’t the Disaster Refuge belong to those people of that civilization too? We are rebuilding a civilization, not constructing a cage for that civilization.”
“Belong to… them?” Ninglan Qiuyue was very shocked because she couldn’t imagine Sister Xiao Han had the courage to give up such a significant benefit.
“Yeah, why can’t I? Just like you all, why can’t Ninglan New City belong to you? At least nominally, the Witch Academy is merely helping you rebuild it. But it doesn’t belong to the Witch Academy in part; such close cooperation is because the City Lord of Ninglan New City, which is you, is a… student of the Witch Academy.”
“Sister Xiao Han… to be honest, your words have greatly impacted me, and thank you for giving me an answer that I had almost been overlooked…” After taking a moment, Ninglan Qiuyue finally spoke.
Ninglan New City, having relied too heavily on the Witch Academy, was close to losing its own identity, and even those new officials… held great admiration for the Witch Academy, seemingly having adjusted their identities, eagerly waiting for the Witch Academy to feed them.
However, many seemed to have forgotten the initial rights Ninglan New City fought for; they had given up those things to ensure Ninglan New City’s autonomy, yet now these people freely discarded them in exchange for benefits.
And she had completely recognized the value of herself, realizing why the All-purpose Association and the Witch Secret Realm Association supported her… and what that was really for.
But could she still say “no” now?
It seemed she couldn’t. Ninglan New City was developing rapidly, and she couldn’t call a halt to it.
The relationships she once considered friendships and connections now revealed their fangs at this moment, yet she had already swallowed the sweet candy they offered.
Was this an equal exchange of value?
No. Then, regret would be an absolutely correct choice, but not now.
Because if she regretted it, she would tear the face off. Ninglan New City currently couldn’t bear a retaliatory backlash from them.
Now, it seemed she was dancing on the edge of a kn*fe, but she hadn’t yet been cut all over by those blades.
Because she knew it wasn’t time to be harvested yet.
“It seems you’ve figured something out. Forget it; I can’t be bothered to understand. Let’s talk about something else. By the way, how far have you explored the surrounding areas?”
“Well.” Ninglan nodded, not getting entangled in this topic, “We have explored a large area around us. Using the ability of the Great Knowledge Seed, as you know, is very convenient for directly acquiring terrain features…”
“Indeed, it’s the basic ability of the identification technique.” I nodded, not surprised. I could know where they had explored through the Great Knowledge Tree, but for the other Extraordinary Academies lacking the Great Knowledge Seed… I wasn’t too informed.
“Have you found any particularly unique places?”
“Um… Dream Overlap. Do you know about this, Sister Xiao Han? This happened after you left Ninglan New City. The Dream Demon Spell you created has helped a lot of people.”
“I know about that.” I nodded. I even knew that many teaching assistants who learned the Dream Demon Spell hadn’t promoted this contribution of mine, and there was no need to guess their intention. They didn’t want my reputation to rise higher; that would make it harder for them to push me down later.
“And what do you think about this…”
“Not interested; let’s talk about something else.”
“Uh… Okay, then… Sister Xiao Han, are you familiar with the Seed Vault left behind by that civilization?”
“Seed Vault?!”
