Chapter 71: Deploying to the Astral Realm!
Date: 2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
A ship after ship of cargo vessels docked at Modo Harbor.
Nearby, a group of fully armed soldiers stood guard while onlookers kept their distance.
Five men dressed as clerks were busy taking notes with pens and paper, accompanied by several attendants and physicians responsible for inspecting diseases. Further away, a temporary large bathhouse had been set up; the left side was for men and the right side for women, where hot water was already being heated. Even further, a robed witch sat on a chair, observing everything.
“It’s almost time,” said a man dressed as a city hall official, looking at the time. He said to the attendant in front of him, “Let people from the ships come down. Bring them down in batches, don’t panic.”
The attendant went off to carry out the orders.
Soon, a group of ragged, emaciated people were brought down from the first cargo ship. All of them were refugees, and they had one common characteristic: they rarely acted alone, most of them came with families, and some were large families of five. These were refugees who had relocated to Modo City, and to avoid complications and for better management, Modo City prioritized absorbing those refugees who had families, as they were easier to manage and could settle more easily on Modo City’s land.
The first batch of refugees numbered over three hundred.
The refugees queued to register at the open-air shelter by the dock, while the five clerks swiftly recorded names and households and distributed the information to others.
Their prolonged state of dislocation made the refugees somewhat timid, yet they looked around curiously at everything in Modo City, as if observing whether the city was as wealthy as the legends from the outside world.
“Come over here.”
“Men stand on this side, women on this side. All clothes go into the basket beside you; they’ll be taken away and burned later!”
On the left stood a burly man, and on the right a hefty woman; they spoke with the unique pride and superiority of Modo City’s citizens to the cowering refugees, saying, “You can’t bring in things from outside, it could carry dirty diseases.”
“Go in, take a good hot bath for disinfection, then go to the back door to claim new clothes.”
The newly arrived refugees were somewhat baffled, but upon hearing that their clothes would be burned, they showed a bit of reluctance on their faces, yet they were quickly pushed inside. The bathing process was quick, as there were many more people waiting. In the bathing area, people sprayed them with a somewhat hot stream of water from a tubular device, along with some disinfecting substance they didn’t understand, as if they were mere puppets being manipulated. Once the first batch finished bathing, they were sent to the back door where they each received two sets of coarse cloth clothes, all brand new. The sizes weren’t guaranteed to fit perfectly, but they were wearable; if there were issues, they could ask their wives to fix them.
The line continued to move forward.
After bathing, the refugees arrived near a large tent, where several large pots contained thick, aromatic millet porridge. Each person received a big bowl of porridge and a piece of dried fish; once they finished eating, someone would take them to the other side of the dock.
Sounds of slurping porridge echoed all around.
Some finished refugees curiously glanced around, only to see people throwing baskets containing their old clothes directly into a side garbage area to be burned.
“Everyone who’s full, come over here.”
“Bring your initial identification tags! Odd numbers follow me; even numbers follow her!”
A man resembling a clerk appeared, looked around, and spoke with a condescending tone, “Don’t fall behind on the road, and don’t talk too much. We’ll be walking for about an hour to reach our destination. After that, arrangements will be made for your accommodations.”
The more than three hundred refugees were divided into two groups.
One group headed south, the other north. After changing clothes and having a meal, the refugees looked much more energetic, their eyes filled with curiosity as they gazed at the architecture of Modo City. As they passed the temple, they couldn’t help but lower their heads.
Beyond Modo Harbor lay a broad, flat avenue.
They had never seen such a road—clean, neat, and solid; they had no idea what it was built from. As it was the harvest season for winter wheat, many grains were being dried alongside the road, their bright yellow and orange colors stretched all along the avenue, causing many refugees to widen their eyes. Since the Saint’s Cataclysm, they hadn’t seen so much grain; back at the Southern Coast, it had been seized by countless people, yet now it was piled up at the sides of the road, with not a single person sneaking away with some. Occasionally, citizens of Modo City would pass by, completely ignoring the wealth beneath their feet. If this were anywhere else, they would have been stolen in no time with no one watching.
Modo Harbor.
The first batch of refugees was brought down, and soon the second ship’s people were also brought down.
The same process continued, and it was only at night that these clerks finally had time to gather together and then handed a document to the nearby witch, saying, “Lady Lina! This batch of refugees totals three thousand seven hundred twenty. They will be transferred to the nearby towns.”
“Please have this document signed by Lady Gloria!”
The witch nodded coldly and left with the document.
The spellcasters did not intervene in the affairs of Modo City Hall, but every week there were routine tasks to complete, whether it was teaching at the academy or accomplishing alchemical work. What they cared about most was contribution points, which allowed them access to the upper echelons of the grand library in Modo City.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The rule changes brought by Soren had allowed these people to adapt; now, many matters only required a command, and the city hall could produce detailed procedures on its own.
……
Mechanical Realm.
Soren walked through a narrow mechanical corridor, and soon a gigantic mechanical workshop appeared before him.
There were many such workshops in the Mechanical Realm, their purpose was to produce Construct Life; high-tier alchemical Construct Life maintained the normal operation of the Mechanical Realm, repairing this colossal clock. The Tower Spirit No. 1, which Soren had originally granted freedom to, was here, and as a high-alchemical Construct Life, it could easily attain a high position in the Mechanical Realm. Moreover, with the knowledge they possessed, several Tower Spirits working together could easily dominate the Mechanical Realm.
Passing through the corridor led to a row of Iron Golems.
It appeared that they had transformed the place into a Golem Factory; there were many dangerous beings in the Mechanical Realm.
The Predators of the Astral Realm would also attack high-tier Construct Life, and they had to guard against the ever-present Fermi Ant Tribe, hence it was inevitable for Tower Spirits to build their own Golem Legion.
“Good to see you!”
“Great Lord Soren!”
Meeting Soren was Tower Spirit No. 3, who slightly bowed to Soren before leading him into a high tower.
This was a newly constructed tower, located at the most crucial point of the gears, near three workshops—one producing Golem Puppets, one providing energy, and the third’s function was still unknown.
Once Soren stepped inside, all the Tower Spirits were present.
Tower Spirit No. 1 slightly bowed to Soren and then said, “Does the arrival of Lord Soren require my assistance in any way?”
There was no need for pleasantries when dealing with Tower Spirits, as Construct Life was very straightforward. Soren replied directly, “Yes. I am very interested in the floating city that fell in the city of the Fermi Ant Tribe. Therefore, I hope you can assist me in seizing this city.”
Upon hearing this, Tower Spirit No. 1 waved a hand, and an image of a spell appeared before them, pointing to one of the cities, “Is it this place?”
Soren nodded.
Tower Spirit No. 1 pondered for a moment and said, “Lord Soren, although we have established a domain in the Mechanical Realm, it may be very difficult for us to seize this city with our current strength.”
Soren replied, “I know.”
“Therefore, I will be dispatching armies from Modo City. However, you will need to assist in stabilizing the portal and provide some military support.”
Upon hearing this, Tower Spirit No. 1 expressed some surprise, “Are we talking about interdimensional warfare?”
“I can’t believe your development has progressed this fast!”
“This is no problem. I will provide a stable portal within the Mechanical Realm. Furthermore, when we attack the city of the Fermi Ant Tribe, we will provide three thousand Clay Golems, one thousand Stone Golems, and two hundred Iron Golems as support.”
The assistance offered by Tower Spirit No. 1 surprised Soren.
The military support provided was quite substantial; it seemed they had devoted most of their energy to producing Iron Golems during this time.
Seemingly guessing Soren’s thoughts, Tower Spirit No. 1 explained, “This gear was originally a gathering place for the Fermi Ant Tribe; we have paid a price to seize it.”
“So currently, the task is to operate the Golem Factory at full capacity.”
“In the Mechanical Realm, there are plenty of dismantled materials, and many remnants of Construct Life. To counter the expansion of the Fermi Ant Tribe, we have always operated the Golem Factory at maximum power.”
Indeed.
The speed at which the Fermi Ant Tribe was expanding was quite troublesome.
With the support of the strength from the Tower Spirits, attacking a city of tens of thousands of the Fermi Ant Tribe would be much easier; Soren’s next task was to contact Modo City to see how much military strength could be mobilized.
Ordinary armies would be ineffective here.
Due to the different characteristics of the dimensions, ordinary troops would need to adapt once sent over; only the Golem Legion could be mobilized. Before Soren left, Modo City had stocked nearly six thousand Clay Golems, around two to three thousand Stone Golems, and a smaller number of Iron Golems, only about three to five hundred.
There were approximately twenty Diamond Golems and improved Construct Puppets.
This deployment to the Mechanical Realm was a war of attrition; the Clay Golems would certainly be used as cannon fodder, and Soren estimated that without mobilizing at least half of the military strength, they would not be able to take it!
………………(To be continued ~^~)
