Chapter 365: Chapter 226: The Businessman’s Tricks_1
Ange was ordinarily just a skeleton, if flung into the wilderness, he would presumably either squat somewhere or wander around, indistinguishable from the common skeletons. Without Negris pointing out anything to him, he wouldn’t probably bother to move.
However, as soon as it comes to sowing, his initiative becomes extraordinarily strong. The first thing he does is find the Big Bone to inquire about the relay station’s location, then he hurries off with his team, leaving behind a bunch of bewildered refugees and Serene, who is holding the big cat.
The big cat jumps down from Serene’s embrace, turns its head and roars at her, then runs in the direction of Ange. Its slightly stumbling steps reveal its weakness.
Big Bone looks back and roars, the big cat swiftly nods in response, jumps onto Big Bone’s palm, and scuttles up his arm. It quickly crawls to the top of Big Bone’s head, flops down, its flesh and fur hanging down, neatly covering its brain case.
Big Bone says with concern, “Be careful, I am very strong, I might hurt you.”
Negris, hearing this up ahead, smirks and whispers: “If you could hurt a Dimension Beast, you would certainly have to be stronger than a Purple Gold Skeleton.”
…
No. 3 Relay Tower is located 120 kilometers from Holy Wall City. Following the 40-kilometer coverage range, a relay tower is set up every 40 kilometers to transmit the signal of the Communication Domino. This is the third one, its master is named Clariant.
After over six hundred years of operation, a small town has formed near No. 3 Relay Tower, housing more than a thousand people.
Clariant had just fed the Relay Spirit and was leisurely coming down. As he arrives at the base of the tower, the housekeeper meets him: “Sir, the old man from town came to visit you just now.”
“Oh? Where is he now?”
“He just left,” replied the housekeeper.
“Did he say what it’s about?” Clariant asked.
The housekeeper replied, “It’s about the salt again, all of it was finished a few days ago. Now, the townsfolk are increasingly feeling fatigued, they can’t work on some of the heavier tasks.”
“Sigh, I’ve already sent out a purchase request, I don’t know when there will be a response. Let everyone hold on a little longer,” said Clariant in distress, but without harboring much hope.
Because the primary source of salt came from humans, and now with humans being driven out, their source has been cut off.
Although humans fleeing in panic left behind many supplies, including salt, but when it’s all consumed and without new supplies, the humans under his care will still die.
Not only had Clariant to ponder about the salt shortages now, but also had to consider whether he could continue to foster these thousand plus townsfolk?
If he can’t afford to keep them, does he kill them all? Or let them fend for themselves?
Since six hundred years ago when Clariant was dispatched here to manage No. 3 Relay Tower, these humans and their ancestors have been relying on him for survival.
Guarding the relay station is a very tedious job. One always has to stay near the tower, cannot go too far, and one cannot fall into a deep slumber. Unlike other undeads who, when bored, can sleep off their time, sleep until everything is spinning, and then wake up feeling as though no time has passed at all.
They can’t do this, they need to stay awake at all times, feeding the Relay Spirit every day, keeping the relay station working continuously. As long as one relay tower stops working, communication will fail.
Staying awake for a year or two is fine, but when it goes on for too long, it becomes so boring that you’d want to die, many people would begin to develop mental issues.
So, the welfare at the relay tower is very good, as long as you feed the Relay Spirit well and don’t let it strike, even if you overturn everything near the relay tower, no one bothers. It is virtually your private land.
According to a relay tower’s forty kilometers coverage range, everything within a diameter of forty kilometers becomes your domain, which is such an expansive area.
According to Clariant’s self-consoling words, “The area I rule over, if placed in the Master Plane, would at least be considered an earldom.”
Of course, if it was possible, he would gladly swap his vast territory for even just a manor in the Master Plane, let alone for an Earldom.
When he got too bored, Clariant initially was clueless about what to do, until one day, when a farmer came to visit him with his wife and children, they asked if they could settle in his territory.
There was a river here, which would flood during eternal night, making it a suitable place for farming and settling.
Clariant, who had been bored for too long, was naturally very welcoming. He personally helped them dig a well, build a shack, and guided them to settle in.
Clariant’s enthusiasm spread from one person to ten, and from ten to hundreds. As a result, more and more people came to settle here and slowly, this place became a small town.
As the number of settlers increased, Clariant found himself no longer as bored as before. In his spare time, he could chat with the town elders, play with the children, help in repairing the houses and wells, help in harvesting crops, and even enjoy watching the light band together during the eternal night.
Moreover, humans have a strong ability to survive. Given a space, they would farm and produce their own food, procreate, and reproduce. Clariant actually didn’t provide much help, he had merely granted them a piece of land, and it slowly became a small town.