Chapter 709.3: The Land of Potential

“... Kunal, I’ve thought about it. Unity is important. Maybe even a little more important than the knowledge we lack. The Empire’s lackeys were so fragile precisely because they weren’t united. They offended everyone in this settlement they possibly could, educated or uneducated alike. We absolutely cannot make the same mistake.” That youthful face carried a maturity far beyond his years, and for a brief moment Kunal found him strangely unfamiliar.

Looking at his bewildered servant nodding blankly, Axin paused before he continued, “So I plan to let everyone live together.”

Kunal asked in confusion, “Live together... how?”

Axin did not answer his question immediately. “For a long time to come, only places close to the iron men will truly be safe. A lot of ugly things are going to crawl out. Don’t think those ruins only interest scavengers right now. Once entire rows of apartment buildings rise there, all the rich people in the city will swarm toward this place just like the scavengers are doing now. I’ll bet you that someday even a single brick here will be worth more than everything they own, even their brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren.”

Kunal held his breath, seemingly stunned by the shocking statement. After struggling for a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence. “But, the iron men forbid human trafficking.”

“You’re as stupid as a pig. Did I ever say we were going to do that?” Axin kicked him in frustration, though seeing the wronged look on his servant’s face, he eventually hooked an arm around his shoulder and patted him on it. “Listen, Kunal. You were the first person to stand on my side. To outsiders you’re my servant, but I’ve always treated you as a friend, as my family even. I’m not telling you all this to brag about how rich I’ll become in the future. I’m telling you because all of this will belong to you too. And not just one apartment. You will get a whole building!”

“A-a whole building?!” Kunal was stunned speechless, his voice quivering uncontrollably.

“That’s right. They’ll only get a single apartment, but you can have an entire building.” Axin pointed toward the youths in the distance before patting Kunal’s rapidly heaving shoulder. “So every word I say, you had better remember it. From now on, everyone from our old street is family. No matter how they treated you, me, or anyone else in the past, don’t go settling scores with them. Be polite to them, though you don’t need to be too nice. Only by pulling them and their families to our side can we stand together, so outsiders won’t dare bully us.”

Kunal gulped nervously and nodded quickly. He originally intended to stop talking there, but still could not resist asking one more question. “Okay, boss... can I ask one more thing?”

Axin released his shoulder and gave him a casual glance. “Go ahead.”

Kunal carefully asked, “What exactly are you trying to do...?”

Upon hearing that question, a rare moment of confusion flashed through those fierce eyes, but only for an instant. He answered quickly. “I haven’t figured that out yet. Maybe I’ll think about it in the future. Right now, all I want is to make money and protect my family.”

He had no ambition to become an emperor. For a Ratfolk to dream of such a thing was somewhat unrealistic, and besides, he had already obtained wealth beyond anything he could have imagined in this lifetime, both spiritually and actual money he held in his hands.

His only thought was preserving it, but that would not be easy. To do so, he needed power worthy of protecting it.

He understood very clearly that the iron men cooperated with him not because he possessed strength or wealth. Those were precisely the things he lacked.

The real reason they had chosen him was because he could persuade certain people and handle matters they themselves found inconvenient to do, or even inconvenient to speak about openly.

In order not to lose everything he possessed, he had to keep rolling the snowball in his arms forward. And he could only continue rolling it onward forever, unless he wanted the other hyenas of the wasteland to tear him apart like an easy prey.

...

Axin was not the only one uncertain about the future. Laxi, who had just won a great victory, was equally lost. Looking at Peepo, who had brought news of the ceasefire, he felt as though a breath were trapped in his chest, smothering the flames burning within him.

Unable to suppress the fire of ambition scorching his soul, he shouted at the iron man in exoskeleton armor for the first time in his life. “Why stop the war? The Empire’s army is completely worthless! With your help, we can absolutely march into the Heavenly City! At that point, the treasures, the palaces, everything there will belong to you! We only want those people’s blood! Nothing else!”

As long as those mongrels carrying the bloodlines of Sun Clan and Ox Clan were purged, he could rebuild a kingdom that belonged to the Moon Clan! He would become the new Emperor and correct the mistakes of the past.

Once the purge was complete, he would even inject some of the New Alliance’s ideals into the doctrine of the Thousand Races and Thousand Gods, things like unity, equality, and the abolition of slavery, just as the kings in the desert were doing.

The cursed cycle haunting this land would finally end in his hands! The Empire reborn through fire would become stronger and more united than ever before!

Truthfully speaking, Peepo did not particularly like that guy, even though plenty of players on the forums were fond of this NPC.

That was normal. Even among chaos-loving troublemakers, not everyone enjoyed the same kind of entertainment.

For example, Mosquito liked explosions. Tail wanted to give cute girls a home. Eye Owe Money was similar, just pushing in a different direction.

Still, it could not be denied that compared to those slaves who only possessed hot-blooded rage, Laxi actually had something more.

“Calm down.” Looking at the red-faced man roaring in front of him, Peepo did not even move his shoulders. He merely spoke calmly. “You should understand that it was only with our help that you crushed the Gray Wolf Army so easily. We acknowledge your contributions in battle, but you need to understand your place. You and your men are no match for Alyang. Crushing you would be just as easy for them as crushing the Gray Wolf Army was for us.”

Laxi stared at him in shock. “Aren’t we friends?”

Knowing full well that the shocked expression was merely a sly act, Peepo ignored it entirely and continued in a calm tone. “Yes. But they also have friends of their own, farther west. If those big-nosed bastards travel by sea, they’re actually even closer to this place than we are. Do you understand what I’m saying? If this continues, it becomes a full-scale war. Not only would we have to spend hundreds of millions of silver coins, we’d also risk giving far more dangerous enemies an opportunity. Ask yourself honestly, are you worth that price to us right now?”

It was not just about money. Their faction boss’s attitude was even more important. They always had to consider whether their actions aligned with the New Alliance’s overall interests.

Of course, there was no need to explain that to him.

Realizing he had been extremely rude from the sharpness in Peepo’s tone, Laxi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He did not know what that greater threat was, but he still wanted to make one final effort for the people of this land.

Looking sincerely at the man before him, he said, “Please let me meet Mr. Ample Time!”

Peepo answered seriously. “This was his idea. In fact, it was the result of all of us discussing it together.”

Laxi was completely crushed.

No... Perhaps “crushed” was not entirely accurate. It was more that the flames of ambition burning in his heart had been doused somewhat by a bucket of cold water.

He realized that trying to become emperor through the power of outsiders was unrealistic. No one would be generous enough to sacrifice everything purely for their sake.

He was too weak to match his ambitions.

Perhaps, he needed to be more practical. For example, starting out as a warlord or something similar. The throne could be pursued gradually over time.

His throat bobbed before he continued. “What about the Gray Wolf Army? The captured ones, I mean. How do you plan to deal with them?”

Peepo looked at him strangely, unsure why he had suddenly changed the subject. Still, he was satisfied that the man had stopped pestering him about the previous issue, so he answered in a gentler tone. “We plan to make them build labor camps outside the city. Reforming those who need reform through labor has always been standard practice where we come from.”

Laxi froze before blurting out instinctively, “Why not lock them up in Rowell Camp instead? We can stay in that camp for them!”

Peepo stared blankly at this suddenly deranged fellow, momentarily unsure who the real idiot was supposed to be.

“That’s a prisoner-of-war camp. Are you insane?”

Laxi spread his arms and stepped backward before clasping his hands together and pleaded, “Please! I promised my men! I said I would lock those beasts in cages... At least let them experience what we once endured, and feel the rage of us slaves!”

He needed to humiliate those people in order to strengthen his authority among his followers. He was not asking for much, just to let them stay there a few days!

Not entirely sure what exactly was going on in the man’s head, Peepo seriously considered the request for a moment. He had briefly thought about explaining that venting hatred on fellow countrymen who had likewise been manipulated was unreasonable. But then he remembered what Ample Time had told him earlier.

Some ideas were simply too advanced for those people.

Thinking that over, Peepo finally spoke. “This request is reasonable. I’ll ask the others for their opinions, but at most we can delay things for one week. Our goal for those prisoners isn’t just punishment, we also want to use their labor to rebuild Port Gallon. Reconstruction is the highest priority right now.”

Laxi was overjoyed upon hearing that and hurriedly replied, “Thank you! It won’t take that long, three days is enough!”

Peepo nodded. “I’ll let you know.”

With that, under Laxi’s respectful gaze, he boarded the armored off-road vehicle parked outside the camp and drove off toward the harbor...

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