Chapter 740.2: Standing Beside That Man, I Saw Another Possibility

Ever since the coalition high command's “reflection meeting” concluded, another three days had passed in the blink of an eye. During those three days, the frontlines remained remarkably quiet. Aside from the occasional gunshot echoing from Broken Blade Peak, there were virtually no large-scale battles or engagements.

However, the peace felt more like the calm before a storm. Throughout the entire period, the Academy had been steadily deploying forces to the frontlines.

The Alpha Mobile Task Force stationed around the Guardian Manor Military Base had expanded from its original strength of 1,000 personnel to 3,000.

Not only that, but Academy aircraft flew over Blood Peak almost every day conducting reconnaissance, occasionally dropping drones to probe the Mutant Humans' capabilities.

Compared to the Army's gambler-style offensives and the Enterprise's approach of figuring things out while fighting, the Academy appeared to prefer formulating meticulous plans down to the smallest detail beforehand, minimizing both the chance of mistakes and the need for error correction, then ending the battle with a decisive blow.

It had to be said, that was very much the Academy's style. When they planned something, few people could ever guess what they were truly thinking.

What Chu Guang found curious, however, was how they would react if circumstances changed faster than their plans could adapt, or if their opponents pulled out a card they had not anticipated.

He was not the only one curious. The commanders from the other factions in the coalition were equally curious.

At present, the New Alliance, the Army, and the Enterprise had each captured a stronghold. Now everyone was waiting to see how the Academy would perform in the coming battle.

An unprecedented campaign was quietly brewing...

...

Outside Guardian Manor Military Base, along the northern bank of Guardian River, rows of fields stretched across the landscape, connected by narrow ridges and pathways. Ratfolk soldiers carrying baskets on their backs worked diligently among the crops with their heads lowered.

The war between the coalition and Torch seemed completely unrelated to them. So far, their only notable achievement had been getting themselves killed while following behind the clone army.

While everyone else was waiting to see what the Academy would do next, these people had already turned over all the land along the northern bank of the Guardian River and were entering the planting phase.

Most of those soldiers came from peasant or servant backgrounds. They might have been amateurs at warfare, but when it came to farming, every single one of them was an expert, though their tools and methods were somewhat primitive.

They poured seeds into basins, mixed them thoroughly with fine sand and ash made from burned weeds, and then scattered them over the freshly turned soil.

The fields closest to the military base were vegetable plots, growing seasonal produce, especially cabbage for pork knuckle rice. There were also potato fields and other crops. Farther away, they had even created rice paddies, apparently intending to take advantage of the planting window before the end of June to grow a late-season rice crop.

Babita had promised them that once the crops were harvested, everyone would receive a generous reward.

Although they never placed much faith in such abstract promises of generosity," not having to go to the frontline and die was already a blessing. Besides, these seeds and seedlings had been purchased with funds that Babita had squeezed out of their meal budget.

As a result, everyone worked diligently. Not only did nobody slack off, but they actively defended these properties belonging to the Xilande Expeditionary Army and fought against the "bullies" of the Southern Construction Corps.

Even though the farmland nominally belonged to the Xilande Expeditionary Army, and the final outcome would probably be no different from the Emperor's funding, most of it ending up in the pockets of Babita and his officers, at least some of it would eventually make its way into their own stomachs.

While the Ratfolk busied themselves, two excavators approached from the direction of Guardian Manor Military Base one after another. Alongside them walked a group of workers in construction uniforms. There was no doubt they belonged to the Southern Construction Corps.

Upon seeing them, the Ratfolk immediately became wary. Dropping their baskets and grabbing their hoes, they surrounded the approaching vehicles.

Under pressure from his superiors, a decurion stepped forward and shouted at the man sitting in one of the excavators. "What are you doing here?"

One of the workers walking beside the machine answered, "Building a road."

Everyone froze, thinking they had misheard.

The decurion glanced at the excavator bucket, then at the worker, and repeated suspiciously, "Building a road?"

The worker replied casually, "That's right. There was leftover concrete from the military base project, so our superiors ordered us to build a few roads along the Guardian River and connect this entire area with infrastructure. Once the roads are done, it'll be easier for you to travel from the military base to your fields."

The Ratfolk exchanged astonished looks. Just a few days ago, these people had seemingly been trying every possible way to drive them away. Why were they suddenly acting so kindly?

The decurion remained unconvinced and asked, "What exactly are you people up to? Why build roads all of a sudden?"

The worker sighed helplessly. "What's there to explain? Fine, let me be more direct. The New Alliance plans to establish a settlement here. This entire area will eventually become part of Guardian Manor City. We're not just building roads here, we're connecting Gwent Town to us as well."

That was something Li Jinrong had mentioned at the meeting two days ago. Since it wasn't classified and had been announced to so many people, it would spread sooner or later anyway.

At that meeting, Li Jinrong had discussed not only the planning of Guardian Manor City but also the future arrangements for both official and non-official personnel within the Southern Construction Corps.

In addition to their contracted wages, those who chose to remain after the war would each receive a house of at least 100 square meters and a shop that they could either rent out or operate themselves.

The properties here might not be as attractive as those in Dawn City, but everyone could see the area's potential. Otherwise, the refugees wouldn't have rushed to occupy abandoned villages and claim land nearby, and the members of the Southern Construction Corps wouldn't have been so tempted by it themselves.

As coalition forces continued to station troops, increasing numbers of survivors from the southern Brocade River Province were gathering in the region.

Not all of them came for business. More were drawn by the area's safety, stability, and order. Even after the war ended and the coalition eventually withdrew, that order would not simply disappear overnight. Some people would remain and become permanent residents of the area.

At first, all of them had viewed these outsiders as freeloaders looking to take advantage of their hard work. However, after listening to Li Jinrong’s analysis during the meeting, their perspective had changed.

The Guardian Manor Wasteland possessed no special resources. It only had land, the one thing the wasteland had in endless abundance. Compared to that, people were the true wealth. The houses built by the New Alliance only had value because survivors wanted to gather around the New Alliance. In other words, everything they were doing now wasn't for the refugees. It was for themselves. It was to make their future homes worth more.

With such an appealing prospect hanging before them, they naturally lost interest in squabbling over a few muddy riverbank fields. Even building roads for those unprofessional ratfolk no longer seemed worth complaining about.

However, after hearing the worker's explanation, the Ratfolk erupted into an uproar. Before their decurion could even speak, one Ratfolk hurried forward and asked, "Guardian Manor City?! This is your territory now? Then... what about the land we're farming?"

The worker smiled. "It won't affect you much. If you want to keep farming, just keep farming. I think New Alliance law says that after two years, the land becomes yours."

He had never actually checked whether that was written into law, but that was indeed how things worked in Dawn City. The land north of Linghu Lake eventually stopped paying their dues to Longevity Town after being cultivated for a certain number of years.

He spoke casually, but to the ratfolk, the statement was earth-shattering.

After two years, the land becomes yours?

There was such a thing?!

Countless eyes widened in disbelief, then those eyes filled with envy. There was a yearning so intense it was almost visible.

Back in the Poro Province, nobody had ever told them such a thing.

No one blocked the Southern Construction Corps workers any longer, and the excavators did not drive into their fields to destroy anything. The two sides marked clear boundaries between farmland and roads, then went about their own work without interfering with one another.

Watching the Ratfolk who had successfully driven back the Southern Construction Corps, Kumar finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled contentedly. "General Babita truly sees everything."

These disgusting rats were actually useful after all.

Didn't those hypocritical New Alliance people claim they wanted to unite the lower classes? General Babita had seen right through their hypocrisy and cleverly turned the situation against them by placing the lower classes directly in front of them.

The farmland technically belonged to the Expeditionary Army! That was the explanation given to the ratfolk. But when dealing with the New Alliance, they used a different explanation entirely. They said that the Ratfolk had chosen to farm outside the military base on their own initiative, and it had nothing to do with the Xilande Expeditionary Army.

As expected, the people of the River Valley Province found themselves trapped in an awkward dilemma when faced with a group of poor Ratfolk carrying hoes.

The fact that they had driven the excavators straight through was proof enough. Although they concealed their embarrassment well, Kumar could tell immediately that the excavators had originally been headed for those fertile plots along the riverbank.

Those people were scheming!

Just as Kumar eagerly rushed off to report another glorious victory for the Expeditionary Army to Babita, Chu Guang, who was strolling through Guardian Manor Military Base, received an unexpected message.

The caller was Yin Fang.

After listening to the report over the communication channel, Chu Guang froze. "... You're certain it was from a Wanderer Tank?!"

"Yes. I can tell the difference between a tractor and a tank, especially one as distinctive as that. But that's not the important part. The important part is that this tank is different from the wrecks we recovered from downtown Clearspring City and the Sunset Province. The Meissner Armor generation unit inside the hull is actually intact. We believe it wasn't destroyed. It looks more like it was deliberately abandoned after running out of fuel."

Chu Guang could hear the hesitation and confusion in Yin Fang's voice as he spoke.

"But I can't make sense of it. None of the existing records mention the Federation deploying armored forces in the southern Brocade River Province... and more importantly, how exactly did a farmer from Horseman Town find something like this?"

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