Chapter 42: The Silent Threat Beneath the Red Moon
Moments later, level 3 fishmen with level 2 fishmen come face to face with Ash and his team. Ash thinks in his mind, "This is really bad. I hope these beasts aren't going to start a fight with us or come looking for the pure stone. Otherwise, many of my people will die... and evening is also coming soon." But he confidently smiles while looking toward the fishmen.
After minutes of silent tension, he sees the level 3 fishman start speaking in the native language of the Eldors—with Ram. Because he was chosen by the Eldors' will and received ownership of Altar City, he also understands and speaks the native language with his citizens. He thinks, "Because of the level issue, the level 3 fishman does not directly speak to me, instead speaks with Ram."
He shows displeasure toward the level 3 fishman by glaring with his eyes, but the level 3 fishman ignores him. After a few minutes of conversation between the level 3 fishman and Ram, he gets to understand from their exchange that these fishmen are not here to fight. They are here to find a criminal from their "Sea Altar"—someone who fled with some treasure from the altar city. They are not from this area but from far away. They are asking if we have seen any fishmen around.
Ram answers them, "No," instantly, with an arrogant look, as if Ram has no interest in prolonging the conversation.
Moments later, the fishmen part from each other.
Ash is somewhat puzzled—why didn't the fishmen attack them? But there's joy in his heart that a fight didn't break out. He asks, "Why fight not broken?"
Ram answers with a smile on his face as they continue traveling through the woods. Since evening is coming in a few hours and night follows soon, no intelligent beings like to fight wars in moments like this—where there's nothing to gain or uncertainty of winning. "And they don't know if we have the treasure," Ram says. "So, it's understandable. Both sides' strength is equal. Maybe we have the upper hand, because the fighting place is land—not underwater or sea. But we are exhausted from fighting. They do not know this."
After minutes of realization, Ash says, "Let's just focus on getting into the city. We'll talk about anything else later."
He thinks, "Maybe these fishmen will spy on us in the forest... and the treasure they're trying to find is most likely the pure stone we got from killing the fishman. Since four level 0 fishmen fled from the battle, there's a probability the level 3 fishmen can get to know we have the pure stone. I hope those fleeing level 0 fishmen escaped the grasp of the level 3 fishmen. Oh, world of Eldros, help me quickly grow my city to the level of those fishmen's altar, so they don't dare ask for my hard-earned pure stone."
Ash and the others successfully arrive near Nexus City with 300 woods. He sees the giant soundly sleeping near the city, so he and the others slowly and steadily move along the path to the city's entry gate. After the others also successfully enter into the range of the golden barrier, he breathes a sigh of relief.
Ash orders the new soldiers to put the wood into the warehouse. Then he, Ram, and Evan discuss whether to use the pure stone to make a healing liquid or breed fish for selling in the market building.
After a long discussion, Ash decides to create a healing liquid. For this, he will create a small pond and name it "Healing Pond." He situates it in the inner area of the city to absorb more mana from the environment. Ash decides to make this pond very near the mana tree. He believes this will increase the production of healing water from the pure stone since mana refining has shifted from the mana tree to the magic pond, and the dense mana mist in the area isn't used for anything. For confirming his guess, he decides to read the system description of the pure stone again.
A window pops up in front of Ash:
Name: Pure Stone (Item - Resource)
Requirement: Use in any area, but needs soil and mana around
Quantity: 1
Status: Good
Ability: Produces water by absorbing mana. Water has good healing effect and improves fish reproduction.
Description: Valuable for healing and fish farming.
Grade: White
He confirm his guess, is correct ,then he decides to check the system status of Nexus City.
City: Nexus City
Ability: Territory defense doubled
Description: In city defense, all attack and defense power of people and buildings is doubled.
Altar Level: 0
Upgrade Requirement: Wood * 1000, Stone * 250, Mana Core (Level 0) * 50
Production: Mist Mana Level 0 * 10/day
Area: 625 sq. meters
Status: Very Small Village
Mana (Money): 160
Tax (from market & city): 0
Buildings: Guide Mark (low-grade) * 1 (active), Guide Mark (mid-grade) * 1 (active), Market (0/5 used, 5 free trades/day), Magic Pond (white-grade) * 1 (active)
Blueprints: Low-grade House (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Furnace (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Blacksmith Room (Stone * 300, Wood * 100)
Warehouse: Wood * 625, Stone * 10, Low-grade swords * 16
Population: 8 + 6 (temporary residents)
Specialty: Mana Tree
Resource Point: Stone Mountain Level 1 (610 mined / 1000 total)
Attack Power Level: 0 (1000/1000)
Defense Power Level: 0 (10000/10000)
After seeing the city's status, he thinks, "New people have come today... I thought because of the giant, no one would be able to come near Nexus City. Robin did a good job bringing them in. After all, I need manpower. Let them stay near the city's gate. Making the new people uneasy or irritating the giant—neither is something I want to happen in Nexus City. I'll meet the new people after taking care of other things. I only need more wood and stone to upgrade the city. I hope tomorrow I'll be able to upgrade Nexus City."
He and the others go toward the garden of Nexus to construct the small healing pond. He thinks, "I really want to create a healing well for the city, but I don't have enough knowledge about construction of wells, and neither do the others. Constructing a small pond requires less labour and time compared to a well. Whatever the case, the protection of the city is more important. I can't use my people like slaves. An attack on the city might not happen today because the giant is sleeping near Nexus. After all, the giant doesn't like being disturbed. Attacking Nexus Altar City now also means irritating the giant. Maybe the giant knows the altar city is defending itself, so the fault would lie with the attackers—and the giant can easily crush monsters."
"So, the monster plane will not send a monster army just to be destroyed for sure... maybe my thinking is correct. Why not ask Nexus?"
And Nexus confirms his guess—but adds: attacking the giant for any reason not only gets monsters sent here die, but also creates more problems in the monster plane.
He and the others enter the garden moments later. Ash selects the best and most suitable location near the mana tree for constructing the small healing pond. He glances a few times at the mana tree and decides to see its growth. A status window of the mana tree appears in front of him:
Name: Mana Tree (Specialty)
Status: Occupied
Ability: Able to produce mana with different level of trees
Level: 0 (growable)
Production: Mist Mana Level 0 * 9 per day
He finds the mana production of the mana tree has grown from 7 per day to 9 per day, which fills him with joy. But he decides not to share this with others. He believes the more secrets his subordinates know about the Nexus Altar, the more danger they might face in the future from Nexus City's enemies. He doesn't want to create that danger for them. Previous incidents on Earth in his past life taught him not to put everything in one basket.
Minutes pass. The others are working together, digging soil to construct the small pond in the garden of Nexus City. He sees the small pond is a perfect circle, with a 200cm radius. He takes the pure stone and places it in the centre of the small pond. He sees the construction progressing fast, and he thinks, "This is the magic of manpower. Having many people to help is so much better for labour-related work."
A few moments later, Ash looks at the pure stone with curiosity in his eyes. He wants to see the moment the healing water appears—but he feels this will take time, and he doesn't have enough time to satisfy his curiosity now. So, he and the others leave the garden, following him in a straight line.
He gives permission for the others to rest or do their own work. He thinks, "Out of respect, they are following me. But that's not in the long-term interest of my city or me. After I dismiss them, the soldiers will go to the magic pond for mana refining. Ram and Evan will most likely rest or train. That's good for the city. Meeting the new citizens is my work. From Nexus, I learned that the new people are only level 0, so they're not dangerous to the city's security. And in the altar city, my power gets boosted from the Nexus Altar—so killing me isn't child's play."
Afterward, he goes in the direction of Robin. Minutes pass. He meets Robin and sees Robin telling the new people about the city. After seeing the total number of citizens, he thinks, "I need to work on agriculture for the city. The number of people increases daily, so their diet does too. But I don't know anything about farming. I hope to find some good talent in that field."
After a few moments of silence, he sees Robin and others greet in the traditional way of Eldros, and he reciprocates their greeting. Robin introduces the new people to Ash. Ash genuinely listens. As Robin talks about the new citizens, Ash thinks, "In the coming times, I'm really going to be busier. So, checking the behaviour of new people will depend solely on Robin. But I will cross-check their behaviour later. If the city grows in time, I'll implement some of Earth's governance policies—like judges and police—if I face no obstacles."
After listening, he gets to know that most of them are common citizens of Eldros with no special talents, but they are all physically strong. With proper training, they could become good soldiers. So, he first asks them if they know the city's policy and rules. They answer positively. He offers them the chance to become soldiers of the city—and sees they readily agree.
He thinks, "People of Eldros are more innocent and honest compared to Earth, at least in understanding exploitation... but they're good at killing. I hope to have only honest soldiers in my army. But I'm sure 80% of the top elites in this world are clever and dangerous, protecting their own interests. I'm feeling it... and I'm also that type of person."
He decides to let them become permanent citizens of Nexus City. In a good mood, he leaves Robin and the others to become comfortable with each other. He gives one more power to Robin—constructing and managing houses in both the inner and outer areas of Nexus City. He feels good having trustworthy people to pass some of his burdens onto.
While walking, he looks at the sky and finds the red moon looking beautiful to him. It gives him a strange peace of mind he's never found elsewhere. With a slight smile, Ash goes in the direction of his sleep. He's feeling very tired—and now he knows how politicians felt on Earth after meeting so many people. But he also has some hatred for politicians.
He sighs in the inner area near his house. He decides to check the city's status again. He's curious what changes happened in the healing pond and the city.
A window pops up in front of him:
City: Nexus City
Ability: Territory defense doubled
Description: In city defense, all attack and defense power of people and buildings is doubled.
Altar Level: 0
Upgrade Requirement: Wood * 1000, Stone * 250, Mana Core (Level 0) * 50
Production: Mist Mana Level 0 * 10/day
Area: 625 sq. meters
Status: Very Small Village
Mana (Money): 160
Tax (from market & city): 0
Buildings: Guide Mark (low-grade) * 1 (active), Guide Mark (mid-grade) * 1 (active), Market (0/5 used, 5 free trades/day), Magic Pond (white-grade) * 1 (active)
Blueprints: Low-grade House (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Furnace (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Blacksmith Room (Stone * 300, Wood * 100)
Treasures: Pure Stone (Item - Resource, Grade: White)
Warehouse: Wood * 625, Stone * 10, Low-grade swords * 16
Population: 14
Specialty: Mana Tree
Resource Point: Stone Mountain Level 1 (610 mined / 1000 total)
Attack Power Level: 0 (1000/1000)
Defense Power Level: 0 (10000/10000)
After seeing the system window, he notices a change in the population count—it shows 14 people—and a new "Treasures" column where the pure stone is listed. He thinks, "Nexus City's system window doesn't recognize my artificial construction of the healing pond for the pure stone as a building. Maybe buildings are only recognized when they're built from blueprint treasures. Whatever... it doesn't affect the importance of the healing pond. I hope it gives me some good surprise tomorrow morning."
He goes to bed and falls asleep. Hours pass. In sleep, Ash hears a loud sound. He is shocked by it. His body trembles every time the sound comes. His mind and body feel deep fear. The others, also sleeping in the house, wake up from the sound. He immediately exits the house with the others, trying to see what this loud sound is about—with a terrified look on his face.