After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

A/N: It's Sunday again and this means an extra chap! *dances* THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT EVERYONE! LOVE YOUUUU

Additional Hugs to everyone who sent their votes! I try to take note of each one, and I love them so much~

And Special mention to Feb '25 TOP 3 Golden Ticket gifters Emilia Kostella, Whitney woolfolk, and Foxiidust & Amara Woods~

Next week, if we're T1 Golden, I will post +3 chaps that Sunday~

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Alterra was not the only place making some major adjustments. The nearby territories, specifically its subsidiaries, were the same.

Of course, they had it much harder. While Alterra was in awe with the eventual appearance of puppies, the other territories were…. still clearing up the mobs they attracted.

With a Town so close to them, it naturally increased the average monster level by a lot. There were plenty of times— especially during the upgrade mobs.

Even with Alterra's prior warnings and their preparations, some monsters still got inside their walls and wreaked havoc. They lost quite a bit of property in those times, and a lot of people were injured.

Fortunately, they had a large amount of aborigine visitors that had been 'blocked' from entering Alterra at the time. Their place had become a stopover of sorts to Alterra, and the Lords were smart enough to make deals with them.

Micheal had also adopted a similar contribution system—named "The Ledger" —which gave incentives to everyone who fought off the monsters, including aborigines.

While their points weren't nearly as valuable as that of Alterra's, this allowed them to cope with the stronger enemies with minimal losses.

These points also gave way for deals the aborigines would never be able to get in Alterra.

And so, even after the Alterran doors opened, there were still plenty of aborigines who stayed in Bright Village.

In fact, Micheal was currently having a meeting with Enok, one of the members of the Takoda Mercenary Team.

He had been part of the celebrations in Alterra, but as a professional, he naturally went straight to work after that.

They had been notified that Alterra was not planning on expanding (in the normal sense) any time soon. Although they could wait, they knew setting up base in Alterra wouldn't be cheap, so they had to consider some alternatives.

Contrary to Alterra, the adjacent villages would appreciate their forces stationed there, and the negotiations would definitely be a lot more favorable to them.

Besides, Bright was less than half a day trek to Alterra, and an hour or less via Beast Car, so it was a viable—no, it was an even more cost-effective alternative.

They met in the Center's meeting room to finalize their deals, and he had to say that so many people from Helios's home planet seemed so impressive despite their low levels.

Interestingly, the blonde lord was currently holding a fluffy white creature on his lap, absent-mindedly petting it while discussing with them.

Next to the Lord Micheal was the green-haired Juno, who also had a small creature nestled on his shoulder. They both had blank expressions on their faces. It was almost identical.

Juno was the leader among the aborigine hires, and in the past few months he had established himself as Micheal's right-hand man. Uran, one of Micheal's older aborigine guards, was also there though he seemed perfectly happy guarding the door and watching the visitors' backs.

Of course, considering they were twice the local level, the guardedness was understandable.

Enok cleared his throat. "I heard Alterra didn't expand yet," he said. "While we do have an option to wait, we're open to other offers."

He paused to look at the other man. "Will we have any benefits if we made a base here, Lord Micheal?"

Micheal's eyes sparkled, but his expression didn't change much. For several moments, he just patted Gambino's smooth and fluffy white fur while deep in thought.

Micheal considered what to prioritize in this case. Would he want money from them or did he want protection?

Considering the level gap between them—as well as the fact that they could always go to Alterra—it could only be one or the other for him.

After a while, he came to a conclusion. His hand stopped moving unconsciously, making the cat turn to him. Meow, it said, and Micheal's hand moved again as if to follow its wishes.

"My hope is simple," Micheal began, teasingly scritching the cat's forehead (which made it purr in approval). "You must make a vow to allocate a certain amount of force to assist in times of mobs and—if the level permits—in wars."

"Of course, I also expect your people to behave well, protect our people as needed, and treat them respectfully despite their low levels.

"If you can promise this, and as long as you follow these conditions, I can lease you a parcel of land you can use indefinitely."

Enok blinked, a little surprised at the generous offer. Even if it was just a village, protected land was still protected land. It was a portion of its entirety—one that was guarded by the System—and therefore could not be given out casually.

This was especially true because of its good location right next to Alterra, which no doubt would be one of the biggest pot of gold in this continent.

Micheal smiled, understanding his shock. It wasn't that he was being too kind and desperate for the other's forces, but having a Mercenary from a City was definitely advantageous to them!

First, the mobs would not be a problem anymore. These people were used to even stronger mobs. Their number wouldn't be too much that his people would be completely dependent on them, but at least he didn't have to worry about Level 20 or so monsters getting lost and ending up in their area.

Second, just their presence would make any other village think twice before attacking them! If those people were stupid enough to bid wars, then the mercenaries—even if they were beyond the level cap—could definitely ensure the battlefield was at least levelled.

And finally, just having stronger people in the vicinity would add to the reliability of the territory. This would reassure people that they could make good—and even risky—investments on the territory.

One of the keys to a successful territory was stable institutions, and having a reliable source of military strength they had some control over—unlike Alterrans, who would need to be paid and would always prioritize their hometown—was instrumental to that!

Of course, the aborigine did not think as deeply as Micheal did. He did, however, have the common sense of fist-ruling-everything, so he still somehow understood his sentiment.

Enok smiled, relieved that this meeting ended up being even more productive than he thought.

At this, he held out his hand—something he learned from various Terrans he had dealt with—to signify his acceptance of the terms.

"Deal."