Chapter 546.2: Formless? Tangible?

Everyone seemed certain the two were doomed, but she felt that status and love were entirely separate matters.

Everyone agreed that no one was born noble, yet instinctively they still questioned whether two people were well matched.

Surely there had been cases of wastelanders and shelter residents falling in love and building lives together, even if their values spanned two centuries.

She felt it was unfair to label people without considering the facts.

However... She never intended to raise her concerns to Spielberg.

Using personal feelings to guilt-trip the author would be childish and impolite. Even fairy tales coated in sugar couldn’t lull just one child to sleep, much less a story as tumultuous as his.

She wasn’t a child anymore. If anything, she was an adult.

[Thank you for reaching out to help in our time of need.]

[The survivors of Boulder Town will never forget this friendship. In the days ahead, we will fight side by side for our shared ideals.]

The pen hovered by her lips for a moment before she sketched a tiny face at the bottom of the letter.

[^_^]

As she signed her name, the corner of her mouth lifted into a faint smile.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She had written it, and she felt it would be a real blessing if she could get a response.

She softly read through the letter twice to ensure there were no mistakes, then carefully tucked it into an envelope.

Having completed her task, she let out a long sigh, stretched with a sense of accomplishment, pushed back her chair, and wandered sleepily toward the bed.

The bed she placed in the room was much smaller than the one at home, but to her, it still felt spacious.

Changing into her favorite pajamas, she tucked the envelope under her pillow before crawling under the covers while yawning.

The bedding was cold and hard. There was no scent of lavender, no warmth of sunlight, but it was easier to fall asleep than usual.

Besides, it wasn’t that cold, really.

The city hall had wall heaters. A thin mist had formed on the windows and it was much warmer than the outside.

She rubbed her cheek against the edge of the blanket, and soon her body heat had warmed the cold bedding.

Life after losing everything wasn’t as difficult as she’d imagined. Lying on her bed, she felt at peace like never before.

Soon, she drifted off as sweet dreams started to play out in her head.

...

When the sun rose the next day, the survivors of Boulder Town and the New Alliance’s relief team welcomed the first day after that long, dark night.

The large communal pots once clustered at the city gates had now been distributed to every neighborhood in the settlement, and a milky-white fog rose before dawn.

After registering each resident’s name and address, the House of Refugees would deliver relief supplies directly to mobile kitchens stationed at every dining point.

That way, queues would shorten and they could prevent outbreaks of disease. The difficulty of managing the crowd would also greatly decrease.

When it came to refugee resettlement, Dawn City’s Mayor, Luca, was practically a veteran. He had been helping Chu Guang with it even before the New Alliance existed.

And his approach could be summed up in one sentence. Let those with strength work, and those without strength not cause trouble.

When a group stayed in one place, it was easy to know who did what, and where they went and when.

With the militia and drones patrolling, and surveillance cameras mounted on the city walls, public safety risks could be minimized.

At the moment, all production in Boulder Town had come to a halt, and many brutes with nothing but strength had nothing to do.

It wasn’t enough to just feed them. They had to be given something to do, a way to channel that surplus energy into the right places.

The new administration promised that while there would be no wages for participating in construction, workers would be given priority in the allocation of new housing, and the meals for construction teams would be of a higher standard than those at ordinary relief kitchens.

Those who worked would definitely eat better than those who didn’t.

Even without pay, with food and shelter provided, and a house afterward, it was still far better than the check-printing factory run by Lord Vega.

Besides, there was nowhere to spend money anyway. With the mobilization of the Worker's Union, most of the laborers in the settlement joined the construction teams, and even some physically capable citizens took part.

At the same time, the settlement renovation plan was officially launched.

The New Alliance Central Bank issued a special loan of 500 million silver coins to Boulder Town’s new administration, which would be used entirely for housing renovations in the settlement.

According to data collected by the New Alliance, over 200,000 people in Boulder Town were living in shacks flooded with sewage without proper walls so the wind could get through.

In the slums outside the great wall, nearly another 100,000 survivors of mixed backgrounds still lived, and they too needed to be relocated in a unified manner.

With support from the New Alliance, the new administration would construct a batch of apartment buildings using precast concrete panels and expand several major roads.

Moreover, that was only within Boulder Town.

Outside the settlement, the New Alliance had also made corresponding plans.

Chu Guang intended to select a relatively safe and convenient route from the underground transport lines running from Linghu Wetlands Park in the northern suburbs to the vicinity of Boulder Town, for cleaning and repair.

In the future, the commute from Boulder Town to Dawn City would be shortened to under two hours, and without any harassment from marauders.

The New Alliance would also extend the power lines to Boulder Town, integrating four settlements in the River Valley Province into a single power grid!

A power grid fueled by nuclear fusion! With that, the future of Boulder Town was looking bright.

There were vast numbers of skilled workers and engineers in Boulder Town, along with a complete set of infrastructure and production materials. It had every potential to become the New Alliance’s largest center for processing and manufacturing, forming a closed-loop supply chain with Dawn City, the base source of raw materials and their heavy industry.

The wealth generated by the real economy would give rise to a tertiary industry, a true service sector for the workers.

The VIP booths at Queen of the Night Bar would likely become history, but Boulder Town residents would finally have access to bars that everyone could afford, along with libraries and cinemas.

"Honorable master of Clearspring City, administrator of the New Alliance, I am very pleased to meet you!" On the rooftop helipad of the Boulder Town Arms Industry building stood a massive Orca transport aircraft. Beside it was a line of fully armed soldiers.

Smiling brightly as the sun, Eberts stepped forward with his right hand extended as he approached Chu Guang. "I’m honored to finally meet you. Especially because I see the shadow of someone else in you."

Chu Guang, having opened the visor of his exoframe, raised a brow at the unexpected remark. "Who?"

Eberts smiled. "The one Mr. Fang Ming always spoke of!"

"His creator?"

"

Mhm

." Eberts nodded and added approvingly, "You both share certain similarities... but in truth, you are completely different."

Chu Guang replied indifferently, "That makes sense. It’s hard to find two identical people in this world."

Although the little players from Shelter 404 had already scoured every corner of Boulder Town, it was actually Chu Guang’s first time visiting the settlement.

Also, he had come with a very clear purpose. He had come for one specific thing.

There was something he had to get his hands on.

Eberts let go of his hand with a smile. "Perhaps it was precisely out of that concern that it told me to observe from a distance, to control the pace of contact. Truth is, you had already earned its recognition a long time ago. But recognition means little. It had its own mission and rules."

Chu Guang had already heard about Fang Ming from Little Seven, so he wasn’t surprised by the explanation. "It’s right. You shouldn’t trust anyone in the wasteland too easily. Some things were destined to be done by the residents of Boulder Town. Until they completely cast off the old order, no one can help them."

Eberts let out a faint sigh. "Is that so? But I think there might be more efficient ways. Perhaps that’s the difference between me and Mr. Fang Ming."