Chapter 555.2: A New Year!

Feeling a bit embarrassed from the thanks, Light Wind smiled shyly and looked away. “You’re welcome. I’m happy to help.”

She glanced over at Little Ghost and added, “Let’s bring some to Citrus and the others too.”

“You got it!” Little Ghost laughed as she grabbed a small cart, loaded up an idle cotton candy machine, and shouted at Mosquito. “Oi boss, we’re borrowing this for a bit!”

Since the process was simple and not too labor-intensive, they had made more than one cotton candy machine. Some were even meant to be sold to locals.

Mosquito waved grandly and laughed. “Take it! Go spread our glory to the rest of the world!”

Actually, quite a few NPCs had already come asking where to buy the machine.

It seemed cotton candy wouldn’t be the only thing selling out tonight.

His Goblin Technology’s sales was about to explode too!

...

At the other end of the snack street, a handsome man with a thick scarf wrapped around his neck was holding the hand of a young lady with green hair.

He stopped in front of a stall selling miscellaneous goods, picked up a palm-sized display screen, and casually asked, "Boss, where did you get this thing?"

Seeing that someone was finally interested in the neglected trinket, the stall owner quickly hid his glee and replied heartily, "Ah, this? I found it near the Inner City, probably some old noble's collection. If you like it... 10 silver coins and it’s yours."

"You’re kidding, 10 silver coins for this piece of junk? I’d say it’s worth 10 chips at best." Ample Time smiled and was about to put the item back.

The stall owner panicked and quickly changed his offer. "Five silver coins! How about that?"

Ample Time shook his head and held up a finger. "One silver coin. If not, forget it, honestly, it’s just getting in the way."

"... Alright, fine! I’ll take a loss!" The stall owner pulled a bitter face but secretly grinned beneath his lowered brow.

He had just picked it up off the ground! Even half a silver coin would’ve been a profit!

Ample Time didn’t call out the lie. He smiled, left a silver coin on the stall, gave Dori’s hand a gentle tug, and led her further down the street.

Walking beside him, Dori curiously leaned in for a closer look at what he was holding. "What is that... Huh? It looks like your other one!"

Ample Time joked:

"Well, they’re from the same family."

"Same family?"

"Yeah, the difference between a father and son," Ample Time lightly tossed the palm-sized trading device in his hand and smiled. "This one’s the son."

The battery was already drained. There were no numbers or lines on the screen. Otherwise, it would’ve looked pretty cool.

He had originally thought Kishur would come find him in the northern suburbs, which was why he had waited in Dawn City for so long. In the end, that coward had run off.

Well, let him run. Ample Time didn’t feel a shred of pity for that fool. He brought it all on himself.

Dori glanced at Ample Time and asked softly, "Did you ever press that button in the end?"

"Nope," Ample Time said breezily, slipping the trading device into his pocket. "You said not to, so I didn’t. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway."

He had already taken what he wanted. The rest was just empty numbers.

Besides, the chip system had completely collapsed in the end. The S coins linked to it naturally lost all meaning. Whether he took that final step or not didn’t matter.

"But still, it’s surprising... I never thought Boulder Town would get so lively one day." Dori looked at the bustling streets in the distance, a bit emotional.

Ample Time smiled. "Got any inspiration for tomorrow’s front page?"

"

Mhm

!" Dori nodded, then her eyes suddenly lit up as she turned to him and said, "Do you think someone might see the fireworks above Boulder Town and come all the way here to join us?"

The thought had just struck her.

Aside from the famous survivor settlements, there were actually many small and large survivor communities scattered across the wasteland.

Even in Clearspring City, there were quite a few.

Ample Time smiled and patted her head.

"Hard to say. Actually, many New Alliance survivors came here just like that."

He remembered when the Frost Spear Tribe first arrived, they had seen the smoke rising from the northern suburbs and came over with a ‘let’s try our luck’ mindset.

Unlike ideals buried in the heart, prosperity was something that could be seen with their eyes.

When fireworks reflected in people’s eyes, those who longed for light would naturally follow the glow.

That was how the wasteland nomads arrived.

It was also how the workers of Boulder Town ran over to the New Alliance.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

In the future, more survivors, tired of the wasteland, would rally under the shared flag of the New Alliance!

It was a weapon greater than any gun or cannon.

It was also capable of doing what guns and cannons never could...

At that very moment, just as Ample Time had said, under the same night sky, many people were gazing at the flames lighting up the heavens.

In the eastern outskirts of Clearspring City, a dozen ox carts had stopped along the roadside outside the city. A few caravan guards huddled together, lighting cigarettes with matches.

"Why are we spending winter out here? The seasonal storms came early this year."

"Something happened in Boulder Town. Can’t go there anymore."

"Something? What happened?"

"Regime change."

One of the older guards shot a glance at the group of ‘cargo’ near the ox carts and curled his lip with distaste. "If we hadn’t brought this lot, we still could’ve gone."

The New Alliance used to stay out of the slave trade, only forbidding abuse or murder on their territory. Sometimes they even bought passing slaves to free them.

But ever since they beat the Army, those blue-furred rats stopped pretending. They started copying the settlements up in Among Clouds Province, banning all human trafficking outright.

Now, they didn’t even dare get near the New Alliance borders. Even buying supplies had to be done separately.

"Those damned blue rats..." one guard cursed, tossing his cigarette butt into the snow and grinding it out hard with his boot.

Another guard joined in: "Hope they don’t make it past Spring."

The slaves huddled by the two-headed oxen to keep warm heard the curses and whispered quietly among themselves.

"Where are they taking us?"

"The boss said we’re headed north."

"I think it was some place called ‘Bugra’... something..."

A young man sitting in the corner suddenly chimed in, "The Bugra Free State?"

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, the others turned to look at him.

They recognized the guy. Though he looked filthy, he was actually quite fair-skinned, totally different from the rest of them, who were dark and skinny. He would probably fetch a good price.

About two weeks ago, just after entering River Valley Province, they had found him half-dead in the wilderness.

Soon after, the guards had caught him, stolen his belongings, slapped on some shackles, and tossed him in with the rest of them.

Thinking he might know something, a curly-haired boy asked curiously, "You’ve been there?"

Another younger kid piped up too. "I heard it’s a nice place."

Hearing their chatter, Kishur pulled the corner of his cracked lips into a faint sneer. "Maybe."

After everything he’d been through, he no longer trusted hearsay.

A scrawny guy shuffled closer to him. "Hey, you seem to know a lot."

Kishur gave a self-deprecating laugh. "You’ve got bad instincts. What’s in front of you is just a piece of trash."

The young man was stunned.

He had heard trash talk before, but never someone trash-talking themselves. This guy really was different. "Then... Do you know about the New Alliance?"

"The New Alliance, huh..." A complicated look crossed Kishur’s face, and he muttered, "Might be a good place for people like you."

The curly-haired boy lowered his head and mumbled bitterly, "Yeah, right. If they’re so great, why haven’t they come to save us?"

Kishur replied casually, "They only save themselves, and those who can be saved."

Another boy couldn’t help asking softly, "What counts as 'can be saved'?"

"At the very least, you’ve got to try saving yourself."

What a joke.

In the end, he understood those people better than anyone else.

Kishur laughed bitterly again, but it didn’t matter anymore. He was already a dead man...

Wherever the wind blew, that was where he would go.

Most of the slaves glanced at each other in confusion, unable to make sense of his cryptic words. They turned back to chatting about their supposed destination.

Some said they were actually being taken to the northern swamps.

It wasn’t like the discussion meant anything. They had no say in where they were sold. But since they had nothing better to do, they talked anyway.

Only the scrawny youth squatting next to Kishur stared unblinkingly at the distant fireworks, murmuring to himself, "Those who can be saved... those who try to save themselves..."

He wanted to learn more about the New Alliance.

Not because of some fairy tale about how wonderful it was, not even because the fireworks looked beautiful.

It was because those vicious guards turned pale every time the New Alliance was mentioned.

They were like rats who just saw a cat

He wanted that kind of power too!

The kind that struck fear into the hyenas of the wasteland!

Unnoticed in a quiet corner, a seed had been quietly planted...

No one knew what it would grow into.

...