Chapter 204.1: Relocation Plan and Reinforcements

"Is the battle situation so tense now?" Staring at the dark blue exoframe on Chu Guang's body, Ye Xiao couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Not understanding what he meant, Du Conglin tilted his head slightly and asked. "What do you mean?"

"Why did he put this on early in the morning?" glancing at the exoframe, Ye Xiao smacked his lips and said, "If it were me, I wouldn't wear such a cumbersome thing around the house."

At most, I would only wear it when I go out.

Doru, who was walking beside him, couldn't help laughing. "Haha, do you have one?"

Ye Xiao glared at him, and just when he was about to say something, the administrator's voice came from the front. "We have arrived."

The room they had arrived at was the reception room of the outpost. They had come here once yesterday and watched a "movie" at the invitation of Luca.

After asking everyone to sit down, Chu Guang stood in front of them.

Because he was wearing an exoframe, he did not sit down with everyone, but chose to stand while speaking. "Regarding the relocation, my subordinates should have conveyed our suggestion to you last night. I would like to know what your thoughts are."

The room was quiet for a while.

After a moment of silence, Brown slowly raised his head and asked, "Is this a negotiation, or an ultimatum?"

Chu Guang looked at him and said, "Of course it is the former. Even if you have your own plans, as long as you are not helping our enemies, we will not interfere in any way."

Of course, there was another meaning to what he said.

That was, they would also not be responsible for other survivors' safety, let alone send reinforcements when other survivors were attacked.

The survivors present exchanged glances, with slightly embarrassed expressions on their faces.

Seeing the concerns on their faces, Chu Guang continued, "I know you are worried whether you will be treated unfairly by moving in, or whether we will keep our promise to keep you safe."

"It is human nature to have these worries. My subordinates did not make a promise to you for me out of strict consideration. Here, I promise to you as the administrator of Shelter 404 that whoever relocates to Longevity Town will be fairly protected by us and live with dignity under our rules."

Hearing these words, the survivors sitting in the reception room whispered to each other.

Some people had already been moved, and some people were still on the fence, but it was obvious that their attitude had been shaken a little.

Like Chu Guang said, as outsiders, they were only worried about two things.

One was whether they would be treated fairly, and the other was whether their own safety would be guaranteed.

At present, it seemed like there was no need to worry about the first point. These blue coats even took in nomads, so there was no reason to treat them differently.

As for the second point, there was even less need to worry.

Although they didn't have a deeper understanding of these shelter residents' strength, since there was an exoframe, they were certain that those shelter residents weren’t weak.

In fact, it was not a bad thing to join a strong force, as long as it was worth it. At least, it was far better for the smaller, decentralized survivor camps that needed to fend off attackers by themselves.

It was just that the proposal that was friendly to other survivors may not be so good to a certain landlord. The ambiguous expressions on the faces of other survivor representatives around him made Brown feel a little nervous.

If everyone except yourself accepted the olive branch thrown by Shelter 404, would his opinion still matter?

He could almost foresee what would happen to him.

Who knows if these blue coats would take the opportunity to settle the matter of him paying the protection fee to Bloodhand Clan before, and take over his house before the Bonechewer Clan targeted them.

No one could guarantee that such a thing would not happen.

"Will you keep your promise?" Brown said nervously, looking at Chu Guang, "I've heard that you invaded Baker Street." Brown regretted it as soon as he said it, but it was too late to take it back.

The survivors in the room whispered to each other again.

Not paying attention to those voices, Chu Guang looked at Brown without hesitation, and the moment the latter met his gaze, he avoided his eyes in fear.

"Invade? If you've been there, you wouldn't say such things."

"Once our people arrived on Baker Street, the residents of Baker Street volunteered to open the gates to welcome us. We ended a leech’s rule and returned the street to their people, allowing them to live under a new order. Now they don't have to endure the exploitation of the old town mayor, and they don't have to use their own flesh and blood to try to feed a pack of jackals that can never be satisfied."

"I prefer to call it a liberation to an invasion."

The reception room fell silent.

When they heard the second half of Chu Guang's words, many of the survivors' faces were flushed, and they all showed embarrassed expressions.

Using their own flesh and blood to try to feed a group of jackals that could never be satisfied. Wasn't he talking about them?

If it weren't for the protection fee for Bloodhand Clan, they wouldn't have to be so tight on resources this winter.

"You and your inhabitants are a noble bunch, I never doubted that." Du Conglin looked at Chu Guang and continued with a solemn tone. "The Bonechewer Clan’s vanguard has arrived at the border of Clearspring City, and the crisis is imminent. The current situation does not allow us to argue with each other any more. We, the Morrowind Community, are willing to accept your proposal, and we are very grateful for your willingness to take us in."

"Me too," Ye Xiao, who was sitting next to him, also raised his hand, "One hundred residents of Highway Town also have no objection to this!"

The other survivors also nodded their heads in agreement.

Brown originally wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't dare to speak again, holding back the words that had already reached his tongue.

Only Doru couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Can you tell me the specific resettlement plan... I mean, in terms of our property allocations."

Chu Guang looked at him and said, "Of course, that's what I'm going to say next. I'll convince you that it's not a bad thing to accept our placement."

After saying that, Chu Guang took out a map and drew a circle in the northern part of Linghu Lake and Elm District, enclosing a large area of land.

"It is ten kilometers from the north of Linghu Lake to Elm District, and the usable land area exceeds 66,600,000 square meters. I have visited this area before. It is rich in fresh water resources and fertile soil, which is a good place for farming. Although there are variations of mutants like jackals, mutant hyenas, and even Crackleclaw Crabs, it's not a big problem, our guys will take care of it for you."

"I hope you can relocate to Longevity Town, where the garrison and the wall can guarantee your safety to the greatest extent, and in the coming year, I will give you some arable land. In addition, the forest farm in Elm District will also be open to you. There is a natural hunting ground, and it is also one of our main sources of meat at present."

"Your property is still all yours, we will not take any action against it. There are only two things you need to pay attention to, one is to obey our laws, and the other is to use our currency on our land. If you have any questions, it's better to ask now.”

Hearing this, Brown immediately asked, "What about slaves? Slaves are part of our property, but your laws don't seem to allow slaves."

Knowing in advance that someone would ask this question, Chu Guang decisively used the rhetoric he had already thought of. "Shelter 404 advocates equality. We advocate employment and prohibit anyone from enslaving others in any form. Of course, we will not ask you to give up your ownership of slaves for free. You can free them voluntarily or sell them to us. Here, a young adult from 16 to 35 years old can be exchanged for 3,000 square meters of arable land, and the rest can all be exchanged for 1,800 square meters of land.”

"They will be incorporated into the pioneering team as semi-free workers, accept the transformation of their minds through labor together with our captives, and reintegrate into our society as free people after a period of time."

It was not realistic to expect these wastelanders to understand the benefits of the employment system and voluntarily release slaves. They neither had the ideological awareness, nor was there a realistic foundation in the wasteland.

Swapping slaves for land was a good idea.

That was the method that Chu Guang summed up from practice when dealing with refugee issues.

Some refugees who held slaves had also resisted handing them over in the past. They would rather kill them than to let them go, but when they learned that the slaves could be exchanged for land, they immediately handed over the tethered slaves with joy on their faces.

With the land, they could settle down, and once they settled down, they could get rid of their status as refugees and no longer had to live a precarious life of wandering.

As for Chu Guang's side, he happened to have a large area of land waiting for people to farm. It was not a problem to give them some land. Not to mention that it could also reduce his workload.

After those refugees had land, they would immediately change from a time bomb that endangered order to a shield that maintained order.

Of course, when it comes to the land issue, Chu Guang did not take the initiative to discuss the tax he had planned out.