Chapter 437.2: It Was The Will Of The Gods

They changed out of their exoskeletons.

Sideline Slacking led Eye Owe Money and Construction Boy into the camp known as the Recycling Station.

Despite looking shabby from the outside, the camp was quiet inside.

Merchants leading oxen lined the roadsides with their stalls, selling not only bottles and cans of junk but often some unusually high-tech items.

Including security robots with welded pipe rifles, and androids modified with scavenged trash and smart cores... Some were even hawking exoframes!

However, Sideline Slacking went up to see and realized that, apart from a nearly depleted fuel rod plugged into its chest, there wasn't a single part that had anything to do with an exoframe.

Construction Boy curiously approached to see the price tag. Looking at the price of 600,000 CR, his eyes bulged.

"Holy shit! That's a rip-off!"

If he remembered correctly, the current exchange rate between CR and silver coins was 1:3, which meant it cost 1.8 million silver coins!

The merchant glanced at him. Seeing the look of inexperience on his face, the merchant couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.

"We're not here to buy equipment." Sideline Slacking patted Construction Boy's shoulder, pulling him back.

Most of the equipment there was made by scavengers, with a failure rate that was probably quite touching.

He didn't even bother to haggle.

"How much did Old White pay for that exoframe he bought?" Eye Owe Money suddenly asked.

Sideline Slacking thought and said. "I remember... It was about 1 million silver coins?"

Hearing it was only 1 million silver coins, the players sighed in relief.

Indeed, the administrator is such a nice person!

These wastelanders really aren't very clever!

After strolling through the market, they finally found a merchant selling food.

The elderly vendor was not young. He was about 40 years old, and looked like he was from the Sunset Province, where regardless of skin color, people had deep eye sockets.

To the players' surprise, this merchant actually accepted silver coins!

According to the old man, he was planning to head south next, so he needed both Dinars and silver coins. "4,000 kilograms of dry bread, 300 kilograms of dried beef... Let me calculate.

Ummm

, that'll be 10,000 silver coins."

Hearing the old man's price, Eye Owe Money couldn't help but complain. "Dang! That's expensive!"

Construction Boy also gulped. "10,000 silver coins... That's enough to buy a set of Light Cavalry exoskeleton..."

Sideline Slacking, however, seemed unconcerned and chuckled, "Think of it this way. The cost of supplying 500 of us for the price of one Light Cavalry exoskeleton... I think it's quite worth it."

Waging war costs money.

Problems that could be solved with money weren’t really problems, especially since logistical expenses were reimbursed by the administrator. He took out a wallet and counted 100 bills, handing them to the old man. "Deal."

The old man smiled and took the money before signaling to the young men nearby to help weigh and pack the supplies to be delivered to the camp outside.

Sideline Slacking had Construction Boy follow them while he and Eye Owe Money stayed in the camp.

When Construction Boy returned, Eye Owe Money suddenly thought of the monster that looked like a corpse they had seen on the road, so he turned to the old man and asked, "Have you seen a kind of monster with skin that looks like it's been soaked and rotted, just like a living corpse?”

“Soaked and rotted? A living corpse?" The old man thought for a while, his wrinkled face suddenly squeezing out a smile. "What you encountered must be a Ghoul."

Eye Owe Money frowned. "A Ghoul?"

"Yes, there's a 100 kilometer nuclear crater to the west of the Great Rift Valley. They probably crawled out from there. They don't eat the living, but they don't shy away from the dead, treating plague and decay as delicacies." Tapping out the ash in his pipe, the merchant squinted at the scavengers nearby, biting his pipe and taking a puff. "Don't mind those guys, they're just a bunch of poor souls."

...

Meanwhile, far away in the southern part of the Sunset Province, under the twin peaks of the Tzobar Mountains.

As the rumor-mongers added fuel to the fire, news of the Army's imminent attack quickly spread throughout Petra Fortress.

However, to everyone's surprise, as the news spread, it became more and more absurd...

As dusk fell again...

Old Buma handed the ledger to Sisi, hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but speak. "Miss... Petra Fortress is no longer safe, you'd better go south to the dock and buy a boat while it's still possible."

Looking at the worried Buma, SIsi was momentarily stunned, her expression really strange. "Didn't you say... Petra Fortress is impregnable?"

She remembered hearing it just three days ago.

"That's true, a fortress built by the gods cannot be conquered by mortals. If the Army comes, no matter how many, Petra Fortress will make them regret it..."

Buma still looked certain, but as he spoke, his voice involuntarily became less confident. "... But if it's a demon god, then it's hard to say."

"A demon god?!" Tail's eyes widened in surprise, leaning in curiously and excitedly asking, "What does he look like?"

"Encompassing all beauties in one, no one knows where he comes from. He might come from the sky or the deep sea. When he descends, his body fills the entire riverbank, tens of thousands of tentacles tearing the clouds apart. Even the sky god is not his opponent."

Tail's eyes lit up. "Wow! Super-sized tentacles!"

Buma's pupils glazed over, trying to describe something he had never seen.

However... It seemed like only Tail would believe something he said. Even Roshan shook her head in disbelief.

"... Such a vast desert and the Army chose that place to launch their attack... No doubt, they vaguely believe they can't defeat us with their own power, so they plan to use evil sacrifices to awaken the demons suppressed by the celestial scepter."

"This desert is doomed... The twilight of the gods will come again, and this time, there is no god who can stop it.”

The old man muttered to himself, his pupils filled with despair. His voice got softer until it completely faded into the distant twilight.

Holding the purring cat in her arms, Sesame Paste quietly looked at Sisi beside her and whispered, "Is this part of the plan?"

Sisi shook her head. "I just let that mercenary spread the news about the Army stationed in the Lost Valley, but I didn't expect people here to have such wild imaginations."

"The Army stationed in the Lost Valley is conducting an evil ceremony, attempting to awaken a demon god who has been asleep for 200 years. With the devil's power, they plan to conquer the insurmountable Petra Fortress..."

The plan exceeded expectations so well that even devout followers like Buma started to waver.

Looking at that troubled old face, Sisi couldn't help but worry.

Did she go too far?

As she was starting to worry, there came a heavy knock at the door. Sesame Paste, who was standing beside it, quickly went to open the door.

"Sorry, we're closed for today." She had barely started speaking when she saw the person at the door, and she was startled on the spot.

At the door stood a squad of fully armed guards, at least 30-man strong.

They had submachine guns slung over their waists and some were already holding them.

The leader was a well-known patrol captain.

Buma recognized that face at a glance and hurried forward with a smile. "Captain Seiandis? May I ask what you need?"

Ignoring the old man, Seiandis looked around the room expressionlessly, including the talking bear, before speaking. "Who's the boss here?"

Roshan was about to raise her hand hesitantly, but Tail was quicker. However, before Tail could raise her arm, it was pressed down by Sisi. 'Leave it to me.'

Shooting Tail a look of reassurance, Sisi moved beside Sesame Paste.

Glancing at the controlled mercenaries she hired, she looked at the patrol captain and spoke calmly.. "It's me."

Seeing she had no intention of resisting arrest. The patrol captain didn't waste words and gestured instantly. "Come with us."

...

In the castle shrouded in twilight.

In the court of the Petra Fortress's lord, anxious ministers filled the room.

A man dressed in lavish attire sat on the throne, expressionlessly overlooking the people below the steps.

His right elbow rested on the cold armrest, his left index finger tapping on it repeatedly, appearing to be in deep thought or simply impatient.

His name was Sein, the lord of Petra Fortress. His family was a well-known noble family of the Camel Kingdom, guarding the kingdom's northern border for generations.

The Camel Kingdom had long declared war on the Falcon Kingdom but had yet to deploy troops.

Although many believed that showed the royal family's stance, he knew that wasn't the case. No one in the kingdom was more devout to the Spirit of the Desert than His Majesty.

How could such a respected figure not understand the consequences of appeasement could only lead to further aggression.

In fact, the royal family had always intended to gather troops to aid the north, but including the lord of Silvermoon City, all the lords only wanted to contribute money, not people.

Those profit-oriented merchants still hoped to crush the Army with their money bags.

But it was not a problem that money could solve.

Sein, of course, stood with the king.

The Petra Fortress and his family had survived to this day thanks to the grace of the royal family. They ate food from the oasis, drank water from the oasis, were the most loyal guardian of the kingdom. They were fundamentally different from the cities governed by corrupt nobles and merchants.

However, he alone was not enough.

The kingdom corrupted by money was full of cowards, and the brave were rare. Whether in His Majesty's court or his own, it was the same...