Chapter 500.2: End of the Expansion Pack

The soldier shot him a disgusted look. "The administrator said, if you want to leave, go back on your own. If you want to stay, that’s your choice. That man has no time to care about you."

Hearing those words, Wiedler finally broke into a smile through his tears. Chuckling, he let go of the concrete barrier, dusted off his backside, and gratefully trotted back into town. Not far from where he had been blocking the road, an officer of the New Alliance’s Second Corps walked through the barbed wire fence and stood before a group of prisoners seated on the ground. He took out a megaphone and yelled, "The war is over. You can go home now!"

The officers ranked centurion and above had already been released the day before, so most of the soldiers had no idea about any ceasefire negotiations. At first, the crowd looked at each other in confusion. Then, one by one, some began to rise.

Some walked through the open gate to the west and stepped into the wilderness. When they saw the New Alliance soldiers didn’t shoot, they continued walking forward.

The open space grew more and more empty.

A large wave of people chose to leave, but many others went in the opposite direction.

A few soldiers of the Falcon Kingdom approached the checkpoint. One among them, a boy around fifteen or sixteen, looked at the New Alliance soldiers and said, "I don’t want to go back."

The New Alliance soldier glanced at him. "Why not?"

The boy hesitated for a moment before answering. "I have nowhere to go."

The soldier continued, "What about your family?"

The boy fell silent for a moment and then said softly, "My father and brother are both gone... They left last month. My mother is gone too. Please let me stay, I can work."

Before the boy had finished speaking, another hand shot up from behind him and someone blurted out, "Me too! I can carry heavy stuff!"

"I used to be a farmer! I can do farm work!"

More shouting came from behind. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who wanted to stay.

Some prisoners who had already reached the gates hesitated when they heard the noise behind them. They stopped in their tracks. Though they hadn’t been in the camp long, on reflection, the New Alliance hadn’t treated them too badly.

The victors hadn’t beaten them for fun or mistreated them. The only forced labor had been repairing their own shelters. What surprised the prisoners most was that the New Alliance even shared some of the food they had seized from the Wislanders.

To many of them, it was unbelievable.

The Wislanders had never treated them like human beings. Neither had the kingdom’s nobles. But in the prisoner of war’s camp, they had actually been treated like people for a few days.

Even if they suspected the enemy’s kindness hid ulterior motives, just thinking about the nobles’ past treatment made them despair about returning home.

More and more people began gathering around the checkpoint. The soldiers on duty had to fire a warning shot into the air, and one of them ran off to get authorization from a superior.

Soon, a desk was set up in the camp.

The formerly weeping Wiedler was now sitting behind it, waving a megaphone and shouting, "If you don’t want to leave, come register here! Think carefully before you write your name!"

A long line quickly formed at the desk.

Some prisoners who had originally planned to leave hesitated, then decided to stay. Among them were even a few low-ranking decurions.

And so, by noon, the prisoners detained near Bist Town had all been processed. Of more than 80,000 soldiers, an astonishing 40% chose to stay. That was a massive force of over 30,000 people!

...

Aboard the Heart of Steel, standing on the bridge, Chu Guang received a call from Second Corps Commander Liu Ding who was stationed in Bist Town. Upon hearing the report, surprise showed on his face.

"Over 30,000 stayed?"

He had only expected maybe 10,000 at most. He never imagined so many would choose to remain! What puzzled Chu Guang even more was, after thinking hard, he couldn’t recall doing anything particularly kind to those prisoners.

How badly must those nobles from the Falcon Kingdom have treated their own men?

Counting the engineers and their families taken by the Storm Corps from the William Industrial Zone, Bist Town’s population might exceed 40,000...

In the short term, that wasn’t a problem, after all, the New Alliance had stockpiled a lot of supplies from Horn Fortress and the frontlines, but in the long run, food and fresh water would surely become a problem.

Sensing the administrator’s concern, Liu Ding asked in a low voice, "Should we get rid of some of them?"

"No need for that," Chu Guang coughed lightly.

"If they want to stay, let them."

They had stayed voluntarily. Driving them out now would just make him look petty.

Besides, Bist Town was now under direct control of the New Alliance and could serve as a symbolic presence in Luoxia Province. If properly developed, it could greatly enhance the New Alliance’s image.

The only issue was, it was nothing but sand. No rivers, no valuable strategic resources. Its only value was its location. Since agriculture was a no-go, then it would have to be industry.

The military production lines removed from the Falcon Kingdom could be relocated to neighboring Oasis No.3, within the Honey Badger Kingdom. As for civilian manufacturing, a portion could be kept in Bist Town. There were certainly enough workers now to staff it.

Both the Honey Badger Kingdom and Falcon Kingdom were in dire need of postwar rebuilding. There was considerable demand for manufactured goods. With a young labor force and the necessary equipment, they might not get rich, but they could at least feed themselves.

“... Have the Lion Kingdom army leave behind surplus supplies before withdrawal, food, water, clothing... Winter is coming. The desert may be hot during the day, but it gets freezing at night. We can’t let people freeze to death."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "I’ll appoint an official to serve as regional governor and dispatch materials from Clearspring City. For now, organize them into four construction corps and have them build their own housing... Just don’t let them sit around idle."

Liu Ding straightened and saluted. "Understood."

Since Liu Ding was more of a soldier than a planner, with zero experience in urban management, Chu Guang patiently gave detailed instructions on how to design the new settlement, such as placing the center east of the airfield, and reserving zones for commerce and industry.

The Ideal Corporation would assist with cement rubble recycling and road construction, so infrastructure wasn’t the New Alliance’s burden alone. Chu Guang allocated a foreign currency budget of 100 million CR to purchase equipment from Ideal City once the new point of contact arrived and needs were assessed.

Just as he finished giving these orders, the acting captain walked in from the bridge, giving him a sharp salute. "Report! All units have boarded, anchor chains retracted. The ship is ready to depart!"

"Good." Chu Guang took one last look at the survivor settlement bathed in sunlight through the floor-to-ceiling window. A faint smile appeared on his lips.

It was finally time to say goodbye.

King Morgott and his nobles were probably already popping champagne.

But they would soon find out, they were celebrating too early.

Even the new governor-general...

Very soon, they would discover the surprise the New Alliance had left for them.

What kind of surprise that would become, only time would tell... In the end, the people living here had to decide their own fate.

As for himself, the war in Sunset Province was concluded. He had more important matters to attend to.

Turning his gaze from the window, Chu Guang looked at the acting captain standing by. "Set course, move out."

The captain snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, sir!"

...

As the Heart of Steel pushed into the desert, far away in a latrine in Farwest City, Battlefield Cheerleader finally came back online.

He had waited the whole time for the administrator’s next move, but it never came.

"Goddammit... did they forget about me?"

Grumbling as he pulled up his pants, he made a show of hitting the flush lever and walked out.

Since Griffin’s death, he had followed the Fifth Division in their retreat to Farwest City in the northwest of Oasis No.2, wasting time with a bunch of bored Wislander soldiers waiting to go home.

With the ceasefire agreement signed, the version’s expansion pack officially concluded. Last night, the rewards were finally settled.

Thanks to a few pieces of crucial intelligence he had previously provided, he ended up ranked first overall in personal score for the expansion, far ahead of the second place by a whole 50,000 points.

But so what?

He had drawn a pile of valuable loot, but he had no chance to use any of it.

His buddies were worried it’d go to waste and offered to use it for him, but he didn’t even have to think before refusing!

What a joke! That was a treasure he risked his life for! How could he let those bastards take it?

If Darkest, that asshole, got his hands on it, there would be nothing left when he came back.

Just as he was wondering whose place he could crash at, he saw a familiar figure approaching from a distance.

Looking up, he realized it was none other than his boss’ boss, General Willick.

Battlefield Cheerleader wasn’t surprised, only annoyed. That guy had been hovering around him a lot lately.

Maybe it was the boredom after losing the war, or maybe Willick was trying to show how much he valued him. He used to send messages through aides, but now he showed up uninvited all the time. It was really unsettling and exhausting.

Clearly, it was another one of those times.

The guy probably waited outside the latrine for him.

Just as Battlefield Cheerleader was about to greet him, Willick suddenly pulled him aside with a mysterious grin. "I’ve got a great gig for you."

"... What?"

Looking at Willick’s beaming face, Battlefield Cheerleader’s instincts immediately went on alert.

The war was over... Surely they weren’t sending him on an assassination mission?

But Willick’s next words left him completely stunned. "According to the ceasefire agreement, we’re sending two representatives to Shelter 0 to jointly investigate the legendary ruin with the Enterprise, the Academy, and the New Alliance."

"The governor-general has nominated his trusted officer, Commander Wally. But since Wally’s a career soldier, and the ruins may be dangerous, he needs a powerful escort... The moment the governor-general mentioned it, I thought of you."

As he spoke, Willick clapped his favourite Pangolin on the shoulder and gave him a firm, encouraging smile. "This wasn’t just my idea. General Yalek also holds your skills in high regard... Don’t waste this opportunity."

"I believe in you."