Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 580 Black City Today

The effects of the calamity have spread to the entire southern border, and even Black City is shivering under this "calamity that arose from the death of a god." However, compared to other places, Black City is doing relatively well. Under the leadership of Gloriand and with the continuous supply of resources from the real world, they have successfully weathered the storm. The temperature is dropping day by day, which is a major blow to the southern region, which rarely experiences a harsh winter. Every day, wanderers outside are freezing and starving to death, and even the river frontier no longer has enough resources to support them in absorbing refugees.

However, in the eyes of the Demon Surveillance Bureau, this extreme cold weather was not an insurmountable natural disaster. After receiving the hyacinth's message, Chang Lei waved his hand and borrowed the power of the three northeastern provinces. With just a slight effort, the entire Black City was revitalized.

As crates of vegetables and grains were unloaded, Black City's warehouses gradually filled. Looking at these supplies, not only the others, but even the leader of the group, Gloriand, couldn't suppress a smile. Meanwhile, the crops tended by the elven slaves were also harvested—oh, they couldn't be called slaves anymore; they had regained their freedom and joined Black City, becoming part of its inhabitants. Since the greenhouse plan was proven feasible, Gloriand had been working feverishly on the construction according to the blueprints sent by Hyacinth. Although the others didn't know what Gloriand was planning, they didn't ask. These mercenaries were very efficient; as long as they were fed, they were willing to do anything. When the elves saw that the plants inside the greenhouse had actually sprouted, they all wore expressions of utter disbelief. This was understandable; if the plants had sprouted using some kind of supernatural energy, they wouldn't be surprised at all, but this was the result of no supernatural energy whatsoever!

Gradually, the elves' attitude towards Gloriand and the other mercenaries and human civilians changed. Most noticeably, their arrogance disappeared, and they became more willing to interact with humans. It was clear that when these elves were first brought back, although they were slaves, they were all cold and aloof, as if saying, "You can do whatever you want to me, but I'll never acknowledge you." Now, after experiencing so much together, these elves had slowly integrated into Black City and truly become a part of it. Besides, housing construction and other developments went very smoothly. With the help of giants and dwarves, the people of Black City no longer had to cower in their tattered tents. Relying on the mines, Gloriand was able to transport a steady stream of stone without much effort. Before, they dared not venture out because the surrounding area was overrun with zombies, and the mines were occupied by cave dwellers, but now they had nothing to fear.

As Tang Zijun descended the city wall, he could clearly see that almost every stone house in the city had white smoke billowing from its chimney. This smoke, produced by burning coal, kept the houses warm against the bitter cold. Initially, Tang Zijun worried that the people here wouldn't adapt well to this change, but he was clearly overthinking it. For these displaced residents of the Dreamland, as long as they could survive, they didn't care about any changes, especially if these changes were for the better.

"How's the process of gathering the refugees going?" Tang Zijun asked casually as she walked down the stairs.

"Not bad. I have Drake regularly go to the river front to gather some refugees. The situation there is terrible. I heard that the city defense forces fought a battle with monsters that came up from the sea a while ago and suffered heavy losses. Now the river front can no longer afford any more refugees," Gloland replied truthfully.

"A monster from the sea?"

"Yes, I heard it was fish-men corrupted by divine power, along with some large sea monsters. They stormed the harbor, destroying many ships and even the drawbridge, ruining two fishing spots. Without the supply of fish, the food supply at the front lines of the river basin is running low."

Hearing this, Tang Zijun frowned. "With the strength and combat power of the troops on the river front, there's no way they couldn't stop those fishmen. After all, they were the ones who drove the fishmen into the deep sea in the first place." "It's all because of the calamity wind. The lord on the river front is already very old, and this time the calamity wind has ravaged his body. I heard he's seriously ill and hasn't shown his face for a long time." At this point, Glolando gritted her teeth again. "Not long after the old lord fell seriously ill, his two sons disappeared without a trace, and no one has investigated them. Instead, a lot of gold and silver treasures have appeared on the black market. Ha, with disaster looming, they're even fighting amongst themselves."

Hearing Grelando's words, Tang Zijun frowned deeply, a hint of displeasure flashing across his face. "Who do you think did it?" "My lord, do you remember? Many nobles poured into the river frontier before. They used their wealth to knock on the gates of the river front. These guys, abandoned by the gods, can do anything without being surprising." "Infighting among nobles, huh? Power... it really is a corrupting thing." Tang Zijun sneered.

"They're nothing but a bunch of short-sighted trash. Anyone in this desert is hundreds of times stronger than those nobles." Gloriand was clearly very critical of the nobles. However, she quickly realized her mistake and bowed slightly to Tang Zijun. "My lord, I wasn't referring to you."

"It's alright, I'm not a noble anyway." Tang Zijun waved her hand slightly. "Take in as many refugees as possible; the establishment of Black City needs their strength." "Hmm, but..." Glolando raised her head. "What about those nobles? Recently, quite a few people have contacted me, hoping that Black City can open its gates and let them in." The nobles Glolando was referring to were naturally the people on the river front. The river front was currently a mixed bag, with nobles of all sizes from various places mixed in. Some of the weaker ones naturally didn't want to get involved in the fighting, so Black City, which wasn't far from the river front, was the best place for them.

Not to mention, after trade was opened, news of Black City's development was relayed back to the front lines of the river region by the merchants. Knowing that Black City was thriving, some ambitious individuals began to stir. "They want to come? Let them come then."

"My lady." Grilando was startled and stared at Tang Zijun with wide eyes. She hadn't expected Tang Zijun to say that.

Tang Zijun continued, "Anyone who wants to come to Black City must hand over all their property, have their noble status revoked, be uniformly allocated housing, and be placed under the management of the mercenary group's community office. If you want to eat, you have to work; I don't support idlers here."

Seeing that Tang Zijun meant this, Gloriand immediately laughed. Indeed, having known her for so long, she understood Tang Zijun's temperament; how could she possibly be lenient with a group of nobles? "I know what to do."

As they spoke, the two had already descended the city wall. Not far outside the city gate, Katie's steam train had been stopped for quite some time, and the passengers were unloading the supplies one by one. This was the back gate of Black City, nestled against the mountains, and not many people usually came here, making it the best unloading point for the steam train. "Sir, what are these?" Glolando looked at the finely crafted metal tools being unloaded from the train and asked Tang Zijun with some curiosity. "These are things to help Black City develop and build. Some are for powering the city, and some are machine tools that can make some spare parts, but they haven't been assembled yet. You'll see when everything is finished." As she spoke, Tang Zijun saw Tang Cao and the others getting off the train and quickly stepped forward. "Oh, right, let me introduce them to you again, these are all..." Before Tang Zijun could finish speaking, Glolando knelt down with a "thump."

"My God!"