At the same time Ye Xing was conducting reconnaissance, on a pleasure boat on the Oasis City reservoir, City Lord Ke'er was hunting wild ducks on the water surface, accompanied by his guards.
This body of water was a hunting ground exclusively for nobles, and commoners were strictly forbidden from entering.
Ke'er looked at the barbed wire fence preventing ordinary citizens from accessing the water source and smiled.
The reason commoners couldn't enter wasn't because of their low status. Of course, Ke'er thought, it was an extremely obvious fact that they were born lowlifes, but it wasn't convenient to say it out loud. Those commoners had personality defects, every single one of them was thin-skinned, unable to face reality frankly.
They couldn't be allowed to be full of negative energy because of their background; that would lower their work efficiency. These fellows were already lazy enough as it was.
"To protect the ecosystem and prevent pollution, commoners are not allowed to access the water source or take water privately."
Over the past three hundred years, this concept had become deeply ingrained in people's minds.
As for the nobles who contributed the most to Oasis City and were exhausted day after day, it was reasonable for them to come and relax occasionally.
Bang!
Ke'er fired a shot at the flock of ducks on the water surface. At the same time, his beautiful secretary walked over.
"City Lord, the reason for the decline in Red Iron Town's rare metal output has been clarified. The spy sent a message that the smelting equipment was not damaged at all, but the Town Chief had contact with a group of 'rangers' of unknown origin two weeks ago."
"I guessed it would be like this."
Ke'er sneered, leisurely loading his gun.
"Contact the Stormwind Gang and tell them to go give those difficult commoners an unforgettable lesson."
"Yes, sir."
......
In the camp, the Town Chief, led by Ma Lou, walked into the guesthouse room.
He was over 60 years old, and this was the first time he had seen such a clean and tidy room.
The room had a refrigerator and air conditioning, luxuries that only nobles in Oasis City could afford.
What shocked the Town Chief the most was that the room's private bathroom actually had a showerhead that could be used freely without a timer.
In Red Iron Town, taking a bath at the bathhouse required a special bath ticket. One ticket was issued every three days to a week depending on the job type. Men bathed for 3 minutes per session, and women for 4 minutes.
"Don't you... lack water?" the Town Chief asked in confusion.
"We don't lack it for now. All our water is recyclable and purified," Ma Lou explained. "As long as each person's daily usage doesn't exceed 200 liters, there's no problem."
The Town Chief was speechless.
200 liters of water per day!
He really couldn't imagine how one could use up that much.
"If you need anything else, just call me," Ma Lou finally said, pointing to the refrigerator. "There are snacks and drinks in there; please feel free to take them."
After Ma Lou left, the Town Chief took the most comfortable bath of his life, changed into a brand new bathrobe, enjoyed the air conditioning, and curiously opened the small refrigerator.
He saw a metal can with a pull tab on it.
"This is..."
He pulled open the cola can, took a large gulp, and instantly felt refreshed, slumping onto the polymer sofa.
"This trip was worth it for this old man... This is life! In comparison, we are just struggling to survive!"
Actually, Red Iron Town also carbonated water to make soda, but it was only given as a precious prize to a few outstanding workers who fought in the most dangerous positions.
In this severely water-scarce Desert, it was impossible to cool down the workers daily by drinking iced soda. It wasn't that it wasn't effective, but rather that they simply couldn't afford to drink it.
Cangyuan Future Technology... If we follow them, will Red Iron Town someday be built into a place like this?
That was truly unimaginable.
The Town Chief took a deep breath.
He pushed open the door and came to the courtyard in the living area, sitting on a sandstone bench and looking around.
This leisure courtyard was jointly created by Coffee Cat and Hammer Girl. It was beautiful and elegant, with warm decorative light strips hanging above.
To compensate for the lack of green plants, the two placed two sets of art sculptures around, composed of the All-Terrain Vehicles left by the Raiders and the bodies of Mechanical Desert Spiders, respectively.
The design of every detail reflected a love for life.
Unconsciously, Shen Quan also came to the courtyard and sat beside his grandfather.
"Have you decided? Are we going to cooperate with Cangyuan?"
"What do you think we should do?" the Town Chief asked back.
Shen Quan thought carefully.
"...I don't know. I just feel that the people here are developing their strength not just for enjoyment or the pleasure of oppressing the weak; they are pursuing something that I can't quite describe, but is strangely alluring, making me really want to fight alongside them!"
"That thing is called extraordinary destiny."
The Town Chief gave Shen Quan a deep look.
"After the apocalypse, this spirit of humanity, along with noble ideals, vanished like smoke. Ideals must ultimately return to reality, and in this Desert, reality is the law of the jungle."
"That's why we need to cooperate, isn't it?" Shen Quan's eyes were burning.
The Town Chief fell silent.
Cooperating with Cangyuan meant betraying Oasis City, and failure would lead to eternal damnation.
But, did he really want his descendants to be like himself, his father's generation, and his grandfather's generation, living a lifetime of subservience in the shadow of Oasis City?
The Town Chief found it difficult to make a decision for a moment. Just then, he saw the Executive Officer walking towards them, accompanied by two staff members.
"Mr. Town Chief." Lu Yuan stopped, nodded slightly, and said with a serious expression, "We just intercepted a communication. I think it's necessary for you to hear it yourself."
Lu Yuan took the Town Chief and Shen Quan to the spaceplane on the mountaintop. Most of the players were already waiting there to witness the major change in the "main storyline."
Jubian was sitting at the communicator's station. He turned around and took off his listening headphones.
"Our drone surveillance network just intercepted a set of calls related to Red Iron Town."
Clicking the audio play button, after a burst of static white noise, a female voice came out.
"...In short, the City Lord wants you to go give Red Iron Town a lesson!"
About ten seconds later, a young man replied.
"I need to know more. How did that group of miners offend you?"
"You don't need to worry about that. You just need to do the job well. If you're not willing, we can find other battle gangs."
"Okay, go find them."
"Wait! Red Iron Town... they haven't been able to meet our production requirements. This isn't the first time. The City Lord's patience has reached its limit."
The other side paused for a few seconds.
"Woman, you're not telling the whole truth. But we can take this job. When we go to Red Iron Town, can we do anything?"
"Don't attack industrial facilities, and don't capture the workers. The City Lord still needs them to continue producing metal. As for the rest, do as you please. Oh, right, you can capture more young girls. Apollo will definitely buy them at a high price. Your profits are absolutely guaranteed."
"Hmph, do you need to teach me this? I need time to organize this operation. Also, pay me the commission first. My subordinate will contact you later."
"The above is the communication recording we intercepted 15 minutes ago." Jubian looked at the Town Chief. "One party is clearly Oasis City, and the other should be Raiders."
"I've heard that voice. That's Hart, known as the Desert Lion, the leader of the Stormwind Gang."
The Town Chief clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger.
"They talked about my townspeople as if they were talking about an old broom at the market!"