Chapter 161: Chapter 136, You Have No Choice_2
Henry still didn’t fully agree with Swan’s words, “Just rely on those eight hundred people outside? Just rely on the seven or eight thousand people that Mr. Gu is bringing along on the road? Battles we can’t withstand with a hundred thousand armed adventurers, and they would be able to resolve them?”
Henry just smiled again, did not speak, and simply stretched out his hand and pointed to the sky.
Swan understood immediately, and then he really went silent.
He was still unwilling to accept it, but he had to admit that every word Henry said was right.
To live, they had to rely on Mr. Gu; no one else could save Rubbish Town.
To die, Mr. Gu had far too many ways to kill them, even without lifting a finger himself.
In such a situation, what right did he have to negotiate any terms?
But not to negotiate any terms at all?
To hand over everything he had fought for over the past thirty-five years?
Henry seemed to see his worries and a voice tempting like a devil whispered in his ear:
“Even if we don’t mention those ideals and the future, I will just say one thing: Mr. Gu, all of a sudden, gained control over such a vast region from a starting point of almost nothing, and with Rubbish Town under his control, the total population would exceed one million three hundred thousand. Conversely, Mr. Gu’s rapidly expanding power is in short supply of talents. A female refugee from the Green Valley Region can become the Civil Affairs Chief of Revival City; a small merchant like me who was once insignificant in Rubbish Town can now represent Mr. Gu in discussions about the life and death of Rubbish Town with someone like you. So, if someone like you, experienced and capable, is willing to help Mr. Gu wholeheartedly, what kind of status would you obtain?”
…
Henry felt that Swan must have been persuaded by him.
Although he did not give a definitive answer in the end, and even when he expressed a desire to contact Mr. Gu directly, he was brushed off on the pretext that he needed to report to Mr. Gu, but Henry still felt that in the end, Swan would definitely kneel before Mr. Gu unconditionally when he arrived at Rubbish Town.
Because he had no choice.
Besides, he could not really make any specific promises on behalf of Mr. Gu. He did not even think that Mr. Gu would agree to anything; at most, he would allow Swan to earn what he wants through his own performance.
It also reminded him of the time he wanted the exclusive rights to alloy steel for Mr. Gu but ended up being scared stiff. That’s when he realized what kind of person Mr. Gu was.
Mr. Gu, even when he had nothing, already had the mentality of someone in a superior position, let alone now.
Furthermore, he believed that even if Mr. Gu agreed to nothing, Mr. Swan would still end up humbly prostrating himself before Mr. Gu.
Henry comforted himself by staying in the room Mr. Swan had prepared for him, waiting for Swan to give him a definite answer before the deadline or for Mr. Gu’s arrival.
On the third day, a servant came to ask him to see Mr. Swan.
Despite his expectations, Henry still could hardly conceal his delight.
He was absolutely confident that Swan must have submitted.
Following the servant, he saw Mr. Swan in the office.
“You’ve realized…”
Henry hadn’t finished speaking when Swan interrupted him:
“I agree, and I will make all the other agents agree as well. If there are any who don’t, I will make sure they have no other choice but to agree as soon as possible.”
Henry was stunned.
That was a one hundred and eighty-degree change in attitude.
But why are you more anxious than me?
He keenly felt like something big had happened.
“When can Mr. Gu’s army arrive?”
“At the earliest, in two days, and at the latest, five…”
“Can we go any faster?”
“Wait a second, what’s happened? You need to tell me first.” Henry’s heart was already uneasy, “Those Green Skin Orcs?”
“…Yes,” he sighed.
There wasn’t much point in hiding it. Poor communication of military intelligence could easily lead to strategic misjudgments.
Afterward, Swan gave Henry a rough outline of the current situation.
In the past, Rubbish Town didn’t have much by way of management. It was originally just a town formed by adventurers picking up trash, but as the number of adventurers increased, many industries reliant on the rubbish collected by them started cropping up, gradually forming the town.
But as the town took shape and the industrial chain became more complete, a somewhat finer level of management became essential.
The agents roughly divided Rubbish Town toward the pre-war era’s supercity ruins, also known as the high-tower ruins, into four levels: valueless safe areas, valuable safe areas, high-value dangerous areas, and unknown areas.
Valueless safe areas, true to their name, are places where, after years of exploration, the number of mutant monsters has greatly diminished, but similarly, due to many years of scavenging, they have almost no yield. The only output here is the hot ash produced after a Low Energy Storm has passed.
Valuable safe areas are places that have been cleared many times, have few monsters and are not very dangerous, but have only become relatively safe in the past one or two years. They haven’t been scavenged for long and still yield a fair amount. This is where the most metal waste is produced, and occasionally, some precious pre-war items can be found.
High-value dangerous areas are places teeming with monsters, but with ample rewards; unknown areas are almost unexplored, or where very few who enter manage to come out alive.
These four types of areas, in terms of distance relative to Rubbish Town, grow progressively further away.
And in the fight against the orcs, the defense zones were divided in the same way. Or rather, in recent years as the Green Skin Orcs began activity within the high-tower ruins, even becoming more and more numerous, eventually turning into adventurers’ main foes, the classification of the four areas was largely related to the orcs’ activity frequency.
One month ago, when the Green Skin Orcs began to emerge in large numbers, the high-risk areas basically became no-go zones, only accessible to large adventure groups with many members; after a month of this Green Skin disaster, a considerable part of the low-risk area turned high-risk. Adventurers could no longer easily scavenge but had to form teams and battle lines to fight these Green Skin Orcs.
This had nearly evolved into a warfare situation, rather than skirmishes between small groups of adventurers and lurking or wandering monsters.
For that very reason, adventurers were reaching the point where they could hardly hold on, not willing to endure any further.
“We’re here to make money through adventure, not to fight a war.”
Now, the latest news was that in the 18th District, an important place where adventurers formed a battle line and had built fortifications for a large-scale battle with the invading Green Skin Orcs, had fallen apart.
Nearly twenty thousand adventurers had gathered there, fighting against more than three thousand orcs for a week, under immense pressure.
And just this morning, three adventure groups, without notifying anyone, withdrew from their positions; a total of six thousand people left directly.
Consequently, during an expected orc assault on the defences, with nearly a third fewer hands, the defensive line completely collapsed, and the remaining adventurers had no choice but to retreat or even scatter.
By morning, the Green Skins had broken through three districts, and it was only in the Fifth District that they were barely held back. And this area was traditionally a valueless safe zone.
Even, Swan had already deployed his most treasured adventure group, ‘Clockwork Blades’, to the frontlines. They were well-equipped and highly trained, a rare elite force. It was their intervention that plugged the breach.
However, the casualties were significant.
What was crucial was that, through the breach, more Green Skin monsters kept emerging from the deeper ruins, exerting tremendous pressure on them.
If the Fifth District fell, the other parallel districts’ defences would surely not hold either, and before long, Rubbish Town might genuinely face the Green Skins at its gates.
That’s why Swan was in such a hurry.
“Fuck!”
Henry couldn’t hold back and blurted out a curse.
————
74k/150k
Aiming for 6,000 tomorrow!
