Chapter 34: Chapter 34, A Ray of Light
Osenia surveyed her surroundings, her vision filled with a vast construction site.
The land of the esteemed Planetary Governor, proclaimed by that kind-hearted person as the ‘land of salvation’, seemed quite different from what she had imagined.
After the end of last winter, a massive surge of mutated monsters erupted in Osenia’s homeland, an area called the ‘southern provinces’ by the people of Revival City.
It was a huge disaster that completely destroyed many settlements.
Barely surviving the wave of mutant creatures did not mean the end of the disaster.
Unable to sow seeds in spring, having endured another winter, and due to fighting against the alien creatures… various factors caused a significant loss of food reserves. Hunger and shortages of supplies plagued the southern provinces.
What do people do when they can’t survive?
They become monsters.
Osenia and her younger brother originally lived a comfortable life. The soil in the southern provinces was more fertile and suffered less from the Low Energy Storms, so many of the local settlements could live off agriculture. In fact, the southern provinces were an important food-producing area, with hundreds of thousands from both the inner and outer parts of Revival City relying mainly on grain imports from the south.
Osenia’s father was the owner of a plantation. Before everything collapsed, their plantation had a population of tens of thousands; during productive times, they not only fed everyone but also had ample surplus to sell in exchange for industrial goods.
Understandably, Osenia’s standard of living was akin to that of a little princess, far exceeding that of the vast majority on this wasteland.
But all of that fell apart at the turn of spring and summer.
Outside, a great number of raiders besieged the plantation; then, a riot broke out within its bounds.
With their guards’ protection, her family tried to break out and flee from the plantation at the last moment. Many who didn’t take part in the riot attempted to escape alongside them.
But amid the chaos of war, she was separated from her father.
Concealing their identities, smudging ash on their faces, cutting off their hair…
She took her brother and followed the stream of refugees, finding herself aimlessly in Revival City.
Along the way, she suffered through many hardships.
For a morsel of food, she was willing to do anything, no matter how small the job, as long as it procured some sustenance. Even more desperate measures included begging, fighting tooth and nail, stealing, and deceiving…
Before the collapse, she was educated to be a proper lady; she had never imagined herself in such a state.
But she persevered.
Throughout these past months, she was so hungry she felt dizzy; her just over ten-year-old brother was malnourished.
Yet at least, they were both still alive.
However, she often found herself lost in confusion.
If one has never experienced goodness, perhaps they can fall endlessly in darkness. But just months ago, she was a little princess, the apple of her father’s eye, worried daily about authenticating and restoring expensive pre-war art, helping manage the estate, and overseeing accounts.
Now, she hesitated over what to eat the next day.
More critically, there was no end in sight to such a life, no hope, no glimmer of light.
She felt she could hardly hold on any longer.
More than once she had thought that living in such a terrible world, perhaps death would be more of a relief?
But every time she looked into her brother’s eyes, she shoved that thought away, clenched her teeth, and continued the grueling struggle.
Oddly enough, she hadn’t been very close to her brother, seven years her junior, in the past. She even often found the mischievous little devil quite annoying.
However, over these past few months, she would rather die than abandon her brother. Once, when her brother was kidnapped, she bit the kidnapper like a madwoman, taking a beating that left her bleeding without loosening her grip.
She didn’t know why, but she knew that if anyone dared to harm her only remaining family, she would fight them with everything she had.
But she deeply understood they were on the brink of not being able to survive any longer.
The great chaos in the southern provinces had a huge impact. The shortage of food imports caused food prices in Revival City to keep rising. Her part-time jobs were becoming increasingly insufficient to feed herself and her younger brother.
Recently, an even worse piece of news had spread: the largest grain merchant in Revival City had disappeared. Shortly thereafter, the city’s food prices became even more volatile.
It was at this time that a traveling merchant opened a free porridge shop outside Revival City, in the slums.
Anyone could receive a warm serving of porridge in the shop, provided they listened to the entire declaration made by Mr. Gu Hang, the Planetary Governor, on his first day on the wasteland.
She had fought someone to secure a spot for her and her brother there.
The so-called Governor’s declaration was a long one, and she was thinking about skipping some parts to get to the meal quicker. She couldn’t remember much about what the Governor’s declaration actually said.
Only one phrase remained clear in her mind: the Governor would ensure that everyone who submitted to him would have a good life.
The next day, the porridge shop was still open, and she came back. But this time, she was told that those who had eaten once were not allowed a second serving, unless they were willing to follow the caravan to the Governor’s Camp and become subjects of the Governor.
She didn’t hesitate and pressed her handprint on the paper.
After waiting for a few days, she headed to the camp with her brother when the caravan set off.
Although driven by desperation to follow the caravan to the Governor’s Camp, wasn’t there also a desire to change their circumstances and seek some light and hope?
She thought she would see a city that was quite well-developed, but instead, she saw vast areas of dust. There were many rudimentary cement buildings already erected, but even more were under construction.
However, looking at the large-scale construction across the camp, there should at least not be a lack of work opportunities.
But could her small frame handle construction work?
Osenia, who was full of confusion and uncertainty about the future, held her brother’s hand and went to the registration area as arranged by the caravan.
When it was her turn, the registrar asked for some basic information.
Name, age, skills, desired occupation…
She answered truthfully according to her actual situation.
“Huh?” The person registering her suddenly exclaimed, “You’re literate?”
“Uh… yes.”
“That’s great!” The registrar was overjoyed, “Head over to that table and fill out another form, congratulations, you will receive a good treatment.”
Osenia went over bewildered.
There were hardly any people at that table.
After she filled out a form, she was assigned two tasks: during the day, she would work as a clerk in the soon-to-be-established textile factory, arranging and implementing production plans, keeping track of the output, and managing the production process…
The second task was to teach literacy classes at the evening school.
The work content reassured her quite a bit. This was something she was truly adept at; back at the estate, she would assist her father with some management tasks. While then it was agricultural production management, now she would be a clerk at a textile factory, that was still closer to her skill set than manual labor.
Especially when she heard about the treatment, she became even more excited.
According to the work point system, she could earn more than enough supplies every day to support herself and her brother, with some to spare.
Although everything was incomparable to her days as a little princess in the past, this was the only ray of light she had seen during her months of hardship
