Grace wrote down his words in her note for the future. Now their main concern was to build the city, so those issues would be tackled later.
"The scientist guild is working on electricity at the mont; we don’t have ti for that." An elderly man with a short white beard chid in.
He was the elite leader of the scientist guild across the entire underground city before it was rged into Oasis.
He should have retired, but they were short-staffed, so he was being called in to work.
Grace felt a weight lift from her shoulders in his presence. Now, she would only need to approve their projects and provide the necessary materials instead of concerning herself with every single detail.
"Does anyone have anything to add, or shall we adjourn the eting?" Grace asked, noticing that they were engaged in quiet conversations with their acquaintances around the table.
Their gaze darted around, checking to see if anyone had anything else to input. Seeing no one was speaking, they all turned to Grace.
"Then, write a report on anything you rember concerning the construction and send it to the administrators’ tent. Oh, before I forget, the monetary system might have to change. We haven’t found any gold or silver mines for minting coins. Plus, there are no dungeons nearby to provide dungeon drops as resources," Grace said with a frown, her words causing a ripple through the crowd.
Previously, they had a three-tier currency system. Gold and silver coins, as well as crystal sand, were obtained from dungeons.
"The money currently on hand is too scarce to circulate effectively. We really need to carefully devise another system. For now, we should rely on bartering food and labor. No businesses are operating at the mont, so we still have ti," the man in charge of the banks finally chid in, as the matter fell within his area of expertise.
"It’s going to beco a problem when the city is fully built." He finished speaking, giving everyone the chance to digest his words.
"We really have to search for gold and silver mines. We already know where a dungeon is located."
"He said there’s no rush, so we can take things easy. The most important thing right now is the construction."
"Why don’t we just bring up a new system?"
"No, the dungeon raiders would definitely refuse, and it’s troubleso."
Murmurs rippled through the room as everyone brought up their own ideas, and it beca so noisy that Grace had to step in.
"Then we have to settle this issue before the city is fully built. etings are over. You can et with other administrators if any issue crops up." Grace rose to her feet, signaling for everyone to take their leave and head to their various tasks.
Only the head of the scientist guild, Randall and Grace, remained in the tent as they left.
Grace sat down and poured herself a cup of water to moisten her throat, leaving the two of them to discuss.
""Zack, it’s been ages. I thought you’d died in so dungeon sowhere. Tsk, you and Elijah are both scourges who’ll probably live to be a hundred," Randall clicked his tongue with a mocking smile as his gaze fell on Zack’s wrinkled face, which remained impassive despite the provocation.
"At least I’m not a mindless, muscle-brained fool who lives for the thrill of flirting with death. Even your daughter-in-law has to endure your foul temper," Zack retorted calmly, his words striking Randall right in the heart.
"You!" Randall clutched his chest in anger. He had finally rembered this bastard’s sharp tongue. As long as he could rember, he had never won an argunt against him.
"Cough." Grace almost choked on her laughter. She raised her cup to hide her smile. It was the first ti she had ever seen her father-in-law at a loss for words.
Randall realized Grace was still here and had witnessed his joke, and his face darkened.
"Why did you ask to wait back? What is it?" he asked rudely, wanting to bite more than to beat Zack to a bloodied pulp.
Zack gave him a pointed look before taking out a phone from his space bag.
"We installed a navigation system using the map in the Aries database. It’s not perfect, but it’s useful enough for directions." He paused, handing the phone to Randall.
"Wasn’t smartphones reduced to junk after the blackout? Hmm, it turned on!" Grace exclaid in surprise, not expecting them to have fixed it so soon.
Randall noticed a map on the interface and clicked on it.
The screen turned blue for a mont before a detailed map appeared.
"It works with the signal connected to the spaceship, but we aren’t sure if it would function when you’re out of these areas shown on the map. The red dot on the map is the Island." Zack explained in detail.
Grace glanced at the screen, feeling it wouldn’t be long before they started using phones again.
Though it was mostly dungeon raiders and the wealthy who could afford it back in the underground city, now she felt things might be different.
"Basically, we should thank Aries for the help. It had made a detailed map of her journey here." Zack added with genuine appreciation in his voice.
One of the reasons he ca out of retirent was to study that system and uncover the other functions of the spaceships.
"Since there’s no problem, we’ll be setting off tomorrow," Randall announced, turning off the phone and tossing it into his space ring.
"Dad, I’ll inform those who will be going with you. Please take care of them," Grace pleaded, knowing that he loved challenging stronger opponents, but that doing so might lead to the deaths of the unfortunate people following him.
Randall frowned but reluctantly nodded to her request. After all, he had to give the mother of his granddaughter so face.
"I know. They should all gather at the shore tomorrow. You old couth, let not catch you alone." He shot Zack a vicious glance before leaving the tenth in nimble steps—making one forget he was old.
"Child, you have suffered all these years as his daughter-in-law." Zack offered Grace a look filled with pity, then rose to his feet and left the tent, leaving her stunned.
She shook her head, feeling he was overthinking. She only visited her father-in-law every holiday; on normal days, she wasn’t even free to spend enough ti with her husband.
Grace leaned back in her seat, and papers densely written with words were spread out in front of her.
She was about to resu work when she rembered Leo’s warning.
Rubbing her brows in exhaustion, she took out the food from her ring.
She had barely touched her spoon when a voice called from outside the tent.
"Madam Grace, may I co in? I have sothing important to discuss!"
Groaning in frustration, she called out in a flat voice.
"Enter."
’Here we go again.’ These words flashed through my mind, carrying with them a wave of exhaustion.
"Madam, we have cleared a section of the forest, but the workers encountered so beasts. We are requesting additional manpower to eliminate them so the clearing can continue," the man reported, his brows damp with sweat from spending too long under the sun, while his once-pale skin had taken on a healthy wheat-colored complexion.
"Go to the veil order or the dungeon raiders. Tell them to help out." Grace instructed, waving him away so she could quickly finish her al before more people ca to look for her.
....
anwhile, on the second island, Eva and the others were still catching up on their sleep.
The burnt-out campfire carried the lingering sll of at and empty wine pods.
"Hiss..." a green snake slithered through the grass, blending perfectly with its surroundings as it moved toward the tent.
On the makeshift bed, Eva was sleeping between Ethan and Julian. Her hair was scattered against Ethan’s chest, with a line of dried drool at the corner of her lips.
Julian’s face was flushed red from the wine. He had drunk so much that he was completely knocked out. Stirring in his sleep, he turned onto his side and buried his face in her hair, continuing to sleep peacefully.
Ethan was sleeping off the wine as well. He and Julian had a drinking contest yesterday, which explains their deep sleep.
His brows furrowed slightly at the hissing sound, but he showed no sign of waking up.
The snake’s green scales shone under the morning sun. It slithered through the hole in the tent, its slit yellowish eyes falling on the three.
It flicked its tongue, its body expanding as it drew closer to the bed, while venom dripped from its razor-sharp fangs.
Seeing its prey was defenseless, it struck. But before it could succeed, a sharp icy dagger and a normal dagger pierced its neck at the sa ti.
Julian and Ethan’s hands hovered in the air. Their bodies had attacked instinctively on their own, but Eva was slower. The green light aid at the snake finally landed.
And in a blink of an eye, the snake shrank, drying up as all its energy was absorbed.
"Yawn..." Eva let out a yawn and snuggled back into Julian’s arms.
Ethan and Julian cracked open their eyes, gave the snake a brief, sleepy glance, and then promptly went back to sleep.
It was as if they rely swatted a mosquito rather than a snake trying to devour them in their sleep.
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