Chapter 543: Establishing Tomorrow’s Sanctuary

Chapter 543: Chapter 543: Establishing Tomorrow’s Sanctuary

Seraphina’s gaze swept over everyone present.

"I know you’ve been abandoned, betrayed, and hurt.

I can’t make you trust me with just a few words.

But I can show you."

She pointed to the canopy of the Redwood Tree above, to the falling snowflakes, to the crops growing wildly on the ground, and to the quiet Silenti behind her.

"Food, shelter, safety—I can give you all of that right now. As for trust—"

She looked at the young woman, at the stubbornness in her eyes.

"Time will prove everything."

The abilities Seraphina displayed were like a stone tossed into stagnant water, sending ripples through the survivors.

The bread was real, the water was cool, the shade was solid, and the snow was cold.

The voices of doubt didn’t disappear completely, but they quieted down, at least for now.

People didn’t need promises.

They needed something they could see and touch.

And now, Seraphina had given them just that.

A few days passed, and the changes in the ruins were visible to the naked eye.

Beneath the canopy of the Redwood Tree, rows of simple shelters were built.

They were made using Justin Brooks’s Wall Ability and materials salvaged from the ruins.

Though crude, they could block the venomous sunlight of the extreme-temperature cataclysm.

The Growth Potatoes and Healing Blood Grapes that Jasper Drake accelerated were flourishing in the shade.

A swath of lush green added a touch of life to the gray-black ruins.

Flora Sullivan controlled her Weather Cloud to make it snow on schedule every day for cooling, while the Silenti patrolled the perimeter, causing anyone with ill intentions to give them a wide berth.

More and more people arrived.

Every day, Wesley Moore combed through the ruins, finding people who were still hiding in the corners one by one.

Some had been hiding in the ruins ever since the Central Base collapsed, too afraid to come out or make a sound.

The chaos at the Central Base had been utterly terrifying.

When they were brought under the Redwood Tree and saw the houses under construction, the wildly growing crops, and the young woman standing in the center of the crowd...

Some cried, some fell to their knees, and some gripped Wesley Moore’s hand, refusing to let go.

In the end, there were ten thousand, three hundred and twenty-seven people.

That was the number Seraphina got after a headcount.

The Central Base had taken most of the survivors when it evacuated, but far more had been left behind than she’d imagined.

They had all been left behind.

Seraphina gave the base she had established a name.

Tomorrow’s Sanctuary.

She stood under the Redwood Tree, looking at the dense crowd before her. Her voice was calm yet clear. "From this day forward, this place is called Tomorrow’s Sanctuary. Because tomorrow will be better."

No one cheered. No one clapped.

Some were crying, some were laughing, and some just stood there in a daze, as if they hadn’t yet woken from a long dream.

But everyone remembered the name.

Tomorrow.

Seraphina returned to the temporary command post.

It was actually half of a relatively intact house that she had commandeered as a meeting room.

She took out the Emperor’s Crown and looked at its usage requirements.

One thousand Players, one hundred thousand ordinary people.

Ten thousand ordinary people... a tenth of the way there.

’And the Players?’

She counted on her fingers. ’There’s me, Crystal Lynn, Dexter Luther, Matthew Dawson, and Paul Payne. Sean Chandler isn’t here, and Flora Sullivan doesn’t count as a Player.’

’Adding Justin Brooks and his group...’

’...and of course, some of the people who joined Tomorrow’s Sanctuary...’

’...we’ve still only met a tenth of the requirement.’

Seraphina rubbed the bridge of her nose, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes.

’A long road ahead.’

Seraphina didn’t hesitate much when it came to the matter of management.

She found Wesley Moore and got straight to the point. "Mr. Moore, I need you to help me manage Tomorrow’s Sanctuary."

Wesley Moore was in the middle of registering the names and physical conditions of a few survivors. He froze at her words, the pen in his hand nearly falling to the ground.

"Me?" He looked up, his weathered face filled with disbelief. "Sullivan, I..."

"You were once the person in charge of the Vorlag Safe Zone. You have experience."

Seraphina cut him off. "You know how to distribute supplies, how to assign manpower, and how to handle disputes. I’m not good at those things."

Wesley Moore opened his mouth, about to say something, but when he looked into Seraphina’s calm yet earnest eyes, he swallowed his words.

He lowered his head and was silent for a long time.

"Alright." He looked up, his eyes slightly red. "I’ll help you."

Seraphina nodded, not offering any lengthy words of thanks.

She knew Wesley Moore didn’t need thanks. He needed a reason to keep living.

Dealing with Justin Brooks and Jasper Drake was also straightforward.

One was a combatant, responsible for the Shelter’s defense.

The other was a Plant Ability User, responsible for growing food.

Both were in their element, so Seraphina didn’t need to explain much.

"Don’t you worry." Justin Brooks patted his chest, the scar on his face twisting slightly with the movement. "We’ll protect our home."

Home.

The word carried a heavy weight coming from his lips.

They had evacuated from the Vorlag Safe Zone, lived under someone else’s roof at the Central Base, and now had been forced to leave again.

This was the third time they were starting from scratch.

But this time, Justin Brooks felt, was different.

The previous two times, he had been struggling to get by on someone else’s turf.

This time, he was working for himself.

In the following days, Tomorrow’s Sanctuary slowly came back to life.

Seraphina brought out large quantities of supplies from her Scavenger’s Farm.

Food, water, medicine, tools—a steady stream was supplied to the survivors.

Wesley Moore distributed the supplies in an orderly fashion. Everyone received enough rations and drinking water each day, the injured were given medicine, and the elderly and children received extra portions.

Jasper Drake led a few survivors with farming experience to clear plots of land under the Redwood Tree. The Growth Potatoes and Healing Blood Grapes grew better with each passing day.

Justin Brooks led a few young people in reinforcing the shelters and building simple defensive fortifications with materials from the ruins.

Flora Sullivan controlled her Weather Cloud to make it snow on schedule for daily cooling, the Silenti patrolled the perimeter, and everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.

But Seraphina knew this was only temporary.

Her Magic Cuisine could create food out of thin air, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.

With her making it all by herself, the survival of the entire Sanctuary rested on her shoulders alone.

If something happened to her inside a dungeon...

If some accident occurred while she was away from the Shelter...

...then the tomorrow of these ten thousand-plus people would soon collapse.

She needed to get the Sanctuary to a point where it could run on its own, instead of forever relying on her.

"We need to find crops that can be grown and animals that can be raised despite the cataclysms."

Seraphina called a few people together and said, getting straight to the point.

Dexter Luther scratched his head. "Extreme temperatures... it gets so hot. Besides some of the magical plants from the dungeons, what else is there that we can grow to solve this?"

"That’s why we have to look."

Seraphina said, "It’s possible we just haven’t found the right ones yet."

She pulled a stack of cards from her Space.

They were Item Cards she had collected during the Treasure Chest event, which could open paths to specific dungeon worlds.