228 Soldier's arrival
“Do you really think that it’s a good idea to bring them to our base?” Ailee asked, not hiding her discomfort.
She didn’t have anything against the military or the government but it was not as if she trusted them enough, especially after witnessing their creepy behavior.
And this was not the first time for her to see their true colors either. She had witnessed enough misdemeanors, and the abuse of power, even before the Primordial Ascension had occurred.
Nonetheless, others would not necessarily understand the reason behind her question.
“Why? Do you think that all Survivors and Ascenders will leave us? Or are you afraid of the Blue Star camp feeling threatened by us?” Dilan asked with a faint smile on his lips.
He understood why Ailee felt uncomfortable with Felia and her subordinates entering their base. The others felt similar to Ailee as well.
However, Dilan was not really afraid of the Blue star camp. Rather than hiding anything about his group, he wanted to get to know more information about the Blue Star camp, in exchange for intel about his own base, if necessary.
“Both…I guess? What happens if everyone leaves us? Or if the Blue Star camp attacks us?” Ailee answered in all honesty and raised a few doubts.
But even then, Dilan just shrugged his shoulders.
“Everyone can leave if they want to. To be honest, we might even be better off without those who leave.
In my opinion, everyone who stays can be considered loyal to us. It wouldn’t hurt to nurture them more intensely.
As for the possibility of the Blue Star camp attacking us, I believe that they would feel more threatened by us if we were to try hiding our base, and everyone inside..
Felia and her Soldiers have only seen us and we’re far stronger than them. Imagine what would happen if they report to their superiors that they found a handful of powerful Ascenders, who are not only leading a group of Survivors but also that they’ve been hiding their group from them for so long.”
Dilan had not actually given the situation a lot of thought beforehand.
His response had been spontaneous and he had instinctively invited Felia and the Soldiers to stay in their base for a short period.
This made it easier to find out more information, and it would make his entire group seem more trustworthy.
That was good, and as long as he could control the soldiers, and prevent them from doing something stupid to his group or their resources, everything would be fine.
‘I expect a few Survivors to leave, but they will mostly be the remaining people, who want to reunite with their family, and those few, who think I’m too overbearing and a dictator.
I won’t make much of a loss if the baggage leaves.’
While walking back to their base, Dilan didn’t speak to Felia and her Soldiers. Instead, he was occupied with talking to his own people because most of them were rather uncomfortable with the Soldiers around them.
They feared that the government would try to subdue them once again. Before the Primordial Ascension, many laws had existed. The world was ruled by laws imposed by the strong on the weak and powerless, while those with connections and money had always been able to get away by not obeying the rigid rules.
It was openly known that the elites and the topmost class of the society were rotten, which was also the reason for Kathrine, Ailee, and even Yvonne to be bothered.
After all, the Soldiers’ gazes were more than enough to tell them what would happen if they were weaker and if Dilan wouldn’t be there to protect all women with his drastic measurements.
Dilan’s actions against **** attempts and other crimes were something that would never be accepted by the government. At least, not if a higher authority would try to **** a beautiful woman from the lower economic class.
They would slap on the back of the higher authority’s hand, but that would be it.
Meanwhile, Dilan didn’t hesitate the slightest to behead a Tier-1 Ascender the moment he tried to **** one of the beautiful Survivors, who was not adept at fighting.
[0)ᴠʟ She had been washing the dishes and was a good girl who would usually help Mira in the garden they had created. Even some survivors believed that Dilan had gone overboard for killing one of his strongest underlings, ‘just’ because he attempted to **** someone.
It was not as if he had actually raped her, in the end, because he had been found out before he could commit the heinous crime.
However, he would have raped her had Dilan not stopped him, and that was a fact.
Thus, Dilan couldn’t care less about whatever authority others expected to receive just because they were stronger than the rest.
Everyone was important in Dilan’s group, and they had to function as a properly working group, in which every single member trusted the others to gain the best results.
And Dilan had gained this loyalty and trust from many people. Those who didn’t trust him were free to leave.
That was also why he didn’t actually care about the exhilarated expression some Survivors had on their faces the moment they saw the Soldiers, who followed Dilan as they entered the base.
“Soldiers? Are there actually Soldiers? Does that mean we are finally saved? The military will take care of us, hooray!” One woman exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
Meanwhile, another man looked at the soldiers and their weapons with a prideful expression.
“Maybe I should ask them whether I can join the military or not. Carrying a gun makes you feel much better. Fighting with swords, and bows feels like we have returned to the middle age. How tiresome fighting like this would be…”
“If there are Soldiers, there must be a military camp, or a camp made by the government as well. Maybe I can find my family there!”
More than ten survivors expressed their interest in joining the military or following the Soldiers, even before they had entered the factory.
This made Kathrine and Ailee frown, while Felia was slightly astonished.
‘Why is he still smiling? Doesn’t he feel anything despite seeing his people openly talk about leaving him?’
Felia could clearly tell that the Survivors were well-fed and healthy. There was no fear in their eyes and the only thing one could say against Dilan’s treatment of his group was that the survivors looked a little bit exhausted.
However, Sven, whom she had spoken to earlier, had already told Felia that they had just moved to their new base.
Everyone had been working hard to reconstruct the base, and make it a habitable place.
Thus, it was no surprise to see the survivors’ weary expressions.
But this made Felia feel even guiltier. Had Dilan treated his people badly, the survivor’s comments would have been justified.
Yet, right now, it felt as if they turned a blind eye to the effort Dilan and his people had put in to ensure that everyone would survive and live a proper life.
Staying alive was actually not impossible after the Primordial Ascension. With a little bit of effort, this could be easily achieved. However, living a comfortable life was certainly not easy after the Primordial Ascension had occurred.
And from the looks of it, the base seemed to be even better than the Blue Star camp.
“Oh my gosh. Captain, look over there! They have more than 10 huge pots and cook warm meals for everyone.” One of the Soldiers pointed excitedly at the kitchen as his stomach rumbled loudly.
Meanwhile, another Soldier pointed in a different direction across the fence.
“There is a training ground too, and I can hear the sound of a hammer…” He exclaimed while his gaze remained in the direction of the alloy manufacturing factory.
There were many things that astonished Felia and the Soldiers. However, the most astonishing was definitely the way everyone treated Dilan.
While there had been 10 or so people, who had exclaimed in excitement upon seeing the soldiers, this situation didn’t repeat itself many times.
A few more survivors voiced their interest upon seeing the Soldiers, but most of them looked at Dilan with bright eyes, their trust and loyalty toward him clearly perceptible.
When Dilan reached the center of their base, he cleared his throat before announcing in a loud voice.
“Today, we encountered Captain Felia and her subordinates. They belong to a different camp that is led by Mayor Clerens, and some others.
Their camp is called Blue Star camp, and it’s a few hundred kilometers away.
Long story short, I allowed Captain Felia and her people to stay here for a few days. For those who want to leave, and join the Blue Star camp, they can do so.
As stated already, I won’t hold anyone back, but I don’t plan to take you guys back if the Blue Star camp is not to your liking.”
**
If you want to support me use your golden tickets and powerstones.
You can also visit my pa treon: Pa treon.com/HideousGrain
More character images and nice chats about the HideVerse:
https:///EdsDgFVWwZ
Link also in my description.
Do you like it? Leave a review and add it to the library!