Chapter 76 - Problems
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nAll of a sudden, the long-haired blond man came barging into the room while bringing the other three. All of them are sky-realm fighters, and now, they demand an answer to their predicament.
nNot wanting to be involved in this situation that stink of trouble, Viktor swiftly told his group to take a few steps back. For now, all they should do is wait and see how the situation develops.
nMayor Walsh took a deep breath before he answer, barely able to hide the weariness in his voice.
n“It is true, Kenth. We barely have enough to turn on the monolith, that is why it was turned off prematurely just now. But you don’t need to worry, I am just awaiting shipment from the central government.” Mayor Walsh then rubbed his forehead in dejection. “Just give us a few days.”
nFrom the way the blond man’s face twisted in clear rage, it was evident that it was not the right answer.
n“.. Did you just tell me that you just used our pay to turn that thing on? With all due respect, mayor, we only received half of our supposed pay last month…”
nKnowing that he was trapped in a corner, the mayor took another deep sigh and said,-.
n“Indeed, but you know that the safety of the people comes first; I had to do that. However, this does not mean that you will not get your paycheck. If you just give us a few more days…”
nWhen he heard this, the long-haired man’ expression turned even uglier. He took a step forward, but the eyepatch man and Jessi stepped in to stop him.
nJessie quickly said. “Kenth, I have a solution for this, if you just help me do this one task, the city will be able to pay off all our debt to you.”
nWhen he heard this, the long haired man scoffed as if he just heard a joke. “You’re telling me to follow your crazy, solutions? The last time we did, you almost blew up the town!”
nTaking a deep breath, Jessie looked him in the eye. “Please, Kenth. I promise you, this time it will work.”
nUnfortunately, the man didn’t bother even giving her the time of day. He yanked out the small silver badge on his chest and slammed it on the table. Annoyance was evident on his face as he stared at the major.
n“I should have known not to work for such a **ty town. Today, I quit! I will return next month for the rest of my paycheck.” He narrowed his eyes, the threat he displayed abundantly clear should the town refuse to pay.
nWithout giving Jessie or the eye-patch man a chance to say anything more, the other three sky-realm fighters also did the same.
nSeeing this, the eye patch man stopped the blond and said, “If you all leave, the town will be in danger. Kenth, you had already taken all the spirit stones from the monsters. Isn’t that enough?”
nKenth refused to even dignify that with a response. All he did was bump the man on the shoulder and kept walking, ignoring him as he pointedly walked out of the room.
nA few seconds of awkward silence reigned in the room. Noticing Viktor’s curious gaze, the mayor said with a dry look.
n“There was no need to stay in this town. Considering the way it is going, there will be no more Arkhangelsk in a few days.”
nThe mayor then told the eye patch man to bring Viktor and his team into the next room.
nIt looked like a holding cell, but it was furnished with a dozen wooden beds and clean white linens. Even with the stone walls that looked rough, the place still appeared clean and comfortable.
nThe man with the eye patch calmly said, “No need to worry, you are safe here. The mayor looks gruff but he tends to help those in need. Unfortunately as he said earlier, you guys still need to leave tomorrow.”
nBefore putting them all inside the cell, the man asked for their special rings and placed them on the table just in front of the holding cell as a symbol of trust and hope that Viktor and his group wouldn’t cause any trouble.
nKnowing that it was the best course of action, Viktor decided to agree. He only asked to get his comfortable clothes and other things from the ring, of which Barry helped him to quickly prepare it for him and Eva.
nViktor saw Eva’s expression looked glum. No matter her personality and how her life had been since the apocalypse struck, she was still a former princess.
nIt was proven to be difficult for her to keep up with their new lifestyle, and that the only reason she held on was Viktor. Well, he himself could relate with her feelings to some degree.
nThere were two guards stationed on duty to watch them, but Viktor has no plans to trouble them. Instead, he gave the two a pack of cigarettes each and used his charm to strike a conversation to glean some useful information from them. Even in captivity, there was time to get to know one or more things about the current situation.
nOther than that, Viktor has some plans in mind.
nFirst, despite the problems, the town was perfect. It was very close to his targeted bunker, the mayor was reasonable, and the best and most ironic thing, these problems may be his boon.
nViktor was raised by his family, to think of problems as an opportunity, and indeed, the situation he witnessed earlier could probably be his golden ticket to solve this.
nA quick observation was enough to know that the town is in desperate need of two things. One and the most obvious problem is money… or in this case, considering the current situation, it would be spirit stones.
nIt was obvious that spirit stones have turned into a new type of currency in this changed world. The town needed to spend some of it every month to pay the strong sky realm fighters and to make the barrier work.
nThe second and equally pressing problem was manpower, and that is certainly within his means to solve. Even though right now he and his bodyguards don’t look like much, he believes that soon enough, they could be an irreplaceable part of this community.
nIf everything went well, he would have a lovely bunker home close by to a friendly neighboring town, a situation that would benefit both places. But right now, that was still a distant dream, as first, he needed to take the initial step – to prove his value to this community.
n“Young master, your bed is ready.” Barry said politely, interrupting his thoughts. Viktor took a glance at the beds, and saw that Barry had performed a bit of cleaning work to it, making it look better than before.
nViktor smiled at himself, clearly pleased at the opportunity this situation had given him. But for now, a good night’s sleep would do him some good.
nHe didn’t hesitate to walk to the bed, and right as his head hit the soft pillow, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
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