Chapter 130.2: Ota Company’s Assets
After [Ota Company] took control of three-fifths of Broken River, it remained completely inactive.
The various towns and numerous small factions gradually went from their initial state of “panic and confusion” back to “normal.”
“Boss, I don’t think the [Company] is as mysterious as the Moon Silk people make them out to be. Sure, we’ve got a new owner for this land, but everything feels pretty much the same as before.”
Liu Tiegou, who had successfully obtained mining rights through his talent for flattering people, was squatting at the entrance of his own mine and chatting with his boss.
Strictly speaking, he and Yu Bo were both unemployed now.
With three-fifths of Broken River’s territory having been allocated to [Ota Company], the Lord of Broken River, who was left with only two-fifths of his territory, naturally no longer needed so many guards.
So the two of them had been laid off.
But for Liu Tiegou, this suited him perfectly. After all, he had already secured the mining rights. Now all he had to do was focus on making money.
His boss, Yu Bo, however, couldn’t be as optimistic as he was.
She couldn’t even be sure whether the mining rights they had obtained from the Lord of Broken River would still be recognized by the [Company] now that the land had changed hands.
Originally, Yu Bo had intended to use the same old trick again, trying to curry favor with [Ota Company] just as she had with the Lord of Broken River.
Unfortunately, [Ota Company] was far too mysterious!
Ever since taking over the territory, they hadn’t seen a single person from the [Company] show up.
If it weren’t for the enormous, imposing city that could be seen from afar, the people of Broken River would almost have begun to suspect that [Ota] didn’t even exist anymore.
“Something’s not right. It’s really not right. In theory, once the [Company] awakened, it shouldn’t be this quiet.”
Yu Bo had been pondering this for days. She felt as though her brain was about to burn out, yet she still couldn’t figure out the reason behind [Ota]’s abnormal behavior.
Seeing her boss so troubled, Liu Tiegou decided to put some serious thought into it himself and help solve her problem.
“Ah! I know!!”
Yu Bo jumped at his shout. “Why are you yelling so loudly? You’ll attract that mutated scorpion next door!”
That mutated scorpion was extremely difficult to deal with. Supposedly, it had been living in this area for several years.
The good news was that as long as you ran fast enough, the mutated scorpion couldn’t catch you and eat you.
The bad news was that if you ran too slowly, it could.
Yu Bo’s group had only been working at this mine for a few days, and they had practically trained themselves into professional sprinters.
Liu Tiegou was scared of that venomous scorpion, too.
They had been to so many different worlds, yet this was the first time they’d encountered an ordinary low-level monster that was this difficult to fight.
But it was precisely this experience that gave Liu Tiegou the inspiration he needed to figure out why [Ota] wasn’t showing itself.
He glanced around to make sure the mutated scorpion wasn’t nearby, then lowered his voice.
“Boss, I know why [Ota] isn’t showing up.”
Yu Bo: “Why?”
Liu Tiegou: “I think [Ota Company] is actually fake. That so-called folding city is actually a Safe City.”
“Boss, think about it. A city this enormous suddenly appears out of nowhere, and then it doesn’t interact with the locals. If that’s not a Safe City, then what is it? My guess is that it’s a Safe City pretending to be a [Company], trying to get benefits from the lord.”
Yu Bo nearly laughed.
No—she was already laughing.
“Tietiegou, Tietiegou, you really shouldn’t always make things so simple. Let me ask you this: if it really is a Safe City, how did they take down that mutated giant python?”
Liu Tiegou thought about it. “They used weapons from their own civilization. Maybe they have some ultimate weapon or something.”
“An ultimate weapon? What do you think this is, a novel? How could an ultimate weapon just pop up that easily?”
Yu Bo rubbed her subordinate’s head, feeling her stress ease considerably.
Who else could make her laugh like Liu Tiegou?
“Besides, do you think the Lord of Broken River is an idiot? He’s a local. Can’t he tell whether the [Company] is real or fake?”
“The Broken River lord’s family has lived on this land for more than a hundred years. They’ve built up deep roots here and have plenty of capable people working under them. Do you really think they could be fooled by such a simple scam?”
Liu Tiegou: “But I really think it’s possible. Otherwise, why would [Ota] be so quiet? Because a Safe City actually doesn’t have enough strength to deal with all the various factions. The weapons on Moon Silk Star are ridiculously powerful, so they must first gather weapons and slowly build up their strength…”
Yu Bo: “Your top priority right now is to stop reading all those novels you picked up in the last world.”
She explained, “Let me put it this way. If a Safe City wanted to disguise itself as a [Company] in an environment like Moon Silk Star and fool a local lord, that would mean the Safe City had to have complete control over every single resident, with every resident utterly loyal to the Safe City. Otherwise, any one link in the chain could expose them. Do you think that’s possible?”
Liu Tiegou thought about it, then shook his head.
“That really isn’t possible.”
“But if [Ota Company] is real, they were asleep for a hundred years and have only just awakened. Wouldn’t they need to establish their authority first?”
By now, Liu Tiegou had become fairly familiar with the behavioral patterns of the Moon Silk people.
“For example, killing some mutated beasts, taking out a few bandits, raiding some mining factions, demanding taxes from the towns…”
Yu Bo: “…Could you at least consider the possibility that we’re the mining faction that might get raided when you make your assumptions?”
“I just think that if the [Company] has the strength, they wouldn’t keep hiding. They should eventually come out of their nest…”
The two were still talking when suddenly, the loose clods of dirt scattered across the ground began bouncing irregularly, as if something were shaking the earth beneath them.
——Thud!
——Thud!
——Thud!
The two immediately became alert and exchanged a glance. While preparing to retreat at any moment, they looked toward the distance.
And there, up ahead…
A military force was advancing in perfect formation.
Every soldier was clad in pure-black combat gear, with their entire faces concealed. Each carried various Moon Silk Star weapons in their hands.
——Thud!
——Thud!!
There were simply too many of them. Strange-shaped black drones followed overhead, while rows of Moon Silk Star vehicles trailed behind the troops, each fitted with medium- to large-sized weapons.
With every step the army took, the ground continued to tremble.
The two stared in shock, their pupils contracting violently as they couldn’t help imagining what would happen if they had to face this army themselves.
Yu Bo: ‘Would there even be any ashes left?’
Liu Tiegou was a little more optimistic. He figured his bones were pretty sturdy, so perhaps at least a little bone ash would remain.
“Stop!”
The officer at the front raised a hand.
Behind him, more than ten thousand soldiers stood in perfect formation, their entire bodies wrapped in black combat gear. Like robots, they came to a synchronized halt.
Then, following the command, they turned in unison and charged toward the mutated scorpion that had been occupying this territory.
——BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
——BANG BANG BANG!!!
A succession of thunderous explosions rang out.
[Ota Company] officially began its campaign to wipe out the various mutated beasts and mutated plants posing threats across the Broken River Wasteland.
—
In one of the towns, the mayor nervously received the representatives from [Ota].
The young man sitting before him was dressed neatly and impeccably, and everything about him seemed to belong to a completely different world from theirs. He slowly placed the tax register on the table.
“From this point onward, this entire area will be part of [Ota]’s asset cluster. All of you are assets belonging to [Ota], and everyone in your town must remain loyal to [Ota].”
The mayor nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes.”
He was cursing inwardly.
‘Here it comes.’
‘They’re going to raise the taxes.’
Life had already been difficult enough. And now, just like that, they had become someone else’s assets.
‘Damn it. Why did their town have to be among the three-fifths that were handed over?’
The Lord of Broken River might have been greedy, but at least when he took their money, he actually provided services in return. Whenever a dangerous mutated beast appeared, he would occasionally send guards over to investigate.
But now that [Ota Company] had taken over…
The way these old humans talked was infuriating.
‘Assets~’
‘Their entire town wasn’t going to be dismantled into spare parts, was it?’
The mayor was still cursing them inwardly when the important figure sitting before him slowly spoke.
“Of course, [Ota]’s assets will receive the protection of the [Company].”
“We’ll station a squad of soldiers nearby. If you encounter any problems, go to them for assistance.”
The mayor froze.
And then came something that left him even more stunned.
“Furthermore, none of [Ota]’s assets may be lost. I hope the number of deaths in your town this year can be reduced by two-thirds. Can you do that?”
The corner of the mayor’s mouth twitched.
‘How is that any different from asking him to snatch people out of a mutated beast’s mouth?’
“M-Master, it’s not that I don’t want to do it. It’s just that… many people here are in poor health. Even a minor illness can potentially cost them their lives…”
The man before him sneered.
“How could their health be poor? From what I can see, you’re all quite strong.”
“Yes, Master. The thing is, most people don’t get enough to eat, and they have to perform heavy labor, so…”
The mayor was doing his utmost to speak in a humble tone, trying his best not to anger the other party with his refusal, when the man casually said:
“Not getting enough to eat? Then we’ll reduce your town’s taxes by fifty percent this year.”
Mayor: “???”
Mayor: “!!!”
He seriously wondered if he had misheard.
“F-Fifty percent? Reduce them?”
The important figure from [Ota] slowly stood up and brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes, speaking arrogantly.
“This is my final ultimatum. I hope that this year, you can keep [Ota]’s assets healthy and strong enough to serve the Company better.”
Mayor: “!!!”
The mayor immediately bent into a deep bow, sincerity radiating from every inch of him.
“Yes! Yes! Rest assured! I’ll make sure to remind the townspeople—no! I’ll make sure to remind our [Ota] assets to take good care of their health and do their best for the [Company]!!!”
—
Across the desert, a caravan was fleeing for its life.
Bandits pursued them from behind, riding mutated beasts as they hung onto the caravan’s tail, gradually wearing down the caravan’s combat strength.
“Boss!! This isn’t going to work! They’re going to exhaust all our ammunition!!”
The caravan boss gritted his teeth.
“Head right! I heard there’s a mutated giant python over there! It’ll scare them off!”
“But Boss, the mutated giant python is even harder to deal with!”
“Forget it! We’ll worry about that when we get there!!”
The bandits chased after them, and when they saw the caravan change direction, they burst into laughter.
“Outsiders!”
“They don’t know the mutated giant python is already dead, do they?!”
“Hahahahahaha! Perfect! That canyon is an ideal place to trap them! Not a single one of them is getting away!”
The bandits pursued them all the way there, only to discover that the caravan had stopped on a high ridge ahead.
‘Strange.’
‘Why had they stopped?’
The bandits, more than thirty of them, cautiously approached. Only then did they realize that every member of the caravan was lying flat on the ground, as though they had encountered some great and powerful figure.
As the scene below the ridge gradually came into view, row after row of soldiers dressed in black, weapons in hand and masks covering their faces, turned their gazes toward them.
——BOOM!!
With the roar of the cannon, it was as though they heard the word “judgment.”
Behind them, the caravan members who had narrowly escaped disaster stared blankly at the bandits scattered across the landscape, here a piece, there a piece.
A mutant wearing white, with four wings extending from his back, slowly descended from the sky, his wings sweeping away the dust.
Every member of the caravan hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at him. Yet their ears caught his calm voice.
——“Within Ota’s Third Asset Cluster, no criminal activity is permitted.”
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