After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

Valov also tried attacking Alterra, in fact. But the war in Iron Valley managed to delay this.

Seeing the ’failed’ war declaration (again), the Lord could only grit his teeth. ”Next time,” he said. ”I will make sure you can’t escape.”

He stood in front of the massive manual warehouse in the territory, and the various contraptions parked there.

If informed people were there, they would gape, realizing all these were dwarven weapons.

As he looked at the items he borrowed from the Master, the Lord’s eyes went dark with confidence and malice. He had never asked for such a big assistance, but his hands were forced this time.

He was never one to underestimate his opponents and, unlike those other fools who took on Alterra, he believed that their Valov Town was ready.

”Alterra...” he said, voice low and dark. ”...will be mine.”

...

The Iron Mountain and Limestone Valley war rotation resumed, making sure that no territory could attack Alterra, which was definitely an even hotter target after the disease and the spread that it had the cure.

Holt City and Warrior City had sent statements to their areas that Alterra shall not be touched. However, there really wasn’t much they could do with territories that were not associated with them, nor was it proper to intervene any more than simply stating their positions.

Anyway, the next month, thanks to all these strategies, had been stable for Alterra. They had succeeded in building more and more things in the meantime.

For one, Phase 1 was already nearing its completion, and all utilities and infrastructure were up and running. The sound system was improved and placed all over the outer walls. They were placed within the sentries, of course, because they weren’t completely waterproof (yet).

In the future, they’d be used to make announcements to enemies and maybe gather some enemies or even monsters in certain areas. Recorded Music was now a thing as well, but for now, it was the olden vinyl or tape types since they didn’t have the technology to make CDs, DVDs, and stuff like that yet.

When there were events, music would be played so, even at the edges of the territory, the atmosphere would still be quite fun.

Even the unfortunate guards assigned at the walls would feel more included in the events in the inner city, even if they were unable to go themselves.

They couldn’t quite place wires that traversed the entire territory yet, but they were at least connected to each other, so only one sound would be needed for every speaker on the battlement.

They were linked to a solar panel placed at the top of the sentries, which not only powered the sound systems but also powered the additional lighting and fans there.

Speaking of this, the solar panel technology was improved using none other than the criel metal Linlin discovered before! It increased its power while also decreasing its size, making it more compact.

Now, more and more houses could be powered by solar panels, and they could now power up more things like some simple machinery.

Eventually, the streets would be filled with completely solar-powered street lights, chargers, sprinklers, and other things that would be great to automate. There could even be little solar-powered cars, though they probably wouldn’t be as fast as broatcarts and beast carts just yet.

More and more machines could also be made, and perhaps more computers—even if they were just large calculators—could also be made available.

In time, the computers would also get smaller and smaller, finally freeing up precious space. Compact desktops would still be a long time away, but any improvements they could get were welcome.

However, amidst all these, the most relevant accomplishment during this time was related to none other than their own version of the anti-slavery token!

They even had preliminary research to improve and modify the Token Guard.

This was thanks to the token Oslo lent to them a long time ago, as well as the token that Tronie’s friend Prague donated to Alterra just recently, a new tool was finally developed!

While it was a team effort, a good majority of the credits went to not only Althea but also Virgo, Kimmy’s ex-husband-slash-mathematician.

Since Althea was very busy with other things, Virgo used his tendency for obsession to unearth as many arrays as he could from the tools, studying them, gaining some insight, and then submitting what he had to Lady Althea. The Token Guard toolmaker, Kahonn, also had a hand in this.

The one with the most vested interest in this was Althea herself.

During the cold wave lockdown, Althea entered a bit of a slump. The lockdown of the Cold Wave, quickly followed by the lockdown due to the pandemic, made it worse, and maybe could’ve done something in her brain.

It was like she was itching to go out and see new scenery.

She really couldn’t be blamed. As great as Alterra was, she had been through the same places, and she felt that she needed to broaden her horizons.

It made her want to go outside more, but as a Lord, her movements were extremely limited, especially if she entered another territory.

Of course, after the cure was developed later, they didn’t have to be so strict, but the thought remained.

What she had always wanted was not just the anti-slavery token, but also a way to bypass the panel, and that was what they had managed to do for the modified token guard.

She started thinking about it even before the Cold Wave ended, her mind working in the back, in her unconscious, probably while she slept.

At some point, after the cure was developed, she started thinking more and more about this token that she had always put aside but always kept at the back of her head.

With the help of the many people who had been studying arrays with her, and with the help of various calculators and computers, they—about a month after the cure was created—built a few more innovations related to her needs.