"Mia..." I muttered, looking at the girl with a massive bout of respect in my eyes.
Even if she simply rephrased what we talked about with Levi before, she still picked the perfect moment to come out and appear as someone more than just my woman.
Because not only she pointed out the crux of what we wanted the survivors to understand but also she managed to prove herself to be more than just my woman.
And this not only elevated her own position in the eyes of the survivors but also proved I wasn't someone who would fall for a beauty trap like many men throughout history would.
'And even if they all came from a different world...' I released a deep sigh. 'I can bet my left hand it wasn't all that different in their place.'
"You said that you could help us regain our strength..." one of the survivors spoke out. "But didn't you claim that this world's energy is different than what we are used to?"
On the surface, this was a legit, proper question. But I could sense the hidden meaning behind the voice that asked it.
'How can you help us regain our strength if you can't provide us with the energy that we lost?' I thought, rephrasing the question to what the one voicing it actually wanted to know.
"I never said it's a different energy. I said that its vector is opposite," I claimed. Then, I pulled my eyebrows down as if confused about something. "Or to be honest, I don't even remember what exact word I asked the first few who woke up to pass to the rest," I then admitted before shrugging my shoulders.
I took a deep breath, making sure to make this action as visible as possible to stop the survivors from trying to cut into my monologue.
"The energy of this world is the same... and yet, opposite to the energy that you know of at the same time," I explained. "Fuck, explaining it with words will be harder than just showing it," I then added.
I stretched my hand to the side, pointing out at a random blob of violet, liquified mana that came out from the monster form of the survivors.
Then, I shot out a single, weak bolt in its direction.
Yet, the two didn't clash. Instead, not only was my bolt reflected away from the blob, but the blob itself also shoot away to the side.
Just like magnets would do... if someone managed to create a liquid magnet with clearly defined magnetic poles and then shoot a bullet made from a magnet with the same pole at it.
"I know what you guys are thinking right now," I then said when the survivors finally paid proper attention to the residue from the fight that just concluded. "But I can't allow you to absorb that energy. I believe that bringing forth the clash between your world energy and this world's energy is what brought forth the disaster that devastated your world."
The looks of greed and desire that appeared on everyone's faces... vanished without a trace.
It was one thing to greed for something. It was another thing to greed after something while being aware of the dangers it brought to the world around.
But it was an entirely different thing altogether to lust for power after experiencing the disasters it brought to one's own skin!
"What are you going to do with it, then?" another voice asked.
"I'm going to neutralize it myself," I replied, looking into the crowd to find the owner of the voice. "And I will use its purified form to help those who will follow us to regain their strength. Or at least," I took a short pause to build up tension, "a fair bit of it."
There were about two hundred survivors gathered in this small area. Even if only half of them ended up following me... then they would still create a formidable faction that could easily defeat me.
But that was assuming they would regain the same power they had while at their peak.
That's why, as the sole faucet for them to grow stronger unless they were willing to start the path of cultivators from scratch, I could control how much strenght they would have.
A perfect measure to keep all those potentially dangerous elements in check.
"Then, what do you want us to do?" yet another person asked. "But please, don't give us this generalized crap of rebuilding the ruins of this world," the person added. "What exactly do you wish to accomplish? What's your goal for now?"
This question was weirdly specific. Yet, rather than despising it, I actually couldn't be happier it appeared.
"First off, I think we need to set up a camp. Be it from scratch or on the ruins of some city, it doesn't matter," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. Then, I showcased a bright smile.
"I will be fully honest with you guys," I proclaimed. "All I want in my life is to live in comfort with my wife," I said, pulling at Mia's side to bring her closer to my flesh. "And to that end, I'm willing to spare no effort. And as long as you can help me out with this..." I took yet another pause.
"I'm willing to reciprocate."
That was the ultimate deal. I had no wish to rule the world. All I wanted was to live my days with Mia in peace and comfort.
But in the world, as it was right now, I couldn't achieve the peace I longed for with my own strength. As such, recruiting those people who were likely used both to hardship and fighting would be a massive step ahead for me.
"I'm willing to follow you, then," one of the women stood up, taking me by a surprise.
'I guess showcasing my affection for Mia was the right call to make,' I thought while a wry smile crept up on my lips.
"I'm willing as well," someone else stood up too.
"I wish to be free," a first objector to my proposition then appeared.
And soon, the group of survivors started to split up and organize themselves.
In the end, the two hundred survivors we helped ended up splitting into two groups.
And with only about fifty of them wishing to live their lives on their own in this world, I've now obtained about one hundred and fifty helping hands that would empower me to reach forth for my dreams!
"Now then, I guess we need to figure out where we want to start our camp, don't we?" I suggested with a genuine smile.
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