Chapter 197 Solar Stone
The arrival of the group caused a little commotion among the marching refugees.
"Another mechanical carriage!"
"Hiss, it should be a noble or a wealthy merchant."
"How I wish to have one..."
"Don't dream; I heard that it costs a few thousand gold, and you may not even be able to buy it."
With examinees and a few influential groups of people, like the Sylvester family.
The original backward world already showed advancement like no other.
Mechanical carriages were only one of the products that these groups of people sold.
From mechanical devices to various potions, the world became more magical.
If it were not for the lack of extraordinary power in this world, the changes would be more astonishing.
"However, it seems that this mechanical carriage is a little different."
"It seems to be more slick and longer."
"Furthermore, there is no smoke coming out."
"This should be a new product that just got out."
"I even heard of a mechanical carriage that can fly briefly"
"Hey, there are really many amazing people in this world"
After scrutinizing the newly arrived group, they didn't bother any longer.
As for being greedy and stealing such a mechanical carriage?
They were not that foolish yet.
Previously there were people who coveted such mechanical vehicles, but what greeted them was a hail of bullets.
From then on, they came to know the horror of mechanical guns.
Even a group of army was no match for a hail of bullets.
...
In the carriage.
After seeing some people, they were a little happy.
It means that they have caught up with the last group.
"By the way, brother, what do we do now?" Max asked.
Now they have no problem with food and water.
It can be said that they only needed to wait for the end of the trial.
"Of course, we complete the trial perfectly," Liam said confidently.
"How?" They were still in the dark about the secrets of this world.
"No, tell them," Lily, who knew something, shook Neo, who was sleeping on her lap.
"Huh~ What happened?" Neo rubbed his eyes.
"Tell them about the plan."
"Oh~"
"As I said earlier, surviving is only the prerequisite to pass the trial."
"The main mission is to save this world, or at least save as many humans as possible." Neo briefly explained and went back to sleep.
"So that's it, we save the world!" Max exclaimed excitedly.
The trial had become somewhat boring once they had everything they needed.
Hearing that a bigger mission was in front of them, how could he not be excited?
However, thinking of the natural catastrophe that was happening, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed.
"How can we save the world with just a few of us?"
"Of course, we can't save the world, but saving a few people is still feasible."
"According to Neo's estimate, saving about 15-20 million should be enough for all of us," Liam explained.
"And how do we do that?"
"By building a promised land for these millions of people..."
...
At night, the mobile carriage stopped as they began setting up the camp.
It was still not possible to sleep in the carriage itself.
Aside from them and the children from the previous orphanage, there were also people recruited by Liam.
These people were his henchmen when he set out to collect resources and information in various cities.
Now, after setting up the camp for resting, they also established a temporary trading post.
After all, they needed to save as many people as possible.
Since they had not yet set up the promised land, they could only help these people so they wouldn't die.
"Excuse me, what do you trade here?" Finally, some courageous people couldn't help but ask.
"We only trade water," Rinrin, one of Liam's henchmen, said.
"W-water?!"
At this time of catastrophe, water was equivalent to their life.
They could only survive by drinking their urine, or if they were lucky, they could find a puddle of water.
However, even with these desperate measures, not everyone survived the journey.
Thus, upon hearing that they were trading water, the originally timid refugees rushed toward them like hungry wolves.
"Then, what do you trade water for?"
"Anything from minerals to supplies," Rinrin said.
"Then, how much is this worth?" Garban, one of the refugees, said, taking out a piece of gold.
"Hmmm, 15 grams of gold? You can have 15 liters of water" Rinrin said after some thought.
According to his leader's younger brother Luke, gold is like a panacea when it comes to electronics.
A gram for a liter of water should be sufficient.
"F-f-fifteen liter of water??!" Garban was shocked by the amount.
Although gold still held value in these times, it was not worth much.
"Do you have a container to put the water in?" Rinrin didn't procrastinate wanting to complete the transaction quickly.
He didn't value water as much as these people.
Rinrin knew his leader Liam had a way of getting water as much as he wanted.
After all, water was only evaporating, not disappearing.
Sam and Luke had already upgraded the water launcher and condensation device.
This ensured a steady supply of water as long as the mechanical carriage stayed in place.
Garban, hearing that 15 liters of water were real, hurriedly took out a wooden container.
"Here is my container,"
"Take this to the carriage," Rinrin ordered his underling.
"Right away boss." His underling took the wooden container and filled it with water from the carriage.
"This is your water."
"This... It's really water!" Garban exclaimed as he checked the crystal-clear water.
The others were also shocked to see that they were indeed trading water.
"I also want to trade; I have 5 grams of gold!"
"Me too! Me too!"
"Can you trade anything else? I have rare metal here!"
"I also have medicinal plants; I should be able to trade them!"
"How about my daughter! I can trade my daughter!"
"What are you talking about? They were only trading resources!"
"Why not? My daughter is beautiful; it should be worth a lot!"
"Alright, alright, calm down," Rinrin said coldly.
"There is enough water for everyone; no need to hurry."
"Furthermore, we only trade resources, not people."
"Now, line up! Otherwise, we will not trade with you!"
Hearing the instructions, the refugees obediently lined up.
One by one, they received their share of the water and brought it back to their families or groups.
The night was long as they traded several tons of water.
Fortunately, they had a lot in storage; otherwise, even the automatic condensation devices couldn't keep up.
Consequently, their storage was filled to the brim with materials.
...
Months passed by, and they finally reached a place with greenery.
During these months, people kept following them to trade water if needed.
As for what they traded with them, it was various materials they found along the way.
Liam also recruited people for labor with water as their salary.
From mining to helping them with all kinds of physical labor.
It could be said that as long as these people weren't lazy, they would not die.
The only problem was food, as the promised crop was only enough for them.
Fortunately, even though there was a famine, there were still a lot of insects alive.
If they were patient, they could dig up one or two insects and worms to prevent themselves from starving.
Besides these people, there were also some troublemakers.
Having a stable supply of water, how could others not be suspicious?
Unfortunately, these people would only learn this secret in the afterlife.
...
In the Denleaf stronghold, a temporary refugee camp:
Liam and the others were greeted by a camp the size of a city beside a raging river.
"Halt!" The guard stopped their mechanical carriage.
"What is it?" Rinrin, who was in the driving seat, asked.
"You need to pay an entrance fee before entering."
"How much?"
"10 grams of Solar stone fragments!"
"Why are you asking for such a thing?" Rinrin asked, puzzled.
"I don't know. Anyway, this is what the higher-ups wanted. You can either pay or leave." The guard didn't back down.
Although he could see that the people in the mechanical carriage were not simple.
The one who set up the camp here was not simple either.
"Alright, wait..." Rinrin didn't ask further and came inside the carriage.
"Boss, it seems that they need 10 grams of Solar stone."
"I know. Here is the thing." Liam also heard what the guard said and readily took out a few fragments of Solar stone.
Solar stone is the byproduct of this world's catastrophe, or it should be said it's the cause of it.
Solar stone is a mutated energy crystal that absorbs the heat from the sun.
Its large presence makes the planet hotter and hotter until it becomes uninhabitable.
During their few months of journey, as they were mining, they found a few pieces of these Solar stones.
Upon inspection, it seemed that these Solar stones were intentionally placed, just waiting to erupt.
From east to south, all these Solar stones seemed to be erupting in sequence.
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