Chapter 257: The New City

Vinnie wasn’t quite certain what Yara meant about nutrient bars being a war crime, but suspected that they were something made as an emergency ration by the System, and distributed like a consolation prize. For many of the other Families, and the former occupants of the regions they had passed through, even those would have been a godsend.

There were a few locations where they had passed bandits trying to steal food, as the floods had wiped out their stockpiles.

But it didn’t seem like that was going to be a problem in Marimgar.

Then, they finally got close enough to see the city skyline in the distance.

"Is that Marimgar? What happened to it? I don’t recognize any of those buildings," he asked.

Sergeant Sanchez shrugged. "After the first trial, the only buildings left in Marimgar were within a few blocks of the Academy buildings. Everything outside the walls was wiped out and replaced with the other world.

So, all of this has been rebuilt after the trials started, using System rewards for successful completions.

I think it’s pretty impressive.

But watch as we get closer. We’ve got air defence turrets, artillery, good solid walls, our own water that doesn’t rely on natural groundwater, just in case of toxins.

Marimgar is a good place to call home."

He spoke the last with a hint of warning, and Vinnie nodded in understanding. The Sergeant wasn’t going to accept people messing around and doing anything that might endanger the city.

That was understandable.

He might have spent his whole life on the wrong side of the law, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand the importance of rules.

He just didn’t appreciate stupid rules.

That should be something that everyone could agree upon, he hoped.

As they approached the city, the three new arrivals watched carefully out of the windscreen, and took in all that was Marimgar. The advanced towers, the strangely organic apartment buildings in the old Academy, the deliberately high density, and most of all, the fact that the whole city was literally bristling with weapons.

That must be what it took to get top scores on the trials, Vinnie decided. If you could turn your city into an impregnable fortress, with enough weapons that even the Gods would smile in appreciation, then you got a pass.

His own home had five metre tall stone walls, thousands of armed men, and by the end it even had razor wire defensive rings and a defensive moat.

But it still wasn’t enough when the Giants showed up and stomped through it all like it didn’t matter.

"I understand now how you got such high rankings on the trials. The part that I don’t get is just how you managed to build this. You said that Kallista did it with points from the System, but I have never seen anything like that as an option."

Yara shook her head. "It’s her Class. She can purchase stuff directly from the System. These vehicles, the suits, the guns. All of it was purchased from the System using reward points. We all bust our ass getting them every day, just so that we can keep buying stuff we need.

The city produces basic clothing and food, but without the points to buy gear, that’s barely living.

If you do two missions a day, you can buy a pulse rifle and a set of composite battle armour in five days. Less if there are higher difficulty missions available.

This trial is all about living well, so the quests are low difficulty so far.

But during the last one, we were sometimes getting twenty or thirty points a day, and burning through them all to get skills and supplies."

No need to tell him that Kalli had fronted almost all the points for the ammunition and city improvements. It sounded more like a collaborative effort if she implied that the whole city worked together.

That might actually be true. Kalli seemed to get more points to work with when they worked harder, so she was likely getting a commission or something. Or perhaps she got quests to make them complete quests?

The small details didn’t matter much.

The speeders landed outside the Hall of Heroes, or the utility speeders did so that they could process the rhino meat and introduce the new arrivals to Kalli.

The Coordinator had a room full of new arrivals already, as they had just reached the surface after a short tour of the hive city. They hadn’t been in a rush to reach their final destination, and ended up only arriving thirty minutes before their boss, who landed nearly four hours after they did.

"Welcome. You must be Vincenzo Rossi. I am Kallista De Marimgar."

Vinnie smiled. "You guessed that it was me in one? It’s good to know that my presence hasn’t faded with age."

Yara spotted the mischief in Kalli’s smile, and groaned, knowing that something bad was coming.

"Of course it’s you. I already got the description. Salt and pepper hair, built like a fresh washed troll, and a face only a mother could love."

Vinnie cracked his knuckles in a threatening way, and put on his ’best’ smile for Kalli. "So, you’re saying it’s just a matter of time before you love my looks? I can help you with the becoming a mother part."

"No thanks, my type is a bit less hairy. But I know a few fine widows if that’s your preference.

Take a seat, and I will go over the basics, in case they forgot something.

We’ve got two major sections of the city, the upper city and the lower hive city by the Ark hangars. The lower city is for those who have not yet been able to interface with the city. They’re not as capable of defending themselves, so they’re in the most heavily fortified area.

The others all live in the towers above ground, where they can react to trials more quickly.

I have an empty floor in the third tower inside the Academy grounds, if you want to room next to your daughter with a few of your trusted men. If not, we’ve got plenty of rooms through the city, next to businesses or factories.

I’ve already met your techno wizards and tinkers, and we will be setting up a specialty factory for both groups soon.

I’ve got some from Trial Completion rewards, and they come with equipment to better ply their trade. I will let you choose where your people settle, but the general consensus was that they would prefer the outer city areas, where they could live close, but not completely clustered.

It’s good to see that they’re so social.