----------
đ Guys, if you are enjoying reading this so far, please support this book by leaving a review and voting with your powerstones.
I am bringing you this story for absolutely free, please help me out. đđ
----------
Translator: CinderTL
As Avril had said, when Roland returned to the shell ship's docking area, the final preparations were nearing completion.
The grey dwarves were efficiently loading the last bags of sealed Improved Rock Core Blocks and water-storage skins onto the ship, their movements practiced and efficient.
Bronson stood at the bridge entrance, making a final check of his thick notebook.
However, the atmosphere in the field was far from harmonious.
Durga stood with his arms crossed, his burly frame like an iron tower blocking the gangway, silently confronting a group of human survivors gathered near the shell ship.
The survivors, led by Holm, had eyes mixed with awe, apprehension, and a stubborn refusal to back down.
Seeing this, Roland raised an eyebrow slightly and walked over.
"What's going on?"
His calm voice broke the tense silence.
Durga turned his head, a hint of impatience on his rugged face. He shook his head slightly and was about to explain whenâ
Holm stepped forward, almost stumbling out of the crowd.
His gaunt face was filled with disbelief and a burning hope. His sunken eyes fixed on Roland, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Lord Veilbreaker! Pleaseâplease forgive our presumption! We justâwe just wanted to confirm one thing with you."
"After you leave, will youâwill you truly leave the two sacred artifacts in The Granary Hall for us to use?"
Roland saw the desperate, life-saving hope in Holm's eyes and understood immediately.
He then turned to face the anxious yet expectant gazes of all the survivors and nodded calmly and firmly.
"Yes."
His voice was quiet, yet it carried clearly to everyone's ears.
"They belong to you now."
He had indeed considered taking the two miraculous machines with him.
But after careful deliberation, he abandoned the idea.
Firstly, the two machines, especially the water purification unit, seemed to have formed a stable connection with the underground water source and the specific geological structure. Forcibly dismantling them would likely cause permanent damage to their intricate mechanisms, making it more trouble than it was worth.
Secondly, their supplies were now more than adequate. The Improved Rock Core Blocks and purified water would sustain them for a long journey, and food and water were no longer an immediate threat.
Moreover, in the past few days, Scholar Bronson had used his exceptional knowledge and dedication to research the machines' operating principles, energy circuits, and core structures to a considerable extent.
In Bronson's own words, "The structure is elegant and straightforward. Replicating it wouldn't be difficult, provided we have the right materials and a power core."
Since these machines could be manufactured independently in the future, leaving the two fixed prototypes for those who truly depended on them for survival was undoubtedly the optimal solution.
This was both a fulfillment of a promise and a pure act of goodwill that cost nothing extra.
With this thought, Roland called over to Bronson, who was organizing his notes nearby.
The scholar looked up, immediately understood, and retrieved two power cores from his tool kit. Though their surfaces were corroded, their structures remained intact. He handed them to Roland.
Roland turned and placed the two cores into Holm's trembling hands, his tension making them shake slightly.
"Take these two cores. They should keep the machines running for some time."
As the saying goes, "Help a person to the end."
Standard cores salvaged from Rust Knight Order equipment were still in ample supply. Giving away two wouldn't cause any harm.
Roland then briefly instructed Holm on operating the machines, covering how to safely insert the cores, monitor the energy indicators, and maintain proper usage intervals to prevent overload.
As Roland calmly recounted the events, Holm's expression gradually shifted from initial elation to a dazed disbelief. He clutched the two cold metal cores in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip, as if he were holding something more precious than life itself.
The leader of the human survivors swallowed hard, his voice dry and raspy as he asked cautiously, "Isâis that all, Lord Veilbreaker? Youâyou have no other requests?"
"Just call me Roland," Roland said. Holm's constant use of "Lord" made him uncomfortable. He waved his hand, asking with a hint of confusion, "Requests? Is thereâis there something else you need me to handle?"
Holm hastily waved his hands, his face a mixture of panic and urgency. He struggled to find the words, carefully revealing his thoughts. "Nâno, that's not it! I meanâyou helped us clear out the monsters, reclaim the Holy Land, and now you're leaving us such precious sacred artifacts and power coresâ"
"Weâwe shouldn't we do something in return? Anything you commandâ"
Roland chuckled softly at this, his tone calm and matter-of-fact.
"Didn't we already agree on this, Holm? I helped you clear the monsters from The Granary Hall, and in return, we could take anything we needed from inside."
"We've now retrieved what we needed, so according to our agreement, we're even."
"E-evenâ"
Holm murmured the word repeatedly, his face a complex mix of disbelief, overwhelming gratitude, and helpless confusion.
He stammered, trying to express the surging thanks in his heart, but felt that any words would fall flat in this moment.
"Butâthisâthis debt of gratitudeâweâ"
Looking at this powerful yet surprisingly honorable Veilbreaker, who asked for nothing more, Holm felt his chest swell with a burning emotion.
In the end, he could only lower his head and express his simplest gratitude and respect through a silent bow.
All the human survivors gathered behind Holm had clearly heard their exchange.
As Roland's wordsâ"We're even now"âhung in the air, the last vestiges of apprehension and fear that had gripped the crowd vanished completely, like morning mist dispersed by the sun.
In their place surged a mixture of boundless gratitude, the euphoria of having been snatched from the brink of despair, and a deeper emotion, one that bordered on faith.
Someone bent their head first, and then, like a field of wheat rippling in the wind, the entire group of survivors, led by Holm, followed suit.
Men, women, and childrenânearly a thousand gaunt figures in tattered clothesâbowed deeply, with profound reverence, toward Roland. Many even prostrated themselves in the dust.
The dense crowd fell into absolute silence, their bowed backs forming a scene of overwhelming power and moving beauty.
This was a silent thank you, the highest of salutes.
Witnessing this, Roland felt utterly overwhelmed and unsure of what to do.
This was entirely different from the scene in Golden Valley City, where soldiers had cheered and crowded around him after he defeated the demon.
At that time, the soldiers' eyes burned with the joy of victory, admiration for their hero, and awe of his immense powerâemotions he could understand and accept with ease.
But now, the gaze of these survivors was differentâ
In their sunken eyes burned an overwhelming relief, as desperate as a drowning man clinging to driftwood, a fervor and devotion as if witnessing a divine miracle.
Thousands of such focused eyes seemed poised to either burn him to ashes or elevate him to godhood.
This heavy, pure force of "faith" made Roland's heart involuntarily shiver.
"Ahem... Ahem..."
After an awkward cough, he clapped his hands sharply.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The crisp applause echoed starkly across the silent square, an attempt to shatter the oppressive, fervent atmosphere.
"I hope you will make full use of everything in The Granary Hall," Roland declared, his voice ringing out. "Live well. Perhaps one day, this Morningwind's Breath will bloom with life once more."
He finished his brief words of encouragement without giving Holm and the others time to react.
He immediately turned and, with almost urgent haste, ascended the gangway of the shell ship.
Moments later, the grey dwarf captain Durga's gruff, powerful shout echoed across the deck as the massive shell ship emitted a deep rumble and slowly lifted into the air.
Finally, with a distortion of space and a low hum, a dark rift tore open.
The enormous vessel slid silently into the rift and vanished beneath the leaden sky of the Aetheron Continent.
Watching the direction the shell ship had disappeared, Kahn, the slender young man beside Holm, hesitated for a moment before finally asking:
"Mr. Holm, didn't the Veilbreaker invite us to leave this place on that marvelous ship earlier?"
By now, all hostility had vanished from his face when he mentioned Roland, replaced by pure reverence.
"Wherever they're going, it must be better than staying in this... this Land of Despair, right?"
Holm slowly withdrew his gaze from the sky, his eyes sweeping over the desolate, ruined, yet all-too-familiar land around him. He spoke in a low voice, "It's hard to leave one's homeland, Kahn."
He sighed softly, the sound carrying the weight of a thousand tons. "And when I told everyone about this decision, didn't you all agree to stay?" His gaze softened, becoming complex as he looked at Kahn and several other young faces in the crowd. "Honestly, Kahn, and Lily, Mattâyou're all still young. You shouldn't be stuck here with us old bones, dying in this forgotten land."
Kahn immediately retorted, his voice ringing with conviction. "You pulled us from the ruins and taught us how to survive in this hell! If you stay, we'll never leave!"
His words were resolute, and the young people around him nodded in agreement, their eyes firm.
Holm looked at these stubborn young people, a flicker of pride in his eyes, but more than that, a heavy sense of helplessness.
He reached out and patted Kahn's thin but sturdy shoulder. "Good boyâall good boysâ"
He looked up again, surveying the desolate land that had borne so much suffering and memory. As if making a firm resolve, his voice, though soft, carried clearly to every ear.
"In that caseâlet us, together, like the Veilbreakersâlike Roland hopedâstrive to bring this land back to life!"
"Rebuild our homes!"
"We follow Mr. Holm!"
"Yes! Stay! Rebuild!"
His words were like stones tossed into a still lake, instantly stirring up a massive echo.
The survivors' emotions surged. They waved their emaciated arms, their hoarse but resolute voices rising in a chorus. For the first time in years, a spark of vitality and hope seemed to ignite on their gaunt faces.
Amidst this fervor, Holm raised his voice, quieting the clamor.
"Kahn!"
"Here!"
"Take a few people and find some sturdy, intact stones nearby."
Holm's gaze fell upon the damaged stone statue of the "Watcher" at the center of the plaza, his tone solemn.
"Just as our ancestors erected the Watcherâwe will also erect one for Rolandâ"
"We shall carve a stone statue for our new benefactor, erect it here, and worship it day and night, to forever remember his benevolence!"
The proposal met with no opposition, instead causing the eyes of the crowd to shine even brighter.
To erect a statue for a benefactor was, in their ancestral memory, the most sacred and solemn way to express gratitude.
"Yes!" Kahn declared loudly, his voice ringing with conviction.
He immediately named a few individuals, and with a group of young people, they turned without hesitation and rushed into the depths of the ruins to search for suitable stone.
Meanwhile, Roland stood transfixed, staring at the golden text that had materialized before him.
Area Reputation System Update...
[Aetheron Continent (Lost Land) - The Granary Hall Human Survivors: Revered]
[Analyzing...]
[Host Faith (Self) Resonance: 54%]
[Compiling Data...]
Looking at these lines of golden text, which seemed to carry some profound weight, Roland felt a moment of bewilderment.
Before he could make sense of this sudden information, brilliant golden light flowed again.
At the very bottom of the Reputation bar, new text slowly coalesced, as if formed from countless tiny points of light:
[Current Followers: 2314]
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
đ You are reading [284] Chapters behind.
đ„ Read up to Chapter [744] now, only on đđđđđđŁđ„đ.đđ đ.
đ Read upto [14.9K+] Chapters on Site with [11.5K+] Free Chapters!
---------------------------