I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 700 - 700 699. Per Capita Prenatal Education_1

Chapter 700: 699. Per Capita Prenatal Education_1 Chapter 700: 699. Per Capita Prenatal Education_1 On the other side.

Lu Ban and Stone walked down the streets of Sunset Town.

To call it a street was an exaggeration; it was merely a muddy path. The humidity was heavy in the forest, and the ground was perpetually damp, intermixed with cow dung, human excrement, and all sorts of filth imaginable and unimaginable.

Stone covered his nose, observing the people on the street. Most were gaunt and appeared undernourished, clearly suffering from severe malnutrition. Their eyes were ringed with deep, dark circles. Fatigue and despondency were the dominant themes here.

Even more noteworthy was the look in these people’s eyes.

Some, though ragged, could not conceal the gleam of ambition in their eyes, but the majority in Sunset Town had a numb expression—as if nothing could stir any passion in their hearts.

Except for a few children still unaware of life’s hardships, everyone here, from residents to soldiers, seemed to have completely lost hope. They lived like the walking dead, merely waiting for the end to come.

“They want to build Gray Tower here, but they simply don’t have enough hands,”

Stone said.

The fields ahead were barren, cultivated by force. The crops planted were anything but bountiful, barely sustaining life.

Lu Ban had seen documentaries featuring the most remote and impoverished villages in some countries. By comparison, Sunset Town wasn’t any better off.

“Indeed, there are probably less than a thousand people here, and the level of education is so low that even if they have the strength to work, they cannot understand the blueprints, let alone do precise work,”

Lu Ban muttered to himself.

“Moreover, constructing Gray Tower isn’t just about building one tall structure; the Gray Tower represents the Magic Network—it is the entire magic system of Night Country. Academic research is even more important than the physical tower itself.”

But Lu Ban was well aware that even if Joester was the creator of Gray Tower and possessed countless talents and inspirations, the young man now was but a pitiful figure with only a few years left to live, trapped in a tragic era, in a dilapidated town, and subject to the risk of imminent Demonic Tide attacks. Exactly how to accomplish such a monumental task in such dire circumstances was somewhat beyond Lu Ban’s understanding.

“Let’s go take a look at the fields,”

Stone pointed towards the fields ahead.

As they walked, he began to speak.

“I never expected to see Mr. Cui Siter again. This situation, as you understand, feels very surreal to me. He saw the present me, and the old me saw the future him. It seems like some things might change because of this, or perhaps they can’t be changed at all.”

Stone was a man full of regrets, and such introspection often led to lamenting over the past and feeling shackled.

“He would probably be very comforted knowing that you eventually took over his enterprise and everything, becoming Chosen by Gods, and walked the path he once did.”

Lu Ban answered.

Stone halted, turning to look at Lu Ban, but Lu Ban didn’t wait for him and continued forward.

Stone caught up, observing the poor growth of the crops in the field, which had been irrigated with polluted water, causing the plants to grow in distorted shapes—it was hard to imagine what the harvest would look like.

Past the fields stretched the lush expanse of Black Forest; the edge of the fields was fenced, but these wooden constructs would crumble with ease when the real Demonic Beasts came.

“What should we do now?”

Stone looked to Lu Ban.

The situation was truly dire.

Stone imagined scenarios from novels in which a group of villagers, initially ignorant, gradually had their resolve awakened by the protagonist’s impassioned speeches and exemplary actions. They would support the protagonist in building a city and ultimately repel the invaders. But that was just fiction. Stone felt that even if he used his Extraordinary Powers, the villagers here were neither mentally nor physically capable of taking on the responsibility of holding off the Demonic Tide.

He turned his head, only to realize Lu Ban had disappeared at some point.

After searching for a while, he found Lu Ban talking to a farmer.

“The harvest hasn’t been good lately; how do you plan to get through the winter?”

Lu Ban asked.

“Don’t know, we’ll just get by, take it one day at a time,”

the farmer answered in a low voice.

“What if monsters attack?”

Lu Ban asked again.

“Beasts…monsters…I don’t know.”

The farmer hesitated for a moment before he answered.

“If we could build some structures to fend off the monsters, what do you think? Would you be willing to help?”

Lu Ban pressed on.

“Impossible, those things can’t be stopped, they’re terrifying, there’s no way…”

The farmer shook his head and picked up his farming tools to continue weeding.

Seeing that the other party was reluctant to talk anymore, Lu Ban tactfully did not continue to inquire.

In such a remote place, it was indeed difficult to rely on the villagers to resist the Demonic Tide.

“Let’s go back first; maybe Mr. Cui Siter might have some results.”

Stone came over and walked with Lu Ban towards the Baron’s Manor; just as they returned to the town, they saw a group of people on horseback.

This group was evidently a regular army compared to the guards of Sunset Town, riding horses, clad in armor, weapons of fine quality, making Lu Ban couldn’t help but muse that even in this era, the Night Country still had such legitimate soldiers.

The person at the forefront wore red armor, riding toward the Baron’s house with a look of disdain.

At the same time, someone in the cavalry called out.

“The Duke requires the construction of a sleeping palace; as per the regulations, Sunset Town must provide one hundred able-bodied men. All townspeople are to gather at the entrance of the Baron’s Mansion. I repeat…”

“A sleeping palace?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban felt that something was quite off.

Sunset Town was already so destitute, yet those well-dressed knights were still seizing the townspeople to do hard labor; and what’s more, it wasn’t for constructing fortifications against demonic beasts but a sleeping palace, really made one doubt whether the brains of these nobles were thoroughly polluted and decayed.

“Wait a minute.”

Lu Ban addressed the man in red armor.

“Are you here to help defend this place?”

Since the majority of the villagers were taciturn, Lu Ban’s words clearly reached the man’s ears. He glanced at Lu Ban.

“Some merchant from who knows where?”

The man turned his horse around.

“I haven’t seen you before. Where are you from? According to the Duke’s orders, I have the right to collect a toll from you.”

He spoke sternly, as if he had found a target to extort, and raised the whip in his hand as if he would lash out at Lu Ban if he didn’t comply.

“So, you’re not here to help?”

Lu Ban asked innocently.

“Enough of your nonsense, idiot!”

Seeing Lu Ban’s confused expression, the knight in red armor swung his whip towards him.

But the next moment, the whip missed.

Lu Ban deftly dodged the other party’s whip and then looked towards Stone and others.

“You all saw it, he struck first.”

*

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