After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

[111 Days after the Migration]

Several more days passed by and the end of the Heat Wave finally arrived!

They knew this was happening because the temperature had been slowly decreasing during the past few days. Then everyone just woke up one morning without feeling like they were melting from sweat.

It was amazing. Although it was obviously just the normal room temperature, it felt like they woke up in a lovely air-conditioned room by comparison!

”Is… is this it?!” Some people asked as they sat up with bright eyes. They then went to their housemates—whether it was in the same room or the other rooms—to check if they were imagining things.

A brave soul immediately went to check outside, even staying for more than a minute as a willing sacrifice. The others who were also curious stopped their steps, waiting to see what would happen to the brave soul, whom they admired in their hearts.

When the sun’s rays didn’t seem to hurt him, their hearts were lifted. However, the man suddenly sobbed and their hearts dropped again.

”AHHH!” He yelled and for a moment the people watching thought he was in pain. However, he quickly cried and cheered, raising his hands to the sky. ”THE SUN! SUN DOESN’T BURN ME ANYMORE!”

Finally!!

His yell was a signal for many others watching to do the same.

There was someone who literally laid down on the outside floor with legs and arms sprawled out. ”My tan,” he said. He did this inside the gates of their villa, of course, so as to not appear too stupid.

This was Loki, who was known for his very pale effeminate skin. To appear like a soldier, he had to make sure he got his tan. It wasn’t difficult before because they went on plenty of missions, but staying indoors really made him look like a corpse. It was humiliating!

There were also some who symbolically buried their umbrellas. And there were even teams who organized outdoor parties, complete with warm beverages.

This was a scene found everywhere, to the amusement of everyone else.

”They’re adorable…” Bart said as he stepped out, also closing his eyes to feel the comfortable heat of the morning sun.

His teammates did the same. It wasn’t their first heat wave, but the happiness this place gave off when it ended was particularly fun.

Before, in other territories, the people were just in despair, and the happiness that came from them was utter relief that their suffering was over. It just felt pitiful and heartbreaking.

Here, they knew no one died due to the disaster at all, and their relief felt a bit childish as it was amusing.

They went out of the luxury villa they leased as a team, and saw how the gardens—built on a level 2 farm—had fully revitalized overnight.

Of course, most of the plants were still alive even during the drought because the plants were inside the territory walls and planted on System Farms. However, their productivity was much lower, their colors were muted, and they dried up a lot. Seeing them vibrant again made people happy.

This was an especially welcome sight to those who had gardens right outside their door, like this villa they rented. Apparently, the owner had hired gardeners and ’landscape architects’ to create a wonderful milieu, making it very much worth the high monthly costs.

This villa was actually owned by Bianca from Baron’s team. Non-residents couldn’t own houses or land, but residents could rent or lease out what they owned.

For Bianca (who lived with her team) and many others’, they had bought their own house—if they could afford it—but did not necessarily live in them.

There was now a more stringent limitation of property ownership per citizen—which, after the latest upgrade, had been reduced to one residential and one commercial per permanent resident—so no one could hoard property.

However, if a team was rich enough, it wasn’t like they couldn’t get a few properties under other teammates’ names. This was the case with Bianca, as well as a few others like Jesse and Angelo.

Bianca was technically the landlord of the villa, while the other two owned apartments in the midrise buildings. The profits would be shared between them and the team, primarily because they could afford their houses due to Baron’s initial investments and support. Family was family, but money issues had to be clear.

They would then rent or lease the properties out to rich aborigines who wanted their own spaces. With this business model, their team earned steady amounts of passive income every month.

Speaking of Bianca, Bart’s right-hand mand Eloi seemed to be courting her. They met when Bianca welcomed them as the landlord, and Eloi saw her—pretty, smart, and confident—and fell in love at first sight.

Basically, for the majority of the Heat Wave, Eloi had been wooing the woman. She hadn’t answered him yet though.

Anyway, Bart looked out to see the Golds—their neighbors, what an honor, and the primary reason they chose this house—also come out to see the bustling streets.

”Good morning, Master Oslo,” he said, then shifting to the younger Gold. ”Master Honda.”

The two of them nodded.

Bart, ever so opportunistic, naturally could not let this interaction be so short. ”Can we invite the sirs for a walk around the village? Our treat!”

Oslo smiled. ”I’ll take you up on that offer at another time,” he said, patting the boy’s head. ”I need to take this little guy to school.”

Honda looked particularly giddy at this. He was thinking of his friends. This was the first time they’d be hanging out again with the sun high up!

Oslo or Honda naturally didn’t cancel their citizenship to the City, but he was allowed to go to school for their huge donation.

”School?” Bart asked. Due to the heat, there were still plenty of things they hadn’t encountered yet.

”It’s like an academy, but not limited to nobles,” Oslo kindly explained.

”They teach various things like literacy, basic plant and animal knowledge, and self-defense. They could also teach some specializations like basic cooking, sewing, and the like.”

”It’s for everyone?” they looked at him in disbelief. Some of them even thought Oslo’s noble brain must’ve overidealized things.

These were all sources of money. Why would people reveal it to the public?

How could Oslo not know what they were thinking? If he hadn’t met the lord himself and had glimpses of her mind, he’d have thought they were foolish as well.

”Every citizen can enroll for contribution points and money. The price is much higher for the specialization classes with a higher tuition, but it’s very affordable.”

At this, Bart and a few of his men looked at him. Many of them had children. Because they weren’t nobles, such a thing was far beyond their reach. Now, Alterra granted it to every citizen?

Then… their children… could they attend this ’school’, too?

Oslo couldn’t help but feel both amused and melancholic at their reactions, recalling his own. He had asked this once in curiosity. He was drinking with Ansel and Eugene at the time.

They had asked him a question back:

”If everyone was struggling with the basics, how would new things be discovered?”

After a short daze, he smiled at them mysteriously. ”All I can say is that Alterra… is a place that could really change the world.”