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

A few more days passed by and Althea’s 26th birthday finally arrived.

Like Garan, she wasn’t into big parties so their celebration was a very intimate dinner with only their closest friends and family eating a more special-than-usual menu on the table.

They set up a large dining table at the veranda area and each dish was plated well, and it was obvious the chef took particular care of them.

The group ate happily, eating much more than usual, and were extremely satisfied with the experience. Cooke himself made most of the food and it was his best menu yet.

They sang the happy birthday song with cake and candles and—while it was a traditional practice—it felt special and nostalgic to do in this foreign land.

”Happy 26th birthday!” they greeted, each giving their special gifts.

Winona and Ansel gave a few sets of dresses and suits she got Andrei to customize. Both of them had impeccable taste, so Althea knew the attire would be really good.

Andrei had also awakened the Cloth Maker profession so the beautiful customized suits he made had defensive properties. They could be worn over underwear or clothing, depending on the weather and the occasion. There were even 5 colors and styles she could choose from.

She also checked on the dresses’ stats and was pleasantly surprised. It gave a few additional points of defense, and it was miles better than their common clothing—not to mention how pretty they were.

”Thank you… I love it,” she said, touching the lovely fabric. Andrei was now using the initial silk products, and he had definitely mastered how to handle them well.

One had to know that each fabric had its own idiosyncrasies, and Xenoan silk was very different from Terran silk. To be able to do such intricate designs and add defensive properties to it—just a few months since entering this world—was not a small feat.

With this skill, he could’ve been a green-tagged cloths maker, but it seemed that he was just below the required threshold for it.

Still, with his passion and love for the field, Althea thought he could easily be as good as a green-tagged person. It took more than talent to create something amazing, after all.

Next was Harold’s gift. He gave her a few buckets of mana candies, and they were crafted so she could easily take one without making a mess in her space.

”This is a new development. I partnered with our candy makers and I mastered the craft, soon able to create an alternative to mana cookies. It not only lasts longer, with the material able to retain most of its properties even after a while, but it also gives a bit more mana!”

Althea’s eyebrows rose as she took one colorful candy the size of her pinky and ate it. She blinked. It had a slightly sour flavor that was refreshing to eat.

”Thank you… these are really amazing.”

”He-he…”

Sheila and Eagle gave her seeds, which they secretly got for her. They partnered with the people from Ferrol branch, and had been asking them to camp in markets there for unusual items.

The bag of seeds was sent via messenger birds and arrived just in time after the couple waited nervously for the delivery. It reminded them of how people ordered gifts from Amazone back in Terran and they had to wait anxiously whether it’d arrive in time for the party.

The seeds were light and could be carried by the birds, so they were properly safeguarded and the birds weren’t tempted to eat them.

”Wow! I’ll definitely watch how they’d grow,” she said. ”Thank you! I’m sure we’ll find a way to use these.”

Eugene and Melissa, on the other hand, actually gave her a handheld calculator. The rest blinked and stared, even testing out its accuracy.

”What’s 3721 times 23?” Ansel asked, making his wife look at him.

”And? Can you tell if it’s wrong?”

”...”

”I know we have calculators on our phones, but the handheld calculator just feels different since you’re someone who deals with numbers a lot,” Eugene said. ”Plus, it’s a lot less battery-consuming and allows for more complex operations.”

”It’s a gift from the Research Team,” Melissa added with a smile, making Althea giggle. She vaguely remembered that certain groups seemed to have a lot of unfiled OTs in the Research Lab.

At the time, she didn’t think too much of it because—while everyone could get profit shares in whatever they were doing—some were experimenting at their own pace, so they believed it was not fair to charge the time on wages.

…to think they were doing this instead.

She smiled. ”I appreciate this so much,” she said, looking at them and the others. ”Thank you for all these gifts. I love them.”

The others felt shy and were grinning ear to ear, happy she liked their gifts.

Garan smiled and said he’d give his gift later, and most just assumed it was something perverted. Garan did not correct them. While not entirely correct, it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to serve her well either.

Finally, the Kids performed a cute dance performance for Althea. With the twins in their cruisers in the middle. The five kids danced to the rhythm of a popular children’s song back in Terran.

The music was played from Ansel’s phone. After the solar charging station was implemented, he got a copy of all music saved in people’s phones, in exchange for a free full charge of their phone for each song.

Interestingly, this song was downloaded from Mart’s phone. Mart was one of the soldiers who came with Ryan.

He had a sister, who unfortunately perished back in Terran. It was sad, but he was glad to have the songs she loved enjoyed by other kids—as if he could watch her grow through them.

The sound was a catchy kid’s song named Baby Skunk, and there were silly steps to it that were super adorable to watch.

Horus was red in embarrassment but he played along, hoping to show his appreciation and love through the song despite cringing with his whole soul.

”Baby Skunk choo choo choo choo~” he sang, with Maya and the other kids singing with him.

”Baby Skunk Choochoochochoochoo”

The babies giggled and jumped around, sometimes matching their groove. ”Mwammggaa!”

”Googmmammmuuhh!”

The performance ended with the kids doing cutesy pose, yelling BABY SKUNK! in the end.

Anyway, it was all good fun, and Althea was smiling the whole time—and she barely managed to take clear pictures from giggling so much.