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

It was not easy to excel in such a big City with such deep roots and history.

Bleuelle might’ve been the one to rise to a City stature at the shortest time, but it could not compare to Holt City in terms of influence, power, and even money, especially not now when their (Bleulle’s) prized resource was dwindling.

Holt City’s influence expanded to tens of thousands of kilometers, across thousands of territories, which was also how he reached this area so far east of them at all.

Most of these territories were either allied to it or its subsidiaries, and its satellites were powerful territories as well. One of their satellites was even a fellow City, with the other two being powerhouse Tier 3 Towns in their own right.

Further, all of these satellites were thousands of kilometers away from Holt, creating a large and stable zone completely under the City.

There were even running mercenary missions in all satellite territories so citizens could take advantage of the mercenary hall portals to go to and fro. Of course, the missions still met the conditions that prevented this from being taken advantage of, and that meant a lot of money was invested in between.

This was far superior to other cities, whose affected regions were much smaller, and whose influence on them was much shallower. There were various oaths spanning generations in territories, too.

It also created a web that got many territories dependent on it. For instance, one resource needed to create a very important thing, like certain magic tools, could be bought in Holt City alone, even if it was harvested elsewhere.

Cauis’ job was to make sure his family’s place remained stable. They even hoped to climb higher someday. At the very least, his goal within his lifetime was to take his family up there. That was his targeted legacy.

In order to do this, the territories they handled had to be best managed and they had to contribute to Holt City’s Growth and economy in the long term.

Even if they had to take a lot of losses initially, they would be willing to do so.

Now, why would they work so hard for a position?

Becoming a High Noble in Holt City was more than just getting money or prestige.

It was also related to… life.

Similar to Bluelle, Holt City also had a large protective barrier in its inner circle. However, how often would that be needed? Not often. The last war Holt itself had been to was probably more than a hundred years ago. Even its satellites rarely went to war.

Rather, becoming a high noble in Holt City basically meant expanding one’s power and lifespan.

Holt City was one of the few territories that had a huge mine of Aether Crystals in its midst. Every year, they would give the top ten families one or a few of these, and these were incredibly important in their survival.

At a certain level, people would just grow… stagnant, and absorbing Aether Crystals was the only way to level up—and therefore, the only way to extend their lifespans.

Monsters also had level limitations, and they were even slower to level up than humans. The extremely strong ones would tend to live in isolation and disliked going with packs. They would just go out, hunt, and destroy whenever they went hungry.

These monsters past level 50 rarely went hungry due to their improved physiques, but when they did, it usually meant it would be a massacre of a territory.

The latest case was even a Level 1 Town. It was absolutely decimated by a Level 54 monster taller than its highest building. Each movement, there were dozens of casualties created, and large amounts of blood were spilled.

It was only taken down when two-thirds of its population had suffered one way or another—even a hundred people level 30 and above working together didn’t kill it—and it was only defeated because they received help.

People in the Cities were always on the lookout for such monsters, and many Elders had gone through the Mercenary Hall Arrays to take it down. Nobles from a few nearby territories came through, hoping to get the kill.

Dozens of Level 50 humans from different territories had to use all they had to take down the monster.

There was also a lot of conflict that came after that. After all, the person who’d receive the experience and copper rewards would be the person who made the last hit.

In order to keep peace, the person who obtained the last hit—someone from Warrior City—had to send gifts to the other Level 50s who participated just to prevent wars from happening.

These monsters also had difficulty breeding, so it was very rare to encounter them.

While the giants’ small number was good news for the general population, this meant humans could only level up so high. After all, if there were no level 50 monsters, how would people beyond level 55 level up? By killing each other? How easy would that be?

The answer was: Aether Crystals

Old Cities like Holt City had old monsters in their midst, the primary reason was precisely these crystals.

These powerful people were also there to check and balance each other. Whether they were patriarchs or ancestors, they remained to exist to protect their families’ interests.

If they died due to old age and there was no one powerful enough to replace them, the other families might rush to get the resources and assets of that family.

In the case of his family, who wanted to get up there, they wanted to create more concrete family legacies.

Now, the issue was how to do that? The older families had already grasped most industries, so what else was left?

Wouldn’t it be technology coming from another world?

Unfortunately, he was a bit busy and behind schedule so he could not personally make a detour, for now.

However, Alterra was definitely a place he’d be watching out for, and he had a feeling they really would be a good place to visit someday.

Bad City? Good City?