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

The party arrived a few days later, and they could be said to have their mouths open in shock from seeing the walls outside, to walking along the avenue.

Gideon gulped. He was also impressed, but his primary thought was: This territory must be powerful. They could really know where his son was.

The others were even lent some wheelchairs, allowing them to move on their own. They were told these were rentables, though they could choose to pay later.

They did not have much money since they were slaves and their wealth had been taken away from them when they were turned into slaves.

Fortunately, Gian (before he left) handed them a few silver to subsidize them for a month or two, depending on what they spent on, so they were not destitute.

They had even paid for their ’fare’ happily, becoming good friends with whoever carried them.

None of them was bitter that these things were charged. Rather, they felt glad because it didn’t feel like it’d be taken away at a moment’s notice, precisely because they paid for it.

There was just a sense of unease when something was given for free, unwarranted, especially for people like them who hadn’t seen much kindness for a while.

It was precisely because of this, in fact, that Alterra still charges people for these things. Granted, the charges were actually negligible and—if one considered the costs— it could even be called subsidized.

Anyway, their batch was divided according to their needs, and then they were left alone.

They were all adults now, anyway, and Alterra was a place where you would be able to navigate by yourself, and too many things were happening to baby every single refugee who came their way.

It was why the business of guides was booming, and there were also plenty of the so-called ’self-help Alterran!’ books circulating. These were written by different authors, and with different specialties, detailing how they (or people they knew) in certain fields found stability in Alterra.

There were also plenty of business books going around, detailing how to start a so-and-so business. It was a whole sector of books that now occupied their own shelves on the bookstore.

There were Alterrans who offered some extra help to those they befriended, of course.

First off, they were shown directions to the dormitory buildings with the public map of Alterra (hiding sensitive places, of course), and there seemed to be a few they could choose from.

Those who were addicted, including Gideon, were shown where the hospital was, including what programs they were entitled to.

The cure was subsidized for Terrans, and they were allowed to pay for it later, which was really kind.

Gideon’s plan was to register his son’s name at the Center so they’d flag him if he was found, and then get himself treated while he waited for news.

How could he have the mind to meet his son in his state? As hopeless as he was just a few days prior, he was now desperate to put his life and image back on track. He wanted to meet his son and make him see a reliable father, rather than a deadbeat one.

With a clear mind and a hopeful heart, the thought of meeting his son changed to a ’when’ issue rather than an ’if’ issue, and he told himself that that wouldn’t change ever again.

He owed his son that.

Even if he had to spend the rest of his life looking, he would.

Like this, Gideon headed to the Center, paying the broat car (which was amazing) a couple of copper from Gian’s given funds.

It was said that he could find the list of names in the Center, to confirm the location and names for a price. If it wasn’t listed, he could get it registered so he’d be alerted when he was found. He was willing to spend all of his remaining money to gain information. He was a grown man with all his limbs intact. He didn’t believe he wouldn’t be able to earn money to do anything else.

Unexpectedly, he didn’t even have to incur such costs.

While he felt the wind whipping past while he travelled, he naturally observed the well-developed and beautiful town. He was determined to settle down here, create a good life, and build a proper home for his son.

It was just that, at some point in his trip, he saw a group of friends with colorful, fluffy clouds in their hands.

Among them, there was a ditzy-looking boy with a wide smile on his face, eating the ears on his colorful cotton candy bear.

Before he knew it, Gideon had already used his ability to thoughtlessly blink off the cart, the inertia causing him to fall down.

But he did not care for the pain; he dashed in a direction immediately.

His heart felt like bursting—his tear ducts certainly did.

”ALDRICH!!!”

...

Later that night, the Gaea team was relaxing in their homes again, listening to gossip, which doubled as reports about the daily lives of the citizens.

Sheila mentioned the grand reunion of a fallen soldier and his son that had happened a few hours prior, and had already spread through half the town.

Everyone loved a heartwarming tale, after all. Shiela even said she sponsored the man’s cure.

”Fate is such an amazing thing,” Althea said while she lifted her teacup for a sip. ”He is the very first Terran to awaken, yes? I’d like to meet him soon.”

While she said this, her eyes shifted to her children, who were puckering their lips, ready for another spoon of their desserts.

She put down her teacup and took a baby spoon in each hand, feeding the babies some ice cream, but only a little bit to avoid brain freeze. She also had to feed them at the same time, to avoid the classic jealous whimpering of the ’neglected’ baby.

Ah, twins could be so challenging at times.

”Here comes the Ice Cream Plane~” she said, voice soft and gentle, and the babies opened their mouths to capture the plane.

Nom

So cute.

The rest of the team was also lounging around at this time, though an occasional work topic was unavoidable precisely because it was so part of their lifestyle.

”Did you guys hear? The next Extreme Weather should be coming soon.”

”Which one would it be?”

”Either too hot or too cold.”

”Wow, helpful.”

Ansel shrugged.

”Which one would you prefer?”

It was never straightforward alternating between the weather types.

There were even other types of disasters, albeit much, much rarer, and some people would live long lives without witnessing them.

One was extremely heavy rainfall, and the other was extremely strong winds characterized by dust storms and tornadoes. They wondered if they would be ’lucky’ enough to experience either of those in their lifetimes?

Well, there was nothing they could do. They could only watch the babies enjoy the next bites of ice cream.

Nom!

Very cute.

Althea fondly watched them eat their cold treats, wiping some of the cream that somehow found themselves at the sides of their mouths. Before long, they started puckering their lips again.

Althea chuckled and gestured to feed them again. However, before she could give the next spoonful—

Ding!

[Congratulations! You have met the requirements to upgrade to a Level 2 Town!]

All of her movements froze.

Wait, what?