Chapter 739.3: The Initial Victory

Many no longer had a place to call home and hoped for a fresh start. The New Alliance had promised them precisely that, a new homeland in the south.

However, the sudden influx of outsiders had left many feeling uneasy, especially when those outsiders began occupying what they considered their future living space.

The most obvious example was the Xilande Expeditionary Army. They were supposedly here to fight a war, yet they had set their sights on the fertile lands north of the Guardian River.

Then there were the people from Horseman Town and other survivor settlements. Unable to travel by train, they still came to the front lines with horses and ox carts to conduct business. Some had even occupied abandoned villages that the Southern Construction Corps had been eyeing.

From the New Alliance's perspective, that was naturally a good thing. From the perspective of personnel on the ground level, however, the situation looked very different.

They welcomed the dead weight from Ideal City and the Academy. They neither particularly liked nor disliked the Wislanders of the Army. However, they genuinely disliked, and in some cases outright resented, the Ratfolk from the Xilande Empire and the outside merchants who had come to compete for business.

As the head of the Southern Construction Corps, Li Jinrong found himself caught between the upper and lower levels. He needed to fulfill his duties while also taking the concerns of his people into account. Most importantly, he needed to understand the administrator's stance.

Thus, he had deliberately approached the issue from a less sensitive angle, hoping to gauge Chu Guang's opinion.

Seeing through Li Jinrong's concerns immediately, Chu Guang chose not to expose them directly. Instead, he smiled. "Naturally, ownership should be determined the same way it always has been. The wasteland has no shortage of land. Whoever develops it owns it. Although, to be fair, that wouldn't be entirely fair to your people. After all, you've contributed greatly to the construction of this military base."

Li Jinrong hurriedly responded. "I wouldn't dare. It's simply our duty."

Looking at his nervous expression, Chu Guang laughed. "There's no such thing as 'simply our duty.' If I've said that worthy things will be allowed to rise within New Alliance society, then I will absolutely reward worthy contributions. You don't need to worry about that."

"The Brocade River Province isn't limited to a single river. The Heavenly Water River alone has hundreds of tributaries. There's more cultivable land than anyone could possibly use. And besides, farming isn't the only thing people can do in the New Alliance."

"In the future, the Guardian Manor Military Base will become a settlement. The land beneath your feet will become the land of Guardian Manor City. After saying all this, surely you understand what I mean."

Li Jinrong straightened immediately. "I understand!"

"You understand jackshit!" Chu Guang laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. "I hope you'll look farther ahead instead of fixating on immediate gains. Arguing with refugees over farmland. Competing with merchants over market stalls. Is that really what you're supposed to be doing?"

"Don't think I don't know what's happening just because I live in the shelter. I've seen the friction between your people, the expeditionary troops, and the residents of Horseman Town. Watching people argue over a field by the Guardian River or a house in Gwent Town is honestly amusing."

"Remember your name. You're the Construction Corps. Your mission isn't merely to build a military base. It's to create a home for those who wish to farm and business opportunities for those who wish to trade."

"Many of those people will eventually leave, but not all of them. You need to make those who stay remain because they're grateful to us. And you need those who eventually leave to carry their admiration for us back to their homelands."

"What you'll gain in return isn't merely honor. You'll gain a brand-new settlement. A hometown where you can begin life anew."

"Aren't there many among you who can never return to Boulder Town? Aren’t there others who made mistakes in Dawn City and are too ashamed to face their families and friends?"

"Even you. You can't return to Ocean Edge Province. Although it wasn't entirely your fault, you were still once a member of the Iron Tower. You can't claim their failure has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"So don't say the New Alliance, or I, never gave you an opportunity. The land beneath your feet is your Dawn City. What you must do now is exactly what we did back then. Build a new order upon a lawless wasteland."

"In fact, you need to build a better order."

Looking at the thoughtful expression on Li Jinrong's face, Chu Guang withdrew his hand from the man's shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes and spoke again. "This is my greatest expectation for you, for your people, and for the entire Southern Construction Corps."

"I'm sorry..." Li Jinrong lowered his head in shame. "I've failed to meet your expectations."

So many people who could have been united were already standing right beside them, yet they had failed to unite them.

Looking at it this way, those who had put the cart before the horse weren't the Xilande Expeditionary Army or the merchants from Horseman Town.

It was themselves.

Only now did he realize where the real problem lay.

"Haha, it's not that serious." Chu Guang smiled and glanced around. "To be fair, you've done an excellent job building this military base. The hardware is practically flawless."

"It's everything built on top of that foundation that still needs work." Li Jinrong immediately replied with a solemn expression. "When I return, I'll convene all levels of officers for a serious review and disciplinary campaign!"

Chu Guang shook his head. "It's not just discipline. You also need to address the concerns of the people under you. The Southern Construction Corps isn't a real military force. A small number arrived with ranks and military positions, but most came here to reclaim wasteland. Most of them will spend two or three years here before transitioning into civilian life locally. They see outsiders arriving and reaping the benefits of their labor. If they weren't anxious, that would be the strange thing."

"You need to solve that problem."

"For example, the equipment used to build the military base is still here. Now that construction is complete, you can lead the idle workers in improving local infrastructure. You can build roads and construct houses, then distribute those houses to the pioneers who shed blood and sweat reclaiming this land."

"If you do that, they won't feel anxious about outsiders benefiting from their efforts. And they'll be much more understanding and cooperative toward your work."

"These things can't be solved through slogans and mobilization alone. You need to unite your own people before you can unite others."

If the House of Refugees existed to absorb the vast and unstable wastelander population and help those who had fallen outside civilization rejoin it, then the Southern Construction Corps represented one of Chu Guang's experiments in enabling the New Alliance to expand outward proactively.

Used properly, it could transform rehabilitated convicts and former prisoners of war into something akin to the Settler units from Civilization VI, opening new footholds for the New Alliance.

The Baiyue Strait Development Company served a similar purpose, though its methods, participants, and operating logic differed. That was a path players had gradually discovered through successive game versions.

Chu Guang genuinely hoped New Alliance NPCs could become as proactive as players, actively exploring new ways to rebuild civilization. However, after serving as administrator for so long, he had also come to understand how difficult that was.

Their loyalty was unquestionable and they believed deeply in the ideals of unity and equality he advocated. Most of them had personally benefited from those ideals.

In fact, calling it loyalty was almost an understatement. Their faith and conviction bordered on fanaticism. Some practically wanted to elevate him to the same divine status as the Great Stag God.

Yet whenever he spoke of ending the Wasteland Era entirely, whether it was Lu Bei walking beside him, Wrench guarding the New Alliance frontier, or Luka diligently serving as the mayor, they all inevitably displayed the same expression of confusion.

They were just like genuine NPCs.

He could tell they weren't confused about the New Alliance's ideals, nor did they doubt his words. If they had, they wouldn't have followed him this far. What confused them was something else.

To many people, the wasteland within the New Alliance had already ended. Why would they need to end something that no longer existed?

They had gained recognition from ancient survivor powers such as the Army, the Academy, and Enterprise. They had also earned the respect of younger survivor factions. Wouldn't it be perfectly fine to simply continue down the current path?

Exploring new paths only introduced unnecessary risks.

The only people who truly understood him seemed to be the players, along with people like Yin Fang, Hyrja, Old Charlie, and Vanus.

For some reason, Chu Guang suddenly felt a trace of sympathy for the Army's Marshal. He didn't know what kind of life the man lived. But if the Army's claims were true and he had truly survived all the way to the present day, then the Wislander comrades who had once stood beside him were surely long gone.

Whether it was Vanus currently presiding over the meeting or Liam sitting miserably at the conference table, they were merely the great-great-great-great-grandchildren of that Marshal's comrades.

Chu Guang could hardly imagine how difficult rebuilding the wasteland would have been without his brave little players.

Watching Li Jinrong's departing figure recede into the distance, Chu Guang let out a long sigh. "Little Seven, our work is still far from finished."

Perhaps sensing the emotion in his voice, or perhaps sharing the sentiment itself, Little Seven softly whispered beside his ear. "Yes... That’s right, Master."

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