Cave Refuge-Chapter 275 - 271 Moving and Relocation

"Stop beating around the bush," said Mr. Thompson impatiently. "Can’t you just speak plainly?"

Sighing in resignation, Madeline responded, "After studying those bugs for a while, we confirmed that the bugs only appear in Pengcheng. Once they leave Pengcheng, the bugs die.

There’s no need to discuss the other three directions. If we continue west, we’ll reach Saxon County past the provincial border. Numerous tests have proven that the bugs die for some unknown reason once they cross into Saxon County.

Originally, Saxon County was a grape plantation base teeming with farmland. In fact, the land there has long since been planted with crops."

"Who planted them!" Mr. Thompson interjected.

Madeline gave Mr. Thompson a sidelong look. "Who do you think, hm? Ordinary people can’t covet such vast stretches of land. It’s unlikely for even a couple of families to manage that place together. It was certainly the first investment by the West City District Command Post, and it even received approval from the Pengcheng Government.

There’s only so much farmland available in Pengcheng. The only viable place for cultivation in the west is the small expanse of Dapeng Town’s fields. If it weren’t for the inappropriate expansion of the Plantation Area, Pengcheng’s survivors would have starved a long time ago."

Not just any patch of dirt can be made into fertile land.

To transform land into fertile soil, first, you have to deeply plow out the hard items in the land, such as tree roots, stones, and various other bits and pieces.

Next comes the field nurturing stage, where the land is deeply plowed multiple times to expose bugs and their eggs to the surface, letting them bake in the sun’s rays.

Then it’s about burying decayed matter in the land to boost its fertility.

By letting the land lie fallow for a while, the nutrients from the decayed material are evenly dispersed into the soil.

Of course, this method of nurturing land not only takes time but also leaves the land fallow, which ancient farmers seldom used.

Mostly, they deeply plowed the land, cleared out all the tree roots and stones, and then started planting crops that could enhance the soil’s fertility.

Although this method of nurturing land was slow, it did not result in fallow land.

At this point in time, although machinery could rapidly develop farmland, there was no longer time to nurture it, so direct cultivation of crops in fertile land became the best choice.

The majority of farmland in Pengcheng was in the east and south, with the west and north having less due to their proximity to neighboring provinces.

However, the counties on the other side of the west and north were less developed, with agriculture as their basic industry.

Before the natural disaster struck, Pengcheng had intended to include them in the establishment of the Huaihai Economic Circle, otherwise, it wished they would stay well away.

One reason was that these counties not only belonged to other cities but were also counties of the neighboring province.

The second reason was that before the disaster hit, the economy of the agricultural counties wasn’t that great.

It’s not that agriculture wasn’t profitable, but the surrounding counties operated on a small-scale peasant economy. To put it bluntly, each family fended for itself, with each one owning no more than two or three acres of land at most.

Without unified planning for what crops to plant, they would all swarm to plant whatever was profitable the previous year. While they all engaged in physical farming and while it might not lead to losses, making big money was almost out of the question.

I’m not sure about other places, but before the catastrophe, Saxon County had started to coordinate with farmers to uniformly plant grapes, planning to set up a fairly large dedicated vineyard on a county-wide scale.

So there’s no need to worry about the farmland there. Although I don’t know what the other three Command Posts will do, the West City District Command Post has already extended its reach into the neighboring province, securing the land near Pengcheng in Saxon County without the public’s knowledge.

Since Madeline mentioned Saxon County, Mr. Thompson suddenly recalled his own experience there and hurriedly asked her, "Since you brought up Saxon County, have there been any contacts with survivors from there?"

Madeline seemed puzzled by Mr. Thompson’s question. "Of course, there have been. Otherwise, who would be farming there? You know the situation as well as I do.

When the last catastrophe had just ended, there weren’t that many cars, and it wasn’t easy to transport a large number of survivors to Saxon County.

Also, consider how many of the survivors in the City Center really know agricultural work. Before, when they were forced to work in the fields, they were only capable of basic menial tasks. The more specialized tasks were always handled by others.

It’s much more convenient to use the survivors from Saxon County. They know what jobs are necessary in the fields, so there’s no need for us to find someone from here to remind and arrange things for them."

Upon hearing this explanation, Mr. Thompson pressed on with his inquiry, "Then why is the county town completely empty?"

"You ask me, but whom should I ask? I’m not part of the Command Headquarters; how would I know the specifics about Saxon County? Knowing that the Command Headquarters has taken over the farmland there is already quite something.

You say I’m long-winded, but aren’t you the same? Let’s not worry about the rest and talk about something serious.

You should be aware that living in the urban area is no longer safe, and certainly, the survivors must relocate to more open areas."

"I was thinking, since we have decided to relocate, why don’t we go further away? After all, we have a car, so we can directly take people to Saxon County."

"Not only is it a plain there, but there are also farmlands. As long as there is no Earth Dragon turning over, even if the earthquake is very strong, the impact on that area won’t be too severe."

"You should discuss with your father. It would be best to encourage more people to go there. The more people that go, the better the chance of gathering some Martial Artists to join us."

"Although there are soldiers patrolling the farmland, our safety can’t solely rely on them."

"I came to see you to understand your thoughts. If you agree on your side, we will definitely need to use your vehicles for transportation," he said.

"How many people are you planning to send over?"

"I haven’t really considered the exact number, but I intend to send as many people as possible there without overusing the plantation area.

"However, each campsite can accommodate at most a thousand people. Too many people, and in case of any issues, it could lead to congestion and stampedes," he explained.

Madeline’s idea was good, and Zachary mostly agreed after listening. After all, the urban area of Pengcheng was filled with skyscrapers, not exactly the best place to live in the event of an earthquake.

But Zachary was reluctant to let his parents live in the wild by themselves. After all, people need social interaction. If Father Dong and Mother Dong had to live in the wilderness alone, it would be safer to move directly to Zachary’s Cave.

Zachary only thought for a moment before giving his reply: "You go ask the others. I basically agree, and I will ask my parents what they think. They probably won’t refuse your proposal."

Seeing Zachary’s response, Madeline immediately showed a smile. In fact, this time it wasn’t absolutely necessary to invite Zachary. From their previous encounter, Madeline knew that Zachary had goods on hand.

At this time, nothing else was important. As long as there was food in hand, everything else, no matter what it was, could be obtained in exchange for food—just a matter of how much food it would cost.

After getting a definite answer, Madeline didn’t stay any longer and turned to contact the next family.

Looking at the situation, Madeline wanted the senior group to leave together, but suddenly Zachary thought that this matter had nothing to do with the big profit he talked about before.

Well, Zachary didn’t want to think about these issues anymore. As long as his parents were settled safely, he wouldn’t pay too much attention to the other miscellaneous things.

When Madeline left the Black Car, Zachary told Mr. Thompson the proposal in detail.

After a careful consideration, Mr. Thompson found no issues and patted Zachary’s shoulder, telling him not to worry anymore.

As time went by, more and more people found Robinson William, asking him to arrange help to retrieve valuable items from their homes.

With the number of people increasing, the original four Martial Artists were already too busy to manage.

Even though running upstairs and downstairs in a thirty-story building was as easy as playing for them, constant running back and forth meant even Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists would get significantly tired.

After assigning ten more Martial Artists, Robinson William refused to increase their numbers any further. According to him, "We shouldn’t just go because you need it, increasing the danger of casualties among the Martial Artists.

"Otherwise, go upstairs and move things yourself. If you want someone to help, you must strictly follow my rules," he insisted.

The Thompson family was different from other families. The valuable items in the Thompson home were kept in two boxes, and other things placed outside were not very valuable, nor were there any precious artwork and such.

But it was different for other families. Perhaps due to having deep foundations, many families had a lot of art pieces, which are fragile items, making them very challenging to move.

It wasn’t just one family like this; nearly every one of them had similar conditions.

It was because of this situation that even with Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists acting as movers, the number of Martial Artists had to be increased, yet the speed of moving wasn’t as simple and fast as when they moved the Thompson family.

The more this happened, the uglier the expressions of the survivors waiting in line became. At this rate, only a few families could be moved in a day.

And everyone knew that even if no earthquake occurred today, one was inevitably going to happen tomorrow, looking at the growing cracks on the buildings.

Everyone clearly understood in their hearts that if it dragged on to tomorrow, for the last few families, their household items could only be looked for in the ruins.

So, the families at the end of the line discussed and then directly approached Robinson William to explain the situation, hoping he could adjust the selection of items by Martial Artists and the number of people available for moving.

Although Robinson William constantly refused verbally, wanting them to negotiate a uniform standard with others before informing him, so he would then notify the Martial Artists,

in reality, Robinson William didn’t really care. After all, the Thompson family was the first to relocate, and the Taylor family was the second.

No matter how much fuss the others made, his family’s items had all been moved out, not a single chopstick less.