Otherworldly Desert Dust-Chapter 404 359: Imminent Urban Combat

At night, the prison director, Levi, finally appeared in the restaurant.

He rubbed his temples, intending to grab a bottle of wine but, upon remembering that the brewing process here was all high-tech and grueling labor, he ultimately settled on a bottle of white water instead.

The food, when chewed, also lacked flavor—it felt like it was made using expansion and synthetic technologies, hastily heated and then served. It was far different from the taste of food made with ingredients grown and cultivated by the town itself; after all, food has its own natural flavors, not something concocted from seasoning agents.

Wu Hen approached him and then handed him a bottle of wine.

"Are we even deprived of this little pleasure now?" Wu Hen asked.

Prison Director Levi enjoyed drinking and chatting.

Every afternoon, he would randomly catch someone from the town to join him for a drink and a chat. Wu Hen, who also worked in town, often ended up as his drinking companion.

"You've recovered?" Levi asked, sizing up Wu Hen with some surprise.

"It's nothing serious. What, I've only been resting for less than a month, and the town is lost, people have been captured, has everyone's spirit and joy been worn away?" Wu Hen asked.

"I didn't expect it either. Just half a month ago, we were carefree... But this is the fate of our town on this land," Levi said helplessly.

"Everyone is puzzled. Why didn't you press the 'speed burst' button at that time? The town could have at least escaped into the canyon and avoided this pursuit. Then couldn't we have continued as before? I've been in the underground factories; the pollution, radiation, and industrial germs there are especially concentrated. At best, it reduces one's lifespan; at worst, it causes severe illness and mutation," Wu Hen said.

"Do you think I made a mistake in my decision then?" Levi retorted.

"I don't understand your world very well. How could I know if your decision was right or not?" Wu Hen said.

Levi looked up, scanning the surroundings.

Seeing that the dim restaurant was almost empty, he picked up the bottle Wu Hen had passed to him and took a fierce gulp before saying, "Even if we had activated the 'speed burst' and hidden in the canyon, it would be meaningless. At the other end of that Grand Canyon is another predatory city."

"Is that the city known as Grand Canyon City, the 'Living City'?" Wu Hen asked.

Levi nodded and began to explain slowly, "From what I understand, the system enforced by Grand Canyon City is even more harsh. Their leader is a war criminal. In theory, he's a target sought by our small town. However, our Prison Town is weak and unable to compete with Grand Canyon City... One is a city of war criminals, the other a city of exploitation. What choice do you think I should make?"

Having heard Levi's explanation, Wu Hen understood.

Either way, we were going to be engulfed, so might as well choose where there's a higher chance of survival.

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"But laboring in this place, devoid of daylight, doesn't offer much hope," Wu Hen remarked.

"I'll figure something out, don't worry. Miss Fan has already been in contact with her family," Levi said.

"I'm part of this, too. Tell me about your plan," Wu Hen said.

The prison director couldn't just give in to despair.

After all, he now possessed advanced Dark Energy Spring Eye Detection Technology. As long as the town remained independent and continued mining, the entire Prison Living Town could quickly grow strong, even developing into a City of Prisons.

It wasn't easy to get hold of such Divine Skill, just to lose the town.

"The construction of our town is fast, as long as we have enough materials and Dark Energy. But the problem we face now is not the preservation of the town itself, but the survival of us townspeople. You must understand, we've already become the lowest class of labor slaves in Steel Eagle City. If Steel Eagle City goes to war with Grand Canyon City and loses, we might not even be considered labor slaves anymore," Levi said.

"Why is that?" Wu Hen asked, puzzled.

"I've told you before that the leader of Grand Canyon City is a war criminal within our large prison system, highly dangerous and yet lurking on the fringes of Da Xuan Law. He's an absolute villain who continues to act brazenly on this land thanks to political clauses in Da Xuan and protection from certain powerful figures... Now Steel Eagle City is on the brink of war with it, and the most fearsome technology of Steel Eagle City is the Biological Battery. At least the rulers of Steel Eagle City have a shred of conscience left not to use legitimate Da Xuan citizens for power generation, at most depriving criminals and foreign extraordinary personnel of their rights. But the ruler of Grand Canyon City might not have the same scruples. If Steel Eagle City falls and they seize the technology of Biological Batteries, the first to be thrown into Biological Tanks will surely be us, the labor slaves of the defeated city!" Levi explained.

Listening to this, Wu Hen couldn't help but shudder with fear!

Levi's analysis of the situation was quite rational and correct.

Every existence in Otherworldly Dust followed the law of the jungle, and in higher-dimensional civilizations, they too needed to grow stronger and evolve. They might civilize the method of resource deprivation, but it didn't mean they weren't bloodsuckers. The Human Circle theory wasn't only practiced among the high-dimensional insects; other more dazzling Human Clan civilizations used this tactic as well.

At first, Wu Hen thought this place was just another form of the Human Circle, only to realize that some High-class Human Clans were absolutely more cruel than high-dimensional insects. The variety and efficiency of ways they harmed their own kind was staggering.

"I understand now. We need to survive this imminent war of the Living Giant City first, regardless of whether Steel Eagle City is leading us on. Surviving is the only way to plan for the future," Wu Hen nodded.

"Yes, so don't listen to the idle gossip of the women in town. Although I'm a leader and don't need to do the dirty work, I help Eagle City evolve their war weapons with one single goal: to ensure we all survive first and prevent our situation from getting any worse. Whether the ruler of Eagle City keeps his promises is a matter to be discussed later. Steel Eagle City cannot be defeated, and right now we must consider ourselves warriors of Eagle City," Levi said earnestly.

There were many things that, as the ruling class, Levi couldn't explain to the townspeople. After all, an uncertain future would only cause most people to panic, and panic could adversely affect the situation.

The town's residents needed only to continue working as required. Life might be harder, but as long as they could endure, that was enough.

But as the Mayor, Levi had to consider much more. He had to make the most correct decisions on a broad scale, ensuring that even if a mistake occurred, it would only set everyone back a short way and not plunge them into an abyss from which they could never climb out.

A fall didn't mean destruction; as long as people were alive, there was a chance to climb back up.

It seemed that Levi had been bottling up these words for some time. After a few drinks, he didn't hold back in sharing them with Wu Hen.

"What do you think are the odds of Steel Eagle City winning the war against Grand Canyon City?" Wu Hen asked.

"Not even forty percent."

"Ah?" Wu Hen was stunned. He had assumed that Steel Eagle City was an almost invincible entity in this Otherworldly region. He hadn't expected Grand Canyon Living City to be even stronger.

"The Evil Spirit of Grand Canyon City has probably already formed a clan structure. They are teetering on the edge of losing control. For them, absorbing Steel Eagle City is also vital; otherwise, the entire city might become an Evil City," Levi explained.

"It seems your choice was the right one," Wu Hen immediately realized why the Mayor had given up resistance at first.

"Forty percent isn't actually that scary. What's frightening is that the leader of Steel Eagle City is extremely arrogant. I once graduated with him from Huilin Academy. He relies on the backing of the Technology God Valve for his current position, but in my view, every decision he's made reeks of textbook naiveté. His opponent is a vile war criminal, proficient in advanced academia and strategy, and has a host of underhanded tactics at his disposal... The forty percent is just in terms of city weapon configurations. If he's in command against them, the odds of victory might be less than twenty percent. And yet, my foolish old classmate is still eager to wage war against Grand Canyon City, to prove his wisdom and valor to his technological backers," Levi sighed.

Wu Hen listened to Levi's rant with a speechless expression.

You're just a small town Mayor, why worry about the big city Mayor? And acting like a middle-aged greasy man, as if you've been handed the start fit for a failed art school applicant in Germany and then you want to unify the universe like Emperor Qin Shi Huang?

"What can you change if you're in charge of the armory?" Wu Hen asked.

Previously, Fan Ke had mentioned that she and Prison Director Levi were leaders and top talents of the Da Xuan Dynasty. They were experts at operating every system of Living Towns and could perfectly coordinate various departments, including living combat systems.

With the battle against Grand Canyon City approaching, Levi, a Mayor at the least, administered a Prison Town that necessitated a lot of actual combat experience. He was one of the most scarce individuals in the plundering city, and the position he was assigned was actually quite important and could affect part of the battle.

"At most, we can increase the odds of victory by ten percent," Levi said.

"That's still not enough, though. I don't like gambling," Wu Hen said.

"You, kid, you haven't lived in our town for long, yet you've already considered yourself one of us. Why are you even more aggressive than the old veterans of our town?" Levi remarked.

"I have no choice. The Cang Chu Divine Realm is full of dangers, and it wasn't easy to find a place as relatively friendly as yours. Naturally, I don't want to abandon ship, and I want to share the fate with you... But the problem is, the ruler of Steel Eagle City is highly resistant to Extraordinary Personnel. Even if I'm willing to fight during the war, won't I end up as a Biological Battery?" Wu Hen asked.

"That's the truth. Even if an Extraordinary brings a greater force into battle, they'd rather use you to generate power, charging the sky cannons," Levi said.

"So, what can I do?"

"From tomorrow on, you'll follow me. Right now, we can only rely on the strength of the two of us to turn the tide of battle," Levi said when he saw Wu Hen willing to share the fate of the town.

Wu Hen nodded.

For now, he would follow Levi. He would find a way to defeat Grand Canyon City in Levi's way, paving a path of survival for the people of Prison Town.