Chapter 12: 'The Wandering Faction” and 'The Fortress Faction”

“This Roland Fortress—is what’s going on here?” Li Ye stared fixedly at Roland Fortress, his mind full of confusion. “This is probably the Fortress Faction among the mobile cities.” A calm voice came from behind him. Li Ye turned his head and saw that it was Lin Wu. “The Fortress Faction?” Lin Wu adjusted his glasses, then began to explain. In this wasteland world, mobile cities are divided into two factions: the “Wandering Faction” and the “Fortress Faction.” As the names imply, the Wandering Faction refers to those mobile cities that roam around collecting resources, making the whole world their home; these constitute the vast majority. As for the Fortress Faction, this refers to those mobile cities that abandon mobility and hold position in one place. These kinds of mobile cities often choose to settle in a resource-rich area after they develop to a certain scale, and then multiply there. Compared with the Wandering Faction, the Fortress Faction has a huge advantage. Namely, they can have far more usable space than the Wandering Faction. After all, once they settle in one place, they no longer have to be limited by residence or farmland constraints. They can cultivate large areas of land around them to grow crops and raise livestock, thereby obtaining more food necessary for survival. As food increases, they can feed more people, and the increased population can become more labor power, thus increasing fortress strength. The residents no longer have to live in cramped rooms; they can build spacious homes according to their preferences, and even have yards. Therefore, at the same level, a fortress often has a larger population than a mobile city, and living conditions are better. But doing this also has one very obvious downside. That is, after giving up mobility, the fortress can only hold one place and can no longer go far to gather resources and develop its own strength. The vast majority of fortresses basically remain at their original level; few can upgrade. “I see.” Li Ye nodded repeatedly. If he had to choose, he would definitely choose to be part of the Wandering Faction. Although living with no fixed abode and scraping by every day, at least each day’s journey was worth looking forward to. After all, you don’t know what you’ll experience when you wake up each morning, nor what you’ll gain or regret. ...... With Lin Xia, the lord’s daughter, as their introduction, Li Ye and his entourage had unhindered access to Roland Fortress. During the visit, Li Ye accidentally noticed a breach in the city wall. Seeing Li Ye’s confusion, Lin Xia proceeded to explain. The Crimson Hound has long coveted Roland Fortress’ population and resources and has mounted several attacks. The breach in the wall was blasted out by its Level‐1 cannon. Lin Xia’s father, the lord of Roland Fortress, didn’t greet them in person but had the steward receive them. As thanks for Li Ye rescuing his daughter, the lord of Roland Fortress gave Li Ye a gift. Roland Fortress was now open to Tomorrow; Li Ye could freely trade and recruit personnel inside the fortress. Li Ye couldn’t help but feel pleasantly surprised upon hearing this. In the wilderness, this meant they had found a safe dock for Tomorrow to anchor and rest. The lord of Roland Fortress also specially arranged a meal for them, with not only various vegetables, but even some fruit and meat on the table. Li Ye immediately began to eat voraciously; since crossing over to the present, he had basically never eaten well, subsisting every day on either potatoes or steamed buns. Old Zhou and the others ate just as hungrily. “Speaking of which, I wonder when Tomorrow will have supplies like this.” He ate while longing in thought. After the meal, Li Ye and his group, led by Lin Xia, headed to Roland Fortress’ marketplace. Along the way, he curiously observed the interior of Roland Fortress. Roland Fortress is divided into two urban areas: the lower city, which contains various small shops, processing factories, and the marketplace; and the upper city, which is the residential and living area. According to Lin Xia, Roland Fortress now has more than 2,000 people. It was originally the Level‐1 mobile city “Roland,” and settled here ten years ago. Roland Fortress’ scale was tens of times larger than it was as a mobile city; its interior space was more than ample. During the visit, Li Ye also unexpectedly discovered a mobile city. This mobile city was parked near a processing factory in the lower city. Its thugs were directing slaves to unload various resources gathered from the wilderness, preparing to transport them to the market for trade. Li Ye then took a keen interest and observed closely. The exterior of this mobile city was extremely grand, its architectural style rough and bold, even painted red—it was clear its lord had poured his personal style into it. This mobile city also had a flag—the flag’s base color was bright red, with crossed knives and axes as the emblem. From his observations, this mobile city had about twenty to thirty thugs or fighters, and about fifty residents and slaves. It had a total of four cannons, eight heavy machine guns, and seemed to have upgraded its tracks and tires. The firearms carried by the fighters were Level‐1 submachine guns. What surprised Li Ye most was that this mobile city even had a Level‐1 cannon. This Level‐1 cannon had an elegant, streamlined appearance, with a muzzle far larger than ordinary cannons. [Item Name: Wind‐Erosion Cannon] [Item Level: Level 1] [Crafting Requires: 300 units of Wind‐Erosion Ore (Level 1), 1 Wind‐Erosion Crystal] “This mobile city is indeed quite strong,” Li Ye exclaimed. “Oh, this is the Conqueror.” Lin Xia noticed his gaze and introduced it. “The Conqueror is an old partner of ours from Roland Fortress. It usually comes here to sell resources gathered in the wilderness, and replenish food, vegetables, fresh water, as well as perform routine repairs and troubleshooting.” “You say this is the Conqueror?” Li Ye asked in surprise. Isn’t this the mobile city from the intel that desperately needed molten spider silk? He hadn’t paid it much attention at the time, but didn’t expect to run into it here. Lin Xia also pointed out one of the Conqueror’s tracks with her finger. “There, the one standing there is the Conqueror’s lord, Lei Jian.” Li Ye looked and saw a man in his forties. This man had an appearance reminiscent of Schwarzenegger—broad‐shouldered, burly, tall, with thick arms, and wearing sunglasses. “Don’t be fooled by his tough appearance; he’s actually very easygoing,” Lin Xia added. “He likes to charge ahead in everything he does, and his subordinates support him strongly.” As they talked, the group arrived at the marketplace. Compared to Field Town, Roland Fortress’ marketplace was noticeably livelier. It was about the size of a small town, and filled with all sorts of people. Scavengers, bounty hunters, fortress residents, survivors from external convoys... The items for sale were wide-ranging: grain, vegetables and fruits, iron ore, coal, furniture, weapons and firearms, even Level‐1 items and Level‐1 blueprints. The lively, bustling scene reminded Li Ye of living in his hometown city, and his mood eased somewhat. At the same time, he felt a bit of melancholy.