"Just as expected, they didn't want to leave."
Lu PingAn's messenger (cat: Meow, I'm exhausted to death!) brought back the Fishermen's reply.
Lu PingAn had advised them to move to mid-to-large cities as soon as possible, but they had indeed refused. He did not insist, either. He had no idea whether a major city or a small village was safer.
When the entire world was engulfed in war, "safety" itself was a false proposition. Major cities would become prime targets for enemy attacks, while a small village could be turned into a living hell by a band of routed soldiers.
As far as Lu PingAn knew and had seen, no one knew how many large settlements had been destroyed. And abandoned village ruins, empty of people, were as numerous as the stars.
In a sense, the World's Will's earlier approach might have been the most "rational" and natural one. When the environment became so harsh that life could barely survive, it increased reproduction rates and maturation speed, forcibly trading numbers for survivors.
"...It may be right, and many creatures in nature do the same. They lay thousands, even tens of thousands of eggs in a clutch, all so that a few might survive and carry on the species. But for intelligent beings, it's still far too cruel."
The world had coldly and rationally chosen the most cost-effective approach. Meanwhile, the mortals' method of "gathering everyone together to form an impregnable fortress" seemed all the more foolish and shortsighted.
"Once absurd things like demigods enter the field, so-called 'unconquerable cities' become a joke. Even if they are intercepted by our own demigods, they can still take the city with them on the way out."
This fantastical reality was actually easy enough to understand if compared to a world war where nuclear