A Person on Terra, Out of Books Chapter 9

Mandela roared in anger, channeling her Originium Arts with all her might to raise stone pillars for her subordinates, creating cover. But she couldn't withstand the concentrated fire from the Victoria soldiers alone.

When they were first exposed, she had considered retreating. However, considering she was escorting Deepcolor's machinery, she attempted to withdraw slowly with the cargo.

Until a fireball from a Victoria soldier shattered a cargo box, revealing only heavy stones before Mandela's eyes.

She immediately understood she had been used as a decoy. Yet, she wasn't angry. She knew tonight's transaction was very important. If her side attracted the attention of the Victoria soldiers, it meant the real transaction was proceeding normally. In that case, the cause for Terra's independence would not be struck a blow!

However, at this moment, Mandela had missed the best opportunity to escape. The Victoria soldiers' movement speed was far faster than she had imagined.

"Leader, the Victorians have surrounded us!"

The shouts of her subordinates made Mandela anxious. She could break through alone, but what about these Terrans? What about her own kin?

"Surrender, you have no way out!"

Hamilton, who was in charge of the command, stepped forward and shouted. He wanted to capture the leader alive, hoping to lure out a bigger fish.

But the only response he received was the curses of the Terrans.

"Go to hell, you Victorian mongrels!"

Under the Captain's roar, the Victoria soldiers intensified their attack, suppressing the Terrans and preventing them from counterattacking.

"Sir, these Deepcolor soldiers are all Terrans."

"Oh? Is that so..."

Theresica, observing from the darkness, truly didn't know what expression to wear when witnessing this scene. Their armament wasn't Terran, yet these Terrans were treating Deepcolor as their lifeline, serving them so diligently.

After listening to the Shapeshifter, he looked towards Shining and Salus.

"Do you have the confidence to kill all these Victoria soldiers?"

"We can."

"Then... Deepcolor has given us a gift. We should reciprocate."

Upon receiving the order, Shining and Salus drew their weapons. They put on masks to conceal their faces.

The Victoria soldiers suddenly found two blurry figures appearing before them. Hidden beneath their cloaks, the swords in their hands swung through the crowd like a hot knife through butter.

In the dim desert, many soldiers didn't know what was happening. They inexplicably felt warm liquid spraying on their faces, only to see their teammates fall to the ground.

Mandela and the remaining Deepcolor soldiers, who were in the midst of being surrounded, were also bewildered. The Victoria soldiers who had been suppressing them were actually decreasing in number! Although the Victoria soldiers still held the advantage in combat power, they no longer felt any pressure.

"Leader, who are those people?"

"I don't know. That's not Deepcolor attire."

Mandela scrutinized the suddenly appearing unknown individuals, finally ordering her subordinate, "Since they are helping us, they must be allies! Go! Fight alongside them."

At the Victoria command center, the officers noticed something was amiss from the regimental messenger's report. It seemed another group had appeared on the battlefield, and friendly fire incidents were occurring frequently on their side.

The situation seemed to be spiraling out of their control!

"Order the Sorcerers to withdraw from combat and fully maintain battlefield illumination. Also, immediately notify the remaining garrisons to all come here. Today, we must capture... Ah!"

Colonel Hamilton was about to dispatch more personnel when a sharp blade pierced through him from behind.

The Captain turned his head in shock, astonished to find that the attacker was Lieutenant Colonel Leto, and the soldiers in the command center were all looking this way with blank expressions, showing no intention of stopping him.

"You..."

"If Deepcolor had been so active, we would have captured them long ago. But no matter who it is, as long as they are enemies of Victoria, I will lend a hand. Feel honored, this is a standard Gaul officer's short blade."

Leto slit Hamilton's throat, pushed his body aside, and then issued an order to his soldiers.

"Cease all combat operations. I want to hold peaceful talks with Deepcolor and that unknown force."

"Yes!"

The surrounding soldiers responded to their superior in Gaulish.

The chaotic battlefield suddenly fell silent. The Victoria forces disengaged from the front lines and began to regroup. Many Feline soldiers quickly took advantage of the unorganized formations to slip away and disappear into the darkness.

Deepcolor didn't understand why the Victoria forces had stopped attacking, but they hadn't retreated either, causing Mandela and the others to hesitate. A stalemate ensued.

Meanwhile, Shining was approached by a soldier holding a white cloth. He handed her a letter, stating it was personally written by the Victoria commander, hoping she would forward it to someone with authority among the Sarkaz to facilitate a three-party talk.

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Chapter 18: A Great Harvest

"Gaul?"

Looking at the word mentioned in the letter, Theresica pondered for a moment, finally recalling the term from a corner of his memory.

It was a powerful nation from a century ago, once the owner of the central continent of Terra. It later simultaneously waged war against Ursus, Leithanien, and Victoria, ultimately falling.

Most of its legacy became nourishment for Victoria, but he hadn't expected that even after a century, someone would still claim to be Gaul.

"Let's go and see."

Theresica walked onto the battlefield. Mandela and Leto were already waiting there. The Victoria soldiers had moved far away, and only a handful of guards remained by the side of these two.

"One of Deepcolor's leaders, Mandela."

"A remnant of Gaul."

"Agent of the Sarkaz Royal Court."

After introducing themselves, Leto spoke first.

"My name is Leto. I am a former Gaul. I believe we can find common ground in seeking revenge against Victoria."

"You killed quite a number of our people!"

Mandela glared at Leto furiously, the Feline ears on his head perking up in agitation.

Leto said nothing, merely having his subordinate bring out a corpse. "He planned today's operation. You've been running rampant in Little Hill County for so long, and if I hadn't looked the other way, you'd have been finished already. Let me remind you, I'm about to be transferred to Londinium and will no longer be responsible for security here. You'd best be careful."

"Hmph!"

Mandela snorted in defiance and ordered his subordinates to drag away Hamilton's body. As they passed Theresica, he murmured softly.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing."

Theresica responded with a polite smile.

The Deepcolor personnel quickly disappeared into the night. Theresica turned to the middle-aged officer before him and asked curiously, "Citizen of Gaul, may I ask what business you have with me?"

In the letter he had previously submitted, this Vice Captain had requested a trade but had not specified its nature.

"Hello, representative of the Royal Court. From a historical perspective, our two nations were enemies hundreds of years ago."

"But now, Victoria is our common enemy," Theresica said. "The enemy of my enemy can be my friend."

"Yes, you are quite right. That is precisely why I came to find you."

Leto pondered for a moment before speaking. "My soldiers apprehended Deepcolor collecting Originium detection equipment. The crates they disguised tonight were all industrial transport crates filled with machine tools... You are exchanging Originium for machine tools."

"You guessed correctly."

Theresica nodded.

"Then, I would like to propose a similar trade."

Leto handed over a document. "Victoria is about to put a brand-new Originium crossbow into production, replacing their current military-grade individual crossbows. As a result, the entire military production line and its workers are undergoing adjustments."

"A military-standard individual crossbow production plant has been in operation for many years. Although the machines are old, they are still functional. I've been tasked with its destruction, but I haven't touched it yet. I can sell you everything inside, including the design blueprints, technical documentation, and production process files for this equipment."

"Hmm... that is very tempting. What do you want in return?"

Theresica asked, knowing that such valuable items would likely come with a hefty price tag.

"I want refined Originium ingots, 100% pure, ten tons."

Leto's request surprised Theresica. "The Originium detection instruments won't react to it. Do you intend to bring it into the city? Such a large quantity... are you planning to assassinate someone?"

"No, I simply want to profit from the current Originium prices in Victoria by making the largest possible price difference from you. I need many things, things that my position as Vice Captain cannot accomplish, and my life is already half spent."

"I understand. For now, I can only give you two tons."

"That's acceptable. I will hand over the rest of the items to you in one go before I leave Little Hill County. I trust you won't play any tricks."

"Of course not. You might be able to provide us with even more in the future, and we will do our best to meet your price."

Theresica shook Leto's hand. "The deal is struck. I wish us a fruitful cooperation, and I wish you success in your promotion."

Victoria's itinerary was extended. Under the cover of Leto, Theresica began inspecting military factories with Zeppelin. With the cover provided by the Little Hill County garrison, disguised Shapeshifters openly moved machinery under the watchful eyes of Victoria's administrative bodies.

The officials genuinely believed these were workers carrying out a destruction mission and yelled at them.

"Move faster! Haven't you eaten?!"

"Yes, yes..."

The Shapeshifters smiled obsequiously, quickening their pace.

Machine tools were loaded onto transport ships one by one. Not only that, but a large quantity of finished and semi-finished products left behind in the factory were also taken away. The vast amount of technical documents and blueprints were packed into trash bags and, under the disgusted gazes of the officials, transported out of Little Hill County.

The Originium brought out was sold off completely, and the Sarkaz transport team began their journey back.

Upon returning to Kazdel, the installation, debugging, and dismantling and replication of the machine tools were carried out immediately.

The outdated equipment of the entire Sarkaz army was also gathered and sent for unified repairs.

If regular infantry soldiers looked excited upon seeing their repaired armor and weapons, the archers were practically ecstatic. They were actually getting to use Victoria's military-standard crossbows!

The dilapidated bows and arrows, which had been patched up repeatedly and cherished dearly, were cast aside. All the archers in the army were summoned to receive Victoria's individual crossbows.

The archers carefully took the individual crossbows, still emitting the scent of new factory production, cradling them as if they were fragile younglings.

Some even ran out of formation, washed their hands, and dried them before returning, afraid that the dust on their bodies would damage the weapons.

The Kazdel Military Commission, which Theresica had never seen, now actively sought him out, showering him with praise.

After all, they hadn't done anything, and suddenly they had machine tools to repair equipment and had obtained new weapons.

"There's no need for all this excitement, everyone."

Theresica stopped their actions. "I have an idea now that might require some personnel adjustments for the entire army."

"Your Majesty, please command."

The elderly Sarkaz bowed their heads.

"I'm going to gather all soldiers in the army who have a certain level of hands-on ability and know how to repair equipment, and establish an industrial skills school."

Theresica said, Kazdel could only count Zeppelin and a few other Sarkaz as industrial technicians. Without expanding the personnel, development was impossible!

And given Kazdel's current educational level, those who could directly start machine tool skills training were the soldiers who could repair equipment themselves.

However, this also meant that the army would directly lose all craftsmen it could directly command for a period of time. Any equipment problems would have to be returned to the factory for repair.

PS: Please vote for me!!!

PS2: Brainstorm: Sarkaz snipers with upgraded weapons, and various Sarkaz units with strengthened defenses. Are you Doctors ready? (^▽^)

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PS3: A great author's recommendation: "The Undying Stand Above Arknights"

Chapter 19: The Food Problem

The members of the Kazdel Military Commission, upon hearing this, all stated that they needed to consider it. Just then, several tribal leaders also came to report on their work during this period.

In the month he was away from Kazdel, the Sarkaz population census had been completed. The report submitted by the Absolver indicated that infected individuals accounted for 30% of the entire Sarkaz population. There were many newborns, but the number of children aged one and two had significantly decreased, with high birth rates and high infant mortality rates coexisting.

Seeing Theresica staring intently at this page of the report, the Absolver explained, "Kazdel's current medical system has long since collapsed. Ordinary residents rely on long-held basic common sense or medical Arts users to maintain their health and deal with illnesses."

Theresica's eyes widened, and after that came the Banshee, who submitted the report on the school.

According to the report, the school's construction had been completed long ago, utilizing vacant, unused rooms. All the teachers had been found, but there were very few students.

"Why is this? Why are there so few students?"

Theresica asked in surprise, as this did not match the statistical numbers for children aged 6-12 at all.

"There are many children who need to serve as simple labor for their families. Parents probably can't... let their children attend school."

The Banshee tribal leader's face showed difficulty. Although everyone understood the importance of education, survival was also indispensable.