Chapter 697 After Burning

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The refreshing wind blew across the vast wasteland, swirls dry sand and dry fallen leaves and grass clippings. On the deserted land, the ditches that used to be used for irrigation have been dried up due to the interruption of the upstream, and a collapsed and collapsed wall fell into the soil. , covered with yellowing weeds.

An old abandoned mill stands alone on the side of the road. The huge windmill blades that fell off the mill rested miserably on a half-collapsed red brick wall like a broken limb. Burning and explosions can be seen everywhere around the mill. After the attack, a charred street sign stood crookedly at the crossroads in front of the mill. The vague handwriting on the street sign was faintly visible:

"Long Tail Woodland - Town of Cabre"

A rough, thick-boned hand brushed across the street sign, wiping down a layer of charred ashes.

Norris looked at the black ashes stained on his hands, then rubbed his fingers and looked at the old abandoned mill not far away.

A gust of autumn wind blew, and the cold air in the wind poured into Norris's lungs, which were no longer healthy. He couldn't help bending down and coughing continuously.

A few accompanying young people immediately stepped forward, and someone supported the slightly shaky Minister of Agriculture: "Minister, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I'm getting old, and the wind is not very friendly to me this season," Norris waved his hand, rejecting the help of his subordinate and apprentice, and slowly looking away from the mill, "I've heard of this place... It is said that it is long The most fertile land near the Tail Woodlands is here..."

"It's all deserted," a young officer said with a sigh, "When the troops arrived here, the entire Longtail Woodland had been occupied by the Crystal Cluster Legion, and there were less than a hundred survivors gathered. In order to completely eliminate those monsters, the soldiers executed After the bombing, all towns were burned, including settlements around towns."

"Abandoned... Abandoned is not terrible, the abandoned land can still be rescued," Norris said slowly, looking at the weed-covered farmland not far away, "I am afraid of the remaining pollution. Let's go there. Take a look."

The accompanying young officer turned his head and ordered a few magic vehicles to stop by the roadside, and then followed Norris's footsteps.

The once fertile fields have been abandoned, and after the weeds grew, they were bombed and burned again. After the burning, new weeds grew along with several winds and rains. Now, it is almost impossible to see the old farmland from a distance. Appearing, Norris crouched down beside a barely discernible ditch, reached out and grabbed a handful of dirt, rubbing it slightly with his fingertips.

The black soil mixed with grass and ash had a moist and sticky texture, and fell to the ground with the rubbing of fingers.

"What a good soil..." Norris stretched out his hand and let the entourage look at the dirt left in his hand, "How can there be such good land in the south?"

After sighing, he clapped his hands and began to instruct the sampling staff to collect local soil samples. An accompanying clerk took out the folder he carried with him and found the corresponding report: "Here and the surrounding fields are 'velvet sedge manor'. Part of the property belongs to the Viscount Cabre, but it is difficult to calculate the exact population of the entire Cabre town, and it can only be roughly estimated at about 300 households - excluding more remote villages and a mine."

A young technician wearing field work clothes and wearing the imperial rattan ring Druid badge on his chest said while checking the soil quality: "The soil here still looks healthy and fertile, compared to the two polluted areas found earlier. It looks much better..."

"Let's mark it as green for the time being," Norris stood up slowly with his knees supported. "Before the next planting season, we must collect as much information as possible on the land that can be replanted, and we must not forget to mark the severely polluted areas... …”

"Yes, Minister. Wait a minute, shall we..."

An accompanying official of the Ministry of Agriculture responded, but just halfway through his words, the guard standing on the side of the ridge suddenly scolded not far away: "Who is it? Come out!!"

Several pairs of eyes suddenly looked in the direction of the guard's scolding. Norris raised his eyelids and saw that there seemed to be a figure shaking in the abandoned mill not far away. After the guard shouted for the second time, the two were hiding in the mill. The figure finally walked out of the abandoned building.

It was a man and a woman. They couldn't tell how old they were. They were wearing gray clothes and their hair and face were dirty. For fear of taking a wrong step, he will be caught by a few "big men" in front of him.

The expression on Norris's face trembled subconsciously after seeing the man and woman. He recalled himself a few years ago... That humble and shrinking gesture had been carved into his bones for decades, and he was really too familiar with it. .

"Survivor? There are still survivors in this area?" A young clerk exclaimed in surprise.

Norris frowned, and asked after the two approached, "Why are you here? You've been hiding here?"

"Master, we are... come back from the town in the south... We hid before, fought a battle, and then came back after the fight was over here."

The hunchbacked man spoke carefully, tugging at the threads of his clothes with his hands as he spoke. His words were a bit confusing, but Norris quickly understood the meaning of the words-the two were not. Those who have been hiding in the mill, they should have escaped with everyone when the accident happened before, and then they were lucky to escape this hell alive. Most of them have been wandering in Pompeii or Skodeland for the past six months. Fleeing from the famine, now I probably heard the news of the safety of the north, and ran back again.

Similar situations are not uncommon in this vast region - there were few survivors of that disaster, but there were always some who survived.

Some of these people have been sheltered and protected by the team sent from the South, some may have found a long-term place to live in the south, and some... They have difficulty giving up the land they have cultivated for several generations, the only familiar hometown, or There was no way to survive in the south, so they ran back and wandered the land that had become a wasteland of war.

If left alone, most of these people will sooner or later die of starvation and disease, or the mouth of beasts, and the rest may become bandits and bandits in the eastern plains of the Holy Spirit, and this deserted land will become a A zone of astonishing magnitude.

But the empire will not leave it alone. Norris and the working group he led, as well as several other teams heading in different directions, their task is to rebuild this "imperial granary".

"I'm not some kind of lord, my name is Norris, I came to rebuild this place on the orders of His Majesty," Shaking his head, throwing his complicated thoughts out of his mind, Norris said to the men and women in front of him, "It's not suitable for this place right now. Anjia, you can go to the resettlement area in the southeast first..."

The woman with dirty hair didn't seem to understand what Norris was saying, but her eyes widened: "Your Majesty? Which Majesty? Isn't His Majesty Francis already gone?"

Norris was stunned.

Among the fugitive poor people in the central region, the news was lagging behind to such an extent that not only did they not know the establishment of the empire, but they might even not know whether the civil war was really over. When did they start fleeing? How long has it been isolated from the civilized world?

Living in the advanced and prosperous Cecil City for several years, Norris once again saw the familiar poverty and the familiar backwardness, so much so that he forgot to speak for a while, but the Druid technician standing next to him couldn't help but say : "His Majesty Gawain Cecil, he is already the emperor."

The man and woman were stunned for a long time before finally exclaiming.

"You go to the resettlement area in the southeast first," Norris said to them again. "We have a car to take you there, and some refugees who have escaped are staying there temporarily. It's too dangerous for you to stay here. , there is no one to live here now."

The couple finally understood what Norris meant. They hesitated and tangled, but after seeing the entourage and guards around Norris, they appeared nervous and fearful. However, Norris could not think of how to deal with the two other than comfort. The man explained everything - he could only make some guarantees, let the entourage take out a little food, and emphasized that this was "the order of His Majesty the Emperor" to reassure them.

But before leaving with the soldiers, the hunchbacked man suddenly opened his mouth again and said cautiously while grabbing the thread on his clothes: "Master, we still have something... Can we take it together?"

Norris nodded: "Yes, but not too much, the car won't fit."

The man immediately thanked him a lot, and then quickly ran back to the abandoned mill. After a while, he came out with a tattered cart that seemed to fall apart at any time—the cart was full of various things. All kinds of debris, old jars and pots and rags that have lost their color are piled up together, and there is a place for people to sit.

That's all the man and woman's possessions have -- Norris can almost imagine how they escaped here in this car, wandering between the towns and villages to the south, and then pushed the car back to the place.

"That's all, that's all," the man said with a humble smile on his face, "not much."

The soldier who was about to escort the couple to the resettlement camp took a look at the contents of the car. He wanted to say that these junk can be thrown away. Anyway, the resettlement camp will give the refugees a set of daily necessities, but in the end the soldier did not say so. , but sighed: "Alas... things can be brought, but this cart is not good, it can't be loaded on our car."

"O... lord," the man panicked, "I can push the car and follow you! I can run very fast!"

The soldier shook his head: "No, you don't know..."

Norris interrupted the soldier: "Tie this car to the roof."

The soldier looked embarrassed: "...Sir, this..."

"Do what I say," Norris shook his head. "It's the most precious thing they have right now."

"Yes, my lord."

"Master, you are really a good man!" the woman with dirty hair said quickly, "You look like a kind noble master!"

"I'm not a lord, let alone a nobleman, just call me sir," Norris corrected again, then waved his hand, "Come on, follow this soldier, our car is waiting by the roadside. Don't be caught in a while. The car was terrified."

The man and woman hurriedly agreed, but just after walking a few steps with the soldier, the hunchbacked man couldn't help but turn his head: "Master... Sir, do you think this place can really change back to its original appearance?"

"...it will be better than before," Norris said, looking at those cloudy but expectant eyes, "this is exactly the mission that His Majesty has entrusted to me."

"Then... can we come back then?" The man said quickly while observing the faces of the soldiers next to him, "Our home is in the town, and there are..."

Before he finished speaking, the woman next to him seemed to bump his arm secretly, and Norris guessed what the unfinished half sentence would be - a jar of wheat? A box of flour? A sickle? Or a few hard-earned silver coins?

He didn't ask, just nodded vigorously: "I will come back - this is the order given to me by His Majesty."

The hunchbacked man laughed: "Ah, it seems that His Majesty Cecil is really a good person."

They left.

After a long time, Norris finally broke the silence: "We still have a long way to go."

"Yes, Minister."

"But everything will be alright," Norris said as he turned around, looking at the vast, war-torn fertile soil, as if to himself, "as Your Majesty said . . . On the ground, after all, new shoots will grow."