Chapter 393: Defense Broken

Chapter 393: Chapter 393: Defense Broken

Central Command had no objections to the 70/30 split.

A small handful of people actually did have objections, but it was no use. The minority had to yield to the majority.

As a result, Lily Hart received a huge sum: one million points.

Elder Shaw had exchanged them using the Lucky Cat at Central Command’s supply depot.

One million points could build five high-speed rail stations, not including the cost of the tracks.

Elder Shaw’s idea was to first connect the few cities near Kaelus. Since they were close to Central Command, these cities were the most developed.

But Lily Hart felt that only developing the well-off bases while neglecting the remote ones...

...would just widen the gap between everyone.

The remote bases were already remote, and they never got any benefits. This would just make them fall further behind.

The two of them hadn’t reached a conclusion on the matter, so Lily Hart was mulling it over now.

’I’d love to just build a high-speed rail station in the most remote base, but the rules don’t allow it.’

’I have to have been there myself...’

’What a pain.’ She was discovering that almost every building or reward had this restriction.

Lily Hart consoled herself, ’It must be to prevent me from overextending myself and messing everything up.’

’No choice, then. I can only start building high-speed rail stations in the bases I’ve already visited.’

First, she’d connect the five bases in Kaelus: Central Command, Steadfast Base, Solara Base, Prudence Base, and Phanfly Base.

’Great, that used up pretty much the entire million points...’

Once all five bases in Kaelus had high-speed rail stations, Lily Hart informed Elder Shaw.

At that moment, some residents who had just returned from killing zombies outside...

...happened to see the high-speed rail station appear. They were startled, but they were all people who had seen Boss Hart work her wonders before.

They quickly regained their composure and started pushing and shoving each other to get a closer look.

Someone with a good memory immediately exclaimed, "This is a high-speed rail station! It’s actually a high-speed rail station!"

A younger person asked, "What’s a high-speed rail station? What’s it for? Can you eat it?"

The first person glanced at the questioner’s age, swallowed the retort on the tip of their tongue, and patiently explained, "High-speed rail is a really fast train. As long as you buy a ticket, you can go anywhere!"

"Wow!" everyone gasped in amazement.

"This must be Boss Hart’s doing!"

"Who else has this kind of power?"

"Is it open now? Can we ride it? I really want to try!"

"Can we go to other countries, too?"

The speaker was stumped. "Maybe not... The service probably hasn’t started yet. This is the ticket hall. Let’s go in and see."

Inside was a row of ticket machines against the wall. Everyone crowded around one of them.

The person closest to it fiddled with the screen, and everyone gasped. "Wow, you can even go to Phanfly Base! I remember that base being super far away!"

"So there are only six stations for now? Central Command Station, Phanfly, Steadfast, Prudence, Solara, and... Kenseng?"

"Where’s Kenseng Base again?"

"It’s in the next city over, next to Kembey City. I think it’s called... Silvorna?"

"Oh~ that’s so far~ And we can still get there!"

After checking the stations, they looked at the ticket prices and let out another collective gasp.

"It’s only twenty Crystal Cores to get from Central Command to Kenseng Base! And only fifteen to Steadfast Base! Why is it so cheap?!"

After a flurry of discussion, everyone agreed that Lily Hart was practically running a charity.

In reality, Lily Hart had done the math. Twenty Crystal Cores from Central Command to Kenseng Base was equivalent to two thousand points—not exactly cheap.

The high-speed rail stations that appeared out of thin air once again stirred up a frenzy online.

People didn’t have much entertainment these days, so everyone was constantly watching to see what new trick Boss Hart would pull next.

Every new trick from her was a new source of amusement for them.

They also knew that Boss Hart was on a tour of the bases, and that her tour would eventually reach their own base one day.

Many people had been looking forward to it for a long time.

Meanwhile, Lily Hart was also doing her best to develop the area. She arrived at the night market.

She said to the vendors with their chaotically arranged stalls, "Arrange your stalls properly. Line them up in a single row against the wall."

"Vendors should stand behind their stalls for easy operation. That way, when customers come in through the entrance, they can see everything at a glance. Don’t set up one here and another there. It looks so messy!"

Hearing Lily Hart’s instructions, the ten vendors sprang into action.

Everyone’s setup was different. The candied haw vendor, for example, used to just have one display stick—no, he’d upgraded to two now, one in each hand.

Most stalls, however, were complete machines with wheels on the bottom, so they could be pushed around.

Soon, they had arranged themselves in a single line, just as Lily Hart had said.

It was indeed a huge improvement, but someone else had an objection.

Before he could even speak, Lily Hart said, "We’ll assign spots on a first-come, first-served basis. That’s just how we do things."

This was to prevent people from complaining about being placed too far back.

’This isn’t easy for me either, you know!’ She watched everyone get into their new positions, and only after seeing customers start to file in did she head back to the lottery shop.

It had been a tiring day. She’d spent the whole afternoon just riding around. Even though she was only sitting, her butt was a little sore.

When Lily Hart got back, she was surprised to find that Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe hadn’t left yet.

As soon as she entered the RV, her eyes met theirs. ’Hmm, I can tell they’ve both got something on their minds, but what could it be?’

’Don’t know, don’t want to know. I just want to sit down.’

Following her heart’s desire, she found an empty spot and collapsed onto the sofa to rest.

Roman Rowe was next to her. He let out a couple of silly chuckles, his mind still replaying the afternoon scene of him giving Boss Hart a ride on his motorcycle.

’Hmm.’ Hearing that dopey laugh, Lily Hart felt a little more at ease.

Frost Shaw was on the other armchair. He silently scooted over, successfully sandwiching her between them.

She asked, "What’s wrong?" Her question was directed at both of them.

Roman Rowe giggled foolishly. "Nothing’s wrong. Just feel like laughing. Hehehe."

As if Lily Hart didn’t know what he was laughing about. Even Frost Shaw had a rough idea.

Roman Rowe’s goofy state was just like his own after he and Lily Hart had kissed that day. The memory would flash through his mind from time to time.

He couldn’t help but clench his fists. ’It’s definitely not what I’m thinking...’

’But that kid Roman Rowe has never been able to hide anything. I have to know, I just have to know what happened between them this afternoon.’

Lily Hart saw that Frost Shaw wasn’t saying anything, so she didn’t speak either. Some emotions just had to be processed on one’s own.

She slowly got up, brushing non-existent dust from her shoulder. "I’m a little tired today. I’m going to go up and take a shower."

The moment Lily Hart left, Frost Shaw dropped his act. His expression darkened as he quickly closed in on Roman Rowe.

He asked in a low voice, "What were you and Boss Hart doing this afternoon?"

Roman Rowe looked a little embarrassed. He rubbed his nose and said, "We just took two round trips on the high-speed rail with Boss Hart. Oh, right, we rode there on my motorcycle."

Riding a motorcycle, taking two round trips on the high-speed rail.

Alone.

Any one of those things was enough to shatter Frost Shaw’s composure. He didn’t dare to imagine the scene in detail.

Frost Shaw wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and then closed it, feeling he had no right, no standing to do so.

He could only pat Roman Rowe’s shoulder before heading back, utterly dejected.