Chapter 7: Could It Get Any Worse?
While the fierce battle raged outside, there was no movement inside the Wasteland Society.
Despite having many people, they had only a few guns and didn’t dare to even peek outside to see what was happening at their doorstep.
It wasn’t until Patel contacted them through their secret channel, proving that he wasn’t a disguise or a traitor, that they opened the door to let him in.
And they only let him in alone.
At first, he worried that the Governor might be displeased, but Gu Hang graciously allowed him to go in and explain the situation.
The Governor’s troops would stay outside the Wasteland Society for two days, awaiting his message.
As for the kind of message they were waiting for, Gu Hang didn’t explicitly state, but Patel had a rough idea.
The Governor had fulfilled his promise of rescue; now it was time for the Wasteland Society to show their sincerity.
Patel didn’t find this troubling.
What’s wrong with the Wasteland Society fully submitting to the Governor?
Entering through the gate, he returned to his homeland.
Familiar faces appeared before him.
Their complexions were both pale and dark. Pale because they had lived underground for years without sunlight; dark because their sweat mixed with coal dust from labor, with no conditions for frequent washing.
As the leader of the Wasteland Society, Patel knew each of the nine hundred plus faces in the cave.
People rushed to ask him:
“Patel, are we saved?”
“Have those damned bandits been wiped out?”
“Who saved us?”
At first, Patel responded to each question as he walked. But eventually, he couldn’t answer them all individually and had to provide a unified reply while making his way through the crowd.
“Yes, we are saved.”
“All the bandits have been wiped out.”
“It was the Governor who saved us.”
People who heard the answers wept with joy.
After finally making his way through the crowd, Patel turned back, looking at the malnourished, far-from-handsome faces of his compatriots. He felt a mixture of pride and worry.
Pride, because he had brought in reinforcements and saved everyone.
Worry, because he was uncertain about the future.
With a slight sigh, he turned and saw his uncle, Old Butch.
Old Butch’s hand had been crushed when a cart full of ore overturned.
The injury became infected, leading to an amputation, and he barely survived.
During that time, Patel was pushed to the forefront.
After Old Butch recovered, he didn’t try to seize power—what was there to seize? In the environment of the Wasteland Society, there was no room for exploitation or oppression.
Leaders were elected, and the entire community was so poor that even as a leader, there was little difference in labor and living conditions compared to others.
Due to his disability, Old Butch couldn’t do much heavy work anymore, but he still contributed by supporting his nephew Patel to the best of his ability.
Old Butch patted his shoulder with his remaining hand. “You’ve worked hard.”
“It’s what I should do,” Patel replied.
The two of them entered a small room, and Patel recounted the entire story of his mission to seek help.
Old Butch sighed deeply. “It’s a curse, not a blessing.”
The old man’s attitude seemed pessimistic.
Patel disagreed. “What curse? I don’t see any curse. This is definitely our opportunity. The Governor said he wouldn’t just save our lives; he would save us completely. He’s here to build up the world, and the Wasteland Society is his first stop.”
Old Butch sighed again. “Those big shots, how can you trust the words that come out of their mouths? To them, we’re like rats and bugs in the gutter. When have they ever seen us as humans? They say a few kind words when they need us, acting like they care, but once we’re no longer useful, they’ll discard us without mercy.”
“I don’t think the Governor is like that,” Patel replied.
Old Butch scoffed. “You naive kid, what do you know? How long have you known him?”
“Then what can we do?”
Patel sidestepped the issue of trust and asked, “Can our situation get any worse? Over nine hundred people, toiling away under this mine, working ourselves to death, with no one daring to be lazy because the lazy ones starve to death. And even so, we’re still not well-fed or well-clothed, with injuries and deaths from work, and every winter, people freeze to death.”
“We don’t have the extra wealth to buy guns and cannons to arm ourselves. When danger comes, we can only lock ourselves in this hole and pray it passes. We haven’t perished before because we’re too poor for bandits to waste the effort breaking our shell for a few scraps. This time, we encountered the most greedy ones, determined to break in and sell us as food. We could only sit and await our doom.”
“I absolutely don’t want my compatriots to continue living like this.”
“Moreover, what more do we have to lose?”
These words left Old Butch silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke, “We will lose our freedom.”
“Ha ha ha! Freedom!”
Patel laughed loudly, the sound almost reaching outside the room, making it seem to those unaware as if he was genuinely happy, “Can freedom fill our bellies? This time, I went to the capital city of the Alliance, Revival City, and I saw slaves. Slaves live better than we do; we are worse off than cattle and horses! If giving up freedom means our people won’t starve, freeze, or be eaten as food, then I am willing to give up freedom.”
Old Butch couldn’t come up with anything else to say. He could only sigh again, “I won’t oppose any of your decisions. I just hope we won’t regret it.”
“We will never regret it.”
……
“I believe you won’t regret it.”
That very day, Gu Hang saw Patel return, accompanied by several influential members of the Wasteland Society, all of whom expressed their complete submission.
Just as Gu Hang had expected.
The people of the Wasteland Society had no other choice.
Patel humbly said, “Governor, the Wasteland Society totals 907 people, awaiting your first command.”
“Let’s go inside and take a look.”
“What? You want to go into the cave?”
“Not welcome?”
“It’s not that… but… the conditions inside are very poor, you…”
He genuinely didn’t want Gu Hang to enter the cave, not for any other reason but because the conditions inside were so poor.
Over nine hundred people crowded in narrow caves, and despite ventilation, the air was foul. Living conditions were rudimentary, with filth everywhere…
Patel was worried that the conditions inside the cave would soil the Governor’s fine clothes, and more importantly, upset him.
Gu Hang waved his hand, “I need to see your situation for myself to decide what to do next.”