PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

458 Chapter 458 A Growing City

Border Defensive Megacities Construction Project is a bit of a long and explicit name. Still, one could imagine that the people in charge of the project had more important things to think about besides the title.

This project was placed since mid-autumn on the desk of the current head of military power within country F. After the winter disaster; the plan was approved for operation.

Currently, the project has been running for three months, and the changes are already notable. As a medium-scale power, Country F barely had the manpower to carry out such an ambitious plan. What country F did have were natural resources with which to trade.

As one of the Eastern European countries bordering the continent’s most extensive mountain range and forested area, Country F had access to many natural resources. That’s not to mention the resources Country F got every time it managed to survive a tide of beasts.

For Country F, the mutated beast tides were a curse and a blessing, a resource and a threat, but now, the time had come to harness that resource. With the abundant flow of materials obtained during the winter, country F subcontracted the defensive cities’ remodeling, expansion, and fortification projects named in the project that they had in mind.

In other circumstances, a country as small and weak as country F, with abundant resources, would already have been invaded by its more powerful neighbors, but that was impossible in the new era.

Humanity had lost too many lives during the dark year that followed its awakening. With its civilization on the verge of extinction and dealing with mutated beasts, very few countries still had the energy to see beyond their borders.

That was especially the case when the world’s significant powers saw that those weapons they relied on the most stopped working. For unknown reasons, reactors and nuclear weapons stopped operating on the day of awakening.

Many scientists maintain that the energy of the meteorite must have changed part of the composition of matter or affected some laws of physics involved in the process. This was not without foundation, as the most advanced technology in the hands of humanity ceased to function after that day.

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In the same way, it is now known for a fact that both radio waves and gravity behave slightly differently. Hence, today’s communication and transportation technology barely reach the past standards.

Whatever the case, the weakening of humanity led to the extinction of large-scale warfare, significantly limiting the resources available to certain countries. For this reason, when country F announced the tenders for its megaproject, a gigantic wave was generated that shook all the powers on the continent and outside the continent.

Note that the resources available to country F were not small at all. In less than a week, envoys from various countries and corporations crossed the sky, sea, and land by any means necessary to reach Country F for the bidding.

In the end, it was three mega-corporations that won the bid. One could not underestimate the power of money even in this new era that humanity was in. That was a truth that Green Seed faced for the last three months.

Expanding the area of ??the city by one million two hundred and fifty thousand square meters was already enough to amaze everyone. The town was now more than twice as big, but that was only the beginning. With what can only be described as an army of espers with superior skills, the city’s renovations and fortifications proceeded at an insane pace.

The new defensive walls were twice as tall as the previous ones, without considering the increase in their thickness and the change to special materials. With the rise in habitable land area, a vast expansion was made to the central military district, pushing the residential area even further outside.

Due to the changes and reforms, many people decided to leave the city as they did not feel comfortable with the new environment. Fortunately, many of the people received adequate compensation for their land and property.

While some people were leaving, other people were arriving in the city. To a large extent, the people coming into the city were new military personnel accompanied by their families. However, a considerable number of people also saw an opportunity for themselves in this newly developing city.

In three months, Green Seed had changed a lot; there were even rumors that the city’s name might be changed in the future. For many people, these changes were good; for others, these changes were a headache; in Desmond’s case, it was both.

All of these changes shook the foundation of everything Desmond had accomplished in the city, at the same time opening up many opportunities for Desmond to expand his influence. Unfortunately, Desmond had been too busy with his work due to all the changes in the city.

Due to the constant expansion and fortification of the city, Desmond had been assigned to protection work for most of the time, and when he wasn’t busy with it, he was sent to hunt mutated beasts nearby.

In part, the excessive workload was Rundert’s way of retaliating against the new rising military star, but even without that, there was simply too much to do in the city.

Even Claire had been incredibly busy; with all her training to keep up, she had barely spent time alone with Desmond in the last few months. Although that, in one way or another, made Cecilia’s attachment to the family more fluid since she didn’t have to deal with too many awkward moments like when Sasha just moved into the house.

Desmond just couldn’t cope with all his responsibilities and plans for the future; luckily, he had Garden. While it was true that Desmond didn’t have the time to carry out his plans and preparations, the Garden girls had been doing it for him.

Garden had Sara, whose analytical abilities were nothing short of exceptional, and Desmond trusted the young girl’s judgment. While Sara’s social skills were almost non-existent, her mind was the most brilliant Desmond had ever seen in his life, something that made perfect sense since Sara’s ability was related to the arcane law of knowledge.

Garden might be a small organization, but its capabilities cannot be underestimated. Each of the Garden girls was a lieutenant-class esper, with Revna still at a higher level. Sara was the mind, Tania was the heart, Natalie was the senses, Yuri and Kira were the fists, while Revna was the organization’s poisoned blade.

For the past three months, Garden had been consolidating its base, expanding its resources, and securing its cards for the next play. With the advent of new military reforms and increased pressure from Rundert on Desmond, it seemed the time had come for Garden to bear its fangs to its Master’s enemies.

A little less than a year ago, Desmond had put the Garden girls out of their misery, a hell of unimaginable pain and humiliation. They went from being repeatedly raped by groups of dozens of men daily to living a comfortable and pleasant life full of little luxuries and joys.

It was Desmond who gave them everything they now had. He healed their wounded bodies, allowing the scars left by their former captors to heal. The Garden girls no longer had to see the aftermath of their abuse every time they looked in the mirror.

It was Desmond who gave them the power to never be victims again. He trained, educated, and armed and gave them their home and an environment full of warmth. Desmond had given them so much and only asked for one thing in return: Loyalty.

That day, when the girls in Garden accepted the deal, they swore their allegiance and put around their necks necklaces that made them the property of the man in front of them. In other circumstances, coming from another man, they would never have done such a thing, but Desmond was their savior, and they would do anything to pay him back.

As with Revna, the necklace was just a redundant and unnecessary security measure, as each of the girls in Garden couldn’t wait to prove her loyalty to Desmond.

Now, in the meeting room on the basement floor below Garden’s restaurant, all of the Garden members except Tania were present, looking with excitement and anticipation at the man in the front seat.

Sara, Garden’s mind, left on Desmond’s desk a stack of folders filled with all the plans Garden had kept under lock and key until now. These documents were Sara’s masterpiece, resulting from her strenuous efforts over the last three months. Now, as Sara watched Desmond read the files, she couldn’t help but be incredibly nervous.

“What do you think, Master?”

Desmond basically couldn’t believe what he was reading. Desmond, the man who had always cursed the goddess of fortune, now felt that any bad luck he had in the past had to be a Karma thing. Only Karma could explain what Desmond was seeing.