Gary was just pleased that Rand had come to him and damn the stupid orchards What was a silly dalliance before being in control of your own destiny Due to RandÆs actions GaryÆs faction was better respected by West Providence which got him the high end prototypes to field test This in turn earned him the support of the military who wanted to control who had access to these prototypes
After watching Father FosterÆs movements Gary also had a thought to sponsor a refugee camp for those who would be liberated from the frozen time in the borderlands It was unclear how many would survive but Senator Firefly liked the sound of spinning himself as a humanitarian force with the election coming up in two months There wasnÆt looking to be any real resistance in his district but he knew some of his supporters would be facing tough slogs with Father Foster gaining more mainstream support
Which was why when he arrived at the orchard he approached Randidly with a smile The young man basically seemed to spend most of his time with GaryÆs aides and Ms Terrygate who had taken on a motherly role for the kid There certainly was something childlike about Rand and the way he reacted so surprised at even the most common thing
Shoes for instance left Rand aghast and even after the concept was explained to him he shook his head and said he wasnÆt allowed
Rand how are you Gary asked finding the kid picking apples with at least three of GaryÆs most athletic aides all of them sweating Without looking up Rand answered while he continued to pluck and throw apples over his shoulder towards the three aides
Good good good This is fun His hands worked independent of each other and flicked his wrist only lightly to throw each apple But each sailed over towards the area where the three aides held baskets and caught the apples In fact the dropped apples were only because the aides kept competing with each other to catch the apples
As Gary arrived they all paused for a second and looked at him as though they were caught committing a crime It was only when three apples hit the ground due to their inaction that they snapped back to it taking turns now
mm Indeed IÆm glad youÆve learned to appreciate apples Oh by the way did you know a lot of my friends are moving into this area They might even help out with the orchards IÆm just trying to figure out where they can stay
Oh Rand said brightly turning around with a smile They can stay at my castle I have a lot of empty space
Well I donÆt know and I wouldnÆt want to impose Gary said slowly Besides this might be as many as a thousand people I doubt there is enough room
Well I could just make more Rand said with a shrug
Gary smiled Oh could you
Days settled into a routine for Randidly From morning until early evening he worked in the furnaces making more of the sought after Erickson Steel Apparently the quality had so impressed some of the buyers that demand was rapidly increasing and now Foreman Davey paid him 6 50 per ingot It was a small thing but in the quantities that Randidly was selling it quickly added up to several extra hundreds
In addition Randidly was experimenting with more advanced metals and experiencing modest success He didnÆt go so far as to mix his blood into the metal again as that metal was so resilient he couldnÆt shape it but he used other recipes to make metals that Randidly would experiment with on the side
Refine and Extract were the obvious beneficiaries of this extra experimentation as both continued to steadily improve In the early evening he would return to his little hovel Occasionally he would receive calls through his interspatial watch that seemed to function much the same as a phone Randidly made a note to see if the technology of it was possible to bring also to Zone 32
Not that the communication really mattered as people had the friend’s list function of the System But it was a familiar distraction Humanity here seemed to take comfort in it
Most of these calls were either from Griffith or Tatiana although occasionally Foreman Davey would call talking about a spike in demand for Erickson Steel Inwardly Randidly wondered how they seemed to know he was taking a break at this time In addition how the hell did they justify communicating with him if he spent his time in this worthless hut Randidly wasnÆt a status minded person and even he was starting to be irked by the thought that he would be seen living in this place By now most steelworkers knew of him and his Erickson Steel and greeted him deferentially It was nice
It wasnÆt enough prestige to catch the attention of Ghost but it was a nice return to the respect he received in Donnyton
But on the subject of how the other people justified his home maybe they just thought he was that sorta guy After all most people seemed more thrown by his bare feet Randidly shook his head sadly
In the evening and through the night he would go to the forest and work on his search and his underground space Of all the areas of these few weeks for Randidly the most disappointing was the search for the Creature He must have gone up and down the Zone searching for traces of Aether and yet he found nothing
The giant scans that exhausted him still caught the barest hint but the individual scans did not It was infuriating but it also made Randidly cautious The best explanation that Randidly could think of was that the Creature had prepared countermeasures for him Although he could subvert it with his general search the specific ones didnÆt let him detect it
Still Lucretia was working tirelessly to expand his ability to detect Aether and the related Skills improved as a result It was only a matter of time And when the clash happened Randidly intended to be ready
In some ways his daytjime activities improved his focus for the night activities because as time went on his image for the underground area shifted Now Randidly was creating not only a housing comlex but also a forge where he could make his own metal away from the eyes of Ghost
The only other indulgence Randidly allowed himself was to continue to plant the flowers left at that small shrine into the ground quickly turning it into a strange little grotto in the forest Some of RandidlyÆs Vitality seemed to bleed into the flowers he touched and they often grew bigger or brighter than their normal counterparts Some of the flowers even climbed up nearby trees like vines
The Raid Boss that was hiding within the area had disappeared along with its spawn but Randidly didnÆt mind It was all the better that it left especially with the increased military presence in the area The borders of the Zone had continued to expand and probably close to 2 000 people had been relocated to a nearby camp run by the strange church of Father Foster
When Randidly heard this figure there was a very sour feeling in his chest These 2 000 were only ? of the total that had been freed by the expanding edges of the Zone But along with people high Level monsters were found there The rescue operations encountered heavy casualties All the while Randidly knew he could have done something about it
Chapter 523
So it was about a month and a half since Randidly had arrived in the Zone he had 9 670 00 and was just about to begin the smelting of what might be his final batch of metal as a steelworker when there was a knock at the door to his rented workroom
Randidly paused This had never happened before Was it Foreman Davey
But when he opened the heavy metal door there were two unfamiliar men in military uniforms Both were wearing packs that contained expandable exosuits Both seemed to be relatively capable for men from Zone 1
Mr Baloo Erickson The first man said It is unfortunate but the military has been extremely hard pressed with the expansion of the Zone Thousands die because we simply donÆt have enough bodies We are here to inform you that your military Skill has been noted Congratulations you have been invited to be part of a rescue operation occurring tomorrow