Just like this, over the next few weeks, Kyle had been boosting his own food reserves by attacking Count Leon’s supply routes, helping to stall the war.
However, he was a man of equality – attacking the Versian supply routes as well to ensure that he had a near monopoly of the black market nearby. This way, he could control the amount of firepower and strength each party had.
He did not hit too often, however, only striking when necessary. For the most part, he began to source food and other resources locally in the Keru Forest. He even had a few mining teams begin to head towards the dungeon, trying to utilise the existing tunnels of the dungeon and extract any metals.
Ocra was not the only populated area under siege or under stress: countless smaller villages and minor towns were also facing shortages of supplies. Kyle established trading routes with them, building up his fleet of clandestine hovercrafts to service the area while avoiding detection.
More and more began to know about this smuggling operation, relying on the black market that was fully spreading between Desham and Ocra. Even business owners from the Yual Dominion’s side of the border were eager to trade, wanting to get a foot into the lucrative war economy. They were the losers of the military contract, having been ousted by either the Seven Snakes’ competitive bid or a price war by other industry competitors.
Kyle was already on-hand to help them, but he was not the only one in the smuggling business.
The major gangs, too, had their own methods of infiltration through the porous borders, allowing for many towns under siege to effectively circumvent the blockade set up by the Yual forces.
Versian coins began to fill the coffers of Desham rapidly as the economy came roaring back, booming from the inflated prices thanks to the suffering and devastation of other towns. Some refugees even began to hear about how Desham was unaffected by the war – even prospering.
Flocks of refugees fleeing the war began to make their way to Desham, increasing the workforce of Desham as a whole.
However, Kyle did not accept everyone – only accepting those who had potential or were skilled directly into the city. He had Diya and Makoa filter each refugee, rejecting the disabled or sick.
Kyle was extremely clear about the potential for a plague, so he forced the rejected refugees to set up camp outside the city under threat of armed force. The new security force trained by Makoa was now in charge of protecting Desham, controlling riots and protests as the refugees tried to force their way in.
Unsurprisingly, the camp outside Desham became yet another slum, with the former slum dwellers who had now been elevated to positions of leadership now torn on what to do. The memories of the run-down conditions of the former squalor were still fresh in their minds. Many began to urge Diya to be more compassionate and gracious.
“We should not be like the richer class of old – it is our duty to help those like us who are in need. We all are Versians!”
Diya faced long, harrowing meetings on how to handle the influx of refugees that threatened to strain the nascent economy. She knew that if she blatantly let everyone in, there would not be enough food and housing to go around. The number of refugees already threatened to double the current population of Desham. Cheap labour is good, but only if we can provide the support.
If she did not help, she might earn the ire of her followers, who were under the impression that she was a gracious leader that fought for equality.
Right outside the city gates, the refugees were getting more and more restless, attacking the soldiers as they tried to enter the town. “Discrimination! Heartless!” They chanted up at the guards on the walls, hurling rocks and stones.
However, not all refugees were united as a single entity, all in a mad scramble for survival. Those from the same village stuck together, creating factions among the refugees. Some who already had family or relatives in Desham were able to smuggle goods out, hauling supplies over the wall.
“The refugees are a big problem – we run the risk of a revolution if this continues,” Diya explained to Kyle in her office at the top of the Desham council building. “If we don’t control them, it will build into a riot.”
If it were me, I would have killed all of them instantly. Kyle was used to decimating his enemies, blowing up escape pods with no mercy. Yet this was a different situation – he had Diya’s reputation to take into account.
Kyle pondered slightly before coming up with a plan on how to utilise the refugees. “We’re going to start a logging company. The entire Keru forest is ripe for the taking – I think it’s time we expand Desham.”
He began to organise the refugees with the help of Diya’s followers, creating a brand new corporate entity to handle the housing, feeding and scheduling of the refugees.
The steel factory churned out low-quality axes, making them by the hundreds before giving them out to the refugees. “Chop down every tree you see and uproot them! In exchange, you will have food, lodging and a minimum salary. Work for your survival!”
With this, the refugee camp waiting outside Desham began to diminish significantly as desperate refugees no longer clambered for handouts. A few stubborn refugees or those who were unable to work were left behind, with the able-bodied men and adults of the camp forced to share their earnings with them.
Tree fell after tree as thousands of refugees began to perform a mass clearing of the Keru forest over the week. Kyle and Feldon directed the effort, having the refugees chop in a direction away from where Tenar Logging Incorporated was working.
In exchange, the wood that was collected was manually stripped of the branches and shaved by dozens, each trunk requiring two dozen workers to prepare it for use in construction. The timbre was then formed into makeshift houses, temporary housing that was far better and more comfortable. Kyle transported in the harder-to-obtain supplies, such as bedding, cotton and general furnishing, buying them off greedy Raktor merchants who had no qualms about selling them to the enemy.
With the Verisan war stuck in a stalemate, a new normal began to settle among the people, the constant news report about small skirmishes and frontline events reported on the national arctech radio. It has been a month since the war started, but observers were already reckoning that the war could last much longer than expected.
If Kyle had any say in the war, he would have it drag on indefinitely, allowing him to dominate. However, he knew the major gangs would not let this happen.
The porous borders between Yual and Versia were now carved up, with Kyle aware that major gangs from both Raktor and Versia were complicit in smuggling for the other two war fronts. This would increase the longevity of the war more than ever as well.
This only made Kyle more impatient to bolster his forces. He recruited aggressively, taking in able-bodied refugees and training them to be hunters and soldiers under his direct command. The desperate refugees had already been pushed to the brink, having no hope in the government or armies of both sides to save their lives.
As such, Kyle’s personal force in Desham began to grow significantly, with more and more signing up to be mercenaries. It was a matter of survival in war, and many refugees who had seen the effects of war up close did not want to be caught unarmed again. They readily agreed to fight for Kyle, further increasing the strength and security of the black market.
Some of the workforces were also dedicated to river diversion, diverting the rivers that flowed through the Keru Forest towards Desham instead. He had the logs created converted into a wooden watermill, allowing them to mechanically regenerate depleted hovercraft arcia crystals.
Just like this, Desham began to grow in strength over time, though Kyle still felt like there was something still missing from the bigger picture. The war can’t be this simple – there must be something else at play.
He entered an interrogation cell in the underground tunnel base, where the captured Ardent Cretins squad leader had been heavily mutilated, the wounds on his skin already scabbing over as he whimpered softly, hung up in chains.
“Ready to talk?”
The squad leader nodded his head vigorously, even as each scar on his neck sent waves of pain through his body. Kyle stepped forward to heal him, relieving his pain by half. “Where were you delivering the goods to?”
“B-b-back to Raktor.”
“To sell?”
“No, to use.”
Use? “For what purpose?”
“I-i-I don’t know! I only know my boss told me to hijack the supply convoys!”
“How many such groups have you deployed? And why were there Veiled Angels in your group as well?”
“It’s a joint effort; I don’t know anything; please let me go!”
“You’re going to have to tell me something better. Where did you get the Versian uniforms and equipment from?”
“We, we’ve met a few soldiers at the border. They had everything set up for us – all we had to do was execute.”
Kyle’s brows furrowed slightly, the grander picture of the war unable to form in his mind. “So, you’re attacking Yual supply convoys acting as Versian military and then storing them somewhere else? Where’s the drop-off point?”
“Just.. just outside Raktor. Please, that’s all I know, really!”
Kyle left the cell, ordering the guard to torture the squad leader again. Pondering over the information he had gotten, it was not looking good.
The major gangs are working together to hit the supply convoys – but to what end? Kyle could not wrap his head around why the Ardent Cretins were trying to stockpile weapons and also why they were working with the Veiled Angels.
Kyle also recalled that the supply stockpile of the Ilysian Punks had notoriously gone missing as well. He had previously assumed that the Ardent Cretins were simply collecting them to bolster their firepower further, as evidenced by their attempts to raid Kyle’s supply lines from the Culdao Peaks.
However, he also noted that Feldon had told him about the Ardent Cretins not making a single move against the Seven Snakes. He had expected Sebastian to strike against his factory, or his goblin dens the moment he was gone, yet Sebastian did not do anything to him.
What in the world is going on? Does Count Leon know about this? Is the Versian military already in cahoots with the major gangs of Raktor?
He did not imagine that Count Leon would not be aware of this smuggling and hijacking issue, as it was in his best interest to secure his supply route as much as possible. So if Count Leon knows about all of this, why has he not made any moves to stem this?
Kyle had a myriad of theories and postulations about all the possibilities. He did not understand Count Leon much, as he had never met him in person. This made it even harder for Kyle to predict, making it an unknown issue.
This was not the only unknown factor Kyle had to worry about. There was also the threat of whoever was backing Rayner and Soren returning with an even stronger force that could threaten to destroy everything he had built so far.
As much as he wanted to return to Raktor immediately, he needed to stay here to defend his burgeoning military force in order to groom it into a power with agency in the war. Kyle had already learnt his lesson once in the catacombs not to underestimate enemy forces. Once his personal force had been built up tremendously, he would be able to launch his own raids, steering the course of the battle at his own will.
For now, he decided to send messengers via runners, dropping them off via stealth hovercraft at the border. He needed to know what the hell was happening in Raktor before his next move.
