"He's fast." Compass Carburettor muttered, sensing the position of the Spydragon in Rhizen's belongings, watching it travel at incredible speeds. As there were plenty of useful supplies in his bag, Rhizen hadn't thrown it away. As for the Spydragon, it was pretty inconspicuous in its serpentine form, having retreated under a fold in the bag.
So, Rhizen hadn't noticed its existence until now.
"Seems he obtained an ability related to flight, or one of his companions might have that." He muttered, having heard the conversations shared between Rhizen and others only occasionally. As the distance was beyond twenty kilometres, just connecting with his Spydragon expended more than 20 Darlac every second.
And this was in the case he was only listening to the sounds perceived by the Spydragon. If he dared to move it, the expenditure would have been too much for even him to handle.
Hovering in the air, Compass Carburettor sensed for a couple of minutes before saying, "Alright, Rhizen has left the settlement."
"Are you sure about this?" Grisha asked through telepathy, "Wouldn't it be a problem once news of them possessing External Items is revealed? After all, these are things that would only be created around 8-10 years into the apocalypse. Moreover, since the Remembrance System has been killed, it'll be easy to infer the details."
"Yes, there's that risk." Compass Carburettor nodded, "But, we also need a source of Mental Energy for our battle. So, it's a necessary risk. Besides, in risk lies the opportunity to fool our enemies."
Upon seeing the subtle change in his eyes, even Grisha shuddered in fear for a moment, 'W-What is this sense of fear I am experiencing?'
She was pretty surprised. After all, thanks to all her loops, the concept of fear had pretty much been dulled in her mind. So, it was baffling to feel it from Compass Carburettor when the latter hadn't done anything fear-inducing.
'Maybe it's because he's facing against Systems and still dares to do this?' She thought, sighing in the end. "Alright. I hope that's the case. Because, we've been hunting nonstop for the past ten days just to gather the necessary materials."
Grisha was latched onto his back as Compass Carburettor flew through the air, heading towards the settlement while making a long arc, ensuring to not fall under the line of sight of Rhizen.
After all, in the mind of the other party, Compass Carburettor was already dead. Things would become troublesome if that notion was broken.
Though, since the Spydragon was in Rhizen's belongings, avoiding him was easy. Thirty minutes later, Compass Carburettor arrived at the settlement, landing in its centre abruptly, making some noise to alert everyone.
Due to the sound, those sleeping within their wooden logs gazed through a crack they had installed in their houses, observing the figure of Compass Carburettor standing, his figure outlined by the moonlight.
Upon seeing his figure, a startling sensation of fear and peace washed over them.
"Sir, you've returned!" Suddenly, the leader rushed out from his house in joy, almost pouncing upon Compass Carburettor, only managing to stop himself on time upon seeing the serious face of the other party.
"How's the situation here?" Compass Carburettor asked curtly.
"We are managing to survive somehow, but there are some food and water shortage." He sighed, "We've been digging a well recently but it'll still need some more time given our lack of manpower. We have to defend against the Grassmen that constantly try to attack us, not to mention the mutated beasts that attack us at least a few times daily."
"Were there any casualties?" Compass Carburettor asked next, looking around as he watched the people streaming out of their houses one after another.
"We have fifteen dead and around forty injured." The leader sighed in worry. There was a grief-stricken atmosphere. Hope was waning with the passage of every day.
Before, when they heard the message from the flying helicopter, they were happy. But as the days passed and the deadline neared them, they were pensive, worrying about whether the rescue would arrive or not.
But then the declared day arrived, but there were no signs of a rescue. One day, two days, three days, with the passing of each day, their moods worsened while their expression turned sullen. Once more than two weeks had passed since then, they had lost all hope.
And now, the leader was barely making things hang in place. People were losing hope to even work for their survival. After all, not only were the nights cold, they didn't even have enough food and water to survive.
Quite a few of the people had thinned considerably as their sunken eyes looked at Compass Carburettor, their feelings unknown as they gazed at his healthy self that maintained a pristine state of being.
"Is this all of them?" Compass Carburettor asked, gazing at the leader.
"The injured are still resting, same for the children." The leader said.
"Well, do you guys wish to live comfortably? Eat enough food, drink sufficient water, have access to at least some of the necessities of the previous society, does anyone still wish to have that?" Compass Carburettor asked calmly, looking around as he saw the expression of everyone morphing.
"Of course, we want that!" A lady shouted like a banshee, crying in response, "Sir…please. You have saved us before. And now that you have returned, please help us."
"Sir, do you have a plan in mind?" The leader asked, echoing the statements of everyone that began to shout in response to Compass Carburettor's words that triggered the emotions suppressed in them.
"Of course," Compass Carburettor smiled, stating loud enough for enough people to hear him clearly, "I do have the means to give you everything I stated before. But, I want to see your resolve. Are you willing to work hard enough to live a life of comfort once again?"
"The world has changed, and it's necessary to adapt to the changes. But, that doesn't mean you should give up desiring what you had once possessed. Do you want that or not?" He almost shouted at the end.
"Yes! We want it!" Everyone roared in response.
"Louder! Do you want a life of comfort?" He shouted louder.
"Yes!" There was a deafening roar.
