NEC Chapter 104: Wailing in the Night Wind

Although Vast Sea Territory's new city was only a framework, housing for this batch of slaves had been planned and positioned within the city early on, with basic construction completed before the slaves' arrival.

Building bright, clean houses was obviously unrealistic. This area of slave quarters used the traditional "sand burrow" method.

In the northeast corner of Vast Sea City, there was a large sandy slope. This area was deliberately included within the city boundaries because at the current stage, the dunes could effectively block wind and sand, providing shelter for dwellings below the slope.

Under the sand people's guidance, centaurs and hobgoblin laborers worked up a sweat, digging circular pits about two arm-lengths deep in the ground. The pit walls were slanted, and ogres applied hardening magic to the cave walls, completing simple reinforcement.

Simple frames were built inside the tunnels using desert willow wood, with rooftops woven from branches of sandy shrubs, then covered with a layer of grass mats or felt.

On top of this, thirty centimeters of sandy soil was laid, wetted, compressed, and dried to form a hard insulation shell.

The entrance was made as a sunken passage with double-layer felt door curtains, creating a semi-underground sand burrow dwelling.

According to the lord's instructions, under limited conditions, living environment comfort should be ensured as much as possible.

The old sand people shared all their knowledge for this purpose, such as digging sand particle drainage ditches around each sand burrow to prevent shifting sand from crushing roofs or flowing into rooms.

For example, there were sealable ventilation holes on both sides of the roof, closed during the day to prevent sun exposure, open at night for heat dissipation and ventilation.

The lord additionally ordered public toilets, sewage channels, and garbage stations to be set up around the periphery of the sand burrow residential area.

The sand people grand elder, leaning on his top-quality red poplar walking stick, walked around the sand burrow cluster area again and again, making clicking sounds of admiration.

"This grade of sand burrows, even in our place only the best beetle hunters could live in them, now they're being used for slaves, what a waste!"

Then he turned and entered his own adobe house on the southeastern hardpan.

The old man had contributed to the territory, so now he lived above ground!

As for those slaves, being able to come work in Vast Sea Territory had already consumed several lifetimes of luck, so work well and strive to accumulate merit!

Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company hadn't cheated anyone. This time they had indeed brought good-looking young adult slaves.

After the long trek through the desert, they were all somewhat weakened, but after brief rest and sufficient food supplementation, the slaves quickly recovered their vitality.

They began actively engaging in Vast Sea Territory's production activities.

In this batch of slaves, seventy percent were human and thirty percent were half-orcs. Premium specimens like minotaurs and centaurs were nowhere to be seen.

Among the human slaves, thirty percent came with family members, basically middle-aged and young women plus children around seven or eight years old.

No elderly, no infants.

This wasn't the trading company being considerate of Vast Sea Territory. The cost of bringing the old and young across the desert while keeping them alive was higher than their own negligible value, so there really was no need.

Like previous batches of citizens, the newly arrived slaves went from anxious unease to working steadily in just one meal's time.

The lord said work hard and eat your fill, so what else was there to worry about?

That very night, after Lord Chen Mo finished a cultivation session and stepped out of his temporary camp, an inexplicable excitement surged in his heart. This was the historic moment when his city's population first broke through one thousand people!

"Big Liu, Little Ma, come with me to check out the sand burrows!"

The lord's loyal ox-horse guard unit was fully armed and, taking advantage of the somewhat dim moonlight, escorted the lord toward the city's northeastern direction.

In the square in front of the sand burrows, a large outdoor LED solar lamp had been installed that automatically lit at night, illuminating the square brightly.

This unprecedented spectacle attracted many curious slaves to gather here.

Adults sat on the edge of the sandy ground, exchanging stories about yesterday's hardships, today's full bellies, and tomorrow's hopes.

Carefree children, having eaten their fill, seemed to have already escaped from their previous days of suffering. With their dark, round little bellies exposed, they chased and played in the lamplight, engaging in little games that outsiders couldn't understand.

Women took advantage of this free lighting, using evening time to mend their tattered clothes.

Slaves could only take care of themselves, and a box of needles and thread was often their family's most expensive possession.

Chen Mo didn't let the guard unit disturb the crowd but stood in the darkness quietly observing. At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to that small southern town in Blue Star's East Xia.

Although there was no square dancing here, no street stalls, no neon flashing, no traffic coming and going, there was finally a trace of long-missed human warmth.

Then the next second, Chen Mo's eyes widened.

A guy wearing a patrol uniform, with a satisfied, smug smile on his face, crawled out of a front-row sand burrow. As he walked, he casually pulled up his pants.

Behind him in the doorway, a disheveled, staggering slave woman was frantically and stumblingly using her body to block the thin felt door curtain.

Chen Mo felt a rush of blood surge to his head, making him slightly dizzy.

He knew what kind of world this was, and he knew this sort of thing happened every moment on this continent.

Even on that land of Blue Star, it was commonplace, just ordinary.

Perhaps the only difference was that in the west it was James Island, in the east it was Heaven on Earth.

Some involved coercion and inducement, some were willing.

Well, that was all.

But at this moment, he absolutely could not accept witnessing such a scene just when he was filled with joy, welcoming a territorial development milestone, looking forward to entering a new era on the first day.

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and pointed at that guy word by word, "Drag that bastard out for me!"

The minotaur charged in first, causing an explosion of terrified screams.

The centaur squad spread out to seal the scene, shouting loudly, "Everyone stay where you are! Hands on your heads! Await the lord's orders! Anyone who disobeys will be killed!"

A few minutes later, Administrator Herlan arrived at the scene panting, sweat beading on his forehead.

After a while, sand people grand elder, Master Downs, Captain Lynn, and other high-ranking territory officials all came rushing over with panicked expressions.

All the territory's middle and high-ranking officials were present, meeting their lord, whose face was livid in the lamplight.

"I remember I said from the beginning that within the territory, forcing women is forbidden, bullying slaves is forbidden!"

"Can't you understand, can't you remember, or... do you simply not regard me as your lord?"

Except for Master Downs who stood aside with his sleeves folded, all other middle and high-ranking officials fell to their knees.

The investigation was actually quite simple. It was just a city guard soldier who, after long periods without female contact, had his brain overcome by lust and slept with a female slave.

Faced with this scene, this fellow obviously knew he had committed a grave error. Shaking like a sieve, with tears and snot flowing, he kowtowed and begged for mercy, "Lord, spare my life! I didn't force her! It was her... they agreed! I'll never dare again! Really never again!"

As the direct supervisor of the city guard and patrol, old Silver Armor Lynn was also full of terror at this moment. Under the lord's ice-cold gaze, he tried to raise his head and attempted to exonerate himself.

"Lord, I've conveyed your orders repeatedly. I grabbed each person by the ears and lectured them one by one about forbidding the forcing of women! I absolutely dare not slack off in the slightest, much less disobey your orders!"

And Administrator Herlan, who had interrogated the relevant personnel again, stepped forward a few paces and explained quietly to the lord, "Lord, this matter... perhaps cannot be considered bullying. This family agreed..."

He paused, lowering his voice further, "Most men in the camp have no family, and there's no brothel or women's quarters here. The soldiers have some impulses... but this time, it followed the 'rules.'"

"I've called the man of that family. You... can question him personally."

The slave man pushed forward had a haggard face and stooped figure, kneeling on the ground curled into a ball.

Herlan cleared his throat, trying to keep his tone steady, "Raise your head and answer the lord. Did that city defense soldier force or threaten you?"

The middle-aged man shook his head repeatedly, "No! Absolutely not! That gentleman... it was agreed upon! And... he even gave money! A full ten copper coins!"

His voice was hoarse, carrying a kind of numbly "matter-of-course" tone.

"We slaves have cheap lives. In the market, those guards and traders sleep with us whenever they want, never giving money! This isn't the soldier's fault, really not the soldier's fault!"

A temporarily elected manager among the slaves, a middle-aged man, also knelt and came forward.

"City Lord, we slaves in the market don't even have clothes to wear. All families' women are locked in cages. When those guards and merchants get interested, they randomly drag them out to play with."

"Not like our Vast Sea Territory's soldier gentlemen being so... so 'particular,' giving full money! This is simply tremendous grace! We should thank the soldier gentlemen! Thank the City Lord!"

An inexplicable sense of absurdity enveloped Chen Mo.

All the middle and high-ranking officials here, most of whom could be called loyal and devoted, regarded this matter as natural and commonplace in their consciousness.

Even their individual statements seemed to consider Vast Sea Territory comparable to a human holy land, with city guard soldiers already being moral exemplars.

Even though essentially they were just trying to absolve themselves of possible responsibility, it was clear they really thought this way, really understood it this way!

Even old Master Downs, who had no stake in the matter, looked completely puzzled, obviously not understanding why his lord was so furious.

My wife ran off with someone else, and I didn't make a big deal of it. This isn't even your wife, so why such a commotion?

Chen Mo felt a fire building in his chest with nowhere to vent.

He turned to Liu Zaiyue on his left. The minotaur guard stood quietly beside him, occasionally habitually rubbing his broken horn with his hand.

"Simple Bull, what do you think?"

"I don't know!" Liu Zaiyue shook his head. Obviously this kind of moral judgment was a big trouble for him, but he immediately added, "Whatever you say, Lord, I'll do!"

The centaurs said in unison, "Us too!"

In the end, student Chen Mo still couldn't get a like-minded opinion. He sighed deeply, got up and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, Chen Mo seemed to remember something and looked back at Herlan, "That woman, was she also willing?"

Herlan was momentarily speechless, but the middle-aged man kneeling nearby provided an answer, "How could she not be willing? Ten copper coins!"

"Bring her over!"

Soon, the raggedly dressed woman was brought over. She was somewhat thin, keeping her head down tightly, clutching the ragged cloth on her body with her hands, her disheveled hair completely hiding her face.

Chen Mo repeated the question. Before the woman could speak, the man beside her shouted again, "Sir, how could she not be willing? In the slave market..."

"Shut up!"

Everyone held their breath under the lord's thunderous rage.

Chen Mo asked again. The woman still said nothing, just continuously trembling slightly.

Looking at the woman's ragged clothes in the night, Chen Mo sighed long again, casually removing his outer robe and using a not-too-skilled "Mage Hand" to drape it over the woman.

The woman shuddered as if electrocuted, instinctively curling herself into a small ball. After several seconds, she looked in disbelief at the gorgeous, heavy brocade robe on her body, wanting to touch it but not daring to.

"Don't be afraid. I am the lord of this place. I just hope you can receive the most basic justice in my territory."

Under the gaze of thousands of pairs of eyes in the entire venue, the woman's trembling grew more and more intense, until at one moment—

A heart-rending cry filled with endless humiliation, fear, and despair, like the wailing of an injured beast, suddenly burst from her chest!

"Wuu—!"

She said nothing, but actually, nothing needed to be said.

In her "family," in the slave camp, including at this moment in Vast Sea Territory, across this vast Starry Continent, it seemed everyone regarded her, regarded them, as objects.

She couldn't have opinions, and didn't need to have opinions!

Chen Mo heavily slammed down the cup in his hand, "Consent? You call this consent? Do you regard them as human beings?"

The heart-rending crying echoed across the square.

Crying seemed to be contagious.

Apparently ignited by this crying, the bitter pain buried deep in their hearts gradually spread. From far and near, waves of women's suppressed, low sobbing, like trickling streams converging into a river, finally became a deep and long sea of wailing.

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