191 War and Slaughter (Part 2)

In the origin planet’s year 10032, a helium-energy mine with an astonishing amount of helium energy was discovered near Arc City, a subsidiary of the Qin family.

The reserves of this helium-energy mine reached 10 trillion tons, more than all the helium-energy mines discovered on the origin planet in the past combined.

Helium energy was a very powerful energy. Whether it was an interstellar battleship or a variety of mechas, their core power depended on helium energy.

For the nobles, the helium energy mine meant money and power.

In order to compete for this helium energy mine, the Qin family and the Smith family used the muse woman, Heliana, as an excuse to start a war.

In the beginning, both sides were very rational. The form of the war was to support their respective proxy forces to fight on a local scale, and the intensity of the war had been controlled within an acceptable range.

Both families knew that no one could monopolize the helium-energy mine. The final result would definitely be a negotiation where the two families would develop the helium-energy mine together.

The only goal of the war was to help the two families fight for more benefits at the negotiation table.

This war was supposed to be all talk and no action.

That was until the only legal heir of the Smith family, Solan, was bewitched. In order to show off his bravery, he impulsively participated in the war.

Then, he was killed in the war for no reason.

The scope of the war went out of control.

All kinds of battleships and mechas were deployed. The battle between the two sides became more and more intense, and finally, it affected the helium-energy mine near Arc City.

The ten trillion tons of helium-energy mine triggered a huge explosion. Countless cities and civilizations were reduced to ruins, and the radiation released by helium energy gradually infected the creatures on the origin planet.

Since then, radioactive creatures had been rampant on the origin planet, and all kinds of resources had disappeared in the big explosion.

The funny thing was that the nobles led by the Qin family and the Smith family weren’t affected too much.

After the war went out of control, they took spaceships and hid on other planets. The civilization on the origin planet was destroyed by the war, but these people still enjoyed the decadent life of nobles.

The origin planet was abandoned by the nobles.

After the great explosion, the remaining people rebuilt their homes in the ruins.

With some of the technology left behind before the war, humans once again established a country, named the Norse Republic.

The original purpose of the Norse Republic was to ensure everyone’s equality, abolish the aristocratic system, unite all humans, and fight against radioactive creatures.

Unfortunately, time would change everything. Where there were people, there would be social classes.

It was the 177th year of the Norse Republic’s founding. The aristocratic system had long been restored. Sword Shield City, for example, was ruled by the Sword Shield Count of the Hilda family.

The Sword Shield City Army that Old Li mentioned, the 2nd division of the 3rd army of the republic, was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Norse Republic, but in fact, it was the private army of the Hilda family.

With the radiation creatures wreaking havoc outside and the oppression of the aristocrats inside, it would be a wonder if the lives of ordinary people could be good.

Old Li paused for a moment before continuing, “Many people have no choice but to become mercenaries in order to make a living. The number of mercenaries is extremely large.

“These mercenaries continued to explore the wild and fight with radioactive creatures. A very small number of lucky people were able to obtain opportunities and become rich overnight, never having to worry about food and clothing.

“Most of the mercenaries’ final fate was to die under the claws of the radioactive creatures.

“As a result, there were many orphans in the city. These orphans were a resource for the population, and the government would not leave them alone, so many orphanages were set up.

“In Sword Shield City, there are a total of 37 orphanages, and No. 15 is only one of them.”

Old Li sighed and looked at Ning Shi in silence, then said slowly, “I’ve seen your information. Your parents used to be mercenaries. You should have a deep understanding of this.”

Ning Shi nodded heavily. There were more than 10000 permanent orphans in Orphanage No. 15, and this was only the permanent population, not including adopted orphans.

This meant that there were more than a million orphans in Sword Shield City. It was a shocking number.

Behind every orphan was the tragic death of their parents and the destruction of their families.

The current origin planet was still in an era of war, so it was not strange to have such data.

The orphanage could be built because of the Norse Republic.

Although the aristocrats had risen again, the concept of equality was still spread in the Norse Republic.

The current power of the nobles was restricted by the Norse Republic in many ways, and their power had been greatly weakened.

Otherwise, the nobles might not have been willing to build an orphanage.

Old Li continued, “Under the government’s organization, the orphanage was built, but there are so many orphans. They need money to eat, drink, and live. The country has special funds, but it’s far from enough for the orphanage.

“Therefore, most of the orphanages would find ways to set up one or two businesses to earn some money to supplement the orphanage’s expenses.”

Ning Shi poured the oil from the spicy rabbit meat into the rice, stirred it, and ate it in big mouthfuls. Hearing Old Li’s words, he spoke for the first time.

“You mean, the money-making business of our orphanage is the breeding ground?”

Old Li nodded and said with a smile, “That’s right. Our orphanage is located near the only mountain in the city – Sword Rock Mountain. There are many plants and vegetation resources, so we opened a farming business based on local conditions.

“There are a total of three breeding farms in the yard. One is the one you just saw, the red-eyed rabbit farm, and the other two are the long-tailed chicken and the steel-hide pig.

“Among them, the steel-hide pig farm is the most valuable because there are no radiation elements in the steel-hide pig’s body. It’s a favorite food of the city’s nobles and elites, and can be sold for a good price.”