pappabearbooks Chapter 674 - 34: Uda Desert, Building a City Overnight
Chapter 674 - 34: Uda Desert, Building a City Overnight
What is Punk’s identity?A pauper who relies on his sister for survival, a villain with the nickname "Ten Sand Coins," a slave trader who likes to eat Star Candy.
None of these identities can be connected to the king of Yongsha Star.
But as Han Zhan said.
Becoming a king doesn’t need extra identities attached.
Because this is what Han Zhan has granted him.
As long as he wills it, then he is!
Silence fell again, with only the sound of breathing clearly reaching everyone’s ears.
Aisha and Marianne did not speak.
They were all waiting for Punk’s answer.
After a brief moment of shock, Punk smirked, then pulled out the yellow paper package from his pocket.
Only to find that there wasn’t a single piece of Star Candy left in it.
"This is Star Candy made by Granny Fen Ni, one sand coin for a whole pack, it’s been this price since I was a child."
"All these years have passed, the environment for survival has gotten worse, the clean sand needs to be constantly washed over and over again, Granny Fen Ni’s physical strength has greatly diminished with age."
"But the Star Candy she makes always tastes the same, and always remains the same price."
"Ten sand coins Punk? I’m just a poor imitator."
Punk chuckled self-deprecatingly twice, lowering his head.
"Not raising the price is a conscientious act, but conscientious people don’t always get good returns."
Punk paused here in silence. "I killed her."
Granny Fen Ni is dead.
From now on, there won’t be any more one sand coin packs of Star Candy.
"What I’m saying isn’t a hypocritical excuse for myself." After a while, he suddenly looked up, his eyes burning as he gazed at Han Zhan.
"Granny Fen Ni was just a minor character in the Uda Desert, a microcosm of the ordinary poor people of Yongsha Star."
"There are many people like her, who don’t belong to the Interstellar Hyenas nor have joined the Alliance Army, struggling for survival between the two large forces."
Even without Punk, there would still be Baker, Guang Ke, Orc.
As long as these two superpowers haven’t fallen.
People caught in the middle could be trampled on like Granny Fen Ni, at any time, with life taken lightly and death spoken of lightly.
Life as cheap as grass, bodies as light as a feather.
Thinking of this, Punk took a deep breath and spoke what might be the most domineering answer of his life:
"I want to change the current situation of Yongsha Star, no longer divided by south, north, or poor. I want every person of Yongsha Star to not live as a pawn in the games of gods."
"I want to achieve redemption for the killings I’ve caused!"
"I want to become, the king of Yongsha Star!"
This was the truest thought in Punk’s heart.
"Lord Zhan."
"I know all bargains given in the dark have been clearly priced. So I only have one request."
Punk said, raising one finger, "That is, tell me, to become the king of Yongsha Star, what do I need to pay?"
Punk is still Punk.
Even at this moment, he remains sober, and it is this precious clarity that makes Han Zhan look at him with admiration, not just once.
"What to pay." Han Zhan pondered for a moment, then spoke.
"You need to face assassination attempts that can happen anytime, anywhere, though the success rate is almost zero."
"You need to face numerous Yongsha Star people who will turn to you, and be responsible for arranging them."
"You may also need to learn early, like a true king, to accept the loneliness of high places."
Han Zhan stopped here.
This movement caused Punk, who had been listening intently with a furrowed brow, to slightly pause.
"Is that it?"
"That’s it."
"Is that all?"
"That’s all there is."
Facing Punk’s repeated confirmation and incredulity, Han Zhan reached out his hand and patted Punk’s shoulder.
"Don’t feel too pressured. With me here, being the king of a world is not such a daunting task."
"Where are we going now?" Punk asked.
Han Zhan raised his head, his gaze crossing the ruins of the ancient castle, falling toward the boundless night and the end of darkness.
"We’re going back to your domain, which is also the Royal Capital of Yongsha Star."
"To the Uda Desert!"
...
The Uda Desert is the most barren place on Yongsha Star.
It is also the only area that neither the Interstellar Hyenas nor the Alliance Army want to occupy.
Because occupying it is pointless and unrewarding.
In Brage’s book, there is a record of the Uda Desert, where it is supposed to be the place where the only god of Yongsha Star, the Master of Yongsha, fell.
It is for this reason that it is covered in endless yellow sand, and even vegetation cannot survive.
Otherwise, the struggling indigenous people of Yongsha Star would not have invented foods like Star Candy, which have pleasant names but are fundamentally like sand.
The Uda Desert has extremely dramatic temperature differences between day and night.
During the day, under the exposure of sunlight, the temperature is extremely high, while at night, the wind howls, and the temperature drops sharply.
Even in such a harsh environment, people still set up camps in the desert.
They live in the simplest tents, mending them frequently, making them leaky all over.
Occasionally, a strong wind carries sand into the tents.
The people inside the tents hug their knees tightly, curling up, just like on countless nights before.
They have become numb, neither longing for the dawn of the next day nor fearing the present darkness.
For them, life has only one thing left, which is to wait for death.
But today.
This ordinary night was no different from any other.
The only possible difference is that today’s wind was noisier than yesterday’s.
A point of light appeared in the central area of the Uda Desert.
The light was intensely bright, exceptionally luminous in the pitch-black night, like a small sun, illuminating a large area of the Uda Desert.
Awakened by the glare, the refugees emerged from their tents one by one.
They raised their hands, shielding against the wind and sand in their faces and the strong light in the distance.
They strained to see something growing at a speed visible to the naked eye within the brilliant light.
As the shadow gradually grew to a height where it could be illuminated by the light, someone saw its true face.
It was—a city!
A city grew out of the barren wasteland known as the Uda Desert?!
These refugees involuntarily knelt in the direction of that city.
They raised their hands high above their heads, then bowed down, burying their heads below the cold sand surface.
When they repeated this motion and looked again at the center of the Uda Desert.
The city was still there.
It was not an illusion!
It was still growing!
A miracle! This must be a miracle of the Master of Yongsha! The same thought flashed through the mind of every witness.
They, like the most devout believers, bowed deeply in the direction of the center of the Uda Desert again and again.
It was their first time yearning for the arrival of dawn.
They wanted to see the true form of the miracle as witnesses!
As time passed,
Darkness retreated, and the sky broke with dawn.
A brand-new giant city, a kingdom of sand, suddenly appeared in the Uda Desert!