Trash in the Apocalypse

"We were late to the party, but we still manage to snag some quick money from that," Rodel smirked after stretching his hand out while seated on the sofa.

The group of friends has finally found a place to settle down.

Joris glanced at him and shook his head. "If you didn't make it too obvious, we could have kept going for at least an hour. We'll be rich by then!"

Rodel replied, "It's bound to happen soon and we already got enough. Let's not be greedy and get caught under the radar. We're already doing fine as it is, and there's no reason for making things harder for us in the future."

"Is that why you're getting chummy with those hallway monitors?" Joris chuckled.

The Monitoring Department finally had something to do after the influx of people arrived. They were even outnumbered with the sudden increase in population making them extremely busy for the past few days. At these crucial times, anyone who causes trouble would surely be etched to the back of their times as troublemakers.

"Hey, we need to get a good image if we want to start doing business here. We will rest for now and observe how things work here. I want everyone to blend in and get close to a lot of important people. If we want to be established here, we need connections. The first thing we have to do is continue to gather information. Only after we have enough information on our hands will we decide which path to take."

After switching sides, Rodel found out that Black Haven had various wonders in its territory. There was a lot of new information and research about new things were still ongoing.

It was the golden opportunity to be known and a lot of small groups were already making names for themselves. The Tomb Raiders, Explorers, and other specific party names. Their names could easily tell what that group specializes in, so clients could easily find them.

As for their group name? It would be decided after their information gathering. Rodel plans to postpone it for a few more days, and find the niche that no one has discovered yet, or one that isn't too populated.

After the brief interruption due to the golden job post, everyone dispersed to hang out on their own while socializing with other people.

—

—

A few hours later, new land reform was announced to the public, which caused a huge commotion in the whole territory.

Jun stood in front of the Teleport Statue together with a dozen black-armored soldiers. The soldiers wore familiar white poker-faced masks which made the original citizens remember the Saviors, a group of people that suddenly vanished without leaving a trace.

Jun personally announced that Black Haven is claiming all the unclaimed lands inside its territory. All landowners must come and present papers to prove ownership of their land. If they don't have papers, they won't even be entertained.

No one was able to say anything in front of Jun. The people could only glare at him as he stood at the center of the plaza, waiting for any violent reactions.

The people who tried rebelling and create discord were immediately revoked of their citizenship and tossed out of the plaza by the Saviors. No one even pitied them since everyone wasn't dumb enough to see through things.

The troublemakers were the newcomers who thought highly of themselves and think that the world orbits around them. Arrogant toxic bastards who barely survived living in the government support. These people didn't experience the purge when survivors tried to retaliate due to the National Police's agenda and got decisively kicked out of Black Haven.

"I'm not forcing anyone to agree with me. If you don't like it here, you are free to leave. Landowners have until lunch tomorrow to submit their papers. Any time past that is invalid."

Jun wasn't known to be a kind leader, but everyone knows he was extremely honest with his words and always keeps his promises. If he says something, then he will definitely do it. The people were also afraid that they would be used as another example to threaten others.

Time and time again, the man has already proven himself that he can protect this town alone even if there are fewer people residing in it.

After making sure that everyone understood what was going on, Jun continued to explain the second part of the land reform.

"The first ten thousand settlers will be given a piece of land to own. The rest would be given the chance to buy land to own. Every new citizen after that will have to buy land or rent housing if they want to stay in the territory."

"If you have any questions, you can ask now."

Jun waited but no one dared to speak. 

"That would be all. There will be a much detailed post in the forum if anyone wants to review the details."

Jun turned and left after relieving his guards from their duty. He teleported to the Northern Plains to rest at the Idle Room.

Currently, he hunts at night since the enemies were weaker at that time, and sleeps in the morning to get some rest. In the afternoon, he spends time with his family if they were at the compound and catches up with friends while idling and watching over the territory. This was also the time when he plans most works together with Evo. Once a week, everyone with high positions would meet at the Conference Room back at the faction base for weekly reports.

After Jun disappeared, the black-armored soldiers also started to teleport away. These black soldiers were the reinstated Death Squad made from captured enemies.

They are the berserk spears that only had one purpose in life, to kill every target they have and remain victorious over any battle! On the other hand, the army will become the shield to protect the citizens from any looming threats in the territory. 

After the long break, Nik and his group finally came back to the front lines. No more were the days where they bored to death idling around. No more were the days where they just follow Jun around, making sure he was safe. 

Even if it was dirty, even if it was dangerous, they finally felt alive again. They themselves didn't know that they were already broken. That they were already longing for battle the moment they held their swords. 

Rodel watched the scene from the distance, hiding behind people to make sure that he doesn't get any special attention. He muttered, "What a great leader."

Several people turned and frowned at him.

He smiled knowing they don't understand what he meant and decided to explain himself. "There are different kinds of leaders and he knows what he wants to be. Do you guys know what it is?"

"A vicious one?"

"A greedy one?"

Rodel made a troubled face. "I'm not sure if you should be saying your thoughts out here in the open, but that's not it." Instead of answering directly, Rodel gave them some food for thought. "Has anyone here have the experience of leading a group before?"

Seeing that no one answered, he continued. "The hardest part of leading a group was to actually lead people. And for people to follow you, there are numerous factors and he does it smoothly. I won't explain everything to you guys, but in my personal preference, a leader must always have a clear mind and has a vision for the future."

"Do you know why he's claiming the lands now? Because he was sure that there were no threats and life would become much stable. People would care more about their daily lives more than anything. I won't talk much but I hope you learned something. Goodbye, friends."

Rodel bade farewell and escaped from the gathering crowd. He wanted to get a good image, but not lose the whole advantage he had. 

After hearing the announcement, Rodel instantly had an epiphany. 

Real Estate!

Black Haven doesn't only offer housing and land, but security and protection overall. Together with the sense of belonging, everyone would surely try to buy their own land inside the territory.

In the past, he wanted to delve into the real estate industry but never had the chance to do so. The Syndicate held too much of a lease on him and he couldn't do any side projects that would only benefit him. Even if he sneakily succeeded, the risk of getting found out was too high.

With real estate, he could make as many houses as he wants and live off the tenant's rent alone!

He checked the forum for the detailed post and suddenly stopped walking after spotting something ominous on the post. 

Only verified accounts can buy lands and each account card was only entitled to a fifty square meter of land. 

His hopes and dreams of owning a huge amount of land were quickly dashed to oblivion before it could even form.