An ominous feeling could be felt throughout Zao City. The fighting had gone on for days and cleanup had taken much longer than expected. The Zao clan had an intense series of battles and there had been some losses. If it had not been for some unforeseeable circumstances, all of them would have died.
Wu Hai stood there patiently, his whole body seemed to have gone through a change. That change wasn't too eyecatching as some of the other forms he had taken in the years but there was something strange like he was at peace with something.
"Wu Hai, what happened to you?" Ooran was concerned for his wellbeing and had called him over to talk.
Wu Hai had been using the Darkness-Lightning combination for a long time but just a minute ago, while he was practicing, his power resembled a golden rainbow that crackled with lightning. His body pulsated and shrank down while he concentrated, the pincers and claws he had slowly retreated into his body, they reshaped a few times. Sometimes it was a hammer, sometimes a spear, sometimes a blade.
Every time time the extension to his arms branched out, he shifted it and tried something new. The changes were just too difficult for Ooran to comprehend, as patriarch, he needed to understand.
"Father, there are some things I try to keep to myself but if you ask, I'm happy to tell you alone." Wu Hai had a feeling that there was much more to his power and the Rainbow Spot than he originally thought. Possibilities danced in his mind but he was still trying to understand everything himself, 'How could I explain?'
The Spot that was Black before now glistened with Five Colors, changing in the light. Wu Hai turned his hands over a few times in front of his father while searching for the way to explain.
Ooran didn't quite get it, "I don't quite understand but I'm sure you can explain it to me when you have the words. Please don't take too long, I hate anticipation." He had always been understanding and the truth was that Wu Hai had always been difficult to comprehend. Even as a Child, Wu Hai had been full of potential when he wasn't discouraged.
"Yes, Patriarch." Wu Hai kowtowed to his father, there were a number of people around it was important to create, cultivate and show decorum. The City and even the Zao Sect itself had only just arrived in politics and all eyes were on the City and its leadership after the horde had been stopped.
The travelers who had been saved, those who had spent the battle inside of the Pagoda had already left with tales of greatness and their time inside a palace of the Zao Clan.
While their fame as a City had risen, it was also time for them to bury their dead. There had been losses and after searching the rubble, everyone had been accounted for.
"I want to hold a memorial for the fallen. Please help me make the arrangements." Wu Hai looked to his Father, the Patriarch of the Zao Clan and said with a solemn voice. His voice was hoarse, "We cannot forget those that died. They gave up everything to come here and fought until the bitter end."
Ooran had no objections, he hardly ever did. In fact, he thought it was a rather wise idea and immediately began to nod. "I agree, please make whatever decisions you deem necessary and inform the Elders."
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Master Jiang, Patriarch Ooran, Matriarch Calistown, Zao Zhan, Zao Wu Hai, Khan Ni, Cheng Mu, Cheng Yu, Darkwing, Mike and Abbi comprised most of the Elders. Mike and Abbi were representatives of the Transmigrated but they earned their places as Elders with their ability to lead. Each of them had their respected responsibilities but they deserved a voice in the management of the City and Sect.
"When William and the rest of the Dragon Corp return, I want a complete debrief. Have Qu sort out the spoils. Please don't horde anything, if you really want something that came from the enemy forces then that could be arranged for contribution points. We still have to check the items for poisons and disease, as well as corrosive effects like curses. Store everything in spacial rings, if you run out of room, return immediately for resupply." Waving his hand again Mike sent the few subordinates away and waited for Wu Hai's response.
"William and the others will be back before nightfall. Its going to be a long time before cleanup is done. We should set up a group to subjugate the humanoid forces we find roaming around over the next few weeks. I want to start a mining post in the western mountain. There is an abundance of materials that we can use for technology as well as weapon forging, we can pay them and offer housing." Giving a report of things, Genba tapped some papers one the table.
"Prince Wu Hai, Xuan Kim Li has already been developing some basic machines for processing large amounts of the specialized ores from this world. Although you can create metals with varied elements, they aren't as potent or varying as the real stuff." Guzhe popped out of the shadows and interrupted to give a report. He had scouted the front lines, but when he arrived he had to butt in. "All forces have extended the perimeter to about 75km since the end of the battle, tracking individuals became quite difficult after that. The Suns have started to set, we've recalled our forces for the evening."
"Science can always make things more potent but potent things often come with a level of toxicity. I'll talk to Mister Xuan and make sure he doesn't go that route." Wu Hai knew that it would be up to the world to not abuse the things they had at their disposal and that the Sect needed to grow. Howver, he wouldn't allow himself to repeat the same mistakes of the previous world. There was much easier ways to mine, he knew that.
Wu Hai kept going with his rant. "I don't want to see guns replace spears and bows in this world but its a reality I'll have to face one day and with the methods of disposal in this world, I don't want to see landfills either. This world is clean, well... it's still clean so far, sort of. We have a chance to do what no one else on Earth was able to do, create our Utopia. Guns might be inevitable but the only things standing in our way are our principles. Do we wipe out a civilization like King Wang or the people of Earth did for territory? Do we create poisons and biogenic weapons for the sake of War? Do we make technology impossible to separate from day to day life, maybe? These are the fundamental questions that keep bothering me about my Reincarnation but honestly, I'm just winging it here."
The room fell silent.
"I've worked hard to rescue you all, for my own purposes. I know the technology of Earth can prove to be a blessing and a even death sentence if it's abused. I fear my decision to return to Earth only made things more complicated there, I still have to hope that they see how important it is to save themselves. Eh, I sound like a windbag that I use to make fun of in High School. The Worlds going to end.. blah blah blah." Wu Hai tried desperately to dismiss it from his mind but the itching feeling stuck with him always. "Look, all I am saying is that we have to remain positive and prospective."
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There was a funeral for the departed. For the Earthlings who passed, their home Country's banner draped across the gravestone while the Zao Sect Banners encircled those who had attended the ceremony.
Wu Hai stood up to say a few words before yielding to the Patriarch for formalities. "Zao Clan. Members of the Community. Newcomers. Thank you all for coming." Ooran was dressed in full gowns. It was hot outside, most of the advance groups had returned to attend. Wu Hai stepped up to the podium, his hands came to rest on the side of the Altar. "Our Zao clan has only begun to grow, who would have thought years ago that any of this was possible. We've struggled and many of you have come to trust and join the Zao Clan. To this end, the pain we feel for a loss can never truly be measured. Remember the fallen."
"My Father would like to speak a few words in honor of the fallen." Wu Hai turned to the massive Steele in the middle of the courtyard and bowed.
Patriarch Ooran approached the podium after Wu Hai had left and started speaking, "Marcus Graen. Hao Hao. Shamis. George. Calipsa. Michelle. Dreage. Mishka. Soji. Gurrel, Kohinro, Blazer, Ei'Que, Fred, Miller."
"These Names.." Patriarch Ooran looked pained and ready to weep, his eyes watered but he held his tears back.
Wu Hai placed his hand on his fathers shoulders to help carry the burden. Taking a moment to swallow, Ooran kept going, "These names represent those who gave their lives so that we could have our own. People that trusted the Sect, people we grew to depend on. People I opened my heart to ..and now they are all gone. Dead, because they believed in what they were fighting for, a better life, a better future that what they knew in the past. Our Zao Clan owes them a great honor that can never be repaid."
Ooran turned to the Steele, a burst of Ice came form Mike's Palm. It broke and shattered away slowly, peeling away into nothingness.
"This memorial will not bring our people back. This memorial will help us remember the price of Freedom." Patriarch walked down the steps and turned to the memorial before kneeling to the ground and prostrating himself to the ground below.
A moment later, the entire gathering snapped to attention and followed his example, kneeling to honor those that gave their lives.
After the funeral, the bodies of the fallen were cremated and mixed into the mortar. The mortar was used to form the image of a shield next to the Memorial.
Darkwing was unable to keep calm, he had lost a dear friend that he had spent almost half his life with. Hao Hao had been trained by him after they arrived in this world. He pulled out Hao Hao's Cetus and sank it into the mortar, his tears never stopped.
Mishka was Cheng Yu's love interest, she was one of gamers brought back from Earth. When she saw that Yu was about to be enveloped by the purple gas, it was her that took his place and vanished instead. Cheng Yu had always been with his brother but after the formation of the Sect's Qilinkin force, Yu and Mu had become leaders alongside Abi and Darkwing. Mu had fallen for Abi and Yu had fallen for Mishka. He was unable to stop her.. when it happened, he could only watch.
And then there was Marcus.
Khan Ni, Zhan, and Rachael had entered a strange love triangle. It was Marcus Graen that sparked Khan Ni's interest in Zhan. Khan Ni was originally opposed to the idea of being with a human but Zhan was special. Marcus had never been the altruistic type. His actions spoke louder than words when he convinced Khan Ni to pursue Zhan. Marcus admired Zhan greatly and loved his daughters like they were his own.
Marcus had also become important to Zhan's Twin daughters. It was especially hard for Zhan when he had to tell them that Uncle Marcus had died.. he couldn't help himself but cry all over again.
The entire City mourned the fallen heroes in their own ways.. some cried, some yelled, some left to kill the monsters that were in the area to vent their frustrations. Everyone felt the loss and pain that accompanied the Battle's end.
The Catharsis was hard to miss.
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"Kim Li" Wu Hai called out on the 14th floor of the tower.
"Ahh.. P-Professor, 'er.. Prince Wu Hai. I'll get use to this one day.. you know that right?" Xuan Kim Li was a brilliant young man but when he came to this world he was pretty shocked. It took a long time for him to adjust and when he did, there were a bunch of advancements.
Kim Li was interested in a wide variety of subjects but his work, no matter the field, was exquisite. He didn't have any interaction with Zao Wu Hai before being sucked into this world as a 'sentencing.' He figured out that it was a joke that Wu Hai had said in the moment just to break the tension but it was a real shock to his system when he saw the two suns overhead the first time. Everything he knew about physics changed in that moment.
"So what has Master Wu come for Today?" Kim Li didn't get visits everyday, it had been a few weeks since the memorial service.
Wu Hai poked Kim Li a bit and asked. "So, what have you come up with from your study of the crystals and materials in the western mountain. I want to start mining there if the density of the crystals we found are better than what we have. Ideally, I'd like to start immediately."
"Nothing solid but.. I did notice that if I connect an Ohmmeter to opposite colored crystals, I get a reaction that's.. well, noticeable. It's hard to tell but if I had something two.. no, maybe three times stronger, I could probably create new generators that didn't run on fuel. We have the solar generators to power laptops and research machines on a cue but ultimately we're still lacking a large enough power grid to explore manufacturing and processing choices." Kim Li sounded like he had plans, but no materials.
"So, you need more crystals.. what else do you need or want? I'd like to start getting the research teams more focused on crafting some better defense gear. Get hold of Jacob and see what progress he's gotten with magical accessories, I'd like to see as many of our guards as possible with some new tools. We can't survive off the contents of corpses." Wu Hai tried to push Kim Li into a faster pace, it might not have worked but it was worth a try.
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The repairs on the city wall had been completed after the first day to a satisfactory end but the cleanup of half a million corpses would take a longer time. Many clusters of enemies had been wiped out or buried under rubble, retrieval was difficult in some places. When they couldn't reach a corpse's suspected resting ground, they pulverized the area and covered it up with fresh soil.
Qu spent most of his time after the battle sorting armor from bone, as Prince Wu Hai had commanded. He was a little annoyed at the massive amounts of materials he had to sift through but when he noticed that Wu Hai gave him oversight in his position, Qu was much happier when he was in charge of things. Many of the corpses have bone material and blood that should be collected and harvested but having to ask someone else for permission was a bit of a task.
Autonomy within his walls meant a sort of freedom for Qu.
Wu Hai nodded, "Yes?"
"Master, I don't think its a wise idea to keep intact corpses around parts of Undead. If they are placed in proximity, I fear that a reanimation could take place. I think that it would be unwise. However, It would also be unwise to throw such materials away or destroying them. Not only are they difficult to find, many of them contain properties necessary for forging Weapons." Qu replied.
Every time the adventure teams would come back, they would be given contribution points in exchange for items and materials they had collected. When they wanted something, they could just ask for it in exchange for points.
The contribution point system favored the original members of the Clan but they were among the first to join and bled for the cause. After the Earthlings had settled into the clan, newer arrivals didn't bother to voice concern. To voice concern right after coming to the City would have been seen as sedition and the entirety of Zao City would be offended at such an act.
If new arrivals wanted special treatment, they had to earn it like the others.
"There has been some success in my understandings of the raw materials in this world with Qu's help, the tower spirit's ability to differentiate between tiers of magic and information has helped us gauge a few factors concerning the concentration of elemental particles. Eventually we hope we can create a tool to measure power." Xuan Kim Li's eyes grew bigger as he talked about the details, like always.
"The math isn't perfect but we've only had four years and honestly, our researchers are a little out of reference. What we really need are alchemists, blacksmiths, chemists, etc.. from this world, to help us with the blank spots. I'm afraid that if we wait too long, another battle where we can barely hold out will occur. Additionally, if you leave with Qu, there is no way we will get these things done as fast." After conveying his research a bit, Xuan Kim Li felt relieved that he was able to remember everything he wanted to say.
Wu Hai thought about it a moment and said, "Okay, I'm going to go to the Minaur City ruins with Khan Ni and Jiao Jiao. If there are survivors still present, perhaps they fixed the cave-in. We can trade if they don't become hostile. Maybe I can even convince some to come back, we do need miners. When you see Genba, tell him that he will be our Minaur representative if survivors are located."
"Sounds like a plan. So you're leaving Qu in the City, Right?" Kim Li was really getting into the science of this world, he wanted to know everything.
It was simply fascination on a grand scale.
"Kim Li.. when you've figured out what sort of reference materials you need, write them out. In the morning, I'm going to be by the west gate. Meet me there and give me your list. I'll see what I can do." Wu Hai wanted things to go smoothly, despite four years and the city booming, his own skills had barely grown.