The enemies around the city didn't prove to be dangerous. With the Ghost suit and the help of Yuki, the purging of the beluas and estranged monsters that they do not know of were easy. It was around the next day that Jak found the last in one of the small hills six hundred meters from the main road. Or at least the ancient road that the sub-urban development of the old had developed. From the structure of the road, the concrete and asphalt should be older than the city itself.
Around them were old blackened trees with tiny sprouts growing on the roots of the tree. There were no leaves on the trees. In the air was a damp mossy smell amplified by the salty wind coming from the green sea. Beside the blackened trees were small spires that contained the nest. What surprised him were the unidentified monsters roaming the vicinity of the city. Jak was familiar with muties, but only limited to those who stray too far from their habitats. Surrounding the city were monsters, and by guessing he thought that there should be more around in a one-mile radius. On the ground were holes that were wide enough for these car-sized muties to enter. Each single one of these holes connected to a labyrinth of tunnels which disposed by throwing a selective lethal gas that targets those who are underground. Each of these holes got covered by landfills and fallen trees as they detonated the gas. It was practically impossible to find the holes. The hunters had to cover the leaks.
The hunter pulled the muties in their wagons pulled by this strange four-legged animal with two curving horns. It quite surprised Jak that domesticated animals like that still existed. Knowing that processing these strange creatures is useless to them, Jak and Yuji went back to the city.
Most of the inhabitants were waking up to do their daily toil. Men and women passed them over as they return to their workstations and become a part of this strange hunter-like society where they gathered what they get from the sea and around the area to feed themselves. This area they were in were mostly where the garrison lives. Among the crowd, the two stood out with their armor different from the hunters who only have minimal protection. The two were aliens in the crowd and every street strut on there were eyes watching them.
They came to a market filled with strange types of fishes. There were cattle on display for customers to see. Most of the time what they found in this wet market was only meat. Jak noticed that there were only a few vegetables, and they traded using the shilling instead of credit. Passing through this wet market, they got back to the airship where a building was being converted into a communication hub for the city. Taking the bench on the side of the airship placed near boxes of supplies. Jak lowered his helmet back to the suit. Yuki sat beside Jak and leaned on the bench's backrest.
"Looks like the communication hub is going well. Really, we purged most of the monsters in the vicinity, and the only thing left is to complete the mission, make sure that this city can contain, maintain, and connect with Aured city as a sister-city. Once that's done, we moved in, implement weapon systems, and make sure that every bastion city can enjoy what they are eating here as well."
"You think that they can handle thousands of request from the city?"
Jak pointed his finger. Yuki followed where he pointed at.
"They aren't inefficient, they have automated fish farms, and what you see in the wet market are personal catches from the fishers. They also have meat, so it means that they could be possibly hunting them out of the city or they have farms that grow cattle to sustain this kind of city."
"The locals don't look starved. Most of them are healthy, and I haven't seen a single vagrant. Not to mention that it's bothering me that there is no rain tapping on my head."
"Looks like they are harvesting mineral as well. Could be useful to send some mining equipment and survey the area for any ore veins. If the world is going to connect again, then all the cities need to have metal."
"We could use more air carriers and crawlers." Hmm, a few more combat units could help paved a path. Though the questions come if Aured City will spare troops."
"New lands means a new place to exploit. You know how Aured thinks. They'll send whatever they can and turn this city into another concrete and steel jungle."
"I don't doubt it," said Jak. "What I doubt is these people will keep cooperating. Not everyone is welcoming to any kinds of change. Not to mention that other than our airship. We haven't really got any kind of offering yet. These people don't understand that other than this new fascination outside of the bastion cities. Aured City is on whatever the fuck they are dealing with and making use of it."
"Yes, there is this wanting to see whatever the fuck there is outside, beyond the concrete walls, and the wetlands. We've been pretty far out in the open, and only because we have proper maps that we can navigate through heavily infested areas full of belua and whatever lives around the city."
Yuki stared at the green sea. "So, I guess that we're stuck in this city for quite a time. You think that they are going to overwork us to death?"
"They can try," Jak said. "But I don't think they are going to try with how our enhanced units standing around our airship. Not to mention that if they try anything, that's our cue to lock and load, and just kill them anyone that tries to take a millimeter of step."
Yuki nodded her head. More people from the city looked at the airship. Some of these people were the ones that Jak was looking out for. In every city there is always that lowly group that tries anything. Though Jak would like to take a breather, he had to do his job of wrapping a leash around these sons of bitches.