Feilin's depiction sent horrifying chills down everyone's spine, yet this was something that could very likely occur. Starvation could drive animals to turn against each other, let alone different races who used to treat each other as prey.
This part of history was too far removed from them, only an immortal Undead Witch like Feilin could remember the happenings of a thousand years ago.
"If you start to turn on each other, the surviving Undead Witches will stop believing in any kind of peaceful coexistence, and it will be just like Demon Valley - humans would be enslaved and slaughtered, or perhaps like Ice City, where the Minotaurs are merely used to pull carts, and Succubus are locked away to entertain guests. Instead of that, might as well create a scourge, the souls of thousands of people could produce more than ten Undead or Witches, and at least we would have a few peaceful souls left."
In the end, Feilin made the final decision. Food could last for another half a year, and no one talked about driving out the lower-class population during this period. Everyone was encouraged to eat freely. If they still couldn't find a solution after using up the food, they might as well die altogether, praying silently that they could retain their memories and be reincarnated as Witches or Undead.
Feilin set a harsh timeline for everyone, but he was not willing to see things progress to that stage. Therefore, after the meeting, he quietly came looking for Ange.
Although Ange had fled to a remote place, it was easy for Feilin to find him, as his spies were scattered throughout the Underground City. The ubiquitous ghostly apparitions were a security force's prided weapon. Without such efficient means, Feilin couldn't possibly have managed a race-mixed Underground City into a harmonious and prosperous place.
As soon as he saw Ange, Feilin quickly came up with a flattering smile on his face. He hurried to Ange and earnestly said, "My Lord, I'm sorry to bother you. I wouldn't have asked for your help if it wasn't for the hardships we're facing, mainly because the World Transit Station is closed and we have no channels to procure food. We have been barely hanging on for almost a thousand years and now can't hold on any longer. I came here to buy food and hope you could spare some."
Feilin bent over and rubbed his hands together, looking cautious as he pointed to Ange's bracelet, a stark contrast to his previous commanding demeanor in the conference room.
However, he didn't seem awkward at all. The man standing before him was Lord Observer, possibly a manifestation of the legendary Undead King who rules the countless realms. What's wrong with being humble? It was already an extraordinary honor to have a conversation with them.
Ange, with his head tilted, looked at him, bewildered.
Feilin seemed to recall something suddenly and said, "Equal exchange, equal exchange, here, here, ten Soul Crystals. The teleportation corridor has been closed for a thousand years, I wonder if the same prices still apply? Before the closure, one Soul Crystal could be exchanged for two hundred kilograms of food."
As he spoke, Feilin took out ten black crystals from his bosom and handed them to Ange.
Soul Crystal? What is that? Is it similar to the Crystal Stone that starts the stone pillar? Ange thought curiously and reached out to take it.
The moment the Soul Crystal was in his hand, Ange understood its purpose.
Soul Crystals, condensed Soul Energy, were a currency used among the Undead.
Different creatures used different forms of currency. Humans preferred precious metals, Wizards liked to use Demon Crystals, and the Undead favored Soul Crystals, which were condensed from pure Soul Energy. They could be used as money, or consumed to replenish Soul Energy.
Of course, Soul Energy was only beneficial to Undead, so Soul Crystals only circulated among them.
As soon as Ange touched them, he knew how to use them. Similar to how humans knew they could drink when they saw water, Ange looked at the Soul Crystals in his hands, then at the bracelet on his wrist, and started the refinement process directly.
Once the ten Soul Crystals were converted into Soul Energy, most of them were absorbed by the bracelet. After absorption, the bracelet shone brightly, and Ange's consciousness was suddenly pulled into another place.
As soon as he regained his senses, he found himself at the arch near the Resting Camp's farm, which Ange had surprisingly teleported back to.
However, it was only his consciousness, there was no physical body. As his thoughts moved, his consciousness arrived at the spot he thought of on the farm.
The seemingly deserted field was empty and even the chirping birds from before were gone. Besides that, not much had changed since he had left.
He thought about the granary, and instantly his consciousness was in there. Looking at the piles of grain that filled the granary, Ange thought about Feilin. He had used Soul Crystals to exchange for food, but how could he get these grains for him?
Barely had the thought popped into his head when grain sacks started disappearing one after another in his line of sight. One sack, two sacks, three sacks, until forty-five sacks had vanished, Ange felt a resistance and the disappearance of the sacks ceased.
Where had they gone? Ange pulled back his consciousness, and when he looked around, he was surrounded by a circular formation made of sacks of grain. On the outside of the circle was Feilin, smiling so broadly that his eyes had disappeared.
"Forty-five sacks, a full forty-five sacks, five less than before, but that's normal. It's been a thousand years, and the price has just increased by ten percent. Very reasonable. I will have people move them right away." Fearing the night would bring more problems, Feilin summoned a team of skeletons which hoisted a sack each and in a single drill, moved all forty-five sacks of grain.
Looking at the restored tranquillity around him, Ange thought about Feilin's words. Five sacks fewer?
Most of the energy from the Soul Crystals was absorbed by the bracelet, but a small part was absorbed by Ange. Was it because this portion was missing, that there had been five less sacks? Upon examining his soul, he did seem slightly stronger.
Ange tilted his head, pushed this question aside, and shifted his focus back onto the bracelet. With his thoughts, the bracelet lit up again, and drew his consciousness back in with a whoosh.
Was it because the bracelet had absorbed the energy of the Soul Crystals, Ange could now return here at any moment?
Ange's consciousness returned to the farm and the granary, but he could no longer teleport the sacks of grain. Instead, he could teleport some stones. After a few tries, he realized that the energy he infused into the bracelet - most likely hooked to the weight - permitted him to teleport an equivalent weight and after meeting the requirement, he was unable to teleport anymore.
There could still be a quantity less than one sack left, which allowed him to teleport some lighter stones.
Having explored back and forth between these few places on the farm for over a thousand years, Ange was familiar with every corner. However, the game grew boring after a while. Just as he was about to exit, out of habit, he looked towards the direction of the Resting Camp.
The Resting Camp was venerable, even though its king had disappeared for thousands of years. It remained a place Ange would not dare to trespass. Driven to dire straits, he previously had to enter and search for usable bones, but only dared to root around the outskirts, not daring to venture in too deep.
Now that his consciousness could freely move and not once has he visited the deepest part of the Resting Camp, should he have a look? A bold idea suddenly sprang to his mind.