After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

A/N: Extra chap today (Sunday)~ hehe Thanks for putting the story in Top 2 Golden (so far)~

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While the info gathering in Voumi was in full force, the intelligence personnel in Alterra were not left behind.

The Intelligence Department was now composed of about two dozen people or so. It was led by Loki, and his task was to investigate everyone who entered the territory, particularly aborigines, and also buy off useful information from them.

Although Loki was a bit of an introvert, he did know how to strike deals, so most of the time the information was bought cheaply or with a good deal.

For now, their office was located in the barracks area. However, the boss said they would be getting their own building when the territory expanded, so, for now, they'd have to make do with a few rooms holding their paperwork.

They really missed their computers, but the current computer (in the Research Center) was bigger than their storage rooms. To use them, they had to queue in a long line, and sometimes it was better to handle the data on their own.

Anyway, now they were given a mission: To know as much as possible about Voumi and Valov, and even the small details—as long as they were true—would be appreciated.

They were also ordered to be as subtle as possible, in order not to alert either territory or their allies. Alterra now had visitors from all over. They shouldn't assume there wouldn't be any from the other side lurking around.

The Intelligence team also had their own communication channels for ease of exchange, and there was also at least one team member going with each caravan.

At this time, there was someone in Ferrol and in Iron Mountains, gathering information from there as well. They had specific identities now, which were merchants or travellers, those that would not cause any suspicion.

Of course, there were also incentives in the form of Contribution Points. Any validated information would give some contribution points. If it actually helped with a task or mission, then it'd be assigned even more.

They had also begun to develop spies in various territories. They were usually system slaves that they received from wars. These people were mostly victims of circumstances, and they would receive a lot of atonement points as spies.

If they were questioned, even under oath, they would not be able to reveal anything either.

Of course, these people were organized into small, independent cells to minimize risks. They were all trained in the art of spying, how to blend in, how to observe important locations, and the like.

Those who had a lot of talent would also be sent to bigger territories, hoping they would get better positions there as well.

The past few months, they had deployed at least two spies in every territory in their immediate region. Eventually, they would expand it more and more until they had sources of news all over.

Speaking of the intelligence gathering, there was a proposal that had been brought forward to them not too long ago.

This was from a woman named Umi, one of the hired aborigines back in Fargo's time. She was even his woman.

They had decided to follow Juni, who had practically relocated to Alterra after discovering her pregnancy. Somehow, they had idolized Juni and, after landing here, Terran women in general.

When Althea found out about their history, she didn't mind it. What worried them was their limited skill sets.

They did try to find local jobs, though only a minority succeeded. Some had managed to get a job as a seamstress, some as cooks, and some enrolled in the school for basic classes.

They would go out and fight as per required but they weren't particularly strong either, so none of them joined the guard team.

For a while, the group had tried to fit in and contribute, but not much was working for some of them.

Anyway, after staying in Alterra a bit and befriending some local women, Umi—along with a few others like Becky—sent her a proposal that made Althea and the rest feel complicated.

It was to create Private Lounge in Alterra, and in the others as well.

This was basically a bar and restaurant with those private rooms, where the men—and perhaps women—would socialize while adding a bit of the… flirting aspect into it. Perhaps it could even lead to sex.

She felt uncomfortable when she saw it and so did the others. They naturally knew the implications of this. However, they reassured her that they were aware of what they were getting into.

It felt bad, but they only knew to do one thing after doing it for so long. Many of them were sold to do those things from a very young age.

It was the field they had been doing most of their lives and they simply didn't know what else to do… what they could contribute with the limited skills they had.

At the same time, Althea and the others knew that it was a difficult industry to ban. People would find a loophole one way or another.

At least in this way, they could protect the women somehow.

So after a lot of discussions and debate, they seriously considered doing it. If they do decide to proceed, they would secure a relatively big commercial space for it. It would have similarly classy finishes as the Grand Hotel and the good food and alcohol.

The latter wasn't too special, and all of the offerings would still be available outside. They didn't want people going in there because they were curious about the food, right?

Anyway, regardless of whether this lounge would be built at all, the women were now being trained to become spies to gather information. Even if they didn't build it on Alterra lands, they could be planted elsewhere, and it would be up to them how they'd decide to approach their future targets.

Knowledge was an invaluable resource that could save thousands of lives.

There had to be sacrifices along the way. At least in Alterra, it—ideally— wouldn't be a person's life.