Anyway, whatever would happen, her beautiful fields were here at present and she ought to appreciate them.
She looked down at the two babies, who she realized had been staring at her in curiosity all this while.
She giggled, leaning down to give them a few kisses. She lifted them out of the stroller and walked around the flower fields with them, telling them their names and uses.
The babies didn't understand anything, of course, but they loved hearing their mother's gentle voice, and they were giggling the whole time.
Some minutes later, she walked back to the stroller and settled the twins back there.
She took out her phone—newly charged by solar batteries—from the Space and took photos of the beautiful scenery. With a smile, her video turned to the cuties inside the stroller.
The two children smiled and laughed as if they knew what she was doing. They were both very photogenic.
She then raised her arm to take a selfie of the three of them. With the screen also facing the babies, she showed them the picture they took together.
Althea smiled at how cute they were, her finger robotically hovering on the send button, unconsciously about to send the photo to her husband.
"..."
Sigh.
Pushing back the pang of longing, she just leaned down the stroller and smacked her babies' cheeks with kisses.
Her husband wasn't here, but she could love the children for him as well.
Her mood turned a bit dour regardless. With a sigh, she decided to open the panel to distract herself and then turned to look at the overall status of the territory.
[TERRITORY STATS
Status: Level 2 Village
Area: 3,142,000 square meters
Residents: 1015 (188 permanent, 827 temporary)
Total Population: 2124
Base Resources:
Wood: 9660/10000
Stone: 8310/8000
Money: 15611 Gold, 113263 Silver, 478197 copper
Reputation: 110
Buildings: Village Center (Lv2) , Weaponry Shop (Lv1), Defensive Wall (Lv3), Warehouse (Lv2), Farm (Lv2), Training Hall (Lv1), BathHouse (Lv1)
Bonus Building: Custom Building
Building Slots: 7/7 (+1)]
They hung out there for a while until she decided to walk back home. She started pushing the stroller forward and the children, who were cooing adorably in place, laughed at the sudden jolt.
Her heart softened and filled with fluff at the sight of them, but in the back of her mind she thought of how her husband was and how he might be suffering so far from them.
She reached the main avenue in a melancholic mood. As she walked, she saw a couple of acquaintances hanging around in one of the breakfast shops on the East avenue.
It was Gru, and he was happily bonding with Harold and Clutch. From what she could see from where she was, they were laughing boisterously in an old-man sort of way, and she couldn't help but smile a bit.
The friendship of old men was a joy to watch and she liked listening to them sharing stories. So today, she decided to join them.
"Boss!"
"Ms.Althea!"
"Milor—Ms. Althea."
She smiled. "Good morning." And the men greeted her, clearing up a space for her to sit comfortably.
Like Harold, who already ate breakfast at home, she only ordered some finger foods.
Working hours didn't start until an hour later, and these guys loved spending time as soon as the day started.
Gru seemed to have read the notice and was very very happy. "Have you read the news? It's amazing!"
Althea nodded and smiled. "Our road to self-sufficiency will only get richer."
The old man nodded repeatedly and hummed.
Althea paused as she saw Clutch, she decided to ask some doubts about it. "You mentioned there will be extreme weather changes once a year or two, right?"
He nodded, and Gru looked focused. The territory had said something about this, but not enough information was provided to do much about it.
"How are the plants affected by it? The ones already planted as well as the plants to be planted."
"I only know that existing plants old enough in good farmland have a chance of survival. Otherwise, the plants would just go to waste. Further, new plants would not grow."
Gru gaped at them and his eyebrows furrowed in worry. "The upgraded farmland will definitely increase survivability but I doubt it would be high. We need to figure out other ways."
Althea nodded. The extreme weather lasted for half a month to a month, she just needed to ensure the stock lasted.
Even better was to create a condition where plants could grow even in the harshest of weathers…
Giant greenhouses? The sort that spanned acres?
Making a small greenhouse in her backyard was no problem, but creating large structures was a different problem altogether.
Did she have the technology for it?
No, unfortunately not.
Anyway, there was no use worrying about it too much for now—albeit research for it would definitely continue and be expedited.
She still had so many things to improve that were within her control, but no less important.
For example, salt. A necessity for long-term health and survival.
Fortunately, the rock salt mission was very popular. Although it was a bit far, the pay was very good and they were promised a certain amount of processed salt.
As for the processing, although not many people knew how to process salt, there would still be a handful of people who did. She hired them all.
What she worried about was the eventual thinning of the rock salt. By her estimate, it could still last a few years, but this world was too unpredictable.
Who knew, maybe there'd be an earthquake and all the rocksalt would disappear?
She shivered. Scary.
She made a mental note to prioritize looking for other sources of salt as well, though from what she heard their approximate location might be too far off the sea.
Another mission that had been going on was the uprooting of young Waul Trees. The past few days she had already filled half a field with them. Soon they would have a ready source of resin and the like, which would push their technology another step forward.
Finally, the Gugu Bird missions were also very productive. There were also people who rented fields and used some of them to raise the chickens.
In this way, there would also be plenty of other channels of production, there would be richer products, richer pockets, and a richer treasury.
In any case, whatever happened with all these uncertainties, she was happy to see the territory was on track.
No matter what, she would prepare what was to come the best she could. And she knew her citizens would do the same.
They were all Alterans, after all.