There wasn’t much to uncover from Justice’s temporary stronghold.
It was a circular cake-like structure resembling a crown. Annan had also seen it in the coal-ravaged wasteland more than a decade later.
This structure was called a stronghold, and it was a popular architectural form in underground cities.
The entrance on the first floor was the front desk and the lounge. The lounge had seven doors leading directly to the kitchen, the storage room occupying two rooms, the power room, and four living spaces. After going up the circular stairs on both sides, there were eight more rooms on the second floor, summing up to 12 living spaces.
Generally, this type of stronghold was typically laid down first in barren lands where it was unclear whether a city would be built or if anyone would come.
This building with multifunctional capabilities was not a priority for demolition and could be placed anywhere. Even if there were more residents in the future, it could be converted into a bar, hotel, shop, warehouse, dormitory, or safe house.
This could be regarded as the initial “population building”.
Installing six of them was enough to accommodate the people for the pioneering stage.
Generally speaking, the higher the proportion of strongholds in a city, the lower the development level of the city.
After Annan followed Justice out of the stronghold, he saw the desolate street.
Compared with Cinder Barren more than ten years later, this place might not even occupy a tenth of the area. It was not so much a city but a settlement in the wilderness… like a seedy western town.
Even the sky was not as bright as it should be. This was because the luminescent ant corpses here were not thick enough to form a layer that could glow for a long time.
The ground here was dark brown, like the lava had dried up. There were only three streets, with two horizontal and one vertical. The building count was so little that it could be counted with two hands.
The streets were empty at the moment. There was nothing but Annan—no people, insects, monsters, or even the wind. It was so quiet.
“Looking at the furnishings in your room. You should have been here not long ago.”
Annan frowned, then turned to look at Justice, “Is Cinder Barren usually this quiet?”
“How can that be?”
Justice frowned, “Before this place was flooded by lava, it was a famous gold and coal mine. Later, lava flooded and destroyed the city because of the workers’ mistakes as they dug through the leylines.
“You may not know, but right above here is the furnace mountain in the St. Felix province.”
“I remember that Furnace Mountain is an active volcano.”
Annan raised an eyebrow.
Of course, Annan knew the name.
Frederick, being an Austerian, should know that too.
Furnace Mountain was one of the few mountains in the Austere-Winter Dukedom that was not entirely covered by snow. It was also the gambling place for those driven out of the city. A windbreak cave left by the people.
Inside Furnace Mountain’s caves, the natural underfloor heating could melt snow to obtain fresh water. People could also cook meat and boil water inside the caves. Even in winter year, people could survive comfortably. In the harvest year, Furnace Mountain was a famous hot spring resort in the Winter Kingdom.
The only problem was that Furnace Mountain was not a dormant volcano but an active volcano that had always been active. This was why there were no cities near Furnace Mountain.
“When Furnace Mountain is about to erupt, Storm Tower will be responsible for suppressing it. But this only delays the eruption time and provides time for residents in nearby towns to evacuate. The Furnace Mountain still maintains its regular eruption cycle of about once every 15 to 20 years.”
Justice sneered, “Otherwise, where do you think the magma suppressed by the Storm Tower went?
“—Cinder Barren. That’s how it was destroyed.”
“But it’s been rebuilt now.”
Annan said calmly.
He walked slowly and warily down the street with Justice, not too far away from his reliable teammate.
Justice’s sharp eyes were also scanning around.
While looking for abnormalities around him, Justice sneered, “Who made it produce gold?
“Compared with human life, the Digger and the Wise think the gold here is more valuable. So there is an investigation report… The report shows that the probability of another volcano eruption near Cinder Barren is extremely low, and it is recommended to resume prospecting operations.”
“Extremely low?”
“Extremely low — of course, it is extremely low. Before this place was turned into ‘Cinder Barren’ and when it was still called ‘Black Gold Field’, the previous safety report was marked as ‘safe.’ If it weren’t for the Storm Tower’s intervention, there would never have been an accident… but who can say for sure?”
Justice chuckled, took out the flagon from his waist, and took another sip.
He muttered in a low voice, “When the volcano is about to erupt, Austerian can’t notify us in advance that the volcano is about to erupt, and we will let Storm Tower take action.”
“They don’t have the time.” Annan said softly.
Justice sneered silently, “Even if Austerian had this time, the Wise Council wouldn’t notify us. The Wise has no feelings.
“That’s because the cost of disaster relief is too high.
“If they knew that this place might be destroyed at any time, it would be impossible to send a mercenary group in and lead the residents to evacuate. That’s because confidential information like this is illegal. If you disclose this information to the mercenary group, you will have to pay more.
“No one knows what the scale of the disaster will be. Will the leylines collapse? Will the mining area be destroyed? Will lava flow in, and if so, how much will it flow in? Will it destroy towns? Or will it just fill up the ground? Or will it flood the city together?
“If they rescue, they have to save everyone. It’s too costly. At the same time, if the disaster is not serious, then the mine owners and miners will be the first to complain about ‘making a big deal out of a molehill’.
“Because the evacuation operation seriously delayed their work process. It may even lead to their equipment being stolen, vandalized, or damaged by the disaster.
“Those smart people in the Wise Council will not do this. If Austerian issued a warning, they would not pass it on. They may even send mercenaries to push back those who escaped—especially the mine owner.
“In this way, the ‘mining license’ sold by this city can be sold again. Since the mine owner is also dead, there will be no compensation. Everything is just an accident, then no one can sue them, and that will be the end of the matter.”
Justice complained non-stop.
His words were full of sarcasm and untraceable hatred.
Annan paused.
Annan decided to take a risk.
So Annan said slowly, “You still can’t forget Ingrid.”
Hearing this, Justice turned around and stared at Annan behind him.
Annan didn’t meet his gaze.
Instead, he continued to move forward with a blank expression.
As Justin was much taller than Frederick, the hood pulled down by Annan covered most of his expression, making it difficult to gauge his emotions.
After a while, Justice followed up.
“…Yes.”
Justice whispered, his tone unusually calm.
“I’ll make them pay sooner or later…”