Seemingly unaware of the passersby slowing down to take a peek of their group, the goblins continued to get to know the dwarves.

"Names sound interestin," one commented. "Cot’, Bat’, Sot’"

"Are you siblings?" Another asked. "So they name similar."

"They look alike."

Batto shook his head, still trying to get used to the chatter. The three of them were the only dwarves in their generation, after all, and this felt like they were suddenly thrown into a sea of peers.

"We’re not! We’re neighbors!" Sotto said. "Names from same generation sound alike!" The other two echoed it.

Dwarves moved slowly, but when they spoke, it was like they were rapping. The goblins found it fascinating. Mostly because the three looked alike in their eyes.

"Is this what people call ’you start to look alike if you hang out too much’?"

"No, other races just look alike," another goblin said, sounding wise. "Humans can’t tell us apart either," he said. "Though I’m obviously more handsome than most."

It had to be said: Some goblins gained confidence faster than others.

Another shook his head. "They can always tell me apart!"

This one was Moki, one of the first rescues from Guia. He happened to be the fattest one, so naturally, the humans favored him more, constantly asking to hug him.

The one-upmanship contest between green ones was brewing, and it was quite interesting to watch.

Gochi and the other half-orcs chuckled. "Alright, you can continue this meaningful discussion back in your dorms so everyone can rest," he said. "The newcomers will meet with our bosses tomorrow after you’ve rested."

The Lord wasn’t exactly in the mood to chat right now, anyway.

Thinking of the poor children, Gochi’s mood visibly darkened. He was there when the children were kidnapped, but he couldn’t catch the speedster at all.

The feeling of helplessness and despair was something he wouldn’t forget for a long time.

He shook his head. He knew he could not do anything about their states. He could only hope that they recovered soon.

For now, he pushed himself to compartmentalize and focus on the assistance he could provide.

One of these was helping new talents settle down well, so they could contribute to Alterra willingly.

After dropping the dwarves, he would then take their half-orc friends to the Half-Orc Mansion they built themselves. The goblin neighborhood was not far away from there, so they walked the little ones over.

Not to mention, dwarves...were really rare things. Seeing them surrounded by large half-orcs would calm down some active minds.

They soon reached the Goblin Neighborhood, which was not small, about an acre or so, including the multiple dorm-type buildings, a commercial area abutting the main road, and its own park.

Of course, it wasn’t undamaged by the war. In fact, the park was pretty much bald now; the wooden playgrounds the community had built together were all but gone.

The war reached everywhere in Alterra. This was not a surprise; there were various battles between powerhouses here, and many attacks were indiscriminate.

Their damage was not only heavy, but their movements were quick as well. One moment, they were fighting on one block, destroying the stalls and trees there; another moment, they were already a few blocks away, doing the same there.

The buildings were natural covers against strong attacks, so whenever one area was no longer viable to hide in or use as a shield, they would move, and this was one of the reasons why there was no untouched place in Alterra.

This was what the new party saw, but they didn’t think badly of it.

It was fortunate that the materials here were sturdy, so most were still standing, just missing portions of their roofs, walls were cracked, and their doors and windows were open. They could be repaired by Althea paying some gold and resources.

Most of the dorms were intact, and while they were making oaths, the walls, sentries, and several system buildings had been repaired by the System (after the Lord paid for it); the rest were waiting for resources to refill. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The group reached the destination, and it was finally time to part ways, with the half-orcs putting down the dwarves.

The dwarves’ steps were very slow, so they allowed themselves to be carried. They got used to hanging at the backs of half-orcs anyway.

They didn’t find this embarrassing at all. Rather, they saw it as hitching a ride.

Still, when they saw the dozens of bikes going around on the way here, they couldn’t help but feel longing.

It was around here that they saw a guard zooming past them, and he was not running nor was he pedaling!

"What’s that!?"

"That’s a hoverboard," Gochi explained. "It’s one of the experimental items from the Specialty Store."

Electric cars would take time, but hoverboards were still possible. It was just that the material was limited, and people with decent levels were faster on foot, so not a lot had been produced.

The person who went past was one of Baron’s cousins, so the money issue and points issue were definitely not a concern for him.

Anyway, these hoverboards might not be very useful to humans, but the dwarves, whose legs were short and slow and wouldn’t be able to pedal bikes well—it was definitely the most fascinating thing!

Live here! They would definitely live here!!

...

Back in the hospital, Loki arrived to submit a summary of the losses.

They looked through the corpses of the enemies before setting them on fire. Loki was smart to get the powerhouses and leaders first, so he did find a few things.

For example, some Class B weapons and equipment, all of which were now distributed among the guards.

And there was also some special loot that rightfully belonged to the Lord, so he handed it over to her personally.

"A space stone?" Althea blinked, looking at the space stone the size of her thumb.

Loki nodded. "I got it from the so-called heir’s body."

This item was taken from the body of Baltimore’s son. Most people who got their hands on space stones preferred not to merge them into their personal space in order to maximize it. The man probably never thought he’d ever lose it, or anyone would dare take it away.

Speaking of Besston, all the enemy managed to get and deliver to Balthazar was his head. It was already very good. After all, it caused the damned enemy Lord to literally vomit blood.

As for what his fate was, they didn’t really care anymore. That place had been significantly weakened, and Alterrra needed to focus on recovery rather than revenge.

"Thank you," Althea said, awarding him with more contribution points.

Before absorbing the space, she went to look at her current one, so she could make proper comparisons, and it would be easier for her to quantify the changes.

While she was using her mind’s eye to peruse her larger-than-most space, she paused, startled and a bit confused.

"Hmn?"

She blinked, staring at a section of potted plants. There were cherry tomatoes, chillis, and so on in there. They looked especially healthy, vibrant, and...fruiting.

She was fairly certain they did not look like that before.

Before the war, she was transferring a few potted plants from the nursery to the greenhouse. But then things happened, the war included, and she just forgot about it.

She distinctly remembered that they were much smaller when she took them in.

Her quick mind analyzed the plants as well as the space itself.

Everyone knew that plants could survive inside the space, but with many limitations.

For one, plants could not survive long-term due to the lack of things that plants needed to survive. This included carbon, minerals, and elements in the air. Placing plants in the space was very much like placing a live plant inside an airtight box.

Time inside ran the same time as that outside, but the vegetation would spend all its energy to survive. How could it grow and be so vibrant?

She closed her eyes and concentrated, wondering what had changed. When she felt the energy in her space, her eyes widened a little, her emerald eyes shining at a thought.

She realized that the space itself had been changed. Thinking of what happened the last time she checked her space, she realized when the transformation happened.

It was during her berserk state.

Somehow, for some reason, her personal space...became alive.

It became its own little world she could plant things in! And not only that, they would flourish, not much different from when she planted these things on a level 1 Farm!

She narrowed her eyes and disappeared, heading to the Research Center and heading straight to the biology department. There, they kept a few captured bugs and birds for study. There wasn’t anyone in this department, as only the potions and tools department was working during the war.

She went over one of the glass cages. They were small and contained a few bugs. They moved fast, so there was a specialized slow-mo camera pointing at it.

She touched it and willed it into her space.

Normally, the transfer would fail because it enclosed a living thing.

But...

Althea watched as the glass cage disappeared, confirming that living things—or at least small ones, for now—could be taken in her space!

As for whether it would survive for a long time was still up for study, but even short-term survival was already a win.

Althea smiled for the first time since the declaration.

It looked like they gained a lot of things in that war, after all.