After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1801: The First Snow Refugees

Eventually—after another hour of grueling walk out in the open—they finally reached the 7-meter wall, though the snow had accumulated enough that there was only three or four meters left exposed.

They just knew which level of sentry and walls they were based on the thickness of the wall and the diameter of the sentries.

Not that any of them were really analyzing right now, of course. They were just sparkling to see that they had arrived to safety.

Finally here! They thought, hope flickering in their tired eyes. They were really pushing themselves now.

But then...they paused.

Seeing the wall was one thing, but...what next? Where’s the gate? What if it was still a distance away? Their energies were already spent...would they be able to reach the gates? And after that? Where would they go after entering?

This was another reason why it was extremely rare to have refugees during the Extreme Cold. Ignoring the difficulty of travel, they could be stuck outside the walls!

Those who survived would have to find a way to climb over the walls. The system would always detect them regardless of where they entered, and would also charge the fees accordingly.

Climbing over was allowed as long as they were not hostile; it was just that the walls were non-scalable, so they had to use a lot of tricks to succeed.

And a lot of strategies meant a lot of energy. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

After traveling in the extreme cold for so long, who had that much stamina left? Even the level 30s did not have enough energy to jump over a 2-meter wall, let alone a 4-meter one.

Their appendages were already half frozen! Let alone the weaker ones and the non-elementalists! Any sudden movement felt like it’d make an arm detach or something!

"What if no one’s there? No one would be outside in this weather."

"No..."

"Wu..."

Urkin gritted his teeth and concentrated his last mana, creating a fireball heading upwards. They had travelled so far away! There was no way they could fail here!!

"HELP US!" he screamed, watching his small fireball explode outwards. It was only a few meters in diameter, but it was the best he could do. His heart gripped when he saw how the snow stuck with it, killing the fire earlier than it should.

What to do next?

...

Not far away, a certain blonde flinched, turning in a direction.

"I feel a mana explosion..." Obi, who had a certain crossdresser in his arms, mumbled as he got up. He was a bit annoyed, having to leave the warmth.

Leez blinked and followed after him. She took out the scope from her space (after the mass production of glass, most guards with decent position had one), and she looked around, following the direction where the traces of mana were felt.

She gasped when she looked in the direction of many meters below them.

"OPEN THE GATES! WE HAVE REFUGEES!"

...

Fortunately, the guards were periodically clearing the roads inside, so when the broat carts (which were warmed a lot, and the broats themselves were equipped with heat packs) arrived, the way to the hospital was relatively smooth.

The road to the hospital, which remained operational allthroughout this weather, was the priority to clear of snow.

This had been part of the guards’ scope, and fortunately, fire was a relatively common element that made their lives easier.

Speaking of clearing, Eugene’s team made a version of snow plows. It was made of iron and steel, though its operations were mostly mechanical.

It also used the power of two bikes within the larger structure, so it was a bit bulky because of this, but it did the job.

Its efficiency was raised a few times, though, when they received Lady Althea’s latest experiment: the heating slab, which emitted a certain amount of warmth in a direction, as long as it was powered by aether every so-and-so hour.

It did not really heat the road because they weren’t going fast enough, and it would just melt the snow and turn it to ice instead. The heating slab served the broats and the operators, so they could remain outside and clear the roads for as long as they had to.

Although after a few days, the snow on the houses that weren’t maintained as much was a few meters deep already, at least the important roads and avenues were kept running smoothly in case of emergencies, like how it was today.

That said, there were also people who purposely caved in the snow that collected on their property to the roads because they knew it’d be cleared out. However, these people would be charged convenience fees at a later date. For now, it was all just recorded.

Anyway, unlike the meters-tall snow everywhere else, it was not too hard to go from the gates to the critical places in Alterra.

This was what Urkin and the others saw as they rode on the protected broat cart. It was still cold, but there was a heater powered with coal and fire inside the cart, and they couldn’t help but be amazed.

"How do they..."

No other territory would bother with their roads. People would literally just stay indoors and huddle amongst each other.

In normal cases, some people would even call this much effort foolish.

But wasn’t this ’foolishness’ precisely why they were still alive?

"This..." Umiel looked around. He touched the side of the glass, and it was cool but sleek. "Is this a crystal sheet? They use it on their carts?"

"Their buildings also had crystals..." another one mentioned, looking at the buildings. Some were buried, while some seemed better maintained, and people could see their windows. Many were, indeed, using ’crystals’ on their windows, even the commoner houses.

Crystals were very expensive items imported from Crystal City, and these were so clear and uniform, too!

Their roads were also wide and clear despite the heavy snow. Was this really a Town? How was it so wealthy?

Urkin took a deep breath and then looked at his family with a bit of smugness.

"We made the right decision coming here, don’t you think?"