CHAPTER 224 Day 31 Evening : Arrival of the Red Fairy
It was a brand new day in the wasteland, a new beginning, and Atlas could feel the anticipation building inside him. With the Faith settlement and the Belief settlement firmly under his control, he had done something unimaginable—he had connected an entire continent. Consolidating all the loot, and prisoners had been a bit of a logistical nightmare, but John had done a great job of it. The Fort Bone empire had grown significantly. After understanding how Nadir had divided his people into class 1 and 2, the captured population was similarly divided. Anyone who was of the upper class was put into prison camps, while the lower class were all treated the same as new people from Earth.
Atlas stood quietly, reflecting on how the war was now over.
A slow grin crept across his face, but beneath the pride was a flicker of uncertainty. ‘I wonder what's going to happen because of that. I know I've got this achievement under my belt, but the only way I could figure it out is actually visiting the territory outskirts.‘ His mind was full of possibilities. ‘Or wait, I can go check the settlement kiosk!‘
‘‘ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:‘‘
‘‘TITLE: WORLD CONQUEROR ‘‘
‘Description: Ooh, look at what you've done. Smashing a whole continent? Good job, boy. Next, you’ll be taking over the whole world!‘
‘‘BONUS:‘‘ As the first person to take over a continent, you'll receive walls across all your territories. Extra perk….they come with watchtowers.
‘‘‘
Atlas paused, feeling excitement in his stomach. He had never done anything like this before, not even in his first life. No experience, no time travel powers to fall back on—he was on his own this time, and it made him slightly uneasy. ‘The training wheels are coming off.’
Just as he was about to act, the sky above him burst to life. The Red Fairy appeared, her voice syrupy sweet, like a teacher scolding misbehaving children. “Hello, wasteland dwellers. You all aren't doing that great a job, are you?” Her words were laced with playful condescension, and Atlas's stomach twisted as her gaze seemed to settle on him. “Look at Atlas. He's just accomplished something that no one has done for a long time. He has an ENTIRE whole continent.”
A sudden rush of heat filled Atlas’s chest. ‘Is this really happening?‘ His heart pounded as the Red Fairy rattled on about Fort Bone and how much coin it was pulling in. He felt a surge of pride, but at the same time, there was something unsettling about how she seemed to be pitting everyone against him.
“And I bet you've all been to Fort Bone. Maybe you've bought a drink, or you've fought in the arena, or you visited some of the ladies there. Either way, Fort Bone's making a ton of coins every day. What are you guys doing? Don’t you want to go home?”
The Red Fairy said, “I know the leaderboard’s not being shown to you all, but it’s still updating, and there’s a clear winner. I won’t tell you who that is right now, but I can give you a hint.”
Atlas clenched his fists, caught in a mix of triumph and tension. He had never asked for this attention, and now the pressure was mounting. The Red Fairy’s saccharine tone sharpened as she continued, “The current leader’s name rhymes with Batfist, and the settlement also rhymes with Port Stone. So first of all, good job, random leader, whoever you are!” She winked at Atlas.
His heart raced. ‘Batfist? Port Stone?’ The clues were just another mockery. But the weight of expectation loomed large.
The praise sent a bolt of satisfaction through him, but it was fleeting. His heart sank when he realized she wasn’t done. “On a completely different and totally unrelated note, “ the Red Fairy rolled her eyes, “I’m going to give Atlas a prize for doing such a great job. You’re going to have no mana taxes on any of your teleportation tomorrow for the whole day.”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Atlas was surprised and overjoyed! His inner greedy beaver exploded with cheer. ‘No taxes?‘ The image of a beaver in a bright, cheesy shirt that read “I Heart the Red Fairy” flashed across his mind. The beaver squealed in glee, doing little flips of excitement. ‘I’m going to save so much!‘
Every visitor that teleported to Fort Bone handed him one coin, but half of it vanished into the system, leaving him frustrated. ‘No more taxes,‘ he thought, his inner beaver stomping happily. ‘I’ll get 1,000 coins in pure profit!‘ Atlas couldn’t help but grin, his heart soaring at the thought of the fortune rolling in.
But his euphoria was interrupted. “But don’t worry, everybody,” the Red Fairy continued, her voice sharp with amusement. “I’m going to give you guys a chance to catch up.”
Atlas’s heart dropped like a stone. ‘What now?‘
“Look at these two beautiful towns,” she cooed, displaying two smaller settlements that couldn't compare to Fort Bone but were charming in their own right. One was decorated with soaring pagodas, and the other looked like a dusty American frontier town. “These are the towns, America United and the Celestial Empire. Now all of you in the wasteland can visit either one of them using your settlement kiosk. It won’t cost you any of your activation points, so you can still do other things like raid other settlements. Like the naughty little guys you are.”
Atlas's stomach clenched again. ‘She’s levelling the playing field.‘
His inner beaver suddenly stopped dancing, its little eyes narrowing with suspicion. ‘What’s the catch?‘
“And for you two towns,” she added with a wink, “I’m giving you an exemption. I’m giving you a break on your mana taxes, not just for a day, but for a whole month. That’s right, one month full of tax-free goodness.”
Atlas’s heart sank further as the Red Fairy revealed her final twist. ‘A whole month?‘ The image of the beaver in his mind changed. Now, it ripped off the “I Heart the Red Fairy” shirt, tearing it to shreds and stomping on it in fury. ‘She just gave away my edge!‘ His thoughts churned, disappointment heavy in his chest. ‘I had it all, and now she's just handed them the tools to take it from me.‘
“Oh no,” he muttered under his breath, feeling a surge of frustration and helplessness. ‘I've got imaginary beaver tears on my imaginary shirt.‘
‘‘‘‘
The Red Fairy wasn’t done though. Her voice, sweet as honey but laced with mischief, echoed across the wasteland. “There’d be no fun without me giving you guys a little show, now would it?” She laughed, a sound that seemed to bubble up from deep inside her, innocent yet knowing.
From every corner of Fort Bone, mini faeries leaped into the air, their tiny voices chiming in unison, “Show! Show! Show!” Their excitement crackled like sparks, filling the air. The whole Wasteland seemed to hold its breath, the anticipation thick as the Red Fairy's camera view began to shift.
Atlas watched as the screen panned out, revealing the vast expanse of the Wasteland. It was a broken world, littered with settlements—some bustling with life, others embroiled in battles, their walls trembling under the assault of neighbouring armies or vicious creatures. His heart tightened as he saw the scope of it all, feeling both the weight of his own success and the instability lurking just outside Fort Bone’s walls.
The Red Fairy’s voice floated through the tension, “Let’s take a closer look, shall we?” Her camera zoomed in on one settlement, and the scene changed. It was a wasteland even within the Wasteland, a desolate, crumbling town, its defenses ragged and barely standing. Surrounding it were demon dogs, their eyes glowing red, snarling and snapping at the settlement’s weakened walls. The eerie stillness was broken only by their growls.
With a cheerful hum, the Red Fairy flicked her fingers, and a wave of red light descended over the scene. The people cowering inside looked up in terror, their eyes wide as the light enveloped them. They whimpered, crouching low to the ground.
“No! Not us!”
“Please we just want to go home.”
Then, with a sudden burst, the light exploded outward, disintegrating the people in the settlement into a fine mist. The Red Fairy floated down into the scene, twirling in the air like a dancer, her red dress flowing around her.
As the dust cleared, she stood in the center of the ruined town, her voice ringing out across the Wasteland. “Ta-da! And that, my dear friends, is what you get for staying at the bottom too long in a place like this. Don’t let your settlements settle, or else…” She trailed off, a sly smile spreading across her face as the ominous tone of her words hung in the air.
Atlas exhaled, tension gripping his shoulders. ‘She's not just entertaining them; she’s reminding everyone how easily things can fall apart.‘
‘‘‘‘