The neighbour that Nolan was actually talking about was the neighbouring island called Small Town that was occupied by humans. This island also wasn't exactly an island since it had a part of it still connected to the Earthen Continent. And rather than calling it a country, it was rather called an island because of how small it actually was as compared to other countries, even those countries considered small were actually bigger than it.
The architect of this place was no different from that of the high class residents from 2024. Only a few things had changed here and there but the infrastructure hadn't changed much. Beautiful houses with swimming pools, beautiful gardens and lawns, vast land and big mansions, luxurious cars that could now fly, robots that now did all the household chores. It had some futuristic taste to it but wasn't too futuristic.
There was only one skyscraper in Small Town and it also acted as a watch tower to guard enemies coming from the sea. Also, the most influential people lived here and so did the City Lord. Of course the most influential in Small Town, not the most influential people on the continent. Currently, the City Lord was having a sumptuous meal that only people like him could afford.
There was a large piece of salmon fish cooked to perfection, full chicken, full turkey, pork, juicy ribs, lobster, etc. Just looking at this food would make even a monk want to quit Buddhism.
Just behind the City Lord who was happily enjoying his meal, a butler with a bald head and moustache stood calmly behind the man. He wore his uniform and stood there with a stern expression while hanging a white cloth on his forearm.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The City Lord ignored the knocking on the golden door and continued eating, the butler was the one who went to check what was going on. Five minutes later the butler came back and whispered something in the City Lord's ear. The City Lord just nodded and continued eating.
“Give me five minutes.”
After saying that, his eating speed suddenly increased. The full chicken was devoured in just two bites. The lobster shell wasn't even removed before it was also devoured and in just five minutes, he'd finished eating all the food on the table. He then drank an entire wine bottle before taking the cloth on the butler's arm and wiped his mouth clean.
Burrrrp~
“Let's go.”
…
Although Small Town didn't have a humongous wall to protect the residents, it did have a massive barrier that was invisible most of the time. Only when attacked would the barrier show itself, it was also due to this reason that City Lord didn't panic after he received the news.
Small Town had two gates that were used for entry, West Gate and East Gate. West Gate was for those coming from the sea and East Gate for those coming from the continent and in most cases, it was his superiors who showed up once in a while.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Now, the City Lord, his butler and a few guards approached the West Gate to welcome their unexpected visitors coming from afar.
“James my friend, it seems you still haven't lost weight after a few years of not seeing each other. If you don't start exercising now, I'm afraid you won't be able to sire an heir since any woman would be crushed under your weight, hahaha!” said the person on the other side of the barrier.
“Zaza, still with that vile mouth of yours I see. Just who the fuck taught you the human language?!” answers James aka the City Lord.
“You know how much of a genius I am so I taught myself the language, hehe. Pretty impressive right?”
Although it sounded like an exchange from old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while, their words were filled with hostility and hatred for one another. Nolan who was standing in front studied the man called James. He was very tall, about two meters tall, bald head, scar on the right side of his eye and fat, extremely fat. He wore a red suit that together with his appearance, made him look like a mafia boss rather than a City Lord that deals with paperwork.
James on the other hand ignored Nolan and instead looked at the extremely tall teenage boys who were even taller than him. One muscular and the other lean, one with an imposing aura and the other with a reserved aura.
‘These boys… why do they look so familiar as though I've seen them somewhere before?’ thought James to himself as he finally stood a few meters from the barrier.
“Gentlemen, what brings you here?” asked James.
“We want a pass into the continent and you're the only person I know with such capabilities. It won't be for free of course, just name your price.” Zaza didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
It wasn't uncommon for nonhuman creatures to want to enter the continent and it also wasn't prohibited. It would usually take a week after screening and filling out paperwork before being approved but it costed quite a sum of money and only those who could afford to pay the price would be accepted.
James knew that Zaza was rich like him so there was no way he would come to him instead of doing things legally. Of course the process would be faster with his help but still, he felt that something wasn't quite right.
“You know that this might cost you an arm and leg right, are you still willing to pay such a price?” asked James with a sharp gaze.
“Cut the nonsense and get on with it already. I came here prepared for the cost but I also have additional conditions. Instead of Guest QRC, I want Residential QRC's”
“Fine, just as long you're willing to pay the price.”
These so called Guest QRC's and Residential QRC's were actually like visas for immigrants. QRC was short for QR code which was carved on one's wrist and all of your information that you filled in would be inside this QR code, together with your bank accounts and other relevant information.
Now, the difference between a Guest QRC and a Residential QRC was that the former had a time limit for how much time you could stay inside the continent, of course in an owned territory with rules and policies. As for the Residential QRC, it was like having a citizenship of that place you are visiting and it came with other percs.
“Follow me then, I'll show you where you'll be staying these few days and Zaza, don't you dare cause me trouble or else… don't blame me for being ruthless.” said James.
“Relax, I didn't come here for your lazy ass. I'm preparing for the Recruitments Event.”
“But you've already surpassed the age limit so how do you plan on participating?”
“It's not me who's participating but them. I found out that the kids you gave me three years ago actually have a lot of potential. Fortunately I didn't eat them the moment I obtained them or else I'd regret this decision for the rest of my life, hahaha!”
“WHAT?! IT'S THEM?! NO WONDER THEY LOOK SO FAMILIAR! IF THE SOILDATI WERE TO SEE THEM NOW, I WONDER HOW THEY'D REACT!” James exclaimed with a shocked expression.
“Hehe, who knew that the rocks you gave me would actually turn out to be hidden gems that just needed a little bit of polishing.”
“Lucky bastard! How can an ugly thing like you have so much luck! I'm certain that lady luck is actually blind!”
“Fuck you!”