Found it! Eldon stood before a door in a deserted hallway. The residential wing was huge, with long hallways sparsely punctuated by doors. The apartments were large, as Eldon understood it. Larger than what he was used to in his old dormitories in the Parsimony Camp. Over there, twenty people could be packed into a small room. Inmates would sleep on every inch of space. It was so bad that making a night visit to the restroom often involved incurring more than a few sleepy curses.

The inmates could only stretch their limbs during missions when they could do whatever they wanted as long as the monsters died. The only downside to the missions was that they were also when one was likely to say goodbye to acquaintances and enemies.

In truth, could it be called a downside? After all, during the next few nights, there would be more space for everyone still alive to stretch their legs.

Taking a deep breath, Eldon opened the door and went in. As he had expected, the “room” was a complete apartment. There were chairs in the living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The plain walls were unadorned and bare, but the amenities available were already shocking enough.

Are these really for prisoners? Eldon said, curiously observing the place. It was well known that full bellies lead to free thinking and that comfort encourages laziness and a desire for more comfort. The Government was unafraid of whatever the Campers could cook up.

“Awesome!” A voice cut through the air. “Here is an apartment fit for a king, and here is a trustworthy friend; what else could a man ask for?!”

Eldon turned to see a man in a tattered inmate uniform stepping through the doorway.

“Zachary? What are you doing here?”

Zachary held up his bronze token. The ‘4864’ engraved on it greeted Eldon with a shimmer. “What else?”

Eldon raised his eyebrow. What were the odds that Zachary was given the same number as he was? Eldon initially had doubts, but they were cleared after a short rumination.

Only thirty or so Campers were registering at the same time. To optimize space allocation and prevent conflicts, people standing nearer one another were likely to receive the same room number.

Zachary crouched to inspect one of the wooden chairs, rubbing a finger along its surface. “This is custom-made. It’s not the same as those benches in the dorm lobbies.”

“How would you know?” Eldon asked. Zachary was a Camper. Why would a Camper be able to tell the differences between furniture?

“Heh.” Zachary got to his feet. “I’ve seen something like it before.”

Where? Eldon was on the verge of asking, but he restrained his tongue. He touched his grumbling belly. Hunger always did make him more liable to chatter.

Instead, he asked a different, more relevant question. “I have a question if you're kind enough to answer.”

“Hm? Ask away.”

Eldon took a deep breath. “Why did you tell me—and the others—your thoughts on why we were brought to Spire Island?”

If Eldon had been in his place, he would have kept that knowledge to himself. Long years of living in the Camps make it difficult to trust anyone or make friends. There was no assurance that they would put themselves in danger for you, neither should you expect them to. Those who failed to understand that life was a solitary battle quickly met unfortunate ends.

“Good question.” Zachary commended. “The answer is simple. I believe everyone should survive together if we can.

“I know that some might say I’m dumb or naive, but that’s fine.” His voice was solemn. “If you think about it, most of them only became that way because of circumstance. Because of the fear of betrayal, they betray others. Because they don't want to get hurt, they focus on keeping themselves safe.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“If I am to change that and create a better world, where one’s allies are trustworthy and where teamwork matters much more than individual strength, then I must be that change. Humans have always been social animals. Our present selfish state of caring only for ourselves was never in our nature.”

Zachary clenched his fist.

Eldon listened quietly. Zachary’s monologue, if genuine, was touching but naive and escapist. The event, some call the Revolution, and others call the Apocalypse, did not give men these desires. It merely created a stage where those desires could come forth, a stage where they were the simple and sure path to safety.

After a few seconds, Zachary suddenly laughed. He patted Eldon’s shoulders and smiled brightly. “Sorry about bombarding you with my beliefs all of a sudden. It must have been there just waiting to come out.”

Eldon shook his head. “I understand. If you’re being sincere, then it might be worth it to have you as a friend.”

“See? You’re still doubting, but I’m influencing you already!”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Say what,” Zachary said. “I’ll wash up first and head out to gather more information. I have quite a few friends that might know something we don’t.”

Eldon had to admit that was a nice benefit of friends, superficial though they might be.

“As for you, you can either stay here or look around for something to quiet that rumbling void.”

Laughing, Zachary made his way into the bathroom.

Eldon raised a hand to call him back but changed his mind. He settled into a chair and looked carefully around. There was no conspicuous object that could be used to spy on him.

“Then what... ?” He sighed and massaged his temples. Sometime after the storm started, he felt that someone was watching him. He had put it off as a figment of his imagination or a side-effect of his hunger, but now he was getting worried. With every passing second, he increasingly felt as though he was being seen through, all the way down to his bones and thoughts.

A minute passed in this excruciating state, but then it all went away, and everything was fine again. Eldon waited a few moments to be sure, then released a deep sigh and reclined further into his chair. A bit of rest would make him sharper and less hallucinatory...

The Spire Tower was an immensely crucial focal point of the New World Government. All the important officials and ministers lived and worked here alongside the leaders of the Reclaimers’ Legion and the Spire’s Guards, so the tower was guarded day and night by troops of soldiers. No one could enter without being invited for something important, and the soldiers stationed there had the authority to kill any uninvited guest that approached on sight.

A simple chamber was at the very top of the tower, on the final floor from which the entire island could be seen through the windows. There was no furniture or amenities, and the windows were shut tight. There was only a white-haired man sitting cross-legged in the center of the room and a web of fluorescent intricate symbols interwoven in complex structures engraved on surfaces in the room, from the ground to the ceiling. The man sat in the middle of the web, his hands folded in a complex gesture. On his face was a simple, plain white mask that covered all his features, leaving his deep eyes visible.

The man’s eyes stared into space, but several images seemed to flash before him in rapid succession. There were images of every corner of the island. From the scene of a young man with golden locks snoring on a chair to the scene of the daughter discussing with her father, to the scene of a large, muscular man in a disheveled Bone-embroidered uniform loudly smacking his waist on the butt of a moaning young lady in similar attire; the white-haired, white-robed man watched everything apathetically.

His gaze lingered on Eldon for a moment. The boy noticed his scrutiny, while most others did not. It was commendable, but the boy was only a D-Rank with little potential. The combination of blood energy and devouring intent resulted in a unique but limited talent.

He turned his gaze to the other candidates, those filled with potential. A few of them flashed past his eyes.

A black-robed swordsman practicing swordplay in his residence.

A bald man sitting cross-legged, chanting Buddhist mantra.

A petite girl with pink hair and pale skin in a dark chamber, bound with heavy metal shackles on all four limbs.

The white-haired man rubbed his chin in thought. These S-ranks...

A knock on the door.

“Come in, Steeleye.”

The door slid open, and a man in black robes walked in with a sharp gaze. He stopped near the white-haired man and dropped to his knees.

“This servant greets the young master!”

“Get up,” came the cold reply. The black-robed man rose but kept his head bowed. “How is it?”

“It is going as planned. Everything is in motion.”

“And the favored mortal?”

“The President is presently in the Spire. He seems to have reached that stage.”

The white-haired man nodded. “You may leave.”

As the door slid closed, the white-haired man returned his gaze to the S-ranks.

Could there be True Prodigies among them? Those destined to ascend at rapid speed and reach the peak... Could the Living Land produce geniuses on that level?

The white-haired man’s smile showed in his eyes. There was only one time-tested way of identifying geniuses.

Ah... The near future will be quite interesting.