Chương 98: Potato overlords are watching

Quite a few people questioned Sydney's decision that Dennis' party was 'safe' to be let in. Quietly. Very much not in her face. While trying to keep as much distance between them and the woman as possible. He wouldn't have even known if Mary didn't tell him. Apparently, the story was that he attacked the woman basically unprovoked, and hell, just look at him, the guy was a total psycho and proved it. The fact that Sydney declared them 'safe' was regarded as her eccentricity.

Apparently, she was known for being eccentric. Curiously, there was an opposing group who defended him, with their main argument that he was that speedster. Obviously, Sydney was at fault for invoking his righteous and heroic wrath, everyone knew that the woman had a few screws loose, and the only reason she was alive was because he was just that forgiving. After all, he just played with her without using his actual speed. And all the rumors about his psychotic bloodthirstiness were just an exaggeration.

How could he be that evil or bloodthirsty, after helping so many people? All of that, and it wasn't even five minutes since the party crossed the gate. It was like he was fucking famous or something. How the hell Mary had managed to learn all that stuff in a few minutes without actually talking to anyone or leaving the truck was a mystery. It was like she had ears in all the quiet places, listening to the conversations she had no business knowing anything about.

Then he remembered that she had weird communication butterfly powers, and the question answered itself. She had ears in all the places. It also kind of explained how she had managed to not get killed when she ran away from the party. It was kinda cool. A subtle sort of power.

Sydney squeezed in into their already overstuffed pickup truck–there were eight people just in the back of it now, for God's sake–as if the concept of free space didn't apply to her, thinking herself to be too cool for that sort of thing, presumably. She wasn't. They were stuffed like sardines.

That state of affairs survived for a total of ten or so seconds of them all sitting quietly in the back of the truck as the woman contemplated her life choices, squeezed in between Jack and Daniel like a ham between two slices of bread. Then she promptly kicked half of them out. Mark's minions didn't make the cut – both Daniel and the grumpy one were out for being useless. Both of Mary's friends, Jack and Evan, were also out – one because he looked too boring, and the other because she didn't like his face.

Mark stayed only because the truck technically belonged to him, though Dennis suspected it was mostly because Sydney didn't want to bother with driving and derived some twisted pleasure in using Mark as her chauffeur. Mary was almost kicked out, but she made puppy eyes and smiled at the woman kindly, thus completely obliterating the snappy auntie with her overpowered social powers. She stayed. Of course.

Honestly, Dennis was starting to suspect that one had to be a complete monster to get a communication-type skill. It wasn't balanced, to be able to dismantle the most powerful human he had ever seen with just a freaking glance, and no magic whatsoever. Behind the walls, NLA was… not as weird as he hoped, but still hard to recognize. Not that he was ever anywhere but in his hometown, but in his humble opinion, if you've seen one place, you've seen them all. Though that thought might've been a No-Soul thing. Anyway.

The city didn't look alien, or mind-blowing in some way. Honestly, it was mostly normal, aside from a few very noticeable differences. He would've believed it if someone told him that this was just a normal place in a foreign country. Maybe in Greenland? It was probably very green, according to the name. The first thing that immediately caught his eye was the density of vegetation. Sure, most cities were a bit overgrown without the human touch, but here – plants were growing everywhere.

On the balconies, in the yards, on the roofs, on the sides of the road, just straight on the fucking road – trees and plants were so numerous that it felt like they drove into a garden, not an actual city where the majority of people lived. There were almost no cars – not even abandoned ones. Parking lots that he could see were converted into yet even more pockets of growing stuff. Motorcycles and scooters were a bit more common, but again – nowhere near 'city' standards. Bicycles, though…

He'd need to invest in bicycle stocks once they reinvented the stock market. Kind of explained trees growing in the middle of the roads though. They just didn't need so many roads when there were almost no cars. Though how the hell did they manage to grow a freaking tree in the middle of the road in the few months since the apocalypse was a mystery. That thing wasn't small by any metric. People looked like people, wearing normal people clothes and doing normal people things.

He didn't know why he was expecting everyone to be wearing medieval armor or something. Sure, they generally were a bit more utilitarian. Wearing backpacks more often than not, and clothes tended to be more on the comfortable side than the fashionable one, but… He could imagine a sight like this in the world before the end of the world. It looked normal. Ish. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Aside from everyone stiffening or power-walking away when the truck passed too close to them. That usually happened only when he really forgot to shower.

"Everyone and their mom wants to be a Farmer nowadays," Sydney said lazily, noticing them all staring at the trees.

"Everyone gets a Skill at level three, and if you're afraid to go out and fight – level three is the most you could hope for unless what you're doing is really useful. And feeding people is arguably the most useful thing you could be doing without risking your life. Not to mention it's an exp mine. Everyone eats. If they eat what you grew – you guessed it, you get your tiny little cut of the exp. Skills of that type are a damn cheat code for easy life." She frowned slightly.

"Damn idiots don't understand what's gonna happen when they oversaturate the market," she muttered under her breath.

"Evan told me that the place was really green, but…" Mary said, her eyes still locked on one of the trees. It had bananas growing on it. Damn.

"But I guess I didn't understand the extent of it. So it's all grown with Skills?"

"Nah," the woman yawned as she talked.

"Try using your ears to listen. Everyone wants to be a Farmer. They're not that common. The overwhelming majority of these lazy bums are still at the second level. Most of the plants you see are just that – someone's overenthusiastic attempt at gardening. It's almost tradition to use your spare time to tend to plants, I'd say. All in hopes of getting that offer."

"Farmer is a skill?" Mary asked.

"A catch-all term for skills that let you grow something useful."

"I see…" Mary muttered under her nose.

"Since food is so needed, I guess people are losing nothing by trying their luck in hopes of getting a production Skill at level three. If they're lucky, they're pretty much set for life, yes? It would make sense that to be the one who feeds the whole community comes with some sweet benefits."

"The best," Sydney agreed easily.

"Would've tried growing a cactus or two by myself if I didn't already get stuck with a combat one. To be able to grow potatoes in the sand over the evening is like being a CEO of a small company. You actually get some decent exp if you're doing it right, you're never in danger, everyone wants to kiss your ass… It's a good life."

"How come everyone's so weak?" Dennis asked, watching another bystander suddenly changing course when they noticed him looking at them.

"And if they're doing jack shit, how do they expect to get to the third level?"

"They're lazy asses who just live their lives, but exp sharing is not a joke," Sydney shrugged.

"You know, at first it was at least clear for what you were getting the exp. Kill a monster – get stronger. But then someone would make a spear for you. Someone cut down a tree to make that spear. Someone made dinner for a person who cut a tree that was later made into a spear. Someone made a good joke and lifted the mood of a person who was cooking, and the meal turned out better." She sighed.

"At this point, it's a confusing mess. No one really knows what they're getting exp for, they're just guessing. Unless they're an adventurer, I mean. Everyone levels up, but it's very slow unless they're actively useful. But then it gets crazier."

"Hm?"

"Some eggheads made a few very interesting observations," she said.

"While exp sharing is what we think happens – because it does, there are a few weird inconsistencies that come from the fact that no one loses exp. Think about it – an adventurer got hurt while fighting, but killed the monster and came back. Say one of the Healers gets their hands on the poor guy and fixes him. Do they get the exp?" Dennis shrugged.

"Probably?" he guessed, starting to see the contradiction.

"Wait, no. If people don't lose the exp, then–""Healers do get the exp for healing," Sydney said.

"And the adventurer who got healed doesn't lose any. At least, no one could notice the difference, and people looked very hard. Either the System knew that he would be healed beforehand and withheld a share of exp for the Healer's reward, predicting the future, or the Healer's part just came from nowhere. Since no one wants to believe that our future is that obvious and predetermined for the System, the consensus is that you can get exp just for…" She waved her hand, trying to find the right word.

"Stuff. Doing things can give you exp, and it doesn't have to have a source. Presumably. The common understanding is just to 'be useful'. To whom? Who the fuck knows. Adventurers are a good bet, but apparently they're not needed."

"Um. I'm sorry?" Lily raised her hand like she was in a class. It was still an awkward movement, full of anxiousness and uncertainty, the fight before leaving the girl a bit more of a mess as if that was even possible. But it seemed that she was calming down, even though the process was accompanied by her trying to stick close to him even more like a duckling. He didn't mind. He was glad that she was feeling better, even if it was slow-going.

Getting Sydney down on her ass and almost killing her felt simultaneously appropriate and not enough for the amount of pointless suffering the girl was going through because of her.

"Yes?" Sydney answered with a raised eyebrow. Dennis was burying a hole in her with his gaze the whole time, ready to repeat the smacking if the woman decided to make the Lily-bomb worse again. If she noticed, she didn't show it, looking slightly bored and unperturbed.

"Can't you just ask Ellie?" Lily said quietly, avoiding looking into anyone's eyes.

"She… she knows all this stuff, right?" Their gazes turned on El'el. The elf blinked, slowly. Like an alien.

"Divinity is all-encompassing, and self-perpetuating," she said without showing any emotion.

"Acknowledgement is all that is needed for it to spread."

"What?" Sydney frowned.

"She calls exp 'Divinity'," Dennis explained.

"It's an elf thing."

"No, that–" Sydney shook her head.

"It doesn't matter how she calls it. Might call it 'The Force' for all that I care. The other thing. What do you mean it's self-perpetuating?" El'el tilted her head like an owl.

"It perpetuates on its own," she said deliberately slowly, as if explaining to a child.

"It requires no fuel. Divinity is the fuel. Just one speck of it is enough to fill a universe, with enough time."

"Figures the first thing magic does is perpetual energy," Sydney muttered.

"But if exp requires no source, why the hell do we need to fight monsters to get it?"

"To take one's life is a sure way to force Acknowledgement," El'el shrugged.

"After all, you are ending all they were, and taking all they could be. To grow in such way is known as a Path of Slaughter. It is… not civilized. But common in new worlds. I do not judge." She was totally judging them.

"And the right way to level up is to… what?" Sydney asked.

"Grow apples? People will die of old age before getting their second skill with that approach."

"Human lives are surely short," El'el nodded, and didn't say anything else. It was just a simple admission. Yeah your race sucks. On that note, they reached the mansion.