Chapter 21: Part 8: Eisenburg

After a long silence, the woman finally stood up and let go of her.

“How many people live here…?” Mili clasped her small hands nervously, her gaze wandering as she spoke.

“There are over 36,000 underground residents,” Seraphina answered.

“There are also 3,000 active soldiers and 3,500 reservists.”

“As for the outer districts? The last count was around 150,000…”

“Oh! 162,700,” Seraphina said, counting on her fingers casually. “They handle the basic jobs—cleaning, transportation, and simple manufacturing.”

“Th-then what about the farther areas…?”

The girl weakly pointed toward the area near the ring-shaped wall.

“That place—” Seraphina paused.

“The Refugee Zone.”

“But the Refugee Zone isn’t outside…” Mili, who had once wandered outside, felt even more confused.

“Anyone who passes the basic medical check and isn’t severely affected by the gray fog can come in,” her expression turned cold.

“All personal information of anyone entering Eisenburg is recorded.”

“But once they leave, they can’t come back without my permission—that’s the rule.”

“They don’t have official resident status yet, so they have to live there.”

“If they behave well and work diligently, they might have a chance to move to the outer districts.”

“If not… hm.” Seraphina raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “Usually, those driven out of Eisenburg have committed crimes, failed loyalty tests, or…”

She squinted at the distance: “—are spies.”

“Sp-spies…?” The word was utterly unfamiliar to Mili.

“The Purification Sanctuary, the Golden Wanderers Alliance, and other factions all want to infiltrate Eisenburg,” the woman’s voice turned even colder. “I must filter out those who can truly serve me.”

Mili stared at the shadows inside the walls, her feelings complicated.

“This is reality,” Seraphina noticed her expression. “Survival of the fittest, the strong prey on the weak.”

“But this… it’s just too…”

“Order has never been about equality,” the woman said, standing beside her, her voice exceptionally clear in the wind.

She leaned against the railing, eyes sweeping over the thousands of lights in the distance—or rather, the many dark shadows.

“Mili, resources are limited.”

“Who do you think is more valuable to Eisenburg, a top mechanical engineer or a laborer who only moves cargo?”

The girl opened her mouth but found no words.

“The word ‘human’ is too luxurious. Most of the time, we’re just beasts fighting to survive…”

“Then… why do you still want me to be the Saint?” Mili mustered her courage to ask.

The question made Seraphina silent for a moment.

She took out her monitoring device again, staring at the rapidly fluctuating data on the screen.

“Because you let me have more,” the woman finally said. “Your abilities can completely solve the food problem and make Eisenburg stronger!”

“The residents in the central district exceeding 50,000 is just around the corner. The army will also grow—five thousand! Ten thousand! More! Even the Sanctuary will have to think twice!”

“And the title of ‘Saint’ makes it easier for the people to accept you…”

“J-just like that…?” Mili looked down, unsure how to respond.

“Just like that,” Seraphina nodded.

“I never hide my intentions.”

“I want control—absolute control. Everyone must act according to my will.”

She stepped closer to Mili and gently caressed her cheek.

“That includes you.”

“…”

“Are you afraid of me?” The woman watched the data on the monitor. “Why are you afraid?”

“I… I…”

“You’re still afraid. Your heart rate is 160, your blood pressure is up, adrenaline is flowing… your body is telling me—you want to run.”

“…”

“You’re not allowed to run. I need you.” Seraphina’s fingers lightly traced the girl’s temple.

“You’ve seen the whole of Eisenburg, you understand the rules here, you know your place—yet even so, you want to run away?”

“You are not like them. They just need to survive.”

“But I give them the right to live.”

“Under Eisenburg’s rules, as long as you work, you won’t starve. That is already a godsend on this land…”

She bent down and looked into Mili’s eyes. Her heterochromatic pupils seemed to burn with ghostly flames in the night.

“Do you miss the Oasis?”

“That place did seem wonderful on the surface—mutual aid, love, equality—”

“And then?”

“It’s now a ruin.”

“Its location was like a chunk of fat in the wilderness, attracting all the hyenas.”

“But its leaders, so-called kindness and ideals, collapsed in front of absolute power…”

She pointed outside the walls toward the dark wilderness.

“Over there is the territory of the Golden Wanderers Alliance.”

“A nomadic tribe of raiders and bandits.”

“They worship absolute freedom—freedom to loot, to kill, to take everything from the weak.”

“If not for this wall and my army, they’d be the first to storm in…”

“And enslave everyone here, men, women, and children alike, turning them into slaves and food…”

Then, she pointed to another direction.

South.

“That side is the Purification Sanctuary’s territory.”

“A bunch of fanatical religious zealots.”

“They believe the Cataclysm is divine punishment, and special people like you are ‘heretics’ to be purified.”

“They will praise you with the utmost devotion, then burn you on a cross with the purest flames…”

“And scatter your ashes among their believers, shamelessly claiming it as a miracle residue.”

“They have strong faith and far more extreme methods than I do.”

“But even so, their supporters outnumber Eisenburg’s by a large margin… hopeless.”

Mili’s face grew paler.

“There are some more troublesome ones,” Seraphina added, her tone tinged with impatience.

“Like the Steel Brotherhood to the west.”

“A bunch of tech fanatics obsessed with old-world technology, who believe data and reason are everything.”

“If they catch you, they won’t kill or worship you…”

“They’ll strap you to an operating table, slice you, study you… use any means to figure out exactly how your abilities work…”

“In their eyes, you’re not human.”

“You’re just a biological miracle to be cracked, a walking mutant specimen.”

“…”

“There’s also the Silent Merchants,” she added lastly, “a large caravan operating between all factions.”

“They worship profit above all. For the right price, they’ll sell anything.”

“Information, weapons—even you.”

“If you fall into their hands, you’ll be tagged with a price and sold to the highest bidder…”

Seraphina withdrew her hand and leaned again against the railing.

The night wind blew her silver hair.

“Now, tell me.” She turned to look at the trembling Mili. “Is this system of order I’ve built—this unequal, cruel, utilitarian regime—wrong?”

The girl’s lips moved for a moment but finally sealed tight, bowing her head.

What Seraphina built was a vast, ruthless, and efficiently running survival machine…

It squeezed all classes indiscriminately, fed the elites and military, and ruthlessly used all resources for the sharpest edges…

It was heartless but served as a sturdy ark, firmly resisting the more insane and terrifying storms outside…

“Here, you may be a prisoner, a tool,” the woman lowered her voice, laced with temptation, “but outside, you don’t even have the right to be a tool…”

“You’d be torn apart, devoured, used up.”

“I’ve drawn your boundaries, given you shelter.”

“This is not a cage.”

“This is your only fortress…”

The wind atop the central tower grew chillier.

After finishing, Seraphina tightened Mili’s coat around her.

Mili’s feelings were bitter and sweet.

She could not deny the prosperity and order of Eisenburg…

But she also couldn’t ignore the poverty and injustice on the edges and outside the city.

Having grown up in true peace, she knew such things were not impossible…

That was the path she had come from.

“Let’s go back,” Seraphina glanced at the sky. “You’ve seen enough for today.”

“Wait…” The girl suddenly spoke up. “I want to see the outer districts…”

“See what?”

“See how those… ‘unqualified’ people live, like you said…”

“Are you sure?” The woman squinted. “It’s dirty, it stinks, and it’s dangerous.”

“I’m sure.”