Past, future, and future of the past

The room was utterly silent. No one would be able to utter a sound.

Chen Jinnan took a sip of his favorite tea that he had just poured, but today, no matter how much he drank, he could not enjoy his tea.

"What about our family back then?" Chen Fang was the first one to adapt and asked a question.

Murong told them truthfully all about what happened, including what transpired to Huilong, his parents, his sister Yilin, his brother Dawei, and so on.

"Are you serious? And since when did you know?" Huilong exclaimed.

"Not long. Just a week ago," Murong indifferently replied.

"Son, I know you show us some proofs, but do you think it will ultimately happen as predicted by your dream or whatever we will call it?" Chen Dong suddenly asked.

"I think it will happen or at least likely to happen. I have found one dungeon already at the location where it supposed to be."

"What do you think we should do…?" Chen Yiren hoarsely asked.

"I think we should collect supplies such as food, plants, animals, structural metals, gasoline, weapons, and medicines. But, most important, we should build our own base. Only we have our own army, then we can ensure our family safety," Murong proposed his idea.

During the apocalypse, the ability to protect and stand on your own was the most important. In Murong's last life, Chen family had stayed in the capital and depended on the royal family power, which ultimately led to most family members' demise. In this life, Murong would like to push his family to build Chen family own base and lay their foundations outside of other forces' domains.

Everyone was contemplating Murong's plan and turned their faces to grandpa Chen. Although grandfather Chen had not worked for a long time, technically, he was still head of the family who made the final decision regarding the important matter. After a moment of hesitation, Chen Jinnan finally said.

"Well, I think our family has not much of a choice. It will be unwise if we don't consider Murong's warning since we all saw what he could do… We should prepare ourselves. I like Murong's suggestion, and I trust his judgment since he has a glimpse into the future. However, we have to do it cautiously. It will be political suicide if the royal family suspects us of planning rebellion."

"That is true," Chen Fang agreed. He knew very well the danger of the situation since he worked in a government secret intelligence agency.

"If we would like to build our own base, the location is very important. It concerned the continuation and long-term welfare of our family. Ummm…should we go back to our family territory?" Chen Dong cautiously asked.

Chen family territory was on the Northern border of the Xia kingdom. Their territory comprised of one medium-sized city, Belleville city, and around 3,000 square kilometers of farmlands and forests. Even though their domain is not big, but it was extremely rich and populated. Belleville city was one of the two most important border cities in the north. They were a vital path connecting the Arcadia kingdom and the Xia kingdom. Vast and uncountable wealth flowed through them. It is so much that all major forces in the continent knew of their names.

Everyone was still pondering on Chen Dong's proposal when Chen Jinnan abruptly asked.

"Murong, do you have some places in mind?"

Murong had a surprising look at his grandfather and said, "Yes, grandpa. I actually have one place in mind. I have been thinking about it over these last few days. Although our Chen's territory, as father suggested, is good, I think there is still an even better place."

With a flick of his finger, Murong unfolded a white paper scroll on the table, revealing a map of the Pangea continent in front of everyone.

"I think the most suitable place for building a base is here in this area," Murong replied and pointed at the Borderlands province that is located on the border of among three countries, the Laputa kingdom, the Xia kingdom, and the Goguryeo empire. Nobody had claimed this province as their territory in the past. It belonged to the kingdom.

Upon seeing the place that Murong pointed out, Chen Dong raised his eyebrows, the confusing look emerging from his face. In fact, Chen Dong was not the only one. Chen Jinnan and Chen Fang also had a similar view as Chen Dong.

"Why? Any specific reasons?" Chen Fang quickly asked. Murong's words had caught him completely by surprise.

"Of course, I naturally have some reasons for this," Murong plainly explained and took a light sip of his hot cocoa. His expression was serious but calm.

"The area is vast and isolated with several natural barriers, such as lake, river, and mountains. It is also sparsely populated despite there were a lot of villages in the province. It is the best place to avoid skeletons and zombies at the beginning of the apocalypse since those things attracted to people. I think the area could be considered the best when it comes to strategical defense."

Everyone looked at the map. It was well known that the Borderlands province was almost more of a forest than a human settlement. There was no big city in the area, and the area was isolated, as Murong said. The province was in the southwest corner of the Xia kingdom, and the only accessible site was an expansive grass field in the north of the province. Other sides of the region were difficult to access. There were several natural barriers along three borders.

On the south side of the territory, there were several mountain ranges. Those mountainous ridges and numerous cliffs were bare steep rocks. The only way to connect between its southern neighbor city in the Goguryeo empire was through a large valley between the two most giant mountains. It had already been proven in the past that blocking this entrance could help to shield the territory from the invasion of the Goguryeo army centuries ago.

On the west side of the territory, there was a large lake that was an ideal place for fish colonies, and thus some fishing and human settlements presence around this area. This calm water also housed various enchanted beautiful coral reefs along the inner area of the lake. This lake was shared between two kingdoms, the Xia kingdom, and the Laputa kingdom.

On the east side of the territory, there was a large and clear river that constantly carried all kinds of fish and crocodiles. The water inside was not just calm but exceptionally warm and fertile. If one would like to travel to this area, it was necessary to cross a bridge to access the Borderlands territory. As long as someone built a wall on two sides of the bridge, then the threat of zombie or animal hordes would be eliminated.

"But... isn't it too far from other cities? The area is also not connected to any highways. It will be a challenging task to move supplies and people later, plus you will have to build the base from scratch. And why so much land? That's like ten times of our own territory!" Chen Fang doubtfully asked with a surprising look.

"That's because apart from building the base, I think we should plan to provide farming space and recruit a large number of people in the future. There would be a food crisis in the future, and I plan to cultivate land and animals using our secret method to trade for other supplies," Murong replied.

"It is the forest. Will there also be a lot of mutated animals?" Chen Dong asked with curiosity.

"Yes, it will. However, I think we could manage them with our trained soldiers," Murong continued replying.

"The area also plagued by bandit camps, illegal mercenaries, and thieves," Chen Fang, as one of the best intelligent agents in the kingdom, suddenly added the information.

"Yes…. And I know it is challenging but, please…believe me, it is worth it. Also, this area, in my past life, was a strategic location that people fight to get control over it. Apart from one first-tier dungeon, there were three huge ore veins buried beneath the area, Spiritual stone vein, Energy stone vein, and Thorite vein. Those three veins were the largest veins on the continent. With that alone, it is already a sufficient reason for us to occupy this place. As long as we had this land, then even if our family made no more achievements or produced no talented soldiers, our family would still remain safe and well-provided for."

"So, those veins were important?" Chen Jinnan asked.

"Yes, the future apocalypse technology evolves around those materials."

"Then, it settles," Chen Jinnan suddenly slapped the table with his right hand. He had been a little doubtful when Murong first proposed about his plan, but now, his skepticism had all vanished, and his eyes shone with determination.

"Wait, father. How could we get this territory? I don't think the House of Lords will approve despite the fact that the territory is poor. It is still vast and full of natural resources. Don't even consider other two neighbor kingdom politics, even in Xia kingdom itself, how are we going to obtain this land?" Chen Dong asked.

Although Chen family was considered a major family in the Xia kingdom, they were not high enough to influence the House of Lords' decision. Everyone was quiet and think.

For quite a while, Chen Murong finally proposed.

"We exchange with our ancestral territory. We also need money. I think if we submit to the House of Lords that we would like to exchange the land for our family territory and sell the previous one, they will agree. Several people have eyed our territory, especially the royal family itself."

It was actually a nice solution. Building a base in the wildlands would be far more difficult than building a base close to the existing city. One also had to consider that Murong would also like to have an entire military and civilian infrastructure. This was not something the Chen family liquid asset alone could sustain. The amount of capital needed to construct this base from nothing in the middle of nowhere would make even those ancient, prosperous, and wealthy families of the capital shrink back in dread. Selling their territory for money was kind of the only feasible way.

In addition, when the apocalypse began, the trade city will not be that important anymore. Who will care about commercial tax at that time? On the contrary, due to the dense population of Belleville city, it will make the management during crisis a nightmare. Not to mention that it is also located far away in the north. It will be hard to manage and control from the Borderlands. Chen family could lose its authority over it easily over time.

Everybody pondered about Murong's idea and looked at Chen Jinnan. In fact, Chen Murong was not the only one thinking of exchanging Chen family's territory rights. Although this choice was obvious and reasonable, it was still Chen ancestor territory after all. It had sentimental value. Under normal circumstances, no family would like to relocate from their ancestral ground.

"We have to do as Murong said…Our ancestor would agree. It is only a symbol after all," Chen Jinnan eventually reached his decision.

"However, we would have to come up with a good reason to do so. Not only will we relocate our territory, but we will also have to acquire a lot of supplies. A lot of people are going to ask why. And we cannot just tell them we would like to prepare for the apocalypse, can't we?"

"About that father… what about we told them about our technology city plan? Our company has long planned to develop a technology hub city. Just tell them that we think it is troublesome to negotiate with people one by one about the relocation of their houses in the current city. It might be easier to start from the beginning in other areas. Since we also need large capital and a sizable area, we decided to sell our territory to raise the capital. Our choice of land is not much to choose from since it has to be cheap and desolate. For this reason, the Borderlands would be the ideal candidate for our family," Chen Dong proposed.

"That is actually a great idea, son," Chen Jinnan pleasantly said.

After the matter of the family's base was settled, the nine people had discussed for another hour before reaching a consensus about each person's responsibility.

Chen Jinnan would draft a proposal to submit to the House of Lords about territory relocation. Chen Fang and Chen Dawei would be responsible for recruiting the military forces and getting rid of the bandits in the Borderlands. As for gathering and collecting food, daily necessities, weapons, and military supplies, Chen Dong and Chen Yiren would be the ones who managed.

Chen Murong would be responsible for training Chen's family members and surveying the Borderlands to make sure that the area was still the same as his previous life. If not, Chen Jinnan will withdraw his proposal before it passes, and the family will discuss another location for the base.

As for Chen Huilong, Chen Yawen, and Chen Yilin, they do not have any responsibilities at the moment.

A short while later, the meeting ended. Everyone sighed before leaving the meeting room and going back to their bedrooms with the loss in their thoughts.