Chapter 1126
Expanding Moturn’s available area was partially for the sake of comfort and partially for necessity. Though the population had technically dropped since Anton’s arrival… that was on the order of thousands out of millions. More members of the Twisting Spike Sect had been involved in their oppression, but the charges leveled against many of them had not always reached a threshold deserving of death. There were lesser reparations that could be made.
The planet wasn’t terribly corrupt, just desperate, and that just happened to include those of the strongest sect around. They were more aware of how bad the situation was. That didn’t excuse their behavior, of course. Those with power and authority should be held to even stricter standards, in Anton’s opinion. It didn’t excuse anything, but it explained why they acted in a certain way, aside from those who just enjoyed bullying others.
If they were going to expand, they needed to not go outward but downward, at least at first. If they fortified their tunnels properly, they could be protected from the outside pressure. Trying to expand on the surface of Moturn’s rocky core would be much more difficult, as that would involve expanding the barrier. They simply didn’t have the materials or free energy to manage that. There was some debate whether the darkness of the underground was preferable to viewing the swirling storms outside the barrier, as both were potentially unpleasant, but practicality came first either way.
Many Twisting Spike Sect members got to learn how to use picks. Of course, they weren’t restricted to that form of labor… but everyone needed to do work. So that he would not set a bad example, Anton himself took to mining through the dense rock by hand on a regular basis. Nobody did work Anton wouldn’t do- though there were a few who did work he was hardly qualified for. He was basically proficient as a herbalist and in pretty much any profession, but he wasn’t amazing at any of them. Aside from farming and farming adjacent activities, obviously.
As Anton took more opportunities to do manual work instead of organizing and settling disputes and working with people, he became more confident about the future of what they were working with. And thus it was that enough time passed for help to arrive.
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When Anton had asked for aid he hadn’t yet taken some of their previous moon’s dirt. Then he’d dumped more than Moturn had needed at the moment. But Anton was still very glad when Lev showed up with a ship full of dirt- and plants. Some of the vegetation might not work out in the gas giant, but that would partially depend on the people tending to things
Shortly after Lev, other ships arrived with food- notably of various different kinds. Lots of beans, tubers, and grains. Staple food that people could grow if they learned to make sunlight. Or just moved back to one of their other moons, which the presence of Alliance ships made possible- though the atmospheres weren’t exactly optimal.
Surprisingly, many people didn’t want to leave. The reasons were varied, but they generally came down to fear. Lack of trust in the alliance, fear of further attacks from the upper realms, a general dislike of change, or similar reasons. Anton didn’t really blame them since everything was new.