It was around that time that the peace and smooth operations of Kara-Goth was disrupted. “Warehouse Security went on strike!” Xiao Yan blurted to Remian. “Who went on what?!” Remian sat there in a daze, interrupted in the middle of trying to design a rudimentary anti-gravity device. “It’s the bears!” Xiao Yan groaned. “They’re saying they’re mistreated!” “Bears?” Remian stared at her blankly. “What bears?” “The ones guarding the warehouse!” “We have bears guarding the warehouse?” “We’ve ALWAYS had bears guarding the warehouse! According to George they’ve been doing it since the Adventurers Guild first started!” Xiao Yan spluttered. “Don’t you remember?” Remian thought back. Way, way back when their Adventurer Guild was only a little log hall on the outskirts of town, back when all they had were a bunch of kids from the Raven Tavern who slept with the wolfcats in the dining hall every night and felt they were lucky to do

At present, the Draconians numbered between one hundred to two hundred thousand. Remian wasn’t entirely sure because since Zar’khan-dras started conquering the entirety of the Eastlands for the Dragon Empire, the number of Draconians subordinate to Zor’khan-dras had definitely grown rapidly. Zor’khan-dras did not restrain his son from expanding their territory or recruiting more servants in any way. Zar’khan, Bol’khan, Sior’khan, even Rou’khan-dras freely added more to their numbers (and to Remian’s job) day by day. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if they had overshot 200,000 by now. This was why he figured he’d better prepare for half a million, because by the time Grandpa and Grandma Dras arrived to pick up their kids, the princes and princess of the Dragon Empire could certainly have amassed that many servants and sworn subordinates into the Draconian branch bloodlines. With even the most optimistic estimates, in twenty years, the current number of Draconians co

[I give up.] Mindy declared three months after the Corvette-sized Mice Raft Project began. [What happened?] Darian caught her transmission and replied. [Is it the Ruins? Are you in the team that’s breaking through to B9?] [No, I’m nowhere near Three Pines. I just got back from the Undead World.] [Oh. How was it?] [It was terrible! The Necromancers have gotten completely organized now, and it doesn’t matter what time we try to make a move, there’s always an army patrolling and waiting to attack. Furthermore, as soon as we engage, another Necromancer and his army would try to cut us off from the Portal and a third one would directly siege the team we leave at the Portal to guard our exit. They’re not trying to ward us off any more, they’re directly trying to kill us!] [That sounds bad. Why not ask the Dragon Empire to send more troops?] [They’re too busy conquering this world to bother with that one. Haven’t you heard? They’ve withdrawn

Meanwhile, over the past year, the settlements of the Wildlands had undergone massive growth.Farthest north, the islands in the Midlands Sea had been filled to the point of overcrowding. The Order of Light had helped the refugees settle island after island over the past year. Many refugees from the Midlands just plopped down and settled at the first nearest peaceful stop. With so many of their countrymen and neighbors present, the many new islanders felt there was no need to go on to the desert or the Wildlands. The islands suited them just fine.At last count, the estimated population on those islands was 9 million. People from the Order of Light who were temporarily stationed there and those still on ships were not counted.But Reef sent a warning. Alani told them directly, “You won’t always have the protection of the Deep Emperor. The good weather isn’t going to last forever.”A small percentage of the islanders heeded her warn

The mice on the moon and the mice who just arrived on the moon met at the entrance of the tunnels protected by Lu’na-ris. “Mikwiiiwii?” [You the new guys?] “Yiikii?” [Yeah? Why?] “Sii-eeekii!” [This place is all yours! Now give us the suits!] That was the entirety of the handover from the old batch to the new. At long last! They could return to their home on the surface of the planet Sorrel II! It had been a nervous, adventurous, and sometimes tedious couple years or so of living on the moon cut off from home suddenly thanks to the Meorin expedition... but at last, they were going home! For a dragon, a couple years was nothing, a mere eye-blink in their lifespans. For a human, two years was a maturing youth leaving home for college or an extended expedition worthy of a distant voyage. For a lynxmouse, two years could practically account for entire generations. More than half the returnees had been born and lived most of their e