Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 617 - 581

Although they had arrived at the checkpoint and lined up, the people from the outer district were still quite fearful of the registration categorization, afraid that they would be classified and turned into fuel to keep the Energy Tower burning.

This rumor seemed to be spreading widely in the outer district, with everyone saying that the Count of the Northern Territory used living souls to sustain the Energy Tower's burn so that the people in the inner district could stay warm.

Now, the 'fuel' in the inner district was running low, so they needed to trick these people from the outer district to enter the city and then turn them into fuel as well.

But life in the outer district was too harsh—no clothes to ward off the cold, no food to satisfy hunger, and not even fuel to keep warm!

They were unable to survive any longer! Who still cared how they died?

As long as they could keep their families alive and let them be fed and warm, what difference does it make if they were thrown into the Energy Tower as fuel?

Even if it only means their families can temporarily stay alive, only to be thrown into the Energy Tower in the future, isn't that still a hope for survival?

For ordinary people, as long as there's still a glimmer of hope, they would inevitably try hard to live on, silently bearing the burdens imposed by their rulers.

"Little Yelena, remember, you must listen to Grandma later on, don't be naughty or disruptive, queue properly, and once registration is done, Mom will come find you!" A woman dressed in rags was carefully instructing a pale and skinny child while an elderly and withered old lady stood beside them.

"I know, Mom, I'll be a good girl!" The little girl seemed quite sensible and did not cry or cause a fuss like other children might, nor did she feel afraid.

"Good girl! Wait for Mom, Mom will come find you soon!" The woman seemed worried about her child but still gritted her teeth and pushed her toward the old lady beside her.

The elderly woman hugged Yelena and assured the woman, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of little Yelena. Even if they need fuel, this old woman's tougher to burn, isn't she?"

The elderly woman holding Yelena acted with great composure, as if she wasn't even talking about her own life.

In fact, for someone of her age, she felt she'd lived long enough, and if she could trade her life for the child's survival, she wouldn't begrudge her old life.

Just like in ancient times, when food in villages or tribes ran short, the elders often voluntarily went up the mountains, reducing the burden on the village or tribe.

Initially, the elderly woman wanted to make that choice; but when she left her temporary hiding spot, ready to find a place to die, she heard shouting from a loudspeaker on the other side of the city wall, announcing that they could go to the checkpoint set up at the old city gate location and, upon passing inspection, enter the inner district.

Thus, persuaded by the elderly woman, the three of them came here together, hoping to find a way to pass the inspection and enter the inner district.

Watching the elderly woman walk away with Yelena to the line for elders and children, the woman reluctantly joined the line for females.

Most in the line were women like her, frequently looking toward the elders and children's queue where their kids were.

The previous outrageous rumors of the inner district using live humans as fuel to ignite the Energy Tower only intensified their fear and anxiety. But in order to survive, they endured their worries, watching their children go through the checkpoint set up on the city wall, and enter within the wall.

Though they could hear screams from the other side of the wall and see flames rising, they saw nobody escaping back, and heard someone announcing that it was evil cultists being burned. These women restrained the urge to turn around and flee, awaiting their turn to be pulled up the wall.

Fortunately, entering the inner district was indeed not dangerous; unless judged by the Judge as an evil cultist, they wouldn't be pulled up as firewood.

This was what the woman learned after she was lifted up to the wall in a basket, seeing the quarantine area behind the wall, told by an official maintaining order who wore a black uniform.

And the woman happened not to be an evil cultist.

While the outer district had been infiltrated by the Evil God Sect, indeed not everyone was a follower of the Evil God Sect. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

For one thing, the Evil God Sect also had standards for recruiting followers; those who didn't meet the standards weren't followers, but sacrifices prepared for the Divine, mere livestock.

Of course, they bore the mark of the Ancient Gods to varying degrees, just like herders would mark sheep with their own imprint.

Those marked could only be burned as firewood.

"Have you been to the Evil God Sect's altar or participated in their sacrificial ceremonies?" The Judge dressed in robes and heavy armor, with a hammer beside him, scrutinized the woman as though he would swing his warhammer and smash her head in the next moment, asking her intensely.

The woman felt quite fearful but still answered earnestly, "No, I have never been to any activities of the Evil God Sect! That's not what a follower of the Almighty Father should do."

Though living in the outer district, the woman surprisingly was a devout follower of the Almighty Father.

This wasn't considered uncommon in the outer district, considering the Almighty Father was the officially recognized faith of the Empire and the mainstream belief of old world nations.

But as social order crumbled under the threat of apocalyptic disasters, the outer district fell under control of the Evil God Sect, and the populace gradually became enticed, abandoning the true faith of the Almighty Father and turning to the Evil God Sect.

Still, some people persisted in their faith, as the Evil God Sect had been suppressed by the Church for thousands of years; now, despite their temporary leverage, completely controlling everyone in the outer district in a short time was unrealistic.

So some maintained their belief in the Almighty Father, though with the Evil God Sect's expansion, they became increasingly marginalized, with many targeted.

Some died inexplicably, while others attempted to migrate toward the inner district, still under Church and Empire control, hoping for sanctuary.

The woman was one such person; but before she found an opportunity to enter the inner district, it had been blocked off, and she could only remain in the outer district until she encountered this chance to come in.

The Judge examined her before letting her press her hand onto the Church's sacred book and pray to the Almighty Father. Confirming she showed no signs of corruption or fall, he permitted her to pass the checkpoint and enter the temporarily established quarantine area.

In the quarantine area, the woman quickly found the elderly woman and little Yelena, and the three embraced tightly together, grateful to be alive.

They were also glad, having finally entered the inner district, that they could continue to survive.