175: Population resettlement

Renn and his three companions gathered together, excitedly discussing the gains from their recent cultivation insights. They exchanged experiences, gaining many new perspectives on the path of cultivation.

Kapdo did most of the talking, with Melissa occasionally adding a few points, while Renn and Alistair mostly listened.

Later, Cecilia and Ariya also arrived and stood by, listening quietly.

With Kapdo and Melissa sharing their experiences, Renn and Alistair benefited greatly, gaining more insights and ideas for their future cultivation.

While they were conversing, the Plane Passage not far away suddenly exploded, and dozens of people passing through were blown into bloody fragments.

Not long ago, the Red River Territory people on the other side of the Plane Passage had followed Renn's orders and completely withdrawn. Afterward, the Plane Passage was left to its own devices to transport the population to the Red River Territory.

Less than half a day had passed before the Plane Passage exploded on its own.

Kapdo stood up and looked at the shattered Plane Passage. Black cracks were appearing there, with silver-white spatial turbulence flickering within them.

Soon, these black cracks began to disappear at a visible rate, and the spatial turbulence vanished along with them before Renn's eyes.

"The Sub-plane on the other side of the Plane Passage has completely collapsed and been destroyed. This ruptured Plane Passage has also been repaired by the laws of the Noah Continent; this place will return to normal from now on."

Kapdo said this as he looked around, then continued, "However, this place was the node connecting to that Sub-plane. Since that Sub-plane was devoured and absorbed by the Noah Continent, the terrain here should undergo some changes."

"There might be some movement in a moment. Have everyone stay alert."

"What kind of movement?"

Renn was curious; he had never witnessed a plane being devoured.

"Earthquakes—a natural phenomenon that occurs during plane expansion!"

Knowing it was an earthquake, Renn quickly gave orders for everyone to take cover. Not long after, the movement Kapdo spoke of arrived.

The ground began to shake, and a low rumbling sound echoed from deep within the earth. Then, under Renn's astonished gaze, the surrounding land began to expand, and an unfamiliar plain was born right before his eyes.

The earthquake didn't last long and subsided shortly after.

Renn asked Kapdo, "Is that all?"

Looking at the expanded land, compared to the shattered Sub-plane, the area that had expanded before him was less than one-fiftieth of that Sub-plane, perhaps not even one percent.

The expanded plain was distributed vertically along the original site of the Plane Passage, like a north-south plain corridor added between the Red River Valley and the Black Mountain Range.

This corridor was about several hundred meters wide and dozens of kilometers long. The terrain of the Red River Valley had changed somewhat due to the appearance of this plain.

"That's it. This fragment is already quite large; more fragments will merge into various parts of the Noah Continent."

"Since Chaos Demons appeared this time, it's estimated that some fragments might have been absorbed by the Chaos Demon Abyss."

The area of this newly appeared plain was indeed not small. Renn felt it was tiny compared to the original Sub-plane, but in reality, it was a significant piece of land.

The earthquake just now was quite significant. If the area where the plain merged hadn't been far from Red River City and the expansion hadn't headed toward the Black Mountain Range, the losses caused by the earthquake would not have been small.

Even so, the earthquake just now gave the newly migrated population a real scare, and some were injured during the tremors.

Once the expansion ended, Renn stepped onto the new land. This earth had already merged seamlessly with the surrounding ground; even looking closely, one couldn't see any difference between the two.

Renn found no traces of the original Sub-plane on this new land.

"What a miraculous and terrifying power!"

The shattered Sub-plane had completely vanished, becoming nourishment for the Noah Continent. Those who hadn't migrated and the other creatures in the Sub-plane had all turned to ash, disappearing during the process of plane devouring.

Montoya looked at the land before him with a complex expression; this might be the only place with any connection left to his former home.

"The Plane Passage has collapsed, and the Sub-plane has completely vanished. Now it's time to settle the issue of housing this population."

During the half-month of migration, a massive number of people had been moved to the Red River Valley. Renn estimated that the population received this time exceeded five hundred thousand.

This number was extremely terrifying, instantly expanding the population under Renn's command several times over.

But even so, an even larger population had failed to migrate and vanished along with that Sub-plane.

Renn estimated that there should have been between one and two million people in that Sub-plane. Besides the three major tribes, there was a large population in the core area where the Holy Mountain was located.

Most of these people remained in the Sub-plane. Of the population on the Holy Mountain, Renn had only taken a very small portion; five hundred thousand people was at most one-third of the Sub-plane's population.

Most of the fifty-thousand-plus migrants were currently crowded in the eastern area of Red River City. Renn planned to disperse and settle them in the locations of the four original Baronies in the north.

In the northern part of the Red River Territory, aside from the sites of the four Baronial castles and several resource points where Renn had settled some people, most areas had not yet been populated.

Originally, the Red River Territory's population of over two hundred thousand was mostly distributed along both banks of the Red River north of Red River City. This area had fertile soil and easy irrigation, making it suitable for the population to live and multiply, so Renn had prioritized its development.

The remaining areas of the Red River Valley were also excellent land, especially after Renn had repaired and optimized parts of the river channels and created many branches and lakes. There were no areas with harsh conditions in the entire Red River Valley.

Originally, Renn was worried that such a good place had no one to develop it. Now, Renn didn't have to worry—it was Fornal, Johnny, and Bar's turn to worry.

The sudden explosive growth in population meant more land needed to be reclaimed, more houses built, and more administrative personnel to manage them.

The increase in workload was not just a little bit.

Renn intended to break up the migrated population by family units and redistribute them into villages and towns. He would mix the people from the three major tribes, the Holy Mountain, and the original population of the Red River Territory. This would help them integrate into the new world faster and better.

In truth, Renn was also concerned that those centered around the White Wolf Tribe would band together to resist his rule. Although he wasn't afraid of rebellion—having the strength to suppress everything—such an event would seriously delay the development of the Red River Territory, which he did not want to see.

Renn spoke openly to Montoya about this resettlement method, making him understand the reasons behind his actions. Montoya was a smart man, and Renn hoped his cooperation would speed up the integration process.

The reality was much as Renn expected. Montoya was extremely cooperative with Renn's methods, personally leading his former clansmen to help with the resettlement work.

During this crisis of racial extinction, Montoya's actions were practically perfect. Compared to the other two major tribes and the Holy Mountain, the White Wolf Tribe's losses were almost non-existent.

This also caused Montoya's prestige within the White Wolf Tribe to soar. His clansmen trusted him implicitly, and with his full cooperation, the resettlement work achieved twice the result with half the effort.

Numerous villages and towns sprang up across the Red River Valley like bamboo shoots after rain.