Safe City Ch.16

Chapter 16: Advancing Toward Zilan University

This operation wouldn’t only include people from the Agricultural College.

Before going to bed, Cheng Qisheng scanned the area and noticed that some locals had also joined the team.

“Considering this is a rescue operation, and to quickly gain the trust of that agricultural expert, the military has opened up a portion of external assignment slots to Velvet Star people.”

Velvet Star was the name of the zombie world, so the survivors here could also be called Velvet Star people. However, Blue Star people were still more used to calling them “locals.”

—“It feels more familiar that way.”

When Squad Leader Song Xi was once asked about this by Wang Moning, she had given her answer:

“You see, when I call you ‘local people,’ it shows that I’m from outside. And you, as the local, can help us understand your world more quickly.”

“You’re the side we rely on, so calling you that feels closer, and it can also soothe your emotions.”

Wang Moning’s expression at the time had been hard to describe.

Precisely because they were constantly being called “locals,” she had initially thought Blue Star wouldn’t so easily accept aliens.

Yet now she was being told that this way of addressing them was actually meant to help them feel a sense of security.

More importantly, the longer she integrated, the more she realized Song Xi wasn’t wrong. In Blue Star civilization, being “needed” was very important to the weak—apparently a habit inherited from their wartime past.

Blue Star people wouldn’t b*lly the weak, but during periods of internal war and chaos, they also didn’t deliberately protect them. So relatively weaker individuals had to demonstrate their own value so that the stronger ones—busy fighting wars—would take them along.

Curious, Wang Moning asked, “You’ve actually had internal wars? When was that?”

Song Xi thought for a moment seriously.

“Hmm… aside from the past six years without war, it seems like it was always a wartime period.”

Wang Moning: “……”

Song Xi laughed. “Don’t worry, there won’t be internal wars anymore.”

Just as Wang Moning relaxed, she added:

“We just fight other people now.”

Wang Moning: “……”

 She felt a brief moment of worry for her home planet. Then she remembered that her home world had already lost all its governments and had no army left at all—there was nothing left to fight over.

Haha. No more worrying then.

But as a Velvet Star person gradually integrating into Blue Sea, Wang Moning still couldn’t imagine what a Blue Sea civil war would look like.

After moving into the residential district, she had been able to clearly feel it: all Blue Sea people were guided by that great Creator God, gathering together like droplets of water, eventually forming an endless, surging ocean.

And she herself was now part of it.

And for that reason, she felt at ease.

—Those local residents who had failed to gain faith in the Creator God and could not, like Wang Moning, join Blue Sea, were not so at ease.

“You really signed up?”

In a simple mud-brick house, a pair of parents looked sternly at the two children in front of them.

The young girl being stared at nodded.

“Yeah, we signed up. We’re members of the Velvet Star hunting team. The chances of being selected are very high.”

The parents’ expressions were very grim, but they did not scold them. They knew their children had signed up in hopes of giving the family a better life.

“This time is different from joining the hunting team,” the mother said after a long silence.

“Right now, the hunting teams only operate within areas Blue Sea can support. If anything dangerous happens, or if a large wave of zombies shows up, you can still run back to the ‘Cradle’ and let the Blue Sea military handle it.”

“But this time, you’re going to Wudu City! Didn’t you hear what the officer said?! Blue Sea hasn’t even taken Wudu City yet! It’s full of zombies! If you go there, the chances of dying are far too high!”

By the end, her voice was already trembling, barely holding back tears.

The father also nodded with red eyes.

“Be obedient. Don’t go. The points your mother and I have, plus what you earn from the hunting team, are already enough for our family to live well.”

The eldest daughter said, “That’s why I’m going. Yuan Yuan will stay.”

She knew this mission would be dangerous, but it was also an opportunity. Moreover, if she truly died in action, the Blue Sea people would provide a pension—an enormous amount of points, enough to exchange for many supplies.

But the younger daughter shook her head.

“No. I’m going too. Both Sister and I are going.”

She adjusted her glasses. In the past six months, without them, she had been effectively blind, surviving only under the protection of her parents and sister.

It wasn’t until recently—when Cosmic Safe Zone collapsed and all sl*ves became free people, and were taken under Blue Sea’s protection—that things changed. They could now earn points through work and combat. Her family had used those points to exchange for a pair of glasses, finally freeing her from her “blindness.”

Yuan Yuan analyzed calmly:

“First, the danger is real, but Blue Sea people are not reckless. Every operation they conduct is carefully planned, minimizing casualties as much as possible. So it’s not certain that Sister and I will die if we go.”

“Second, I think that when Blue Sea leaves this world, they will take away some non-believers who are still useful. In any society, usefulness and uselessness are always evaluated. Since we are participating in this operation and contributing militarily to Blue Sea, if Blue Sea has something like a ‘usefulness points’ system, then our family’s score will increase significantly, greatly improving our chances of being taken with them.”

“Lastly, do you know why Blue Sea is launching this operation?”

Yuan Yuan had always been the intellectual backbone of the family. Even though she was the youngest, whenever she spoke, the whole family would listen quietly and seriously.

Hearing her question, the elder sister replied:

“I know. The Blue Sea people didn’t hide the purpose of the operation. They want to rescue an agricultural expert at Zilan University in Wudu City.”

Yuan Yuan continued, “Yes. This shows that Blue Sea has very long-term planning. Right now they can eat enough, and eat well, and occasionally even have meat. I estimate their food reserves are enough for at least half a year or more.”

To the Blue Sea people, eating coarse grains meant their lives were worse than before.

But to these survivors, being able to eat enough coarse grain was already paradise.

“But Blue Sea is not satisfied with this. Not only are they farming outside the safe zone, they’ve also launched this military operation, going through so much trouble to rescue an agricultural expert from our Velvet Star world. This shows that the Blue Sea government wants its people to eat better, to eat more, and to have greater food reserves.”

“This is a stable, functioning safe zone. It’s not like the Cosmic Safe Zone, which was distorted and abnormal. It has a normal social structure, a forward-looking government, and a shared belief. I think it’s very hard to destroy, and it will only become stronger very quickly.”

Yuan Yuan finished speaking in one breath. Seeing her family visibly shaken, she exhaled.

“So we must go in. Not only should Sister and I go to Wudu City, but Dad and Mom, you must also work harder. Work more diligently than everyone else.”

“We have to do everything we can to demonstrate our value and obtain the qualification to enter Blue Sea—to become one of them.”

The father hesitated. “But… can’t we stay? Stay in Velvet Star…”

“No.” Yuan Yuan shook her head firmly. “Did you forget what the other alien sl*ves said? Worlds where a safe zone descends are worlds on the brink of destruction. Yes, they might be wrong—but even if there’s only a 0.1% chance they’re right, that would be catastrophic for us.”

“And even if Velvet Star doesn’t end up destroyed, the four of us—without social support, and under constant zombie threat—cannot possibly live better than we do now.”

Yuan Yuan lifted the cup in her hand. It contained hot water. Because of her weak health, her family always deliberately saved points to get her hot water to drink.

“Just take now for example. As long as you spend points, you can get hot water. You can eat in the canteen. If you get sick, you can go to the White-robed Bishop. If something breaks, you can spend points to repair it, or even buy a new one. But if we live on our own, just finding water and building a stove would already take a huge amount of time—let alone maintaining any quality of life.”

The elder sister nodded repeatedly from the side.

“Yeah, yeah. Blue Sea even has cinemas. I haven’t watched a movie in so long. I wonder if their cinemas sell popcorn.”

The mother still hesitated.

“But, Yuan Yuan, this is all just your guess. What if Blue Sea only takes people who believe in the Creator God?”

“They will take us,” Yuan Yuan said firmly.

“We are not Blue Sea citizens. When Blue Sea does not want to sacrifice its own citizens, we are the ones who can be sacrificed. Hard labor, dangerous work—we can do it. When a front line is needed, we can be sent in as cannon fodder. Even if food is insufficient, we can eat the least, or even nothing at all. If we are discarded, Blue Sea people can save a lot of resources.”

“Taking us is in Blue Sea’s interest. So we will definitely be taken.”

The elder sister twitched her mouth.

“That sounds… kind of miserable.”

But Yuan Yuan remained calm.

“It’s the correct decision. If I were a leader of Blue Sea, I would do the same.”

Their own people versus outsiders—of course you prioritize your own.

Just like for them, the alien survivors living outside the safe zones could only exchange their points for rough, scratchy grain bran that scraped their throats.

While Blue Sea people could exchange theirs for relatively soft corn cakes and millet porridge.

But no alien had ever openly complained that this was unfair—at least, no one had said it out loud.

After all, they were a different species.

They were only barely accepted as aliens. Under Blue Sea’s protection, being allowed to work in exchange for food was already an extremely merciful arrangement.

Moreover, Blue Sea had no intention of ensl*ving them. Those aliens who were willing to stay were not rejected; those who wanted to leave were not stopped either.

It was only after long observation that Yuan Yuan became certain that Blue Sea was, in fact, a genuinely good place to go.

“What I’m talking about is only the worst-case scenario. Most of the time, we just need to work and create value.”

“And at the very least, there is a path in front of us that leads to becoming Blue Sea people.”

As long as one became a believer in the Creator God, they could become a Blue Sea citizen—a true insider.

The elder sister sighed.

“I’ve tried, but I really can’t imagine there being a god in this world.”

Their parents were both teachers. From childhood, the sisters had been raised with the belief that there were no gods in the world. The whole family were thorough atheists.

No matter how hard they tried, that underlying mindset couldn’t be changed. The moment they tried to convince themselves, “the great Creator God this, the great Creator God that,” they would immediately remember that this was a safe zone world—Blue Sea people firmly believed that safe zones were temples, and crossing worlds was the power of gods.

But they had spent half a year as sl*ves in the Cosmic Safe Zone, and they knew very clearly that safe zones were indeed capable of crossing worlds. That so-called “Creator God” might just be the city lord.

But Yuan Yuan said, “I think the Blue Sea Creator God really exists.”

The entire family abruptly looked up at her, completely shocked.

She was the least religious among them!

“To join Blue Sea, the only requirement is passing a believer test. And this test doesn’t require any actions to prove faith. You only need to place your hand on a crystal ball.”

“If there were no god, Blue Sea couldn’t set such a requirement, because they would have no way to determine who is a true believer.”

“Only if the Creator God truly exists—and can genuinely sense the faith of believers—would there be a believer test.”

“Only then would the Blue Sea government feel assured enough to place aliens who pass the faith test inside their protected zone and treat them as their own people.”

“Because they know the deity truly exists. The deity created Blue Sea, protects Blue Sea, and those who believe in It are Its children.”

Yuan Yuan stood by the doorway and looked up at the sky.

“So… that great Creator God is here.”

“Maybe right now… It is watching us.”

—

—“Hiss!! Damn, this new believer is kind of scary!”

Cheng Qisheng felt a new thread of faith.

At first it was very faint, but within a very short time it grew thicker and stronger, expanding rapidly.

Curious, she drifted over to take a look—and saw the alien believer’s entire line of reasoning.

Through a full logical chain analyzing whether a god existed, this new believer’s faith thread had already caught up with those of Blue Sea natives she had nurtured since childhood.

What kind of believer was this? It was the first time she had seen someone use pure logical reasoning to prove the existence of the Creator God—and in doing so, actually increase their faith intensity.

Cheng Qisheng briefly considered telling Qin Zhi to send someone to check the girl’s IQ.

It really felt like it might be off the charts.

Right now, she even had a strange sense that the believer was “looking back” at her.

A bit unsettling—but honestly, she didn’t feel any threat at all.

Just like a human wouldn’t fear an ant, she also didn’t fear her own believers.

And she didn’t need to think about whether this girl named Yuan Yuan believed in the Creator God in order to become Blue Sea, to give her family a better life, or to verify whether the god was real.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was this:

She had entered her game.

And she had done so very willingly.

When Yuan Yuan became her believer, she would no longer pose any threat to Cheng Qisheng.

From that moment on, this girl—so intelligent she seemed almost inhuman, so clever that even the Creator God felt a bit startled—had completely become hers.

Heh.

Cheng Qisheng was very pleased that another powerful member had joined her “team,” so her will gently brushed past the girl.

Like… patting her head.

—Good smart child, welcome~

At the doorway of the mud-brick house, Pan Yuan suddenly froze.

She felt it.

That warmth, acceptance, and sense of safety.

So this was the Creator God?

Pan Yuan smiled.

She let herself step into that warm ocean.

Great deity, I have seen Your existence, Your mercy, Your vastness.

Please help me. Help me, protect my family.

—I am willing to give everything for this.

She completely merged into that warm ocean.

Cheng Qisheng poured herself a glass of cola to celebrate.

Another strong addition to Blue Sea!

She felt Pan Yuan’s prayer. Normally, she didn’t really respond to prayers.

After all, there were hundreds of millions of believers. If she responded to every single one, she would have long since exhausted herself.

But Pan Yuan was different—she was smart. With her around, so much effort would be saved.

The great Creator God happily considered for a few seconds whether to send the response through Qin Zhi or the Pope.

In the end, she chose the Pope.

For matters involving believers, the Pope was always the safest choice.

—Three minutes later, people from the temple arrived.

“You have become a believer of the great Creator God. You and your family may enter the temple. However, since your family has not yet become believers, they must live in the outer city for now.”

The family, except for Pan Yuan, was completely confused.

They had just been making a life-or-death decision a moment ago…

And now, suddenly, they were allowed to enter the safe zone?

Sister Pan Tuan said, “Ah? Yuan Yuan, you’ve become a believer?”

“Then, can I still go with the army to Zilan University?”

In the midst of her excitement, the parents froze—then all of them turned sharply to glare at her.

“You still want to go?!”

But Pan Yuan remained calm. She understood her sister well; she knew she was already accustomed to a life of combat and even fascinated by it.

“If Sister wants to go, as long as you’re recruited, of course you can go.”

After hesitating several times, the parents still said nothing.

In this family, the youngest—Pan Yuan—was the one whose words carried the most weight, because she was always the one making the correct decisions.

Pan Tuan immediately broke into a wide grin.

“Hehe, now that Mom and Dad can enter the safe zone, I feel relieved. I’m sure I’ll be selected. Wait for me to come back.”

And she really was selected.

The next morning, Pan Tuan set out with the military.

The first to depart were two helicopters.

Their mission was to reconfirm the terrain and lure most of the zombies onto alternative routes, ensuring the safety of the marching troops.

For Blue Sea soldiers, this was just another completely ordinary mission.

For the locals who had joined the Blue Sea military, it was a gamble—some were nervous, some uneasy, all hoping they would win.

But for the survivor group at Zilan University, it was a genuine shock.

—

Zilan University

The survivors leaned out of the windows, staring at the two helicopters slowly approaching from the distance.

“Helicopters!!! Those are helicopters, right?! I’m not seeing things, am I?!!!!”

They excitedly tore pieces off their clothes and waved curtains out of the windows, trying to attract the helicopter pilots’ attention.

But to their disappointment, the helicopters did not approach Zilan University. They flew past almost at the edge of the area, and no matter how loudly the survivors shouted, they gradually disappeared into the distance.

“It… it’s gone.”

“Did it not see us?”

Most people were devastated, collapsing onto the ground.

A small number, however, carefully observed the situation.

“No, look—there are a lot of zombies moving outside the school.”

A teacher suddenly spoke, her voice filled with surprise.

“Those helicopters are attracting the zombies!”

“Right! So many zombies are following them!! They’re definitely doing it on purpose!”

“Are they clearing the route? Or is there some kind of operation?”

The students immediately grew excited and began chattering.

Their food supply was still sufficient, but they had been trapped in the school for half a year. If not for these two helicopters, they might have thought they were the only people left alive in the world.

“Is the military clearing out zombies?”

“Do you think those helicopters saw our signal? If they did, will the pilots report it? Will someone come rescue us?”

“I think this is more like clearing obstacles. Maybe the organization behind those helicopters is carrying out some big operation—like in TV shows, rescuing a scientist who can develop a zombie vaccine or something.”

“There must be bases outside. Underground shelters or something like that.”

Everyone discussed intensely for a while.

Then, no one knew exactly who stopped talking first—but gradually, the voices grew quieter… and quieter…

Until finally, there was complete silence.

After an unknown amount of time, someone suddenly spoke:

“Maybe the helicopters saw us. They’ll definitely come to rescue us, right?”

No one responded for a long while. After who knows how much time passed, a student finally answered.

“They will. They definitely will.”

“We’ve grown so much food here, haven’t we? Maybe the base also needs supplies.”

Everyone tried to comfort each other, but they were still extremely uneasy. Whatever they were doing, they kept looking up at the sky, hoping the helicopters would fly back again.

Even in the afternoon, they still occasionally went to check.

An elderly man stood by the window as well, gazing at the sky.

The students respected him deeply and followed his instructions. Under his guidance, they built defenses, constructed shelters, and set aside part of the farmland for cultivation, working together to ensure they would not starve.

But their numbers were limited. They could not leave the university, nor even the Agricultural College area. Previously, some people could no longer endure the confinement and had risked leaving one after another.

No one knew whether those children had succeeded—or if they were still alive.

The old man sighed again and looked down at his own aged hands.

—Am I already too old to lead these children much longer?

Just as he was about to turn back inside, he suddenly seemed to hear something.

Like… gunfire? And very dense.

But when he listened carefully, it was gone.

At first, it felt like an illusion.

But the sound grew closer and closer. More and more students heard it in the classroom and rushed to open the windows to look outside.

A student’s voice suddenly rose sharply, filled with excitement:

“Teacher!! Look outside!!”

“There’s someone… there are people!!”

“Really—there are people!! Oh my god!! So many of them, they’re killing zombies!”

The old man suddenly turned his head. He tried to lean out of the window, a dangerous movement that made several students rush over to grab him so he wouldn’t fall.

He didn’t even notice them holding him back. He strained with all his strength to look in the direction of the sound.

And then, the old man saw it.

A military force advancing toward Zilan University like a surging tide.

At the very front were tanks clearing the way.

On both sides, armed soldiers followed with guns and artillery, sweeping through the zombies as they advanced with overwhelming momentum.

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