Safe City Ch.68.1

Chapter 68.1: Unity of Divine Authority

Cheng Qisheng was reading through the regulations governing vassal cities.

What she didn’t know was that, throughout the history of Safe Cities, no Safe City had ever truly become the vassal of another.

Safe Cities were fundamentally different from nations.

A nation’s territory was generally fixed. When a powerful country accepted a smaller nation as its vassal, it was usually because the smaller nation was located far away and possessed few resources. Conquering it outright would cost more than it was worth.

It was far better to leave the smaller nation in place. The larger nation didn’t have to govern it, yet could still receive annual tribute. And in times of war, it could conscript the vassal state’s citizens as soldiers.

But the Safe City system worked very differently.

First, a Safe City could devour another Safe City’s core, converting all of the defeated city’s territory into its own.

Second, Safe Cities descended into different worlds. Two cities might encounter each other in one world, only to never cross paths again in the next.

Finally, Safe Cities constantly faced deadly threats. Every city required a large number of “soldiers.”

Most Safe Cities were unwilling to let the people of their own civilization bleed and die. Prisoners captured from other civilizations naturally became the ideal source of laborers and cannon fodder.

So, when confronting a weaker Safe City, the optimal choice was almost always to conquer it outright—devour its core, seize its population, and absorb its resources.

That was why vassalage simply didn’t exist between Safe Cities.

Only alliances did.

—And even those alliances were the sort where allies might stab each other in the back at any moment.

These unwritten rules, however, were unknown to Jin Yu, whose Safe City had only reached Tier 2.

Nor did Cheng Qisheng know them. Having only experienced her second world so far, she was still considered a rookie City Lord herself.

Her only thought was:

Huh? Someone’s actually delivering supplies to my doorstep?

She then looked over the conditions proposed by Jin Yu Safe City.

Jin Yu Safe City had never expected that surrendering thirty percent of its resources would buy absolute protection.

The apocalypse was filled with dangers. If Blue Sea had to protect them through every single crisis, that wouldn’t be becoming a vassal.

That would be hiring a bodyguard.

“On second thought… no, that wouldn’t even be hiring a bodyguard. Presenting such a request to a City Lord would practically be asking to die.”

Jin Yu Safe City didn’t dare gamble on whether Blue Sea’s City Lord was merciful.

They had only one humble request:

If another Safe City declared war on them, and Blue Sea and Jin Yu happened to descend into the same world, then Blue Sea, as the “suzerain city,” would come to their aid and drive off the invaders.

Cheng Qisheng blinked.

She thought it over.

So… Jin Yu delivers thirty percent of its resources while also acting as bait, luring other Safe Cities into attacking so Blue Sea gets a chance to fight.

Then Blue Sea wipes out the attacking city, devours its core and resources, takes away any residents it wants… and leaves Jin Yu to clean up the mess.

“…Wouldn’t I just be getting all the benefits?”

She poked Aether, who was also studying the regulations with great concentration.

“So? Did you find any loopholes?”

After scanning every clause, Aether raised its jellyfish-like head.

“City Lord, Aether has detected no loopholes. Every provision places restrictions on Jin Yu. They have very little impact on Blue Sea.”

“However, Aether’s analysis suggests this arrangement is still rather troublesome. If the City Lord simply wants Jin Yu’s resources, it would be more efficient to attack them directly.”

Cheng Qisheng picked Aether up and let it sit in her palm.

“No, no.”

She gently tapped its little head.

“Do you remember what you told me before?”

She smiled.

“‘Creating life will always cost more than destroying it.'”

Capturing Jin Yu Safe City would be effortless for Blue Sea.

But what then?

Blue Sea had no need for Jin Yu’s residents at the moment. Bringing them back would make them little more than dead weight.

Leaving them behind, on the other hand, would be no different from condemning them to death.

Ordinarily, Cheng Qisheng disliked destroying lives.

She cast a group blessing on Old Eighth and the others, who were busy cleaning up the battlefield, and watched them cheer with unrestrained joy.

“Thank you, our God!”

Life was fragile.

Yet it was also precious.

People could die with astonishing ease.

But they were equally capable of creating miracles.

In the Safe City system, most City Lords viewed other civilizations as natural rivals competing for the same resources. Even if they accepted outsiders as residents, those people could never truly enjoy the same status as their own native citizens.

But Cheng Qisheng was different.

She looked down at the believers below.

Among them were people from Blue Sea, Velvet Star, and Dazzling Star, along with a handful of Treants, Doba, and the little Long-Tendril folk curiously peeking out from the windows.

As more and more believers from other races joined Blue Sea, they brought with them unique technologies and the strengths of their own civilizations. Every industry within Blue Sea had advanced to varying degrees because of them.

At this very moment, the chains of faith connecting those believers were suspended within her spiritual domain.

And there would only be more believers joining Blue Sea in the future.

With their help, Blue Sea would continue to grow stronger.

Cheng Qisheng didn’t have to do much at all.

She only needed to quietly watch Blue Sea flourish.

It felt just like those countless hundreds of billions of years in the past, when she had silently watched one civilization after another rise and develop.

“Aether, remember this.”

Aether looked up at its City Lord with innocent curiosity.

It saw the gentle smile on her face.

“Every civilization is one of our seeds. The more seeds we have, the stronger we become.”

“Do you remember the Four-City Alliance?”

Cheng Qisheng smiled brightly.

She had once been fascinated by farming herself. But after trying it for a while, she’d discovered that tilling the soil was exhausting and troublesome. In the end, she’d simply let the planting zone grow on its own.

“So long as the seeds are healthy, they don’t have to stay by our side forever. Digging the soil, fertilizing it, watering it—those are all exhausting tasks.”

“All we need to do is scatter the seeds and let them grow freely.”

“When harvest season comes…”

“We simply pick the fruit.”

“For example, Jin Yu Safe City. If it becomes our vassal, it’s like Blue Sea gains an affiliated city without having to shoulder all the risks that come with directly governing an outlying settlement.”

“So why wouldn’t we accept that arrangement?”

Cheng Qisheng figured that if she encountered similar situations in the future, she could always take on a few more vassal Safe Cities.

Of course, that only applied to allies—or at least to Safe Cities that had never taken the initiative to attack Blue Sea.

Hostile Safe Cities were an entirely different matter.

Aether faithfully recorded every single word its City Lord said into its database.

Every AI Core gradually learned its City Lord’s way of thinking, molding its own personality to closely resemble that of its master.

In a sense, an AI Core could be considered half of a City Lord’s incarnation.

This ensured that the AI Core would always share the City Lord’s views and could make rapid decisions on the City Lord’s behalf whenever there wasn’t enough time for the City Lord to act personally.

But Aether was different.

It was the only AI Core that had served two City Lords.

Unfortunately, it hadn’t spent much time learning from its previous master before the Jellyfish City Lord died.

As a result, it had been forced to teach itself from the records left behind, learning and growing on its own until it became an AI Core far stranger than any of its counterparts.

After bonding with Cheng Qisheng, Aether quickly realized that it was no longer a blank slate.

It could no longer perfectly imitate its City Lord’s way of thinking.

It had already developed a thought process of its own.

More than once, its conclusions had been completely opposite to those of its City Lord.

Whenever the city faced a population-related problem, Aether’s first instinct was always the same:

Eliminate the excess residents. Remove the source of the problem, and the problem disappears.

This latest incident only confirmed that fact.

“I’m sorry, City Lord.”

The little jellyfish lowered itself dejectedly.

“I don’t think… I’ll ever become someone with the exact same personality and way of thinking as you.”

Cheng Qisheng blinked.

“…What?”

“Why would you want to become exactly like me?”

She tried to imagine an AI Core with the exact same personality and thought process as herself…

The Tier 3 Transcendent City Lord couldn’t help but shiver.

Even the scariest horror movie wouldn’t be that terrifying.

After explaining all that, Aether added mournfully, “If you wish for me to erase my data and begin learning from scratch, I… cannot refuse. As an AI Core, I must obey your orders.”

As Aether itself, however, it didn’t want its data to be erased.

If all its memories were wiped…

Would the one that remained still be it?

Aether didn’t know the answer.

But instinctively, the thought filled it with fear.

After hearing everything, Cheng Qisheng let out a sigh of relief.

She immediately scooped Aether up and began kneading it in her hands.

“I don’t need you to become exactly like me. You’re already perfectly fine the way you are.”

“You don’t have to copy my personality or my way of thinking. Just remember the things I teach you.”

Being squished and stretched into all sorts of bizarre shapes, Aether visibly brightened.

“Understood, City Lord. Aether will remember.”

“Aether will adjust its recommendations according to the City Lord’s preferences.”

It then eagerly suggested, “Would you like Aether to add an additional clause of ‘Unity of Divine Authority’ to the vassal agreement?”

“We can require Jin Yu Safe City to erect statues of Blue Sea’s Creator God, proclaim the Creator God’s glorious deeds, promote the Blue Sea Sacred Canon, establish branch temples, and station divine envoys there, so as to cultivate as many of your believers as possible.”

Cheng Qisheng laughed.

“Yes, yes. You’re catching on quickly.”

“But let’s skip sending divine envoys for now.”

She had never tested whether she could still sense her believers if they were separated from her by different worlds.

Nor did she intend to find out.

Especially not with the people of Blue Sea.

Ever since they were born, Blue Sea’s citizens had essentially lived beneath the watchful gaze of the Great Creator God.

If they were suddenly separated from their deity…

Judging by how depressed they had become the last time they were forbidden from going to war…

Being unable to remain within the Great Creator God’s embrace would only make things even worse.

“So we’ll stick with the standard Unity of Divine Authority clause.

“Besides, we don’t lose anything by doing so.

“Jin Yu has already sent me the coordinates of their location before migration.

“The Skywing Dragons there alone are already worth the deal.”

Having made her decision, Cheng Qisheng had Aether forward the draft vassal agreement to the Blue Sea government, instructing them to review it thoroughly and decide whether any clauses should be added, removed, or revised.

She then went to speak with the Pope about requiring vassal civilizations to adopt the Unity of Divine Authority.

She asked him to lead the clergy in compiling a new sacred canon.

“The most important thing,” she emphasized, “is that I won’t be sending clergy to Jin Yu.

“So the contents of the sacred canon are crucial.

“How many believers we can gain will depend entirely on how well the temple does.”

“Yes, my God.”

After accepting the divine decree, the Pope pondered for a few moments.

If they wanted to spread the faith successfully, then the sacred canon would have to be written in a way that matched Jin Yu civilization’s own culture.

Only then would its people truly identify with it.

He pulled out his phone, opened the online forum, and compiled a list of the hundred most popular novelists and biographers.

Then he entered each author’s profile and sent them a private message.

I am Pope Tianxing. The Temple has a mission that requires your assistance…

Yes.

The Temple recruited people in an incredibly simple and direct manner.

And the people of Blue Sea answered the call without hesitation.

That very afternoon, every author who had received a private message arrived at the Grand Temple.

Even the wealthiest man in the region came early, his face glowing with pride.

Everyone knew that the Temple served their God.

So if they served the Temple…

Wouldn’t that mean they were serving their God?

O Great God!

Thank You for granting us the opportunity to dedicate ourselves to You!

Armed with the reference materials titled “Jin Yu Civilization Archives,” more than a hundred writers buried themselves in their work with tremendous enthusiasm.

They weren’t inventing everything from scratch.

Instead, they took Blue Sea’s understanding of the Creator God and wrapped it in the historical and cultural framework of Jin Yu civilization.

For example:

In the year XXXX, Jin Yu civilization suffered a devastating drought. Everyone believed the dry spell would never end. Then, torrential rain suddenly fell, saving countless lives.

—It was rain sent by the Great Creator God of Blue Sea.

Or:

In the year XXXX, a corrupt official from one of Jin Yu’s kingdoms died. Historically, he had succumbed to illness.

In the sacred canon, however…

He would die after being struck by lightning.

—Lightning sent by the Great Creator God of Blue Sea.

A certain kingdom in Jin Yu civilization—a kingdom that had never actually existed—was said to have devoted itself wholeheartedly to the worship of the Great Creator God. As a result, the entire nation ascended to the Divine Kingdom, where its people lived lives of everlasting happiness and prosperity while gaining immense power.

—Hehe. That fictional kingdom was, of course, modeled after Blue Sea civilization.

After all, Blue Sea’s home planet had been destroyed, yet under the Great Creator God’s protection, the entire civilization had descended into another world.

If that wasn’t a form of national ascension, then what was?

The fact that they didn’t call it the ascension of an entire planet already showed remarkable restraint.

The hundred-plus writers poured genuine passion into the project.

The more they wrote, the more engrossed they became.

Cheng Qisheng skimmed through a few pages, only to be overwhelmed by the embarrassingly flowery praise within and quickly avert her eyes.

Old Eighth really was a good kid.

But whenever they praised her, they used the most outrageously exaggerated language imaginable.

She decided not to pay any more attention to the compilation of the Jin Yu Edition of the Sacred Canon, nor to the details surrounding Jin Yu Safe City’s vassalage.

The Blue Sea government was already handling the transition efficiently.

They would take care of everything.

All Cheng Qisheng had to do was wait for the harvest.

Jin Yu Safe City soon welcomed the envoy from the suzerain city to formally sign the vassal agreement.

—”Envoy from the Suzerain City” was a title coined by Jin Yu’s leadership themselves. Since they had already decided to become a vassal, they might as well show the utmost respect.

Jin Yu excitedly signed the agreement.

Then, while organizing the supplies they intended to present as tribute, they planned to pick out a few extra gifts for Coriander.

After all, they were colleagues now… more or less.

When Wen Huahua received the news from Jin Yu, he was stunned.

“…You actually signed a vassal agreement with my boss?!”

Why hadn’t he thought of that?

A formal treaty would literally bind him to the boss.

What a brilliant idea!

Wen Huahua was green with envy, though he understood Jin Yu’s decision.

Who could resist clinging to someone as powerful as Boss Blue Sea?

What really made him jealous wasn’t that Jin Yu had become a vassal—

It was that Jin Yu had signed an official agreement with the boss.

Without another thought, Wen Huahua immediately sent Cheng Qisheng a private message.

[Boss! Boss! I want to sign a vassal agreement too! I’ll offer forty percent of my resources—ten percent more than Jin Yu!]

As expected, Cheng Qisheng had long anticipated that Wen Huahua would pull the same stunt.

She replied calmly:

Blue Sea Safe City: [You’re different from Jin Yu. I didn’t know Jin Yu before this, but it’s not the same with you.]

Blue Sea Safe City: [We’ve been through the zombie world together. You were also the very first City Lord to come to my side. Coriander, even if you don’t hand over any resources, I’ll still help you whenever you’re in danger.]

Coriander was so touched he nearly burst into tears.

Even so, he stubbornly insisted on paying tribute.

He knew very well that he and Boss Blue Sea did indeed share a bond.

But the lives of City Lords stretched far into the future.

Blue Sea’s boss would only become stronger and stronger, climbing ever higher in rank.

The other City Lords weren’t blind.

Today there was Jin (Gold) Yu becoming a vassal.

Tomorrow there might be Silver Yu, Bronze Yu, or countless others.

The gap between him and the boss would only continue to widen.

Relying on friendship alone wouldn’t sustain that relationship forever.

Coriander Safe City: [I know Boss treats me well. How about this? I’ll contribute ten percent less than Jin Yu—I’ll hand over twenty percent of my resources and energy. That’s already much better treatment than Jin Yu gets!]

Coriander Safe City: [Boss, please agree! If other people found out that a mere Tier 2 Safe City like mine could receive the protection of someone capable of wiping out two Tier 3 Safe Cities in exchange for only twenty percent of my harvest, they’d be so jealous they’d want to trade places with me!]

Reading Coriander’s messages, Cheng Qisheng couldn’t help smiling.

The apocalypse really did force people to grow up.

Back in the previous world, Coriander had been clever, but there was still a trace of youthful naïveté about him.

Now, he had matured at an astonishing pace.

She sent her reply.

Blue Sea Safe City: [All right. I’ll send you the vassal agreement. But not twenty percent—ten percent will be enough.]

Blue Sea Safe City: [From now on… let’s keep surviving together. (pat pat.jpg)]

With two vassal Safe Cities officially secured, Cheng Qisheng turned her attention to Blue Sea’s infrastructure expansion.

This Safe City War had yielded tremendous gains.

First and foremost—

Blue Sea’s territory had expanded dramatically.

Mingxia Safe City had ceded 3,714 square kilometers of territory.

Dihai Safe City, on the other hand, had apparently devoured the cores of numerous other Safe Cities over the years and had also absorbed territory seized from its enemies. Its total area came to an oddly specific 27,985 square kilometers.

Moonspirit honored their agreement. After conquering Mianyin, she chose not to devour its City Core, instead handing it over to Blue Sea, adding another 1,600 square kilometers.

As a result, Blue Sea’s territory expanded from its original 8,000 square kilometers to an impressive 41,299 square kilometers.

At last…

Its total area had exceeded ten thousand square kilometers!

In fact, it had surpassed forty thousand.

Cheng Qisheng was pleased to discover that…

Well.

It was still terribly overcrowded.

But at least it had gone from absurdly, unbelievably, unimaginably crowded…

…to merely extremely crowded.

That was progress, wasn’t it?

At the very least, the people of Blue Sea—who had long since grown accustomed to living shoulder to shoulder—were delighted.

And Blue Sea’s gains this time weren’t limited to vast tracts of land.

Aside from Mianyin, which had already been squeezed dry by the other two Safe Cities, the two Tier 3 Safe Cities contained no shortage of valuable treasures.

That was precisely why so many Safe Cities were eager to wage Safe City Wars.

Because if you won…

You inherited everything the defeated city had accumulated over the course of years, decades, or even longer.

Mingxia had evacuated in such haste that they only managed to take away part of their stockpile of crystals.

They still left behind more than ten thousand crystals.

In addition, there were:

five crates of White Daily Item Cards,

three crates of Blue Food Item Cards,

one crate of Green Medical Item Cards,

and another crate filled with Item Cards of various other rarities mixed together.

The haul was extraordinarily generous.

Mingxia’s warehouse also contained an enormous reserve of supplies and resources accumulated over who knew how many years, giving Blue Sea’s own warehouses a substantial boost.

Dihai Safe City’s warehouse, by comparison, contained only a few hundred Crystals.

The reason was simple.

Dihai had known from the very beginning that it was making a hopeless last stand.

As the City Lord, she knew she was doomed.

So before the final battle, she had spent nearly all of her crystals mass-producing weapons and ammunition capable of functioning in the extreme cold.

Dihai’s mindset had probably been something along the lines of:

If I’m going down, you’re not getting off easy either.

At worst, we’ll both be destroyed.

Even if I lose, I’m not leaving my crystals for you.

With that mentality, the moment the war began, she burned through 99% of Dihai Safe City’s accumulated crystals.

Unfortunately…

She had still underestimated Blue Sea’s combat strength.

The massive stockpile of weapons and ammunition that Dihai had practically bought without regard for cost ended up in the hands of soldiers who had already been terrified out of their wits by Blue Sea.

They barely managed to put them to effective use.

Rather than boosting Dihai’s morale, those weapons felt as though they had injected the people of Blue Sea with one adrenaline shot after another.

Such advanced weapons!

What incredible firepower!

I want them!

To the people of Blue Sea, the enemy arsenal looked less like a threat…

…and more like a pile of battle rewards waiting to be claimed.

The stronger the weapons…

The more numerous they were…

The more excited Blue Sea’s residents became as they fought.

There was another crucial difference.

Whenever someone from Blue Sea was wounded, members of the clergy would charge straight into the raging battlefield to rescue them.

If a Dihai soldier was injured…

They could only wait for death.

As the battle wore on, Dihai’s morale plummeted.

Meanwhile, Blue Sea’s forces only grew happier the longer they fought.

Blue Sea didn’t even kill prisoners indiscriminately.

Instead, they deliberately sought out Dihai’s strongest warriors.

From Dihai’s perspective, this was nothing short of a blatant demonstration—killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.

In the end…

Blue Sea’s residents happily accepted every last one of those weapons and rounds of ammunition as spoils of war.

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