Safe City Ch.70.3

Chapter 70.3: Little Blue Sea Nation

As Little Blue Sea’s population continued to grow, the trio began appointing high-ranking officials and leaving them to supervise the lower-ranking ones.

Song Xi and the others had never paid much attention to what government offices existed back in Blue Sea.

Meanwhile, the natives of Dazzling Star had long since lost any concept of official governmental positions after generations of surviving in perpetual winter.

The two sides were a perfect match.

The trio casually invented whatever official titles came to mind.

The locals accepted them without question, then interpreted the responsibilities of those offices according to the nation’s current needs and their own understanding.

To earn the right to live in the castle free of charge for extended periods, the citizens of Little Blue Sea actively sought out other friendly clans to recruit.

They were as relentless as drowned ghosts dragging new victims into the water. Once they had joined, they couldn’t wait to bring someone else in too.

On top of that, Song Xi and the others had deliberately chosen one of the most densely populated regions to found their nation.

And as the number of snow trains recruiting new citizens continued to increase…

…Little Blue Sea’s population surpassed one million in an astonishingly short time.

Of those million-plus citizens…

…at least eighty thousand were government officials.

A nation of over a million people…

…managed in such a haphazard fashion…

…and somehow it still hadn’t descended into chaos.

Cheng Qisheng began to wonder whether Shen Jinyang—the only member of the trio who hadn’t awakened a supernatural ability—might secretly be another Luck-type abilty user.

No…

Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to say that Little Blue Sea simply hadn’t had time to fall into chaos yet.

After all, the country had only just been founded.

The natives of Dazzling Star had only recently escaped from lives of endless freezing hardship into one of warmth and comfort.

There simply hadn’t been enough time for corruption to take root.

But one thing Cheng Qisheng was certain of was this:

Although the trio were only the nominal leaders of the country…

…the main reason they hadn’t already been overthrown was that Little Blue Sea could not continue functioning without Song Xi’s Gu Worm ability.

If all they possessed had been the Guixu Storage Relic…

…without the parasitic Gu Worms…

…there would undoubtedly have been ambitious people willing to murder the three of them, seize the relic, and take their places.

Among a population of more than a million, there would always be a few power-hungry schemers.

Seen from that perspective, although Song Xi and the others knew almost nothing about governing, their instincts were surprisingly good.

At the very least, they had subconsciously understood one crucial principle:

Never give up control of the military.

Moreover, every native of Dazzling Star who had witnessed the trio in battle had been thoroughly awed by their terrifying combat prowess.

No one dared make a move against them.

Those three terrifyingly powerful women now stood beneath the open sky, gazing upward.

Their eyes practically had the words “Please praise us!” written across them.

Originally, they had planned to wait until Little Blue Sea reached two million citizens before praying for their Creator’s descent.

Instead…

…their God had come ahead of schedule.

Our Creator loves us!

They looked up eagerly and asked,

“My God… have we offered You many more believers?”

Cheng Qisheng fell silent.

She almost didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth.

Although the nation already had over a million people, and the trio had been tirelessly promoting the greatness of Blue Sea’s Creator…

…out of those million-plus natives of Dazzling Star, only a little over two thousand had truly become believers.

Everyone else remained skeptical.

That was why Cheng Qisheng hadn’t paid much attention to this place until now.

If she had suddenly gained over a million genuine believers, then even in the middle of a war she would have immediately turned her attention here.

Still…

It wasn’t a serious problem.

The reason those million-plus people didn’t believe in the Creator wasn’t because they rejected Her.

It was simply because they didn’t believe that the divine nation of Blue Sea, as described by Song Xi and the others, actually existed.

The natives of Dazzling Star had their own perfectly reasonable logic.

If such a wonderful divine kingdom really exists…

…then why are the three of you out here instead of living there?

It was the same principle as those who had already experienced life inside Little Blue Sea’s castle.

Once they had enjoyed that warmth and comfort, they would rather die than return to their old wooden cabins.

Human beings could never truly imagine something they had never seen.

If an entire Safe City were suddenly to descend from the heavens…

…they would immediately recognize it as a miracle.

But if someone merely stacked enough building cards to create a Tier 7 structure…

…they would simply think, That seems perfectly normal.

To be fair…

…the trio’s missionary skills were rather lacking.

Though that wasn’t really their fault.

Song Xi and Shen Jinyang had both been born and raised in Blue Sea.

They had believed in the Creator from birth.

In their minds, once they finished praising the greatness of their Creator, the people listening should naturally become believers on the spot.

As for Wang Moning…

She had only been an ordinary student back on Velvet Star.

She could probably manage one-on-one evangelism.

But asking her to preach to large crowds?

She would much rather go fight snow beasts instead.

This couldn’t continue.

Cheng Qisheng might not know much about governing a nation…

…but she understood human nature.

Human beings were creatures remarkably good at both adapting…

…and forgetting.

Just like the people of Dazzling Star.

Looking at them now, it was almost impossible to tell that they, too, had once belonged to a technologically advanced civilization.

The longer Little Blue Sea existed, the more its citizens would gradually come to believe that living in a warm castle and riding high-speed snow trains was simply the way life was meant to be.

Those natives who had been promoted to government positions would likewise begin to think that the authority they wielded had always belonged to them.

Their feelings of gratitude would naturally fade over time.

What had once been viewed as an act of great kindness…

…would eventually become something they took for granted.

The good news was…

Human beings changed.

But they didn’t change that quickly.

At present, the vast majority of Little Blue Sea’s citizens still regarded the trio with a mixture of gratitude and reverence.

Which meant…

…this was the perfect moment to intervene.

More than a million potential believers.

The adorable children of Old Eighth had practically delivered such a huge prize right to her doorstep.

There was no way Cheng Qisheng was going to let it slip away.

Avoiding the question about the number of believers, she gently patted each of the three women on the head.

Dazzling Star itself couldn’t serve as a coordinate, so Blue Sea Safe City couldn’t descend here with precision.

But that didn’t matter.

The connection between her and her believers still existed.

She would never lose them.

Creator God’s GPS mode: activated.

“You have done well… but believers require guidance.”

Not being good at governing wasn’t a problem.

I’ll send people who are.

To the three believers, however, the divine oracle they received was far more profound than those simple words.

The world around them fell silent.

A gentle golden radiance enveloped their bodies.

They sensed the will of their Creator descending upon them.

Though the words themselves were indistinct, the meaning was unmistakable.

Meanwhile, as Cheng Qisheng instructed Aether to calculate how many officials could be dispatched, she continued,

“My clergy will come here to perfect what has been built. Once they arrive and lend you their strength, continue expanding Little Blue Sea. I will send the majority of the clergy currently scattered abroad to the nation you have created.”

If she sent over clergy who excelled at administration…

…and who also happened to be the strongest fighters…

…then the chances were very good that everything would work out just fine.

Remembering that the three of them still had no idea Blue Sea had already developed flight wings—and considering that they had just prepared more than a million prospective believers for her—Cheng Qisheng decided they deserved a reward.

So she added one more sentence.

“My clergy will bring you several pairs of flight wings. I believe you’ll like them. Consider them an additional reward for your accomplishments.”

The three women trembled with excitement.

Looking up at the sky, they bowed deeply in reverence.

“Yes, my God.”

“We shall faithfully carry out Your will.”

They immediately turned around and hurried back to the castle with their soldiers.

Once there, they summoned every official qualified to attend the nation’s highest council.

Standing before them, Song Xi announced,

“The Divine Kingdom will soon send its divine envoys.”

The several hundred senior officials were all taken aback.

They looked uncertainly toward their President.

The Divine Kingdom…

Wasn’t that, like the other gods worshipped across Dazzling Star, merely a religion… or perhaps just a legend?

“The divine envoys will determine whether anyone in Little Blue Sea is worthy of ascending to the Divine Kingdom.”

Seated at the head of the chamber, President Song’s face was radiant with joy.

Beside her, Wang Moning and Shen Jinyang wore almost identical expressions.

“The divine envoys will descend bearing the will of our Creator.”

“The three of us will be granted the power to break free from the shackles of the earth… and soar through the skies.”

The hastily promoted senior officials exchanged bewildered glances.

President Song clearly hadn’t lost her mind.

Then…

Could it be…

Could the Divine Kingdom their three leaders spoke of…

…really exist?

…

“Let’s see…”

Cheng Qisheng extended her senses, feeling the locations of all her clergy.

“There’s a little over a thousand nearby in this direction… another eight hundred or so over there… and that direction has more than two thousand.”

She waved the thought away.

“Forget it. I’ll just broadcast the oracle to every winged believer who’s currently outside the city, give them directions, and whoever has time can head over.”

After sending the divine oracle to everyone at once, she devoted a portion of her consciousness to guiding them toward Little Blue Sea.

The snow trains really were an ingenious invention.

Little Blue Sea’s administration might be chaotic, but this system…

…actually worked remarkably well.

And it was expanding at an astonishing rate.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that, as the castle continued to rise in rank, its population might one day reach an unimaginable scale.

I should send more people from Blue Sea as well, Cheng Qisheng thought.

It would be a good opportunity to assign some residents elsewhere and give them a new outlet for all that boundless energy.

Blue Sea residents with flight wings could carry government personnel skilled in administration to provide support.

With that thought, Cheng Qisheng sent another divine oracle to President Qin Zhi.

The Blue Sea government could handle selecting the administrative staff.

As for the winged residents…

…Aether could simply open a volunteer registration page and let people sign up themselves.

Aether promptly completed the tasks Cheng Qisheng had assigned.

“City Lord, the registration page has been created. Please specify the number of available positions.”

Cheng Qisheng hesitated.

How many people should I send?

Very soon, Blue Sea would relocate to Jin Yu Safe City’s former coordinates to hunt Skywing Dragons.

After that, they would immediately move to Mianyin Safe City’s former coordinates…

…and continue farming Skywing Dragons there.

At that point, Blue Sea’s winged residents would serve as the primary fighting force.

It was better to keep as many of them in the city as possible.

After a moment’s consideration, she made her decision.

“Release fifty thousand slots for the first deployment.”

Once they finished hunting the Skywing Dragons at both locations, Blue Sea would have many more residents capable of flight.

When that time came…

They could send a second wave.

Then a third…

…and a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth wave as well.

…

Two days later—

Fifty thousand Blue Sea residents took to the skies.

Some had accepted transport assignments, carrying the carefully selected government officials in their arms as they flew toward Little Blue Sea.

After they departed, Blue Sea Safe City completed its relocation without incident.

This was a set of coordinates that Jin Yu Safe City had abandoned.

In the distant sky, the silhouettes of Skywing Dragons could just barely be seen.

“Woohoo!”

Countless residents poured out of the Safe City, charging straight toward the Skywing Dragons.

…

Ten days later—

Mingxia had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Not long ago, his Safe City had been discovered by another city, forcing him to relocate to a new set of coordinates. No matter how he looked around now, there didn’t seem to be any other Safe Cities nearby.

At last, he could relax.

But out of habit, he casually lifted his binoculars and surveyed the surrounding area.

Then he froze.

Far away on the horizon…

…a vast black mass was flying toward him.

The sight was painfully familiar.

Mingxia’s throat tightened instantly.

No…

It can’t be…

These coordinates were randomly assigned!

How could Blue Sea possibly have found me?

It has to be Skywing Dragons!

Yes! It must be Skywing Dragons!

Skywing Dragons were terrifying opponents.

But compared to seeing Blue Sea’s people flying toward him…

…he would much rather face the monsters.

His trembling hands raised the binoculars again.

The distant black silhouettes gradually came into focus.

They were unmistakable.

Blue Sea’s people.

The binoculars slipped from Mingxia’s hands and crashed to the ground.

“AI! Move the city! Right now!”

The AI immediately replied,

“City Lord, your remaining crystals are only sufficient for one final relocation. Do you wish to proceed?”

“Move it! Immediately! Right now!”

The Safe City, which had only recently arrived at these coordinates, vanished in an instant as the air rippled around it.

High overhead, Lu Song flew closer to Qi Yi and Qi Er, squinting toward the distance.

“Didn’t there just seem to be… something over there?”

Qi Yi and Qi Er had been searching for nearby snow beasts.

Hearing him, they looked up and glanced in the same direction.

“Was there?”

“I think so. I could’ve sworn I saw something. Maybe it was a Safe City?”

“Oh.”

Qi Yi shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Qi Yi yawned.

Skywing Dragon wings were surprisingly warm. He had slept especially well in his snow burrow the night before, and when his younger brother woke him up that morning, he still hadn’t had enough sleep.

“Our priority is getting to Little Blue Sea,” he said. “As long as those Safe Cities don’t attack us, there’s no need to fight them.”

Lu Song nodded, then looked at Qi Yi with envy.

Ever since leaving Blue Sea, he had stayed glued to the main group, terrified of accidentally getting separated.

If a Blue Sea resident got lost, they could simply follow the Creator’s guidance and eventually reach the correct destination.

But if he got lost…

…he’d be in serious trouble.

He had heard that Little Blue Sea was inhabited entirely by natives of Dazzling Star, which was why so many clergy had joined this expedition.

Lu Song secretly made up his mind.

Once they got there, he’d quietly blend in with the locals…

…and let himself be preached to along with everyone else.

I’ll definitely become a believer of the great Creator!

…

Mingbuxige Safe City—

This city belonged to the Toadfolk Civilization, whose people were naturally nocturnal.

In broad daylight, the City Lord was fast asleep when urgent knocking sounded outside his door.

“My Lord! My Lord! The Safe City you ordered us to keep an eye out for—the one that lost all that territory—it looks like it’s appeared!”

Before the City Lord even had time to get angry at being woken up, the important part of the report registered in his mind.

He shot upright.

“Mingxia Safe City is nearby?!”

He hurriedly wiped the moisture from the shell-like layer covering his chest, threw on his cold-weather clothing, and rushed outside.

He didn’t even need binoculars.

At a glance, he spotted Mingxia Safe City sitting roughly eight hundred meters away from Mingbuxige Safe City.

Judging by its size alone, it was definitely Mingxia.

The group chat had been keeping everyone updated on Mingxia’s situation.

Mingxia had already relocated four times, so he was probably running low on crystals.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have stayed this close to another Tier 3 Safe City instead of relocating again.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

City Lord Gege burst into laughter, his face glowing with ecstasy.

“Six thousand five hundred! Six thousand five hundred!”

“My luck has finally turned!”

“Hurry! Hurry, beat the gong! Get every resident still inside the city over there!”

…

Three hours later—

In the City Lords’ group chat…

Mingxia Safe City’s name turned gray.

Watching Mingbuxige Safe City claim the bounty, Cheng Qisheng took out her little notebook and drew a neat ✓ beside Mingxia’s name.

Now…

Every single name in the notebook had a matching checkmark.

She closed the notebook.

Ah…

That’s satisfying.

Hot pot tonight.

This definitely calls for a celebration.

Turning her gaze toward the direction of Little Blue Sea, the corners of her lips curved upward.

A double celebration, no less.

The first wave of clergy from nearby…

…had already arrived.

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