Safe City Ch.91.2

Chapter 91.2: Weaselfolk Civilization

The priest set down the salary chart.

“You can’t calculate it quite like that. You also have to account for your daily living expenses. Normally, the AI automatically deducts sixty percent of your wages toward debt repayment, while the remaining forty percent is left for your daily expenses.”

“Let’s work it out.”

The priest tapped away at a calculator.

“Sixty percent of two hundred is one hundred twenty. Five thousand divided by one hundred twenty equals… forty-one point six six six.”

“I’ll round it down for you. That comes to forty-one trips.”

Zhuo Ying could hardly believe his ears.

They were even leaving him contribution points to spend on everyday necessities.

He asked cautiously, “So… once I’ve paid off my war debt, you’ll let us leave?”

“That’s right.”

The priest answered without the slightest hesitation.

After hearing Zhuo Ying describe how he had risked his life and worked himself to the bone in his previous Safe City—making full use of his storage ability just to earn the meager position of a guard who could barely afford enough food—he simply couldn’t imagine that, after spending enough time in Blue Sea, he would actually want to leave.

Another thought occurred to Zhuo Ying.

“Th-Then… this hospital room I’m staying in, and the medicine you’ve used on me… do I have to pay those costs back too?”

“Oh, no.”

The priest shook his head.

“Our God be praised. All medical expenses related to childbirth for Blue Sea residents are covered by the Temple.”

“Of course, if your child decides to leave Blue Sea in the future, then those expenses will have to be reimbursed.”

In the apocalypse… giving birth in a hospital is actually free?

Zhuo Ying began to wonder whether he had entered his final moments during childbirth.

Maybe…

Everything happening now was just a dream.

“Actually, using a loan to repay your debt isn’t the most cost-effective option. With your storage ability, you could easily affiliate yourself with a guild and have them act as your guarantor. The guild could take you outside the city to gather resources, and then you could use your salary and commission from the guild to repay your debt.”

Clearly, his dream wasn’t detailed enough to include an entire loan repayment system.

A guild?

What kind of organization is that?

Zhuo Ying was so stunned he could barely remain seated.

“So… I can leave the Safe City even while I’m still carrying debt?”

“Of course,” the priest replied. “As long as you can find someone willing to guarantee your debt.”

Zhuo Ying’s heart pounded.

“Then… can I bring my younger brother and my child with me?”

“You can. As long as your guarantor is willing to guarantee them as well. With your storage ability, I think there should be guilds willing to do that.”

Zhuo Ying couldn’t believe it.

Blue Sea Safe City wasn’t treating him as a breeding machine…

It wasn’t even keeping his family as hostages.

While he was still reeling from the shock, the priest carefully and reverently lifted a statue of the great Creator God of Blue Sea.

“There’s one more way to reduce your debt.”

Recalling the missionary handbook, he maintained a sacred smile.

“Blue Sea is currently running a promotion. If you become one of our God’s believers, your war debt will be reduced from 5,000 to 3,000 contribution points.”

…

Five minutes later, two new links appeared in Cheng Qisheng’s chain of faith.

Even she was a little incredulous.

“You can actually recruit believers by offering debt reductions?”

She’d honestly thought the priest had just been joking to lighten the mood.

But after vaguely sensing Zhuo Ying’s thoughts, Cheng Qisheng realized that wasn’t the reason.

He hadn’t converted for the debt reduction.

He had been overwhelmed by Blue Sea’s entire system of rules.

In a peaceful society, those policies would have seemed perfectly ordinary.

But in the apocalypse…

They were practically the equivalent of handing out free money.

And the gentle way the priests treated his newborn child gave Zhuo Ying a sense of security he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

In Blue Sea, there were debts to repay.

But everything was laid out plainly and transparently.

No one would force him to keep reproducing. No one would cut off his tail and use it as a space stone. Even though Blue Sea could easily have taken his child away for indoctrination, they still allowed him to raise the baby himself.

In truth, Zhuo Ying had already begun believing in Cheng Qisheng while the priest was still explaining the repayment system.

He simply hadn’t had a concept of the Blue Sea Creator God.

It wasn’t until the priest brought out the statue that the immense faith welling up inside him finally found somewhere to rest.

As for Tan Xiaoyu…

He really had become a believer for the debt reduction.

In any case, Cheng Qisheng finally put her mind at ease.

Their faith had been established.

Zhuo Ying and Tan Xiaoyu had now truly become her people.

Smiling, Cheng Qisheng gently patted the heads of her two new believers.

After connecting to the chain of faith, Zhuo Ying felt a warm, comforting presence flowing from his god, and a long-forgotten sense of security slowly took root within him.

After receiving the affectionate pat on the head, he was like a weasel whose fur had been standing on end, gradually soothed until every hair lay flat again.

Warmth spread through his entire body.

Murmuring the words he had heard from the priests, Zhuo Ying said,

“Our God be praised…”

He couldn’t perceive the deity directly.

But he knew the god was there.

When he looked at the priest again, the vigilance and wariness in his eyes had vanished.

Some instinct deep inside him was quietly telling him…

We belong to the same people now.

Zhuo Ying rested a hand on his abdomen.

The overwhelming sense of security brought by his newfound faith made him start thinking about having another baby.

This is a safe place.

A place where the next generation can be raised.

Tan Xiaoyu also placed a hand on his stomach.

The same overwhelming sense of security from his newfound faith finally made him realize…

He was starving.

This is a safe place.

A place where I can boldly ask for something to eat.

Cheng Qisheng looked down and rubbed her own stomach.

An SSSSSSR has successfully joined Blue Sea.

This calls for a celebration.

Tonight, I’ll make a bowl of luosifen—with extra chili, extra fried chili paste, and an extra fried egg.

…

“So you’re telling me that those two spatial-type ability users became believers of our great Creator God in just five minutes because, after embracing the faith, their 5,000-point war debt was reduced by 2,000?”

Standing on the deck of the Everbright, Lu Song looked at the two men aboard the neighboring ship and clutched his head.

“WHY?!”

Qi Yi and Qi Er stood beside him, long since accustomed to Lu Song’s habit of having emotional breakdowns at a moment’s notice.

“Come on, Lu. Even if you’re not one of our God’s believers, everyone has seen everything you’ve done for Blue Sea. Don’t feel so down.”

Lu Song crouched on the deck, still holding his head.

“I’ve personally guided over ten thousand Dazzling Star people into becoming believers of our God. They all succeeded! Why? Why am I the only one who can’t?!”

Looking at him now, who would ever guess that before joining Blue Sea, he had been a calm, stoic special forces soldier?

Qi Yi reached over and rubbed his head.

“It’s okay!”

“Look, even though you’re not one of our God’s believers, you still became an official Blue Sea resident through your own hard work.”

“You’re ranked 154th on Blue Sea’s wealth leaderboard, you’re the vice president of the Everbright Guild, and now we’ve even got a ship this huge. Honestly, compared to the believers, you’re not doing badly at all!”

Lu Song looked up at him, his hair completely disheveled.

“Then I’ll trade you all my contribution points for your status. Will you take the deal?”

Qi Yi: “…”

He coughed awkwardly.

“Why ask a question when you already know the answer? Qi Er, you talk to him.”

Qi Er didn’t bother trying to comfort him.

Instead, he simply painted an optimistic picture.

“You just haven’t fought enough yet. This voyage is supposed to be really dangerous. Fight hard, and I’m sure you’ll become one of our God’s believers.”

That was exactly the sort of encouragement Lu Song responded to.

He quickly pulled himself together.

“You’re right! I’ll go make sure everyone’s ready. The weather’s good today—we should set sail while we have the chance!”

“I’ll come with you.”

Qi Yi threw an arm around his shoulders with a grin.

“Cheer up. When I bought some bullets, the seller threw in a grenade for free.”

“It’s yours.”

“Try smiling a little.”

Lu Song found a grenade stuffed into his hand.

If this had been on Velvet Star, and someone had given him a grenade as a gift, he would have thought they were insane.

But he had lived in Blue Sea for a long time now.

He knew that, among Blue Sea residents, the highest form of gift-giving was weapons of all kinds.

And a grenade ranked among the very best.

“Thanks, brother.”

Deeply moved, Lu Song slipped the grenade into his pocket.

He was right.

He was already living a good life.

Compared to his days on Velvet Star, he now had food, a roof over his head, two good friends, a guild, and countless guildmates.

In a terrifying world dominated by the sea, they were standing aboard a ship capable of carrying three hundred people.

Even if they failed to find any resources on this voyage, they could always return to Blue Sea, do manual labor, and still make a living.

Feeling the grenade bumping lightly against his pocket as he walked, Lu Song gradually calmed down.

He simply…

He simply loved his life now.

He loved Blue Sea too much.

That was why he wanted so desperately to become part of it.

To become a true Blue Sea citizen.

Looking out over the endless ocean, Lu Song’s gaze slowly hardened with determination.

We have to succeed in this world.

…

“Aw… they’re spatial-types! And it was practically a buy two, get one free deal! I can’t believe we lost them to the Rose Guild.”

Aboard a luxurious cruise ship, Song Xi watched longingly as Zhuo Ying and Tan Xiaoyu boarded the Rose, carrying the baby in their arms. Her face was filled with undisguised envy.

Standing beside her, Shen Jinyang tried to console her.

“The only reason we lost is because we spent so much on this huge ship and stockpiled mountains of supplies. The Rose’s ship isn’t nearly as big as ours. Even with their spatial abilities, they still can’t carry as much as we can.”

Wang Moning nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Besides, we’ve got Cheng Anjing and Sylvia. If we run into the Rose out at sea and they want to use Mind Domain, they’ll have to pay us contribution points for it.”

Toya chimed in as well.

“Besides, you can find just about anything in the sea. Once we’ve salvaged enough materials, I can use my ability to make our ship even bigger.”

“That’s true.” Song Xi was easy to cheer up, and her spirits immediately lifted.

“I heard there are green stones in the ocean that are actually space stones. When the time comes, we’ll haul up a hundred thousand of them—or even eight hundred thousand! We’ll have plenty of storage space too!”

“Just wait and see. With our God’s blessing, our Little Blue Sea will definitely be the ship that brings back the most resources!”

…

Aboard the Rose

After welcoming Zhuo Ying, Tan Xiaoyu, and the newborn aboard, Su Ya glanced toward the luxurious cruise ship belonging to the Little Blue Sea.

“They’ve got so many contribution points.”

She clicked her tongue, half wishing she could jump over and steal the ship outright.

The vice president of the Rose Guild laughed.

“It’s fine. Didn’t they say you can fish up just about anything in this sea? Maybe we’ll reel in a Ship Item Card. Then we’ll get ourselves a big ship too.”

Su Ya thought about it and nodded.

She drew the longsword hanging at her waist and smiled expectantly as she admired its gleaming edge.

“I’ve heard the Sea of Souls is full of pirates.”

The polished blade reflected her smiling face.

“I just hope those pirates have really big ships.”

Across the vast ocean, a medium-sized fishing boat cut swiftly through the waves.

“Who needs a giant ship?! They’re heavy and take too many people to operate. A boat like ours is more than enough!”

“Exactly! And we’re way faster!”

“Why haul around so many supplies? If we get hungry, we’ll just catch some fish!”

“That’s right! Look how many fishing rods we’ve got!”

…

Every member of the Travel Team stared excitedly toward the horizon.

Their captain, Yin Yuan, stood at the bow, holding a statue of the great Creator God.

“What is our dream?!”

The four of them shouted in unison,

“To travel all across Green Billow Star!!”

Yin Yuan raised her voice again.

“And what is our goal?!”

The four roared,

“To discover Green Billow Star’s greatest treasure!!”

“And once we find it…”

The entire team shouted at the top of their lungs,

“WE’LL OFFER IT TO OUR GOD!!!!”

Qu Tianming let his fish tail emerge.

He couldn’t dive into the water, but that didn’t stop him from feeling that his tail looked perfectly at home against the sea.

Besides, he had awakened the Merfolk bloodline. Whenever he assumed his merfolk form, both his physical strength and his five senses were noticeably enhanced.

Looking ahead, Qu Tianming excitedly slapped his tail.

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