Safe City Ch.120.2

Chapter 120.2: Tier 6 Upgrade

After finishing the residential units, she continued on to the apartment buildings.

The process was more or less the same, except the apartments were larger, and some of them were even equipped with kitchens.

Cheng Qisheng hummed a tune as she worked. The longer she worked, the better her mood became.

Life really was getting better.

She couldn’t help but think back to the time when she had fled Dark Star in a panic with the Old Eighth.

Back then, everything had been crammed together. If an Old Eighth wanted to use the bathroom, they had to wait in line for several hours. Everyone was packed into crude, cramped residential units, and even something as simple as washing their hands required them to step on the walls and haul themselves up and down using the chains.

Looking at things now, the residential units had toilets, showers, and balconies, while the apartments could even be equipped with kitchens. The residents could also afford to use water and electricity. At the very least, at night, they no longer had to rely on little night-lights for illumination.

Considering that many residents had become quite wealthy by now, the apartment plans called for more buildings to be constructed, with larger floor plans as well. All the materials were already prepared, so Cheng Qisheng could simply put them to use.

By the time she finished the apartment buildings, ten hours had already passed. Cheng Qisheng wasn’t tired in the slightest. She was still full of energy and moved on to the next step.

This time, she was expanding the three-dimensional transportation network.

With the Safe City’s area having increased so much, naturally, the roads had to be expanded as well.

When she had been “shaping” the residential units, Cheng Qisheng had added a little of her own personal flair. But when it came to “shaping” the roads, she followed Blue Sea’s prepared blueprints to the letter.

This was another material- and crystal-consuming beast, but it was essentially the foundation of Blue Sea. No matter how painful it was to spend those crystals, they had to be used.

Major longitudinal arteries, horizontal ring routes, countless branch lines…

Transportation hub nodes, regional division nodes, emergency turnoff ramps, building access platforms…

There were even dedicated flight corridors for Blue Sea’s winged residents.

Following the layers upon layers of routes in the design, which looked like a 360-dimensional city-planning map, Cheng Qisheng sent each road exactly where it was supposed to go.

She was now absolutely certain that the so-called ability to “construct and modify various parts of the Safe City during an upgrade” definitely relied on the City Lord’s mental power.

After finishing the roads within the Safe City, Cheng Qisheng felt as though she had patted the heads of 100 million Old Eighth.

That familiar, faint sense of fatigue had returned.

But she was someone who could pat the heads of several hundred million Old Eighth in one go.

Cheng Qisheng took a sip of water and continued working.

When Aether saw her gesture that everything was good to go, it immediately replaced the route map displayed on the virtual screen with a new blueprint.

This time, it was the location plan for the floating farmland.

The floating farms that previously required countless Blue Sea residents to haul into the Safe City like manual laborers could now be turned into a game of Tetris in Cheng Qisheng’s hands.

She effortlessly used her mental power to “push” each individual plot of farmland into the position prepared for it on the blueprint.

Next came repairing the central air-circulation system throughout the entire city, and moving the various factory zones to their new locations. The city walls could be left alone; once they reached Tier 6, they would upgrade automatically.

The workshop of the 3D-printing factory was raised higher (which didn’t consume much material), crane tracks were installed at the inland river docks, the watchtowers needed to be widened and increased in number, another 5,000 openings were added to the city gates, the vertical farms needed repairs, and the steam pipelines that had already been planned back on Dazzling Star were finally laid out…

Having more space really did make a difference.

Previously, she could finish everything after working herself to the bone for a dozen or so hours. But this time, during the upgrade, Cheng Qisheng worked nonstop, taking advantage of the upgrade benefits to immerse herself in constructing, renovating, and modifying every building in the Safe City.

She spent a full five days and five nights at it.

Fortunately, she was now a Transcendent. Going five days and five nights without sleep wouldn’t cause her to suddenly drop dead.

Still, she was genuinely exhausted.

Crystals, all kinds of materials, and “trash” flowed out like water.

Cheng Qisheng had thought she would feel heartbroken watching all those resources disappear, but instead, as she looked at the completely transformed Blue Sea Safe City, she felt nothing but deep satisfaction.

If merely expanding and renovating the Safe City could bring her this much fulfillment, it was hard to imagine how happy she would be if Blue Sea Safe City could truly grow into an entire planet.

Cheng Qisheng rolled her sore neck and yawned. Her body was exhausted, and her mind was exhausted too, but she was still incredibly excited.

At long last, she stopped.

Blue Sea Safe City’s upgrade was officially complete.

Cheng Qisheng suddenly felt a weight lift from her body.

It was like the Monkey King trapped beneath the Five-Finger Mountain, only to suddenly have one of the five mountains removed.

So comfortable!!!

She rolled her neck, then raised her hand. Looking at how much more nimble her movements had become, a smile spread across her face.

Aether, who had been performing a jellyfish dance for the City Lord, suddenly froze as well.

Countless lines of numerical data flashed across its originally transparent jellyfish-like body.

It floated into Cheng Qisheng’s palm and reported:

“City Lord, Aether has been entered into the Tier 6 supercomputer database.”

At the same time, Cheng Qisheng, who was holding Aether, distinctly sensed a familiar fluctuation in space and time.

After devouring the Rule of Kansidang’s domain, she had clearly become much more sensitive to fluctuations related to space and time.

She stood up and, sure enough, saw that there was an extra room along the long corridor.

Unlike the other white doors, the door to this new room was black.

But it wasn’t pure black, either. It was difficult to describe the sensation it gave off. If she absolutely had to compare it to something, it was very much like the legendary “colorful black.”

Cheng Qisheng had a feeling about what lay inside. She slowly walked over with Aether and pulled the door open.

Inside, a sphere was quietly floating.

That’s right—a huge sphere roughly 200 meters in diameter.

What did a diameter of 200 meters actually mean?

Its height was almost equivalent to that of a 66-story building.

As Cheng Qisheng looked up at the enormous sphere, she couldn’t help thinking:

“There’s a giant ball as tall as a sixty-something-story building inside my fifty-square-meter home.”

The Safe City truly had no limit to how bizarre it could get. There was always something even stranger.

—If she filled it with water, wouldn’t that be equivalent to several thousand swimming pools combined?

She should be able to raise a lot of fish in there, right?

Speaking of which, she was suddenly craving fish. She hadn’t eaten or rested for five days and five nights. She’d go to the artificial-lake room and catch a fish to eat later.

With all sorts of random thoughts running through her mind, Cheng Qisheng approached the enormous sphere.

In front of it was an even larger circular hatch.

Aether floated out of her palm.

“City Lord, according to the database, this is the Safe City’s cockpit. At Tier 6, only the City Lord and the supercomputer can operate it. Once the Safe City reaches Tier 7, the City Lord will be able to grant residents operating privileges.”

Cheng Qisheng: “It really is called the cockpit?”

Putting “Safe City” and “cockpit” together felt like putting cream on top of scrambled eggs.

She couldn’t help imagining herself gripping a steering wheel, with an entire Safe City speeding through the galaxy behind her.

The most outrageous part of this fantasy was that it might actually be possible.

Still, as ridiculous as it was, it was undeniably novel.

For once, Cheng Qisheng found herself looking forward to it. She took a step forward.

The enormous silver-white circular door lit up, and a distinctly mechanical voice sounded:

“Scanning mental entity.”

“Scan successful.”

“Identity confirmed: City Lord of Blue Sea Safe City.”

“Authorization confirmed: Level Zero Authority (Ark Arbiter).”

“Welcome back, City Lord.”

The circular door opened smoothly, revealing a pure-white space inside.

No, it couldn’t really be described as pure white. It was more like an enormous expanse of sky, with sky in every direction—360 degrees of sky—while clouds drifted beneath them.

While pondering what “Ark Arbiter” meant, Cheng Qisheng randomly selected one of the believers flying above Blue Sea Safe City and looked at the sky from his perspective.

Confirmed.

This was a real-time external view of Blue Sea Safe City floating above the clouds.

At the very center of the spherical chamber was a large floating recliner, which clearly had adjustable positioning. Beside the recliner were two spherical grips, with an inverted bowl-shaped object floating above it.

And then… that was it.

Inside such an enormous spherical space, there was nothing but this single recliner.

It felt like there was only one fish in the entire ocean.

Aether, having absorbed the Tier 6 database, floated over and gave her some instructions:

“City Lord, this is the pilot’s seat. You can sit down. The seat will automatically adjust its shape according to your physical condition.”

Cheng Qisheng walked over.

The pilot’s seat even thoughtfully lowered itself, adjusting its position and orientation to make it easier for her to sit down.

The moment she sat down, she let out a comfortable sigh.

How could there be a chair this comfortable in the world?!

Was this a cockpit or a massage chair?

Not only did the pilot’s seat perfectly support Cheng Qisheng’s slightly sore neck, the area supporting it even began emitting a gentle warmth, soothing the ache remarkably well.

And when she leaned back, the pilot’s seat adjusted its shape according to her movements. It felt just like lying down on an incredibly comfortable bed.

This thing seemed even better than Blue Sea’s sleeping pods!

—Cheng Qisheng decided she was going to sleep here tonight!

In fact, she almost fell asleep right then and there. Fortunately, her curiosity about piloting the Safe City kept her awake.

Aether solemnly recited the information it had just received:

“City Lord, the Safe City’s pilot’s seat adjusts according to your will. You can try looking toward different directions.”

Cheng Qisheng glanced to the right.

Instantly, the view in front of her shifted far to the right, without causing the slightest sensation of dizziness. It was as effortless and natural as simply turning her eyes.

High technology!

She tentatively raised her hand and looked toward the spherical grip on her right.

The floating grip immediately moved into her palm on its own.

It also felt incredibly comfortable to hold, almost as though it were a natural extension of her own hand.

“Forward?”

The pilot’s seat silently floated forward. There was still absolutely no dizziness. It brought her directly before the sky, making it feel as though the image itself had simply been enlarged.

“Backward?”

The pilot’s seat smoothly drifted backward.

“Left, right, float upward…”

Cheng Qisheng tried them one by one, and her conclusion was:

Inside this spherical space, she could freely appear in any location she wanted.

Moreover, she didn’t actually need to say the commands aloud. The bowl-shaped object above her head was probably used to interface with mental power. As long as the pilot thought about where she wanted to go, she could instantly appear there.

Cheng Qisheng marveled once again.

“High technology!!”

By now, she was already itching to “drive” Blue Sea Safe City.

No, wait. She’d better hold off for now and upgrade the floating device first.

Upgrading the Safe City was the most important thing. Only after reaching Tier 6 could they ensure the absolute safety of Blue Sea Safe City.

That was why Cheng Qisheng had chosen to upgrade the Safe City first and put the floating device on hold, just in case something unexpected happened and they didn’t have enough crystals in reserve.

Now that the Safe City had successfully reached the next tier, naturally, it was time to upgrade the floating device as well.

Considering the current area occupied by Blue Sea Safe City when it descended into a world, it was already practically equivalent to the actual size of a Tier 1 Safe City. Without being able to float, it would probably be very difficult to find a suitable place for it to descend in a post-apocalyptic world.

Fortunately, they had Lilith.

Cheng Qisheng casually rubbed the head of Lilith, who had made such a tremendous contribution, then gave her a quick combo of blessings. After that, she issued a divine oracle to everyone in the specially established Floating Device Department.

The prepared staff immediately placed the crystals into the “Upgrade Zone” of the Safe City’s floating device.

The magical runes on the floating device began to glow, greedily “devouring” large quantities of crystals.

It continued consuming them for about an hour.

By then, all the magical runes were shining brightly as if they had been fully charged. Beside the floating device, the text on the information panel began automatically breaking apart and rearranging itself as the energy level changed.

Eventually, the display settled on:

[Item: Safe City Floating Device (Maximum Supported Area: 300,000 square kilometers)]

[Condition: Good]

[Authorization: Continuously Upgradeable]

[Service Life: Permanent]

Cheng Qisheng stared at the words [Continuously Upgradeable] and [Permanent], and all her fatigue seemed to vanish in an instant.

—Although it was also possible that having the pilot’s seat continuously massage her had something to do with it.

Cheng Qisheng lay comfortably in the automatically massaging pilot’s seat and had Aether bring up the Safe City’s information panel.

[Safe City — Tier 6]

[Actual Area: 119,636 square kilometers]

[Area Occupied Upon Descent: 747 square kilometers]

At that moment, the Great Blue Sea Creator God faced the vast expanse of sky. Through her mental power, she could also see her residents standing outside their residential units, shocked and delighted.

All she wanted to do was lounge in the pilot’s seat and make a grand gesture with her hand.

—That’s right. This is my kingdom!

…

Meanwhile.

Mo Yuxuan, a veteran who was a Tier 3 Lightning-type ability user, had only recently joined Blue Sea Safe City and wasn’t a believer yet, so she lived in the Outer City. Thanks to her formidable learning ability, she had already mastered most of the Blue Sea language. Because of her hard work generating electricity and making contributions, she had been transferred to the residential quarters for residents with special contributions.

She had just taken the elevator back to the home she’d only recently moved into—and which had now undergone a complete transformation.

In the apocalypse, wealth always flowed toward those with ability.

Through generating electricity, Mo Yuxuan had accumulated quite a number of points, easily enough to afford an apartment in the Outer City.

But she remained firmly committed to her “survival-at-all-costs principle” and continued living in a residential unit. The only difference was that she’d been transferred from an ordinary residential unit to one designated for residents with special contributions.

Even so, Mo Yuxuan already felt that Blue Sea’s living conditions were exceptionally luxurious.

It was hard to imagine that every compartment in the Outer-City residential units had its own toilet.

Most importantly, the rent was cheap enough to ensure that any resident willing to work could afford the most basic residential unit.

Mo Yuxuan had thought that was already far beyond her expectations.

She hadn’t expected there to be something even more extraordinary.

At this moment, she stood dumbfounded, staring at the residence in front of her.

White walls.

A bathroom equipped with a shower and toilet.

Large sections of storage compartments built directly into the walls.

There was even a small balcony outside.

She could feel the fresh air being circulated through the thirty-square-meter space by the ventilation system.

Mo Yuxuan switched on the light first. Bright illumination immediately flooded the room.

Then she walked into the bathroom, took out her water bottle, turned on the faucet, and held the bottle underneath it.

Clean water actually flowed out.

It looked perfectly clear, with no impurities or yellowish tint whatsoever.

Mo Yuxuan held the bottle in her hands, her expression somewhat dazed.

As she carried it toward the bed, she suddenly noticed a fifteen-inch screen mounted on the wall in the middle of the room.

Mo Yuxuan could hardly believe her eyes.

She knew that one of the ships had discovered a huge number of display screens, but she had never imagined that these electronic products—which should have been considered expensive even in a peaceful society—would actually end up installed in the homes of people living through the apocalypse.

Even when facing life-or-death situations, Mo Yuxuan could always force herself to remain calm and deal with them rationally.

Yet at this moment, her hand was actually trembling as she reached out and switched on the display.

A soothing piece of music began playing—a sacred hymn praising the Great Blue Sea Creator God—and the screen really did light up.

It displayed the time, temperature, and weather.

A line of gray text floated across the top:

[Attention, residents: Blue Sea will soon be departing Green Billow Star and embarking on a new journey. A citywide flight ban is now in effect.]

Once that message passed, new content immediately followed:

[No. 32244 Outer-City Cafeteria — Today’s Lunch Menu: Congee, Rice and Bean Rice, Cornmeal, Braised Sea-Monster Tentacles (Discounted), Stir-Fried Greenwang Vegetables, “Greasy Green Seaweed and Mixed Fish Healthy Soup That Doesn’t Taste Good” (1 point), Boiled Eggs…]

Mo Yuxuan stared blankly at the names of the various dishes scrolling across the screen.

Cafeteria No. 32244 was the one closest to her residential unit.

Two lines of text suddenly appeared in the center of the screen, accompanied by an electronic voice from the speakers:

“Blue Sea Information Terminal activated. Identity verification in progress… Facial scan in progress… Verification successful.”

The gray scrolling text instantly changed to its normal bright color.

Only then did Mo Yuxuan notice that there was a little egg icon next to “boiled eggs.”

At the same time, as the screen lit up, the text in the center changed to another line.

The speaker above her synchronized with it, reading the words aloud:

“Resident Mo Yuxuan, welcome home.”

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