Safe City Ch.149

Chapter 149: Blue Sea Higher-ups Meeting

This explained why, despite [Ota] having been active in the Broken River Wasteland for so long, not a single major faction had approached or tested them, aside from their neighbor, Lord of Tata.

After all, Blue Sea had prepared more than a thousand contingency plans for the possibility that someone might come to test them.

Among them were plans such as:

—Continue pretending to be [Ota] in front of anyone sent by the [Companies] to investigate or attack them, then throw themselves into battle.

—Kidnap members of other factions that ventured into the Broken River Wasteland, then throw themselves into battle.

—If their identity was exposed, first try to make it look like everything had been done by mutated beasts, then throw themselves into battle.

Now that a situation they had never anticipated had occurred, however, the Blue Sea government was not flustered in the slightest.

“This is actually a good thing. Before, we had to be so cautious that we could only operate within the Broken River Wasteland. Now that the large mutated beasts here have already been cleared out, if we want more nuclear crystals, we should be heading outside.”

At the meeting, there was no concern about the future in the eyes of Blue Sea’s higher-ups. There was only the joy of finally being able to lift their restrictions.

Since they were still disguised as a [Company], Blue Sea had manufactured company employee uniforms for everyone in order to avoid exposing themselves.

When it came to the design of the uniforms for the higher-ups, everyone voted for a style based on the temple’s sacred robes.

After all, every Blue Sea child had dreamed, when they were young, of passing the examination to become a cleric, putting on a holy robe, and serving the great Blue Sea Creator God.

Although they hadn’t passed the examination back then, now that they had the opportunity, everyone still wanted to wear a sacred robe at least once.

However, in order to distinguish themselves from actual clergy, the robes’ color had been changed from pure white to the most popular color of Blue Sea’s combat uniforms: pure black.

And so, from Cheng Qisheng’s perspective, the current Blue Sea leadership meeting looked like this:

A group of people dressed in gorgeous, completely black sacred robes, wearing pointed hoods that obscured their faces, gathered around a gigantic round table in a pure-white room.

The great Blue Sea Creator God was once again mildly stunned by her followers’ sense of aesthetics.

The Blue Sea higher-ups had no idea that their god was watching them. They continued their meeting with utmost seriousness.

“Yes. With our God above us, since they believe we really are [Ota], then let’s show them just how real we are.”

Naturally, as the people responsible for Blue Sea’s major decisions, the higher-ups got down to serious discussion after their initial excitement.

“The claim that the so-called [Ota Company] failed to awaken at the appointed time and has already perished is merely someone else’s account. We didn’t witness it with our own eyes.”

“If we continue pretending to be [Ota], what happens if the real [Ota] awakens one day?”

Marshal Alice, representing the military, slightly raised her eyes.

She had taken the anti-aging drug, and her appearance had now reverted to that of a middle-aged woman. Yet, in those calm, almost unruffled eyes, one could still catch a glimpse of Marshal Alice’s true age.

“If you want to obtain the honey inside a beehive, you have to accept the risk that the bees might attack you.”

Until this point, Cheng Qisheng had been listening to Blue Sea’s meeting with complete seriousness.

Otherwise, why did people always say that no matter how capable or powerful you became after growing up, your parents would still treat you like a child at first?

Because when their child was speaking seriously, there could always be some little detail that suddenly reminded the parents of what that child had been like when they were young.

For example, the moment Alice finished saying that sentence, Cheng Qisheng immediately recalled Alice as a little girl, poking a beehive with a stick and then running around in circles as bees chased her, stinging her all over.

But that had been a limited-edition Alice.

She had always been the sort of child who learned from her mistakes. After getting stung once, she learned her lesson.

The next time she went to poke a beehive, she made herself a protective covering out of a mosquito net. That way, she successfully got the honey while avoiding being stung by the bees.

Cheng Qisheng watched her grown-up version with a smile as Alice continued speaking, just as she had the second time she poked a beehive.

She knew there might be danger ahead, but she would never fear it.

“Even if the real [Ota] awakens, so what? As long as we handle things properly, whoever possesses absolute power in their hands will be the true [Ota].”

President Qin Zhi nodded slightly and looked around at everyone seated at the table.

“The Marshal is right. I think everyone understands that remaining holed up in Broken River and trading natural food for weapons will indeed improve Blue Sea’s conventional military strength.”

“But if we want to raise Blue Sea’s weapons and equipment to the same level as the [Companies], there is only one way: we have to get close to the real [Companies].”

The [Companies] would of course never sell weapons that were genuinely powerful enough to threaten them to various factions across Moon Silk.

The only way to obtain those weapons of mass destruction was to get them directly from the [Companies].

And the [Companies] viewed everyone else as tools. Only by standing on the same level as them could Blue Sea communicate with them normally.

That had been Blue Sea’s original plan all along. It was just that things had developed much faster than they had anticipated.

It was like how, back on Green Billow, Blue Sea had originally planned to disguise themselves as an ordinary group of pirates.

Instead, whether it was the people of Green Billow or the pirate gangs, they had all looked at Blue Sea as though they were a gathering of gigantic sea monsters, each one three hundred meters tall.

Qin Zhi believed this was absolutely good news.

“The [Companies] will be willing to communicate with [Ota]. I believe everyone understands that only by climbing to the very top of the tree can you obtain the sweetest fruit.”

Cheng Qisheng, who had returned to her serious state, silently erased the image of Qin Zhi climbing trees as a child from her mind.

Qin Zhi had no idea that the great Blue Sea Creator God was reminiscing about her childhood.

But even if she had known, she probably would only have felt an overwhelming sense of happiness.

At this moment, she was announcing her decision:

“I believe this identity is very useful. We can continue using it. Moreover, we should contact the other [Companies] as quickly as possible. After all, considering the history of the real [Ota], it would be impossible for it to remain holed up in one place forever.”

The other higher-ups in the conference room voted one after another.

“Agreed.”

“Seconded.”

“The President is right. A strong beast will take the initiative and attack. Only beasts that are wounded or sick, and therefore in a weakened state, will retreat into their dens. If we never take the initiative to expand outward and contact the [Companies], then even if the [Companies] believe we are [Ota], they will suspect that [Ota] has suffered a drastic decline in strength.”

“Agreed. Not only do we need to take the initiative to [contact] the [Companies], we also need to maintain an attitude of arrogance.”

Someone else added, “We also need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that we may fail.”

The people of Blue Sea had never been afraid to discuss failure. That was simply how the world worked: where there was success, there would naturally be failure as well.

The Chief of Staff nodded. “I’ll prepare contingency plans for failure. Once they’re ready, we can hold another online meeting.”

Everyone among the Blue Sea leadership present agreed.

If this mission failed, Blue Sea might withdraw from Moon Silk as a precaution.

But they would remember this planet forever. They would remember the [Companies] on it.

Then, once their strength had reached a certain level, they would see if they could find a way to come back and wipe them out.

—Hopefully, Moon Silk would still exist by then.

Just imagining that the mission might fail, and that Blue Sea might have to slink away from the planet in defeat, was already enough to make the desire to fight burn within many of the higher-ups present.

Pope Tianxing, however, remained relatively calm. The clergy had always been the ones with the most peaceful mindsets.

He merely sat to the side and added,

“Everyone, don’t forget that we have our own advantages as well.”

The Pope raised his head slightly, his expression serene.

“Conventional weapons may indeed be formidable, but the number of ability users in Blue Sea has already surpassed one million.”

“There are currently seventy-two residents who are Tier 3 ability users. Of these, forty-nine belong to the offensive category, and their strongest attacks are equivalent to ordinary missiles.”

The Pope raised his hand slightly.

Several paper balls shot out from within his voluminous sacred robe.

They were nothing more than a few lightweight balls of paper. If they hit someone, they would probably do little more than make them feel a little itchy.

Yet when one of them landed on the small side table beside the conference table, the sturdy-looking solid-wood table instantly split into pieces starting from the point of impact, collapsing onto the floor with a loud clatter.

The Blue Sea higher-ups present all widened their eyes slightly.

It wasn’t that they doubted His Holiness the Pope could smash an ordinary table.

After all, throughout Dark Star’s history, every generation of pope had been an existence at the absolute pinnacle of combat power.

And everyone knew that among Blue Sea’s higher-ups, regardless of which department they belonged to, simply having a seat at this conference table meant that their combat value was definitely no lower than 80.

Even if these higher-ups didn’t deliberately observe their surroundings, tactical observation had already become instinctive for them.

The moment they saw the Pope fire those paper balls, their brains had already begun analyzing automatically: approximately how much the paper balls weighed, how fast they were traveling, roughly how intense their impact would be, and where their trajectories indicated they would land.

Those paper balls had clearly remained light and seemingly harmless throughout their entire flight.

They shouldn’t have been capable of causing that much damage.

Qin Zhi remained perfectly calm. She looked at the table, then at the Pope.

“Your Holiness, have you advanced a tier?”

“Yes, Madam President.”

The Pope said, “I am grateful to our God. I have advanced to Tier 4. Before reaching Tier 4, my ability seemed to be limited to hearing things from extremely far away, allowing me to function as a support-type ability user.”

“But after reaching Tier 4, I can hear the points where old injuries in a person’s bones rub against each other. I can hear damaged organs beating. I can also sense the minute vibrations of many objects.”

“It is just as the textbooks say. The atoms and molecules that make up all matter are never completely motionless. They are constantly undergoing minute thermal vibrations. It’s simply that the human body normally cannot perceive them.”

The Blue Sea higher-ups, who had been preparing themselves for an in-depth explanation of supernatural abilities, fell into a brief silence.

Why had the topic suddenly turned into a scientific analysis?

Ah, right.

Every pope did indeed have an exceptionally high level of education.

After all, only the very best could serve Our God.

The Pope paid no attention to what the others might be thinking and simply continued analyzing his own ability.

“But now, I can hear the minute vibrations of many objects. Through those vibrations, I can analyze their materials and structures, calculate their resonant frequencies, and then deliberately direct an object toward them, triggering resonance and causing the object to tear itself apart and disintegrate from within.”

Qin Zhi understood.

She withdrew her gaze from the table and said with certainty,

“Your Holiness, are you saying that if the [Companies] use conventional weapons against us, you can make the weapons that would otherwise be fired at Blue Sea disintegrate on their own before reaching us?”

The Pope smiled and nodded.

“I’ve only just advanced to Tier 4. I already submitted a report to the military and conducted some experiments. At present, my ability can only disintegrate three missiles launched simultaneously. But more and more ability users can now advance through the use of nuclear crystals.”

“With Our God above us, before I reached Tier 4, all of us thought my ability merely allowed me to hear farther and with greater precision. But after reaching Tier 4, it can disintegrate missiles.”

“Then what if our million ability users also advance one after another?”

“No. Not just a million. After Our God led us through the great universe, more and more residents have entered the supernatural world. They may have only just reached Tier 1, but that doesn’t matter.”

The Pope looked toward the enormous map of Moon Silk hanging on the wall—the current map of the planet possessed by Blue Sea.

“Because there are mutated beasts with nuclear crystals in their brains everywhere on Moon Silk.”

The higher-ups present also turned their gazes toward the map of Moon Silk that covered the entire wall.

Indeed.

Perhaps Blue Sea’s supernatural combat power had previously been incapable of contending with Moon Silk’s conventional weapons.

But ability users could advance through the tiers.

And the nuclear crystals required for advancement?

There were more than enough of them on Moon Silk.

The Blue Sea higher-ups, dressed in magnificent black robes and wearing pointed hoods, sat behind the enormous round table at the center of the conference room.

Their faces were mostly concealed beneath the shadows of their hoods.

As they gazed at the enormous map, smiles gradually spread across their faces.

Cheng Qisheng, who had watched the entire thing unfold: “…”

You guys really look like villains.

But what else could she do? Old Eighth just happened to love this sort of aesthetic. The higher-ups couldn’t personally go out and fight on the front lines, so wearing a combination of sacred robes and combat uniforms was perfectly normal, right?

As she thought this, Cheng Qisheng went around patting each of them on the head. The faces hidden beneath their black robes immediately became filled with fervent devotion.

They all lowered their heads, pressed a hand against their chests, and chanted in unison:

“Thank you, Our God!”

Cheng Qisheng: Damn, that makes them look even more like villains.

—

The Blue Sea higher-ups were very happy after holding a meeting in sacred robes and receiving their God’s blessing.

The residents of Blue Sea were happy too.

—Ding!

—Ding!

At almost exactly the same moment, all the residents of Blue Sea’s inner city received a notification from their AI terminals.

Finally!!

They could go out and have fun to their hearts’ content!!

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