Chapter 160: Fish in Troubled Waters
Cheng Qisheng was already itching to take down [Zephyr].
It wasn’t just because destroying [Zephyr] would earn them a [Heavenly Punishment]. If Blue Sea wanted to rapidly build up enough strength over the next thousand-plus days to officially go up against the [Companies], it couldn’t rely solely on its residents slowly accumulating resources outside.
The weapons circulating outside on Moon Silk Star definitely wouldn’t be the latest or best versions. The finest weapons would always be in the hands of the [Companies].
It wasn’t that Blue Sea had to target [Zephyr] specifically. Any of the Big Three Companies would do.
As long as Blue Sea managed to bring down one of them, the remaining two wouldn’t be far behind.
Cheng Qisheng sent the information back to Blue Sea’s main base. From here on out, how to continue communicating with [Zipa] and negotiate tactics would be a matter for Blue Sea’s higher-ups.
With the great battle approaching, it would be best to wrap up this trip to the Rakshasa Red Sea as quickly and smoothly as possible.
At that very moment, every Blue Sea resident who was traveling received an oracle from their God.
For this mission, finish it quickly.
The airships that had been traveling along while simultaneously getting accustomed to one another and fooling around immediately switched into high-speed travel mode.
Carrying the Blue Sea residents inside, they sped rapidly toward the distant horizon.
Inside the storage compartment, more than a dozen mercenaries stared blankly at the bandages wrapped around their injuries and the listening chips that the white-robed people had removed and rendered useless.
Every one of them, including the captain, wore a dazed expression.
We… we didn’t die? And they didn’t take us away for experiments?
What’s going on?
Could it be that the [Companies] actually take prisoners?
While the Blue Sea residents hurried onward with all their might and the mercenaries remained utterly bewildered—
the Great Blue Sea Creator God was still working on her “jigsaw puzzle.”
There was no denying that piecing together someone’s memories was painstaking work.
Fortunately, Cheng Qisheng was patient, and she could multitask. She could piece together the memories while watching TV dramas, tending to the fields, or keeping an eye on Old Eighth and the others.
If she really had to do absolutely nothing every day except painstakingly thread together Gong Cheng’s memories, it was certainly doable.
But it would also be pretty boring.
At the current pace, she had already pieced together about eighty percent of it.
Almost there. Almost.
While squeezing herself a glass of fresh juice, Cheng Qisheng continued using her mental power to “stick” the fragmented memories together, one piece at a time.
—BOOM!!
A clap of thunder came from outside. Through the kitchen window, she looked out at the vast white fog and the torrential rain pouring through it.
It had been raining on Blue Star for many days now. Some time ago, videos had already begun appearing online of people in various cities taking boats to get around, or even catching fish inside their own homes.
The city where Cheng Qisheng lived had been doing all right before, but even it was starting to struggle these past few days. There was standing water all over the roads, and several neighbors living on the ground floor of her residential complex had posted videos in the group chat showing water flooding into their homes.
With roads turning into waterways and getting around becoming increasingly difficult, group-buying services had become popular again—and prices were even higher than before.
Cheng Qisheng was still the same as always. Whatever everyone else bought, she bought too. The days when she could casually order a glass of fruit juice through food delivery were long gone.
But in this era, when everyone was gradually learning to live frugally, her standard of living was already better than that of ninety-nine percent of the population.
The vegetables available through group purchases were basically all wilted now, while Cheng Qisheng could still eat fresh vegetables every day, and even pick fresh fruit to squeeze herself a glass of juice.
Her plantation now had chickens and ducks, while the artificial lake was stocked with fish and shrimp. She had no shortage of meat, either.
The phone rang.
Cheng Qisheng picked it up, and her second aunt’s warm voice came from the other end.
“Shengsheng, the package arrived. Oh my, there was so much stuff! It must have cost you quite a bit, right? You really helped us out this time. They’re saying there’s some kind of bird flu and swine flu everywhere now, and when you try to buy fish, they say there’s been a radiation leak. With all this going on, you can’t buy anything anymore. You really know what you’re doing. But don’t send us anything next time, okay? It’s not easy for you to make money all by yourself out there, either.”
A faint smile appeared on Cheng Qisheng’s face.
It was a little different from the smiles she usually wore.
Even Aether, who had been working nearby, couldn’t help floating over curiously to take a closer look.
She heard the City Lord reply:
“I know, Auntie. It’s fine. Group-buying things online is still pretty convenient for me over here. Are you all doing okay at home?”
“We’re fine, we’re fine. Don’t worry about us. Your uncle’s family is from a village, remember? We can still go back there and get some vegetables and things. It’s just a little harder to travel now. What about you, Shengsheng? Are you doing all right over there? I saw on the news that your area is flooded too. Are the roads open yet?”
“Probably not for another few days. The rain’s just been too heavy lately. But I can work online anyway, so it doesn’t really affect me.”
Cheng Qisheng chatted with her second aunt for a few more minutes.
It was mostly her aunt talking about little things going on at home. She also said that her uncle and cousin were grateful to Cheng Qisheng as well. Her cousin happened to be breastfeeding at the moment and needed plenty of nutrition, so all the meat she’d sent had come at just the right time to fill the gap.
Cheng Qisheng had been raised by several relatives in turn, and she was closest to her second aunt.
Of course, her aunt hadn’t lived alone. There was also her uncle and her uncle’s parents. When Cheng Qisheng had stayed at their home, things certainly hadn’t been sunshine and rainbows every single day.
But once you grew up, you could understand a lot of things.
Whatever the circumstances, it was a fact that these relatives had raised her. And it was also a fact that, despite having limited resources of their own, they had still set aside a portion of what they had for Cheng Qisheng when she was just a little girl.
With so many supplies at her disposal, Cheng Qisheng was naturally willing to give these relatives—who, regardless of everything else, had once helped her—a little something in return during this special time, provided she remained cautious and didn’t expose her true circumstances.
Back when package deliveries were still running relatively smoothly, she’d sent out several parcels containing some of the meat she’d gotten through group purchases, a few chickens she’d “raised herself,” and dried vegetables that she’d “grown and processed herself.”
As usual, even if someone discovered something and investigated, all they would find was a perfectly traceable and completely innocuous source for everything.
After all, half a year ago, Cheng Qisheng had already bought chicks, along with various chicken coops and bags of feed.
Although her house looked a little small, raising chickens in such a tiny home sounded rather cramped, but no one would think it was completely impossible.
Her conversation with her second aunt had gone quite pleasantly. It was just that, after going so long without having genuine conversations with people in the real world, Cheng Qisheng sometimes felt as though she had to consciously learn how a normal person was supposed to react while talking.
But Cheng Qisheng had raised so many humans. She knew far too well how people behaved when interacting with their relatives. And although she spoke slowly, her brain certainly didn’t work slowly, so she was still able to maintain a fairly convincing tone and manner.
After hanging up, Cheng Qisheng looked at her phone.
The part of her that still belonged to her humanity was noticeably in a better mood.
That phone call made one thing even clearer to her:
She was the Blue Sea Creator God. She was the City Lord of Blue Sea Safe City.
But she was also Cheng Qisheng.
Speaking of which—
The situation on Blue Star was getting worse and worse.
She lived in this “small house,” which other people saw as being only fifty square meters. If she wanted outsiders to believe that she could grow vegetables and raise livestock at home, supporting herself through self-sufficiency, this amount of space simply wasn’t enough.
Blue Star had been plagued by natural and man-made disasters everywhere over the past two years. Although no one had openly started talking about the apocalypse, life had genuinely become difficult for everyone.
Even housing prices, which had remained stubbornly high for so long, had finally begun plunging.
Cheng Qisheng started considering whether she should move into a larger house.
At this point, she was confident that she could move the study, the cultivation area, and the artificial lake—the spaces that came from another dimension—along with her.
…
Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Cheng Qisheng’s second aunt also looked at her phone.
Nearby, Cheng Qisheng’s cousin was holding her daughter and soothing her. She had just said a few words during the call, and now that it had ended, she sighed.
“I really never would have imagined this. In a situation like this, Dad has been asking everyone he knows just to try to buy some fresh meat, and he can’t get any anywhere. In the end, it was Shengsheng who actually sent some back to us.”
She had always thought of this younger cousin as the rather aloof type—the classic top student whose mind was occupied with nothing but studying and her career.
The two families had only occasionally called each other before, mostly just to check in and make sure everyone was doing well. Cheng Qisheng rarely talked about her personal affairs, either. To this day, her aunt didn’t even know which company Cheng Qisheng worked for.
Cheng Qisheng’s second aunt sighed with emotion. “Shengsheng has always been sensible since she was little. She’s thoughtful in everything she does, too. She’s the most promising one in our whole family.”
Her cousin suddenly got nosy. “Oh, right! I just remembered. Didn’t Uncle’s family used to try to get Shengsheng to find a job for that cousin of ours? You know, the kind where he has no degree, no skills, but still wants a high-paying job? What happened with that in the end?”
“What else could have happened? Shengsheng turned them down, of course.”
Second Aunt Cheng smiled somewhat proudly. As one of the relatives who had helped raise Cheng Qisheng, she had never caused any trouble for her. So the fact that Cheng Qisheng had thought of her this time made her feel that her niece was acknowledging her character in its own way.
“Shengsheng has always known what she was doing. You, on the other hand, should send her a message now and then, whether you have something to say or not. Check in on her. But don’t ask her for things. Shengsheng doesn’t respond well to that kind of thing. If you don’t ask her for anything, she might even give it to you herself. But if you ask, she’ll either give it to you and then never contact you again, or she won’t give you something she originally could have.”
As she spoke, Second Aunt Cheng glanced at her phone again, looking slightly puzzled.
Her daughter asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s just been a long time since I last talked to her on the phone. I feel like Shengsheng’s personality has changed a little. She used to be so lively and energetic, but now she speaks so calmly and unhurriedly.”
Her daughter said, “She’s working now, isn’t she? Anyone changes once they start working. I’ve already turned into a wicked old hag myself.”
Second Aunt Cheng rolled her eyes at her daughter.
“Oh, go on. You’re always spouting nonsense.”
She simply felt that, although this accomplished niece no longer spoke with the same brisk, forceful energy she had when she was younger, her presence had actually grown stronger.
It felt just like listening to one of the leaders at her workplace speak.
No—not quite. She even vaguely felt that Cheng Qisheng was more intimidating than her own boss.
Second Aunt Cheng thought that her niece had probably gotten promoted into a management position after going to work in a big city.
The girl had been outstanding since she was little. Ever since she got into college, Second Aunt Cheng had always believed that she would become a leader someday. Seeing her like this now wasn’t surprising at all.
To have raised such an impressive child really meant their ancestors must be smiling down on them.
And it was especially rare that the girl had made something of herself without forgetting her family.
Once the rain stopped, she should go back to the village and pay respects at the family grave.
Second Aunt Cheng’s thoughts immediately veered into the realm of superstition and figuring out how to go back and burn incense. As she wondered whether she should buy some paper smartphones for the ancestors this time, she also started speculating about how many people her niece might have under her command.
With Shengsheng being so accomplished, perhaps she had dozens of people working under her.
…
“What?!!”
In a Safe City near the Rakshasa Red Sea, the City Lord shot to his feet upon receiving the news.
“There are airships from an unidentified force heading this way?”
Anyone who could afford to operate airships had to be at least some kind of military force, right?
The City Lord glanced at his own Tier 5 Safe City, then thought about the combat strength of the various major powers on Moon Silk Star.
“How many airships are we talking about?”
If there were fewer than a hundred, he felt he could probably withstand them.
A supernatural who possessed long-distance vision reported:
“The airships have a very strange appearance. They don’t look like the airships commonly seen on Moon Silk Star. But one thing is certain: they’re equipped with a large number of weapons. I saw many mutated beasts flying in the sky, and none of them dared to approach.”
“As for the numbers…”
“There are at least ten thousand.”
“Ten thousand?!!”
The voice of the City Lord of this Safe City instantly shot up into a full-on falsetto.
More than ten thousand airships coming onto his territory?
What the hell was he supposed to do against that?!
“Quick, quick, quick!! Recall all the residents! We’re moving out immediately!”
Fortunately, Moon Silk Star was big enough. There were plenty of places they could relocate to.
“Yes, City Lord!”
His subordinates were just about to start making arrangements when the supernatural with long-distance vision suddenly looked out the window, his face turning deathly pale.
“It’s too late, City Lord. They’re moving too fast. They’re almost here.”
The City Lord gritted his teeth. Most of the residents scattered throughout the surrounding area hadn’t even made it back yet.
But with their lives at stake, there was no time for hesitation.
“Relocate first. We can find an opportunity to come back for the others later.”
He was just about to give the order to evacuate when he suddenly spotted a vast number of black eyeball-shaped airships rapidly approaching in their direction.
The round airships flew together in a tightly packed formation, like worker bees swarming out of a hive, all heading straight toward them.
And then…
They flew right past the Safe City.
The City Lord, who had deliberately planned to give the residents enough time to evacuate and was prepared to relocate the entire Safe City at the very last second:
“……”
He stood there dumbfounded.
Then he hurried to another window and stared at the backs of those round, eyeball-like, sinister airships.
Yep.
They had passed right by his city.
Only after the threat to their lives had disappeared could he properly observe the airships from behind.
More than ten thousand…
There really were more than ten thousand.
They were a little small, but their firepower probably wasn’t weak at all. They were even faster than the Moon Silk Star airships he’d seen before.
One of his subordinates asked, “City Lord, are we still leaving?”
The City Lord came back to his senses.
“Of course we’re leaving. What if they come back? But bring the residents back first, then we’ll go.”
He looked toward the sky, where the airships had already disappeared.
“They’re heading in that direction… Are they going toward the Red Sea?”
…
At the same time, Cheng Qisheng, who was scrolling through the City Lords’ group chat, saw a new message pop up.
[Liuliu Safe City: HUGE NEWS!! MASSIVE NEWS!!]
[Liuliu Safe City: I saw the [Company]! It’s definitely the [Company’s] army. They’ve gathered more than ten thousand airships and are all heading in the same direction. The scale is enormous.]
[Liuliu Safe City: I guarantee it! Something huge is about to happen on Moon Silk Star! Our chance to fish in troubled waters has arrived!]
Cheng Qisheng looked at Liuliu Safe City’s message, then at the Blue Sea fleet of airships diligently making its way onward.
Fish in troubled waters…
At [Ota]?
