Safe City Ch.206.2

Chapter 206.2: A Crippled City Lord

Aether was gazing at the City Lord, searching its database for any records of AI superbrains acquiring physical bodies, when Cheng Qisheng, who was lying in bed looking as though she’d completely given up on life but was actually planning to spend the next while focusing on observing Fallen Heaven Star with her mental power, suddenly opened her eyes.

“I have this strange feeling that something is watching me.”

Aether immediately confessed. “I’m sorry, City Lord. Aether was watching you.”

“No, not you. You’re one of us. I can tell the difference.”

Besides, whenever Aether looked at someone, it was always perfectly open about it.

But that feeling she’d just experienced was more like some outsider had glanced at her through a heavy iron door and layer upon layer of glass, only to be immediately slapped back by Cheng Qisheng’s mental power.

It was a little similar to the feeling she’d had when the prophet Gong Cheng looked at her.

Only a little, but that was enough for Cheng Qisheng to raise the alarm throughout her entire being.

According to The Book of Answers 1.0, whenever a City Lord sensed something unusual, no matter how unreliable that intuition might seem, they should trust it as much as possible.

Even if they sensed a tiny dagger, they should respond as though facing a razor-sharp broadsword.

And Cheng Qisheng happened to be the type who, upon sensing a tiny dagger, would immediately respond as though facing a Holy Bullet—or even Heaven’s Punishment.

As the saying went, the experience she’d gained from raising eight civilizations had taught her one thing: Never complain that you’ve prepared too much.

——

Blue Sea Safe City

Qin Zhi was looking down at a report listing the number of residents who had already descended onto Fallen Heaven Star, projections for the number of residents waiting in line, and estimates of how many would remain behind at the main base.

Suddenly, she stood up.

She respectfully bowed toward the statue of the great Creator God of Blue Sea, which stood silently in the courtyard.

“Yes, my God. Qin Zhi will faithfully follow Your divine decree.”

The next second, Qin Zhi pressed the black button on her desk without the slightest hesitation.

As president, she always had to think things through more carefully when it came to major matters.

However, once a divine decree from their God was issued, every citizen of Blue Sea would carry it out with absolute seriousness.

After pressing the button, Qin Zhi connected to the internal communications line again and issued an order.

“Prepare all of Blue Sea’s Holy Bullets and Heaven’s Punishment weapons for launch.”

——

In the vast universe, a Tier 7 Safe City had passed by Fallen Heaven Star several days earlier and continued on its way in silence.

Inside the city, the high priest of the Green Lizard civilization was concentrating so intensely that the scales along his back stood on end. His moist, slender, forked tongue, tinged purple and pink, flicked in and out rapidly. His entire body was covered in green spots.

“Great King, I’ve seen it.”

“The Safe City that was destined to inflict devastating losses upon us, forcing the Green Lizard civilization to surrender a vast amount of territory and flee in panic… Something has changed with its City Lord.”

The king of the Green Lizard civilization was named Zovas. He swished his thick tail and tightened his grip on the scepter in his hand.

“Changed? What kind of change?”

Several days earlier, the Green Lizard civilization had discovered Fallen Heaven Star.

This unusual planet had attracted numerous Safe Cities to dock nearby. In the eyes of the Green Lizard Safe City, a civilization built on plunder, this was practically an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The planet possessed a conversion field. For residents of Safe Cities to enter it, they first had to temporarily abandon their physical forms.

Meanwhile, with large numbers of their residents inside the planet, the Safe Cities docked outside found that the conversion field rendered all their resident-locating devices useless. They could no longer summon their people back at will.

As a result, even if these Safe Cities came under attack, they would most likely endure as much as they could. They wouldn’t choose to evacuate unless they were pushed to the very brink.

That meant the remaining Safe Cities wouldn’t immediately flee upon seeing the Green Lizard civilization attack another one.

The Green Lizard civilization could simply devour them one by one, much like eating a swarm of insects.

However, this plundering civilization, which had continued expanding its territory, hadn’t reached the Tier 7 by sailing smoothly through life without any advantages of its own.

The Green Lizard civilization possessed a prophet who had been bestowed the title of high priest.

Under the high priest’s prophecies, the Green Lizard civilization had been invincible in battle. Whenever a prophecy foretold defeat, they would change course and avoid confronting the Safe City destined to defeat them head-on.

Several days ago, when the Green Lizard civilization decided to attack the Safe Cities docked near this planet, the high priest—who had led the entire civilization in advancing to the Tier 7—performed a prophecy.

He foresaw that the Green Lizard civilization’s attack would fail. While they were attacking other Safe Cities, a Tier 7 Safe City would suddenly intervene and defeat them.

Those ugly, inferior intelligent life-forms known as humans—creatures without scales or tails, with tongues that were short and stubby—would actually force the Green Lizard civilization to surrender a vast amount of territory and flee.

As always, the Green Lizard civilization chose to play it safe. Although they were drooling at the sight of so many seemingly delicious Safe Cities gathered in one place, they had ultimately decided to pass this planet by rather than take unnecessary risks.

But now, the prophecy had actually changed.

The high priest’s slender, pale-gray digits circled a crystal ball, while his body trembled continuously under the strain of performing such an intense prophecy.

“That Safe City has undergone a change due to certain unforeseen circumstances.”

“At least half of its residents have entered that planet.”

“As for its City Lord… I can’t see her clearly. I sense an immense threat emanating from her, but I can also vaguely sense that she has somehow been forced to lose her combat capabilities. Her body is now like that of a crippled lizard.”

“For some unknown reason, its AI superbrain has also suffered a disruption to its mental faculties.”

As he listened, Zovas tightened his grip on his scepter until his claws dug into it.

His eyes glowed blood-red with excitement.

“Does that mean… fate has changed?”

The high priest tried to continue the prophecy, but the scales on his back suddenly bristled. He spat out a mouthful of green blood and slumped limply over the table.

“Great King, performing a second prophecy so soon is simply too taxing. Perhaps fate really has changed. I can feel that continuing is much more difficult than before, but I can’t see what the outcome of this change will be… I can only confirm that, in this new version of fate, there is no scene of the Green Lizard civilization surrendering territory and fleeing.”

The high priest’s eyes were filled with confidence.

He had helped his native civilization plunder one Safe City after another. He had every right to be confident.

Zovas slowly rose to his feet.

“You’ve already seen more than enough.”

He asked, “Did you see how large that Safe City is?”

The high priest tried to recall what he had seen.

“Approximately… over a hundred thousand square kilometers, I think.”

That answer dispelled the last of Zovas’s hesitation.

A little over a hundred thousand square kilometers. This civilization had indeed defeated other Safe Cities before, but it clearly wasn’t a plundering civilization, nor was it the sort with overwhelmingly outrageous combat power.

That made things much easier.

The high priest’s prophecies had never been wrong.

Within a Safe City, the City Lord was responsible for suppressing and controlling everyone, while the AI superbrain was the City Lord’s most capable assistant.

The residents, meanwhile, were like grains of sand and gravel. Individually insignificant, they could nevertheless form a formidable force when gathered together.

But in the Safe City described in the prophecy, the City Lord had become a crippled lizard, the AI superbrain sounded as though it had gone stupid, and a large portion of its residents were still on that planet without physical bodies.

To a civilization built on plunder, all of that could be summed up in three words:

Weak, sick, and crippled.

Perhaps the Green Lizard civilization hadn’t considered that Safe City a target in the original prophecy.

After all, a plundering civilization excelled at bullying the weak with overwhelming force. The Green Lizard civilization would normally focus only on sixth-rank Safe Cities, which were a rank below its own.

But now, Zovas had changed his mind.

Since that Safe City had intervened in the Green Lizard civilization’s battle against other Safe Cities in the original prophecy, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t ally with other Safe Cities this time and join forces against the Green Lizards.

In that case, it would be best to make that Safe City their primary target in this war.

If they could strike while it was down and finish it off first, then devour as many of the other Safe Cities as possible, the Green Lizard civilization—which already possessed a territory far larger than others of the same rank, spanning a full 250,000 square kilometers—would become even more powerful.

Zovas abruptly raised his scepter high.

His voice, amplified through the scepter, spread throughout the entire Safe City.

“O hunters of the Green Lizard civilization!”

“The distant Safe Cities conceal fertile lands, abundant food, and stores of preserved meat. They guard their warm nests, yet all they have cultivated on their peaceful sunning platforms is cowardice and decay—”

“Let us break down their city gates, seize their food, occupy their warm nests, hatch our own eggs, and crush them all beneath our feet!”

Throughout the 250,000-square-kilometer Safe City, one Green Lizard after another heard their king’s words and immediately roared their agreement.

“Crush them all!!”

“CRUSH THEM ALL!!!!”

——

“Is this called Shattered Ice Pop?”

Gong Cheng eagerly accepted the ice pop Xie Wuke handed him.

“But it isn’t shattered at all. Why is it called that?”

Xie Wuke was eating one himself. Hearing the question, he shook his head.

“No idea. They say our God came up with the name.”

“Our God came up with the name?!”

Gong Cheng’s gaze toward the ice pop instantly grew fervent. Even the way he ate it became noticeably more elegant.

As he ate, he looked around the small apartment.

“Wuke, isn’t this place a little too small? Why don’t you come live with me instead? I’ve got plenty of space.”

Xie Wuke shook his head.

“No. You were the one who said it yourself. Now that we’re both believers of our God, I can’t call you my master, and you can’t call me your butler anymore. If I moved into your place, I’d have to pay rent. I might as well buy my own place and live there.”

Even in Blue Sea, his combat strength was considered above average. Thanks to his military achievements on Moon Silk Star, buying a small apartment was well within his means.

Gong Cheng had actually wanted to say, Can’t friends let each other stay over for free? But Xie Wuke seemed quite satisfied with his little apartment, so Gong Cheng swallowed his words.

The two had grown up together. Now that they were both believers of their God, they were less like a former master and butler and more like family.

And Gong Cheng did have a bit of emotional intelligence when it came to family.

He asked, “Have you really decided to descend onto Fallen Heaven Star? There are monsters over there, you know.”

Xie Wuke replied, “It’s fine. I’m a god. I’m not afraid.”

Gong Cheng sighed. “I’m so jealous of you all.”

The people closest to him—his mother, his older sister, and Xie Wuke—were all combat-type ability users. They had all decided to descend onto Fallen Heaven Star to serve their God.

Only Gong Cheng, whose combat strength wasn’t particularly high and who was an important prophet, had to remain in the inner city and wait for news.

“If I could control my ability, that would be one thing. The moment I gained the power to prophesy, I’d start making predictions immediately. But no, it’s uncontrollable, and I can only predict things about other people. I can’t even predict my own future.”

Gong Cheng finished his Shattered Ice Pop and tossed the wrapper into the trash can.

“Once you’ve left, I won’t even have anyone to chat with. I know you wouldn’t agree to stay at my place for a few days before leaving, but just look at this little apartment of yours. I could take two steps and—”

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Xie Wuke immediately went on guard. He pulled Gong Cheng to his side to shield him, while moving closer to the medium-sized statue of the great Creator God of Blue Sea displayed inside the apartment.

“What is it?”

Gong Cheng’s vision blurred. It was as though countless overlapping images were unfolding before his eyes, superimposed over reality.

He waved his hand with difficulty.

“Wait, wait, wait a second.”

“It’s a prophecy.”

Gong Cheng struggled to make sense of the images.

Amid the countless overlapping phantom images and solid scenes, what appeared before him was still the interior of Xie Wuke’s apartment.

The table, the bed, the kitchenette, the bathroom, the apartment number…

Everything inside looked exactly the same as it did in reality.

But why did the apartment itself look as though its area had doubled?!

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