Chapter 66: Unlucky Rabbit
The people of Blue Sea possessed an exceptionally strong sense of territoriality.
This was evident even in the way they arranged their living quarters.
After Blue Sea’s apartment buildings were constructed, the rent was relatively expensive. As a result, many residents from other civilizations chose to split the cost by sharing apartments.
Blue Sea citizens, however, were different.
Aside from married couples living together with their children, not a single one of them was willing to have roommates.
They would rather live in bare concrete “caves” with a post-apocalyptic aesthetic—or save up enough contribution points to rent an entire unit themselves—than share the same home with someone else.
Even this was only a mild expression of Blue Sea’s territorial instincts in everyday life.
After all, everyone was a child of the Great Creator God. They were all considered their own people.
Even if they had to squeeze into the same building, at worst they would just feel an inexplicable irritation simmering inside and vent it later with a few duels.
War, however, was a different matter.
Blue Sea citizens were extremely sensitive when it came to dividing territory after a war.
Before relocating here, every resident of Blue Sea had already received a notification from the AI explaining the cause and objective of this campaign.
Several Safe Cities had targeted Blue Sea and its allies.
And it was obvious that this wasn’t the first time those Safe Cities had done something like this.
The three Safe Cities had established themselves in this region, luring other Safe Cities into coming here.
Therefore, by every reasonable measure, this entire region had been the territory of those three Safe Cities.
Now, Blue Sea had defeated them.
That made Blue Sea the new master of this land.
Fresh from victory, the Blue Sea citizens’ territorial instincts were at their absolute peak.
Veterans with extensive wartime experience naturally regarded the former locations of the three Safe Cities as the center of their newly claimed domain.
Everything surrounding them—whether visible or hidden beyond sight—now belonged to Blue Sea.
Under normal circumstances, they should have had plenty of time to clean up the battlefield, process the prisoners, and take possession of their newly acquired territory and spoils of war.
Instead, at this very moment, an unidentified Safe City had marched straight into their territory.
In an instant, it reignited the barely contained fury that still burned within the Blue Sea people after the battle.
Oddly enough, they hadn’t been this angry even while fighting those three Safe Cities.
The Blue Sea citizens hovering in the sky lowered their gazes, coldly surveying the people of Jin Yu’s Safe City, quickly judging their combat strength by sight.
The good news was that Jin Yu’s Safe City was obviously only Tier 2.
Its residents didn’t project particularly formidable auras, nor did they possess enough combat power for Blue Sea to classify them as an “extremely dangerous threat.”
So, for the moment, they simply watched.
It was like this:
Imagine prehistoric Blue Sea hunters had just banded together to kill three giant bears.
If, at that moment, a tiger wandered into the battlefield, they would absolutely turn around and kill the tiger too.
Even if they got injured in the process, they’d still finish it off.
But if a rabbit hopped into the battlefield instead…
Well, that was a different story.
At present, Jin Yu’s Safe City had been categorized as…
A rabbit.
That left the enraged Blue Sea citizens…
Momentarily at a loss.
You’re just a rabbit.
What are you doing wandering onto the battlefield where we were fighting bears?
Jin Yu, however, experienced the situation very differently.
He felt as though he were being stared down by more than a hundred thousand ferocious beasts.
Cold sweat poured uncontrollably down his back.
Every instinct screamed at him to turn around and run.
But he couldn’t.
These people clearly had extensive experience occupying territory. In an astonishingly short time, they had already spread throughout every corner of his Safe City.
If he chose to abandon land and flee now, he would be left with no more than a hundred square kilometers of territory and a small fraction of his population.
Jin Yu knew his own limits.
He didn’t believe for a second that, if he abandoned his territory now, he would ever be able to rebuild from scratch.
The good news was that these people merely stared at his residents.
They hadn’t attacked.
“H-Hello…”
Jin Yu forced himself to step forward.
Within a Safe City, the City Lord’s Mansion was usually the tallest building, which conveniently allowed him to address the “flying people” overhead.
“I’m terribly sorry for disturbing you. I relocated here through a random transfer. I sincerely apologize—I had no idea what was happening here. I was actually just about to move away again. I’ve only been here for a few minutes! I’m truly sorry for interfering with whatever you were doing! Please forgive me! I’ll leave immediately, all right?!”
“To express my apology, I’m willing to offer compensation. Quick! Bring up our crystals!”
Jin Yu swore that he had never been this polite in his entire life.
Afraid that they might not understand his language, he bowed repeatedly while speaking.
He hoped his actions would make it clear that he had truly, genuinely stumbled into this place by accident.
The Blue Sea people in the sky said nothing.
They simply hovered in silence, their expressionless faces hidden behind masks as they stared unblinkingly at the man who had stepped forward.
To Jin Yu, their silence felt like a trial.
It was terrifying.
Even if we’re from different civilizations and don’t speak the same language… could one of you at least say something?
The feeling was like standing beneath an executioner’s blade, waiting for it to fall at any moment.
It wasn’t only the Blue Sea people who remained silent.
Jin Yu Safe City itself had fallen completely quiet.
None of the residents dared to speak. They merely hid behind whatever cover they could find, cautiously peeking toward the sky.
Silence filled the air.
Jin Yu’s body grew stiff as he forced an awkward smile.
The atmosphere became heavier and heavier, until even the air itself seemed frozen.
High above, Lu Song remained perfectly still, only his eyes shifting left and right.
In a whisper, he asked the soldier beside him—a man he didn’t recognize—
“So… what are we supposed to do now?”
The soldier whispered back, “No idea.”
A moment ago, they had charged over full of killing intent, expecting another fight.
Every single person who trespassed into their territory should be utterly crushed—driven out by force or simply killed!
—but Jin Yu Safe City was simply too weak.
The people of Blue Sea did not enjoy b*llying the weak.
Yet Jin Yu had undeniably trespassed into territory that Blue Sea had only just conquered.
At the same time, unlike the previous three Safe Cities, he hadn’t participated in the war. His attitude was respectful, and he was even willing to offer crystals as compensation.
Still, the battle had only just ended.
Who could guarantee that this Safe City wasn’t a reinforcement summoned by Dihai or Mingxia?
Granted, the odds of two Tier-3 Safe Cities calling in a Tier-2 Safe City as reinforcements were slim.
But weren’t those odds still higher than a random Safe City just happening to materialize near the exact coordinates where five Safe Cities had been fighting?
So…
Should they attack?
Or shouldn’t they?
The Blue Sea soldier’s expression remained unchanged.
“We’ll wait for orders from above.”
Lu Song: “…”
When he had seen so many wing-equipped Blue Sea citizens flying in the same direction, he had instinctively followed them.
He figured that participating in Blue Sea’s collective activities and contributing more to the civilization might help him become a believer of the Great Creator God sooner.
What he hadn’t expected was that Blue Sea’s “collective activities” could be this… improvised.
He would bet anything that the City Lord below had nearly been scared to death by the silent Blue Sea warriors.
And yet, the truth was…
The Blue Sea warriors simply had no idea what they were supposed to do next.
…
Meanwhile, Cheng Qisheng was thinking.
She also felt that the odds of a Safe City “accidentally” descending immediately after the war were far too low.
On the other hand, having just swallowed up three Safe Cities, she wasn’t particularly interested in the meager scraps that Jin Yu Safe City had to offer.
She didn’t mind letting Jin Yu go—
But only if he truly had no connection to Dihai or Mingxia.
Moreover, the Pope had already informed her that Jin Yu’s previous location had been infested with large numbers of Skywing Dragons.
After thinking it over, Cheng Qisheng assigned the five highest-ranking clergy present to go down and assess the situation.
There was a reason she specifically chose clergy.
Within the Temple, those with the greatest combat strength did not necessarily hold the highest ranks.
But anyone who held a high-ranking position was guaranteed to be exceptionally powerful.
When the enemy’s identity was still uncertain, sending the strongest people was always the safest choice.
The five clergy descended gracefully.
Leading them was an Archbishop.
He did not land. Instead, he and the other four hovered about a meter above Jin Yu, remaining suspended in midair.
The Archbishop’s expression was calm, and so was his voice.
“By the grace of our God, greetings, traveler from afar.”
“The current situation is this: you have entered our territory and appeared near our battlefield at a very unfortunate moment.”
“May I assume that you are allied with our enemies?”
Jin Yu’s breathing caught in his throat.
The Archbishop was clearly speaking a foreign language…
Yet he understood every word.
This Safe City really is powerful.
They actually possess a translation artifact that allows direct communication without needing translation devices…
He barely had time to marvel before the Archbishop’s question drenched him in cold sweat.
At the same time, he felt a surge of relief.
Even though we’re so weak, they didn’t attack us outright.
This Safe City actually listens to reason!
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Jin Yu hurriedly explained.
“No, no! I don’t know them at all! I really arrived here through random relocation! My AI randomly assigned these coordinates! Are your enemies Dihai and Mingxia? I’ve never even spoken to them before!”
The Archbishop had studied microexpression analysis.
Watching Jin Yu’s face now, he didn’t think the man was lying.
His expression remained gentle.
“Then please provide proof.”
Jin Yu nodded frantically.
“You can check my records! Really!”
Jin Yu immediately started spamming the City Lords’ group chat with messages.
(Crying) (Crying)
He even posted a homemade meme:
(Kneeling before the boss) (Paying respects to the boss)
Jin Yu Safe City: [Boss, you can check my chat history! I have absolutely no connection with them!! We’ve never had any dealings whatsoever!]
The City Lords’ group chat had already been buzzing with discussion over the sudden deaths of the two City Lords.
Jin Yu’s abrupt appearance—combined with such a pointed statement—instantly made the chat even livelier than before.
[What’s going on?]
[Jin Yu, you’re there too?]
[Whoa?! From the sound of it, the same City Lord wiped out both Safe Cities? Who is it?!]
Even the Tier-4 City Lords lurking in the group quietly started paying attention.
A Tier-4 Safe City certainly had the strength to defeat a Tier-3 one.
But destroying two Tier-3 Safe Cities in a single battle…
That was no ordinary feat.
The problem was—
Jin Yu had no idea who it was either!
He had been too far away. His vantage point had been behind Blue Sea Safe City, and he had been fortunate just to see the other Safe Cities merging into it.
There had been no chance of reading the name of such an enormous city.
Still desperately trying to save himself, he looked up and asked,
“C-Could you tell me the name of your Safe City? I get along pretty well with other City Lords. Maybe… maybe we’ve talked before!”
“I swear! I swear I won’t tell anyone in the group chat once I know!”
The Archbishop, in truth, wasn’t particularly skilled at interrogation.
Originally, he had planned to respond to everything Jin Yu said with nothing more than:
“Please provide proof.”
But then a divine revelation from the Great Creator God reached him.
The Archbishop respectfully bowed toward the heavens before looking back at Jin Yu.
“You may refer to us as…”
“The Blue Sea Civilization.”
Jin Yu’s eyes lit up.
“Blue Sea?!”
Seeing his reaction, Cheng Qisheng quickly searched her memory.
I don’t remember ever talking to Jin Yu.
Jin Yu clung to the opportunity as though it were a lifeline.
“I know Blue Sea’s follower, Coriander! Coriander and I are friends! We’re on really good terms!”
Cheng Qisheng raised an eyebrow.
“Coriander?”
She immediately opened her private chat with Coriander.
[Do you know Jin Yu well?]
Coriander replied almost instantly.
[Yes, Boss. We’re pretty close. Was he involved too? But he’s really timid!]
[His coordinates are crawling with Skywing Dragons—tons of them. I’ve been trying to persuade him to sign an agreement with you, Boss, but he’s too scared. He absolutely refuses to bring a Tier-3 Safe City over. I was still trying to convince him. What happened? Is he at the battlefield? How did he end up there?]
At the same time, the Blue Sea team reviewing Jin Yu’s chat records reached their conclusion.
Jin Yu had indeed had no dealings whatsoever with Dihai, Mingxia, or the current Mianyin leadership.
He had once maintained a decent relationship with the previous Mianyin City Lord, but after Mianyin changed hands, he had largely stopped communicating with them.
Cheng Qisheng sent another message to Coriander.
[He accidentally wandered into the area around the battlefield. Since he’s your friend, we’ll let it go. You handle the communication with him, and have him send me the coordinates where the Skywing Dragons are.]
With that, she issued a divine decree.
The countless Blue Sea citizens filling the sky received the revelation simultaneously.
With reverence, they bowed toward the heavens.
Then, their wings beat in unison as they turned around and flew away.
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I love this series.