Safe City Ch.157

Chapter 157: Virus Airship

The treasures available for purchase in the mall were certainly valuable, but treasures obtained for free were even more tempting.

“Sometimes, I feel like we’re mining for resources in different worlds.”

While flipping through the information on the Rakshasa Red Sea, Cheng Qisheng muttered to Aether:

“Sometimes we dig up iron ore, sometimes we dig up gold ore, and sometimes we even dig up nuclear-crystal deposits.”

But what was the best part?

With Blue Sea, there was always a mine to be found.

And now it was even better.

First, they had dug up iron ore (catching Gong Cheng).

The iron ore had led them to a gold mine (Gong Cheng was a prophet).

And beneath that gold mine, they had discovered a crystal deposit (the Rakshasa Red Sea had appeared in the prophetic vision, which in turn led them to a Truth Stone worth one hundred billion nuclear crystals).

Cheng Qisheng was so delighted that even her eyebrows seemed to rise.

Before this, spending hundreds of millions of years tending to planets had inevitably affected the human side of her nature.

Her humanity was roughly like the combat power of the agricultural expert Zhang Xiongyuan: it existed, but only faintly and in very small amounts.

After pouring all their remaining nuclear crystals into the upgrade and going straight from a fourth-tier Safe City to a Tier 6 Safe City, the great Blue Sea Creator God stared at the empty crystal vault and very quickly recovered a portion of her humanity.

—She wanted money! She wanted nuclear crystals! She wanted to get rich!

The more crystals she could make, the better. She wanted to fill Blue Sea’s crystal vault to the brim.

Even gods were afraid of being poor.

Cheng Qisheng happily gestured out the route from Broken River Wasteland to the Rakshasa Red Sea.

The good news was that it wasn’t too far. There were only three mid-sized factions along the way. If they could pass through peacefully, great. If not, they could just plow straight through.

The value of the Truth Stone itself was already enough to make her happy.

And if they really managed to get their hands on the stone, the value they could continuously generate with it would be even more exciting.

“Life is always full of surprises, isn’t it?”

Watching the City Lord happily humming to herself, Aether added the “mining theory” to its database.

Its operating logic had never included automatically matching potential locations of special items that might appear in apocalyptic worlds.

But the City Lord was so happy…

Aether’s jellyfish tentacles, now gradually suffused with a rosy gradient, swayed gently as it silently added a new piece of code:

[Search for more free items throughout various worlds based on information in the database.]

Once the new code was designed, Aether reminded her:

“City Lord, the Truth Stone will keep sinking once it enters the ocean. It’s very likely to be sitting on the seabed more than ten thousand meters below the surface. Humans would have great difficulty reaching that depth.”

Cheng Qisheng: “That’s fine. If human strength isn’t enough, don’t we still have other kinds of strength at our disposal?”

…

Tu’ao Territory—

“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Amid the sounds of digging, piles of dirt flew out of a huge pit, forming a ring around it.

A gigantic sea monster more than a dozen meters tall suddenly thrust its enormous head out of the hole.

“ROAAARRR!!”

The sea-monster version of Zhu Feifan let out an ecstatic roar.

Ma Yuetian, who had crawled out of the sea monster’s enormous mouth, was puzzled by his sudden outburst. Then she, too, received the divine oracle.

Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!

It was their God calling them!

Ma Yuetian wanted to howl too.

But she hadn’t transformed into a sea monster, so all she could do was lower her head respectfully toward the sky in the human manner.

“Yes, my God. Feifan and I will hurry back as soon as possible.”

After expressing her gratitude to their God, Ma Yuetian exchanged a look with Zhu Feifan’s enormous sea-monster eyes.

One human and one sea monster were both extremely excited.

“Woohoo! Let’s get to work!!”

Meanwhile, after Cheng Qisheng summoned the “Heaven-Blessed Duo”, Aether, which had been immersed in the daily operations of the Safe City nearby, suddenly raised its head.

“City Lord, the Science and Technology Institute has reported that Researcher Lilith’s airship research has made a new breakthrough.”

“The new airship incorporates technology that combines science and magic, and flight tests have already been completed. She can lead the people of Lilith to produce a batch of the new airships for Blue Sea in the shortest possible time.”

Cheng Qisheng, who had been planning the route to the Rakshasa Red Sea, raised her head slightly.

“Oh~”

“So Blue Sea can save the time it would take to plow straight through the obstacles and travel to the Rakshasa Red Sea in a more convenient and efficient way?”

Delighted, Cheng Qisheng extended her spiritual power to the Science and Technology Institute to take a look at Blue Sea’s new airship.

And then, the great Blue Sea Creator God fell silent.

“This is our new airship?”

“The appearance… doesn’t look particularly… friendly.”

Aether replied:

“Specialist Lilith did consider changing the exterior design. However, out of the more than three hundred airship designs she came up with, this is the only one that perfectly meets all the performance requirements. Even a slight modification would cause its performance to decline.”

Cheng Qisheng looked at Lilith, whose expression clearly said, I have no idea why either. Maybe this is just what innovation looks like, then looked at the delighted Blue Sea residents surrounding the new airship, patting it, filming it, and generally fussing over it.

“…Forget it. Don’t change it. We’ll use this exterior design. Looks aren’t important. Performance is what matters.”

“Have all Blue Sea residents join the production effort. Produce as many of these new airships as possible in the shortest time we can. We’re heading to the Rakshasa Red Sea.”

…

A month later, some distance away from the Broken River Wasteland, a team of New Human mercenaries was lying prone on the roof of an abandoned century-old building, binoculars in hand as they watched the activity ahead.

“Boss, you’re still watching? We’ve been staking out this place for half a month. Isn’t it the same thing every day?”

One of the team members took out some dried insect rations and handed them to the captain, who was wearing a camouflage blanket and staring intently into the distance.

“Here. Time to eat.”

Don’t let the fact that these rations were made from insects fool you. They were actually good stuff. Not only were they low in radiation, they were also rich in protein. Whenever mercenaries went out on missions, dried insects were the most common emergency ration they brought along.

The captain took the ration with one hand and stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes never leaving the area around the Broken River Wasteland.

“We took someone’s money, so we need to do the job properly. This assignment came from a big shot. If we screw it up, we’re all finished.”

The team member curled his lip.

“Right. A big shot. The big shot hired us while keeping their identity hidden. We still don’t even know who’s paying us.”

He said with absolute certainty, “Whoever currently owns this wasteland, they’re afraid of it. They paid us in energy crystals to monitor this place, yet they’re also worried that we’ll expose their identity if we get caught. I’ll bet you anything—they’re afraid of it.”

Another team member, who was cleaning his gun nearby, chimed in:

“Who cares what the employer thinks? As long as the money’s good. Once we make this haul, it’ll be enough for the whole team to retire.”

The captain, still lying prone and watching the area ahead, felt his eyelid twitch.

Another team member, who was eating dried rations as well, looked up at the sky and said expectantly:

“Yeah. Hey, you know what? I’m planning to propose to Corvina as soon as I get back this time. I’ve already prepared the dried sea fish I’ll use when I propose.”

The corner of the captain’s mouth twitched.

The team member handing out the rations let out a little gasp.

“Congratulations, Leolan! I’m so jealous. You and Corvina really do love each other.”

Grinning, he continued talking about his own plans.

“I’m different. There’s no one left in my family except my mom. She’s always been against me doing this line of work, but what can you do? Life forces your hand, you know?”

“Hahaha! This time, I’ll go home with a huge pile of mercenary pay and tell her, ‘Hey, Mom, guess what? We’re going to have good days from now on. You won’t have to worry about losing your precious son one day anymore, because I’m going to listen to you and stay home with you from now on.’”

The captain took a deep breath.

He had been lying motionless at the observation point, as steady as a mountain, but he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled off his camouflage blanket and turned around.

“Boys, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched movies from the Old Era, but let me give you a warning. In those movies, anyone who says things like that never ends well.”

One person saying it was bad enough. Now they were each adding another line.

This was seriously tempting fate.

The young man handing out the rations was more lively than the others. He patted the captain on the shoulder.

“Boss, you’re way too nervous. It’s just a surveillance mission, not a battle. Look, we’ve been sitting here for half a month, and there’s been absolutely no movement over there. Relax. We’ll definitely make it home safe and sound, okay?”

The captain stared at him with dead-fish eyes.

“That sentence sounded even more like something from a death flag.”

The vice-captain’s expression turned serious as well.

“The boss is right. We shouldn’t let our guard down. Think about it—the employer can afford to pay such a huge sum of energy crystals, which means they must have considerable resources. And yet, even an employer with that kind of power doesn’t dare reveal their true identity when hiring us. Whoever’s inside Broken River must have an even more formidable background. For all we know, it could be the [Companies].”

The young team member’s smile vanished the instant he heard those two words.

On Moon Silk Star, the [Companies] were roughly the equivalent of the ultimate villains in the bedtime stories that every New Human child heard from their parents.

If the people they were currently monitoring really were the [Companies], then they might as well be asking to die.

No, there was a difference.

According to the rumors, those who offended the [Companies] often ended up suffering fates worse than death.

He swallowed hard.

“Okay. I promise I’ll be careful.”

The shift change arrived. The captain handed him the binoculars.

“Watch carefully, all right?”

The young man nodded seriously.

“I will.”

Seeing how tightly wound he was, the captain smiled helplessly.

“I told you not to let your guard down too much, but I didn’t mean you should be this nervous either. Keeping your nerves constantly taut will wear you out. When you actually need your strength, it could affect your performance.”

The young man hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, Boss.”

The captain said, “Keep watching. Don’t worry. It’s been half a month without any movement. Maybe the faction in there simply isn’t planning to come out for the time being.”

The team member took the binoculars and had barely settled into position when, before he could even adjust his posture, he suddenly yanked his camouflage blanket up.

“Boss!! There’s movement!!”

“There are… there are things—no, a lot of things—flying out! They seem to be coming this way!”

The captain, who had been about to head downstairs to stretch his stiff body, immediately rushed back and snatched the binoculars from him.

Sure enough, one black dot after another emerged from the direction of the Broken River Wasteland.

They drew closer and closer, hurtling toward their position at high speed.

The captain lowered his binoculars.

There was no need for them anymore. He could already see the densely packed black dots with his naked eyes.

As they approached, he finally made out what they actually were.

And he wasn’t the only one who saw them. Everyone else did too.

The mercenaries on the rooftop of the abandoned building all sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh, Momma!”

“What the hell are those things?!!”

They were pitch-black from head to toe, with an overall spherical shape. Each one was about five meters long. At its center was a compressed metal sphere, and right in the middle of that sphere was a gigantic eye.

Around the outer layer, one black, elongated thorn after another continuously extended and retracted.

They looked exactly like giant viruses floating through the sky, except there were enormous clusters of them traveling together, radiating a cold, sinister menace.

Every inch of them, including that enormous eye, screamed four words:

Absolutely terrifying.

Compared with the mercenaries, who were so stunned they couldn’t even speak, the Old Eighths sitting comfortably in the cockpits above were having a much more enjoyable time, happily experiencing their flashy new airships.

Especially those who had just gotten behind the controls of the new aircraft. They hadn’t even had a chance to find a mutant beast to test them on when their sensors detected unidentified people gathering below.

“Unidentified personnel activity detected. Weapons and surveillance equipment detected. Detection equipment is aimed toward Broken River. Approximately fourteen people. Requesting instructions for the next course of action.”

A Blue Sea resident in another airship replied:

“? Who are you asking for instructions? Aren’t we all the same rank?”

“Hehe, I just wanted to test the airship’s communications channel. My God, the audio really is crystal clear! Wow! Thank the Great God! I couldn’t even pass the army recruitment exam back then, and now I’m actually in the air force.”

Some people chatted casually over the communications channel, while others steered the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“Enough chatting. Don’t you guys want to try the group-attack tactic described in the manual? Come on, everyone. Open the friendly-unit positioning network. Let’s surround these unidentified people who are monitoring Broken River. How about we make one giant ball?”

“Woohoo! Great idea! I’m turning it on. Let’s go!”

The mercenaries below had no idea how the Blue Sea residents inside the airships were communicating. They were just about to pack up and run when a giant, eyeball-like spherical virus airship suddenly descended and blocked their path.

Before they could even attack, another enormous sphere moved in and blocked the way ahead.

Then a third.

A fourth.

A fifth…

Large numbers of black, virus-like spherical airships gathered together. Their outer thorns now looked more like slightly curved black metal strips.

But those metal strips began intertwining with one another, as though they were weaving themselves together, linking the individual spheres into one massive structure.

The individual spheres, which had been only about five meters long on their own, suddenly became considerably larger.

More and more of the black spheres connected, rapidly forming a huge semicircular ring around the mercenaries.

Under the mercenaries’ shocked and terrified gazes, the final three airships flew to the very top of the semicircular formation.

They precisely slipped into the remaining gaps, blocking out the last traces of light from above.

The final sliver of light visible to the mercenaries… turned completely black.

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