Alden brought up the external surveillance feeds and discovered, with some surprise, that quite a few of the channels he used to receive images from the outside world had gone dark.

“Looks like the great war is already over.”

The last time he had awakened, he had noticed the emergence of a new faction. It had disguised itself as [Ota] and entered into a standoff with the Three Major Companies, with both sides wary of one another.

Alden hadn’t cared that the other side was using [Ota]’s name. In fact, he was delighted to see this fake [Ota] swaggering around and deceiving people outside. It was doing him a favor by drawing attention away from the real [Ota].

It was merely a faction trying to piggyback on the status of the [Companies]. Although the videos and images the [Fake Ota] faction managed to collect were scarce, Alden could still tell that it was doing little more than bluffing.

Any one of the [Companies] could crush it in no time. That was why Alden hadn’t paid it any attention.

But now, nearly 98% of his surveillance channels for the Three Major Companies had been destroyed?

What had happened?

Alden quickly pulled up the bionic surveillance feeds he had previously deployed throughout Moon Silk Star. Most of those had been destroyed as well.

The remaining cameras were transmitting footage that was badly corrupted.

Even so, through those fragmented images that were practically blinding him with their flickering, Alden managed to piece together what had happened outside.

The [Fake Ota] had actually wiped out all Three Major Companies.

This was abnormal.

Before [Heaven’s Punishment] first appeared, Alden had already thoroughly mapped out every faction on Moon Silk Star.

He turned these factions into chess pieces, manipulating them from behind the scenes, making them advance, retreat, or vanish into the river of history at his whim.

[Norn], [Zephyr], and [Zipa] were the three ideal sources of nourishment Alden had carefully selected.

They weren’t particularly stupid, but neither were they especially clever. There were differences in strength between them, but none so overwhelming that they couldn’t form a perfect triangle of competing powers.

Alden had gone to considerable lengths behind the scenes to create this situation. He helped them eliminate some of their rivals, then guided them into eliminating others themselves.

In other words, the Three Major Companies believed they had reached the pinnacle of Moon Silk Star through their own strength and good fortune. In reality, Alden had used an invisible hand to push them into those positions.

All so that when [Ota] needed to devour them, it could obtain a sumptuous feast without having to expend much effort.

And now, the Three Major Companies, raised to be plump and juicy, had indeed been devoured by [Ota].

Only it was the counterfeit, shoddy version of [Ota].

“No, this can’t be right! I calculated everything so precisely. Where on earth did it come from? How could it possibly have this kind of strength?”

Ever since he had begun implementing the apocalypse plan, Alden had meticulously arranged every step. He had never made a single plan based on baseless speculation.

This was the first time he had made a mistake, and immense fury surged within him.

Along with it came a subtle, unsettling sense of agitation, as though something had slipped beyond his control.

But then he remembered that he had two [Heaven’s Punishment] devices right there in his room, and he quickly regained his composure.

With [Heaven’s Punishment] in his hands, he could remain the player moving the pieces on this planet indefinitely. Whether it was the Three Major Companies or that fake [Ota], they could only ever be pawns under his command.

Through the surveillance devices outside the shelter, Alden watched the humans who had trespassed into [Ota]’s territory.

Something was wrong.

He was certain that his calculations had been flawless.

There was no way a fourth powerful faction could have emerged on Moon Silk Star.

Alden stared at the Coriander residents. Some had scales on their faces, while others had red hair. Yet in Alden’s eyes, every single one of them looked like an ordinary Moon Silk New Human.

And still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Alden slowly closed his eyes.

“The Safe City…”

“It can only be the Safe City…”

His eyes told him that these were all New Humans, and that the fake [Ota] was a faction of New Humans as well.

His brain told him that no matter how he examined the footage, the cities shown in the videos were nothing more than folded cities.

But he was the one who had drawn the chessboard. For another entity to suddenly appear on that carefully arranged board and devour every piece was simply abnormal.

Was it possible that the Safe City had already arrived, but that for some reason, they couldn’t see it?

Was it possible that those New Humans outside, who looked so utterly ordinary, were actually residents of the Safe City?

Alden’s brain was frantically warning him that his assumptions were wrong.

But in the end, the chairman of [Ota] still entered three layers of passwords and, with a dark expression, pressed the switch that would awaken all of [Ota].

He chose to trust his own ability to calculate.

Beep—beep—

…

Beep—beep—

The Coriander residents, who had obeyed their City Lord’s orders and remained motionless by the entrances to the shelter and the armory, felt every hair on their bodies stand on end when the lights on the door suddenly flickered on.

“City Lord! It looks like the people inside this shelter have awakened!!”

Wen Huahua gritted his teeth.

“Get out!! Move as fast as you can! The Safe City will meet you at the designated coordinates in six minutes!”

At the same time, he sent Cheng Qisheng a message.

[Coriander Safe City: Boss, [Ota] has awakened. Evacuating is faster than relocating the city. To be safe, I’m going to leave this world. Thank you for taking care of me, Boss! Waaahhh, I hope we run into each other again in the next world!]

Right now, he was incredibly grateful that after the battle ended and everyone had started mining like crazy, the Blue Sea instructors who had been stationed in Coriander Safe City had all returned to Blue Sea.

Otherwise, he would have been forced to choose between abandoning the residents who remained in this area and relocating the city to Blue Sea to return its residents, or taking the Blue Sea residents with him when he left.

Wen Huahua recalled what those Blue Sea instructors were like. …Uh, I can’t even imagine it.

He always felt that Blue Sea’s residents had an almost excessive sense of belonging to their city. If he really took them away, they would probably go berserk.

Besides, quite a few of the residents in this area were his trusted subordinates. He couldn’t bear to abandon them, either.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. He didn’t have to choose between the two. This was the best possible outcome.

“Faster, faster, faster!!!”

The Coriander residents rushed out through the passageways and sprinted toward the designated coordinates as fast as they could.

——Inside [Ota]’s shelter, large numbers of bionic soldiers rose in unison from their cryogenic pods.

“Move it!!! Three minutes left!!!”

A Coriander resident called out to the companions behind him while glancing down at his watch.

——Inside [Ota]’s shelter, more than a dozen senior executives rose unhurriedly from their cryogenic pods, allowing robots to attend to them and help them get dressed.

“Is it time already? What’s the next step?”

The Coriander residents reached the designated location just as the six minutes were up. Coriander Safe City had successfully completed its relocation.

The city gates swung wide open, and the security officer shouted, “Quick! Get back inside as fast as you can! Everyone must be back in the city within thirty seconds!!”

——Inside [Ota]’s shelter, Alden watched the “folded city” through the surveillance footage.

No matter how he looked at it, it still appeared to be nothing more than a folded city.

Anyone faced with a situation they couldn’t be certain about would hesitate for a while.

At the very least, he could send soldiers to pursue them or deploy some other large-scale weapon.

After all, [Ota] had only two [Heaven’s Punishment] devices left. There was also the [Fake Ota] to contend with, which was clearly a difficult opponent. And the city before his eyes was nothing more than a folded city, with a high probability of not being a Safe City at all.

But what if it was?

A folded city? Moon Silk Star did indeed have folded cities of this size, but why would one appear in a dead zone saturated with radiation?

Aside from [Heaven’s Punishment], [Ota] had no means whatsoever of keeping a Safe City from leaving.

Alden’s hand nevertheless came to rest on the [Heaven’s Punishment] button.

At Coriander Safe City, the security officer shouted, “Five seconds left!!”

A powerful sense of impending danger suddenly welled up inside Wen Huahua. He remembered what Blue Sea’s boss had once told him: extraordinary ability users might develop a premonition when facing a life-or-death crisis.

Wen Huahua’s heart pounded like a drum. Watching the residents run back through the surveillance footage, he practically screamed at the AI core.

“Go! Leave NOW!!”

…

——In the City Lord Group Chat, the spot where Coriander Safe City had previously been was now empty, indicating that it had successfully left Moon Silk Star.

Cheng Qisheng had been keeping a close eye on the City Lord Group Chat. The moment she saw that Coriander had evacuated successfully, she immediately issued a divine oracle to Blue Sea.

——Inside [Ota]’s shelter, Alden stared at the now-empty stretch of ground.

He let out a regretful sigh.

So close…

His brain told him that the owner of the folded structure had simply packed it away and fled with it.

Yet he still felt that he had missed something just now.

Oh, well.

That was simply how fate had dealt the cards. There was no one to blame. The city that had appeared in that dead zone might not actually have been a Safe City.

Even if it was, it was too weak, and its territory was too small.

But that [Fake Ota]…

Alden ignored the thoughts continuously surfacing in his mind, such as the [Fake Ota] clearly isn’t a Safe City. It must have used some other means to turn the Three Major Companies’ own strength against them.

He said to the robots, “Tell them to prepare all available forces. I’m going to use [Heaven’s Punishment] against that [Fake Ota].”

Whatever the [Fake Ota]’s true identity might be, there was one undeniable fact.

He had [Heaven’s Punishment]. It didn’t.

He could still win.

——Beep—beep—beep——

The warning tones sounded again.

But this time, they were no longer the relatively gentle awakening chimes. They were urgent, frantic alarms, as though death itself were knocking at the door.

“Maximum Threat Alert. A directional weapon of Level Nine or higher has been detected approaching at high speed. Estimated time to impact: three minutes.”

“——Interceptor units have completed automatic launch. Warning! Warning! Ballistic trajectory simulation updated. Interception is projected to be ineffective——”

“Evasion route planning in progress. Full-area evacuation routes activating. Warning! Warning! All available escape routes and evacuation zones are within the impact radius. Unable to exit the danger zone. Warning! Warning——”

Everything had taken a sudden, catastrophic turn. Under the barrage of warnings, all of Alden’s careful calculations had become meaningless.

“How is this possible?”

He wanted to ask what kind of directional weapon the enemy was using, but the system had already displayed its predicted identification before him.

Alden’s pupils contracted violently.

“[Heaven’s Punishment]?!”

He had no time to think deeply about why another [Heaven’s Punishment] had appeared. The moment he understood why the interception system was useless, he immediately issued an order.

“Launch our [Heaven’s Punishment]! Send it on an intercept course to collide with the enemy’s [Heaven’s Punishment]!”

The robot replied, “Chairman, [Heaven’s Punishment] has a random trajectory alteration function. To achieve a head-on collision, we can only launch ours when the enemy’s weapon reaches directly above our position.”

Alden cursed.

Heaven’s Punishment hadn’t originally possessed the ability to alter its trajectory randomly. [Ota] itself had pushed for that feature to be added.

[Ota] had also insisted that it attack at extreme speed, leaving the enemy no time to escape.

——It was true that the enemy’s [Heaven’s Punishment] would stop changing course once it reached directly overhead. But by then, what would be the point of a head-on collision?

The combined destructive force of two [Heaven’s Punishment] devices colliding would only be greater than that of one. They would simply die even more horribly.

“Warning! Warning! Time until impact: one minute and twenty-two seconds——”

“Warning! Warning! Time until impact: fifty-four seconds——”

Alden frantically worked the controls, desperately trying to find a way out.

How could he die here?

He had gone to painstaking lengths to account for every possibility. He had laid all his plans because he knew that whoever stuck their neck out first was bound to meet a miserable end.

Only by keeping his strength hidden and his edge sheathed could one be the last man standing.

He had spent a hundred and fifty years lying low with [Ota], sacrificing his own health in the process!!!

Wasn’t this supposed to be the moment when he finally reaped the fruits of victory?

Why?!

Why had everything turned out like this?!!!

“No! No! I can think of a solution! I can find a way——”

“Warning! Warning!”

“Time until impact: four——three——two——one——”

Alden collapsed limply in front of the machine. His anguished scream was so piercing it seemed as though he were screaming blood.

“NOOOOO!!!!!”

——A blinding white light.

——BOOM!!!

…

The entire area was reduced to an absolute void.

“Are they dead? They must be dead, right?”

Cheng Qisheng had originally stationed some bionic surveillance units in that area, but obviously, not a single one had survived [Heaven’s Punishment].

The great Creator God of Blue Sea, who was accustomed to keeping everything under her control at all times and in all places, found herself feeling a little unaccustomed to this.

All the video feeds had gone black. Cheng Qisheng could only wait quietly for a while and see whether the world mission would be declared complete.

Fortunately, this time Blue Sea had taken out the enemy single-handedly, so the notification confirming completion of the world mission appeared very quickly.

[Congratulations to Blue Sea Safe City for completing the World Mission.]

[One Heaven’s Punishment has been issued.]

Good. It seemed [Ota] really was gone. Her residents and customers could continue mining without worry.

Before Cheng Qisheng could even take a moment to celebrate, the World Mission notification repeated itself, as though it had gotten stuck.

[One Heaven’s Punishment has been issued.]

Then another message appeared.

[One Heaven’s Punishment has been issued.]

Could the Safe City rules glitch, too?

Cheng Qisheng, who had once suffered from the same problem with glitches, blinked and opened the warehouse where [Heaven’s Punishment] was stored.

One, two, three, four, five.

Wait. It wasn’t a glitch.

The Safe City rules had really awarded Blue Sea three [Heaven’s Punishment] in one go.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.193.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

As the person directly involved, Wen Huahua was feeling extremely panicked.

After suffering the consequences of [Fortune Comes from Taking Risks], he had come to deeply understand one principle: when this ability was triggered, he might not actually get his hands on the fortune, but the “danger” would definitely be right in his face.

“Don’t move! Nobody move for now!”

Standing inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Wen Huahua held a communicator and issued orders to the residents in the underground area. He was practically screaming himself hoarse.

“Stop trying to crack the armory’s password! Under no circumstances are you to open the armory!”

If they didn’t open it, there was at least a fifty percent chance that, since they hadn’t obtained the “fortune,” the “danger” might not be triggered.

But if they opened it, they would be in danger with one hundred percent certainty.

Even without taking his notoriously unlucky ability into account, all he had to do was think for a moment to realize just how important an armory was. How could the real [Ota] possibly have left it unprotected?

Either there were dangerous traps or some other perilous setup inside, or opening the armory might very well awaken the real Ota.

“Listen up, everyone! Don’t move for now. If you’re standing, don’t sit down. If you’re sitting, don’t stand up. Everyone, maintain whatever position you’re currently in. There might be some kind of mechanism or trap there, so whatever you do, don’t move around and accidentally trigger it! Wait for my order, and then return here immediately!”

At this point, Wen Huahua wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there.

[Coriander Safe City: Boss, although the real [Ota]’s shelter hasn’t opened yet, I have this really strong premonition that it definitely will. I’m having all my residents return now so we can evacuate this area immediately.]

Cheng Qisheng replied as well.

[Blue Sea Safe City: All right. To be on the safe side, don’t try to save your nuclear crystals. You can relocate frequently. Retrieve your residents at the fastest possible speed.]

[Coriander Safe City: Waaahhhh, okay! Thank goodness I listened to you, Boss, and didn’t let the residents spread out too much. It’ll take about three hours. I should be able to finish relocating everyone in roughly three hours.]

[Coriander Safe City: Waaahhh, I was wondering how I could possibly be this lucky! The Moon Silk Star is so huge, yet the place I chose was the least conspicuous, perfectly suited for my residents to train their troops, and with no other Safe Cities anywhere nearby. It was practically as if that location had been chosen by fate specifically for my Safe City! Turns out my ability had activated after all.]

He planned to abandon anything he could do without. After all, the ores they had mined earlier had already been transported back to his Safe City. All he needed to do now was recall his residents.

Coriander Safe City began frantically recalling its residents at top speed.

Cheng Qisheng also began making preparations, sending the news back to Blue Sea.

The members of Blue Sea’s Military Department had only just entered their vacation period. Taking advantage of the break, they had happily donned their hard hats and work clothes and thrown themselves into enthusiastic mining work. Now, they were being called back yet again.

The real [Ota] was even trickier to deal with than the Three Major Companies. Blue Sea had suspected for a long time that the real [Ota] was the mastermind behind everything, and the intelligence they had subsequently obtained from the Three Major Companies had indeed confirmed this.

The prolonged war on Moon Silk Star had been instigated by the real [Ota].

The technology for extracting brains, which had been sealed away, had been brought back into use by the real [Ota].

The real [Ota] had taken the lead in bringing about the creation of [Heaven’s Punishment].

An organization that had manipulated every single [Company]—and arguably, every person on Moon Silk Star—like puppets on strings couldn’t possibly have been eliminated so easily through a scheme, could it?

Cheng Qisheng turned her gaze toward Blue Sea’s Military Department, which had resumed work once again.

Although it hadn’t been long since they had acquired those 451 researchers, Blue Sea was already beginning to change.

For example, the large screens that had originally hung throughout the Military Department had now been replaced with virtual three-dimensional projections.

These projections could be freely enlarged, shrunk, and moved between layers at the Blue Sea residents’ command. The images appeared in three dimensions, complete with various interactive features and auxiliary windows. Combined with Aether’s computing power, they really had that interstellar-civilization feel to them.

Apparently, the Science and Technology Institute was now attempting to incorporate similar technology into the residents’ tactical watches.

It probably wouldn’t be long before the modified “Genius Watches” carried by the Eighths and the others could become genuine tactical watches.

…

The Blue Sea residents working with the virtual three-dimensional projections were also highly motivated.

After learning that the real [Ota] was indeed still around, Blue Sea’s Military Department had one immediate reaction: eliminate it.

“Isn’t it still asleep? That makes things easy. We can use the Mantle-Piercing Liulis to bury it underground forever.”

Hadn’t the abandoned people of Moon Silk Star once eliminated the government shelters in the same way?

“No.”

Among the teams of experts in relevant fields who had also been summoned, two teams almost simultaneously voted against the proposal.

They waved their hands, using gestures to bring a three-dimensional model of the entire Moon Silk Star before them, then enlarged it until it filled the center of the conference hall.

All the detailed information covering every aspect of the planet had been copied directly from the [Norn Company]’s database. It had to be said that this had saved Blue Sea a great deal of trouble.

Everyone sat around the conference table. In the empty space at its center, an enormous projection of Moon Silk Star floated in midair. As the experts explained, the projection separated into several layers, revealing the boundary between the mantle and the core beneath the surface.

“When Moon Silk Star was cooling and taking shape in its early stages, a mantle-plume anchor existed at the boundary between the mantle and the core.”

“If we compare Moon Silk Star to a house, this gigantic rock pillar is equivalent to the main load-bearing beam supporting the entire planet. And right now, [Ota] is sitting right on top of that load-bearing beam.”

“If we use the mantle weapons to attack that area, convection within the planet’s mantle will immediately become unbalanced. Enormous amounts of heat from the core will surge outward, affecting the planet’s superplates across the globe. The crust will fracture, and there’s a very high probability that the planet itself will disintegrate.”

The Minister of Military Affairs stared at the enormous planetary projection in the very center of the room, which continued to split apart and rotate as the experts explained.

“So you’re saying [Ota] planned all of this?”

Without the access key, there was no way to open the shelter from the outside. The only option was to have someone inside open the door.

The mantle weapons could bury the shelter underground forever, but [Ota] had placed the shelter’s coordinates directly above the mantle-plume anchor.

Killing [Ota] would mean everyone on the planet died with it.

Ota had provided false coordinates, luring the other [Companies] into attacking that decoy location.

As for the real coordinates, they had been placed somewhere that made anyone hesitate to act. Even if the Three Major Companies had actually discovered the real location, they would never have dared to kill a thousand enemies at the cost of a thousand of their own lives.

“Moreover, only major powers have the resources to survey the mantle in such detail. Once they discovered this, they would never make the information public. They’d want to prevent ordinary people, driven to desperation by extreme exploitation, from finding a way to take everyone down with them. Even if they discovered that this place had a load-bearing pillar, they absolutely wouldn’t disclose it.”

After all, the [Companies] were well aware of the importance of maintaining their reputations. The various methods Blue Sea had uncovered in [Norn Company]’s files for preventing ordinary citizens from resisting were so numerous that they could practically fill an entire book.

“I have to say, I’m not surprised in the slightest.”

The Chief of Staff “grabbed” a section of the three-dimensional projection from the edge of Moon Silk Star, repeatedly enlarging and shrinking it in his hands as he examined the scenery in the magnified area.

This was so much fun. He could easily spend several hours playing with it.

“One could say that [Ota] had calculated everything hundreds of years ago. And when it came to its most important shelter, how could it possibly have failed to make thorough preparations?”

“But I have a question.”

The section of the three-dimensional projection he had separated was spotted by the groups of experts huddled together in quiet discussion. They took it back, leaving the Chief of Staff with no choice but to stand up empty-handed. He didn’t dare provoke the experts.

“If [Ota] is so accustomed to calculating every possible outcome, why did it delay its awakening?”

“It did all this for the sake of the Safe City. Wasn’t it afraid that, during the period when the other [Companies] had already awakened but it was still asleep, the Safe City might descend and the other [Companies] might achieve their goals, leaving [Ota] to miss out entirely?”

The Chief of Staff of Defense fell into deep thought.

As for this question, it fell within her area of expertise.

If she were [Ota], if she were the one orchestrating all of this—

The Chief of Staff of Defense said, [Ota]’s style of operation makes it impossible for it to simply wait around blindly.”

She stated with absolute certainty, “[Ota] must have been continuously monitoring the situation on Moon Silk Star throughout its slumber, using methods of its own.”

“It delayed its awakening simply because it felt the time wasn’t right yet. [Ota] isn’t in a hurry for the Safe City to descend, either. But it doesn’t have many resources at its disposal. The Three Major Companies might very well be the practice material [Ota] deliberately left for itself.”

Cheng Qisheng agreed that this was a very reasonable deduction.

Before the apocalypse, the Three Major Companies hadn’t been particularly powerful. Yet with their “luck buffs” stacked to the max, they had leaped to the top of Moon Silk Star’s corporate hierarchy a hundred and fifty years later.

If their rise were attributed solely to luck and their talent for scheming against others, that explanation would indeed be a little far-fetched.

But if someone behind the scenes had deliberately engineered their success, the whole thing sounded much more plausible.

As Cheng Qisheng listened to the Military Department’s meeting, she looked at the virtual three-dimensional image of Moon Silk Star that Aether was transmitting to her in real time.

She tapped the location of the mantle-plume anchor.

“Using the mantle weapons is out.”

“But don’t we still have [Heaven’s Punishment]?”

At worst, they could go for a mutually assured kill.

Destroy one [Company], and they would be rewarded with one [Heaven’s Punishment].

By that calculation, Blue Sea wouldn’t be losing out.

…

Alden was awakened by the gentle movements of robots.

He slowly rose from his cryogenic pod, allowing several robots to attend to him. After rinsing his mouth, he stepped into a fully automated medical scanner for a physical examination. In just a few minutes, the machine produced a health score of 48%.

Better than expected. Acceptable.

Alden then drank a cup of nutritional fluid to protect his stomach, followed by his remaining health supplements, taking them one by one. He had the robots help him get dressed, then checked his reflection in the mirror. Only after confirming that he still looked as radiant and distinguished as ever did he nod in satisfaction.

Back when the various [Companies] had chosen to enter their shelters to escape the radiation devices, many of them had wanted to ensure that they wouldn’t miss anything important. To that end, they arranged for a particular occupation known as a [Timekeeper].

These people would not enter hibernation. Instead, they would remain awake inside the shelters, using external surveillance machines to investigate conditions outside on behalf of their [Companies]. Whenever anything unexpected happened, they would awaken the designated personnel to deal with it.

However, as the current chairman of [Ota Company], Alden believed this was a recipe for disaster.

He would be sinking into an unconscious slumber while his employees remained awake and active outside. What was that, if not practically offering his own neck to a blade?

No matter how many security measures they put in place, there was no way to guarantee that nothing unexpected would happen.

Even though [Ota] had already eliminated all employees whose beliefs conflicted with its own or whose loyalty to the [Company] was less than absolute, Alden still believed that, when it came to human nature, there was no such thing as “absolute loyalty.”

Alden trusted only himself.

Therefore, the operating system inside [Ota]’s shelter had always relied on robots to automatically gather information about the outside world. But robots were, after all, not real humans, and their operating protocols were far too rigid.

That was why Alden woke up several times every year.

He never stayed awake for long. In total, his waking periods added up to only about a week each year.

Without cryogenic protection, he had inevitably suffered some radiation exposure, even inside a heavily shielded radiation-proof chamber.

But it was all worth it.

He had secured absolute safety. No one in all of [Ota], except him, could awaken ahead of schedule. Just as before, he remained in complete control of everything.

Alden had understood long ago that everything in life could be weighed in terms of costs and benefits, even his own health.

He was sacrificing his health now for the sake of an immortal future—for the chance to await the arrival of the Safe City in absolute safety.

Let the Three Major Companies enjoy their arrogance for now. They were nothing more than poultry raised by [Ota].

The harder the Three Major Companies worked to gather all kinds of resources on Moon Silk Star, the wealthier [Ota] would become.

“Let’s see if they’ve been behaving themselves and growing nice and plump.”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.193.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

—BOOM!!

The chase up ahead finally came to an end.

The vehicle was violently flipped over, and the people inside were dragged out.

Since this area was so vast and sparsely populated, Lu Kan could still faintly hear the three important figures begging for mercy and screaming in agony, even though they had already traveled quite a distance.

“Let me go! Please, I’m begging you! I have—I have a lot of assets! I’ll give them all to you, every last bit! Just don’t kill me! I’ll lick your shoes! I can—I can work for you! Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it! Please, I’m begging you…”

The Safe City residents who had captured the executives pretended not to hear a word.

Before they set out, their City Lord had repeatedly warned them that once they captured the executives, they absolutely must not listen to any of their nonsense.

“They might have some assets, but everything they own belongs to Blue Sea now. [Ota] has made it perfectly clear that it wants every [Company] executive dead. It doesn’t matter if you fail to catch your targets, but if you’ve already got them in your hands and then let them go out of greed, and [Ota] finds out about it, our Safe City might not even survive.”

In the Safe City system, it was hardly unusual for someone to possess extraordinary abilities that allowed them to uncover all sorts of secret events.

Didn’t the lord of Greenroot have exactly that kind of ability?

And lately, Greenroot and Blue Sea had been getting along famously.

Their City Lord had issued an absolute order.

“No matter how convincing these executives make their promises sound, don’t listen to a word they say. Kill them and bring back their heads.”

The residents sent out to carry out the bounty missions had, of course, been carefully screened beforehand. They were completely unmoved by the [Company] executives’ desperate pleas for mercy. Without hesitation, they drew their blades.

The [Company] executives, who were kneeling helplessly on the ground, felt their hearts jolt at the sight. Overwhelming terror sent them into a frenzy of desperate struggling, but in the hands of several extraordinary ability users, they couldn’t move even an inch.

“No! No! Don’t kill me! Please, I’m begging you! I really can do anything! Please, don’t kill me! Don’t…”

Hadn’t everything they had done been for the sake of immortality, so they wouldn’t have to face death?

For the sake of eternal life, they had fled like rats, eaten rotten food that would never have been allowed anywhere near them in the past, and drunk filthy yellow and brown water. They had stumbled from place to place in desperate flight, betrayed by their subordinates, hunted by mutant beasts, and pursued by people determined to kill them. They had lived without the slightest shred of dignity, comforting themselves with the thought that everything would be fine once their Safe Cities arrived.

But now, death was right before their eyes.

The terror that nearly overwhelmed them completely left the [Company] executives weeping uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down their faces. They desperately racked their brains, trying to come up with something valuable enough to trade for their lives.

Yet all they could do was watch in utter despair as the blade drew closer and closer.

“Please, don’t! Don’t—AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”

…

Tagu was staring blankly out the window.

After informing [Ota] about the weapons depot at the Institute of Science and Technology, he had finally fulfilled his life’s mission.

Tagu didn’t know what [Ota] would do, or whether it would win. But he knew that he could now die in peace and go to see his mother without any regrets.

A knock sounded at the door.

Tagu continued gazing at the natural plants outside the window without turning his head. He simply said, “Come in.”

[Ota] had indeed treated him very well.

After giving them the coordinates of the weapons depot and the access codes, he had originally intended to wait quietly for death.

But [Ota] had provided him with plenty of good food and drink. Meals were delivered to him at regular times every day, and they had also brought him a large collection of audiovisual entertainment to pass the time. A doctor even came to examine his health daily.

Nevertheless, Tagu continued to waste away rapidly. It had nothing to do with his treatment. He was simply old, and having finally fulfilled his life’s mission, he had let go of the last thing keeping him going.

Besides, he no longer wanted to live.

He was afraid of hearing that [Ota] had failed. Rather than risk that, he would prefer to die while still holding on to hope.

“Tagu, I’m coming in.”

A familiar doctor in a white coat walked into the room. This time, however, she hadn’t brought any of the medical equipment used to check his vital signs.

Instead, she walked over and switched on the old-fashioned television in the room.

“The Three Major Companies have been eliminated. I thought you’d want to see this.”

Tagu, who had been sitting motionless by the window like a man already dead, suddenly lit up.

He whipped around. “W-What?”

“These are videos and photographs from the scene. Take a look.”

Tagu practically threw himself at the television, almost too impatient to wait another second.

He had never visited the territories of the Three Major Companies, but he recognized their insignias.

He watched the footage documenting the battles, saw the places where buildings that had once belonged to the companies now lay in ruins, and then watched as photographs of one company executive after another appeared on the screen, each labeled with a name. Beside each photograph was an image of their corpse, confirming their death.

These were the people who had caused his mother’s death, turning what should have been an apocalyptic plan to save the people of Moon Silk into a genuine apocalypse.

And now, every last one of them was dead!

Tagu gazed greedily and intently at the photographs, delightedly studying the lingering expressions of fear and agony on the [Company] executives’ faces.

He wanted to burst into hysterical laughter, yet he also wanted to break down sobbing.

It was as though something had filled his heart to the brim, only for it to become utterly hollow in the very next instant.

His entire life had been leading to this moment. Everything he had done had been for this very day!

Ota had done it!

This force that had disguised itself as a [Company] had actually done it!!

Tagu laughed maniacally, tears streaming down his face. He laughed until every last bit of strength had drained from his body, then leaned against the table and gazed up at the ceiling.

“Mom… I did it. I avenged you. I avenged all of us…”

“I can… I can finally die in peace…”

The Blue Sea cleric had refrained from disturbing Tagu, allowing him to release all the emotions he had kept bottled up inside.

But when she heard those words, she still spoke up.

“Actually, you don’t have to die.”

“We have anti-aging medication that can extend your lifespan. Although your situation is rather unusual, and the deterioration of your body differs from that of an ordinary person, a researcher named Jin Yin has still managed to develop a medication specifically tailored to your body.”

The cleric, whose actual age was eighty-two but who looked no older than an ordinary middle-aged person thanks to the anti-aging medication, slowly approached. She gently patted Tagu on the head as he lay sprawled on the floor, staring up at her in bewilderment after suddenly hearing that his life could be extended.

“Tagu.”

She slowly crouched down, meeting the gaze of the deeply wrinkled old man.

His eyes still held the look of that same young child who had lost his mother in the midst of terror and fear.

Tagu listened as the other woman spoke softly.

“How about we give you the injection today?”

“You’ve completed your revenge. You did it.”

“Now, you can begin a brand-new life.”

“One lived for yourself alone. For Tagu.”

Tagu looked at her with bloodshot eyes. After a long moment, he finally nodded hard. “Okay.”

His lips trembled as tears rolled down his face one drop at a time. He wept like a child, nodding as he cried.

“Okay.”

…

Cheng Qisheng wasn’t surprised in the slightest to discover that Tagu had become her believer.

Or, to put it more accurately, Tagu had first become a believer in Blue Sea. Then, once he understood the concept of Blue Sea’s Creator God, he had seamlessly become a believer in the Creator God in the span of a single second.

He might need some time to recover, but with the Creator God’s blessings and Old Eighth’s care, Tagu would be able to welcome a new life.

Cheng Qisheng was also living a brand-new life of her own.

Blue Sea had truly struck it rich this time, and the profits were still rolling in.

She was currently planning to upgrade the Safe City to the next tier.

After all, they needed to accommodate the people of Moon Silk while also storing the enormous quantity of supplies and energy resources they had collected from the planet. Blue Sea simply didn’t have enough space anymore.

Ah! What a wonderful problem to have~

The higher a Safe City’s tier, the more nuclear crystals it needed, with the cost doubling at each successive upgrade.

The cost of upgrading from Tier 6 to Tier 7 had shot straight up to fifty million nuclear crystals.

Cheng Qisheng: No problem. We’ve got money! Upgrade!

At this point, she was practically rolling in wealth. The nuclear crystals Blue Sea had earned from the Truth Stone alone were more than enough to fuel a series of rapid tier upgrades.

Moreover, the situation on Moon Silk had made Cheng Qisheng realize something.

The Tier 5 and 6 City Lords had all been willing to pay 1.88 million nuclear crystals just to ask a single question.

In theory, the higher a City Lord’s tier, the more worlds they had experienced, and the wealthier they were as a result—with the exception of the Octopus City Lord.

Once she reached Tier Seven, wouldn’t she be able to take the Truth Stone to other worlds and earn nuclear crystals from Tier 7 City Lords, too?

Cheng Qisheng eagerly began planning with Aether how to make use of the additional space Blue Sea would gain after its upgrade.

She was happily admiring the plans when several private messages suddenly popped up.

[Coriander Safe City: Boss! Guess what! My residents found a new mine, and while digging, they struck treasure!]

[Coriander Safe City: Boss! It’s a weapons depot, hehe! There’s so much stuff! My residents are still cracking the access codes. Once we get it open, let’s split the loot, okay?]

[Coriander Safe City: Wait, I found treasure? Doesn’t that mean I’ve triggered the Fortune Comes from Taking Risks?]

[Coriander Safe City: …Boss! There really is a huge underground shelter even deeper down! It hasn’t been opened, and I saw the insignia of the real Ota!]

Cheng Qisheng: Here it comes.

Blue Sea had previously speculated that there was a good chance the real [Ota] still existed. After all, given the way the real [Ota] operated, it was unlikely to have been outmaneuvered by the Three Major Companies. If anything, it was far more likely to have outmaneuvered them instead.

Besides, the Three Major Companies had believed that the real [Ota] possessed a [Heaven’s Punishment] weapon.

If the real [Ota] had appeared earlier, then even without a [Heaven’s Punishment], its recorded strength would have left Blue Sea with no choice but to retreat, however reluctantly.

But the real [Ota] was appearing now.

The Three Major Companies had been wiped out, and the world-mission rewards had already been distributed.

Blue Sea now possessed three [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons.

So, tell me: who’s the real [Ota] now?

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.192.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

After witnessing firsthand how Blue Sea Safe City operated internally, large numbers of residents from other Safe Cities joined Blue Sea on the spot.

Those who didn’t join immediately all had people they still cared about or assets they had left behind in their former Safe Cities.

At this point, all they could do was hope their City Lords would bring their Safe Cities back into view, giving them a chance to pack up their entire families and flee.

As for the City Lords, with the generous rewards from World Mission and Blue Sea’s bounty notices targeting [Company] executives, they were already having far too good a time to think about leaving.

Even Safe Cities that hadn’t participated in the bounty hunts could approach Cheng Qisheng and pay some nuclear crystals to purchase the location of an underground mine.

Cheng Qisheng hadn’t set the price particularly high. After all, there were plenty of underground mines on Moon Silk, and Blue Sea couldn’t take them all away anyway.

For a small or medium-sized mine, she charged 360,000 nuclear crystals. That was an absolute bargain.

As long as the City Lords stayed behind to mine, bringing their residents together to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the work for half a year, they could earn back at least four times their initial investment, including labor and material costs.

Most importantly of all, Blue Sea Safe City was willing to sign contracts. Any Safe City that purchased an underground mine from her or had received a bounty reward even once would receive her guarantee that she would never launch an attack against them of her own initiative. This meant those Safe Cities could remain on Moon Silk and harvest its resources without worrying about being attacked by Blue Sea.

Now that was an irresistible offer.

They had clearly been terrified by Blue Sea’s strength, yet they still refused to leave. Wasn’t it precisely because Moon Silk was so rich in resources?

Even without mining, the second-order mutant beasts roaming everywhere, the mutant plants that could be put to use in all sorts of fields, and the scattered pieces of Moon Silk technology they could collect were already enough to make the City Lords as happy as mice spotting rice, foxes spotting chickens, or humans spotting a paycheck.

They had originally thought that as long as Blue Sea Safe City didn’t use the excuse, “I took down the Three Major Companies, so I’m the boss of Moon Silk now. You can’t just take my stuff whenever you want,” to stop them from gathering resources on Moon Silk, that would be good enough.

They hadn’t expected Blue Sea to deliver those resources right to their doorstep.

Three hundred and sixty thousand nuclear crystals was certainly no small sum, but the important thing was that the underground mineral deposits would absolutely allow them to recoup their investment and earn several times that amount in profit.

Blue Sea was truly benevolent!

For a while, the City Lords’ group chat on Moon Silk once again became a cheerful, harmonious place, all thanks to Blue Sea Safe City’s latest move.

As for Cheng Qisheng, all she had to do was hold the map of Moon Silk’s underground mineral deposits and open her mouth to name a location.

It was a win-win situation.

And so, practically everyone on Moon Silk had fallen into a mining frenzy.

Oh, no, that wasn’t quite right. Some people weren’t mining at all. Instead, they were running around hunting down [Company] executives.

Although the various Safe Cities were focusing primarily on mining, their City Lords were all at the fifth or sixth tier. They were hardly so socially inept that they didn’t know how to behave.

Since they had benefited from Blue Sea’s generosity, and Blue Sea was now the undisputed boss of this planet, they naturally had to find a way to give Blue Sea what it wanted.

Besides, the City Lords had plenty of residents at their disposal. They could easily have large numbers of people mining in one area while sending another group to hunt down company executives.

Whether they actually managed to kill any executives was another matter. But the whole process of sending people to hunt them down and demonstrating their support for Blue Sea was absolutely essential.

…

Lu Kan discovered that Moon Silk had changed.

Of course, with all three major companies gone, Moon Silk was bound to be different.

But that wasn’t what he meant. What he meant was that things had changed in a truly astonishing way.

First of all, after [Ota] took down the Three Major Companies and became Moon Silk’s new uncrowned king, it didn’t impose taxes on the New Humans.

The various lords, both great and small, who had heard about the shift in power and hurriedly brought people and gifts to pay [Ota] a visit returned looking like entirely different people. Not only had their taxes and fees dropped dramatically, but they even started paying people they recruited to work in the mines.

At first, Lu Kan assumed that only the lord governing his own area had changed. But as the owner of a small merchant caravan, he traveled through three different regions, and the people in all three had entered an entirely new way of life.

They mined, earned wages in [Ota] coins, and used those coins to buy food and other necessities.

Those once-impoverished little towns had gained a great deal of prosperity almost before his eyes. With so many people finding work as miners, they now had money to spend.

At first, Lu Kan hadn’t known exactly when [Ota] had taken down the Three Major Companies. Of course, as the owner of a small merchant caravan who kept himself fairly well informed, he had long since noticed the strange atmosphere among the four companies and suspected that a major battle between them was inevitable.

He had simply been puzzled when the local lord stopped collecting land taxes.

Then some of the smaller factions operating under the lords had also stopped going around capturing people and openly treating them as their sl*ves, as they had done before.

Only later did Lu Kan hear the news: [Ota] had won. It hadn’t merely seized one [Company] and taken its place. Instead, [Ota] had wiped out all three major companies.

Ota had announced to every lord that the entirety of Moon Silk now belonged to [Ota] and was considered [Ota]’s property.

And that property included human beings.

That meant they were all now [Ota]’s possessions, classified as first-level assets. This was why those factions no longer dared to openly seize people and ensl*ve them: doing so would amount to plundering [Ota]’s assets. The lords had also stopped collecting land taxes, because the land itself belonged to [Ota] as well.

And that brought things to where they were now, with Lu Kan witnessing all of this firsthand.

[Ota] had a remarkably deep affection for underground mines. No matter where Lu Kan went, the people in that region were sure to be hard at work mining every single day.

One thing worth noting was that, at least in the regions Lu Kan had visited so far, [Ota] coins were accepted and widely used.

People were more than happy to receive [Ota] coins. For a newly introduced currency, it had certainly spread at an astonishing speed.

Moon Silk’s people were now facing a whole host of changes: a new currency for trade, new taxes and fees, new jobs, new food, new social interactions, and a new way of life.

“Over there!!!”

“Quick, chase them!!!”

Lu Kan and his caravan watched as a vehicle sped past them. Behind it, several people without vehicles took off in hot pursuit, running so fast that they could keep up with the car using nothing but their own two legs.

Yes, this was another new development.

For the sake of safety, merchant caravans generally tried to travel through areas that had once been saturated with radiation but were now relatively safe.

The people of Moon Silk were reluctant to leave their hometowns, so these vast stretches of land, once known as the [Name] Death Zones, made excellent shortcuts for merchant caravans.

There were few mutant beasts in these areas, and no humans lived there. Even during the Eternal Night, the number of night beasts gathering in these places was relatively small.

Most merchant caravans had their own routes through the Death Zones. They would quietly make their way through these uninhabited regions, enjoying the rare feeling of having the entire place to themselves.

But recently, things had changed.

For some reason, despite these Death Zones being remote, far away, and sparsely populated, nobody had ever bothered coming here before—not apart from small merchant caravans like theirs.

But people who looked like important figures had inexplicably started showing up in these places.

Then, for equally inexplicable reasons, all sorts of strange people would come after them, trying to hunt them down.

“This is the third time this has happened, isn’t it?”

Lu Kan stood beside his trained mutant donkey and motioned for the other members of his caravan to remain just as still as he was. They waited for the pursuit up ahead to come to an end.

Based on his experience from the previous two encounters, if the pursuers managed to catch their targets, they would probably be in an excellent mood afterward. They might even come over to his caravan and buy some expensive food to celebrate.

Under similar circumstances, Lu Kan would have long since taken his caravan and fled as fast as possible. After all, on Moon Silk, the rule had always been that whoever had the bigger fists got the final say. These people were mutants with all sorts of unusual abilities. If they took a fancy to his goods and decided to rob him, his caravan might well lose the fight, even with its own weapons.

But now he had some experience to draw on, didn’t he?

This wasn’t Lu Kan’s first encounter with such a situation. The people who had been hunting those important figures during the previous encounters really had wanted to take some of his goods by force.

However, when one of them tried to approach the caravan, his companions stopped him.

The group argued for a while in a language Lu Kan couldn’t understand. In the end, they reached an agreement, left the caravan alone, and instead took out [Ota] coins to buy some food and water.

The second time, Lu Kan encountered another group. They also spoke a language he couldn’t understand, but they were much friendlier. They even spent an entire night of the Eternal Night alongside the caravan and, in halting Moon Silk, explained why the previous group had wanted to make a move but ultimately held back.

“You can think of it this way: we were all sent out by our respective lords, and [Ota] considers every one of you a resident—in other words, an asset. Our lords don’t dare offend [Ota]. They’ve repeatedly warned us not to cause trouble for them while we’re out and about. So even if someone takes a fancy to your goods, they wouldn’t dare actually do anything about it.”

At the time, Lu Kan hadn’t understood. “But this place is so remote. Even if those people really did something to us, how would [Ota] ever find out?”

The man gave him a mysterious smile.

“To be honest, they aren’t sure whether [Ota] would find out, either, or whether it has some way of gathering information like this. But if [Ota] does find out, their actions will be considered a provocation against [Ota], and the territory they belong to could end up being treated as enemy territory.”

“The people we’re hunting are enemies of [Ota]. They’ve already lost any ability to fight back, yet [Ota] is still offering an enormous bounty for their capture. That’s what happens when you go against [Ota].”

Lu Kan listened in growing alarm. At the time, he had thought that this explained why those people had fled to the Death Zones, and why others were still pursuing them there.

Fortunately, he was just a nobody. He had never even had the opportunity to offend [Ota].

He cautiously asked, “Then, do you know what [Ota] has planned for us?”

The man’s expression grew somewhat complicated. Perhaps Lu Kan was mistaken, but he even thought he detected a trace of envy in the other man’s eyes.

“All I can say is that [Ota] doesn’t do anything without a purpose. Since it won’t allow our lords to harm you, that proves it has plans for you.”

He gave Lu Kan a hug. Although they had only known each other for a day and a night, they had gotten along remarkably well. So he offered Lu Kan a piece of advice, too.

“Remember this: if one day [Ota] says it wants to take you somewhere, you must agree, no matter where it says it’s taking you or whether you even understand what that place is. You must agree to go with [Ota]. No matter what, follow it.”

At the time, Lu Kan had been utterly bewildered by those words, but he had still hurried to agree.

It was true that the New Humans had received little education and had limited knowledge. But they were still ordinary human beings who could recognize what was good and what was bad.

And the fact was, ever since [Ota] had wiped out the Three Major Companies, life for the New Humans had been getting better with each passing day.

Lu Kan had also noticed a sharp decline in the number of times he was targeted by robbers. After all, people could now find mining jobs almost anywhere that paid enough to cover their food and drink, with some [Ota] coins left over to save.

That was a much faster way to make money than robbery.

Even without the advice from his new friend, if [Ota] wanted him to do something, Lu Kan would agree without the slightest hesitation.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.192.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Cheng Qisheng could sense that the Eighths were in a very bad mood.

In fact, ever since they entered this [Norn Technology Park], the Blue Sea residents had been feeling terrible. However, they had been mentally prepared for this, and with the blessings bestowed upon them by their God, they had still managed to keep their emotions under control and carry out their tasks according to plan.

But when this anonymous person appeared—a person who had endured years of suffering, whose thoughts had been shattered into fragments, yet who still remembered to give them the shelter address of a colleague—the anger in the hearts of the Blue Sea residents reached its peak.

The people of Blue Sea had always revered the brave.

They admired those with powerful bodies who could fight ferocious beasts in hand-to-hand combat. They also admired those with strong minds who remained true to themselves, no matter what they encountered.

To the people of Blue Sea, both were heroes.

It was much like the first world Blue Sea Safe City had descended upon. Back then, Blue Sea itself was overcrowded, with people packed shoulder to shoulder and nowhere near enough space in the city.

One of the most important reasons they had been willing to accept the residents of Velvet Star was their admiration for the first Velvet Star native they had encountered.

After being infected with the zombie virus, she had been determined not to hurt her daughter. Relying on sheer force of will, she had managed to pull out her own teeth within the limited time she had left, then locked herself inside a room to keep herself away from her child.

It was witnessing all of that, and coming to admire her courage and resolve, that had led the people of Blue Sea to begin accepting residents from other civilizations.

And now, the more they admired this anonymous person—someone whose age, gender, and name were unknown, and who had been turned into a brain in a vat—the more fiercely their anger burned.

And so, everything returned to the familiar track the Eighths knew so well.

Bad mood = mental discomfort = physical discomfort = subconscious feeling of being attacked = must drag out whoever attacked them and kill them.

At this point, they no longer felt uncomfortable, nor did they find this area unbearable. Their minds were filled with nothing but the fighting spirit to take on the company’s executives.

“I’m going to drag them out one by one! I’m going to turn those company executives’ faces into flatbreads with my fists!”

“I’m going to kick them so hard I’ll break their ribs!”

“Then, like catching moles, I’m going to dig up those blasphemers one by one and drag them out of their holes!”

Cheng Qisheng did not interfere with the will of the Blue Sea residents.

Originally, she hadn’t intended to hunt down the company executives who had fled. Although she detested their actions, the Great Annihilation was still waiting for them, and as the victorious party, all she wanted was to devote her time to gathering resources faster and in greater quantities.

From a broader perspective, what Cheng Qisheng was doing was indeed the most advantageous course of action for her side. It would allow Blue Sea to obtain greater benefits.

But then again…

That anonymous person had delivered 451 researchers to Blue Sea, including as many as 39 Black Researchers.

Having received such a benefit, helping them take a little revenge on the executives was only fair and reasonable.

Cheng Qisheng had Aether display a global virtual map of Moon Silk.

The map had been obtained from the [Norn Company]. It marked various types of mineral deposits, showing which areas contained resources and which had already been cleared by company personnel.

The [Companies] had been deliberately concentrating Moon Silk’s resources in their own warehouses. However, they hadn’t actually plundered every last deposit. Instead, they had intentionally left some wild mineral deposits scattered throughout the various regions.

After all, the [Companies]’ original plan had been to wait for the apocalypse to bring Safe Cities to the planet, then kill their city lords and seize control of the cities.

And Safe Cities hadn’t come here for sightseeing. Their fundamental purpose in visiting each apocalyptic world was to replenish their own supplies.

Without enough bait scattered across the planet, how could the companies ensure that these Safe Cities would be willing to stay?

Now, Blue Sea had effectively acquired the enormous treasure trove of resources the companies had already extracted or were still in the process of mining. Simply transferring all of it directly back to the Safe City would already make Blue Sea incredibly wealthy.

There were still plenty of small and medium-sized gold mines scattered across the planet, some already exposed and others still hidden underground.

The [Companies] had long since thoroughly surveyed Moon Silk’s various mineral deposits, including all kinds of underground resources.

Although these underground deposits appeared to be outside the companies’ control, their coordinates had already been marked on the companies’ maps. They were simply waiting for the Safe Cities to arrive, ready to be used as bait.

—In fact, some of the mineral deposits controlled by [Norn] had indeed attracted Safe Cities. It was just that, under the influence of the Cognitive Lock, the company’s executives had failed to recognize them entirely.

And now, all of them belonged to Cheng Qisheng.

She tapped the map in midair, quickly selecting a large number of small and medium-sized mineral deposits.

They were all medium-sized mines, producing energy resources that Blue Sea currently had in abundance.

The situation was now like this: the biggest tool Blue Sea had at its disposal was a bucket.

But the resources on Moon Silk could fill an enormous water vat.

Even if Blue Sea started mining around the clock from this very moment, it still wouldn’t be able to extract all the mineral resources currently available on Moon Silk.

Rather than leaving them on the planet to be annihilated along with everything else when the Great Annihilation arrived, she might as well use them to trade for something.

Cheng Qisheng had Aether compile the sizes of these mines and estimates of how many resources each could yield, then sent the information straight to the City Lords’ group chat.

[Bounty for company executives! Dead or alive, executives from any of the Three Major Companies are acceptable. Five executives in exchange for one mine.]

[The areas around the mines have already been cleared by the Companies, and some mining equipment has been left behind. The general details are listed below—]

[In addition, I’m selling the precise coordinates of underground mineral deposits. DM me with your offer.]

After sending the messages, Cheng Qisheng selected several underground mineral deposits near Coriander and sent over the detailed information compiled by the Companies.

[Blue Sea Safe City: Coriander, finish mining these deposits within four months, then pack up and leave~]

Now that she had a huge water vat at her disposal, Cheng Qisheng naturally didn’t mind splashing a little water on her little underling.

[Coriander Safe City: !!!]

[Coriander Safe City: Waaaaah, thank you, boss!!! I’m so grateful, boss! I’ll pledge my loyalty to you until the end of time!!!]

Coriander immediately launched into another round of extravagant flattery and fervent declarations of loyalty.

…

Meanwhile, the City Lords’ group chat was just as lively.

The City Lords of the Safe Cities all shared one characteristic: under normal circumstances, everyone kept their cards close to their chest, hiding this and concealing that, never revealing too much.

But whenever a benefit appeared, they would rush forward faster than anyone else.

Even if a City Lord offered a hundred pieces of rotten wood, there would still be people scrambling to get them.

Let alone a bounty like this, with a clearly stated price, a formal contract, and the offer posted directly in the group chat.

The City Lords who had previously been so cautious around Cheng Qisheng that they practically wished she didn’t even know they existed suddenly became extremely active.

[As expected of a big shot! You’re so generous!! I’m sending my residents out to look for leads on the company executives right now!]

[Five executives for one mine!! Aaaah, I’m in!]

[Don’t worry, boss! My residents are experts at hunting people down!]

Some City Lords happily accepted the bounty, while others gave orders to their residents. Still others coveted the mineral deposits but felt that hunting people down wasn’t their strong suit, so they contacted Cheng Qisheng privately to ask how much she was charging for the mines.

But regardless of what these City Lords were doing, they were all quietly raising their assessment of Blue Sea’s threat level.

—Although, to be fair, that threat level had already been pushed about as high as it could possibly go.

The various Safe Cities had witnessed the battle between Blue Sea and the three major companies. They understood perfectly well that this had been an overwhelming victory for Blue Sea.

Some well-informed City Lords had heard rumors that the company executives had fled, but they didn’t take the matter seriously at all.

So what if they’d run away?

The company executives were terrifying neither because of their physical prowess nor because of any unparalleled intelligence.

The fundamental reason for the rise of the [Companies] was their exploitation of researchers. They seized the various technologies developed by those researchers and put them to use in every field imaginable.

Now that the executives were fleeing in disarray, they certainly wouldn’t have many trusted subordinates around them, and they definitely wouldn’t have much weaponry at their disposal. Add the looming Great Annihilation to the equation, and even if they managed to escape, they wouldn’t pose any future threat.

There’s a saying about kicking a dog when it’s down. The [Company] executives weren’t merely dogs that had fallen into the water anymore. They’d been skinned alive and were now barely clinging to life.

And yet, even under these circumstances, Blue Sea still intended to hunt them down.

“Write down the name Blue Sea Safe City and mark it clearly. Under no circumstances are we to provoke her. If we ever have to choose between her and another Safe City, as long as the difference in their levels isn’t particularly large, we must choose Blue Sea.”

Inside one of the Safe Cities, a City Lord was giving careful instructions to his record keeper.

“Also, make sure we’re polite and courteous when speaking to her… Hmm, let’s add some emojis, too.”

He personally disliked using emojis when he spoke. His native civilization simply didn’t have that custom.

But since Blue Sea used them, that meant she liked them. Catering to her preferences couldn’t hurt.

He wasn’t hoping to grow closer to her or make her develop any particular fondness for their Safe City. He simply wanted to avoid giving her a bad impression.

The record keeper quickly jotted everything down, then looked up and asked, “My lord, how many stars should I assign to this in terms of importance?”

“Ten! Max it out!”

The City Lord took a deep breath, thought for a moment, then added;

“…Also, see if there’s any way we can establish a friendly relationship with Blue Sea.”

A Safe City with overwhelming strength, an aura that could crush everyone else, and a long memory for grudges—one that would even chase down and kill its enemies when they were already beaten—was truly terrifying.

In the past, if he’d encountered a Safe City like that, he would undoubtedly have preferred to leave the planet as soon as possible, even if it meant giving up some resources.

Strangely enough, however, Blue Sea Safe City didn’t seem particularly inclined to attack others of its own accord.

It even had a follower.

And judging by the way that follower chatted and spoke, he was enthusiastic and cheerful, and his flattery of Blue Sea came so naturally that he didn’t seem the least bit afraid of saying the wrong thing. It was clear that Blue Sea treated this follower, who went by the name Coriander, quite well.

That sent everyone a message: Blue Sea was approachable. It was possible to communicate with her and build a relationship.

Watching this unfold, they naturally began to wonder, ‘What would it be like if I were one of Blue Sea’s followers?’

When danger struck, wouldn’t having such a powerful figure backing you up be the equivalent of having an extra life?

The more this City Lord thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the right approach. In the end, he issued an order.

“We won’t be staying on Moon Silk for long. Have the social relations department come up with a plan to befriend Blue Sea within two days. Flattery, gifts, whatever works. The action gets nine stars for importance.”

“Yes, my lord.”

…

After the Blue Sea residents followed the coordinates provided by the anonymous researcher, successfully excavated a shelter, and used the access key to open its doors…

141 researchers were awakened from their cryogenic pods.

To avoid any misunderstandings, the Blue Sea residents sent to carry out the mission immediately recited the code phrase given to them by the anonymous researcher.

“We’re going to have a group barbecue at Kaxi’s Barbecue Restaurant today.”

The researchers, who had been awake for less than a minute, all wore expressions of sorrow.

One of them stepped forward and asked, “They’re dead, aren’t they?”

The Blue Sea officer leading the team nodded. “Yes. We’ve buried them.”

“Thank you. I’m Qiu Ka. What should we do next?”

This Black Researcher named Qiu Ka quickly composed himself. His reaction left the Blue Sea officer, who had been preparing to offer them some words of comfort, momentarily bewildered.

“Aren’t you going to ask what happened?”

Qiu Ka replied, “The code phrase has already told us everything. It means the plan failed and our colleagues are dead, but they found people worthy of our trust. We can trust you and follow your instructions.”

“If our colleagues hadn’t trusted you enough, they would never have said those words.”

She went on to recount the great rebellion that had taken place several hundred years ago.

To put it simply, the Science and Technology Institute had already discovered that something was wrong back then, but by the time they realized it, it was too late.

Some people had betrayed them. Those who remained had weathered countless hardships together, desperately trying to turn the tide. In the end, however, they had still failed to protect even the last remnants of the Science and Technology Institute.

Some researchers had families and couldn’t simply leave on their own, so they chose to stay and fight back. They covered the escape of another group of researchers who had no family ties, allowing them to flee and enter cryogenic pods, preserving a final spark of hope for the future.

“Seven hundred years. That’s how long we calculated the cryogenic period should last. Originally, we weren’t supposed to wake up until seven hundred years had passed. But since our colleagues decided to wake us early, that proves the time has indeed come for us to awaken.”

The Blue Sea officer was slightly stunned. “Your cryogenic pods can operate for seven hundred years?”

“Of course.” Qiu Ka looked at him. “Has technology regressed? In our time, cryogenic pods could preserve people for seven hundred years. They were used to freeze patients with terminal illnesses, allowing them to wake up again once a cure had been found for their diseases.”

The Blue Sea officer could only sigh. “I thought our current level of technology was already quite advanced. I didn’t realize technology was even more advanced in your era.”

Still, it made sense. If technological progress could have continued under the [Companies]’ methods, that would have been truly absurd.

He thought of the anonymous researcher who had endured unbearable pain, forcibly resisting the instinctive longing for release, just to tell Blue Sea the coordinates of this place.

“Can you tell us who knew the coordinates of this place? They’re truly someone worthy of admiration, but we still don’t know their name.”

Qiu Ka lowered her eyes slightly. The moment she heard this question, she knew what must have happened to their former colleagues.

Under what circumstances could someone be stripped of even their name?

Still, this had been one of the possibilities she’d considered upon waking. After all, their former colleagues had stayed behind for the sake of their families. Naturally, they would have been willing to do other things to ensure their families’ safety as well.

She suppressed the tears welling up, but her eyes remained red. Forcing herself to lift her head, she looked at the Blue Sea officer.

“Everyone.”

The Blue Sea officer was taken aback. “What?”

Qiu Ka replied, “There were seventy-nine people who stayed behind. Every single one of them knew the coordinates of the shelter.”

The Blue Sea officer fell silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.

“I can only tell you this: you’re Blue Sea residents now. Blue Sea will not spare anyone who has harmed you.”

He was going to apply for an assignment abroad.

He was going to personally twist the heads off those [Company] executives!!!

—And he wasn’t the only Blue Sea officer taking action.

Mineral deposits held enormous appeal for every Safe City.

And when those deposits belonged to the current overlord of Moon Silk, and the right to mine them had been explicitly granted by that overlord under a formal contract, they were all the more secure.

Nearly every Safe City still remaining on Moon Silk sprang into action.

They would make sure that, during what remained of their lives, the [Company] executives who had escaped would spend every moment drowning in fear and despair—

…

The ability user with the teleportation ability still had no idea what was coming.

After trying every possible way to wait for his own Safe City to show up, only to come up empty-handed, he had no choice but to go with the flow and enter Blue Sea Safe City alongside the other residents.

The main reason the [Teleportation] ability user was willing to enter Blue Sea Safe City was that he’d discovered the city didn’t restrict residents from coming and going.

Want to enter? Just register at the entrance.

Want to leave? You could do so at any time.

The [Teleportation] ability user: I’m just here to take a look.

He entered the Inner City.

He saw the residential facilities for Inner-City residents.

He checked out the newly opened movie theater.

He also visited the Inner-City hospital (the Temple), where he took the opportunity to ask about the prices of various medications and treatments for different illnesses.

The [Teleportation] ability user spent two whole days exploring the inner city, yet still couldn’t manage to see everything.

But he did confirm one thing: according to Blue Sea, the Safe City he’d previously lived in hadn’t been destroyed, nor had it left Moon Silk.

The [Teleportation] ability user was overjoyed.

He was still going to keep watch for his former Safe City.

Then, as quickly as possible, he would get his younger siblings out of there.

And bring them with him to join Blue Sea Safe City.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.191 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“Oh, heavens…”

Bo Huan, from Kadan’er Safe City, stared at the scene with a deathly pale face.

He had been rather confused about what was going on at first.

He’d originally been fighting [Zephyr] alongside the main force. Then, in the middle of the battle, his squad leader announced that [Ota] had started fighting [Norn] as well, so their unit was reassigned to deal with [Norn]’s remaining forces.

Those winged mutants were practically demons. [Norn]’s remaining forces had already been crippled by the mantle-piercing weapons, and then these mutants had proceeded to beat them into the ground.

Then [Ota] emerged victorious.

Bo Huan suddenly learned that [Ota] was actually a safe city called Blue Sea.

Before he could even process that revelation, he had already followed the main force to [Norn Company]’s headquarters.

Now, he no longer felt the slightest confusion over the fact that “[Ota] was Blue Sea.” After seeing those brains, Bo Huan’s mind had gone completely blank.

He had heard about the things the local [Companies] did, but hearing about them and witnessing them with his own eyes were two entirely different matters.

Especially when he watched the electrical currents being directed into the brains, constantly assaulting them and forcing them to think every second of every day. And when he looked at the Moon Silk script displaying scientific and technological knowledge on the giant screens, he noticed that approximately every three paragraphs, a line of tiny, densely packed text would appear.

[—Kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me please kill me kill me—]

With a deathly pale face, Bo Huan forced himself to keep reading the text displayed beneath the giant screen. It stated that the brain nearest to him had already been “working” for five hundred and thirty years.

Five hundred and thirty years.

Five hundred and thirty years of experiencing excruciating pain without a single second of respite, all while being forced to calculate various sets of data under that torment.

Bo Huan only had to imagine himself in that position for a moment to feel a chill run through his entire body. A sense of despair rapidly swept over him.

In his native civilization, an intelligent mind was a gift from heaven.

But on Moon Silk, an intelligent mind was practically a curse.

The most despairing aspect of this whole situation was that their minds had been thoroughly controlled. Each once-vibrant, brilliant life had been reduced to nothing more than a tool.

And not just any tool, either, but an extremely useful one capable of generating even greater profits for others.

Those who controlled these brains demanded that they think, and they were not allowed to stop.

All they could do was endure the pain, forever, throughout the long years that followed.

Bo Huan pressed his lips together and forced himself to look away from the nearest brain. He said nothing.

What could he possibly say?

As far as Blue Sea was concerned, he was an outsider himself. His own city lord had sent him along to share in the spoils of war. The fact that his identity had been exposed but Blue Sea hadn’t seized him was already fortunate enough.

And here were at least a hundred thousand brilliant brains. No matter who obtained them or where they ended up, their owner would essentially be able to leap straight from Technology Level 1 to Technology Level 7, then continue climbing the technological ladder as time went on.

Faced with such enormous potential gains, no one would be willing to let these brains go.

Bo Huan felt compassion for them, but his own life mattered more. The only thing he could do was avert his eyes.

As he lowered his head to stare at the ground, his squad leader returned, patted him on the shoulder, and handed him a pair of heavy-duty shears.

“Come on. I’ve got the tools ready, and here’s a pair for you. Your next task is to use these to cut the wires connected to the brains. Remember, cut every single wire.”

Holding the shears, Bo Huan froze.

“Why are we cutting the wires?”

He had assumed Blue Sea would transport the brains away together with their glass tanks. But if they cut the wires, wouldn’t the brains lose their viability?

The squad leader’s face was also slightly pale. Clearly, he couldn’t bear the scene here, either, though he was holding up reasonably well. He explained quite naturally,

“Cut the wires to give these brains a merciful end.”

Bo Huan froze again. As if parroting someone else’s words, he repeated stiffly, his tongue seemingly refusing to move.

“…A merciful end?”

“Yeah. To kill them.”

The squad leader sighed and patted Bo Huan on the shoulder.

“Brother, I know you can’t bear to do it. But trust me, this is the kindest thing we can do for these people. It’s what these brains want. We’re doing the right thing, understand?”

Bo Huan’s tongue still felt stiff.

“The right thing…”

Faced with at least a hundred thousand brains belonging to researchers who could dramatically increase an entire Safe City’s technological capabilities, Blue Sea had decided to give them a merciful end?

“We’ve already studied this thoroughly. These brains can only stay alive when they’re being electrocuted and forcibly kept in a state of suffering. Freezing them or trying anything else won’t work. So the only option is to end their lives. We can’t just leave them to suffer like this forever, can we? We did the same thing in [Zipa].”

“Did you know? They can hear us. The screens here transmit outside voices directly to them. But they can’t move or speak, and they have to remain in constant agony, forced to think endlessly under coercion. Even what they hear is beyond their control—”

As he spoke, the squad leader shuddered.

“Terrifying. My God, I’m going to pay a proper visit to the Temple and pray when we get back.”

Ever since Velvet Star, he had killed quite a few enemies. He had killed zombies, mutated beasts, and hostile combatants.

But killing an enemy was one thing. Torturing someone was another.

Watching this scene unfold, Cheng Qisheng did nothing but continue bestowing blessings upon the believers present, soothing their deeply shaken minds.

It wasn’t that Cheng Qisheng had never considered finding a gentler way to preserve these brains.

But even Moon Silk’s technology couldn’t accomplish that, so naturally, Blue Sea had even less chance of succeeding.

Blue Sea had even invited Xicao, an expert from the Duxi civilization, to examine them. However, Xicao explained that the Duxi civilization’s technological development was focused on transferring human consciousness into machines.

To achieve that, though, leaving aside whether the necessary equipment even existed, the human body itself had to remain intact. The brains on Moon Silk no longer met that requirement.

“Furthermore, if these brains really have been suffering continuously from electric shocks, as you described, without a single moment of respite, then even their thought processes have been damaged.”

Xicao explained, “No one can endure such agony. At this point, death is what they need most.”

Cheng Qisheng didn’t take long to reach her decision.

Since she couldn’t put an end to their suffering by other means, she would let them enter eternal peace.

[Norn] had possessed at least a hundred thousand genius brains, and hadn’t it still lost to Blue Sea?

Blue Sea wasn’t afraid of battle. Even without these brains, it could continue advancing, step by step.

“Our God above, may you sleep well.”

Meanwhile, the squad leader turned around. Offering a blessing, he began cutting through the various wires connected to the brain in the nearest vat without the slightest hesitation.

As one wire after another was severed, the giant screen above the brain first paused in the middle of its calculations, then displayed several lines of garbled text, as though trying to confirm something.

Finally, two Moon Silk characters appeared on the screen.

[Thank you]

The screen went dark, signifying that after enduring such prolonged torment, this brain—one that had never been given a name and was identified only by a number—could finally enter the world of eternal sleep.

Bo Huan looked at the darkened screen, then at the squad leader as he moved on to the next brain in a vat, and finally at the Blue Sea residents around him.

They were all doing the same thing.

Moving past one brain in a vat after another, they wielded their heavy-duty shears, freeing each one from its endless agony.

Bo Huan felt as though a massive boulder had slammed into his heart, then rebounded, leaving him unable to utter a single word.

For some inexplicable reason, his eyes grew red, and his nose began to sting. He strode forward and chose the nearest brain in a vat, helping it find release as well.

From the perspective of a city lord, Blue Sea’s decision might have seemed overly idealistic, giving far too little consideration to profit and the future.

But Bo Huan was a resident.

As he forcefully snipped through one wire after another, he made up his mind.

When he caught up with the squad leader, he continued cutting as he asked, “Captain, can I join Blue Sea?”

“Of course! Once you join, you’ll become an Outer-City resident.”

Many Safe Cities were divided into different social tiers. Bo Huan understood that much.

“Then what do I need to do to become an Inner-City resident? Is there some kind of merit-based system?”

The squad leader carefully took out the small statue of the Great Creator God of Blue Sea that hung around his neck.

“Blue Sea worships our God.”

“If you become a believer of the Great Creator God of Blue Sea, you can become an Inner-City resident.”

Bo Huan had already guessed that Blue Sea worshipped a deity. After all, ever since they had stopped pretending to be [Ota], they had been saying things like ‘Our God above’ and ‘Oh, my God’ at every turn.

But he hadn’t expected that the requirement for becoming an Inner-City resident of Blue Sea was simply to become a believer.

Worship the Creator God of Blue Sea?

Standing among countless brains in vats, Bo Huan gazed intently at the small pendant depicting the statue.

—Cheng Qisheng sensed it: a new chain of faith was slowly rising within her vast sea of believers.

After feeling that warm, gentle pat on the head, a single tear finally fell from Bo Huan’s reddened eyes.

“My God…”

How could he describe this feeling?

It was as though a wanderer who had been away from home for years had finally found his way back.

He could feel that, at this very moment, the squad leader beside him and all the other Blue Sea residents he had never even met before had become people he could trust.

So this is the world the captain and the others experience?

It really was… wonderful.

—One giant screen after another went dark under the tireless efforts of Blue Sea’s residents.

[Thank you]

[Thank you]

[Kill me kill me kill me—thank you]

[Thank you]

Countless expressions of gratitude were the final messages displayed on the giant screens before they went dark.

Once they realized what the people of Blue Sea were doing, almost all the brains seemed desperate for them to hurry.

The residents of Blue Sea understood. Who wouldn’t want to be freed a little faster, then a little faster still, after enduring eternal suffering and finally glimpsing the hope of release?

One Blue Sea resident had even developed muscle memory from all the snipping.

He would snip-snip through the wires connected to the brain in the vat on his left, then execute a smooth turn and snip-snip through the wires connected to the brain on his right.

—Snip, snip.

After finishing with the wires on his left, the resident glanced at the giant screen to make sure it had gone dark, then immediately turned around.

Snip, snip… Huh??

The giant screen above the brain in the vat on the right displayed something different from the others.

It wasn’t a string of Moon Silk numerals that could be vaguely deciphered, nor was it a [Thank you] or a jumble of garbled characters. Instead, several neat, orderly lines of text appeared on the screen.

The Blue Sea resident hesitated.

Cheng Qisheng’s spiritual power immediately detected what was happening.

She promptly issued a divine oracle, ordering the believer whose shears were already poised over one of the wires connected to the brain in the vat to stop.

Among Cheng Qisheng’s believers, the prophet Gong Cheng and his butler, Xie Wuke, were both natives of Moon Silk.

Once Gong Cheng became a believer of the Great Creator God of Blue Sea, Cheng Qisheng gained an understanding of the Moon Silk language and written script that her believers knew.

She studied the lines of Moon Silk text on the giant screen.

[Please do not cut my life-support lines. At least, not yet. Thank you for everything you have done. Thank you for your help. Thank you for saving my colleagues and my descendants. Pain—I heard you. I saw you. I know you can be trusted—

Please go to these coordinates and open the underground shelter there. There are 451 people inside, 39 of whom are Black-tier researchers. All the rest are White-tier. Please take them away and save them. Once they learn what you have done, they will work for you.]

Beneath the message was a set of coordinates identifying a location somewhere on Moon Silk.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.190.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Cheng Qisheng’s mental power also began focusing its attention on the [Norn Company].

[Zephyr] had already been reduced to rubble. Aside from the weapons on the ground, there was practically nothing else left to salvage as spoils of war.

As for [Zipa], its upper management had fled with some of its resources. Apart from things they couldn’t take with them, they had carried off pretty much everything that could be moved.

But it was precisely because of this that Blue Sea had been able to seize a [Company] with virtually no bloodshed and obtain one [Heaven’s Punishment] weapon. Cheng Qisheng was therefore quite content with the outcome.

—So, strictly speaking, [Norn Company] was the first complete jackpot Blue Sea had obtained after being rewarded with three [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons.

Rather than saying that Blue Sea’s residents had opened the gates to [Norn Company], it would be more accurate to say that after destroying its automated defense system, they had blasted their way through its massive, sturdy isolation barrier.

That was right. The headquarters of the three major [Companies] were less like corporate offices and more like entire cities.

If the apocalypse hadn’t been brought about by the [Companies] themselves, this place really would have looked like an enormous surface-level safe city built for the end of the world.

Never mind all the scattered branch offices. The area occupied by the headquarters alone was larger than Blue Sea Safe City.

“My God!!!”

Blue Sea’s residents, accustomed to the desolate landscapes of Moon Silk, were stunned by the sight before them after destroying the outer barrier.

This was especially true of those who were either flying in the sky or riding in airships, giving them a much farther-reaching view.

They could clearly see that this vast expanse contained lush green plains, rolling hills and mountains, and even an enormous artificial lake.

Clusters of cities stood in concentric rings. Surrounding them was an entire industrial manufacturing complex, with individual factories arranged like little soldiers guarding the cities.

Straight, wide roads stretched out in every direction.

Blue Sea had also built roads in Broken River, but its roads were primarily intended for transportation and the movement of goods. Combined with Blue Sea’s aesthetic preferences, the overall style was rather rugged and utilitarian.

[Norn Company] was different.

With the apocalypse having already engulfed Moon Silk, even a single naturally growing plant out in the wilderness could fetch an astronomical price. Yet here, at [Norn Company]’s headquarters, there were neatly trimmed ornamental plants, carefully sculpted into decorative shapes, lining both sides of the roads.

Whether it was the factories’ architecture, the lakes, the mountains and rivers, or the towering skyscrapers at the very center, everything looked exquisitely refined at a glance.

One could even call it art.

Cheng Qisheng was rather surprised by what she saw as well.

She knew the [Company] wouldn’t let its own people live in poor conditions, but this standard of living was far too good! From the looks of it, this place was even more advanced and comfortable than Blue Star.

No wonder the [Company] was so confident.

The environment here really was much better than that of a safe city.

It was just that when compared with the vast, barren wasteland outside, the contrast was particularly ironic.

“This is truly an eye-opening experience!”

A Blue Sea resident gazed at the scene and sighed with deep emotion.

But he didn’t think any less of his own divine temple simply because the local power had such a comfortable living environment.

After finishing his exclamation, he flapped his wings, glided lightly to the ground, and headed straight for the ornamental greenery along the roadside.

“I wonder if these trees can be used as building materials. Or we could burn them into charcoal… Can we pull them out now?”

Another companion landed beside him.

“Don’t pull them out yet. The Temple hasn’t arrived. These trees look pretty nice, all green and lush. Maybe we can transplant them back to Blue Sea later. They’d look quite good there, too.”

“Sure, sure! Hey, I’ve got an idea. We could plant them near the kindergarten, so the little kids wouldn’t have to climb fake trees anymore.”

“Some of these trees are species we’ve never seen outside. Could they be natural plants that used to grow on Moon Silk? Mark them down. Once the Temple arrives, we can have the experts take a look. Maybe they have all sorts of uses, just like the long-tendril trees!”

While they discussed the trees, another Blue Sea resident sprawled out on the road and began examining the material beneath her.

“[Norn Company]’s vehicles should be hovercars. These roads are assembled from high-strength, lightweight alloy panels and composite ceramic plates.”

She raised a hand and tapped the surface, a satisfied expression appearing on her face.

“The panels are intact. We just need to dismantle the locking joints, and we can lift them out and transport them away. The metal cables underneath can be recycled, too.”

Nearby, another resident was studying the material of the gigantic isolation barrier that was being smashed to pieces. Hearing this, his eyes lit up.

“Hovercars? Doesn’t that mean Blue Sea will soon have this technology, too?”

The resident lying on the ground replied, “The Science and Technology Institute was already researching hovercar technology. Now that we have actual models to study, it shouldn’t be long before Blue Sea can fully crack the technology.”

Some Blue Sea residents weren’t particularly knowledgeable about technology and had no interest in trees, either. They simply jogged over to the nearest [Norn Company] supply transit hub, tapped and knocked on various parts of it, and calculated how to dismantle it and transport all the usable construction materials back to Blue Sea.

And so, Cheng Qisheng witnessed the following scene:

Faced with this exquisite little world that looked like a work of art, the residents of Blue Sea were busy tearing up roads and digging up soil.

Not a trace of envy crossed their minds at the sight of such a beautiful environment. Their only thought was, Wow! So many good things! I’m taking them all home!

Groups of residents crouched here and flew around over there. They even labeled the earthworms underground as suitable for taking back home, looking utterly determined to carry every useful thing in the entire area back to Blue Sea.

Cheng Qisheng smiled and gently patted her believers on the head, watching as they dug around here and there, then suddenly looked up in delighted surprise, gazing toward the sky with faces full of happiness.

In theory, even after Blue Sea had breached [Norn Company]’s headquarters, there should still have been small pockets of resistance.

After all, what had truly been wiped out was [Norn Company]’s military force.

It was much like a war between safe cities. Once one side’s military strength was destroyed, the rules would automatically determine that the war had ended.

However, as Blue Sea explored [Norn Company]’s headquarters, it didn’t encounter a single opposing force. Clearly, [Norn]’s upper management had already fled in a hurry.

The good news was that although they had taken their trusted subordinates with them, they hadn’t been able to carry away the material resources, which required enormous amounts of space.

If Blue Sea really wanted to track them down, it shouldn’t be a problem, either.

After all, Blue Sea was now the undisputed ultimate villain of Moon Silk. Having wiped out all three major [Companies] in one fell swoop, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the entire planet now belonged to Blue Sea.

But Cheng Qisheng didn’t order Old Eighth to pursue them.

What would be the point?

Judging by the usual tactics of the [Company]’s upper management, they had probably fled to some underground shelter they’d prepared long ago for emergencies. They would hide there, consumed by resentment, hatred, panic, and fear, hoping to wait until the storm passed before making a comeback.

But according to the timeline, Moon Silk would face the Great Annihilation in another six months.

By then, all their ambitions and schemes would turn to nothing.

—Blue Sea didn’t have much time to spare, either.

They had to use these six months to reclaim all the “inheritance” left behind by the three major [Companies] and bring it back to the Safe City. At the same time, they needed to collect every resource they could find on Moon Silk.

The native inhabitants of Moon Silk also had to be brought back to the Safe City from every region of the planet.

Putting everything else aside, just the vast mineral deposits buried beneath this planet’s surface would be enough to keep Blue Sea mining day and night without ever exhausting them.

The good news, however, was that the three major [Companies] had their own mining technologies. Now that Blue Sea had inherited them, half a year of mining should yield an impressive harvest.

Blue Sea had already gained so much on this planet.

Cheng Qisheng’s mental power passed over the heads of one believer after another, following the perspectives of different believers as it continuously ventured deeper into the complex.

She saw vast, empty military barracks, complete with soldier training grounds, tactical airships that hadn’t been deployed to the battlefield, and fully equipped hangars.

—All Blue Sea’s now.

She saw heavy equipment factories, where all kinds of armored vehicles, weapon casings, and alloy components moved back and forth along suspended freight transport routes.

—All Blue Sea’s now.

She saw robot production lines. These robots had no independent thought, but they were agile enough to help humans with a wide range of tasks. Having received no explicit orders to stop, they continued working diligently on the production lines even after the [Company] had been destroyed.

—All Blue Sea’s now.

She saw energy production facilities. Inside were not only various power generation units, but also three enormous factories for energy storage batteries. They were already fully operational, so Blue Sea could simply dismantle them and take them away.

The more Cheng Qisheng’s mental power saw, the more excited it became. It swept past the remaining underground vertical farming complexes, tens of thousands of enormous supply warehouses, countless hover vehicles that could be brought straight back to Blue Sea and put to use, and technology parks filled with all manner of equipment, semi-finished products, and completed goods…

Gradually, her mental power came to a halt.

Every [Company] had its own technology park.

But compared to what Colleen remembered of Moon Silk before the apocalypse, when at least a group of White-tier and lower-tier researchers would have been bustling about like worker bees, the situation here was clearly very different.

Now that the [Company] had risen to the very top of the world, it had completely shed its outward facade and become even more brazen in its actions.

The entire technology park was silent. Not a single staff member could be seen. Only robots moved constantly between the various giant screens, following their programmed instructions.

Like bees gathering nectar, they collected the information displayed on the different screens and consolidated it, or transferred it to other screens.

And beneath those giant screens were rows upon rows of brains in vats.

There were at least a hundred thousand of them.

Even the residents of Blue Sea, who had mentally prepared themselves for what they might see, felt their souls tremble when confronted with the sight of brains operating continuously under electrical stimulation in a space that stretched beyond the limits of their vision.

The place had been cleaned meticulously. There wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere. But that only made it even more unbearable for Old Eighth and the others.

This was more horrifying than blood smeared across every wall. The suffering seemed to overflow and fill the entire space, like an unfathomably deep ocean. Once immersed in it, one couldn’t help but feel as though they were suffocating.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.190.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

What did they mean… [Ota] was a Safe City?

The residents of the other Safe Cities who were still on the battlefield were left utterly bewildered.

There were nearly two hundred Safe Cities on Moon Silk, all of them at the Tier 5 or 6, with populations that were by no means small.

The number of residents dispatched by each City Lord was generally around one or two million.

Some Safe Cities knew their residents weren’t particularly strong and only wanted to get a little benefit out of the situation, so they sent out a small number of people. Others believed they had plenty of residents and could afford the losses, so they dispatched several million at a time.

Taking everything into account, approximately twenty-five million residents from other Safe Cities had gathered on this battlefield.

Among them were also large numbers of ability users.

And they weren’t all fighting on the battlefield where the [Zephyr Company] was located. Two other groups of residents had followed Blue Sea’s other armies to the battlefields of [Zipa] and [Norn].

“Hurry up and get into the city! We still need to go to [Zipa] and [Norn] to pick up the people over there!”

As large numbers of Blue Sea residents rushed toward their own Safe City from every direction on the battlefield, they didn’t forget to remind the residents of the other Safe Cities, either.

Those who had no close ties with the people of Blue Sea could only squat down on the ground and try to make sense of what had happened.

“[Ota] was a Safe City in disguise.”

“Our City Lords sent us here to disguise ourselves as locals, pledge our allegiance to [Ota], and go to war.”

“So, what happened was that we disguised ourselves as locals and ended up in Blue Sea, which was disguised as [Ota]. Then we attacked the real [Companies], while the Blue Sea Safe City, disguised as [Ota], might have known all along that we were residents pretending to be locals.”

Some people were getting a headache just trying to work it all out. Others were still clutching their heads in bewilderment.

“No, I don’t care what [Ota] is or what Blue Sea is! I just want to know—what about my Safe City? I mean the one I was living in before!”

One resident ventured a guess. “Could [Ota] have… could Blue Sea have wiped it out?”

That was entirely possible!

They had fought on the battlefield alongside Blue Sea’s forces, so they knew full well how formidable these people were. The idea that Blue Sea had wiped out all the other Safe Cities somehow didn’t seem surprising at all.

A Blue Sea resident happened to pass by and overheard the group becoming increasingly confident in their claims that the Blue Sea Safe City had destroyed every other Safe City. He hurried over to set the record straight.

“Don’t make things up! We haven’t started a Safe City war.”

If they really had, their God would have long since summoned people to join the fight.

Without a divine revelation, that meant no war had been declared.

The Blue Sea residents passing by might have offered only a word or two of explanation, but those who had always had Blue Sea friends by their side were hearing a great deal more than that.

“Back then, our Safe City was disguised as [Ota], and none of our residents were allowed to reveal our true identities to outsiders. So we could only interact with you as [Ota] employees. But my name is real! I’m really called Li Bujing.”

Yu Bo, the ability user with the Talisman Paper ability, stood on the land that had been reduced to ruins. Looking at Li Bujing, who was only seventeen or eighteen herself, she gave her an embarrassed, sheepish grin.

Li Bujing: “…”

Come on. Yu Bo had traveled through so many worlds and met so many people. She was practically an experienced veteran by now.

It was perfectly reasonable that she hadn’t seen through an entire Safe City’s disguise.

But Li Bujing was different. Just one look at the girl was enough for Yu Bo to discern her underlying personality: carefree, good-natured, and fond of a lively atmosphere. She had probably always been well protected and hadn’t suffered much hardship, but she wasn’t afraid of fighting, either. Most importantly, she would protect anyone she considered a friend without the slightest hesitation.

Someone with that kind of personality shouldn’t be very good at lying, and she certainly shouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut about things.

So how on earth had she managed to fool Yu Bo?

Li Bujing, meanwhile, wasn’t thinking nearly as much as Yu Bo. She was simply relieved that she could finally tell her friend the truth about certain things. As she spoke, she began rummaging through her belongings.

“Back when we were pretending to be [Ota] employees, there were so many things we couldn’t share with you. But now that’s all over!”

She took out a green stone, turned it upside down, and shook it over the ground. In an instant, a pile of items came tumbling out with a clatter, accompanied by pots, bowls, and all sorts of kitchen utensils.

Yu Bo and her teammates’ eyes widened.

A space stone?!

The entire team stood rooted to the spot like a bunch of country bumpkins, staring blankly as Li Bujing crouched down to rummage through the things for whatever she needed.

“So…”

Yu Bo gathered her thoughts before speaking.

“Not only are you not an ordinary [Ota] employee, you’re not an ordinary Blue Sea resident, either. In Blue Sea, are you some kind of powerful big shot?”

Looking at Li Bujing’s sincere eyes, she thought for a moment and revised her guess.

“Or are your parents some kind of powerful big shots?”

If that were the case, a lot of the things about Li Bujing that had always struck her as out of place would suddenly make sense.

For example, even in an apocalyptic world, Li Bujing still seemed to retain a certain innocence.

Yu Bo had to admit that this very quality—the girl’s innocent sincerity—was precisely what had drawn her to Li Bujing in the first place.

She was afraid of being betrayed, so teammates with simple minds were safer to have around. They were straightforward, and they took things at face value: whatever you said, they believed.

That was also why her team had so many lovable idiots.

But even having idiot teammates came with risks. At their age, after surviving the apocalypse, anyone who could stubbornly cling to such an idiotically straightforward personality had to be either a hardheaded fool or a stubborn mule.

Li Bujing, however, was different.

Although she was simplehearted and sincere, she was also clever. To Yu Bo, finding her had been like discovering a priceless treasure.

Before this, Yu Bo had even figured out how she would persuade Li Bujing to leave with her.

But now, everything had been turned upside down. Li Bujing was a Safe City resident, too—and one who could casually pull out a space stone.

Yu Bo’s heart sank. She knew there was absolutely no way she could lure the girl away now.

“I’m not some big shot.”

Li Bujing looked at her in confusion.

“Other than the fact that I wasn’t an [Ota] employee, everything I told you about myself before was true.”

“I’m just an ordinary Blue Sea resident. School was on break, and I passed the exam, so I was allowed to come out and participate in combat. I’m just a regular person!”

Yu Bo: “…”

What kind of ordinary person carried a space stone around with them?!

“This?” Li Bujing asked, putting the things she didn’t need back into the green stone. “I picked it up in another apocalyptic world. Back then, we weren’t old enough to go far, so we could only scavenge around the outskirts of our Safe City. I was lucky and managed to pick up several of them in one go.”

“Later, I found out they were space stones. I kept one for myself and gave the rest to my family, one each.”

Yu Bo raised an eyebrow at that. “You picked up space stones, and your Safe City didn’t make you hand them over? Or pay taxes?”

“Nope! You only have to pay taxes if you sell them. I didn’t sell mine. I kept it for my own use, so of course I didn’t have to pay any taxes.”

She added another point. “Oh, right! It’s also true that you get to keep any spoils you obtain on the battlefield through your own abilities. At least, that’s how things work in Blue Sea.”

As she explained, Li Bujing continued taking inventory of the various items scattered across the ground. Only after confirming that she’d taken out everything she wanted did she clap her hands in satisfaction and nod.

“All done!”

Yu Bo looked at the collection of items on the ground.

A barbecue grill, charcoal, skewers, tongs, scissors, a small brush, cooking oil, chili powder, honey, plates, a picnic mat, and bags upon bags of meat…

Li Bujing had even taken a small refrigerator out of her space stone. Inside were bottles of ice-cold water that looked like soft drinks.

Even Yu Bo, who had seen plenty of the world and could still think calmly and analyze the current situation after Blue Sea had openly revealed its identity, was momentarily dumbfounded by this spectacle.

“You’re going to have a barbecue? Here?”

“Of course! I’m hungry.” Li Bujing said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Sitting on the picnic mat she’d quickly spread out, she tilted her head back and smiled at Yu Bo.

“And besides, didn’t I tell you before? Once we had some free time, we’d treat you all to a meal.”

Li Bujing had indeed said that—but that had been a month ago. Yu Bo had assumed the girl had just been saying it offhandedly.

Who would have thought she had actually remembered all this time? The so-called “once we have some free time” had meant that after Blue Sea revealed its true identity, she could finally take out these barbecue supplies, which seemed extravagantly luxurious on Moon Silk.

“But… but aren’t you all going back?”

Yu Bo looked toward the Blue Sea Safe City, which was still enormous even from this angle.

Li Bujing waved a hand. “There are too many people. The line will probably be really long, and I’m not in a hurry to go back anyway. So we might as well eat first.”

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Yu Bo, her affection and cheerfulness just as strong as before.

“Or, if you don’t want barbecue, we can go look around near the Safe City. People will definitely have already set up stalls by now.”

Liu Tiegu, who was still trying to wrap his brain around the revelation that [Ota] was a Safe City, listened in utter bewilderment.

“Set up stalls?”

“Mm-hmm!” Li Bujing explained as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. “After a large-scale operation like this, residents are allowed extra time to enter the city because they bring back so much loot. Everything has to be disinfected and go through security checks. Some residents also want to exchange their spoils for points, so they need time to ask about prices and things like that. All of that makes the lines really long. That’s when people start setting up stalls right there on the spot. Whatever you want to eat, you can just buy it on the spot.”

Yu Bo had already thought [Ota] was an utterly unbelievable [Company].

But now that [Ota] had turned out to be Blue Sea, she still found Blue Sea to be an utterly unbelievable Safe City.

Li Bujing continued looking at them expectantly.

“So, are we having barbecue, or are we going to buy something else from the stalls?”

Yu Bo silently sat down.

“Barbecue, I guess.”

The remaining teammates sat down as well. Feeling a little awkward but also rather excited, they began trying to figure out which tasks they could help with among the pile of tools.

Barbecuing right there in the middle of the apocalypse, without a care in the world… In all these years, it was the first time they’d ever done something like this.

“How do you turn this grill on?”

“Whoa! This is some good charcoal. Come to think of it, making charcoal is actually my specialty. Back when I was at the Safe City before the last one, I made a fortune producing charcoal in an apocalyptic world. Too bad all my savings disappeared when that Safe City fell.”

“What kind of meat is this? Sea monster meat? You’ve even been to a sea monster world? Oh my god, what do sea monsters look like?”

“That smells amazing! So amazing! I know it’s not cooked yet, but I’m Liu Tiegu, with an iron stomach! Bujing, just let me have a bite. I definitely won’t get sick from it!”

The enormous Safe City stood quietly in the distance—

Vast numbers of Blue Sea residents, along with residents from other Safe Cities, were converging toward it.

Meanwhile, this group was happily enjoying their barbecue.

Anyone looking out over the scene would have noticed that quite a few Blue Sea residents had simply pulled out all kinds of equipment and started cooking right where they stood.

Some Blue Sea residents didn’t have space stones or hadn’t brought any cooking equipment. But when they got hungry, they didn’t head toward the Safe City to look for food stalls, either. Instead, they looked around for people who were already cooking, then approached with gifts to ask if they could join the meal.

The gifts were usually various kinds of weapons or other resources they’d picked up on the battlefield.

Some Blue Sea residents who really knew how to eat went straight from one household to another, sampling a little here and a little there.

One person even came over carrying a Moon Silk rifle and traded it to Li Bujing for a roasted leg of lamb.

Yu Bo and her teammates watched the scene in astonishment. Heaven knew that when the other person had first approached them carrying a gun, every single one of them had jumped to their feet, thinking they were about to face an attack.

Who would have expected the gun to be used to trade for food instead?

And both Li Bujing and the Blue Sea resident who’d made the trade acted as though this were perfectly normal.

Yu Bo and her teammates watched with every hair on their bodies standing on end as the other person cheerfully handed the Moon Silk rifle to Li Bujing, then walked away, satisfied with his roasted leg of lamb.

Looking down at the meat in their own bowls, then exchanging glances with their still-nervous teammates, they all felt an inexplicable urge to laugh.

Li Bujing put the rifle away. “Come on! Let’s keep eating!”

Yu Bo took a deep breath. “Let’s eat!!”

Amid the ruins, the aroma of grilled meat drifted through the air as a group of people sat together, laughing and chatting merrily.

At that moment, no one mentioned the future or how they were going to return to the Kadan’er Safe City.

They were simply enjoying a barbecue together. Nothing more.

…

Meanwhile, the Blue Sea troops stationed at the former [Norn Company] had also successfully destroyed the key mechanisms controlling the various doors.

They shoved open one heavy door after another and began the process of claiming [Norn]’s legacy.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.189 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

[The remaining contribution points and rewards, along with a set of rules for the remaining world to organize itself, will be issued within two hours at the latest. The remaining Safe Cities are asked to wait patiently.]

The City Lord group chat once again witnessed a legendary moment: complete silence.

It was perfectly understandable.

After all, the nearly two hundred Safe Cities that remained had a combined contribution of only 8%.

Besides, no City Lord was concerned anymore about the fact that the rewards would be distributed in a few hours.

Across the various regions of Moon Silk, the City Lords of the Safe Cities that had just been relocated—some at random, others to designated coordinates—wore expressions that were practically identical to those of people who had seen a ghost.

What the hell?!

What was going on?!

Who was Blue Sea?

Oh! That was the City Lord who had barely said anything since joining the group chat!

If Blue Sea had the highest contribution, then what exactly was going on with [Ota]?

Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that [Ota] had done most of the heavy lifting in this battle.

When the massive army of mutant soldiers with wings sprouting from their backs charged straight into the ranks of [Norn Company]’s soldiers, they tore through the enemy like ferocious beasts ripping apart their prey. The scene was absolutely bloody and brutal.

Although [Ota] had been the first to arrive and therefore had the smallest force, its soldiers had nevertheless managed to drive the remaining [Norn Company] troops into a complete rout.

This war had already cemented an image of [Ota] in the minds of the various City Lords: an utterly ruthless force with seemingly unstoppable power.

Could it be that [Ota] had swallowed up Blue Sea Safe City and replaced its original City Lord?

It wasn’t that the City Lords from the various civilizations couldn’t think of any other possibilities.

The problem was that, from the moment [Ota] had made its appearance until now, its attitude had been terrifyingly domineering, and its combat strength had been off the charts. The impression it left on everyone was that it was absolutely capable of doing something as outrageous as tearing apart a Safe City and replacing its City Lord.

While the other City Lords remained silent in shock, Wen Huahua, who had been quietly carrying out her vow to stop spamming the group chat and remain silent until dawn, had finally reached her long-awaited “dawn.”

[Coriander Safe City: Boss is mighty!! All hail the boss! Liking the boss’s post! Showering the boss with praise.jpg]

[Blue Sea Safe City: =v=]

Coriander’s appearance did an excellent job of breaking the silence in the group chat.

Before going into seclusion, this guy had been one of the more active participants in Moon Silk’s City Lord group chat. His familiar messages and familiar tone of voice helped ease the tension weighing on the minds of the various City Lords.

[Sweet Tofu Pudding Is the True God Safe City: I’m completely lost. What on earth is going on here?]

[Chirpy Fish Safe City: Boss, we didn’t know those were your people on the battlefield! If we’d known, we wouldn’t have tried to steal any of [Ota]’s weapons. Please spare us!]

[Where’s My Mom Safe City: @Blue Sea Safe City Boss, you’re way too strong! To wrest the contribution points away from [Ota] single-handedly in a battle like this—you’re incredible!! I’m kneeling before you, boss!]

For a while, all kinds of extravagant praise and congratulatory messages poured in one after another.

As the saying went, not every City Lord could quickly come to terms with the situation at hand. But now that someone had stepped forward to offer congratulations, wouldn’t failing to follow suit risk offending the person in question?

The Tier 5 and 6 City Lords truly were on a different level from those at the fourth tier and below. Every one of them seemed sincere and enthusiastic. With Blue Sea at the center of the conversation, their attitudes were certainly flattering, yet they managed to make it look entirely natural. Every message seemed designed to put the reader in a good mood.

Nevertheless, Cheng Qisheng could still tell that most of the City Lords were secretly probing her, both openly and indirectly, trying to figure out exactly what her relationship with [Ota] was.

With all three major companies eliminated and three [Heaven’s Punishments] in her possession, Cheng Qisheng no longer had any reason to keep her identity hidden.

She told them the truth.

[Ota is Blue Sea, and Blue Sea is Ota.]

The group chat fell into complete silence once again.

[Blue Sea Safe City: To be precise, there never was an [Ota] in the first place. To complete the world mission, my Safe City disguised itself as the [Ota] Company. =v=]

In everyone’s impression, City Lords who were willing to use emoticons or reaction images in the group chat were generally easier to get along with.

Even if someone had ulterior motives, at least their everyday manner of speaking could make them seem relatively harmless.

But at this moment, as the various City Lords stared at that tiny little “=v=” emoticon, they felt a chill run through their entire bodies.

Before [Ota] launched its war, the three major companies hadn’t been in the state they’d been in recently, where practically anyone could take a swing at them. Back then, it would hardly have been an exaggeration to say that they held absolute power over everything.

Are you telling us that while we were on this bizarre, downright absurd planet of Moon Silk, doing everything we could to keep a low profile, hiding our Safe Cities wherever we could, and sending out our residents to painstakingly curry favor with local powers and secretly mine resources everywhere like underground rats—

Blue Sea Safe City had simply parachuted straight to the very top of Moon Silk’s power hierarchy?

What shocked the City Lords wasn’t that they’d proceeded with caution while Blue Sea had managed to reach the finish line directly.

What truly stunned them was that Blue Sea Safe City had actually pulled it off.

A Safe City had successfully disguised itself as a company in Moon Silk’s extremely hostile environment, and not a single person had noticed. None of its residents had let anything slip. The Moon Silk natives they’d interacted with hadn’t detected anything amiss, and they’d even managed to fool the City Lords, who, to some extent, possessed a kind of “God’s-eye view” of the situation.

Then, without making a fuss, she’d steadily driven a wedge between the three major companies, gathered the local forces of Moon Silk, and allowed the ability users of other Safe Cities to join the fray. In the end, she’d orchestrated a war in which Blue Sea achieved a contribution rate of up to 92%.

Just how meticulous did the planning have to be? How loyal did her residents have to be? And just how powerful did she herself have to be to accomplish something like that?!

The City Lords began showering her with more varied words of praise, making sure not to repeat themselves. Not a single person complained, “That was pretty underhanded of you! Weren’t you just tricking us into sending our residents to help you pave the way?” or anything along those lines.

Come on!

Forget about Blue Sea Safe City’s own strength. With the weapons from Moon Silk added to the mix, its power had practically reached the pinnacle of perfection.

There was just one thing to consider.

Everyone in the City Lord group chat had witnessed with their own eyes as the three [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons awarded by the world mission ended up in Blue Sea Safe City’s hands.

What difference was there between this and facing a big shot who controlled numerous ultimate weapons and saying, “Hello! I’m here to reason with you. If I’m in the right, you can’t use your ultimate weapons against me”?

Most importantly, if they really dug into the matter, they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

The entire plan had been about taking advantage of someone else’s military strength to achieve their own goals.

They had been the ones who decided to exploit [Ota]. If [Ota] had been a local power, then everyone would have been happy.

But it turned out that [Ota] was actually one of their own—a Safe City. What right did they have to tell it, “Why didn’t you let us exploit you properly”?

What would that be if not asking for death?!

Oh, no. Actually, there was a difference.

If they said something like that to Blue Sea and made an enemy of it, they’d still be part of the same Safe City system. Even if they managed to escape this world, there would always be a chance of running into each other in another world someday.

And then they’d truly be dead beyond any hope of dying further.

So, the City Lord group chat remained a scene of perfect harmony and mutual celebration.

Of course, there were also City Lords who simply didn’t believe Blue Sea’s story at all.

[Ota] had begun operating in the Broken River Wasteland nearly two years ago.

If it had really been a Safe City from the beginning, there was no way its residents could have gone that long without revealing a single clue.

Anyone who had ever been a City Lord knew that human beings were complicated creatures. The larger the population, the harder it was to keep a secret.

In this battle alone, [Ota] had deployed at least two hundred million soldiers.

Two hundred million people!

How could every single one of them have kept their mouths shut while maintaining such a convincing disguise?

They firmly believed that the real Blue Sea had actually ceased to exist. There had been no disguise of [Ota] whatsoever; the real [Ota] had been operating all along. For some unknown reason, it had broken through the cognitive lock and replaced the original Blue Sea City Lord.

So when Blue Sea warmly invited them, saying, “You all left in such a hurry that you forgot to take your residents with you. Come back and collect your people!” the City Lords remained silent.

Go back?

Not a chance.

What was the difference between this and a tiger that had already bitten wolves to death and mauled bears to death, turning to a group of rabbits and saying, Come on, hop around inside my mouth for a bit. I swear I won’t eat you?

And it wasn’t just the City Lords who firmly believed that [Ota] had replaced Blue Sea. Even those who believed that [Ota] was merely a disguise adopted by Blue Sea Safe City had begun playing dead right alongside them.

Even the dozen or so Tier 6 Safe Cities took exactly the same stance.

But remaining silent wasn’t an option either.

It was like living in a peaceful society when your boss tagged everyone in the company group chat with a message. Even if nobody particularly wanted to reply, they still had to take turns responding with “Received.”

[Where’s My Mom Safe City: I need to get things organized internally, so I won’t be coming over just yet, okay? Sending the boss a heart~]

[Stopwatch Safe City: Same here. We just finished a war, and I really can’t spare the time right now.]

[Coriander Safe City: Boss, I’ll sit this one out. I didn’t send any residents out in the first place, hehe. I’ll meet up with you when it’s time to leave this world!]

[Stonefish Safe City: I only sent out a tiny number of residents, and their combat strength was terrible. They should already be dead, so there’s no need for me to go. By the way, boss, would you like some milk tea? Thank you for helping us complete the world mission. Please accept this box of milk tea!]

Apart from Coriander, who had told the truth, every other Safe City came up with its own excuse.

They were enthusiastic, fawning, and full of congratulations—but none of them was willing to get close.

The group chat might have looked perfectly harmonious, but in reality, the think tanks of every Safe City were working at full speed, frantically trying to determine whether Blue Sea was telling the truth or lying, whether she harbored any hostility toward them, and exactly how this entire charade had begun.

To some extent, today was Blue Sea Day, because nearly two hundred Safe Cities, from top to bottom, were all revolving around Blue Sea.

The situation was especially bad for the Safe City belonging to City Lord Greenroot.

“That’s the thirteenth City Lord who’s come to me to fish for information.”

Greenroot, the City Lord from the Treant civilization, reached up and ruffled the leaves on top of his head.

“No, seriously, why does everyone think I’m Blue Sea’s plant? Shouldn’t that Coriander guy look much more like someone from Blue Sea’s side?!”

The chief steward beside him said, “Uh… perhaps it’s because City Lord Coriander barely said anything toward the end, whereas you were the one who drove the entire process of recognizing and approaching [Ota].”

To be honest, the only reason the chief steward himself hadn’t reached the same conclusion was that he’d stayed by his City Lord’s side throughout the whole process.

If he hadn’t witnessed everything firsthand, even he would probably have suspected that Greenroot was a plant working for Blue Sea, given the outcome.

Greenroot exclaimed, “I genuinely have no idea what Blue Sea is up to! I was just doing what I thought was the best way to complete the world mission!!”

Another private message popped up, asking him in a friendly, enthusiastic tone what kind of person Blue Sea really was, whether she was easy to get along with, and whether she would attack other Safe Cities.

This particular City Lord was fairly familiar with Greenroot. At that moment, they were asking in an excited tone that practically screamed, How could you know someone like this and not tell me?! They wanted to know when Greenroot had first made contact with Blue Sea and how he’d managed to get acquainted with such an impressive City Lord.

Nobody blamed City Lord Greenroot. After all, the plan had indeed succeeded, they’d indeed benefited from the contribution points, and Blue Sea was even willing to return their residents. It was just that they didn’t dare go and collect them.

Most importantly of all, everyone knew that Blue Sea was someone they couldn’t afford to provoke. Naturally, when speaking to someone they suspected of being Blue Sea’s plant, they were all sweetness and courtesy.

Greenroot: “…Oh, Great Tree God!! I swear I’m really not a plant working for Blue Sea!”

The Treant civilization had its own standards of integrity, thank you very much!

As a treant, he’d always sold information honestly and diligently cultivated personal connections. Why on earth would he ever become someone’s plant?!

As City Lord Greenroot stared at his fifteenth private message and began plucking leaves from his own head, the Safe City rules that calculated contribution rates and had been “moved” into the world as rewards once again automatically announced the remaining City Lords’ contribution rates in the group chat.

[Greenroot Safe City: Mission contribution rate: 1%.]

[Rewards confirmed: 13 types of energy and mineral resources (100 million tons of coal, 30 million tons of petroleum, 9 million tons of iron ore, copper ore… bauxite… tungsten ore…)]

[100 crates of Moon Silk gravity grenades, 300 freezing guns and cannons, handheld fusion guns…]

[3,000 frozen carcasses of edible mutant beasts…]

Long lists detailing the quantities of energy and mineral resources, along with other supplies, appeared before City Lord Greenroot.

Every single item was listed in precise detail.

[All the above rewards have been distributed.]

City Lord Greenroot’s eyes flew wide open in shock. He immediately stuffed the leaf he’d just plucked into his mouth.

He hurriedly opened the surveillance system inside his Safe City. Before he even had time to look at the footage, one of his subordinates came rushing in.

“City Lord! A massive amount of energy has suddenly appeared in our energy storage facilities! Supplies have also materialized out of nowhere in the cold-storage facilities and weapons depot—”

Greenroot silently spat the leaf out of his mouth.

These rewards were so unbelievably generous that they felt like a windfall falling straight from the heavens. So many precious resources, delivered right to his doorstep just like that?!

Could a mere 1% contribution rate really earn this many rewards?!

He ordered his subordinates to count the energy resources they’d received, then continued staring intently at the group chat.

Sure enough, everyone else in the chat had been just as stunned.

[Aaaah! So much, so much, SO MUCH energy!! If we had to mine all this ourselves, who knows how many years it would take! And they just gave it all to us in a single reward!]

[They’re actually rewarding us with weapons too!! This is amazing!]

[@Greenroot Safe City Congratulations, boss! You’re going to be rich!]

[How is a 1% contribution rate calculated? Didn’t Greenroot send hardly any residents out?]

Exactly. Greenroot’s main role had been gathering intelligence, and the number of residents it had dispatched was far lower than that of the other City Lords.

Then there was only one possible explanation: when calculating contribution rates, the Safe City rules had counted Greenroot’s act of gathering everyone together and leading them to join [Ota] as a contribution toward advancing the mission.

Even if Greenroot hadn’t done it intentionally.

But the massive energy rewards were real!

In the City Lord group chat, the Safe City rules continued announcing the contribution rates of the various Safe Cities, from highest to lowest.

[Chirpy Fish Safe City: Mission contribution rate: 0.4%.]

[Rewards confirmed: 13 types of energy and mineral resources (20 million tons of coal, 9 million tons of petroleum, 2 million tons of iron ore, copper ore… bauxite… tungsten ore…)]

[Moon Silk weapons…]

[Frozen edible mutant beasts…]

The atmosphere in the City Lord group chat suddenly became lively and enthusiastic. Every City Lord was eagerly anticipating what rewards they would receive.

Nobody had expected Moon Silk’s rewards to be so generous.

But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. This planet was rich in resources and covered a vast area. Even if their contribution rates weren’t particularly high, the rewards allocated to them would still be more than enough to satisfy their needs.

However, one City Lord cautiously raised a question.

[I have a question. Blue Sea contributed 92% of the total contribution points. Apart from the [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons, aren’t they getting any other rewards?]

[Replying to Upstairs, first of all, the [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons are worth more than everything else combined. Secondly, think about it carefully. The rewards for completing the world mission are taken from Moon Silk by the Safe City rules. With 92% contribution, Blue Sea has obtained the [Heaven’s Punishment] weapons. What else could that boss possibly want that she couldn’t get her hands on?]

[Agreed. In a certain sense, Moon Silk belongs to Blue Sea now.]

Greenroot watched the City Lords celebrating in the group chat, then looked at the supplies that had appeared in its three warehouses. Its heart was filled with joy as well.

How could anyone not be happy about this?!

Another private message popped up.

Greenroot glanced at it, and the leaves on its head instantly turned ice-cold.

[Blue Sea Safe City: Greenroot, thank you for speaking up for me. Let’s be friends?]

Blue Sea, which had wiped out all three major companies, commanded two hundred million utterly loyal residents, possessed a vast arsenal of Moon Silk weapons, and held three [Heavenly Punishment] weapons, was asking to be friends with him.

[Greenroot Safe City: Of course, of course!! I’ve always felt that we were destined to get along!!]

[Greenroot Safe City: It’s all fate! Even if I’d known from the beginning that you were disguising yourself as [Ota], I still would’ve gladly played the plant for you! Tree Branch Making a Heart.jpg]

Hahahahahaha! He, Greenroot, was Blue Sea’s plant!!

…

While the City Lords celebrated their bountiful harvest, the residents from the various Safe Cities found themselves utterly bewildered.

[Ota] hadn’t stopped them from scattering to different locations, so once the war ended, they’d made their way without difficulty to the meeting points they’d agreed upon with their respective Safe Cities.

But where were the Safe Cities?!!!

Hadn’t their City Lords assured them that everything was under control? That they’d been watching the battle from above the clouds and would come to collect them as soon as the war was over?!

Among the crowds waiting in vain was the ability user with the [Teleportation] ability, who was carrying one million nuclear crystals.

He was wondering whether something had happened to the Safe City he’d pledged allegiance to when a series of startled exclamations suddenly erupted behind him.

The [Teleportation] ability user turned around.

In the distance, where there had been nothing just moments earlier, an enormous city had appeared at some point without anyone noticing. It was so immense that, at a glance, it was obvious it had wiped out quite a few other Safe Cities—

It practically blotted out the entire horizon. Yet the [Ota] soldiers, who had been so ferocious on the battlefield, didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the sudden appearance of this Safe City.

Instead, they began converging toward it, like fledgling birds returning to their nest, their movements natural and carefree.

He heard himself murmur, “What is that?”

An [Ota] soldier walked past him and gave him a friendly, familiar pat on the shoulder as he went.

“That’s our Safe City.”

“Blue Sea Safe City.”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.188 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

When this news appeared, the city lords should, in theory, have burst into laughter and gathered to celebrate their plan coming to fruition. By riding on the coattails of the local power, [Ota], they had successfully completed the World Mission.

But the city lords’ responses were the complete opposite.

[…They’re attacking [Norn] now, too? Wait, wasn’t [Zipa] just beaten so badly that its top brass abandoned their headquarters and fled?]

[Replying to upstairs: [Ota] didn’t attack [Zipa]. [Zipa]’s higher-ups fled because they’d done something shady themselves. But the [Zipa Company] is still around. Judging by the current situation, [Ota] will probably send people to attack it next.]

[Speaking of which, if [Zipa]’s higher-ups have fled, doesn’t that count as having wiped them out?]

[Probably not. The entire [Company] has to be confirmed gone before it counts.]

[I’m honestly not surprised that [Zipa] fled. To be frank, watching the battles these past few days has scared the hell out of me.]

[Scared too +1]

[Have you seen that video of “a lone soldier blowing up an artillery depot—and actually succeeding”? [Ota]’s soldiers are even more ferocious than ability users. On the battlefield, they’re completely crushing [Zephyr]. Honestly, thank goodness the World Mission doesn’t force us to eliminate every [Company]. If [Ota] were added to the list of enemy targets, I’d immediately evacuate my residents and run for the hills.]

One of the more optimistic city lords chimed in.

[Look on the bright side! Sure, the locals are fierce, but they’re working for us! The stronger they are, the greater our rewards will be. Doesn’t that make you feel a lot better?]

Another city lord replied:

[Not at all. At first, I was happy to see [Ota] crushing [Zephyr]. But now I’m watching [Ota] fight [Zephyr] with one hand, take on [Norn] with the other, and kick [Zipa] mercilessly with its foot. I’m genuinely getting nervous. [Ota] is far too ferocious. It gives me the feeling that even the Cognition Lock might not be able to hold it back.]

[Chirpy Fish Safe City: @Where’sMyMom Safe City, you’ve hit the nail on the head!]

[Chirpy Fish Safe City: The most terrifying thing about [Ota] isn’t just its formidable combat strength. As I’ve watched it fight its way through these battles, I’ve become increasingly aware that [Ota] itself operates according to a highly organized and coherent system of logic.

[It has order, powerful expansion capabilities, and a complete resource-recycling system. It has its own administrative structure and legal system. I won’t even get started on its armed forces and tactical procedures. Its technological level and the ideological indoctrination of its employees are both terrifyingly advanced. It’s practically a hexagonal powerhouse with no blind spots and no weaknesses whatsoever.]

[Chirpy Fish Safe City: Tell me, do you really think a place like [Ota], capable of taking on all three major [Companies], equipped with a complete set of operational rules, and seemingly overflowing with talent in every field, wouldn’t know about the vulnerabilities of our residents?]

After this analysis appeared, the group chat fell silent for more than ten seconds.

The truth was, all the city lords had already sensed something was wrong.

Their behavior in sending residents into the world had been rather like an adult telling a five-year-old child, “Santa Claus is real.”

The child would believe it because their world was still so small, making them easy to fool.

But by this point in the war, any city lord who wasn’t blind could see that [Ota] wasn’t a child at all. It was a strong, healthy adult possessing both intelligence and power.

Would such an adult believe a ridiculous story like Santa Claus?

Cheng Qisheng, who was silently lurking in the chat, had a different take.

Thanks for asking. [Ota] would believe in Santa Shell.

[Greenroot Safe City: [Ota] really is terrifying. We can only be grateful that Moon Silk Star has a Cognition Lock, and that this planet isn’t particularly interested in exploring the universe. That’s what allows us to hide above the clouds. Otherwise, with [Ota]’s current level of control over Moon Silk Star, having our Safe Cities descend onto the ground would be practically tantamount to s**cide.]

[Greenroot Safe City: Watching [Ota] fight is certainly nerve-racking, but I’ll say it again: just think about it, everyone! If [Ota] eliminates all three [Companies], that’s three separate rewards for us!]

[Greenroot Safe City: It’s obvious we’re about to win. We’re just one final push away! We’ve invested so much in the early stages. No matter what anyone says, I’m going to see this through!]

Once again, Cheng Qisheng looked at Greenroot City’s lord’s messages with mixed feelings.

Once again, Cheng Qisheng couldn’t help marveling at just how much Greenroot’s City Lord sounded like a shill.

The lord’s messages gradually eased the tension in the group chat.

[That’s true. We don’t just have the Cognition Lock to rely on. We also have floating devices that let us hide above the clouds.]

[And Tier 6 Safe Cities can flee quickly, too, which makes things even safer.]

[No matter how fierce [Ota] is, it’s still a local power with its own limitations. Sure, it’s terrifying, but wouldn’t it feel a lot better if we just treated it as our hired muscle?]

[…Maybe not. It looks like the type that would kill its own boss.]

[Then let’s treat it as a cooperative partner instead. [Ota] doesn’t know we’re cooperating with it, of course, but we’re actually pretty lucky to be able to ride on its coattails and get a share of the World Mission rewards.]

[HOLY SHIT!! MAJOR INTEL!! [Ota] really has sent troops to attack [Zipa]! There wasn’t even the slightest hint along the way. [Zipa]’s higher-ups have already fled, and saying that the [Company] is being crushed is actually putting it mildly!]

The city lords’ group chat exploded all over again.

[Wait, does that mean [Ota] has split its forces into three groups and is attacking all three major [Companies] simultaneously?]

[Wow! Does this mean we’ll be able to complete the World Mission and flee very soon? I don’t want to stay here another second. I keep feeling that once [Ota] finishes off the three [Companies], it’ll come after us next.]

[Spit, spit, spit! Stop saying such unlucky things! Remember, we have the Cognition Lock! As long as we stay inside our Safe Cities, we’re absolutely safe!]

[I’ve got an idea! Before we flee, can we use our ability user residents to steal a large quantity of weapons from [Ota]? We can just run away after stealing them. It won’t be able to catch up with us anyway.]

[Great idea! [Ota] really is obscenely wealthy. Have you seen its arsenal? It’s ridiculous!]

Cheng Qisheng had been silently lurking in the chat, but as she read those messages, her eyebrows gradually rose.

She could understand the city lords’ desire to grab as much as they could before running away.

But as the one who might get robbed, the great Creator God of Blue Sea would naturally have to make some preparations.

“Aether, how many mantle-piercing weapons do we have left?”

Aether floated over at an unhurried pace.

“City Lord, after the war ends, Blue Sea should have approximately 201 pieces of mantle-piercing Liuli remaining.”

Cheng Qisheng glanced at the number of city lords who remained: 199.

Good. That settled it.

Cheng Qisheng had already gotten more than enough out of this world. She had no desire to actively start a war between Safe Cities.

But if any city lord actually dared to reach out and try to take something from [Ota]…

Heh heh.

If all else failed, there was still the [Heaven’s Punishment].

To be safe, she lowered her eyes slightly and issued an order to her believers.

“Keep the progress of the battles under control. I want all three [Companies] eliminated at the exact same time.”

The Blue Sea residents fighting on the battlefield, their eyes gleaming with excitement, paused for a single second before charging into battle with even greater ferocity.

How could they keep the progress of the battles under control?

Obviously, by maintaining absolute suppression of the enemy.

—The higher-ups of the [Zephyr Company], who had already lost the ability to fight back, stared in confusion as the [Ota] soldiers suddenly stopped advancing.

—The [Zipa Company], having lost its leadership, had already prepared to raise its hands and surrender. Yet it discovered that the [Ota] soldiers had merely surrounded them and were making no further moves.

—Meanwhile, the [Norn Company], which still had some ability to resist, was experiencing a one-sided beating.

In three different regions, against three different [Companies], three groups of Blue Sea residents were all working toward the same command from their God.

Finally, five days later, the [Norn Company], which had still been desperately attempting to turn the tide, lost its last remaining ability to fight back.

Watching this unfold, Cheng Qisheng transmitted the news to her believers.

At the same moment, outside the [Zipa Company] in Hal City and on the battlefield at Manluota, all the Blue Sea residents slowly raised their eyes.

Standing alongside them were residents from other Safe Cities, most of whom looked as though they had turned themselves into hedgehogs by sticking weapons and equipment all over their bodies.

They had no idea why their [Ota] comrades had suddenly become so excited.

But who cared?!

Burdened with all kinds of high-tech weapons and having already stored plenty of spoils of war—nuclear crystals, supplies, weapons, and more—back at the [Ota] camp, these residents from other Safe Cities had spent the entire campaign experiencing the thrill of earning rewards for every enemy they killed.

They had only three words to say:

KILL! KILL! KILL!!!!

This massive war, which had dragged on for several months, finally came to an end six hours later.

Under Blue Sea’s precise control, all three [Companies] declared their destruction at almost exactly the same minute.

At that very moment, however, the [Ota] soldiers who remained on the battlefield after the war ended did not remove their armor or begin cleaning up the battlefield.

Instead, they aimed their mantle-piercing Liulis at the skies above the clouds—

The Safe Cities that had been watching the battle from overhead immediately relocated to other areas at breakneck speed.

The assembled city lords were nearly scared to death.

[Greenroot Safe City: ??? Holy shit, I’m moving first!]

[Where’s My Mom Safe City: What’s going on?]

[Hahaha Safe City: The worst-case scenario has happened! [Ota] has broken through the Cognition Lock! It took out all three Companies in one go, and now we’re next!]

[Aaaaaah! If I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve come up here to watch the battle! That was way too close!]

[Has the World Mission still not been declared complete? I need to get out of here!]

[Replying to upstairs: Are you planning to leave as soon as the World Mission is declared complete? Your residents are still with [Ota].]

[It’s fine. I only sent out one million residents. I can accept the losses.]

Sure enough, after this city lord finished speaking, one person disappeared from the city lords’ group chat.

The remaining city lords were all quite shocked.

[He actually left? He’s giving up a million residents and the mission rewards?]

[Now that’s what I call being a real coward! I couldn’t do it. Even if I were going to leave, I’d at least wait until the mission rewards were distributed before going!]

[The main thing is that [Ota] hasn’t chased after us. If it could pinpoint the locations of Safe Cities, I’d run too.]

[Everyone, don’t panic. Maybe [Ota] has simply noticed that something is wrong with the sky. But with the Cognition Lock in place, it can’t identify us.]

[How can we not panic?! It’s not like you haven’t seen how [Ota] dealt with the three Companies! Ah, hurry up and release the World Mission rewards already! The moment I get my reward, I’m leaving this world immediately. I’ve traveled through so many worlds, and I’ve never encountered a local power with such overwhelming pressure!]

[At this point, I think everything was part of [Ota]’s scheme! Did it plan from the very beginning to lure us out, then kill the city lords and seize our Safe Cities?!]

[Stay calm, stay calm! I have milk tea. Just 100 nuclear crystals a cup, and it helps people calm down quickly. Everyone should buy a cup and relax!]

[Could you please stop advertising at a time like this?]

[I’ve calmed down. By the way… is it possible that one of the city lords among us has already had their Safe City seized?]

The assembled city lords were like people who had just seen a ghost, plunging into all kinds of wild speculation and conspiracy theories. Amid the chaos, a message from Blue Sea Safe City stood out like a sore thumb.

[Blue Sea Safe City: Everyone, don’t worry. We’re just taking precautions to stop you from stealing our mantle-piercing Liuli weapons.]

[Where’s My Mom Safe City: @Blue Sea Safe City, friend, did you buy any milk tea? Because your theory is the least believable one of all.]

—At that moment, an official notification finally appeared in the city lords’ group chat.

[Zephyr Company: Confirmed eliminated.]

[Norn Company: Confirmed eliminated.]

[Zipa Company: Confirmed eliminated.]

[Detected that this mission was completed through the joint efforts of multiple Safe Cities.]

[The contribution rankings of all Safe Cities will now be announced, from highest to lowest—]

[Blue Sea Safe City: 92% of total mission contribution.]

[Congratulations to Blue Sea Safe City for completing the World Mission.]

[Three Heaven’s Punishments have been distributed in full.]

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The post Safe City Ch.187.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.