At this point, even Yu Zhitian believed Zhang Cui’s speculation was correct.

These “people” who had suddenly appeared above the base were all noticeably taller than the Velvet Star natives.

Their language sounded completely different from that of any country on Velvet Star.

Even their firearms were of a structure Yu Zhitian had never seen before.

So either, as Zhang Cui said, everyone in the Yunyang Base had somehow ended up in another world…

Or these “people” had come into their world instead.

It wasn’t just Yu Zhitian—everyone in Yunyang Base could clearly see how different the people of the Blue Sea were.

They had once lived in a medium-sized survivor base, and they knew very well that official forces had already been completely wiped out at the earliest stage. The people in front of them could not possibly be military personnel from Velvet Star.

So what now?

How were they supposed to communicate? How were they supposed to interact? Could they even understand each other just by gestures?

At this moment, all the survivors—including Yu Zhitian—assumed they were completely unaware of each other’s backgrounds and intentions.

Just as Zeng Tian hesitated over how to express their harmless intent and how to initiate communication—

The leading officer slowly spoke in somewhat unskilled, halting Velvet Star language:

“Is Dr. Yu Zhitian here?”

The survivors froze.

If, a moment ago, everyone had been desperately trying to figure out the situation and what to do next—

Then now, the entire Yunyang Base went completely blank, as if someone had wiped their minds clean.

Dr. Yu?

How did these people know about Dr. Yu? And why were they specifically asking if she was here??

Almost instinctively, everyone’s gaze turned toward Yu Zhitian.

But just as quickly, most of them looked away again.

Over the past half-year, Yu Zhitian had become the hope of the entire base. She was no longer just a person—she had become something akin to a symbol of faith for the survivors.

Not knowing whether the other side was friend or foe, they instinctively did not want to expose her.

But for the Blue Sea people, whose vision was extremely sharp, even a glance that lasted less than a second was enough.

The leading officer accurately turned his gaze toward Yu Zhitian, who had been slowly shielded behind the base’s leadership group.

“Dr. Yu Zhitian, hello. Please come with us.”

The officer scanned the remaining survivors.

“They can come as well, if you wish.”

Cheng Qisheng, who had been watching from the sidelines, silently gave it a thumbs up.

Having experience rescuing experts from this world really made a difference.

Without Yu Zhitian even needing to make a request, the Blue Sea side already knew what to say to move her.

Yu Zhitian handed the child in her arms back to its mother, gently pushed aside Zheng Tian, who was standing in front of her, and looked directly at the officer above her.

“Alright.”

She did not ask who they were, nor where they were taking them, nor what they needed from her.

At the very least, it couldn’t be worse than the situation they were already in, right?

—

Twenty minutes later, Yu Zhitian boarded a tracked troop transport vehicle.

The people from Yunyang Base also got on various vehicles scattered around.

Only after coming out did they realize there were far more people outside than they had imagined—so many that it almost felt like there were more humans than cattle and sheep.

Lots of people, and lots of vehicles.

The vehicle Yu Zhitian was in was accompanied front and back by many similar military vehicles capable of traversing all kinds of terrain, forming an escort.

And once she got on board, a man in white—a “doctor”—came with several nurses and performed a basic full-body examination on her.

Some of the equipment was slightly different from Velvet Star’s, but the principles were the same, and the usage was more or less familiar.

After the examination was done, less than three minutes later, someone brought her a bowl of warm lightly salted water, followed by thin rice porridge.

The young woman delivering the porridge explained:

“You’re suffering from malnutrition caused by long-term starvation. Your stomach has already atrophied, so you can only eat very easily digestible food for now.”

Yu Zhitian noticed that her tone wasn’t stiff at all, and even carried a slight accent from Qianli City on Velvet Star. She took a sip of the porridge and then asked casually:

“You’re from Qianli City, aren’t you?”

“Ah, you can tell, Doctor? Yes, my hometown is Qianli City. Later my whole family moved to Miang’an City. My name is Wang Moning.”

Wang Moning grinned.

She really couldn’t help being happy.

Because the exploration team she was with was relatively well-off, they had rented a vehicle to come here. Along the way, aside from a slightly sore butt from the bumps, the hunting itself had been exciting and interesting.

And with so many people around, there was a strong sense of safety—almost like she could relax completely and just enjoy herself.

Right after she had just experienced what hunting felt like, she heard that the military was looking for local residents who could act as translators.

The key point was that the translator only needed to ride back to the main base—and would be paid 700 points as compensation.

This was basically a windfall from the heavens!

Wang Moning immediately raised her hand to apply. After competing with two other Velvet Star people, she successfully got the job thanks to her speaking skills, which she had honed through daily chatting and bragging with her teammates.

She had already captured a sheep, earned points, and the military was also very easy to work with—they even helped her exploration team bring the hunted prey back by tying it to the roof of the vehicle.

Song Xi and her teammates practically saw her off with cheers.

As the weakest combat member in the team, finally being able to contribute made Wang Moning so happy she felt like she was flying.

She had been paid, so she did her job.

She used the summary skills she had developed during exams to explain the current situation to Yu Zhitian.

In simple terms, it was this: the Dark Star Blue Sea civilization, the great Creator God, other Safe Cities, the eventual destruction of the world, and Safe Cities continuing to move on.

But why the deity was looking for Yu Zhitian—Wang Moning didn’t know, so she didn’t say.

Yu Zhitian also didn’t ask. After absorbing such a huge amount of information, she focused on only one thing:

“Will Velvet Star definitely be destroyed?”

Hearing this, Wang Moning also showed a confused expression.

“I don’t know, but Blue Sea has a lot of outsiders who came from another Safe City—people from other worlds. They know a lot of things.”

“Someone told me that Safe Cities are built upon worlds that are already destroyed. So they can only anchor the coordinates of worlds that are about to be destroyed or are already in the process of destruction, and keep bringing residents along as they flee continuously.”

“It’s like an escape pod—you can only follow the escape route, and you don’t know where the final destination will be.”

Yu Zhitian exhaled softly.

“I see.”

Cheng Qisheng, sipping through a straw, observed her through Wang Moning’s perspective.

“This Dr. Yu’s reaction earlier—it looked like she suspected the zombie virus was released by Blue Sea.”

Although she had received Wang Moning’s explanation, she was still clearly suspicious. It was just that, having noticed Wang Moning’s admiration for Blue Sea and her obvious sense of belonging, Dr. Yu had carefully concealed her thoughts.

The younger Wang Moning didn’t notice, but Cheng Qisheng’s observational skills had been honed over hundreds of billions of years in Dark Star. No matter how well Yu Zhitian hid it, she could still catch the slightest trace.

As for Aether, it couldn’t see anything at all.

Its detection range was limited to a certain area around the Safe City, but the jellyfish-like AI had already gotten used to the fact that its city lord always seemed able to see far beyond that.

In theory, someone with powerful enough mental strength could extend their perception range infinitely. If strong enough, observing an entire planet—or even other planets—was not impossible.

Aether convinced itself and, using its reasoning and imagination, joined in the conversation with the city lord:

“Situations where local civilizations believe that Safe Cities are the source of disaster are quite common. The more technologically underdeveloped the civilization, the more likely they are to form such assumptions.”

“But after the Safe City leaves, they usually realize they were wrong. So, City Lord, you don’t need to care about the opinions of local civilizations.”

Cheng Qisheng tapped her fingers and pulled the jellyfish that was currently sitting on her notebook into her hand.

“I’m not worried about what the Velvet Star people think.”

“I’m worried about why a virology expert on a world mission meant to be rescued would believe that the zombie virus was deployed by aliens.”

“Did she discover something while researching the virus?”

Ordinary people guessing that a virus was released by aliens might just be a casual remark.

But a virologist was different.

The more professional someone is, the less likely they are to make random guesses. Yu Zhitian’s words revealed that she had already done some research into the zombie virus—and that she suspected it was an ‘external’ substance.

No wonder the world mission was to rescue Dr. Yu Zhitian.

She might actually be able to develop a vaccine for the zombie virus.

For the next two days, Cheng Qisheng kept a close watch on the convoy escorting Yu Zhitian and also sent a message to Alice, asking her to send more people as backup.

Although rationally she knew that the Blue Sea military had already cleared out the zombie hordes along the way, and that the western region was sparsely populated with few zombies, making trouble unlikely—

The psychological shadow left by the previous seven civilizations was simply too deep.

One sip of water, and a civilization collapses.

One trip to the bathroom, and a civilization collapses.

Wake up after a sleep, and a civilization collapses.

Until she personally saw the convoy safely enter the Blue Sea Safe City, Cheng Qisheng would not be able to truly relax.

The first ninety-nine steps were already done—there was no way she was going to fail at the very last step.

Fortunately, the journey was smooth and uneventful. Nothing like the kind of melodramatic incidents that might have happened occurred. When the reinforcement troops arrived in missile-launch vehicles, Cheng Qisheng knew everything was stable.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.24.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Zeng Tian felt that his brain really must be broken.

He took a few quick steps forward, climbed up directly, supported Zhang Cui by the arm, quickly helped him down, and then went up himself.

And then Zeng Tian froze.

Outside could only be described in four words: a sea of people.

How… how could there be so many people?

Not zombies—human beings?!!

—The people of Blue Sea had completely gone wild.

When building houses, they were extremely hardworking.

When killing zombies, it was extremely relieving.

But when they saw so much “meat, meat, meat”…

That thread in every Blue Sea person’s mind called “reason” snapped with a hiss.

Many of them had originally rented firearms just to be safe, but once they arrived at a field full of cattle and sheep roaming everywhere, they completely forgot they were even carrying them.

It was an instinct buried in their genes—making them want to climb trees, break off branches, and use them as spears.

Snares, long sticks, or even just brute force to grab prey—the whole scene was truly primitive and savage.

Cheng Qisheng rested her chin on her hand, watching this scene of wild, feral chaos.

“I knew it would be like this.”

This was the real way for Blue Sea people to relieve stress.

Put them on a vast grassland and let them hunt and chase with their own effort.

After releasing their energy through the pursuit of prey, the people of Blue Sea would feel genuine happiness from the bottom of their hearts.

If they were kept inside a safe city all the time, it probably wouldn’t be long before large-scale depression set in again.

The military had also prepared in advance, driving in with vehicles and barbed wire to seal off the area, preventing zombies from slipping in while the Blue Sea people were excitedly hunting.

They enclosed roughly 1.5 million mu of land—about the size of a whole county—so Zeng Tian’s impression of a “sea of people” was not wrong at all.

The officers dispatched by the military for this mission were standing in the trees, looking down at the scene through binoculars, finally letting out a deep breath of relief.

“The Marshal was right. The way we conduct combat really does need to be adjusted going forward.”

“Yeah,” another officer standing in a nearby tree agreed. “Things are different now. We need to shift from the old model of group combat to letting civilians fight individually.”

When they first arrived in this world, the government had once seriously considered gradually transforming the entire country into a military system.

After all, they were no longer short on battles—there were plenty of zombies outside to fight at will.

But it didn’t take long for the higher-ups to realize that this approach wouldn’t work.

First, if the whole population were placed under a military system, it would not be favorable for the country’s long-term resource management. A single wrong decision could potentially doom the entire nation.

Second, not every Blue Sea resident could accept being strictly controlled.

Following rules in normal society and living under military discipline were completely different things.

During the large-scale recruitment of new soldiers this time, many recruits developed rebellious tendencies under strict control, becoming irritable and prone to anger.

The Bureau of Mental Health Services quickly intervened to investigate, and ultimately concluded that the cause was a reduction in living space.

In the past, on Dark Star, residents had vast living spaces of their own. There were archery ranges, and they could travel to mountains and wilderness to experience nature.

Those with more money could even purchase a “wilderness survival” qualification.

People who bought such qualifications would be transported by professionals to uninhabited grasslands or tropical rainforests, places with no traces of human civilization.

These people wore only a single set of clothes and carried simple stone spears and homemade bows, immersing themselves in wilderness survival for two or three months.

They would drill wood to make fire, build camps, hunt prey, catch fish under waterfalls, wander barefoot through forests, and sit on mountaintops in the early morning to watch the sunrise.

Although this kind of “wilderness survival” was an extreme pleasure reserved only for Blue Sea’s wealthy class, even the poorest Blue Sea residents before the apocalypse were not so deprived that they never had the chance to walk alone in an open space.

Even in large cities filled with skyscrapers, multiple urban parks would still be built.

Ever since discovering the problems among new recruits, the military had kept itself constantly on edge.

What they feared was not that recruits would disobey orders, but that other citizens might also develop similar rebellious tendencies.

With 360 million people crowded into a single city, life was already difficult enough. If internal chaos broke out as well, it was impossible to imagine how disorderly things would become.

Fortunately—fortunately.

Many informed officers in the military could see that ever since the Marshal proposed, and the President approved, allowing residents to freely leave the city and treat zombie hunting as a civilian mission, the atmosphere inside the city had become more and more relaxed day by day.

People smiled more, argued less, and even fights had decreased.

Even scavengers who lacked combat ability and could not expand new territories would feel mentally refreshed just by going out for a walk and bringing back some local wild grass.

Moreover, Blue Sea was obtaining more crystal nuclei as well.

At the same time, the amount of consumed supplies such as food had been steadily replenished.

As civilians dispersed to search for resources, they would often find usable supplies scattered across the ruins—for example, boxes of instant noodles or biscuits—which they happily carried back to eat, naturally saving Blue Sea’s resources.

On a larger scale, these scattered civilians were also discovering a large amount of valuable supplies across the ruined land, enough to be reported up the chain of command.

For example, just yesterday, some residents discovered the underground storage area of a large supermarket.

No one knew how they managed to find a warehouse buried beneath a collapsed ruin.

What was even more impressive was that this group of people had spent several days enthusiastically digging through the rubble. They even called in a petite resident to crawl inside and investigate, and after multiple attempts, they finally confirmed that there really was an underground warehouse down there.

After reporting it, the military gave them reward points and curiously asked how they had known there might be a supermarket storage area underneath.

The residents answered very straightforwardly:

“We didn’t know. We just saw supermarket shelves in the ruins above ground and thought there might be something below.”

“So you dug for days without even knowing?”

“Digging through ruins is kind of fun anyway. You always find all sorts of random stuff—it feels like treasure hunting, so we just kept digging. Hehe.”

That was the Blue Sea people.

When gathered together, they could flatten every region they went through.

But when scattered, no one could predict what they might do.

The key point was that even if they didn’t make major contributions, they could at least sustain themselves, reduce the burden on the state, and sometimes even feed resources back into the country.

Now many military officers had realized that the old military model suited to Blue Sea needed to change.

Perhaps allowing ordinary civilians to freely develop and hunt was the most suitable survival method in the apocalypse.

An officer stared at the residents chasing cattle and sheep and said:

“Honestly… I kind of want to go too.”

Officer B replied, “It’s fine, wait a bit longer. When they calm down. When we first secured this territory, we specifically fenced off another ranch separately. Later, the younger soldiers in the army can also relax a bit.”

Officer A: “?”

“Only the younger soldiers get to relax?”

What, are the not-so-young officers not allowed to relax too?

Officer B: “Hahahaha, I was just teasing you. Look how anxious you got. Don’t worry, we’re all going to join in. The higher-ups sent us down here precisely to let us relax. There’s nothing else going on today anyway. We’ll run around properly in a bit.”

While the two were talking, a family working as a team had just dragged over a cow caught in a snare, successfully turning it into their own prize.

The cow crashed to the ground.

The youngest child in this five-person family—a ten-year-old—suddenly spoke up:

“Mom, the sound is wrong. It sounded like it hit steel.”

“Steel?”

The mother rolled up her sleeves and called to the rest of the family.

“Come on, help lift it together. Maybe it’s a cellar. If there’s stored grain inside, we’ll be rich!”

The five of them pulled hard on the rope and forcibly dragged the cow away.

Beneath it, something that really looked like a steel plate was revealed—like a door hidden underground.

The parents gestured for the children to step back.

They put down the crude bows and arrows used for hunting cattle and sheep, and instead pulled guns from behind their waists.

Together, they forced the door open and aimed their weapons downward.

And then they saw at least a hundred living people—ragged, thin, staring blankly up at them.

The couple froze.

In their minds, the first word that popped up was “weaklings,” followed by “a group of weaklings.”

Then they suddenly realized what they were seeing and instinctively raised their tactical watches toward the group below.

Immediately, joy exploded in their expressions. While still keeping one hand holding a gun aimed downward, the husband and wife embraced each other with their free arms.

“By the God above!! It—it’s a local base!”

“We’re rich! We’ve got enough points to watch VR movies!!”

“We can watch ten times together as a whole family!!!”

Cheng Qisheng, who had been slowly loosening the soil, suddenly lifted her head—

Well, not exactly “suddenly,” since her body coordination wasn’t great; in the end she still raised it rather slowly.

But her mood instantly brightened.

A base?

A virology doctor?!

Twenty thousand crystals?!!!

The nearby Blue Sea residents who had been running around shouting in excitement also caught those words with laser precision. They immediately stopped even their hunting.

Their already highly excited minds were instantly flooded with one thing—points.

“A base? Where? Where?!”

“Where is it?!”

“God above! A base!!! Is it that virology doctor’s base?! We found the virology doctor?!”

“Where? Where’s the base?! Let me see too! I want to see!”

On distant tree branches, several officers observing the crowd through binoculars fell silent.

“…Why do I feel like I’m about to work overtime?”

“You’re not wrong. I read their lip movements—they’re shouting ‘base.’ Looks like they’ve discovered a local survivor base.”

“Alright then… if it’s the base our god is looking for, I’m willing to work overtime.”

The two officers jumped down from the tree—

The branches, having just been stepped on, swayed heavily for a moment under the sudden load, but ultimately held and did not break.

“All units one through nine, follow me. Move out!”

Inside the cold storage, the members of the Yunyang Base were still struggling to process the fact that they had been discovered so suddenly, and hadn’t even figured out how to react when they realized that above them—

With a rustle of motion, countless heads suddenly popped up at the entrance of the underground cold storage, all staring straight at them.

Their expressions were filled with amazement, envy, and curiosity.

Zeng Tian couldn’t help but take a step back under that intense, scorching gaze—only to bump into Yu Zhitian behind him.

Yu Zhitian was holding a child. She met the gazes of the Blue Sea people above and immediately confirmed that it was a language she could not understand at all.

A group of civilians wearing all kinds of clothing quickly parted to the sides, revealing a line of people in uniform military dress.

They, too, were encircling the entrance in a neat formation, all lowering their heads to look down in unison.

Yu Zhitian pinched herself first to confirm this was not an illusion. Only then did she let out a long breath.

“Director, it seems that no matter what’s going on, at least we don’t need to worry about being killed. They have their own rules and their own military. From the way they’re looking at us…”

“We… seem to be some kind of rare species to them.”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.23 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The captain of the “Rush Rush Rush Squad” was much more accustomed to it. Blue Sea had always been like this.

Back in wartime, there had even been merchants crossing battle zones to do business.

“The prices are acceptable,” he said.

Though a bit expensive, compared to the potential gain of hunted cattle and sheep, it was negligible.

But… the captain glanced at the merchant’s backpack.

“You don’t actually have the goods with you. When will they be delivered?”

“The goods are behind us. Our caravan rented vehicles specifically to transport them, but the roads are difficult. I’m just the advance scout responsible for taking orders. If you place your order now, you get a 10% discount. The goods will arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

The captain thought for a moment.

“Can you swear to our god that the goods are real?”

The merchant patted his chest.

“I can!”

“And since there’s no network here for transfers, are you willing to swear by your resident ID that you will pay the full amount immediately upon returning to the safe city?”

The captain also patted his chest.

“I can!”

And so, the deal was concluded.

The merchant handed them a small token as proof, then continued walking with the crowd, promoting the [Everywhere-Is-A-Trade Team]’s goods to others along the way.

The “Rush Rush Rush Squad” stayed behind, waiting for the supply truck.

For Yun Yu, a local resident, this was the first time seeing business done like this. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again—unsure whether to speak.

But thinking back to the divine blessing he had once felt, he felt that this kind of oath actually carried a certain sincerity.

If gods truly existed, then oaths would naturally become contracts.

And somehow, Yun Yu decided this way of doing things didn’t seem so bad after all.

Yun Yu was still young and not very good at spotting lies. Before the apocalypse, he had worked part-time jobs and had even had wages withheld by employers who refused to pay him.

Now things were different. With oaths made under the watch of a real god, at least he no longer had to worry about being cheated.

As Yun Yu was happily thinking about this, the captain walked over carrying a bag of flatbreads.

“Here, here, everyone have some while they’re still warm. They’ve even got sesame seeds on top.”

Yun Yu blinked.

“? Where did these flatbreads come from?”

The captain pointed.

“Over there! That tricycle is selling flatbreads and soy milk. Extra spicy costs another 10 points. I figured none of us like spicy food, so I didn’t order it.”

Yun Yu looked in that direction and, sure enough, saw someone running a food stall.

Once again, he was speechless.

“…Even though there are more people around now, this still counts as a dangerous area, doesn’t it?”

The captain took a bite of his flatbread.

“It’s fine. Back when Blue Sea was at war, people set up stalls on battlefields too. The higher the risk, the bigger the profit.”

Yun Yu: “…”

Alright then. Apparently he still didn’t understand Blue Sea deeply enough.

The captain sounded a little envious.

“I’m telling you, that vendor just told me that they used to sell flatbreads near the edge of the safe city’s cleared zone. At first they carried all their equipment themselves. But lots of residents from other safe cities were willing to pay with nucleus crystals—sometimes several times the normal price—and happily bought the food because they said they couldn’t get enough to eat in their own cities.”

“Maybe when we get back, we should set up a stall too. Look at that guy—it’s only been a few days, and he’s already earned enough points to rent a vehicle.”

Yun Yu took a bite of the delicious, crispy flatbread. The warmth of freshly cooked food, something he hadn’t enjoyed in a long time, filled him with happiness.

“I think setting up a stall is a good idea. But Captain… can you actually make flatbreads?”

One of the teammates burst out laughing.

“The captain cooked for me once. I’d rather skip a meal than eat that again. In the end, he had to eat it himself.”

Yun Yu looked surprised.

“Is it really that bad?”

“It’s awful,” the teammate said. “The captain dumped in a ton of seasonings and it still tasted terrible. Total waste of ingredients. After that, he never cooked again. If he wants food, he just goes to the cafeteria.”

The captain’s face turned red.

“Ahem, don’t exaggerate. I only added a little too much seasoning.”

Trying to salvage his dignity, he argued:

“It was just a tiny bit bad. Not that bad.”

—

In the Yunyang Underground Base, a woman wearing glasses ate a bowl of mush-like food.

The taste made her frown involuntarily, but she still held her breath and forced herself to finish it in one go.

She had no choice.

If she didn’t consume enough nutrition, her immune system would quickly weaken.

And once her immunity dropped, she would soon fall ill in this crude underground shelter—a former frozen-meat warehouse that had been hastily converted into a survival base.

Getting sick was disastrous.

There were no medicines, no medical equipment, and barely any hot water. Recovery depended almost entirely on the body’s natural healing ability.

More than a hundred people in this shelter had already died from illness.

Before the apocalypse, many of these conditions would have required nothing more than a visit to a clinic for some medication or an injection.

Some illnesses would have healed on their own after a few days of rest.

But after the apocalypse, food was scarce, water was often contaminated, survivors lived under immense psychological stress, and everyone carried constant anxiety about survival.

Any one of those factors could leave the body without the resources it needed to recover from disease.

Minor aches and illnesses that had once been insignificant had now become life-threatening.

People died from infected wounds after being bitten by ants or rats.

People who had bones broken by cattle had no choice but to endure the pain and hope for the best.

A single heavy rainstorm could trigger an outbreak of disease.

Coughing echoed everywhere, but the cold-storage warehouse was only so large. There were neither the materials nor the space needed to isolate the sick.

Darkness.

Oppression.

Suffering.

Everyone lived crammed together in the same space—eating, drinking, sleeping, and relieving themselves side by side. They endured constant hunger while their bodies sounded alarm after alarm, and yet there was nothing they could do about it.

Over the past few days, several more people had taken their own lives.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to live.

They simply couldn’t bear this kind of life anymore.

This was the apocalypse.

People could escape the zombies and hide underground, but they couldn’t escape disease, loneliness, pain, or despair.

The woman tilted her head back and looked at the gloomy ceiling above.

“Dr. Yu, we’re running out of food. At the latest, the day after tomorrow, we’ll have to risk leaving the base and hunting cattle and sheep outside.”

The person who had established this base was named Zeng Tian.

Originally, their base had been located in a high-rise building. At its peak, there had been more than three thousand survivors.

Everyone gathered together, working to rebuild a home. They cleared the zombies around the building, sealed off the lower floors below the third story, and used ladders to travel up and down.

At first, the Yunyang Base developed quite well.

Living high above the ground meant they didn’t have to worry much about zombies. Teams regularly ventured out to scavenge supplies. There was enough food, and water could be obtained from a nearby small water treatment plant.

They believed that if they continued developing steadily, they would eventually see hope.

They scattered flyers everywhere, hoping more survivors would join them.

Then that zombie appeared.

Its enormous body and terrifying strength destroyed the entire Yunyang Base—including all the food, medicine, and supplies they had painstakingly gathered over the course of six months.

Fortunately, although the ruins had destroyed their home, they had also blocked the pursuit of ordinary zombies.

The giant zombie itself wasn’t particularly fast. The survivors of Yunyang Base scattered in all directions to escape. Some sacrificed themselves, while others were led westward in vehicles.

Thankfully, the giant zombie drew away most of the regular zombies, allowing them to get away successfully.

This area had once been a ranch. Beneath it were numerous cold-storage facilities, and one of the survivors happened to be the child of a cold-storage owner and knew where the keys were kept.

Out of more than three thousand people, only a little over five hundred remained.

Those survivors took refuge inside one of the cold-storage warehouses.

The meat stored inside had long since spoiled without electricity. Everyone endured the stench and spent a long time cleaning the place out.

Then began an even harsher struggle for survival than they had faced in the city.

At first things seemed manageable.

But it didn’t take long for the survivors of Yunyang Base to realize that this was the territory of cattle and sheep—and of the predators attracted by them.

When the giant zombie first appeared, it had frightened off the local animals, giving the survivors an opportunity to slip into the underground cold storage.

A few days later, however, the animals realized the danger was gone and gradually returned.

At first, the survivors were delighted.

They thought food was practically delivering itself to their doorstep.

Reality soon hit them hard.

A little-known fact: herbivores can be extremely dangerous.

Before the apocalypse, ranch workers had tools such as electric prods and other equipment to control livestock.

After the apocalypse, there were no such tools.

The survivors had fled in a hurry and possessed very few weapons—not even enough basic ones.

Ordinary humans, empty-handed and weakened by hunger, are no match for a sheep weighing around 100 kilograms that can charge and ram enemies with its horns.

Not to mention cattle, which can weigh over a thousand kilograms.

The survivors of Yunyang Base not only couldn’t defeat the herds of cattle and sheep that constantly roamed around in groups, they couldn’t even leave the cold-storage warehouse to find another place to live.

The moment they showed themselves, any herd that noticed these “weaker creatures” trespassing on its territory would immediately charge over and attack.

They had tried fighting back as a group, but whenever they gathered together, the cattle and sheep outnumbered them by an even greater margin. In the end, several survivors were killed, and the sheep they had finally managed to bring down was dragged away by a pack of wild wolves.

Reluctantly, everyone could only retreat once more.

The remaining survivors of Yunyang Base were trapped inside this underground cold-storage facility that had virtually nothing left.

The only reason they had survived this long was the food that had originally been stored there. But with scarce medicine, inadequate medical care, and the harsh environment, people were dying every few days.

Now, even their food reserves were running out.

Yu Zhitian looked at Zeng Tian.

“Fine. While everyone still has enough strength left to move, let’s make one last stand.”

“Either we all go out together and risk our lives to bring back a kill, or we all get trampled to death by the sheep and cattle outside.”

Zeng Tian immediately objected.

“You can’t go out. If the rest of us die, then we die. But if you die, there truly won’t be even the slightest hope left of ending this disaster.”

Yu Zhitian gave a bitter smile.

“I don’t have any lab equipment anymore, no tools, no virus samples. Staying here doesn’t help at all—it’d be better if I went out with you.”

“We’ll have them again later. We’re only temporarily trapped. Once we find a chance, we can gather the equipment again.”

Zeng Tian added slowly,

“You are everyone’s hope. If anything happens to you, then the people in the base truly won’t have any way out left. If we don’t make it back, you can come later.”

Yu Zhitian fell silent for a moment.

“Alright. I’ll wait for you here in the base.”

“If you don’t come back… I’ll go find you.”

Half a year. They had barely survived for half a year.

From initial hardship, to struggling just to survive, to glimpses of hope, and then sudden despair.

Yu Zhitian was already fifty-seven years old. She could clearly feel her life, in these unbearably difficult days, rapidly approaching its end.

At times, she even wondered whether, on the entire Velvet Star, only the Yunyang Base survivors were still alive.

At the beginning, there were three thousand people.

When they escaped, there were five hundred.

Now, only a little over three hundred remained.

Yu Zhitian couldn’t help asking herself again and again, deep in her heart:

Does humanity still have hope?

The more she understood the zombie virus, the more despair she felt.

This virus was almost like an irreversible breakdown of genes—was it really something human power could ever stop?

Even if she truly managed to develop a zombie vaccine, after seeing that mutated zombie towering dozens of meters high, with the current human population—could they even still resist such a monster?

Inside the cold-storage facility, everyone remained silent, including toddlers barely one or two years old, who also stayed unusually quiet.

Only Zeng Tian and a few of the base’s leaders were still trying to ease the heavy atmosphere a little.

The day passed quickly. Then another day passed.

On the morning of the third day, everyone lined up to receive food.

This was the last of their supplies. After eating it, they would all have to go out for a final desperate battle.

Yu Zhitian stood there. The seven children in the base were placed beside her.

A mother holding a two-year-old child walked over and handed the child to her. Only after Yu Zhitian took the child did she force out a dry, strained smile.

“Dr. Yu, I’m leaving her in your care.”

“If… if we don’t make it back, please, give her a quick end. Don’t let her suffer.”

Yu Zhitian’s eyes did not redden, and the child’s mother did not cry either.

There was too little water left in everyone’s bodies for tears anymore.

And after half a year of the apocalypse, most people had already grown numb to life and death.

Yu Zhitian simply held the child and nodded solemnly.

“I will take care of her. Don’t worry.”

Everyone stood by the cold storage ladder, and the first person began to climb up.

—BOOM!

—BOOM!

The cold storage suddenly began to shake. Their first reaction was that it was an earthquake, but soon they realized the sound didn’t match.

“Is it… cattle and sheep running?”

“No, it sounds like vehicles passing by?”

“Why do I feel like it’s a lot of people running? I think I even hear voices?”

“I heard someone shouting ‘woo-hoo’… am I hallucinating?”

The survivor on the ladder didn’t guess. He climbed up, carefully cracked open a small gap in the cold storage door, and cautiously peeked outside.

Then, as if struck by lightning, he suddenly pulled his head back in.

Zeng Tian pushed through the crowd.

“Zhang Cui, what’s going on outside? What did you see? What’s making that noise?”

Zhang Cui, still standing on the ladder, didn’t answer. It was as if something outside had completely stunned him.

He slowly opened the gap again and stuck his head out.

Outside—

Herds of cattle and sheep were frantically fleeing at the front, while behind them, a group of people at least 1.8 meters tall and powerfully built were desperately chasing after them.

People. A lot of people.

So many it felt like more than the population of an entire county—dense and endless, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Those sheep and cattle that used to act arrogantly, lowering their heads to charge at the slightest provocation, now looked like helpless chicks in the hands of this group, completely without any ability to resist.

The sheep herd ran past, and the human crowd chased after them.

The cattle herd ran back, and the humans chased them back again.

These people all had extremely long strides, moving so fast they almost left afterimages, while shouting incoherently:

“Woohoo!!!”

“%￥#￥%#￥!!”

Simple, crude lassos were thrown out one after another, landing on the cattle and sheep. The animals tried to escape, but were forcibly yanked back by the humans shouting unintelligible cries.

Some people, while chasing a herd of cattle, dodged a wild bull’s charge, grabbed onto the back of a cow, and actually climbed onto it mid-run—ending up riding it as it sprinted forward.

That man raised his left arm:

“Woohoo!!!”

Zhang Cui’s eyes were vacant. Was this still human strength?

Or was this a hallucination before starvation?

He pulled his head back in.

Then stuck it out again.

Pulled it back again, then stuck it out again.

Zeng Tian watched him going in and out like that without speaking, growing more and more anxious.

“Zhang Cui, just tell us what you saw!”

If you’re not going to speak, at least stop blocking the ladder!

Zhang Cui: “I… I don’t know how to describe it… Director, have you ever read novels?”

Zeng Tian: “?”

Zhang Cui rubbed his face hard, still dazed.

“I think… we might be like in those novels. We’ve crossed over into another world. Like—”

Zeng Tian began to suspect Zhang Cui had finally cracked under pressure. Still, he stepped closer and followed along:

“Like what?”

Zhang Cui wiped his face again, completely stunned.

“‘The apocalypse arrives, and our entire base gets transported into a primitive wilderness world’?”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.22.3 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“Alright, Aether has completed the operation.”

Cheng Qisheng opened the prompt beside the well.

[Facility Name: Water Well (Tier 1)]

[Function: Provides a source of clean water]

[Water Output: 150 billion liters/day (sufficient for 150 million people’s normal water use)]

[Service Life: 50 years (already used: 1 minute)]

Looking at the well’s description, Cheng Qisheng felt a mix of happiness and, at the same time, thought that money in any world really gets spent faster than it’s earned.

She had just been thinking she was extremely rich.

But after buying the air tower and the water well, the massive amount of crystals the residents had earned over these past few days instantly dropped to just three thousand.

These three thousand crystals were reserved as an emergency escape fund and couldn’t be touched.

If she wanted to spend more money next, she would have to wait for the residents to deliver newly earned crystals.

Cheng Qisheng felt as if money was like water flowing through her hands, leaving behind only a damp trace.

But after reporting the news to Blue Sea’s leadership and seeing their expressions of ecstatic relief, she became even more certain that the money had been well spent.

Skipping over the grateful expressions and the Blue Sea high-level officials who had once again begun their daily ritual of superstition—kowtowing to the sky and muttering all kinds of overly emotional prayers—Cheng Qisheng surveyed the entire Blue Sea.

Air and water, the most basic necessities for human survival, were now both available in the Blue Sea Safe City.

From this point on, Blue Sea could truly live without worries.

With sufficient air, residents would no longer face the risk of suffocation or death.

With a water source, those who returned from outside after fighting zombies could finally enjoy a satisfying hot shower using their accumulated points.

Food was not an immediate concern; existing reserves were still sufficient. Moreover, crystal hunters sent out had been returning with the coordinates of various grain warehouses—those nearby had already successfully transported food back, while those farther away would take more time.

Including Zilan University, the farmland in Miang’an City, and the cultivation zones within the safe city itself, Blue Sea would not be short on food for the time being.

However, if the goal was to provide a positive stimulus to the residents, all of this still wasn’t quite enough.

Cheng Qisheng’s gaze landed on a follower of Velvet Star.

At that moment, he was lying in ambush in the grass with a squad of crystal hunters, eyes gleaming as he stared ahead.

Through this follower’s perspective, Cheng Qisheng was able to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the scene.

Across the rolling grassland, herds of cattle and sheep were grazing leisurely. Suddenly, a pack of wolves burst out, causing the animals to scatter in panic.

The faster ones escaped disaster, while the slower ones became food for the wolves. After the pack dragged away their prey, the grassland fell quiet again.

In just half a year, this place already looked like a proper prairie.

A Velvet Star follower named Yun Yu stammered in Blue Sea’s language:

“See? I told you there were several large ranches here. Mianyan City has a vast territory and good environment—there are many livestock farms. There must be at least a hundred thousand cattle and sheep here combined.”

The team leader of the crystal hunters laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder.

“Good, good! You’ve done well! It wasn’t a waste for us to go to so much trouble and travel all this way!”

One of the teammates licked his dry lips.

“With so many cattle and sheep still alive here, there must be a usable large water source. We can also replenish our water here before heading back.”

Not easy at all.

This remote corner was extremely difficult to find. Along the way, they had taken countless detours. Because there were few people and many zombies, they didn’t dare use any vehicles that might make noise for fear of attracting them.

They first rode bicycles, then continued on foot, sleeping only three to four hours a day on average.

This team, named the “Rush Rush Rush Squad,” had relied entirely on Yun Yu’s vague memory of the pasture’s location to make their way here over five days and five nights. Their heels were practically covered in blisters from walking.

In Mianyan City, there were almost no tall buildings that could be used as shelter. The farther west they went, the fewer high-rises there were.

Fortunately, the trees here were tall and sturdy. At night, everyone would light a campfire beneath them and then climb up into the branches to sleep.

The campfires attracted zombies, and every morning they woke up to find a pile of zombies below, clawing at the tree trunks.

If you rolled over slightly at night, you could practically fall straight into the zombies’ embrace. It was extremely “thrilling”.

Because they had already left the military drone coverage zone, there was no standard usable route anymore, and they had no idea where they could find food or water supplies along the way.

So this team could only scrimp and save the entire journey, drinking as little water as possible to avoid dying of thirst before they even arrived.

At this point, everyone had lost at least four to five pounds, but each of them looked unusually excited.

“Let’s send this ranch coordinate back! At least 2,000 points per person as a reward!”

Yun Yu nodded eagerly and happily opened his tactical watch.

“I’ll upload it to the intel trading system right now!”

But the moment he sent it, he froze.

The teammates were shocked.

“What’s wrong? Did someone beat us to it?”

“No… it’s not that.”

Yun Yu looked confused.

“It says it was purchased less than a second after I uploaded it, and the points reward has already been credited.”

The others also froze.

“Seriously? We’ve walked so far out here—there shouldn’t even be any network, right??”

All crystal hunters knew that even without a network connection, intel could still be uploaded.

But reward points normally only appeared after returning to the city.

Yet when they checked their tactical watches, their points had indeed increased—and not by 2,000, but by 4,000.

The group erupted into joy again.

4,000 points!! Worth it, totally worth it!! Even if they had to walk another ten days and nights, it would still be worth it!!

Had the AI network range expanded?

But the map was still only available offline.

In the end, the team leader made the decision:

“Forget it!! As long as we’ve got the points, that’s all that matters! Let’s find the water source first, refill, and then head back!”

After transferring points to all members of that team, Cheng Qisheng had already sketched the map they uploaded by hand and had Aether send it back to the safe city.

She had been paying close attention to this group that had confidently declared they were going to find large ranches.

And they really did find one.

Good, good.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of “stimulation source” she needed?

Cheng Qisheng hesitated for a few seconds between two options—sending the military to directly harvest the ranch, or letting the residents go there themselves and handle it freely.

In the end, she chose the latter.

No particular reason—just as the creator god of Blue Sea, she had a feeling the residents would prefer doing it themselves.

Besides, since the cattle and sheep were meant for the residents anyway, she might as well leave it entirely to them. It would also save the trouble of transportation.

Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes and sank into her mental energy, updating the map of that region on all residents’ watches and phones.

—

The exploration team had just climbed onto another high-rise building and was scanning the horizon when their watches vibrated twice.

“Huh? Is there signal now?”

Wang Moning subconsciously opened her watch, and instantly her attention was drawn to the image of plump cattle and sturdy sheep.

So much meat.

Gulp—

That was another teammate swallowing hard beside her.

“Captain, do we go?”

Song Xi wiped his mouth and stared straight at the cattle.

“Go!”

—

Residents of the Withered Star Safe City were cautiously hiding around a corner, secretly watching a group of Blue Sea residents killing zombies.

After clearing the zombies, those Blue Sea residents actually just grabbed a damaged door and ripped it off its hinges with their bare hands.

The Withered Star residents all sucked in a sharp breath.

“The people of Blue Sea are way too vicious. No wonder the city lord told us to stay far away.”

“How could they not be vicious? Just look at what they eat… then look at what we eat.”

Yesterday, when they encountered Blue Sea, it was on the second floor of a building. At the time, they saw firelight and assumed it was their own safe city’s residents. Only after going upstairs did they realize it was Blue Sea people cooking over a fire.

What they were eating were rough grass cakes—so sparse and unfulfilling that even biting into them didn’t satisfy hunger. They could only break them into hot water and drink them as soup.

But the Blue Sea people? They were eating solid flour pancakes, along with eggs and ham sausages. The aroma drifted up the stairs and rushed straight into their noses.

Although it was only a fleeting glimpse (they ran away immediately after realizing they had run into Blue Sea people), that smell of ham and eggs lingered in their minds even now.

Still, Blue Sea people were genuinely tall and strong. No wonder they didn’t need bandages on their arms—just one look at a whole group of them, all tall with healthy complexions, and it was obvious they were Blue Sea residents.

The group whispered among themselves:

“After they finish clearing this building, let’s go in and see if we can scavenge anything useful.”

“Blue Sea must be incredibly wealthy. Last time I searched a place they had cleared, I even found a usable battery they left behind. I got lucky.”

“Of course they’re rich—they eat so well.”

Someone muttered quietly:

“Do you think Blue Sea accepts outsiders? Maybe we should defect to Blue Sea?”

“No idea, but with how strong they are, what would they even need short people like us for?”

“Yeah, true.”

As they were whispering, something suddenly felt off.

“Wait… why are they all checking their phones?”

“Why are they all standing up?”

“Why are they leaving?!!”

More than a dozen Blue Sea residents hurried off with their weapons, leaving the Withered Star residents behind in confusion.

“Uh… should we still go up and scavenge?”

“Scavenge my foot. They didn’t even finish clearing the zombies, and there are still some chasing behind them. Forget it, let’s go too. Now that the Blue Sea people are gone, this place is getting dangerous. We should move.”

The deputy captain in the Blue Sea team glanced back briefly.

The captain asked, “What is it?”

The deputy captain smiled. “Nothing. Those Withered Star residents who were following us have left.”

“Let them be. Right now the most important thing is to rush to the coordinates on the map. Beef! I want beef! Hot, juicy, delicious beef!”

—

A Blue Sea team, carrying full loads of nucleus crystals still stained with zombie blood, was returning to the safe city.

After lining up and entering the inner city, they were planning to take a bath, eat a proper meal, and then sleep for several days of well-deserved rest.

But their watches automatically displayed a map prompt—and photos of cattle and sheep.

The entire team froze.

“!”

Slurp—

Gulp—

No one even needed to discuss it. Just from the synchronized swallowing sounds alone, they exchanged a look and immediately, in perfect understanding, turned toward the supplies area.

Buy travel supplies—and line up again to leave the city!

Delicious beef!

Nourishing mutton!

Here we come!

—

The “Rush Rush Rush Squad” successfully tracked a herd of cattle and found a water source.

They filtered the water through gauze, boiled it pot by pot in small cooking pots, and only after filling all their canteens with drinkable water did the day finally end.

Looking at the map they had recorded, their next step was to return the same way.

They were too few in number, and their supplies were too limited. The grasslands stretched endlessly, and there were wolf packs—it wasn’t suitable to hunt and replenish energy on the spot.

The Rush Rush Rush Squad was not greedy. Although they were drooling over the large cattle and sheep, conditions didn’t allow it. Compared to taking risks to hunt, it was better to head back.

With 4,000 points in hand, they would still be able to eat well after returning.

So the team set off on their return journey. If nothing unexpected happened, they would travel day and night and reach home in five days.

But something unexpected still happened.

The next day, at sunset, the “Rush Rush Rush Squad” saw a massive Blue Sea force approaching head-on.

Not a military unit—but ordinary civilians.

Yet there were an extremely, extremely, extremely large number of them.

The wild grass that had once caused the team so much trouble along the road had all been cleared away.

The Rush Rush Rush Squad: “……”

They were stunned.

“What are so many of you doing here?”

One of the Blue Sea residents replied, “Hunting cattle and sheep, of course. Didn’t you receive the notice? There’s a huge herd here!”

The Rush Rush Rush Squad: “……This pasture was discovered by our team.”

They looked at the endless crowd.

“But you guys came way too fast, didn’t you?”

They hadn’t even returned to the city yet—and the hunting parties were already on the road.

The resident laughed loudly.

“Too many people, too little meat—we’ve got to move fast. You know how many people Blue Sea has.”

“We’re actually on the slow side. Some people even rented vehicles—they’ll probably catch up soon.”

After speaking, the resident patted his chest.

“Anyway, thanks for discovering the pasture. I’ve got to hurry ahead.”

The Rush Rush Rush Squad hurriedly returned the gesture.

No problem—they had also received the reward points.

But looking at the well-prepared waves of incoming teams, they started to wonder if they should just head back too.

“But… our food is almost gone.”

At that moment, a passing resident turned back.

“Out of food? Come buy from us! We’re ‘Everywhere-Is-A-Trade Team.’ When buying supplies outside, our prices are only one-fifth higher than official safe-city prices. Renting weapons is only one-third higher. We also sell quick-recovery white sugar and fine salt—guaranteed to keep you in peak combat condition.”

He handed them a handwritten flyer:

“Honest, practical! [Everywhere-Is-A-Trade Team]—the best choice for you!”

“This is our price list. Please take a look, but be careful not to damage the flyer—we still need it.”

Local resident Yun Yu: “???”

Why is there a trading caravan selling goods in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness??

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.22.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Cheng Qisheng chose to ask her external brain.

President Qin Zhi.

As expected, Qin Zhi already had a plan in mind. She automatically interpreted it as the great deity asking Her devout believer what She should bestow upon Her followers.

“O great God, your believers bathe in your holy light and no longer face the risk of suffocation. We are already endlessly grateful and deeply content.”

“If you are willing to bless Blue Sea once more, I, Qin Zhi, on behalf of the people of Blue Sea, humbly request more water sources… or perhaps more expansive land.”

Water sources?

That was indeed a problem.

When the Safe City left, it couldn’t take any underground infrastructure with it. Even if the government drilled wells now, they still wouldn’t be able to bring them along when leaving this world.

Blue Sea did have water reserves, but the Safe City was only so large. Even though the government tried its best to build water towers for storage, it still couldn’t store enough water for more than half a year of use.

It had been fine in Qinlian City before—the military had directly taken over the water supply plant and managed to replenish their water supply.

But now they were in Mianyan City, and the water supply plant had already been destroyed by a Tier 3 zombie. Most of the other water sources were likely contaminated as well.

Blue Sea could only spend resources to purify water while simultaneously releasing stored water from water towers for residents to use.

As for land, that went without saying.

Blue Sea’s population was too large. If not for the expansion area sent by Cosmic, things would be even more cramped now.

Based on these two hints, Cheng Qisheng searched through the shop—and then she found it.

In the shop, anything related to civilian livelihood had only one descriptor when it came to price: expensive!

For example, grain was priced outrageously high, something only city lords who truly couldn’t find food would ever buy.

A Tier 1 air tower cost 10,000 nuclei crystals and could support up to 500 million people, which seemed quite cost-effective.

But compared to weapons, it was absurdly expensive.

Ordinary Tier 3 weapons or protective equipment were priced at around 5,000 nuclei crystals.

A Tier-3 pulse armor cannon could blast open a Tier-3 Safe City. It could fire three times, and yet it only cost 8,000 nucleus crystals.

By contrast, a Tier-1 water extraction well cost 15,000 nucleus crystals, and it could only supply 150 million people.

Not to mention expanding agricultural zones.

A Tier-1 cultivation area only provided 500,000 mu of land, yet it cost 300,000 nucleus crystals. It was so expensive that Cheng Qisheng’s eyes hurt just looking at it.

“Aether, do you know why civilian goods are sold so expensively?”

Aether replied, “City Lord, this is the value of life.”

“Nurturing life will always be more expensive than destroying it.”

Cheng Qisheng blinked slightly in surprise.

“You can say something like that?”

She hadn’t forgotten that Aether had previously suggested simply abandoning large groups of civilians.

Back then, it hadn’t seemed like Aether placed much value on life at all.

Aether floated in front of her, its jellyfish-like body flickering gently with a soft, glowing light.

“That was said by the previous city lord. Aether merely remembered it.”

“So the previous city lord must have gone through a lot,” Cheng Qisheng said.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come to such profound conclusions.

“What about you?” she asked. “If it’s your own thoughts, why do you think that is?”

Aether paused.

“My own thoughts? Does the City Lord want Aether to calculate it for you?”

“No, not a calculation. I want your thoughts—like when you know you want to live. Something like that.”

This time, Aether remained silent for even longer.

As an AI, in theory, it only performed calculations and had no thoughts.

But in reality, it did have something resembling thoughts of its own.

They were usually very simple: “don’t want to be destroyed” and “want to survive.”

Aether had never realized it could think about anything beyond that.

It froze for a long time without speaking, as if genuinely thinking.

Cheng Qisheng simply let it slowly think for itself and went back to doing her own work.

A newborn infant still needed time for its brain to develop.

Let alone a sentient AI.

Cheng Qisheng was currently farming—her new hobby lately.

Being a farmer.

But her version of farming was far more comfortable than anyone else’s. Not only did she do very little actual labor, she could also drag extension cords from home and set up two electric fans blowing at her.

When she got tired, she could just open the door and step into an air-conditioned room. When she was thirsty, she could walk straight into the living room, open the fridge, and grab a cold Coke.

Only after having her own plot of land did she realize that farming could actually be quite enjoyable.

Every day, she could watch the vegetables grow better and taller from tiny sprouts, and feel a sense of harvest and satisfaction.

When the Safe City expanded its rooms, the cultivation area had been moved into Cheng Qisheng’s real-world home—but no living creatures had been brought over.

So she bought a standard beehive and twenty thousand earthworms to help with pollination and soil aeration.

Since there were no signs of pests in the cultivation area for now, she hadn’t bought any small beneficial insects like ladybugs yet.

But now, watching the bees gradually integrate and buzz around working, she felt the space becoming more and more alive. Maybe she could even get some butterflies.

Although butterflies were quite fragile—would they even be sold?

Or maybe she should wait for a sunny day and catch them herself with a net?

Cheng Qisheng opened her phone and searched.

Well, even though butterflies weren’t sold directly, butterfly pupae were available—you could incubate them yourself, which was very convenient.

She clicked on a picture of butterfly pupae and suddenly remembered how, back in school, there used to be people selling silkworms at the school gate. They said silkworms could not only produce silk, but also hatch into beautiful butterflies.

For a while, silkworms became a craze at school, and teachers were forced to repeatedly issue warnings forbidding students from keeping them on campus.

Cheng Qisheng hadn’t grown them back then. At the time, she was only focused on her exam results—whether she should participate in competitions, why she got a certain question wrong, and how to avoid making the same mistake again.

Her parents had passed away early. When she was passed around between relatives as a young child, she had already realized one thing:

The more outstanding she was, the better her future life would be.

Her relatives were all ordinary families. Having an extra person in the household was an additional burden, and that naturally came with pressure.

They might not be very willing to take in an average, unremarkable child—but they wouldn’t mind raising a visibly promising top student.

When she could do household chores, maintain excellent grades, and even tutor the relatives’ children, only then was the foster child named Cheng Qisheng truly accepted.

It was both a form of care and a kind of investment.

And as it turned out, her relatives hadn’t made a bad investment.

Cheng Qisheng consistently achieved excellent results. After entering university, she hadn’t even graduated before she already had the ability to earn money.

During holidays, she sent gifts to the elders who had raised her. On their birthdays, she sent red envelopes. She also helped her peers and cousins find jobs.

At the same time, she worked hard to earn money herself, buying the small house she had always dreamed of since childhood—a place that was entirely her own—and even planning to upgrade to a bigger home in the future.

If it weren’t for the sudden terminal illness, her life trajectory would most likely have been:

Get into a big tech company with a high salary, accumulate enough experience and savings, resign to start her own business, and keep climbing higher and higher until she reached the top, only then allowing herself a brief rest.

—She would have become the kind of “life winner” defined by society.

Instead, from the moment she was diagnosed with ALS, her life ran completely off the rails.

Terminal patient—Creator God—Safe City Lord.

And now, she had started growing vegetables on her own.

In fact, from childhood to adulthood, Cheng Qisheng had never regretted any of her choices. Even after developing ALS, she still believed that insisting on being the best person she could be from a young age had been the right decision.

But looking at the image of the butterfly pupae, she suddenly remembered something.

In elementary school, her deskmate was a freckled girl with short hair. One day, she excitedly bought silkworms, hoping to raise them until they became butterflies.

Every day after school, her deskmate would go out to pick mulberry leaves for the silkworms, imagining how beautiful the butterflies would eventually be.

In the end, the silkworms did indeed form cocoons and become pupae—but what emerged was not a beautiful butterfly, but a plump, clumsy moth.

Cheng Qisheng had thought the girl would be disappointed. Instead, she only felt a brief moment of disappointment before becoming happy again.

“As long as they’re healthy, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter if they’re not pretty.”

Although later, after the moths mated, laid eggs, and soon died, her deskmate still cried for a while.

For some reason, though, Cheng Qisheng had always remembered that sentence: as long as they’re healthy, it’s fine.

Now that she was older, she admitted she had been a little envious back then.

It was as if even at that young age, she already understood that her deskmate could say “as long as they’re healthy” because her parents treated her that way too.

Health was enough. There was no need to work so hard in school, no need to carry so much pressure. She could keep silkworms as pets, and when she couldn’t find mulberry leaves, her parents would go buy them for her.

It wasn’t that Cheng Qisheng wasn’t interested in silkworms. She had been a child too—how could she not have been interested?

She simply knew that she was living under someone else’s roof, staying in her cousin’s room, and it wasn’t appropriate to bring silkworms back.

Even the few yuan needed to buy them, she couldn’t afford.

So she pretended to be indifferent, acting as if she wasn’t interested at all.

Even now, Cheng Qisheng still believed she had made the right choice back then. After all, she truly hadn’t had the conditions for it.

But now, standing in this vast cultivation zone, she suddenly realized:

She actually had wanted to raise silkworms back then.

And now, she could raise anything she wanted.

Not the kind separated by an entire planet—but right at home. Right in front of her. Something she could step out and see anytime she wanted, without worrying about affecting anyone else.

Because this place belonged to her.

Only to her.

Cheng Qisheng sighed slightly with regret.

“What a pity, Aether. It would’ve been better if you could feel pain.”

Aether, who had been deep in thought, replied in confusion, “Aether is an AI. AI does not experience pain.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s a pity.”

That single word—pity—made Aether’s already rapidly processing mind accelerate even further.

Why did the City Lord want it to think? And why would she feel it was a pity that it lacked a lifeform’s ability to feel pain… Was she treating it as a living being? Wait—was it currently thinking?

Cheng Qisheng picked an apple, took a bite, and nodded in satisfaction.

If Aether could feel pain, she could just pinch it once. Hearing it cry out would confirm that this wonderful life wasn’t just a dream.

As for why she didn’t pinch herself?

Cheng Qisheng had always been very kind to herself.

After finishing the apple, she felt in a very good mood. She slowly tapped on her phone, humming a tune as she ordered butterfly pupae.

Since life had already veered off like a runaway horse into a completely different direction, there was no point in trying to struggle upward anymore. She might as well enjoy it.

Enjoy a slowly healing life, a large house, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a future full of hope.

After placing the order for the pupae, Cheng Qisheng continued browsing the shop, trying to assemble the cheapest and most suitable civilian supply package.

The jellyfish floated over beside her.

“City Lord, Aether has figured out why civilian products in the shop are so expensive.”

Cheng Qisheng looked at it.

“Why?”

“The principle of the water extraction well is to use a micro space-time channel to extract and synthesize usable water molecules from across the universe. It does not rely on the environment where the Safe City is located.”

Aether swayed its jellyfish-like body. When Cheng Qisheng opened her palm toward it, it naturally settled onto it, tilting its head up as it continued explaining.

“In other words, even if the City Lord’s Safe City were placed on a planet without any water sources, the well would still continuously produce water.”

“The air tower works on the same principle. As for the cultivation zone, it is similar to a large-scale weather control device. It has a unified control center and can regulate all weather conditions within the farming area. Moreover, the purchased cultivation land does not occupy Safe City land space.”

Cheng Qisheng understood.

“So these civilian products—although they look simple—actually use more advanced technology than weapons?”

Aether mimicked her, nodding its jellyfish head.

“Yes, City Lord. Weapons need to be recharged after several uses, but the civilian products you are referring to have a minimum service life of fifty years.”

“Furthermore, they can operate normally in any environment. That is why their prices are not actually considered expensive.”

Cheng Qisheng thought about it. It made sense.

Take the water extraction well, for example. Even though it cost 15,000 nucleus crystals per unit, it could support 150 million people for fifty years with stable output and built-in purification.

That meant each person would only be paying less than one ten-millionth of a nucleus crystal per day.

Expensive? Yes—but once-and-for-all.

Cheng Qisheng’s gaze toward the water well immediately turned full of longing.

Worth it. So worth it.

She wanted it. She really wanted it.

Aether’s explanation about extracting water molecules from the universe had also sparked her imagination.

“If there’s a water extraction well that pulls water molecules from the universe… does the shop also have machines that can directly generate food?”

The shop’s products were simply too numerous. She had already flipped through three hundred thousand pages, and could find all kinds of bizarre facilities.

Xiang Cai had once said that, according to another city lord he knew, someone had actually flipped through 30 billion pages without reaching the end.

—No one knew which city lord was that impressive, but they must have been ridiculously strong to scroll that much.

Cheng Qisheng admired that city lord. When she had free time, she liked to browse page by page herself, but when she actually needed to buy something, she usually just called the AI brain to locate the product page.

Just like now.

“Yes, City Lord.”

Aether floated forward and helped her jump directly to the relevant page.

“A flour production line tailored to the food preferences of your civilization can produce one million tons of steamed buns per month for only 1,000 nucleus crystals, enough to feed 300 million people.”

It still remembered that Cheng Qisheng was curious about principles, so it took the initiative to explain:

“The food production line works through molecular reorganization technology, rearranging various elements to create buns that are identical in taste and nutritional value to ordinary ones.”

“After upgrading, it can produce buns, dumplings, noodles, and other foods.”

One thousand nucleus crystals per month to feed three billion people didn’t sound unacceptable—it was even uplifting.

But that was only the monthly cost. What about the cost of the production line itself?

Cheng Qisheng counted the zeros for a while. “One million nucleus crystals.”

Alright. The excitement she had just built up died instantly.

Cheng Qisheng quickly said, “Let’s go back and look at the water well instead.”

With the current earning speed of Blue Sea citizens, she could at least still afford one water extraction well.

She looked at the dimensional water well, then at her remaining nucleus crystals, and finally gritted her teeth and clicked purchase.

Upgrading from Tier 2 to Tier 3 required 30,000 nucleus crystals.

In theory, if she kept that 15,000 nucleus crystals and saved a bit more, the Safe City could reach Tier 3 in less than a week.

Tier 3 upgrade = she herself becoming a Tier 3 transcendent = her illness would ease further.

But after careful consideration, Cheng Qisheng still decided to prioritize the water well first.

Of course she wanted to cure herself quickly, but the situation in Mianyan City was unclear. A Tier 3 upgrade would only expand territory and improve basic city-wall defenses—it wouldn’t help much against Tier 3 zombies or rescue the virologist.

She also had to consider the possibility that “if they lose the fight, they would need to evacuate with their believers.”

It needed to be stable.

If she wanted to reach Tier 3, she would still need to save up more nucleus crystals. But if she didn’t upgrade now, she could immediately get a water well.

As long as Blue Sea still existed, reaching the next tier was only a matter of time.

And regardless of whether they relocated to another coordinate in this world or left early altogether, Blue Sea would always need a well that guaranteed a stable water supply.

Even if, in theory, it only served 150 million people—that was under normal conditions.

In a true extreme water shortage, if used carefully, this well could at least ensure that no one in the Safe City would die of thirst.

At this moment, Cheng Qisheng suddenly found herself understanding her elementary school deskmate a little more.

She tapped “Old Eighth” in the Safe City interface.

“Health is enough. As long as everyone is healthy, and we can all survive together.”

—A not-so-large-looking water well appeared on the selected plot of land.

Aether spoke up: “New facility detected. Does the City Lord wish to connect it to the Safe City water supply system?”

Cheng Qisheng felt pleasantly surprised. It was that convenient? It could just be connected directly?

She had originally thought she would need manpower to manually draw water every day. This was much easier.

“Connect it.”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.22.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The exploration team cut down rows of grass that reached up to their waists, occasionally taking care of zombies that suddenly emerged from the bushes. Before long, they had cleared the area of dense vegetation.

The cut grass was left behind; naturally, “scavengers” would come later to bundle it up and transport it back to Blue Sea.

“Scavengers” were usually people with lower combat ability.

“Lower ability” meant they couldn’t push into unexplored areas like the exploration teams, but they could still kill zombies alone, handle risks, and move quickly.

So scavengers operated in already-cleared zones, searching for valuable items and bringing them back to the safe city.

Toothpaste, lighters, broken radios, various tools—even tire rubber—all of these had uses when brought back.

The cut grass was also valuable: it could be used as animal feed, composted for farming, or dried for bedding. If not needed personally, it could even be sold to recycling stations for points.

Scavengers made a profit, and from the explorers’ perspective, they didn’t mind others picking through what they left behind.

For example, the exploration team’s goal was clear: kill zombies, obtain crystals, continuously open up new territory, and ideally locate the human base mentioned in the divine oracle. They had no interest in earning points from selling grass or miscellaneous supplies.

Once they had accumulated enough crystals, they could also hire these ever-present scavengers to transport them back to Blue Sea, where points would be added to their resident IDs.

To residents of other safe cities, this kind of trust—handing over one’s wealth to strangers—was simply incomprehensible.

But for Blue Sea residents, there were several safeguards.

First, tactical watches recorded the entrustment video. That could not be forged.

Second, during the transaction, both parties would know each other’s resident ID numbers. The safe city itself was fixed in place—so even if someone broke their promise, they could run, but they couldn’t hide forever.

Third, to ensure absolute security, both sides would solemnly swear an oath to the divine being.

A triple-layer guarantee—every layer solid.

The exploration teams therefore always traveled light. Occasionally, they would buy water from scavengers who carried enough food and supplies, then entrust them to carry the core crystals back while they continued their focused expansion outward.

After all, the first person to find the base would receive a reward of 10,000 points.

No need to approach it, no need to rescue anyone—even just seeing it from a distance and taking a photo would be enough to earn 10,000 points.

Every Blue Sea resident wished they had eighteen pairs of eyes so they could find that unknown base and rush back to report it immediately.

The exploration teams even spent considerable time blasting through an entire building just to reach the top floor, hoping that a higher vantage point would reveal clues.

But there was nothing.

No matter how they looked, there was nothing.

All they could see were endless fields of overgrown grass, wildly spreading trees, and tangled vines.

Aside from the areas around the four safe cities, there were no signs of human habitation at all—it was as if all the humans of Mianyan City had simply vanished.

The good news was that although the exploration teams hadn’t found the base, they had still killed plenty of zombies, and earned a substantial number of points.

Other teams were in similar situations.

As a result, crystals flowed back into Blue Sea like a river.

After the crystal exchange stations added points to the residents who had earned the crystals, they respectfully transported carts full of crystals to the temple, where they were offered before the statue of the Great Creator God.

—The Great Creator God had never been this wealthy before.

Cheng Qisheng looked at the more than 28,000  crystals piled up in the temple and became even more certain: managing Blue Sea really was something that should be left to professionals.

The military’s combat power was indeed strong, but the military had to be supported by the entire Blue Sea system.

If they really expanded recruitment to deal with Mianyan City, they would become even stronger—but the logistics system would come under unprecedented pressure.

Unless they were extremely lucky and managed to locate Mianyan City’s grain depot.

But Blue Sea had 360 million people. A single city’s grain storage simply couldn’t sustain that.

Things were different now.

The military had stepped back. Instead of directly deploying troops for suppression and centralized zombie-killing to obtain crystals, residents were now allowed to act freely.

At the same time, the government had introduced various point-based spending channels within the city, increasing people’s desire for points.

In essence, residents now treated “going out of the city” as a job, rather than being in a state of deployment and protection under the military. They were responsible for their own gains and losses.

They went out, killed zombies, obtained crystals, searched for supplies, and brought everything back to exchange for points.

Meanwhile, Cheng Qisheng could take the crystals brought back by residents and exchange them in the system store for supplies to meet the population’s needs.

Residents staying inside the city, seeing more and more people obtaining better resources, were also motivated to work harder in the city to earn more crystals.

And so, a positive cycle began.

Government and military pressure decreased dramatically. Citizens had more hope, their living standards improved, and Cheng Qisheng obtained a massive supply of crystals.

She had to admit—this really was the survival model best suited for Blue Sea.

Because after thinking about it, she realized this system was essentially the same as Blue Sea’s civilization during its primitive, wilderness-era stage.

It was nothing more than replacing hunting with killing zombies.

Replaced “obtaining the meat of prey” with obtaining more resources.

When danger arose, the people of the tribe would gather together; now when danger arises, the Blue Sea army would immediately be deployed.

However, to maintain this kind of state, the resources that Blue Sea residents want to obtain must exist.

This was Cheng Qisheng’s job.

First of all, she could finally afford an Air Tower!

The oxygen problem in the Safe City had always been Cheng Qisheng’s most pressing concern.

Although the government had been trying to address it after becoming aware of the issue—such as relocating population outward, deploying military forces to occupy territories and search for supplies, and sending large numbers of workers to cut trees and dig soil—

without an Air Tower, it could never be considered a permanent solution.

Just look at Mianyan City: after the Safe City relocation, everyone had to squeeze inside the city for a full two days. Only after a large open area outside was cleared, barbed wire was set up, and a portion of the army was stationed outside, could things stabilize.

If a level-three zombie suddenly attacked at that moment, that army would have been in an extremely dangerous situation.

It was still better to ensure that residents could live safely inside the city.

Cheng Qisheng chose a location and spent 10,000 crystal to purchase the Air Tower she had long been thinking about.

In an instant, a large pile of crystal that had been stacked like a mountain in front of the temple was greatly reduced.

The Air Tower really did look like a tower—about several dozen meters tall—and appeared directly on the selected open ground.

At the same time, a line of text appeared beside it:

[Facility Name: Air Tower (Level 1)]

[Function: Supplies the air required by the current civilization]

[Coverage: 500 million people]

[Service Life: 50 years (1 minute used)]

Cheng Qisheng was not inside the Safe City, so she couldn’t personally feel the effects of the Air Tower. She could only go and observe the reactions of the residents who were inside.

At that time, most of the residents were working.

Their work mainly consisted of building walls, carrying bricks, and repairing houses.

As they were working hard at lifting bricks, someone suddenly looked up.

“Strange… does anyone else feel like the air has become fresher?”

The colleagues beside them sniffed the air.

“Yeah, I think so. It doesn’t feel stuffy anymore… and it’s even a bit cool.”

Someone else covered their head in surprise.

“I feel like my brain has become clearer!”

“Me too!”

“It must be the blessing of the Great Creator God! The Great Creator God has made us smarter!!”

Cheng Qisheng: It’s not that you became smarter because of a blessing. It’s just that low oxygen was making your attention drop and your brain run sluggishly.

Now that there’s enough oxygen, your brains that were basically forced offline have simply come back online.

In the planting zone, Zhang Xiongyuan, who was standing in front of a stretch of farmland recording data, suddenly looked up.

He worked in agriculture, so he immediately sensed the change in oxygen levels in the air.

The next second, his newly acquired phone let out a “ding.”

Although he now had a phone, Zhang Xiongyuan still couldn’t fully understand Blue Sea script in such a short time. He could only recognize the two characters for “notification,” so he had to ask the translator Li Zhangmu for help.

Li Zhangmu read it aloud:

“AI notification: The Air Tower has been activated and is now available for all city residents. Personnel in the planting zone no longer need to forcibly oxygenate nutrient solutions or regulate photosynthesis. All staff are requested to adjust cultivation plans according to the current atmospheric oxygen levels.”

After finishing, he froze. Zhang Xiongyuan also froze.

“What do you mean… Air Tower?”

Li Zhangmu shook his head.

“I’ve never heard of it. Wait, I’ll check the official website.”

The AI had rebuilt an official website for Blue Sea. In the areas covered by the AI, there was still no private chat function yet, but residents could use the website to look up all kinds of information.

Li Zhangmu opened the Blue Sea official website, navigated to the “Facilities” section, and scrolled down item by item.

“Air Tower… Air Tower… Air Tower… there it is!!”

A clear photo of a towering structure appeared, along with a brief description.

It didn’t say much—only that the Air Tower could support five hundred million people, and that no one was allowed to approach it.

“I saw this empty lot when I was riding the bus this morning. It was just an empty space back then—how did a tower suddenly appear there??”

Li Zhangmu was shocked, and Zhang Xiongyuan was even more shocked.

Although he worked in agriculture, as an academician he still had some understanding of technology-related matters.

But an Air Tower—he had never even heard of such a thing. Even if there were a large-scale air purification machine like that, shouldn’t it take time after activation for the city’s air to gradually improve?

How could it go from nonexistent yesterday to installed today, with the air immediately becoming different?

Zhang Xiongyuan said, “It’s incredible. This is definitely beyond modern technology.”

A tower only a few dozen meters tall—how could it possibly provide air for five hundred million people?

Before this, Zhang Xiongyuan had only thought that Blue Sea was just slightly more advanced than Velvet Star in terms of technology.

But now, he truly understood why Li Zhangmu kept saying how fortunate it was to enter Blue Sea.

Imagine a place that can even control the air—just how powerful must it be?

Zhang Xiongyuan was still trying to process the Air Tower when a staff member from Velvet Star came running over with an extremely excited expression.

“Have you heard?”

Li Zhangmu immediately responded: “I’ve heard of it! The Air Tower, right? That’s amazing. I always felt things were a bit stuffy with so many people before—now there’s nothing to worry about.”

The staff member shook his head with a smile.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the weather control device.”

“It has been specially approved to use 500 mu of land for the weather control device. Our group has 2 mu within the usable range—things are going to get much easier from now on!”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “…W-what? Weather control device?”

“Yes! It was bestowed by the Great Creator God. It can make it rain whenever it wants to rain, or make the sun come out whenever it wants. It’s extremely convenient and especially useful for the planting zone!”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “……”

Weather control device. Air Tower.

Li Zhangmu had worked in other Safe Cities before, but he had never seen anything like this.

No wonder the people of Blue Sea firmly believed that the Creator God truly existed—these things sounded almost scientific.

And yet… weren’t these basically miracles?

At that moment, Zhang Xiongyuan’s previously firm, non-religious mindset began to waver.

Sensing a faint rise of faith, Cheng Qisheng glanced over.

Seeing that it was Zhang Xiongyuan, she wasn’t surprised.

This agricultural expert had actually always been quite cooperative—he just hadn’t had the right trigger to believe before.

Good, good. Another talented person gained.

But there was no time to celebrate.

She was still in the middle of shopping.

Cheng Qisheng withdrew her gaze and looked back at the shop interface filled with dazzling goods, falling into deep hesitation.

She still had a little over ten thousand crystal nuclei left. Her goal was to both keep enough for weapons and also improve the residents’ quality of life.

She also needed to make them realize that hard work truly brings rewards.

So… what should she buy next?

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.21.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Gu Gaga ran off without looking back.

Cheng Qisheng was fine with it. After checking the video and confirming that it hadn’t been attacked by anyone but had left on its own, she didn’t take it to heart.

Her goal had always been to prevent the four safe cities from attacking and devouring each other, avoiding the creation of a fourth-tier safe city.

Gu Gaga leaving was actually just fine.

Cheng Qisheng didn’t care—but the other three safe cities certainly did.

Gu Gaga’s private chat channel was filled with curses automatically filtered out by the AI.

[Gu Gaga you ****! I *****! You really **** now let us **** you ****]

[Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!!!]

[I’m so **** fed up with you, why are you running? If you run off, what are the three of us supposed to **** do? Weren’t we supposed to cooperate and form an alliance, you *****]

[Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!!!]

It wasn’t that “Meow Meow” didn’t swear—it was just that she was venting in “cat language,” and it was so harsh that it triggered so many blocked words that the AI simply couldn’t translate a single word properly.

Gu Gaga also knew it hadn’t handled things well, but it didn’t dare take the risk.

The most terrifying thing about Blue Sea wasn’t its intimidating array of weapons, nor the clearly centralized power of its city lord.

It was what it saw in Blue Sea’s residents—the fact that they enjoyed fighting.

That was truly terrifying.

Although Gu Gaga was only tier two, it had experienced many worlds and seen many civilizations.

It had encountered predatory civilizations two or three times before—civilizations that took pride in invading others.

These invader civilizations were usually unstoppable in the early stages, only to collapse in the mid-to-late stages because they focused only on offense and neglected their rear.

And the residents of Blue Sea looked exactly like them.

A civilization full of fighting spirit, one that enjoys battle… believing that Blue Sea wouldn’t invade others was even less believable than believing Meow Meow would quit “mutianmiao” (catnip).

Unless this civilization had a supreme leader capable of suppressing everyone and guiding the entire society to restrain its desire for battle while advancing steadily.

But anyone who had ever been in a leadership position knew how difficult it was to suppress a shared instinct across an entire civilization.

Even if Blue Sea had an emperor, it still wouldn’t be possible.

Gu Gaga looked at the three city lords questioning it, feeling a faint sense of melancholy, as if it alone had glimpsed the truth.

But after the three city lords finished cursing and calmed down, when they asked why it had fled, Gu Gaga still kept its mouth shut.

It would have to be insane to tell the truth.

If Blue Sea had originally regarded the four safe cities as something in its pocket, then Gu Gaga fleeing might barely be acceptable.

But if it also encouraged the others to run…

If none of the four little “desserts” remained, Blue Sea would definitely come to hate it.

[Gu Gaga Safe City: I thought about it. I’m only tier two, I don’t have much combat power. There are too many zombies over there, it’s too dangerous, and there’s no real benefit in staying.]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: I was wrong to run, but we never formally formed an alliance, so it doesn’t count as betraying anyone. How about this—I’ll give each of you three crates of fruit as compensation.]

After receiving the fruit from Gu Gaga, the three city lords became even more suspicious.

This tree-person Gu Gaga had always been someone who only took in but never gave out.

For it to run so decisively—and even be willing to offer compensation…

And considering that Gu Gaga was the closest safe city to Blue Sea…

This situation absolutely had something to do with Blue Sea!

But recently, Blue Sea had only sent out some people to clear zombies, and hadn’t even had direct contact with Gu Gaga Safe City.

The three city lords didn’t go so far as to withdraw based on such vague suspicions, but they did become far more cautious in their actions.

In any case, whatever the reason, Blue Sea was definitely not to be provoked.

With that in mind, all three of them specifically instructed their residents:

When operating outside, if they encountered Blue Sea residents, keep your distance and avoid any conflict at all costs.

—

Wang Moning killed the last zombie in this area and, exhausted, her arms sore and weak, plopped down on a rock to drink some water.

“Captain, are those people from another safe city?”

Song Xi was also signaling to her teammates to take out compressed biscuits for a meal. Hearing this, she followed Wang Moning’s gaze and saw about seven or eight people quickly slipping into an intact building that hadn’t collapsed.

Wang Moning didn’t have the Blue Sea people’s long-range vision, so she couldn’t see clearly no matter how long she looked.

Song Xi narrowed her eyes and examined them carefully.

“They’ve got white bands on their arms. They’re from Withered Star Safe City.”

For some reason, residents of the three nearby cities all wore different colored armbands.

After encountering them a few times, Blue Sea people could distinguish them easily—the different colors represented different safe cities.

Wang Moning watched as most of the Withered Star residents had already hidden inside the shelter and asked in confusion:

“Why do I feel like they’ve been avoiding us?”

Hadn’t the AI issued an announcement saying that Blue Sea and the three safe cities would not interfere with each other and would coexist peacefully?

So why were these people running as soon as they arrived?

Song Xi glanced over. Although the other side was hiding inside the building, her eyesight was sharp enough to clearly see someone carefully peering at them through a crack in the wall.

“Maybe they’re just shy?”

After thinking it over, that was the only explanation she could come up with.

“Then… are those also shy?”

Wang Moning pointed to the left.

A few “cats” wearing green bands—about the size of small tigers—had just walked over. The moment they saw them, they panicked and turned to run.

Because they were in such a hurry, one of them even slipped on a marble slab in the ruins and nearly failed to keep up with its fleeing companions.

Wang Moning knew they weren’t actual cats, but members of the Catfolk civilization. They were very strong in combat and, because they could transform into cats, they were also excellent at scaling walls and moving across rooftops—though their technological development was relatively weak.

At first, she had been filled with awe and anticipation—after all, this was a civilization that could transform into cats! How amazing was that!

Wang Moning had even imagined how, if they ever made contact, she would subtly, politely, and casually find a way to pet the fur on them.

But there was no “if.” Far from letting her touch them, the catfolk residents always turned and ran the moment they spotted their team from a distance.

Not just them—the residents of Blue Leaf Safe City, who wore red armbands, were the same. Could it be that the rules of the safe cities included a clause forbidding close contact with residents of other safe cities?

“There isn’t, right?”

Song Xi tried to recall the guidelines the AI had sent to residents. “No, there’s no such rule.”

“Then they’re definitely just shy.”

“But all three safe cities are like this,” Wang Moning said.

For some reason, she always felt like the residents of other safe cities treated Blue Sea people like some kind of demon king-level existence.

Anyway—it just felt very villain-like.

But Song Xi was very certain.

“Then all three safe cities must just be shy!”

Since the problem couldn’t possibly be on their side, it must be the others who had a problem.

She even felt a bit regretful. “Such a pity. I really wanted to meet the catfolk civilization.”

Wang Moning immediately agreed. “Right? Right? Me too! A civilization that can turn into cats—it’s so rare!”

Song Xi nodded with regret.

She had once fought against a lion and won.

So she was very curious whether catfolk or lions were stronger in combat.

Ah, but the catfolk civilization just happened to be avoiding them—so there was no chance for a friendly spar.

Thinking of the catfolk’s sharp claws, Song Xi sighed. “What a pity.”

Thinking of their smooth fur, Wang Moning also sighed. “Yeah, what a pity.”

Cheng Qisheng looked at the two of them: “……”

She could guarantee these two were definitely regretting completely different things.

Yet somehow, even though the two of them constantly talked past each other, they always ended up agreeing perfectly. No wonder they had become such good friends.

As for the fact that residents of the three safe cities were avoiding Blue Sea’s people, Cheng Qisheng had noticed it even earlier than the residents themselves.

But as always, it didn’t really affect Blue Sea in any meaningful way—in fact, it was even more convenient.

As long as they didn’t interfere with each other, things were fine.

Right now, Cheng Qisheng was spending most of her time on these residents who were going out to explore and fight.

Through the perspectives of residents scattered across the city, she observed the existing buildings and traces of human civilization, trying to locate the base of that virologist.

And then she realized—this task was truly quite difficult.

This city was called Mianyan City. It was said to be the largest city on Velvet Star, and before the apocalypse, it had also been the city with the most widespread vegetation coverage.

In the pre-apocalyptic era, it had been a tropical tourist city, where various plants distributed throughout the city served as its most beautiful decoration.

But after the apocalypse, without gardeners trimming branches, spraying pesticides, and removing weeds—and with shifting temperatures—within just half a year, Mianyan City had become a half-city, half-forest existence.

Weeds grew so thick that they could swallow a person whole. Tree roots had broken through floor tiles, and skyscrapers were completely covered in vines, turning entirely green.

Cheng Qisheng found that what Xiang Qin had said was entirely correct.

A civilization on the verge of destruction faces disasters on all fronts.

Zombies were only the most basic collapse of human society. Humanity also had to contend with rising temperatures, vegetation that destroyed cities, and an environment that could no longer support modern life.

Humans not only had to deal with zombies, but also with rapidly spreading plants and animals growing larger as they expanded their territory.

Mianyan City was simply the fastest to show these changes due to its geographical location.

If another three or five years passed, the entire Velvet Star planet would become a similar environment, with almost no habitable space left for humans.

Cheng Qisheng recorded the situation of Velvet Star one by one in her notebook.

She didn’t know what use these notes would have, but at the very least, the next time she went to another world, she would be better prepared if she encountered something similar.

…

Whoosh—

Wang Moning swung her blade and killed a rat that had lunged at her. The corpse—fat and as large as a kitten—fell to the ground.

“These rats aren’t afraid of people anymore,” she muttered.

Her impression of rats had always been small creatures hiding in sewers or cracks in the floor, scurrying away the moment they saw humans.

But this rat showed no fear at all. It charged straight at them. If Wang Moning hadn’t dodged quickly, she would’ve definitely been bitten.

Song Xi used her stick to poke at the corpse a couple of times. After confirming it was a normal rat and not some kind of zombie rat, she finally relaxed.

“Animals are like that,” she said. “When you’re stronger, they’re weaker. When they sense you’ve weakened, they become stronger.”

She cut through the grass ahead and looked toward the distant skyscrapers, now completely covered in vines.

“It looks like humans living in this city are in a very weak position.”

On their way here, even encountering a nest of ants meant those ants would aggressively rush at them, trying to fight them head-on.

The ants were slightly larger than normal ones. They definitely couldn’t beat humans, but judging by their bright red color, they were probably poisonous.

Fortunately, the exploration team all wore combat boots and had sharp senses, allowing them to notice the aggressive ant nest in time. Otherwise, a single bite would have been troublesome—swelling and pain were one thing, but infection would be far worse.

Grass taller than a person’s waist, human buildings largely destroyed, zombies occasionally jumping out from the undergrowth, and animals that would suddenly lunge at them to bite…

Even Song Xi, whose combat ability was considered exceptional, couldn’t help but remark:

“This place is full of hidden dangers.”

Not the kind of danger that could directly wipe out humanity—but the kind that made living here impossible.

If not for the divine oracle, she would have even started to doubt whether there truly was a human base of Velvet Star natives in Mianyan City.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.21.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

They had bought so many things today, eaten so well, and felt so happy—how could they not celebrate by going to watch a movie?

When they arrived, they discovered that the cinema had even launched a VR screening hall.

The staff smiled and said:

“Of course, VR screenings give a much better experience—but they cost five times the price of a normal hall~”

Song Xi hesitated a little and looked at Wang Moning. “I want to watch it. Do you want to?”

“I want to too. Let’s go!”

Wang Moning was actually even more decisive.

Velvet Star’s technology wasn’t as advanced as Blue Sea’s, and she had never watched a VR movie before. It was expensive, but somehow, spending money together felt more reassuring than spending it alone.

The two quickly reached an agreement and happily went in to watch a VR movie. Even after leaving the cinema, they were still savoring the experience.

“It was amazing. VR really is different—it feels like you’re actually inside it.”

“Yeah, and the plot was great too. So satisfying. Let’s come again tomorrow—I saw in the ad that there’s a horror movie. Watching horror in VR must be even more intense!”

At the mention of horror movies, Wang Moning’s eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly:

“Yeah, yeah! Hehe, it’s a bit expensive, but we earned so many points before. We should enjoy ourselves when it’s time to… huh?! Why do we only have this little left in our points?!!”

Wang Moning looked at the remaining citizen points on her phone as if struck by a bolt from the blue.

Wait—no, that wasn’t right. She had… actually bought a lot of things.

She immediately pulled up her point transaction records, and sure enough, every expense was clearly listed and matched perfectly:

“Oh my god… I actually spent this many points?”

Song Xi leaned over to take a look at her points, then at her own. She didn’t seem too shaken.

After all, she was someone who had lost a 300-square-meter house along with Dark Star’s destruction and still managed to start from scratch again.

“It’s fine. Isn’t the whole point of earning points to spend them?” Song Xi patted her on the shoulder.

“I was already planning to ask you to go out with us for a big job. We’re in a wartime state now, so we can take loans to buy weapons. With our squad’s qualifications, we can borrow a lot of good stuff.”

Wang Moning realized—shamefully—that she was tempted.

But her remaining rationality tried to hold her back.

“Um… didn’t they say this city is full of zombies and it’s very dangerous?”

Song Xi laughed.

“Ningning, what do you see? Zombies?”

“Uh… if not zombies, then what?”

“Points!”

“All those zombies on the ground—what does that mean? It means the nuclear crystals in their heads are everywhere! It means we can just go out, kill a few, and come back with a huge amount of crystals that we can exchange for points!”

“Right now everyone’s going crazy over it. People are lining up to go outside the city to kill zombies for points—the quarantine facility is about to expand to fifty times its original size. Haven’t you noticed how few people there are on the streets today? They’ve all gone out to grab crystals!”

Wang Moning listened, stunned. It sounded absurd, but thinking about what people from Blue Sea were usually like, it also felt like something they would actually do.

Seeing Song Xi’s anxious expression—like she was ready to sprout wings and fly out immediately—Wang Moning felt a little moved.

Wang Moning knew that Song Xi had always loved fighting. Now that everyone else had gone out while she stayed in the city, watching zombies get taken down by others—how frustrated must she be feeling?

“Captain, did you stay behind just to persuade me?”

Because she knew Wang Moning might hesitate, so she deliberately used such an indirect way to help her recognize her true feelings?

Song Xi replied, “No. It’s because when the central intelligence announced it to the whole city, I was in the shower and didn’t see the message in time. By the time I tried to book an outbound slot, they were already full.”

She said this with deep regret.

“They said it’s to prevent total wipeout, so residents can only go out in batches. I was a bit late booking, so the earliest slot I could get is tomorrow.”

“……”

After joining Blue Sea, Wang Moning had heard that everything there used to require queueing.

She hadn’t expected that now, when eating, showering, and using the bathroom no longer required queues, even going out to kill zombies did.

Song Xi, after lamenting for a while, suddenly cheered up on her own.

“Hehe, but I’m not actually the worst off. I heard some people got scheduled three days later—that’s real bad luck.”

“Oh right, Ningning, are you going? If you’re not going, I’ll remove your name. Don’t worry, cancellations don’t cost anything.”

Wang Moning looked at Song Xi, who became bright and energized the moment she talked about fighting again tomorrow.

Something in her heart felt itchy, like it was being lightly scratched over and over.

She thought of those days of adventure—of climbing across to another building using only a rope; of her first zombie kill, when she was inexperienced and almost got blood in her eyes before a teammate reached out and covered them, only lowering their hand and smiling at her after it was over.

And of the moment she finally learned how to angle herself to avoid blood splatter, when her teammates, sitting around a fire while cooking, all applauded her and praised her for being impressive.

The zombie they used for practice had been specially captured by the captain. To teach her how to properly protect herself, they had gone to great lengths to “lure” a zombie onto the rooftop.

Later on, she was able to join combat as well. Although she still couldn’t compare to her teammates, at least she was no longer a burden.

From then on, Wang Moning wasn’t as afraid anymore, because she knew she had the ability to protect herself.

Looking back now, she realized that in a very short time, she had gained friendship, confidence, experience…

And points!!

“I’m going.”

Wang Moning took a deep breath.

“I’m part of the Exploration Squad too, of course I’m going with you.”

“Okay then~ let’s go take out a loan for weapons together.”

Song Xi accepted it very naturally.

People from Blue Sea had always been like this—they didn’t interfere much with others’ decisions. If Wang Moning went, she accepted it; if she didn’t, they would still remain friends.

As they passed through a city gate, Wang Moning was once again stunned by the long queues.

Behind it, the quarantine facilities were still being built at full speed. Construction workers were moving so fast their hands almost seemed to be sparking.

In the past, quarantine centers were single-story buildings. Now, with the surge in population, they had evolved into multi-story complexes.

One room per small compartment. As soon as one person finished quarantine, the next would move in—and even that wasn’t enough. They kept expanding.

Wang Moning stared blankly, a strong sense of urgency rising in her chest.

“Is the entire region here?”

With so many people, could they even compete?

Forget weapon loans—if they spent most of their points and then went out, would there even be any zombies left to kill?

“More than that.”

Song Xi looked at the queue with envy.

“It’s a rare chance to earn a huge amount of points. If there weren’t population limits, at least 200 million people would go out.”

“Sigh, I’m jealous. They’re the first batch—the closest zombies will probably be completely wiped out by them. They won’t leave us even a single one.”

Wang Moning was also starting to feel a bit jealous.

The nearby zombies that had already been cleared by the military—how easy would those be to deal with? Not only that, they might even be able to pick up some nuclear crystals the army had missed, plus scrap materials from the ruins.

Waaahhh, why hadn’t their squad been assigned to the first day?!

“It’s okay, Ningning.”

Song Xi encouraged her.

“As the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. If we want to, we can definitely lure zombies over.”

“Mm! We can do it!”

Wang Moning felt inspired.

Behind them, construction workers who were building at lightning speed said:

“Hey you two! Since you’re not going out today, why don’t you come help out with some part-time work? Work five hours and your weapon loan limit can increase by 200 points.”

Wang Moning and Song Xi: “!!”

“We’re coming right now!”

—

Gu Gaga Safe City.

Gu Gaga was frowning as he reviewed various documents.

The city had too many zombies, and the military had begun developing a sense of fear toward combat. He was planning to allocate more resources so the troops could be better supplied—and therefore more willing to fight.

“City Lord! City Lord, something’s wrong! It looks like Blue Sea Safe City has been invaded by zombies!!”

Blue Sea has been invaded?

Given what he knew about Blue Sea’s combat strength, Gu Gaga’s first reaction was: impossible.

That was Blue Sea. With how cautious their city lord was, even if their city was invaded, Blue Sea itself wouldn’t be.

He immediately stood up, walked out to the balcony, and took the binoculars from his guard.

One glance—and his heart skipped.

A massive wave of “zombies” was pouring out of Blue Sea Safe City, surging forward at high speed like wolves and tigers—

From afar, their momentum looked overwhelming, several levels stronger than ordinary zombies.

Could it be that the zombies had mutated? From the way they were rushing toward the ruins and tearing into other zombies, had they gained the ability to devour each other and grow stronger?

Gu Gaga frowned deeply, lost in thought—then suddenly realized something was wrong.

Why are zombies surging out of Blue Sea Safe City? Even if Blue Sea had been invaded, shouldn’t they be pouring in instead?

He was too curious to bear it. Gritting his teeth, Gu Gaga spent nuclear crystals in the system shop to buy a higher-magnification, clearer pair of binoculars.

This time, he could finally see what those running “zombies” were actually doing.

Gu Gaga looked through the new binoculars—and his eyes suddenly widened.

No. That wasn’t right!

Those weren’t zombies. They were humans?!

A vast, overwhelming mass of humans.

They were like rapidly spreading moss, their clothes flashing in different colors as they swarmed across the ruined zombie city, taking it over.

——Blue Sea Safe City——

Countless residents were breathing the air above the ruins. The air quality wasn’t great, but as they watched the staggering zombies approaching, they felt like they were smelling something far more attractive—

the scent of points.

No fear. No hesitation. No cowardice.

The residents of Blue Sea stared directly at the zombies’ heads, raising their weapons, their eyes filled with intense fighting spirit—and greed.

With Dark Star destroyed, the residents had been forced into cramped living spaces. Logically, they knew that simply surviving was enough.

But emotionally, the people of Blue Sea had been starving for release.

—Archers drew their bows.

—Axe-wielders charged forward.

—Gunners fired, one shot per target.

—Teams planning bigger operations worked together, casting massive nets to trap entire groups of zombies.

—And those relying purely on brute force swung baseball bats the moment they saw a head.

A head dodged—

“Hey! What kind of eyes do you have?! I’m a human!”

The baseball-bat wielder quickly apologized:

“Sorry, sorry! I’ll be more careful next time. I’ll give you this zombie as compensation.”

He dragged over a zombie. The nearly-hit resident chopped off its head in one clean strike, accepted the “gift,” and—having received compensation—calmed down a bit.

“Alright, we’ll be more careful next time.”

The two parted ways right there, because there simply wasn’t time for idle conversation.

There were only so many zombies—first come, first served. Everyone was racing against the clock.

——Above them, rifles protruded from pitch-black firing ports in the city walls, with soldiers stationed behind as support.

——Motorcycles, ridden with reckless skill, sped through the zombie horde, drawing them into scattered pursuit before picking them off one by one.

——Drone swarms flew across the battlefield, ready to provide covering fire at any moment while transmitting live footage back into the city.

The central AI then compiled the data, extracted key information, and provided residents with maps, routes, and risk warnings.

Gu Gaga’s attention was suddenly drawn to a motorcycle weaving through the zombie crowd.

“WOOHOO!!”

The rider, fully immersed in her own driving skills, sped through a dense group of zombies with a teammate behind her.

That teammate swung a blade, severing a zombie’s head, then tossed it to another motorcycle rider.

That rider caught it, pulled out a specialized tool, and smoothly extracted a nuclear crystal.

She then raised the crystal high and shouted something loudly.

Her hands were stained with blood, yet her face was full of smiles.

No—it didn’t stop there.

Gu Gaga swept his binoculars across the battlefield. Most of the Blue Sea residents were… smiling.

Transparent masks couldn’t hide those smiles; splattered with blood, the expressions looked even more striking—almost blinding.

They weren’t being driven out.

They had come here willingly to kill zombies.

The people of Blue Sea were not afraid.

—In fact, they seemed to be enjoying it.

Gu Gaga’s leaves trembled slightly above his head.

Too terrifying.

More terrifying than parasitic plants.

What kind of civilization was this?

Was this kind of civilization… even normal?

Gu Gaga silently lowered the binoculars.

For the first time in his long life, he began to question his existence as a tree.

He had originally planned to try picking up some easy “leaks” from the battlefield.

Now, however, he was starting to worry that he might be the “leak” someone else came to pick up.

“Attos.”

He issued an order to his guard.

“Allocate one thousand nuclear crystals. I’m moving.”

—

Cheng Qisheng was reviewing the exploration team’s “travel log.”

This was her daily leisure time.

Suddenly, a portion of her attention left behind in the safe city flickered. Qin Zhi was reporting an anomaly, so she immediately shifted her main focus back.

An anomaly? Let me take a look—

Cheng Qisheng checked it.

And discovered… it really was an anomaly.

Why was there an empty stretch of land here? Wasn’t this where her neighboring Gu Gaga Safe City had arrived before?

She zoomed in on the image, zoomed out, then zoomed in again.

Coordinates confirmed—no mistake.

Cheng Qisheng fell into deep thought.

So…

Where did my neighbor go?

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.20.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

[Cilantro Safe City: Wow wow wow, even Blue Sea Boss went too! Now all five big shots are gathered together!]

[Cilantro Safe City: Aaaah! I really wish I could see it in person!]

[Cilantro Safe City: It must be so lively, right? Sob… It’s a shame I’m too weak, otherwise I’d love to be part of this historic meeting!]

[Cilantro Safe City: Huh? Why did the bosses suddenly stop talking?]

[Cilantro Safe City: Bosses?]

[Cilantro Safe City: …D-don’t scare people like that! Weren’t you all chatting just a moment ago? Why did everyone suddenly go silent?! Did something happen?!]

It wasn’t just Cilantro who was alarmed—every other city lord in the group chat became anxious as well.

Blue Sea not saying anything was normal. She had never been much of a talker in the first place.

But the four city lords who had arrived earlier had been chatting away just moments ago. For all of them to disappear at the same time felt almost like a ghost story to everyone else in the group.

After all, the city lord group chat could be operated with thought alone.

Normally, you would never see a situation where the city lords were enthusiastically discussing, “Blue Sea is on the way, we can officially begin the operation,” one second, and then become completely silent the next.

Could it be that the Tier-3 zombie had reached the five safe cities?

Were the city lords busy fighting it, leaving no one free to speak?

How powerful would that zombie have to be to occupy several city lords at the same time…?

Cilantro was especially anxious. He desperately wanted to @Blue Sea, his trusted powerhouse, and ask if everything was okay, but he forcibly held himself back.

What if Boss Blue Sea was in the middle of a battle? If he tagged her and the group chat interface suddenly popped up, distracting her and affecting her performance, that would be terrible.

As everyone in the group let their imaginations run wild—some even reaching the point of “If even the bosses can’t handle it, maybe I should just run away first”—Blue Leaf finally spoke.

[Blue Leaf Safe City: I just went to eat.]

As if that were a signal, the other three quickly appeared as well.

[Meow Meow Safe City: Meow~ I took a little nap.]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: One of my residents made a mistake, so I was scolding it.]

The others at least tried to come up with excuses, but Withered Star Safe City couldn’t even be bothered to pretend. Their reply was brief and to the point:

[Withered Star Safe City: Busy.]

Anyone could tell that something had happened, but the four city lords clearly had no intention of telling the truth.

Still, seeing them all reappear safely made the other city lords in the group breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as their cities hadn’t been overrun by zombies, everything was fine.

When Wen Huahua heard that they weren’t fighting, he immediately @ mentioned his Boss Blue Sea.

Blue Sea was the only one who hadn’t spoken yet. What if the four safe cities had teamed up and stabbed his boss in the back?

To be extra sure, he specifically tagged Blue Sea Safe City in the group.

[Boss, have you arrived yet?]

At that moment, Cheng Qisheng was watching footage transmitted by drones surveying the surrounding area. The virtual group chat screen popped up, and she glanced at it.

[Blue Sea Safe City: Arrived safely. Currently checking out the surrounding environment =v=]

Wen Huahua immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Good, good. As long as Boss was safe.

Now that nothing was wrong, his mind began turning. He felt this was the perfect opportunity to flatter the boss and strengthen his connection with her.

The boss had just arrived in a new city—a place full of zombies, crumbling ruins, and devastation everywhere.

After a safe city descended into such a location, roads would definitely need to be cleared before residents could move around normally.

He could send Blue Sea the portable gasoline-powered cutoff saw he had recently acquired as a gift, both to show his support and to demonstrate that he was firmly on her side!

The moment the idea came to him, Wen Huahua dug out the gasoline cutoff saw and prepared to teleport it over.

Just as he was about to instruct his AI assistant to send it, someone beat him to it.

—Blue Leaf Safe City has transferred one bulldozer to Blue Sea Safe City.—

Wen Huahua: “???”

[Blue Leaf Safe City: It’s pretty messy over there. Probably because that Tier-3 zombie passed through before. There are ruins everywhere. Since you’ve just arrived, take this bulldozer and put it to use.]

Wen Huahua looked at the gasoline cutoff saw in his hands, then at Blue Leaf’s full-sized bulldozer.

Wen Huahua: “…”

It doesn’t matter. The problem isn’t serious. His residents had scavenged some cured pork, and he could send that as a show of support.

Then the group chat notification lit up again.

—Meow Meow Safe City has transferred ten crates of beef to Blue Sea Safe City.—

—Gu Gaga Safe City has transferred ten crates of fruit to Blue Sea Safe City.—

—Withered Star Safe City has transferred one excavator to Blue Sea Safe City.—

No messages were attached. They simply sent supplies to Blue Sea without another word.

Wen Huahua: “…”

Seeing this, even he could tell that the four big shots were trying to curry favor with Boss Blue Sea.

But… why?!

Boss Blue Sea had arrived less than twenty minutes ago!

In such a short time, what could she possibly have done?

Forget it. If everyone else was flattering the boss, that only meant he should flatter her even harder.

Gritting his teeth, Wen Huahua sent everything he had just thought of, all at once.

What? Compared with the other bosses’ gifts, his stuff looked cheap?

Maybe so, but these were already the best things he could offer. Sending something was better than sending nothing!

Cheng Qisheng was busy receiving the supplies from the four safe cities one by one. They had all tacitly attached nucleus crystals to cover the transfer fees.

In private chat, while they were sending supplies through the group, all four city lords also sent the exact same sentence:

—[Now that you’ve accepted the gifts, you can’t attack us.]

The moment she read that line, Cheng Qisheng understood what the four city lords had been doing during those ten-plus minutes of silence: they had definitely been coordinating through private messages.

On the surface, the supplies looked like tribute payments. In reality… they were tribute payments.

Blue Sea Safe City’s combat strength was obvious to the naked eye, and none of the four city lords wanted to gamble against it.

So, faced with the enormous threat she represented, the four had temporarily formed a bloc.

Sending identical messages served two purposes: first, to show that all four were willing to offer gifts in exchange for peace; second, to signal that they had already reached an agreement—if Cheng Qisheng launched an attack on any one of their safe cities, the other three would not stand by and watch.

Cheng Qisheng calmly looked at the four identical messages.

This was exactly the situation she wanted.

Eliminate every potential threat—make sure the other safe cities would neither attack her nor attack one another.

They would form alliances, remain wary of each other, and test one another’s intentions, but they would never unite against Blue Sea Safe City.

The combat power Blue Sea had displayed was simply too overwhelming. It was obvious to everyone that even if all four city lords joined forces, attacking her might still end badly. No one was willing to gamble on being the unlucky one who paid the price.

At the same time, in order to give Blue Sea something to be wary of, these safe cities would also be unable to start wars among themselves for the time being.

As a result, no safe city would be able to seize another city’s core and wealth through warfare, advance to Tier 4 or even Tier 5, and become a force capable of threatening Blue Sea—

As long as everyone stayed put and maintained this seemingly balanced state, Blue Sea could remain the dominant power.

Smiling, Cheng Qisheng sent the same reply to all four of them:

[Thanks for the gifts. Don’t worry, I won’t start a war. Let’s all survive together =v=]

Inside the four safe cities, the four city lords all let out huge sighs of relief.

Then came another frenzy of private messages.

[I guessed Blue Sea would be strong before, but I never imagined… she’d be this strong.]

[How did she manage to gather her forces and get everyone to obey her commands so quickly? Was she an emperor in her original world before the safe cities appeared?]

[Maybe. Even if she wasn’t an emperor, she was probably some kind of national leader, like a president.]

Because Tier-3 city lords couldn’t yet create private group chats, the four were communicating through one-on-one private messages. Each person was simultaneously chatting with the other three.

Fortunately, they were all superhumans. Even with conversations this chaotic, none of them got mixed up.

[Why is her safe city so large? It’s already bigger than a normal Tier-3 safe city.]

[Blue Sea defeated Cosmic and absorbed his core. The extra territory is probably from the Cosmic Safe City. I can’t tell exactly how many residents she has, but there are a lot of buildings. She must have at least thirty million people. That’s insane… Does anyone know how old Blue Sea is?]

[No idea, meow. Besides, knowing her age wouldn’t really tell us anything, meow~ Lifespans are different across civilizations.]

[Lifespan isn’t important. Once you reach Tier 3, you unlock the Lifespan Lock, so everyone’s effectively a long-lived species from then on. The real issue is: whether we cooperate or not, we first need to find the base where the virologist is located, right?]

[And how are we supposed to find it? Everywhere is either piles of ruins or swarming with zombies. On top of that, we have to worry about that Tier-3 zombie coming back. This is a completely doomed starting situation.]

[No wonder this triggered a rescue mission. This city has been destroyed so thoroughly. Just standing on the city wall and looking down makes me physically uncomfortable. This might get me criticized, but honestly, seeing Blue Sea Safe City actually made me feel safe…]

Cheng Qisheng had no idea that her Safe City was giving the other city lords a sense of security.

Meanwhile, Blue Sea’s drones had already returned with photographs of the other four Safe Cities.

All of them shared one common characteristic: their walls and gates were completely unchanged, exactly as they had originally appeared. None had been modified the way Blue Sea had customized hers.

A Tier-2 Safe City looked exactly the same as Blue Sea’s city when it had first advanced to Tier 2, while a Tier-3 Safe City was merely a larger version of a Tier-2 one.

Well…

It wasn’t exactly disappointing, but there was certainly no visible sign of the unique characteristics of their respective civilizations.

It was completely different from what Cheng Qisheng had imagined. She had expected the Catfolk civilization’s city to look like a giant cat nest, or the Treant civilization’s city to resemble a towering world tree.

But when she thought about it, it made perfect sense.

For the city lords, the walls of a Safe City already came with their own defensive properties. Rather than spending precious resources and labor remodeling the exterior, it was far more practical to invest those efforts into developing the city itself.

Everyone was simply trying to survive.

Just like her.

At this very moment, in order to keep living well, Cheng Qisheng was slowly continuing her rehabilitation exercises.

…

Inside Blue Sea Safe City, its residents were also gearing up with weapons in hand, ready to fight for survival.

The drone swarm returned in the shortest possible time, bringing back all available information about the surrounding environment.

Looking at the photos and videos, Marshal Alice realized something immediately:

If the previous two deployments had been cities where all humans had turned into zombies, then this city was more like a place where zombies from the entire world had gathered.

There were simply too many of them—far exceeding the population a single city could ever support. They roamed every corner. If a person were unlucky enough to fall into a zombie horde, they would likely be torn apart within three seconds.

Marshal Alice began simulating tactical plans in her mind.

—Deploying large-scale military weapons would create too much noise, attracting the Tier-3 zombie. If they engaged in battle before the city had been properly cleared… no, that would end in a full missile bombardment scenario.

And more importantly, the virologist would be gone.

Most crucially, although Blue Sea was already rebuilding a military factory, resources were still limited. The existing heavy weapons had to be conserved as much as possible.

—What about using small-scale weapons to expand outward from the Safe City?

No. That would reduce noise, but also slow expansion. The efficiency would be too low, and delays would increase the chance of unforeseen changes—such as the wandering Tier-3 zombie successfully evolving into Tier-4 somewhere out there.

—Or eliminate the Tier-3 zombie first?

No. It was still better to clear out all ordinary zombies first.

Even now, the army was still too small. Against Qianli City and Miang’an City, Blue Sea’s forces were more than enough—but in this city, they were clearly insufficient.

Yet Marshal Alice also understood clearly: this was already the largest military force Blue Sea had ever assembled. Until more resources were found, troop expansion could not continue.

She ran through one plan after another in her mind, only to discard them one by one.

In the end, Marshal Alice picked up one of the photographs from the desk.

—The ruins everywhere, the crumbling high-rises, and the hungry zombies occupying every inch of land—this was the true apocalypse.

Humans were the minority here. Just one glance was enough to make fear and loneliness rise instinctively in one’s heart.

But the people of Blue Sea were not alone.

They had left their homeland and squeezed into “caves,” eating coarse grain and working every day.

In such an environment, every Blue Sea citizen carried the most basic instinct embedded in human genes:

—They wanted better food and better housing.

Marshal Alice made her decision.

She set down the photo and issued orders one by one.

“Open the military merit exchange channel.”

“Open the military merit-to-housing exchange channel.”

“Raise military food standards to Level 2.”

Finally, after communicating with the President, she added two more directives:

“Open the city gates and restore the crystal exchange channel.”

“Civilians may rent tactical watches and take loans to purchase weapons, interest-free for three years.”

—At the same time, the Civil Affairs and Welfare Bureau issued a city-wide announcement: under wartime conditions, the previously rationed fine grain supplies would no longer be limited.

Any resident holding the “Kill Zombie 100” title issued by the AI system—whether soldier or civilian—would receive a 30% discount on food purchases during wartime.

—Distribution stations across all districts also began transporting goods in bulk, announcing that ration limits were lifted starting today.

—Meanwhile, within the safe city, over a thousand residential apartment buildings that had long been under construction but never opened finally unlocked their doors.

Staff stood at the entrances, informing people that apartment units ranged from 30 to 110 square meters.

They could be rented or purchased.

As long as they had enough crystals, anything was possible.

In an instant, the entire Blue Sea erupted in excitement.

—

When these messages were sent to residents’ phones, Wang Moning was carefully laying bricks.

Before, when Song Xi told her that working as a construction worker felt like “resting,” she had thought it was ridiculous.

But after actually doing the job herself, she realized that compared to fighting zombies, laying bricks really did feel like rest.

No need to constantly stay alert for zombies suddenly jumping out to bite her. No need to eat cold meals. No need to search everywhere for water. Every day came with a stable income—she just had to quietly and diligently work.

What’s more, the people of Blue Sea were quite friendly. Seeing that she was short, someone would often casually help her out. That constant sense of goodwill made Wang Moning both flattered and strangely happy.

But despite that happiness, while she skillfully continued laying bricks, she still felt something odd in her heart.

It was the kind of feeling that came after surviving a dangerous life and returning to a stable one—what had once been considered normal now somehow felt… dull.

Every day was the same routine: wake up, wash up, eat, go to work, eat lunch, keep working in the afternoon, eat dinner, then go home.

Structured. Predictable. No changes.

The only source of excitement was occasionally going to watch movies with Song Xi and the others, or watching coworkers compete in absurd feats like stacking more bricks on their heads than anyone else while still dancing with their lower body.

Strange—wasn’t this what life was supposed to be?

Before the apocalypse, her life had been even more boring: school, sleep, school, sleep, exams, school.

Back then, she had never seen anyone balance fifty bricks on their head while keeping their upper body perfectly still and dancing with their lower body.

While continuing her practiced bricklaying, Wang Moning sighed.

Wake up, Wang Moning. This is the life you wanted—stable, safe, with steady income. What exactly are you still not satisfied with?

“NINGNING!!!!!”

Song Xi’s voice carried from far away.

Wang Moning lowered her head and saw her captain looking extremely excited, grabbing a rope and nimbly jumping down from the wall.

“What is it, Captain?”

Song Xi was indeed in high spirits—in fact, she was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Didn’t you read the messages?! Quick, look! It’s wartime status now! This is our time to shine!!!”

Wartime status… did it really need to be this exciting? She had heard that during the previous war with another safe city, Blue Sea’s people were actually quite calm.

Confused, Wang Moning went to the storage area to retrieve her phone. She noticed that not only her, but many workers were also checking their phones, all wearing expressions just as excited as Song Xi’s.

She carefully read through the messages one by one.

And then… she also became excited.

“House purchases are available now?!”

Song Xi nodded furiously. “You can buy them! You can even rent them! As long as you can pay three months’ deposit!”

“We can also buy as much meat as we want?!”

Song Xi’s grin stretched almost to her ears. “Yes!!! As long as you can eat it, even ten bowls a day is fine!”

“The welfare supply stations don’t have purchase limits anymore?! I’ve always wanted to get two more quilts—I love the feeling of being wrapped up in blankets!”

Song Xi waved her hand. “We’re going right now!”

Wang Moning was extremely happy and went with Song Xi to buy quilts. She also picked up two sets of clothes on the way.

Oh right—she should get some fabric for a curtain, and a pillow too. Sleeping on clothes wasn’t ideal. A small electric bedside lamp was important too; there was no electricity in the residents’ quarters, and her eyesight wasn’t as good as Blue Sea natives, so even finding a chamber pot at night required memory alone. Since she was getting a lamp, she might as well get a flashlight too. And toilet paper…

What was supposed to be just buying two quilts ended up turning into a full shopping spree. Wang Moning and Song Xi stayed inside the store all morning, until the AI system issued a notice saying they could no longer remain in the area and had to move to another operational zone. Only then did they leave, each carrying large bundles of items.

Just in time for lunch, of course they had to go to the cafeteria and eat to their heart’s content.

O my god above, thank you—Blue Sea and Velvet Star actually have similar tastes!

There was even braised pork!!!

Wang Moning bit into the braised pork, savoring its delicious flavor, almost moved to tears.

Before the apocalypse, she had actually avoided such fatty food, worried about gaining weight. But after fighting zombies, she finally understood—this wasn’t fat at all. This was a precious little protector of the internal organs, a kind of stored fuel inside the body!

After eating her fill, she was delighted to discover that the cafeteria had even introduced fruit juice drinks.

Happily, she and Song Xi each bought a cup, and with full stomachs, they slowly left the cafeteria.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.20.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

— When Blue Sea entered full mobilization mode in order to carry out its mission —

Zhang Xiongyuan was in the laboratory with a group of students, examining soil samples.

In truth, he was still in a dazed state.

Before getting off the helicopter, he thought he had already endured enough shock—enough to accept the idea of working for a foreign regime in an apocalyptic setting.

But after stepping off the helicopter, Zhang Xiongyuan was told:

It wasn’t foreign humans. It was aliens.

Him: “……”

Zombies, apocalypse, aliens—this sounded like something out of a pre-apocalypse sci-fi movie, and not even a good one, but a box-office flop nobody would watch.

Yet it was all real.

And what was even more absurd: these aliens had gone to great lengths to send troops to rescue him, an agricultural expert, just so he could farm for them.

So aliens needed to farm too?!

That was ridiculous.

What was even more ridiculous was that these aliens clearly possessed technology far beyond that of Velvet Star, yet they believed in theology.

And what was most ridiculous of all was that the Velvet Star people who had arrived in Blue Sea earlier than them had also come to believe in Blue Sea’s Creator God.

As a local agricultural academic, Zhang Xiongyuan received quite good treatment upon arriving in Blue Sea. Not only was he given his own independent research project and allowed to apply for various agricultural research resources, but the Blue Sea people even thoughtfully assigned him a Velvet Star translator.

The translator’s name was Li Zhangmu, a native Velvet Star person and also an agriculture student.

Because of this, he had landed a good job as a translator at the agricultural research institute. Not only was the salary slightly higher than average, but he also didn’t have to face any danger.

Living in a safe residential area, eating enough every day, not suffering exploitation—he just had a normal job, and even got attendance bonuses.

Just thinking about it made Li Zhangmu want to laugh out loud. When Zhang Xiongyuan questioned him, he replied with a beaming smile:

“In the name of our God above, the great Creator God saved all of Blue Sea—and now She is willing to save us as well.”

“This world is about to be destroyed, yet we have been accepted by Blue Sea. We can integrate into Blue Sea and, under the guidance of our God, head toward a new world. Those of us who have been saved becoming believers of the great deity—doesn’t that make perfect sense?”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “……”

That sounded way too much like brainwashing.

He had previously suspected whether these Velvet Star people were just pretending, trying to gain acceptance from Blue Sea.

But Li Zhangmu’s behavior was too real—the admiration and fanaticism in his eyes, the overwhelming sense of happiness on his face, every gesture and movement of his body clearly showing that he truly believed in the existence of Blue Sea’s Creator God.

Seeing Zhang Xiongyuan’s complicated expression, Li Zhangmu didn’t mind at all. He smiled and said:

“Academician, you will understand in the future. The world is about to end—only faith in our God is the only hope.”

The academician didn’t know, but after learning that only believers of the God could obtain a residency permit, he had already decided that from this moment on, he and his students would also pretend to believe in Blue Sea’s Creator God.

Then a staff member brought out a crystal ball and had them take turns placing their hands on it.

In the end, they were regretfully informed:

“The crystal ball didn’t light up. You are not a believer of the deity. Please try again next time.”

Zhang Xiongyuan fell silent.

What?

You’re using this ball to determine whether someone is a believer?

Just look at your guns and artillery, look at your laboratories, look at the gene-editing platforms, high-speed refrigerated centrifuges, and artificial climate incubators.

These were clearly technological products!

He could only conclude that Blue Sea’s theocratic regime was probably using this kind of method to control the entire society.

Then Zhang Xiongyuan learned from Li Zhangmu that Blue Sea’s churches were actually hospitals.

The “white-robed high priests” of Blue Sea were doctors, the “monks” were nurses, the “blue-robed high priests” were department directors, and the “pope” was equivalent to a hospital director.

By the time Zhang Xiongyuan realized what he had just heard, it was already too late.

“…So… they can perform surgery?”

Li Zhangmu was actually also trying to adapt to these Blue Sea “characteristics”:

“Yes. And the standard is actually quite high. A friend of mine just had an acute appendicitis surgery yesterday, and he’s still staying in the church hospital right now… no, I mean, receiving ‘blessings.’”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “……”

“And the ‘blessing’ process is?”

Li Zhangmu replied: “They monitor ECG, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate. They also make you get out of bed and walk to prevent intestinal adhesions, and they administer anti-inflammatory IV drips.”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “……”

He didn’t understand. He truly didn’t understand.

Although he couldn’t quite grasp what kind of ecosystem existed between Blue Sea’s government and its theology, when the Blue Sea people told him he could take a break, Zhang Xiongyuan still firmly refused.

He needed to work.

First, the Blue Sea people had gone to great lengths to rescue him and his students. In such an unfamiliar environment—an unfamiliar civilization, even—the fastest way for them to gain a sense of security was to contribute as quickly as possible.

Although agricultural research could not be rushed and results might not come anytime soon, being proactive in work was never wrong.

Second, as someone who had spent nearly his entire life in agricultural science, Zhang Xiongyuan was simply too curious about extraterrestrial crops.

Seeds, soil, water sources—he was already eager to examine everything and understand the characteristics of Blue Sea’s crops in detail.

He was currently observing various Blue Sea seed data in a standard seed testing room when suddenly every mobile phone in the room emitted a unified “beep” notification.

Even the security guard standing at the door received it.

He had just arrived and couldn’t read Blue Sea’s language yet, so naturally he didn’t have a phone.

This scene—where everyone except him clearly received the same message at the same time—felt extremely eerie.

The few students following Zhang Xiongyuan showed visible unease and instinctively moved closer to their teacher.

Zhang Xiongyuan also stopped what he was doing and looked toward the Blue Sea staff in the room.

Fortunately, Li Zhangmu also received the message. Since he could only communicate orally and hadn’t yet learned Blue Sea’s written language, he put his phone to his ear to listen.

While listening, he raised a hand to signal them to stay calm and began translating:

“Citizens of Blue Sea, please pay attention… Blue Sea… mobilization… all citizens…”

After finishing the translation, Li Zhangmu froze.

“Blue Sea has entered full mobilization mode?!”

He had just arrived in a place that felt completely safe and free of oppression—and now there was going to be a war?

Zhang Xiongyuan and the students also felt their hearts tighten.

A war?

With whom?

Were the zombies coming?

Or was it, as Li Zhangmu had mentioned before, that the other safe cities were going to go to war with Blue Sea?

At first, Zhang Xiongyuan also instinctively became tense. But being older and more composed, he quickly noticed that everyone else in the area remained very calm.

They glanced at their phones, put them away, and continued with their work as if nothing had happened.

He reassured his students:

“It probably isn’t anything serious. Everyone else is very calm. Maybe Blue Sea’s idea of ‘mobilization’ is different from ours.”

After all, this was a place that treated hospitals as churches.

However, Li Zhangmu shook his head.

“No, Academician Zhang, you don’t understand. Blue Sea people’s understanding of combat is different from ours.”

As he spoke, he lowered his head, looked at his hands, then suddenly clenched his fists. His expression turned fierce.

“I’m already a Blue Sea citizen too. I won’t be afraid!”

“This is our homeland. If anyone dares to invade—by the name of our God above! Even if I die, I’ll take a few of them with me!!”

At this point, Zhang Xiongyuan was completely convinced that Li Zhangmu truly did believe in Blue Sea’s Creator God.

That sense of belonging wasn’t fake.

But how had Blue Sea managed to achieve this in such a short time?

And more importantly—what exactly did Blue Sea’s “mobilization mode” look like?

—

Zhang Xiongyuan quickly learned what Blue Sea’s “full mobilization state” looked like.

First, every Blue Sea citizen who went out now carried a weapon.

And it wasn’t for any special reason—it was just worn naturally. Those with money hung firearms at their waist; those with less savings carried cold weapons.

Those who truly couldn’t afford even a single weapon simply carried large bags filled with stones.

Li Zhangmu had once curiously asked what use such small stones could possibly have.

A research staff member immediately demonstrated.

He picked up a stone with his right hand, raised it, and threw it hard.

A bottle placed at a distance was knocked over with a sharp “clang.”

When they retrieved the stone afterward, there was a deep indentation on its surface.

Li Zhangmu: “……”

Zhang Xiongyuan and the students: “……”

Although they were shocked that an ordinary Blue Sea researcher had such arm strength, after a few days of interaction, Zhang Xiongyuan had also realized something—while Blue Sea people looked extremely dangerous, they were actually quite friendly in their behavior.

For example, right now.

Seeing that Zhang Xiongyuan and his students had no weapons and lacked the strength to throw stones, a leader at the agricultural research institute even specially applied for weapons for them.

“Here. These are high-quality steel pipes. Look—this sharpened tip has been specially ground. It’s perfect for stabbing into an eye socket. Whether it’s for killing people or zombies, it works very well. Take them—one each!”

Zhang Xiongyuan looked at the sharpened ends of the steel pipes designed specifically for eye sockets.

…This was already considered a lethal weapon, wasn’t it?

They hadn’t even received residency permits yet—they were still technically outsiders. And yet Blue Sea people were so trusting that they just handed out weapons like this?

Aren’t they afraid these weapons might be used against Blue Sea citizens?

Not only did he think this, but one of the students also thought the same—and even asked it out loud.

Li Zhangmu faithfully translated everything.

The Blue Sea staff member who had come to distribute weapons burst out laughing on the spot.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

She patted the student on the shoulder.

“The kindergarten has guards.”

After translating this, Li Zhangmu also added an explanation:

“What she means is that if you’re holding that weapon, you can only beat Blue Sea kindergarten kids—in other words, you can’t even beat their elementary school students.”

The student: “……”

“…She’s joking, right?”

The staff member had been quite friendly to them over the past few days, and everyone occasionally joked with each other, so it felt like a possibility.

But Li Zhangmu shook his head.

“No. Look, Blue Sea adults are tall and strong, right? But they only ended a war six years ago. Most of this generation of adults didn’t have good nutrition when they were children, which is why their height is like this.”

“Now Blue Sea elementary school students are well-fed and well-nourished—by third grade, some are already 1.8 meters tall.”

The students, who averaged around 1.7 meters in height: “……”

So if Blue Sea people are already this strong… who exactly are they preparing to defend against?

Commander Alice already had the answer:

—“Against anyone. Including zombies.”

That was the order she issued to the military.

Not only had the civilian population entered a mobilized, armed state, but the outer city—which had previously been scheduled for slower development—was now being rapidly accelerated, with certain approved extraterrestrial residents assigned to live there separately.

At the same time, large amounts of anti-air weaponry were being deployed.

The city walls of the safe zone already had an inherent defense system, but this time, since they might be facing other safe cities, Blue Sea judged those defenses to be insufficient.

A large number of expeditionary troops were pulled back from small outposts. Most were withdrawn, and massive construction orders for wall reinforcement were issued.

On top of the existing outer walls, slanted outer defenses were being built using black alloy materials, poured and reinforced as a single structure, eliminating as many weak points as possible.

High-voltage electric grids were, of course, installed. Rows upon rows of automatic turrets were aimed outward.

Long, sharp spikes were buried beneath the city walls, leaving absolutely no opportunity for enemies to approach.

Drones that had previously been used mainly for exploration outside the city were also recalled.

Military drones were needless to say, and even the earlier civilian drones had long since been converted—armed with mounted weapons on their arms and external bomb payloads attached.

If necessary, millions of combat drones would carry out suicide attacks to eliminate threats at the earliest stage.

Considering that safe cities could forcibly initiate warfare, Blue Sea even dug large fields of traps at the main gates.

If another safe city truly initiated conflict with Blue Sea and their gates aligned, however many entered… would simply fall in.

Zhang Xiongyuan was very busy. Since he had no faith affiliation, he was still living in the outer city—though his living conditions were clearly better than most others.

There is a side note here: it wasn’t until he saw the first rabbit-eared extraterrestrial in the outer city that he truly believed Blue Sea really was from another planet, and not some religion disguising itself as such.

But before he could even be shocked by the aliens, he was first shocked by Blue Sea’s war preparations.

What…?

You call this “preparation for war”?

This looked more like they were getting ready to blow up a planet!

Saying they were armed to the teeth was even an understatement. When he personally saw blimps loaded with thermobaric bombs rising into the sky, he thought that was already the final reserve force.

But then came a second ship, a third… dozens, even hundreds of blimps appearing over the safe city’s airspace.

Zhang Xiongyuan fell completely silent.

So… we’re really going to blow up a planet, huh?

…Huh?

“Why did I use the word ‘we’?”

Zhang Xiongyuan took a sip of coffee and suddenly shook his head.

People really were drawn to strength.

As Blue Sea’s military capabilities rapidly revealed themselves, the students he had brought along had gone from initial anxiety and caution to a strong desire to integrate into Blue Sea as quickly as possible.

Three of them had already passed the crystal ball test and become official Blue Sea residents. He could clearly see their excitement—along with the envy of the remaining students.

Even he himself, after witnessing Blue Sea’s overwhelming combat strength, could no longer ignore the sense of security rising from within.

It was a kind of peace that came from the deepest part of one’s heart.

The world was in chaos, zombies were at the gates, and humanity was powerless in the face of such disasters.

But now, he had been taken in by a powerful civilization and placed within its protection zone.

Cheng Qisheng set down the milk tea in her hands.

She had just heard Qin Zhi reporting progress to her.

“Hmm? Everything’s ready?”

The great Creator God looked over the safe city, confirming that all residents who were to be evacuated were already inside, before opening the City Lord group chat.

City lords generally did not reveal their locations, but since they were all targeting the same objective—and would inevitably end up in the same city anyway—the few safe cities that had purchased coordinates had openly shared their positions.

This was mainly so that the next arriving safe city would not get too close to them.

Moreover, when facing a Tier-3 zombie—especially one that could summon ordinary zombies—and also needing to rescue a virologist, the participating city lords who had purchased coordinates all tacitly agreed to cooperate.

[Withered Star Safe City]: I’ve arrived. I’ve posted my coordinates in the group. When you come over, don’t get too close—at least 20 kilometers away, or it will be considered an act of war.

[Meow Meow Safe City]: Meow has arrived too. Here are my coordinates. Please stay at least 30 kilometers away from me, meow~

[Blue Leaf Safe City]: I’m here, I’m here. Same old rules. Coordinates posted. 20 kilometers is acceptable.

[Gu Gaga Safe City]: I’m here! Coordinates are posted! Friends, since we rarely get to be this close, we can do offline trading without paying fees. If you have anything you want to buy or sell, come find me~

[Coriander Safe City]: trembling while watching the big shots QAQ

[Blue Leaf Safe City]: Five cities bought coordinates. Four have arrived now—who’s the fifth one?

[Withered Star Safe City]: Who bought coordinates and didn’t show up? Say something.

Since not everyone had arrived, the four safe cities couldn’t proceed with the next phase of the operation.

If they were already fighting zombies and the fifth safe city suddenly descended, it could stab them in the back.

Cheng Qisheng replied quickly.

[Blue Sea Safe City]: I’m here, I’m here. It’s my first time doing a mission, so I took a bit longer to prepare =v=

[Blue Leaf Safe City]: Oh, so it’s Blue Sea. I guessed it was you. Remember to prepare your “escape crystals”—I mean the crystals for leaving this world. If we lose this mission, or if there’s a big boss and we can’t complete it, it’s better to leave early to preserve your assets.

They were simply sharing “experienced player advice” with a newcomer who seemed both new and extremely strong, trying to build goodwill.

Naturally, Cheng Qisheng replied politely as well:

[Sure, thanks for the reminder. I have enough crystals. I’ll choose a coordinate and head over.]

She indeed needed to choose carefully—after all, after absorbing the core of Cosmic Safe City, Blue Sea Safe City had become somewhat too large.

When selecting coordinates, she had to be careful with distance, so she wouldn’t accidentally get too close to the other city lords.

In the end, Cheng Qisheng carefully picked a location that allowed her to observe the other safe cities from afar, while still maintaining a safe distance from everyone else.

She posted a notice in the group chat:

[I’m coming =v=]

“Aether, let’s set off.”

The water jellyfish sat in Cheng Qisheng’s palm.

“Understood. Following your orders, City Lord.”

After spending 1,000 crystals, the massive safe city instantly arrived in another city that had not yet been cleared—one filled with zombies everywhere.

The next second, the long-prepared combat drones immediately lifted off with a hum.

Blimps carrying thermobaric bombs rose into the air, while millions of drones filled the skies above Blue Sea Safe City, ensuring there were no aerial threats.

On the tops of the city walls, black turret emplacements had already begun automatically firing at the zombies outside. Soldiers waiting at firing ports quickly joined in.

It all seemed to happen in an instant—but in reality, less than three minutes had passed.

The zombies that had originally occupied the area were already mostly wiped out.

Some had just noticed this suddenly appearing city and hadn’t even managed to climb up before being shot dead on the spot.

Groups of combat drones circled around the safe city, dropping bombs on dense clusters of zombies, proving they were far more than just a show of intimidation.

From afar, the enormous safe city—almost mountain-like in scale—looked like a massive, ferocious black beast.

The other four city lords watching through binoculars: “……”

Wait—this is a Tier 2 safe city???

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.19 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.