Human—but they couldn’t let their guard down.

What if she was a creature capable of disguising itself?

One of the soldiers shouted, “Can you speak?!”

The little girl cried out, “#￥%￥%”

Well, they had already realized when they saw the writing of this world earlier—there was definitely a language barrier between the locals and the Blue Sea people.

Not understanding her didn’t matter; at least she proved she could speak.

But the Blue Sea civilization never underestimated anyone—even a child.

The combat team still tossed down a set of small handcuffs and ankle shackles, gesturing for the girl to put them on herself.

Then two soldiers climbed down. One of them fitted her with a bite guard.

It was a bit too large, but adjustable—just barely manageable for the little girl.

Finally, the child—wearing a bite guard, handcuffs, and shackles—was lifted up. The moment she reached the top, she was placed into a hastily constructed wooden cage.

The girl had been terrified at first, but when she realized these strangely dressed adults (in heavy hazmat suits) seemed even more fearful than she was, she gradually calmed down.

The combat team remained on high alert, guns trained on the child:

“Requesting the High Priest from the temple to conduct an examination. We need to determine whether she is safe.”

One soldier stepped forward and used a hooked pole to pass over food and water found in the house.

The little girl looked at the person standing three meters away and the long hook, took the items, and lowered her head to eat.

She was very thin—so thin her cheeks were sunken. The way she ate was ravenous, clearly showing she had been starving for a long time.

One of the white-robed bishops carefully observed the girl:

“She can eat food, so she’s probably not a zombie. I’ve tested it—zombies can’t consume any human food. Even if you force it in, they’ll just vomit it back out.”

Another white-robed bishop: “? How did you test that? Weren’t all the ones sent to us corpses?”

“That’s easy—just ask the soldiers for a live one. But be careful during experiments; getting bitten would be disastrous.”

“Since we’re such good friends, if you get bitten, can I study you?”

“Sure. I’ll designate you as my autopsy bishop—but you have to designate me as yours too.”

“No problem. By our god above, it’s settled.”

The two white-robed bishops hit it off immediately. There was no need for contracts or formal agreements—for the people of Blue Sea, a vow made “By our god above” was already the highest level of commitment.

After giving the girl a thorough examination, they reached a conclusion:

“She’s not a zombie, but she’s severely malnourished. She must have been starving for a long time.”

“Don’t let her keep eating. Give her some light salt water first—she can only handle liquid food right now.”

The personnel who had gone down to inspect the cellar also came back up:

“There are food scraps and human waste inside. She’s been staying down there for at least several months.”

The captain leaned over to check the depth of the cellar:

“At this height, a child couldn’t have gotten down there by herself. And the lid was closed—it looks like her family put her there to hide.”

Which meant the disaster in this world had been going on for at least several months.

The deputy captain nodded and handed over a photograph:

“Found this in a nearby house. She should be the youngest daughter of that family.”

In the photo, the girl stood together with a middle-aged couple and a young man no older than his early twenties.

“Also…”

Although they knew the little girl couldn’t understand them, the deputy captain still instinctively lowered their voice and handed over the tactical tablet.

On it was a photo of a female zombie that had been shot dead. Most of her face was already badly decayed, but it was still clear she was the middle-aged woman from the photograph.

“The soldier who took her down said that when they found her, she had locked herself in the back room. There were deep bite marks on her arm, a hammer on the floor, and most of her teeth had been smashed. The forensics expert said those broken teeth were knocked out by herself.”

A trace of respect appeared in the captain’s eyes:

“It seems that when the disaster happened, the adult had already been infected and only had time to hide the child.”

“Even at the very last moment before being fully turned, she tried to reduce the threat she posed to her child.”

The deputy captain was also moved. “Has there been any decision from above about what to do with this child?”

The captain nodded. “Orders have already come down. Someone will come to take her. She’ll stay in the rear and move forward together with the vanguard exploration team.”

The deputy captain nodded, not surprised. After all, she was an alien—those in authority would never agree to let her enter the temple.

Seeing the concern about the girl’s future, the captain patted the deputy on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. The expert group will use her to speed up deciphering this world’s language. She’ll be well taken care of.”

The captain’s guess was correct. When the expert group received the girl, they treated her like a treasure.

By the sixth hour after the vanguard set out, the experts had learned the girl’s name. In Blue Sea language, it sounded like “Huan Lingfeng,” but its actual meaning was “Yu Bao.”

Communication was still difficult, but Yu Bao could draw.

As she drew and gestured, the expert group quickly pieced together what had happened when the “unclean miasma” erupted.

It hadn’t appeared in the form of a disease, nor were there any warning signs—it had suddenly emerged at dusk one day.

Some people suddenly turned into zombies and began chasing and biting those who hadn’t changed. Those who were bitten quickly turned into zombies as well.

By the seventh hour, the temple had moved equipment out of the safe city and set up a temporary research facility outside. There, they reached the same conclusion Yu Bao had described:

“The ‘unclean miasma’ currently spreads only through blood transmission. Infected individuals spread it by scratching and biting others. Once it enters the bloodstream, it rapidly replicates.

Its target is the brain—the closer the wound is to the brain, the faster the infection spreads. At its fastest, it can turn a living person into a zombie in as little as two seconds.”

The stationed military officer sent over asked with a serious expression:

“Your Excellency, are we certain it only spreads through blood?”

The white-robed bishop nodded. “I’m certain. It does not spread through the air. Otherwise, given the infection speed of the unclean miasma, we would all already be newly turned zombies.”

Soon, the president also received this report.

Her expression remained calm:

“This is good news. Soldiers no longer need to fight in heavy, cumbersome protective suits.”

“Pass down the order: continue advancing outward, secure more safe locations, eliminate more zombies, and obtain more core crystals to offer to our god.”

By the eighth hour, without protective suits and gas masks, the soldiers moved much faster than before. They cleared a fourth village and brought out thirteen local survivors.

By the tenth hour, all five villages had been cleared. Including Yu Bao, a total of thirty-two survivors had been rescued.

Drones flew high into the distance, sending back images of a nearby town—densely packed with zombies everywhere.

There were at least seven to eight thousand zombies in that town.

So close to their rear lines, yet with such a massive number of zombies—no matter the reason, Blue Sea had to eliminate them.

First, they needed to clear the roads. The villages were connected to the town by roads, but they were now clogged with vehicles and a smaller number of zombies.

These were likely locals who had tried to flee when the disaster struck, only to end up trapped on the highway.

By the eleventh hour, the Blue Sea vanguard had cleared all visible zombies from the roads.

By the twelfth hour, heavy military vehicles finally arrived. One by one, the small cars clogging the highway were pushed aside, clearing a route for the convoy to advance.

By the thirteenth hour, the vanguard reached the town.

The helicopters arrived before the ground troops.

Armed with rockets, they used their loud, droning roar to lure large numbers of zombies out of the town.

Then came the large-scale clearing.

First the rockets were fired, followed by fighter jets and drones. The thunder of combat never ceased, and soldiers even stood inside the helicopters, firing machine guns downward to finish off targets.

Only after that did the real assault on the town begin—clearing out the zombies that hadn’t been drawn out by the helicopters.

By now, it was night. Human vision was limited, and zombies couldn’t be detected by infrared imaging, making it seem like an unsuitable time to attack.

But that didn’t matter. When it came to warfare, the Blue Sea civilization always had its methods.

—Whoosh!

—Bang!

Survivors hiding inside the town had just excitedly spotted the helicopters—

when suddenly, the sky outside lit up.

Flares shot into the air one after another, as if they were free.

Before one finished illuminating the sky, another followed, turning the entire town as bright as day—brighter, even, than daylight.

This time, the number of zombies was nothing like the scattered few in the villages.

The town’s environment was far more complex, and casualties during the clearing process were inevitable.

But the people of Blue Sea did not fear battle.

Here, they would build the fence of their homeland!

Under the blazing light of the flares, the soldiers raised their guns and lifted their left arms:

“By our god above!!”

“Blue Sea endures forever!!”

In the next moment, under command, the soldiers moved into the town.

By the seventeenth hour, the town had been completely cleared, with 315 survivors rescued.

The harvesting teams then entered to collect the core crystals—

By the eighteenth hour, under the President’s orders, the soldiers began carrying out the long-decided “Fence Plan,” using materials found in the town as well as supplies transported from the safe city.

All the houses in the town were demolished—turned into bricks and chunks of concrete. Rebar, rubble, iron doors, wire fencing—everything that could be used, was used.

From the safe city, truck after truck rolled out, bringing both materials and manpower.

Among them were engineering troops and ordinary civilians alike.

After all, construction was something Blue Sea excelled at.

Before leaving their home planet, they had mobilized the entire population to build within the temple.

One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, one million—

In the end, five million people of Blue Sea spread out like a swarm of bees, occupying every edge from the town to the villages.

The line was immense—stretching 60 kilometers in a full circle.

And along that line stood the tireless people of Blue Sea.

They carried bricks, stacked walls, and worked without rest.

No one slacked off. If it were just working for a boss, maybe they would drag their feet.

But this was a command from their god.

Every single person poured their full strength into it, sweating as they built a protective fence for their homeland in this land freshly cleansed by war.

Twelve minutes remained before the twenty-four-hour deadline—

—the final brick was placed atop the wall.

From Cheng Qisheng’s vantage point above, she could clearly see it:

Centered on the safe city, a massive wall now encircled the cleared villages and town, rising straight into the sky.

It would stand there indefinitely, blocking the zombies from outside—ensuring that even without the beginner protection period, the safe city would not have to fear being overrun.

—The Fence Plan was complete.

From this moment on, beyond the safe city, there would always be a solid line of defense.

She shifted her gaze back to the temple.

A total of 5,098 core crystals had already been cleaned and were carefully placed as offerings before the statue of the Creator God.

The jellyfish-like central AI’s steady voice showed a slight fluctuation:

“Core crystals detected. Marketplace unlocked. City Lord may use core crystals to purchase items or upgrade and modify safe city structures.”

“Safe city has met upgrade requirements.”

“Conditions: 1) Population has reached 1,000,000. 2) Core crystals have reached 3,000.”

“City Lord, would you like to use 3,000 core crystals to upgrade?”

“Reminder: After upgrading to Tier 2, the area of your safe city will double, and all defensive structures will have their protection level increased by one fold.”

It hadn’t forgotten that the City Lord was currently unable to speak, and added:

“To upgrade, please blink three times. To decline, please blink four times.”

Cheng Qisheng chose not to upgrade.

The AI was slightly puzzled, but it obeyed.

Cheng Qisheng patiently waited as time ticked by.

Five minutes.

Three minutes.

One minute.

The final ten seconds.

3—2—1—

“Attention: Beginner protection period has ended. Your safe city is no longer immune to external threats.”

The jellyfish AI swayed as it announced:

“Your safe city is now officially active. City Lord will advance to Transcendent Tier 1 along with it.”

The transparent barrier covering the safe city instantly dissipated. At the same time, Cheng Qisheng felt a warm current flow through her body.

She slightly opened her mouth. “Te… test…”

She moved her hand again. After struggling for two minutes, her fingers finally lifted slowly.

Good. That’s enough. Test complete.

Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes first and sent a group message to all her followers, saying she intended to expand the temple.

As for why—she didn’t need to explain. The people of Blue Sea would come up with some grand, noble reason on their own.

Then she finally looked at the AI core and, with great difficulty but slowly and firmly, issued the command:

“Up… grade.”

“Understood, City Lord.”

[Safe City has advanced to Tier 2—]

The virtual screen instantly updated.

[Safe City — Tier 2]

[Actual area: 1,600 square kilometers]

[Manifestation area: 10 square kilometrers]

[Resident capacity: 360 million]

[Status: Fully manifested—]

Cheng Qisheng did not look at the screen.

She slowly raised her left hand.

Then her right hand.

Very slowly—like an elderly person moving—but far faster than before. At the very least, she could now barely take care of basic movements.

“As expected.”

This time, her speech was smooth and fluent, without the previous difficulty.

The test result matched her expectations.

As long as she continued to upgrade, her body would keep recovering.

Cheng Qisheng controlled her body and slowly sat up.

She took a deep breath.

The feeling of regaining control of her body was… intoxicating.

Light flickered in her eyes—joy, and also ambition.

The gaze of the Creator God fell upon the safe city.

—The people of Blue Sea were looking in shock at their newly doubled homeland.

After their initial astonishment, they erupted into cheers, then tears, gratitude, reverence.

Then, without knowing why, three hundred million people simultaneously raised their left arms and shouted:

“By our god above!! Blue Sea endures forever!!!!”

“By our god above!! Blue Sea endures forever!!!!”

Cheng Qisheng looked at this most obedient and well-behaved child of hers and lightly tapped the screen.

Compared to other city lords… she really was quite fortunate, wasn’t she?

This child wasn’t the smartest, nor the fastest to develop.

But it was absolutely the most suited to the environment of the safe city.

Cheng Qisheng smiled.

“Good child… Tier 3, Tier 4, Tier 5…”

“Let’s walk all the way up together.”

<< TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.3.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Coriander Safe City——

A towering, broad-shouldered man with a full beard and a height of two meters was looking at the chat group.

“Did the newcomer still not accept the wood I sent? Could it be that they got scared by the Cosmic Lord, so they don’t dare to interact with other city lords?”

But it didn’t really matter. Originally, when he sent the wood to the newcomer, it was just to show a harmless image of himself and build some goodwill.

Even though a newcomer’s goodwill probably wasn’t worth much, what if it was?

Besides, one ton of wood wasn’t really much to him anyway.

It was like the three energy crystals he gave away—what could three energy crystals even do? It was better to give them to Withered Star instead, hoping that, out of gratitude, he would share more information.

The key issue right now was that the city’s grain storage was almost empty.

The man looked at the residents who were working hard building quarantine shelters and trying to set up protective nets along the upper parts of the city walls. They all seemed busy, but progress was almost nonexistent.

Because the residents were all thin and emaciated, their clothes in tatters, and they spoke weakly with no energy.

He originally thought this world might allow them to get some food, but they couldn’t even get out of the gate.

If they didn’t let the residents eat their fill soon, forget killing zombies—they might end up killing the city lord first.

The man thought for a moment and continued posting in the group chat:

[My safe city is already building quarantine shelters. I hope we can survive this. My AI is basically a useless intelligence—it only replies “Sorry, I cannot recognize your question.” Thankfully, I still have Withered Star’s advice, sob sob sob, grateful to the big boss, may you live a long and peaceful life~]

[All bosses, I’m begging to buy food. The residents really can’t hold on anymore. I’m willing to trade all resources in the safe city for food! Please, please, please sob sob sob!]

For a long time, no one responded.

Eventually, Withered Star Safe City sent a message:

[I suggest you stop thinking about trading for food. Food is hard currency in every world—no one will sell it.]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: I’m willing to sell, but I want energy crystals—and you don’t even have any.]

[Withered Star Safe City: The only way for a safe city that’s run out of food to survive is to take the residents outside and fight for resources. Whether you live or die depends on your own fate.]

The city lord of Coriander Safe City felt half his heart go cold.

He looked at his handful of residents—barely a few dozen—and all of them were in a state of starvation. Then he stood on the city lord’s tower and looked down.

—Outside the city, thousands upon thousands of zombies were gathering, continuously howling as they closed in.

He did want to fight his way out, but the problem was—how was he supposed to fight that?!

Originally, the safe city’s coordinates were set in a place like a stadium. When he looked around, there wasn’t a single person in sight. It should have been unused before the apocalypse.

At the time, he even thought this world seemed safer than the previous one.

But then the twenty-person scouting team he sent out ended up bringing back this massive horde of zombies.

‘Were you guys freaking triggers? How did you set off a bomb like that?!’

He was utterly desperate.

No food. No weapons. Surrounded on all sides.

Then he looked at the city wall status—it was already showing 40% damage.

Once it reached 100%, the wall would be broken open by the zombies, and everyone would die.

Energy crystals. He needed energy crystals to repair the walls.

The burly man turned around and shouted at the residents:

“Get ropes! Lasso the zombies and kill them! Kill them and harvest energy crystals!”

But the residents didn’t move.

Someone shouted in complaint:

“If you want us to kill zombies, we need strength first! We only ate one meal today!”

“Yeah! Yesterday we only ate two meals!”

Not only the original residents of Coriander Safe City, but also the newcomers recruited from the previous world joined in shouting:

“The city lord can’t just not give us food!”

“Open the stores! Give us food! Otherwise we’re not working anymore!”

“Right! We quit!”

Some people also quietly pulled their family members aside and advised:

“Dad, don’t get involved. What if the city lord expels you?”

“Scared of what? A safe city needs enough residents to leave this world. He’s desperate for manpower!”

“Exactly! Everyone, don’t be afraid! His guard squad is down to just this many people—what is there to fear?!”

The burly man’s expression gradually changed from anxious, to helpless, and then to completely expressionless.

The city guard team stepped forward to maintain order, but with little effect.

“City Lord, what do we do?”

“Should we detain the troublemakers?”

The man shook his head.

Then, gritting his teeth, he pulled out a gun and shot one of the loudest protesters in the head.

The resident collapsed.

The chaotic scene instantly fell silent.

Keeping his shooting posture, the man said coldly:

“Anyone who refuses to work—dies.”

The residents obediently went back to hunting zombies and extracting energy crystals.

It was a foolish method. The rate at which residents could capture zombies and extract energy crystals could not keep up with the speed at which the zombies were pushing against the city walls. But at least it could delay the inevitable collapse.

Maybe—just maybe—that delay could create a chance of survival.

That was what the man told himself. In truth, he didn’t believe there was any real hope left. His eyes were filled with despair.

The only comfort he had now was that in this dangerous world, there was someone even worse off than him.

He closed his eyes, hiding the faint tears in his eyes:

Stay strong, Wen Huahua. You’re not the most miserable one.

His residents had followed him for an entire world already, yet they still wouldn’t fully obey orders. The newcomer’s residents hadn’t even been trained or integrated yet—they should be even harder to control.

In a world where viruses could infect people, where unity was fragile, things were bound to go badly.

Maybe, by now, the newcomer’s city had already fallen.

——

“Break—!”

The door was smashed open. A squad wearing gas masks stood at the entrance with guns, covering each other as they quickly took down the few zombies trying to rush out.

The newcomer, Cheng Qisheng, was watching the Blue Sea tactical squad clear the zombies.

“Finish them off!”

“Check!”

More gunshots rang out—bang, bang—and the zombies’ heads on the ground were blown apart to make absolutely sure they were dead.

It might seem like a bit of a waste of ammunition, but it minimized the risk as much as possible.

The combat squad switched on their flashlights, sweeping the room from the doorway before cautiously entering with guns raised.

Whenever they came across spaces that could hide a person—cabinets, rice jars, and the like—one member would use a hooked pole to open them from a distance, while the others kept their guns trained on them from a safe range.

If a zombie leapt out, it would be killed instantly.

Only after everything had been checked did the squad withdraw:

“Report: room cleared, no abnormalities.”

The squad leader nodded and gave the order:

“Harvest team, move in!”

The harvesting team from the logistics group rushed forward. Everyone wore gloves—some used small cutters to slice open the zombies’ heads, while others used tweezers to extract diamond-like energy crystals from inside.

Once the crystals were taken out, they were sprayed clean with high-pressure sprayers and carefully stored in bags.

These energy crystals were something the great Creator God required. They had to be properly collected and transported back to the safe city as an offering.

Throughout the process, the combat squad remained armed and on high alert, watching their surroundings and protecting the harvesting team at work.

“Report! One energy crystal recovered!”

Not every zombie had a crystal in its head—getting one from four kills was already considered good.

The captain nodded. “Next target group!”

The fifteen-member team, including the harvest unit, continued advancing.

There were fifty such teams in this village.

At the village entrance, the logistics group had already finished off the wounded and was now dealing with hundreds of corpses piled together.

These hundreds of zombie corpses were gathered by using drones to lure the wandering zombies out into an open area, where mortar shells were then launched to blow them up in one concentrated strike.

The zombies trapped inside houses, or those that for various reasons didn’t follow the drones to the open ground, became the targets of the fifty combat squads.

While the logistics team was cutting open zombie heads and the combat squads were clearing buildings one by one, the drone unit was also operating drones high in the air—monitoring the battlefield and reporting the coordinates of zombie positions.

From the moment the reconnaissance vanguard set out—discovering the zombie village, launching the attack, to completely clearing it—only four hours had passed in total.

Most of that time, in fact, was spent traveling.

Now that the battle was over, the entire village had been sealed off by the combat units, and the logistics team could safely begin collecting supplies.

Food, medicine, fuel; seeds, hoes, plastic buckets—even door panels and wire fencing were gathered, all to be taken back.

“Team leader, should we just leave this torn burlap sack behind?”

Zheng Yihe shook the fertilizer bag in his hand. “It’s already ripped.”

The team leader shook his head. “Take it back. We don’t have anywhere to build factories right now. Even something this cheap-looking can still be useful once we’re back.”

When the Blue Sea civilization fled into the safe city, they brought a lot of supplies—but when it comes to resources and energy, the more the better.

As he spoke, the team leader gestured for several people to send the collected books and illustrations to the expert group.

The experts would use them to analyze the civilization of this world—their writing system, language, and culture—and to determine what had happened to turn them into this cursed state.

Research into their biological structure didn’t fall to those experts. The white-robed bishops sent by the temple had already begun dissecting zombie corpses.

The logistics team leader checked the time. “Move faster! We’re about to head to the next search point.”

The drones had already relayed information ahead—this region had more than just a single village.

The god had given them twenty-four hours.

The people of Blue Sea had to use these twenty-four hours to push forward as much as possible, carving out a safe zone centered around the temple.

—On this day, gunfire and explosions echoed frequently through the once-silent mountain forests.

At the same time, large numbers of engineering troops left the city. After securing the area, they began rapidly cutting down trees and building roads.

The roads weren’t neat, but they were good enough for infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, assault vehicles, and military transport trucks to pass through.

The combat units had already advanced to the third village when, just as they were preparing to push forward, an unexpected situation occurred.

“Report! Thermal imaging has detected a human-shaped figure inside a cellar!”

Zombies don’t produce heat. This meant that a local person was still alive.

For the Blue Sea civilization, this was a shocking discovery.

They had assumed all the locals had been cursed into becoming monsters.

Cheng Qisheng, however, wasn’t surprised. Coriander had already said that people from the previous world had been brought in as residents—so it was perfectly normal that there were still living locals in this zombie world.

It was only because her safe city had appeared in a remote mountain area, with just five villages in sight; otherwise, they would probably have found even more survivors.

The Blue Sea advance force’s supreme commander quickly made a decision: the combat units would proceed with the original assault plan while staying alert and locating the detected local survivor.

They lured the zombies, dropped explosives, and cleared the houses one by one. The third village was soon temporarily marked as a “green safe zone.”

Next, all members rechecked their protective suits, put on their highest-grade gas masks, prepared explosives at their sides, and had the rest of the team fall back a certain distance. A twelve-person combat squad cautiously approached an outdoor cellar.

It looked like an ordinary rural cellar, the kind used to store grain and vegetables.

One soldier used a hooked tool to pry off the cellar lid.

“Come out!!”

All gun barrels were aimed at the cellar entrance.

Although a human heat signature had been detected, no one knew whether what was inside was truly a communicative, living person.

What if zombies had evolved—becoming mutated variants that emitted heat?

There was no movement from inside the cellar, but faint, rapid breathing could be heard.

—It sounded more like a mutated zombie.

Two combat personnel received orders and cautiously stepped forward, shining their flashlights inside.

It was a human little girl, about seven or eight years old, covering her mouth as she cried silently, her face filled with terror as she looked at them.

<< TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.3.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

—The Blue Sea exploration team was carefully making their way through a dense forest.

The Safe City had landed in a quiet valley. They had been walking for quite a while, occasionally spotting animals running past, but they hadn’t encountered a single intelligent lifeform.

The commander-in-chief’s radio suddenly crackled to life:

“Command, Command! This is Vanguard Recon Team 2! We’ve discovered a village at the foot of the mountain—around a hundred houses. There is no smoke from chimneys. There appear to be dried bloodstains on the ground. There are figures moving, but we cannot clearly identify them. Requesting instructions. Over!”

Before the commander-in-chief could respond, a bishop in blue robes was escorted over.

“Commander.”

“Your Eminence.”

The two exchanged brief greetings, and the Blue-robed Bishop immediately got to the point:

“The Divine has delivered an oracle. There is impurity in this place. A curse will spread between living beings. It is extremely horrifying.”

The commander-in-chief frowned and turned to look at the soldiers behind him.

“If a curse can spread between people, with so many of us here, we could be overwhelmed in an instant!”

The Blue-robed Bishop waved a hand.

“If caught off guard, we would certainly fall victim. But Blue Sea is under the protection of the Divine. Now that we know of the impurity, we can of course make preparations in advance.”

At his signal, hooded priests brought over crates upon crates of medical supplies.

When the boxes were opened, they contained sets of protective suits.

The Bishop placed a hand over his chest.

“We give thanks to the Divine. We have brought a sufficient number of tactical protective suits.”

“The impurity may spread through any possible route. Until we determine its transmission method, all soldiers are to wear protective suits. Avoid injuries or any exposed wounds as much as possible. Unless absolutely necessary, do not make close contact with any local flora or fauna. Only consume food and water we have brought ourselves. If anyone shows symptoms of illness, they are to be isolated immediately.”

The commander-in-chief nodded without hesitation.

“Understood. I’ll immediately order everyone to put on protective suits.”

…What?

Are you questioning how contagious it is? Worried that wearing protective suits might make combat difficult?

This is a divine oracle!

Any Blue Sea citizen would act swiftly and obediently in the face of a divine oracle.

At the same time, the commander-in-chief issued orders to all the vanguard teams:

“Do not make close contact with any local plants or animals. Those so-called ‘locals’ you’ve seen—do not approach them! Maintain a minimum distance of 200 meters. Cover your mouth and nose. Properly bandage all exposed wounds. Even the smallest scratch must be tightly covered! Everyone is to remain in place. I will send personnel to deliver protective suits to you!”

“Second Vanguard Team, drone unit, report immediately.”

The members of the Second Vanguard Team looked somewhat regretfully at the village at the foot of the mountain.

“Ah, so we’re stuck here on standby now. I originally thought Command would send us to make contact—this would’ve been a major merit!”

“Yeah,” another member agreed, also sounding regretful as he wiped his gun while staring at the distant village.

“It actually looks pretty nice here. Fresh air, lush vegetation… seems like a good place to build a new home. It doesn’t look like a God-abandoned land at all.”

The team leader, holding binoculars, frowned.

“Stop talking. The oracle is clear—do whatever Command says. There’s something strange about these locals. Not approaching them is the correct decision.”

The deputy team leader also raised binoculars.

“Captain, what did you notice?”

“If you look closely, they’re constantly moving around—like they never get tired. Who would walk in circles around a village nonstop like that? And look—crops in the fields have fallen to the ground, gone moldy and blackened. Don’t tell me these locals actually eat spoiled grain?”

After lowering the binoculars, the captain thought for a moment and cautiously added:

“I can’t say for sure though. This might be an alien planet after all. Maybe aliens are just different from us—they like eating moldy crops and walking around endlessly.”

Human beings and animals don’t even share the same habits.

Maybe alien species simply have… unique preferences?

“Let’s wait for the drone unit. Once we use drones, we’ll know immediately.”

—The drone unit soon arrived, wearing tactical protective suits and gas masks.

“In the name of the Divine!”

The Second Vanguard Team leader immediately responded, “Blue Sea endures forever!”

With the password confirmed, twelve members of the drone unit, carrying heavy equipment, quickly approached.

“We brought protective suits for you. Put them on.”

After the vanguard team put on their protective gear, two drones had already taken off.

There was no small talk between the groups. The drone unit had already opened a black suitcase—once unfolded, it revealed an integrated screen and control panel.

As the drones flew, the footage was transmitted back to the screen.

The view passed through forests, crossed rivers, and reached above the village. The people below seemed to notice it too and began moving toward it.

The operator said while adjusting the controls, “The image isn’t very clear. I’ll fly lower.”

The team leader replied, “Approved.”

The drone continued descending, and the figures on the ground finally became clearly visible on the screen.

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

Most of these people had pale bluish-white faces. Some had already rotted; others were missing arms or legs. Some had lost half their face, with an eyeball still hanging out along with bits of tissue on their cheek.

In the footage, none of them had pupils in their eyes. Their mouths opened and closed repeatedly. Their fingernails were long and black. They stretched out their arms while letting out inhuman, raspy howls, trying to grab the drone overhead.

“Creator God above!”

“What are these things?!”

“Those people… are they digging up corpses and eating the flesh? Pulling out intestines… intestines are coming out… ugh—!!”

When the drone unit leader heard the commotion, he looked up. Seeing that it was someone from his own team, he immediately darkened his expression—though of course, with a gas mask on, no one could see it.

“Rookie, don’t vomit inside your gas mask. Hold it in!”

The rookie quickly looked away and forced himself to suppress the urge to vomit.

The Vanguard Team leader had also looked up. Seeing that it wasn’t someone from her own team, she relaxed slightly. Just as she was about to continue watching, a rookie from her team suddenly spoke up:

“Team Leader, you’re right. If the locals look like this, maybe they really do eat moldy crops!”

The Vanguard Team leader snapped, “Are you blind?! The locals clearly didn’t look like this at first! Didn’t the oracle say there’s impurity? They must have been infected by the impurity and turned into this!”

The moment she said this, everyone—whether from the vanguard team or the drone unit—quietly tightened their protective suits and checked their gas masks to make sure they were still properly sealed.

The Blue Sea people weren’t afraid of fighting, but if they got infected and ended up like that, they’d rather die.

The Vanguard Team leader pressed a hand against her gas mask.

“Report this to Command first, then wait for instructions.”

The drone unit leader also issued an order: “This drone is no longer needed. Fly it to other areas and see if we can observe anything else.”

After the drone climbed higher, they could see several other drones rising on the far side of the mountain—other drone teams were also carrying out missions.

The once-silent mountain was now filled with activity. The buzzing of drones echoed everywhere, and the footage being transmitted back left each drone team in silence.

“Oh Divine… what is this? It’s terrifying!”

“Perhaps only the great Creator God knows what these… monsters are…”

And the Creator God was indeed watching the footage.

“Zombies?”

Chang Qisheng stared at the creatures dragging their decaying bodies as they chased the drones, falling into deep thought.

In the chat group, “Coriander” was crying his heart out.

[I sent 20 people to scout, and only 3 came back!]

[Wuwuwuwu… thank goodness I’d seen similar movies in my original world. I quarantined the survivors, or we would’ve been wiped out completely.]

[@Withered Star Safe City Thank you, boss! You saved my life! Boss, my residents brought back three nuclear crystals from the mission. This is everything I have—please don’t despise it!]

The Coriander Safe City transferred three nuclear crystals to the Withered Star Safe City.

Cheng Qisheng blinked.

Coriander sent out a team and actually got three nuclear crystals back?

Where did the nuclear crystals come from?

Could it be like in some film settings, where they’re inside zombies’ heads? If so, things would be much simpler.

Withered Star accepted the crystals and replied:

[If you have wood, build an isolation facility first.]

It was cold and detached, but it contained key information.

[Coriander Safe City: Okay okay, thank you boss for the reminder! I’ll immediately arrange for residents to build an isolation facility! Wuwuwuwu I have no manpower and barely any weapons. Why did I end up in such a dangerous world as my second world? I only have over twenty guns in total! Is my AI brain actually just artificial stupidity?! Wuwuwuwu!]

[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Coriander, acknowledge me as your leader. I’ll send people to protect you.]

That tone made its intentions blatantly obvious.

It practically had “give me your coordinates so I can come eliminate you” written on its face.

Coriander seemed stunned by how the “Cosmic Lord” treated him like an idiot, and after two minutes of silence, he carefully replied:

[Coriander Safe City: …Thank you, boss, but it’s okay. I’ll try to survive on my own. If necessary, I’ll just hide like a turtle and not go out anymore. Wuwuwu.]

Being targeted by the Cosmic Lord wasn’t entirely bad—at least its rival, “Meow Meow,” would definitely show up because of it.

[Meow Meow Safe City: Human! You’re quite smart! Meow will comfort you! You’re not even the most unlucky one, meow—there’s a pure newbie in our group who got dropped into this world on their very first arrival, meow! That newbie is the truly unlucky one!]

[Coriander Safe City: Thank you, Boss Meow Meow. I do feel much better now. At least I’m not a pure newbie—I still have some experience. A pure newbie must be having a much harder time!]

The “pure newbie” Cheng Qisheng: ……

A zombie world is indeed dangerous.

But she glanced at her Safe City.

During the relocation, Qin Zhi had ordered that even if everything and everyone had to be squeezed so tightly there wasn’t even space to stand, they must still move as many critical resources as possible—this naturally included the national armory.

It could be said that the armory alone accounted for at least 30% of how crowded the Safe City was now.

Cheng Qisheng didn’t even know how Qin Zhi managed to move an entire armory into the Safe City in such a short time.

But it didn’t matter. The Creator God didn’t need to understand the process—only enjoy the result.

——Her gaze swept inside.

Bayonets, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers……

Military helmets, bulletproof vests, tactical backpacks, night-vision devices, binoculars, rangefinders, radios, walkie-talkies……

Armored vehicles of all types, off-road trucks, mortars, missiles, rocket artillery vehicles, communication command vehicles, military drones……

There were also various military supplies, battlefield medical equipment, special combat readiness materials, as well as aerial weaponry such as armed helicopters, fighter jets, and all kinds of airborne ammunition.

Everything together clearly showed one thing:

This was the war reserve arsenal of a major nation.

In the chat group, Coriander was still sympathizing with her.

[Poor newbie, hasn’t said a word. First time arriving and already in such a dangerous place—she must be terrified right now @Unnamed Safe City. I don’t have much I can help with either, I’ll send you some wood! You can use it to build a fence at least, it’ll give you a bit of safety.]

The jellyfish AI spoke up:

[City Lord, Coriander Safe City is sending you 1 ton of hardwood. Accept transfer?]

Cheng Qisheng looked at the message, then at the fully packed arsenal, then at the Blue Sea citizens who were currently working furiously on construction—so intensely that they looked like they wanted to raise the defensive walls all the way into the sky.

Thanks… but she actually felt pretty safe right now.

Really.

<< TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.2.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

When the divine oracle appeared, President Qin Zhi was in the middle of dealing with an overwhelming pile of affairs—so many that there seemed to be no end in sight.

Under normal circumstances, the temple’s area seemed enormous, covering a full 800 square kilometers—essentially the size of an entire city.

But to accommodate 360 million people, it was still far too cramped.

To put it this way: if there were no buildings on those 800 square kilometers and all 360 million people simply stood there, each person would only have about two square meters of space.

And that doesn’t even take into account the many large structures and statues of deities already present in the temple.

Even after mobilizing global resources to hastily construct several high-rise buildings in the shortest time possible, the survivors could only just barely squeeze in.

And fitting everyone in was only the beginning. With so many people, basic needs like food, water, and sanitation became enormous challenges. Food alone required at least 180,000 tons per day—and that was only counting staple foods.

How should it all be arranged? How should living spaces be allocated? How could food be distributed to every citizen of the Blue Sea? What about water supply and waste management?

With so many people crowded together, epidemic prevention was essential. Public security and order would clearly require military involvement. Various forms of energy had to be prioritized for certain departments first—otherwise even basic identity registration would stall at the very first step. How should all kinds of materials be allocated? With all social roles now disrupted, what would people do in the future? The citizens were deeply anxious about their new lives—how could they be reassured?

Not all of these problems had to be solved personally by the president, but the ultimate authority over the overall direction rested in her hands.

Documents were submitted one after another in endless layers. Every document she signed would affect the future of 360 million people.

During the earlier mass relocation, the president had only slept a total of two hours over three days—and even then, it was restless sleep, filled with dreams of organizing affairs.

Now, although the relocation had succeeded, she still couldn’t rest. In fact, she was even busier than during those previous three days.

President Qin Zhi’s eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, and her hair was streaked with white, yet she remained full of energy. As she put it, once you push past a certain point, the sleepiness disappears.

When she heard the oracle instructing her to send people to explore the outside world, her spirits lifted even more.

“Yes! My Lord!”

The president stood up respectfully and bowed toward the direction of the temple. “Qin Zhi humbly obeys the divine oracle.”

The other ten high-ranking officials in the conference room all brightened as well. The fatigue and heaviness on their faces faded, and even their pale complexions regained some color.

It was as if each of them had instantly recovered at least half their strength.

Before leaving the safe city, everyone had witnessed the outside world being torn apart and reduced to nothingness.

Only they—a group of the fortunate—had survived under the protection of the deity.

But now that they had arrived in this new world, how could they not feel uneasy when they looked at the three suns hanging in the sky outside?

The higher one’s position, the more one knew—and the harder it was to calm the anxiety within.

Still, everyone tacitly suppressed their fear and unease, putting on calm and composed expressions to reassure the guards and civilians.

At a moment like this, hearing the divine oracle was incredibly comforting.

“Madam President, has the oracle descended?”

“What instructions has our Lord given?”

With a faint, deliberate smile, Qin Zhi swept her gaze across the others in the conference room.

“Our Lord has delivered an oracle: the outside world is a god-abandoned realm, filled with many dangers—but also many opportunities and benefits.”

“In Her mercy, for the next day and night, She will grant protection to the temple. All the dangers of that forsaken realm will be unable to invade it.”

“Therefore, we have a full 24 hours to explore this world, prepare defenses in advance, and seek out opportunities.”

When the officials heard the words “god-abandoned realm,” their expressions varied, but all of them stood up and respectfully bowed toward the towering divine statue outside.

“Grateful for our Lord’s mercy.”

A god-abandoned land was still better than a mother planet already destroyed. Since the deity had already delivered an oracle, the Blue Sea civilization had nothing to fear.

Besides, they still had a day and a night of divine protection from the temple—more than enough.

One must know that the unification of Blue Sea civilization had only happened six years ago.

The civilization had come a long way, directly forging an epic history of war, advancing from a feudal society all the way into modernity.

This could also be considered Cheng Qisheng’s doing. When she first cultivated the new humans, in order to better implant ideological conditioning, she used a primitive, wilderness-based social background.

In the wilderness, humans had to fight wild beasts almost every day, and danger existed everywhere.

As a result, not only was an imprint of loyalty to her left in the genes of the new humans, but an unavoidable combat instinct was also etched into them.

After some thought, Cheng Qisheng decided that as long as they didn’t engage in self-destructive internal strife like her second, fourth, and fifth batches—fighting themselves to death—she would not interfere.

She had previously nurtured seven civilizations. Each of those human civilizations developed differently, but they all led to similar “taboos”:

1. Civilization development must not be forcibly accelerated in technology; it must progress step by step, or it will collapse and humans will die.

2. Environmental destruction cannot exceed limits. Some damage is acceptable during development, but once advanced, the environment must be restored—otherwise humans will die.

3. Intervention must be selective. You cannot constantly help them, or they will become complacent—and humans will die.

4. Do not interfere in internal struggles for leadership within a civilization. Forcing the removal of external pressure only leads to stagnation, corruption, and a lifeless society—and humans will die.

Humans really were easy to “raise into extinction.”

So—let them play freely. Fight if they want, just don’t start throwing nuclear bombs at each other.

Qin Zhi had become president at just forty years old, and it wasn’t only because of her governing ability. Two-thirds of the people in that conference room had been defeated by her in military command at some point.

The ring on her hand—bearing the authority and recognition of the deity—had been obtained through sheer strength. It was something that Cheng Qisheng had dug out from the relics of an interstellar civilization and personally given to her.

If nothing unexpected happened, once Qin Zhi reached the end of her natural life, and the next president could no longer suppress the others, the Blue Sea civilization would likely fall into another round of war.

But now, the Dark Star had been destroyed, and the Blue Sea civilization had arrived in another world—one that still contained external threats.

In the past, Cheng Qisheng had been deeply troubled by how much the Blue Sea civilization loved fighting. Now, she felt completely reassured by it.

It was fortunate that it was “the eighth batch.” If it had been the seventh batch instead—smooth sailing all the way, focused only on technological development without cultivating military strength or cunning—

—Cheng Qisheng quickly looked at the Blue Sea civilization’s expedition force, already fully prepared, to cleanse her eyes.

Yes, in such a short time, the exploration team had already selected personnel, prepared equipment, and was ready to set off.

—“Report to the Commander-in-Chief! Combat Battalion assembled. Infantry group: 4,000 personnel. Tank group: 2,000. Drone combat group: 1,000. Required: 7,000. Present: 7,000!”

—“Report to the Commander-in-Chief! Air Operations Battalion assembled! 50 pilots, 20 navigators, mechanics…”

—“Report to the Commander-in-Chief! Engineering Battalion…”

—“Report… Logistics Battalion…”

—“Report… Reconnaissance Battalion…”

—“Report… Survey Team…”

Finally, the commander-in-chief reported to the president:

“Reporting to Your Excellency the President. The Blue Sea vanguard expedition force: required strength 20,000, actual strength 20,000. Equipment and supplies are fully prepared. Awaiting your orders!”

Qin Zhi looked down at the members of the vanguard.

“Everyone, you are about to step into a god-abandoned land. As president, I do not know what unknown dangers you will face, nor whether you will return alive. I also do not know whether this place can become our new home. But all of us know this: our mother planet has been destroyed. This is the Blue Sea civilization’s last hope!”

“Set out! Explore it! Develop it! Conquer it!”

“I can only promise you this: if you die, I will send a second team, then a third, a fourth… until every last Blue Sea citizen is exhausted!”

Yes, the Blue Sea civilization’s pre-departure mobilization was that simple and brutal:

—Soldiers, don’t worry about dying, because if you die, we’ll just all die together in succession!

Yet strangely enough, the people of Blue Sea really responded to this approach. The soldiers’ expressions grew increasingly passionate.

Qin Zhi raised her left arm.

“In the name of the Lord! Blue Sea endures forever!”

The soldiers stood straight and rigid, raising their left arms in unison. Their roar shook the earth:

“In the name of the Lord! Blue Sea endures forever!”

The gates of the temple opened wide. The pope and white-robed bishops stood on both sides, praying for the deity’s protection.

“May the Lord bless you.”

After the entire exploration force had departed, two hundred white-robed bishops also offered prayers for themselves.

“May the Lord bless me.”

After finishing their prayers, they followed them out as well.

From ancient times to the present, clergy had always served as medical personnel.

Since the exploration force was going on a mission, medical support was naturally required. Thus, the temple assigned two hundred highly skilled white-robed bishops who had battlefield experience, along with three hundred priests assisting in medical duties, and two blue-robed archbishops to coordinate operations.

When members of the expedition encountered danger, the bishops and priests would pray for divine blessings while simultaneously performing surgery.

Strictly speaking, the prayers were effective, because the deity could truly observe the condition of the believers—like a god’s-eye view.

It was just that before, everything had been like watching a video sped up billions of times, so fast it gave her a splitting headache, forcing her to guess and infer what was happening (she was honestly shocked she could even understand it). Now, however, it was at normal speed.

—Suddenly having normal playback… was actually a little hard to get used to.

It was like someone who had been nearsighted for a long time suddenly putting on a perfectly fitted pair of glasses—only to feel dizzy from how clear everything had become. Cheng Qisheng was now in exactly that condition, only more severe.

Fortunately, her adaptability had always been strong.

Suppressing the discomfort, Cheng Qisheng continued observing the expedition team while also monitoring the messages in the chat group of other city lords.

From what she could tell, the safe cities had arrived in this world at different times. Some had clearly been here for a long time; their messages suggested familiarity. Others had only just arrived and were still in the exploration phase.

Cheng Qisheng focused mainly on those still in the early exploration stage.

The ones who had been here longer were very tight-lipped—none of them were willing to reveal what this world was like. Only the newcomers were still discussing it openly.

[Coriander Safe City: Big shots, do you think it’s reliable if I send 200 people out to scout the situation?]

[Coriander Safe City: Would 300 be too many? I’m afraid of a total wipeout.]

“Coriander” was clearly trying to extract information from the experienced city lords. Not only did they describe their own arrangements in detail, they even @-mentioned other city lords.

Cheng Qisheng noticed that Coriander had a sharp eye—they didn’t tag the seemingly kinder “Blue Leaf,” but instead directly addressed the quiet “Withered Star.”

[Coriander Safe City: @Withered Star Safe City Big boss, could I ask how many people you sent out to check the situation before? Please, my manpower is too limited, I really don’t dare to act rashly~]

[Withered Star Safe City: You’re Tier 1? A newcomer?]

[Coriander Safe City: No, boss, I’ve already been to one world. This is my second world. Wuwuwu… in the last world I was too inexperienced and too aggressive, a lot of my residents died. I had to pull in some natives just to fill the quota. It’s not that I’m unwilling to spend energy crystals for information—I really don’t have a single crystal left now. Please help me, sob sob sob!]

[Withered Star Safe City: If you’re not a beginner, I suggest you send fewer people out.]

[Coriander Safe City: Okay, okay, thank you, boss. Could you tell me why?]

[Withered Star Safe City: No. Figure it out yourself.]

[Coriander Safe City: Alright, alright, you’ve already helped me a lot, thank you so much~ Boss, this is some timber I obtained in the last world. I’m not sure if it’s useful to you, but it’s all I have as resources right now. Please accept it. I’ll give you more when I have more later~]

[System notification: Coriander Safe City has transferred 80 tons of hardwood to Withered Star Safe City.]

Then another prompt appeared, indicating that Withered Star Safe City had accepted the transfer.

Cheng Qisheng stared at the virtual screens.

There was too much information. She needed to organize it.

First: Safe Cities were not fixed in a single world. They moved through many worlds—and those worlds were clearly dangerous.

Why? Were safe cities only allowed to remain in disaster worlds?

Energy crystals seemed very important. They were likely a form of currency, and most probably could be used to upgrade a safe city.

Population was also crucial to a safe city. If the population was too small, they had to recruit natives to fill the quota. Considering that the activation of a safe city previously seemed to require reaching one thousand people, Cheng Qisheng inferred that if the resident population was insufficient, the city might not even function properly.

Transactions between safe cities could be conducted directly through the group chat—though it wasn’t clear whether there was any commission or “tax” taken.

Also, the population sizes of these safe cities were probably not large. From the earlier argument between “Meow Meow” and “Cosmic Lord,” it could be inferred that a total population exceeding ten million was already considered very large.

And even Coriander thought sending out 300 people was “too many.”

Cheng Qisheng thought about her own 360 million residents—and the 20,000-member vanguard expedition she had just sent out…

Coriander had mentioned that their original world had been destroyed.

So did that mean the city lords of these safe cities were all survivors who had escaped from destroyed original worlds using safe cities?

They were most likely ordinary people before obtaining a Safe City, which meant they could only bring survivors from nearby native worlds into the city.

But she was an exception.

The Dark Star had indeed been destroyed—but she was not a Dark Star native.

Before activating the Safe City, her identity had been that of the Dark Star’s creator deity. The Blue Sea civilization trusted her completely; with a single command, all of them relocated into the Safe City.

Other Safe Cities, however, had residents who could rebel. “Withered Star,” for example, had become a new city lord only after killing the previous one. But Cheng Qisheng never had to worry about something like that.

After reviewing her own advantages, Cheng Qisheng felt slightly more at ease.

She still clearly remembered what “Meow Meow” had said—that “Cosmic Lord” intended to kill her and seize the core.

Safe Cities were not always friendly with each other. She needed to be prepared for the possibility of war at any time.

But for now, she should focus on the information provided by “Withered Star.”

Cheng Qisheng didn’t know whether Withered Star’s information was true, but forming hypotheses and preparing in advance was never a mistake.

—“If you’re not a beginner, send fewer people?”

What was the biggest difference between a beginner and a non-beginner?

Cheng Qisheng thought of the 24-hour newbie protection period.

During that time, external dangers could not enter the Safe City.

So why would sending fewer people be better? If it were a direct, physical threat, logically, sending more people should be safer.

An image flashed through her mind—the unlucky seventh interstellar civilization that had been wiped out by a virus.

Was it contagious?

Yes. It was likely related to contagion, or something similar. The more people you sent out, the more chaotic the situation became as it spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred.

But a beginner Safe City could isolate danger; viruses couldn’t enter the Safe City. Therefore, for non-beginners, it was better to send fewer people.

Cheng Qisheng immediately closed her eyes and transmitted this information to the expedition team.

Whether Withered Star’s words were true or false, adding extra precautions would never be wrong.

<< TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.2.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

——Presidential Palace——

The President wiped the blood from her face, her expression filled with joy.

“My God… so You have indeed responded to the prayers of the people of Blue Sea?”

She stood up, her expression returning to the same solemnity as always.

“Open the global announcement system. Issue a Level-One evacuation order directing all citizens to the temple.”

“Contact the Marshal. I require full military cooperation for the evacuation.”

“Contact the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Emergency Management Department, and Ministry of Transportation. Hold an online emergency meeting immediately. Open all routes at any cost. Transport the people of Blue Sea to the temple as quickly as possible!”

A message from the Marshal had already come in.

“The military will fully cooperate with the evacuation. All units will obey the President’s command!”

Another message, from the Pope, arrived as well.

“All gates of the temple are fully open. However, Your Excellency, there is something you must know—the temple can only accommodate a maximum of one hundred million people, and even that will be extremely cramped.”

The Dark Star was not large, and the population of Blue Sea civilization was not enormous—but even so, it totaled around eight billion people.

The President clenched her fist slightly, but her expression remained calm.

“One hundred million… that should be enough for now. Just from the sudden disasters this morning, at least one-third of Blue Sea has already perished. And there will always be those who cannot make it in time…”

She forced herself to calmly accept the reality that only about one billion people might survive, and quickly began considering expansion plans.

“I will send personnel to the temple to urgently construct high-rise structures, to accommodate as many people and resources as possible.”

The temple could not be demolished, but building within it was possible. At this point, all they could do was maximize vertical space and expand survivable capacity as much as possible.

“Do not think about the future yet. First, save as many people as possible.”

The Pope replied: “Yes, Your Excellency the President.”

Under the command of the highest levels of Blue Sea civilization, the entire society began to move into action.

All transportation routes were opened. The roads leading to the temple were guarded by the military. Every vehicle had to pass at maximum speed—if a vehicle broke down and blocked the road, soldiers would immediately move it aside.

The temple’s gates stood wide open. Construction workers labored desperately, and many civilians also joined in, helping with auxiliary tasks.

High-rise structures were built at a visible speed, stacked as high as possible. At this point, there was no concern for water, electricity, or amenities—only the ability to safely stack people and supplies upward.

Various resources were transported into the temple by helicopters and freight trucks. Emergency response plans were activated one after another, and warehouses were opened wide.

From a high altitude, one could see the entire planet’s population converging rapidly toward a single point.

—For Blue Sea civilization, it was a frantic, sleepless mass relocation lasting nine days and nine nights, involving over a billion people working without rest.

—For Cheng Qisheng, it felt like she had only waited a moment, and the move was already complete.

A virtual interface popped up again.

[Beep—Warning—Warning—The planet where Safe City is located is about to be destroyed. Initiating automatic detachment procedure.]

[Safe City – Tier 1]

[Actual area: 800 square kilometers]

[Deployment area: 5 square kilometers]

[Capacity: 360 million residents]

[Status: Auto-detaching—]

There was no loud explosion, no dazzling spectacle. On the holographic display, the Safe City glowed—and in the next instant, it appeared on an unfamiliar stretch of grassland.

The most astonishing part was that such a massive city, when viewed from the outside, truly only occupied 5 square kilometers.

In other words, the Safe City physically occupied only 5 square kilometers of this world, but internally it contained an area of 800 square kilometers.

It really was… astonishing.

Cheng Qisheng discovered that she could view the Safe City from a top-down perspective through the virtual interface.

Even more surprisingly, the flow of time inside the Safe City had become synchronized with hers.

Inside the Safe City, the Blue Sea civilization carefully observed the outside world—but without permission from their god, no one dared to step out.

Cheng Qisheng looked at the densely packed masses of Blue Sea citizens, and her emotions became extremely complicated.

She had painstakingly tended Dark Star for three years. So many times, it had nearly been destroyed by various disasters, and she had done everything she could to save it.

Hundreds of billions of years—she had protected Dark Star for hundreds of billions of years.

And now she was being told that the ruined city from the very beginning was actually something far more advanced.

It simply required the destruction of the planet to activate.

For a moment, Cheng Qisheng didn’t even know what she was supposed to feel.

The virtual interface didn’t give her much time to think. Next to the overhead view of the Safe City, a new panel suddenly appeared—something like a group chat channel.

Messages in unfamiliar languages kept refreshing, yet strangely, she could understand them.

[Blue Leaf Safe City: Oh? A Safe City without a name? Not even 24 hours old? A newcomer! Welcome, welcome!]

[Withered Star Safe City: You got thrown into this world at Tier 1 already? Is your AI system insane?]

[Coriander Safe City: It’s probably because the world collapsed too fast and the AI had no choice.]

[Born to Gamble Safe City: I bet 100 energy crystals this newbie dies within ten days.]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: Buying energy crystals in bulk. Can trade for various resources. High volume, high price. DM me if interested!]

Cheng Qisheng silently absorbed all the “information” revealed through these conversations between “people.”

[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Welcome, newcomer. A Tier 1 Safe City already thrown into such a dangerous world? Have you reached 100,000 residents yet? Do your citizens listen to you? How about this—you acknowledge me as your boss, I’ll protect you and send people to intimidate your residents. I just need 10% of the energy crystals you earn in this world.]

[Meow Meow Safe City: Meow, newbie don’t trust Cosmic Lord. He’s trying to trick you into giving your coordinates so he can kill you and steal your Safe City core, meow. I almost fell for it before! Don’t give your coordinates to anyone, meow!]

[Cosmic Lord Safe City: That damn cat again! Just wait! I’ll skin you sooner or later!]

[Meow Meow Safe City: Come on then, meow not afraid of you! My Safe City already has ten million residents! Do you even stand a chance, useless thing?]

[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Heh. Ten million? Who would believe that? Can you even control them?]

[Meow Meow Safe City: Unlike you, meow is the boss. Everyone listens to me. Not like you—I heard your city was overthrown again recently, meow. It’s unbelievable that someone so bad at being a city lord even exists. Don’t end up like the previous Withered Star Safe City lord, who got his position taken and died miserably, meow~]

[Withered Star Safe City: That guy deserved it.]

[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Damn cat! Just you wait! Just you wait! Once I have enough population I’m coming for you!]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: Buying energy crystals in bulk. Will exchange for population/resources @Cosmic Lord Safe City]

[Blue Leaf Safe City: Why isn’t the newcomer speaking? Are you not used to chatting yet? Just focus on the screen and you can send messages.]

[Gu Gaga Safe City: Buying energy crystals in bulk. Can exchange for various newbie-only information. Must-have for newcomers, cheap and discounted, hurry @“Unnamed Safe City”]

Cheng Qisheng silently watched the messages scroll past.

At this point, she could already determine that—counting herself—there were thirteen “people” in this group chat.

Or rather, thirteen Safe City lords.

It looked, at first glance, like an ordinary group chat. Except that two of the members seemed ready to arrange an offline fight, the rest wasn’t much different from the online chat groups Cheng Qisheng had joined in the past.

After noticing she wasn’t responding, the other city lords fell silent. Only Blue Leaf Safe City kept @-mentioning her, trying to draw her into the conversation.

Cheng Qisheng remained completely silent.

Haha. Her speech-related muscles had already lost motor function. She simply could not produce sound at all.

Still, she felt she was quite lucky.

At least she could still control her eyelids. She could still read messages.

Just as she was frantically collecting information with her mind, a mass of white light slowly gathered on the virtual screen. It looked like a jellyfish drifting slowly through the sea.

“Respected City Lord, greetings. I am the Safe City’s AI, serial number 008. I am your assistant. You may call me 008.”

The jellyfish-like AI had no mouth—but it was speaking. That alone made Cheng Qisheng feel a strange sense of envy.

Receiving no response, the AI calmly rotated its body, faint blue light shimmering across it.

“System scan in progress. Detected that the City Lord’s physical condition is poor. Suspected illness: Mortal Vessel Syndrome.”

“Cause: The patient’s mental power is too strong for the physical body to support. There is a mismatch between mind and body. Symptoms include progressive loss of bodily control over time, eventually resulting in complete confinement within the body.”

“Searching for solution…”

After a few rapid pulses of blue light, the AI quickly produced a recommendation:

“Recommendation: City Lord should disable the Safe City Newcomer 24-hour protection period and officially activate the Safe City system.”

“The AI predicts the City Lord may wish to understand the function of the newcomer protection period in order to decide whether to disable it.”

[During the Safe City newcomer protection period, residents may freely enter and exit the city. Within 24 hours, dangers outside the Safe City cannot enter.]

“City Lord has been bound to the Safe City. After disabling the newcomer protection period and officially activating the Safe City, the City Lord will also ascend to the same Transcendent Tier 1 level as the Safe City. Transcendent Tier 1 can alleviate part of the Mortal Vessel Syndrome symptoms.”

“AI prediction: There is a 99.8% probability that after reaching Transcendent Tier 1, the City Lord will regain the ability for normal communication and extremely slow physical movement.”

“Due to the City Lord’s speech impairment, the AI has activated expression-observation mode. If the City Lord agrees to disable the protection period, please blink three times within one minute. If you disagree, please blink four times.”

Cheng Qisheng’s pupils trembled.

Three years.

She had been sick for three years.

In these three years, she had gone from seeking medical treatment in her own world, to placing her hopes in the Dark Star world.

In order to keep up with Dark Star’s development, she watched its extremely fast-moving scenes every day until her head ached. She was afraid of accidents, so even when sleeping she only dared to rest for one hour before waking up to check on the situation.

She only ate instant food because it was the fastest and most convenient. She tried to drink as little water as possible to reduce trips to the bathroom.

Three years—she had lived like this for three years. Even when interstellar civilization had already begun exploring the universe, they still could not cure ALS no matter what.

She had truly believed there was no hope left in this life.

Unable to control her body, her mind was perfectly clear, yet she could only watch herself gradually lose the ability to take care of herself.

She was still young, yet she had already glimpsed an utterly hopeless future.

She never expected that hope would not come from Dark Star itself—but from the ruined city within it.

Now, as long as she blinked three times…

This long-debilitated body of hers would recover enough to function normally.

Cheng Qisheng blinked rapidly.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four times—

The jellyfish-like AI twitched slightly, as if expressing surprise.

“City Lord did not agree to activate the Safe City now? Please confirm again.”

Cheng Qisheng blinked four times again.

“Understood. The AI will comply with your command and will not independently disable the Safe City newcomer protection period.”

Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes.

Yes. She very much wanted to immediately regain control of her body—to speak, to walk on her own, to move freely again.

That kind of urgent desire for health was something only those who had been ill for a long time could truly understand.

Inside her, it felt as if something was desperately urging her:

Hurry! Try it now! Immediately!

But Cheng Qisheng held herself back.

From what she had seen in the Safe City group chat, those city lords all implied that this world was extremely dangerous.

The 24-hour newcomer protection period was her—and the Blue Sea civilization’s—greatest safeguard.

Within these 24 hours, Blue Sea civilization could safely explore without worrying about bringing danger back to their home base.

Then they could explore, integrate, advance forward, and evolve.

Now, there was far more information to process: Safe Cities, the destruction of Dark Star, new dangerous worlds, the city lord group chat, and the AI that referred to her illness as “Mortal Vessel Syndrome”… and the possibility that Safe Cities would continue traveling between worlds.

But none of that mattered.

As long as her illness could be cured, everything else was secondary.

Cheng Qisheng’s eyelashes didn’t even tremble. Her expression remained calm.

In her mind, she quietly issued an exploratory order to the President of Blue Sea civilization.

Before becoming ill, Cheng Qisheng had only been a university student about to graduate. In terms of management experience, any seasoned veteran from society could probably outperform her easily.

But it didn’t matter.

A Creator God didn’t need management experience.

She only needed to assign what she wanted done to the highest authority of the Blue Sea civilization.

The entire administrative system of Blue Sea civilization would naturally carry out her will.

And as for Cheng Qisheng herself, she only needed to lie in bed—just as she had done for the past three years—and quietly wait for the 24 hours to pass.

The power of Transcendent Tier 1 would allow her to slowly regain control over her body.

And after that—what about further ascension?

If Tier 2, Tier 3 could not do it, then what about Tier 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9?

No need to rush. Be patient.

Cheng Qisheng slowly closed her eyes, letting her violently pounding heart gradually calm.

—Now, I have plenty of time to take things slowly.

<< TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.1.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The earth cracked open, the sky changed drastically, and skyscrapers collapsed. People panicked as they tried to flee, only to realize there was nowhere to escape—no matter where they looked, there was no safe place.

Civilians collapsed to their knees, crying out in desperation toward the heavens.

“My God, please save Your people.”

——At the Federal Presidential Palace, guards rushed in.

“Madam President, the helicopter has arrived. You must leave now.”

The president knelt by the window, holding a ring engraved with a sun, and shook her head.

“Satellite images have already come through. We cannot escape. You all should go. Don’t worry about me—go back to your families. Stay with your loved ones.”

The captain of the guard gritted his teeth. “And you, Madam President?”

The president tightened her grip on the ring.

“I will pray to our God. I pray that our God will protect the people of Blue Sea.”

She bowed toward the giant stone statue standing outside the presidential palace. Her forehead struck the cold floor again and again. Even as blood began to flow, she did not stop.

“My God, President Qin Zhi of Blue Sea begs You—please help Your people, please save Blue Sea, save Your children!”

——At the Marshal’s residence, Marshal Alice Reina also did not flee. The satellite images were already very clear: their planet was heading irreversibly toward destruction. No matter where they ran, death was unavoidable.

The military had already been deployed for rescue operations, but only the upper ranks knew it was all in vain.

She looked at her partner, whose hair had turned completely white, and gave a faint smile, tears in her eyes.

“So… this is the end for us.”

Her partner wept as well. “I’m not afraid to die. But… but our children are still so young…”

The marshal let out a bitter laugh. “Our God favors the young. Perhaps… perhaps our two grandchildren will be spared.”

She and her partner stepped outside and looked up at the crimson sky. She touched the moon-shaped necklace around her neck and murmured:

“My God… over all these years, have I done well? Have I failed Your expectations?”

——In the temple, the Pope never stopped praying, even as buildings outside collapsed one after another and cracks in the earth had already spread beneath his feet.

“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”

“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”

“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”

“Supreme Creator God—”

“Your majesty overturns Blue Sea—”

“Your mercy saves all things—”

“Your compassion illuminates eternity—”

Someone ran past the collapsing doorway, saw the Pope and the others, then turned back to warn them:

“Your Holiness, the temple is collapsing! You must leave!”

The Pope’s young, pale, and delicate face remained utterly calm. He lowered his gaze, still maintaining his prayer posture, his long black hair trailing to the ground.

“All things in the world are born and perish, all within the will of our God.”

“If our God wishes Blue Sea to be destroyed today, we should die with gratitude.”

He closed his eyes and continued praying with the others behind him.

The voices of thousands merged into one—loud, orderly, solemn, and fanatical. They even drew many fleeing civilians to join them in prayer.

“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”

“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”

“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”

“Supreme Creator God—”

——Cheng Qisheng watched this scene.

“Even if I really am the Creator God, I still think these people are a bit too extreme.”

“Hmm… but if these fanatical believers knew their Creator God was going to die with them, would they feel better?”

All of this was what Cheng Qisheng thought in her mind, because she could not speak at all.

Cheng Qisheng, 25 years old, had already been suffering from ALS for three years.

As everyone knows, ALS is an incurable disease, often called “a conscious vegetable.” The brain remains aware, but the body can no longer be controlled, and there is always the risk of sudden death.

Three years earlier, Cheng Qisheng had just been diagnosed. In the depths of her despair, a miniature planet suddenly appeared in her home.

At that time, there was not a single living being on that planet. Only Cheng Qisheng could see it. It contained a ruined city and an extremely accelerated flow of time.

Cheng Qisheng quickly realized that she was like a god to this planet—able to observe and interact with anything on it.

An idea struck her: she could use the planet’s accelerated time flow to create life and develop a human civilization there.

In that case, only a few months would pass in the real world, while on the miniature planet, humanity—thanks to the extreme time acceleration—could advance into a spacefaring civilization.

A high-tech interstellar civilization… surely it would have a cure for ALS, right?

Once the civilization on this planet discovered a treatment for her disease, she could simply use it herself. A perfect plan.

Cheng Qisheng immediately found hope and devoted herself entirely to managing this planet.

If it lacked light, she bought a lighting system. If it lacked a moon, she broke off a fragment of planetary debris and used it as one. If it lacked water, she watered it with a spray bottle.

The planet, which she named Dark Star, did not disappoint—it developed at astonishing speed.

Bacteria and cyanobacteria. Multicellular organisms. Trilobites. Arthropods. Plants. Insects. Fish. Amphibians. Reptiles. Small mammals…

Finally, the first ape that looked up at the sky and began to think appeared.

At that time, Cheng Qisheng was overwhelmed with excitement, believing hope was right before her eyes.

The apes slowly evolved into primitive humans, then into tribal societies, then the Stone Age.

For the first time, just as they were about to step into an agricultural society—she went to the living room to get some water.

In that brief moment, a foreign planetary body struck Dark Star.

The entire planet instantly turned into a sea of fire. Not even a single strand of primitive human hair was left for her.

Cheng Qisheng, returning with her glass of water: “……”

Coincidentally, nothing had happened through all those days—but the moment she took a sip of water, everything was gone.

She finished drinking, gritted her teeth, and started all over again.

Second time, Cheng Qisheng became extremely careful.

She only ate takeout, drank bottled mineral water, and even timed her bathroom breaks precisely. Whenever a planet approached Dark Star, she would quickly push it away.

Under her careful management, humanity on the miniature planet successfully advanced into the modern era.

Just as victory seemed within reach—and modern civilization was no longer afraid of natural or man-made disasters, even capable of early warning against approaching celestial bodies—she finally relaxed a little.

She went to sleep.

When she woke up, humanity had started destroying itself in her absence.

Countries fought over territory and launched nuclear missiles at each other. By the time Cheng Qisheng opened her eyes again, Dark Star was left with almost no survivors.

Cheng Qisheng: Heh.

Again!

The third time, bacteria went out of control. Nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide were excessively consumed, the atmosphere disappeared, and all life suffocated.

The fourth time, humanity died due to internal conflict.

The fifth time, humanity died due to internal conflict.

The sixth time, humanity destroyed the environment, the ozone layer vanished, and although they struggled on for a while, they still failed to survive.

The seventh time, Cheng Qisheng used the remnants of previous human civilizations to create “miracles,” taking on the title of Creator God. Under her guidance and protection, humanity engaged in minor conflicts that did not damage the planet or its environment. They steadily developed technology, with genius after genius emerging. Their technological tree climbed all the way into the interstellar age, and they were already researching a cure for ALS.

Finally, hope was in sight, and Cheng Qisheng was overjoyed.

But her worsening illness gradually weakened her, making it impossible for her to continuously monitor the interstellar civilization. Meanwhile, the civilization itself—like a child growing up and wanting to leave its parents—no longer wished to be ruled by a Creator God who stood above all.

They decided to search for a new home far beyond their own star system, to move toward a brand-new planet without a Creator God, and from then on, let humanity control its own destiny.

The cure for ALS still hadn’t been developed after more than a hundred years. The interstellar civilization’s secretly dispatched exploration team for a new home encountered a deadly virus outside—and that virus was brought back to their home planet.

Humanity was wiped out again.

Cheng Qisheng no longer had anything to say.

This time, she deeply reflected on herself.

Humans were exactly the kind of species that could destroy themselves.

She could not give them full control!

Gritting her teeth, she activated the gene bank left behind by the interstellar civilization. Without eating, drinking, or sleeping, she forced herself to endure and cultivated generation after generation of humans, successfully imprinting absolute loyalty to her as a “mental seal” into their genes.

From then on, that loyalty imprint was passed down through generations.

—The new humans, the Blue Sea civilization, were born.

For this completely loyal new humanity, Cheng Qisheng invested far more effort than in all seven previous civilizations combined.

The Blue Sea civilization developed rapidly. Whenever disasters occurred and she was awake, she would intervene as a Creator God to save people from afar, sometimes even deliberately responding to the prayers of her believers.

For example, if a believer wished to become rich, she would casually dig up some gold for them.

If a believer was sick and wished for health, she would find corresponding medicine or injections from the remnants of the interstellar civilization and cure them.

Even the ruined city that had existed on the planet from the very beginning could be used. Previous civilizations had tried to demolish and rebuild it, but even interstellar-level technology could not move it.

Not even a single brick could be shifted, let alone destroyed.

Cheng Qisheng simply declared that the city was a temple—a divine structure that could not be destroyed. It was extremely convincing.

It occasionally blocked incoming celestial impacts, and would also punish those she deemed evil. When technological progress stalled, she would release relics from the interstellar civilization.

Every member of the Blue Sea civilization knew: the Creator God truly existed.

These people were not the smartest or most brilliant among all the humans Cheng Qisheng had ever cultivated. In fact, they especially loved fighting among themselves.

But they were the most devoted to her, the most obedient—and the ones she had poured the most effort into.

Unfortunately, they had been born too late.

Even with the legacy of the interstellar age, and medical teams diligently researching under the will of their god, it was impossible to create a cure for ALS in such a short time when even the interstellar civilization had failed after a hundred years of effort.

Dark Star had gone through cycles of death and rebirth. By rough calculation, hundreds of billions of years had passed there. In Cheng Qisheng’s own time, however, only three years had gone by.

Her ALS had already spread throughout her entire body. Now, even moving even slightly was extremely difficult.

And at that very moment, a wandering black hole passed by Dark Star. Within ten days, it would tear the entire planet apart.

Cheng Qisheng could hear the prayers of the Blue Sea civilization—but she could do nothing.

At her current speed, by the time she managed to even lift a finger, Dark Star would already be gone.

This time, she could not even protect the planet.

—God herself was powerless to save anything.

Unwilling… so unwilling.

Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes. In her ears, she could still hear the Pope leading the believers in synchronized prayer.

“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”

“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”

[Detected disaster environment—]

[Detected civilization present on current planet—]

“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”

“Supreme Creator God—”

Huh?

Something strange just got mixed in.

Cheng Qisheng’s eyes, which had just closed, snapped open.

A clear, mechanical voice echoed distinctly:

[Detected population exceeding 1,000—]

[Binding Safe City to host—]

[Safe City binding successful—]

[Safe City system activated. Please, Host, receive survivors for refuge—]

[The Safe City residents reach 50,000, they may leave the dying planet and search for a place where civilization can continue—]

Cheng Qisheng’s brain was working furiously, but that didn’t stop her from quickly sending a message to her fanatic believers.

Whatever this thing was, it didn’t matter. If she did nothing, she would die anyway—so she might as well act first!!

Only after becoming a “god” did she realize that with enough fanatic believers, she really could issue commands to them in her mind.

But aside from this ability, she hadn’t felt any other benefits. At the time, she had even had high expectations—maybe she could actually ascend to godhood on the spot? Wasn’t there something like becoming a god through faith?

In the end, she didn’t feel any so-called “divine power” at all. All she could do was pass messages to her believers. If they were especially devout, she could even transmit images. But even that transmission was often blurry and easily misinterpreted in overly profound ways.

A hundred years ago, she once sent a message to the then Pope, telling him there was a genius child in a certain place who was extremely smart and should be sent to a good school for cultivation.

The Pope translated it as:

“The Saint has descended, blessed by our God. She will surely bring glory to Blue Sea in the future!”

Fortunately, the “saint” still went to school in the end and became a great scientist of that generation.

Cheng Qisheng at the time could only look at this great scientist in a complicated mood as she entered the research institute, where everyone respectfully bowed slightly and called her “Her Holiness the Saint.”

It felt extremely disconnected, okay?!

Although her “message transmission ability” was often embellished by her believers, at a time like this, whether they overinterpreted things didn’t really matter anymore.

Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes and sent a group message to all her believers.

Dark Star—

All those who were either in despair, crying, or completely lost suddenly felt a faint, indistinct message appear in their minds.

“It is our God!!”

“Our God has shown mercy! She is telling us to go to the temple! The temple is safe!”

“Great!! I knew it!! The great Lord of the Star Sea would never abandon Her people!!”

“Thus speaks the divine oracle!! The old world shall be cleansed by flame, but our God will create a new world to shelter us!!”

“Our God! We thank You for Your mercy!”

TOC >>

The post Safe City Ch.1.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.