Cheng Qisheng was puzzled.

Ever since her followers had started lassoing snow beasts and happily racing off into the distance, she had gone from a Creator God with so much free time that she could leisurely enjoy hot pot…

…to an extremely busy Creator God.

Not every team—or lone believer—was lucky enough to obtain a silver Item Card and build themselves a cabin on the very first day.

No matter how strong this group of pioneers with combat power above seventy might be, they were still flesh and blood. Without a place to rest or food to replenish themselves, they simply couldn’t keep going forever.

So Cheng Qisheng once again resorted to her trusty head-patting technique.

Pat one person’s head, then another’s.

This one, then that one.

And then she noticed something.

Huh?

Why were there three faith links all by themselves on an entirely different continent?

How on earth had they managed that?

Even the traveling team that had set off again and marched without stopping hadn’t gone as far as those three.

Only after glimpsing the blurry memories of their journey—through which she’d seen them “flying” all the way there—did Cheng Qisheng finally understand what had happened.

Because those three children had ended up stranded so far away from everyone else, Cheng Qisheng paid them special attention.

Every day, the moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she did was check on them.

Using her tried-and-true philosophy of it doesn’t matter if the method is simple, as long as it works, she repeatedly employed the divine head-pat technique to help them survive those hardest early days.

Even after watching their lives steadily improve, she had gotten into the habit of dropping by once a day to check on them.

And then…

The three of them obtained a snowmobile Item Card and decided it was time to return to Blue Sea.

Cheng Qisheng became even more confused.

So… you three never realized that the route you had flown along crossed a bottomless glacial rift that completely separated two continents?

At present, the situation was essentially this:

Blue Sea Safe City was on Continent A.

Song Xi, Wang Moning, and Shen Jinyang were on Continent B.

Between them stretched a massive ice chasm.

The only way across was to fly.

There was no land route whatsoever.

In other words, there was absolutely no way for them to retrace their original path.

…No wonder the three of them had been so completely unconcerned all this time. They had no idea they were stranded on an entirely different continent.

Cheng Qisheng had assumed they were simply calm by nature, which was why they had carried on with life so composedly.

As it turned out, while they were being carried through the air that day, not a single one of the three had paid any attention to what lay beneath them.

Watching them grow more and more excited as they discussed setting off the next morning, Cheng Qisheng had no choice but to issue a divine oracle.

—Don’t leave. This route is impassable.

The three young people who had been eagerly preparing for their triumphant return home all froze.

Huh?

Wang Moning went blank. A wave of panic spread through her before she could stop it.

“Does that mean… we can’t go back?”

Song Xi clutched her head.

“Then we can’t go back to exchange our cards for contribution points? I’ve already decided which district I want to buy a house in!”

Shen Jinyang remained comparatively calm.

“I wouldn’t say we can’t go back. Dazzling Star is a planet. In theory, if we head in the opposite direction and just keep walking… eventually we’d circle around and make it back.”

Although Song Xi and Shen Jinyang both appeared relatively composed—and Shen Jinyang even hugged the visibly flustered Wang Moning to comfort her—Cheng Qisheng could tell that all three of the young women were frightened.

The people of Blue Sea were not afraid of battle.

They were not afraid of death.

But the thought of never being able to return home…

Never being able to return to the embrace of their Creator God…

That was truly terrifying.

There wasn’t much Cheng Qisheng could do.

She could guide her followers’ sense of direction, but when flying was required, her guidance alone wasn’t enough.

Item Cards were incredibly mysterious. They seemed capable of producing almost anything.

She had assumed the three young women were thinking the same thing she was—that they were simply waiting until an Item Card capable of solving this problem appeared.

After all, if a whole house could come out of an Item Card, why couldn’t an aircraft capable of flying through polar extreme conditions?

If they insisted on making the journey back without relying on such an Item Card, it would indeed be extraordinarily difficult.

Still…

It wasn’t as though there were absolutely no alternatives.

If they headed in the opposite direction instead, there was a chance they might encounter another Safe City.

The sky was nothing but endless falling snow, making it impossible to determine their position from above.

But this world contained more than forty Safe Cities in total.

In other words, Dazzling Star now had more than forty known landing points—one for each Safe City.

The Blue Sea government suspected that Blue Sea Safe City had descended into what had been the ocean before the apocalypse, since no one had ever lived there.

Four months had passed, yet the people of Blue Sea still hadn’t encountered a single native inhabitant of Dazzling Star.

It was as if this endless expanse of snow contained nothing except Blue Sea’s people and snow beasts.

Blue Sea had been fighting this entire apocalypse in single-player mode.

…Not that the citizens minded. If anything, they were rather pleased about it.

However, the number of snow beasts on this continent had clearly begun to decline.

That was completely different from what the other city lords had been saying in the group chat.

One city lord had complained:

[These damned snow beasts reproduce so quickly it’s like they grow straight out of the ground. We can’t kill them fast enough. I’ve lost another batch of citizens.]

Weren’t they supposed to be impossible to wipe out?

Weren’t they supposed to sprout from the ground like weeds?

At this rate, in another three months at most, there wouldn’t be any snow beasts left in this region.

The Blue Sea government was becoming increasingly concerned.

Using the environmental surveys and snow beast intelligence gathered by explorers, together with the information Cheng Qisheng had obtained from Coriander about Dazzling Star, the experts reached a rather frustrating conclusion.

Blue Sea’s luck had been… too good.

They had landed on a section of the planet where the snow beasts were generally much weaker—and which had been isolated from the main population of the species.

Their theory was that when the snow beasts first appeared on Dazzling Star, the higher-tier individuals—those requiring much larger amounts of food—had naturally concentrated around human settlements.

They built nests there and reproduced rapidly.

As a result, the continents with large human populations also became the ones with the greatest numbers of snow beasts.

By contrast, the region where Blue Sea Safe City had descended had apparently been uninhabited both before and after the apocalypse.

(Which only reinforced the suspicion that it had once been part of the ocean.)

As a result, the local snow beast population had always been relatively small, and the beasts themselves were generally much weaker than elsewhere.

Moreover, although this landmass was enormous—so vast that, aside from Song Xi, Wang Moning, and Shen Jinyang, no one had ever reached its edge—the steadily declining snow beast population, with no signs of replenishment, strongly suggested that it was an isolated region.

There was a perfect term for a place like this:

An isolated beginner’s zone.

Most city lords would probably have considered themselves unbelievably lucky.

What a perfect place!

The danger level was low, there were plenty of snow beasts—but not too many—and everything was manageable.

It was like winning the lottery.

But for Blue Sea, this region was rather… underwhelming.

We signed up for an Extreme Danger mission… and this is all we get?

The current snow beast population was still enough to sustain them.

But what about three months from now?

Blue Sea simply had too many people.

Even with all the cold-weather suits obtained from the Item Cards that explorers had brought back, they had only just managed to equip a little over half of the population.

The remaining minority still had no choice but to stay inside the city’s heated shelters.

Fortunately, Blue Sea had a substantial stockpile of resources. As the number of residents requiring shelter gradually decreased, they were able to scale down the heated areas after relocating and protecting essential equipment.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had enough energy to keep everyone warm.

Blue Sea’s projections showed that even if they exterminated every snow beast on this continent, the total loot would only barely be enough to provide every resident with a single cold-weather suit.

There still wouldn’t be enough Item Cards to give everyone even one Item House.

Cheng Qisheng looked toward Song Xi and the others.

Her original plan had been simple: once this continent had been completely cleared, Blue Sea would head toward the coordinates of Coriander Safe City.

Coriander hadn’t minded sharing its location with her.

But honestly, Cheng Qisheng could tell that the region where Coriander was located didn’t have many snow beasts either.

Coriander itself wasn’t disappointed by that.

If anything, it was delighted.

These three young people, who had accidentally found themselves on another continent, might instead bring Blue Sea Safe City a whole new range of possibilities.

“Set out in the direction opposite from the one you came. Find another Safe City and learn its name and circumstances. The Temple may descend near it.”

Through the bond linking her to her followers, the great Creator God sent them this message.

This world was one that favored individual strength. Success depended primarily on the capabilities of each Safe City’s residents, so Cheng Qisheng had rarely spoken in the city lords’ group chat.

That didn’t mean cooperation was impossible.

By signing contracts, forming temporary alliances, and exchanging benefits, they could still obtain the coordinates of other regions.

After a moment’s thought, she gently patted the three of them on the head through the bond and added one more instruction.

“From this moment onward, the three of you are reassigned as the Blue Sea Advance Team.”

Her plainspoken words were transformed by the believers’ bond into the vague, solemn cadence of a divine oracle, yet their meaning reached the three young women with perfect clarity.

The three of them froze.

The Blue Sea Advance Team?!

The one with a guaranteed monthly salary of 3,000 contribution points, plus all kinds of benefits and special allowances?

Advance Team members also received generous rewards for distinguished service.

Any resources or Item Cards they obtained while on missions belonged entirely to them.

It was essentially the equivalent of becoming a crystal hunter—with a guaranteed paycheck.

They had heard that, back on Velvet Star, a five-person squad had discovered the coordinates of Yunbula Nation, allowing Blue Sea to locate its enormous grain depot.

The great Creator God had personally bestowed upon them the title of Blue Sea Advance Team.

And rewarded each of them with an entire house.

An actual house.

One that was completely paid off.

And more importantly…

This was an order from their God.

The great deity had entrusted them with a mission.

When they completed it…

That would be the day they returned home.

In an instant, all three lost their disappointment.

Their anxiety vanished as well.

Their eyes shone brighter than ever.

They felt unbelievably fortunate.

Each of them respectfully placed a hand over her chest and pledged in unison,

“Thank you, our God! Leave it to us! We will definitely find another Safe City!”

Alone on another continent, the three of them were as tiny as ants amid the endless snowy wilderness.

Outside the window, wind and snow raged across the vast, unknown land stretching into the distance.

Yet their hearts burned with unwavering passion.

“Our God above!”

“Long live Blue Sea!!”

Each of them pressed a hand firmly over her heart, gazing at the howling blizzard with absolute reverence and devotion.

Our God…

We will do everything we can to return to Your embrace.

…

Blue Sea Safe City—

Snowmobiles came and went in a steady stream. Four months had passed, and most of Blue Sea’s residents were now wearing cold-resistant clothing obtained from item cards, allowing them to go outside without difficulty.

Because there were too few Silver Building Cards, snowmobiles had become the most popular means of transportation.

As long as they had enough energy, pioneers could ride them at high speed across the snowfields, drawing the attention of snow beasts and luring them into attacking.

The snowmobile rental station was bustling with people. After returning the snowmobile she had rented, Ruo Buyan entered the public hall with her teammates. She took off her outer cold-weather gear, carefully inspected it for any damage, and, after confirming it was intact, returned the cold-resistant clothing to the equipment rental counter.

“As usual, send this snow beast carcass to the laboratory.”

After finishing the return procedures, Ruo Buyan turned to her teammates and said,

“By tomorrow morning, after I’ve removed the useful parts, you can take the rest away.”

The teammates who had been quietly following her nodded.

One of the younger members asked curiously,

“Can you really extract anything useful from them?”

To him, these snow beasts didn’t seem much different from the wild animals on Dark Star. Other than their meat being edible—though a bit tough and dry—they looked pretty ordinary.

Ruo Buyan replied gently, “Everything has its purpose. If it seems useless, it’s only because we haven’t discovered its value yet.”

“From these snow beasts, I’ve found that they don’t have a continuous circulatory system of blood vessels. Instead, they possess only a single neural pathway running through their bodies. They also have detachable locking joints, extremely simple cellular antigens, and very low transplant rejection responses…”

“Wait, wait, wait!!”

The young man who had asked the question wore the expression of someone thinking, “What are you talking about? What am I even listening to?” as though he’d just been hit by a psychic attack.

“Professor Ruo, could you explain it in a way the rest of us can actually understand?”

Ruo Buyan nodded.

“Of course.”

She actually knew her teammates couldn’t understand a word she was saying. It was just that they had been working together for four months without producing any real results. She was worried they might give up on the partnership, so she had deliberately phrased it that way.

“To put it simply, in theory, as long as we can create a suitable interface, these snow beast limbs can be used as weapons.”

“Oh~”

Another young man looked excited.

“So, Professor Ruo, when are you going to make this interface?”

Ruo Buyan did her best to look completely confident.

“…I’m still researching it. Scientific research takes time.”

This was a skill she had developed back in her home world. Whenever investors asked about progress or she needed to secure more funding, no matter how uncertain she felt inside, she had to appear absolutely confident on the outside.

The investors would then ask all sorts of follow-up questions. As long as she answered them with unwavering confidence and painted an attractive picture of the future, that was enough.

And when they asked again next time…

She would simply paint them another picture.

“Got it! Then keep it up, Professor Ruo! We’ll be waiting for your breakthrough!”

“And don’t stay up all night in the lab! With this awful weather, your laboratory isn’t exactly warm anyway. We don’t mind waiting another couple of days before eating it—the snow beast meat isn’t going to spoil.”

Ruo Buyan froze.

That was it?

No more questions? They weren’t going to ask for a deadline?

But after saying those few words, the group looked perfectly satisfied.

“Let’s go grab something at the cafeteria.”

“Sounds good!”

Although there was only a chance that a snow beast would drop an item card…

Every single snow beast was made of meat!

And the bigger the beast, the more meat it yielded.

As a result, the people of Blue Sea had been living quite happily these past few months. Every day, they could see groups returning from the wilderness with snow beasts slung over their shoulders.

Their team, however, was different from the others.

Most teams hauled a snow beast back, butchered it, and cooked it right away.

Their team always handed it over to Ruo Buyan first. Only after she had finished dissecting it and conducting her research would they eat the meat.

The reason was simple: this hunter squad, “Pie from the Sky”, had signed a Materials Supply Contract with Ruo Buyan.

Their responsibilities were to provide snow beasts for her research. From time to time, they would also take her out into the field, protecting her so she could observe living snow beasts up close. If she designated a particular specimen, they would pursue and hunt it for her.

In return, once Ruo Buyan’s research produced results, she would give the team 3% of the profits generated by those results.

Three percent might not sound like much, but to the Pie from the Sky team, it was practically effortless income.

Even without the contract, they would have been heading out to hunt every day anyway. Signing it barely changed their routine. The only difference was that instead of taking the snow beasts straight home to butcher, they first delivered them to Ruo Buyan’s laboratory. By the time they got them back, the whole carcasses had simply become neatly sliced cuts of meat.

If Ruo Buyan failed to produce anything useful, they didn’t really lose anything.

But if she did make a breakthrough…

Then it really would be like pie falling from the sky.

Because of that, the Pie from the Sky team was remarkably relaxed about the arrangement. As soon as they arrived at the cafeteria, they cheerfully began discussing what to eat that day.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.49.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“Woohoo!!!”

“Let’s go!!!”

“Hahahahahaha!!!”

Across the frigid snowfields, wherever Cheng Qisheng looked, the air was filled with the cheers of Blue Sea’s people.

At first, everyone had simply been inspired by the three-person team.

Walking through the snow in bulky protective suits was painfully slow. Using a snow beast as transportation? Who had come up with that?

It was sheer genius!

But once they actually stood on a wooden board and let a snow beast pull them across the ice, the Blue Sea pioneers became even more exhilarated.

The wind and snow roared around them. Their prey raced ahead while they gripped their lassos tightly, hurtling toward a dangerous and unknown horizon.

It felt like they had returned to the age of primitive hunters.

The people of Blue Sea had always been enthusiastic when it came to learning new combat and survival techniques.

Once more than seventy people started doing it, nearly every pioneer had mastered the new trick.

The best part was that almost everyone happened to be carrying both a lasso and a wooden plank.

The lasso needed no explanation—it was standard hunting equipment for Blue Sea’s people.

As for the wooden plank, everyone had brought one in preparation for spending the night out in the snow. A snow shelter could be dug out easily, with the plank serving as a windbreak over the entrance. If necessary, it could even be broken apart and used as firewood to boil water or keep warm.

As a result, the snow beasts living near Safe City suffered terribly.

Situations soon arose where hundreds—even over a thousand—people competed for a single snow beast.

It couldn’t be helped. Everyone’s movement was restricted by the heavy protective suits, making walking painfully slow. With so many people traveling together, many were still following the same route.

The scramble would only end once someone successfully slipped a lasso over a snow beast’s head.

To shake off the burden trailing behind them, the snow beasts would slam on the brakes, make sharp turns, and swerve unpredictably. If the person standing on the wooden board lost their balance even slightly, they would topple over and be flung off.

The snowfields of Dazzling Star were nothing like the soft, fluffy snow left behind by an ordinary snowfall. After enduring more than a century of relentless cold, the ground beneath people’s feet was less a blanket of snow than a century-old sheet of solid ice.

If they fell and slammed into the ground, there was nothing to cushion the impact.

But the Blue Sea pioneers who were thrown off would instantly adjust their posture, rolling with the momentum to dissipate the force. They used their own muscles as shock absorbers, minimizing the damage to their bodies as much as possible.

Almost every Blue Sea citizen possessed this skill.

As for why, all you had to do was ask about their favorite childhood pastimes.

Even Qin Zhi—who now appeared to be the very picture of composure—had done her fair share of reckless things at the age of nine.

She had fought foxes in the mountains, bitten dogs back the moment they bit her, climbed a twenty-meter-tall tree in an attempt to raid a bird’s nest, and countless other exploits.

The only thing that made her seem a little smarter than the other children was that, after climbing about eight meters up the tree, she had at least remembered to tie a safety rope around herself.

Unfortunately, there were no safety ropes on the snow beast express.

Some snow beasts managed to bite through the lassos, while others succeeded in throwing their riders off.

The Blue Sea people who were flung away relied on the impact-dispersing techniques they had practiced since childhood. After lying there dazed for a moment, they would wobble to their feet on their own.

The odds of catching up with the snow beast again were slim, but they didn’t dwell on it. They simply treated it as if they’d “gotten off midway.”

Compared to those who had never even managed to “board” a snow beast in the first place, they considered themselves lucky enough.

At least they no longer had to crowd together with everyone else, competing over the scarce prey in the same area.

Some of these people would search the surroundings for another snow beast. If they happened to obtain a Building Card, they would simply set up camp on the spot.

Others would wait for another Blue Sea rider to come speeding by on a “snow beast express,” then hop aboard together and head off toward the next unknown destination.

The whole approach was based on one principle:

Go with whatever happened.

As for whether it was dangerous?

If they were afraid of danger, they never would have signed up for an Extreme Danger mission in the first place.

Cheng Qisheng rubbed her forehead.

Well… it wasn’t exactly surprising.

Old Eighth had always been like this. Most of the time they were perfectly reliable, but every now and then they’d completely let themselves loose.

It seemed that after spending several months with their heads down digging in the mines during the previous world, everyone had become thoroughly pent-up.

This world, she’d just let Old Eighth do things their own way.

…

Wang Moning had long since gotten used to Blue Sea’s unique way of doing things.

Standing on a sled—well, technically a wooden plank—as the howling wind and snow blasted her face and drowned out every other sound, she found herself completely understanding everyone’s train of thought.

Dazzling Star was simply too cold. Just traveling from place to place was already a huge challenge.

Using a snow beast as your driver?

Genius.

Sure, the snow beast wasn’t exactly cooperative, the destination was completely random, and there was always the chance of being thrown off halfway.

But it was fast!

As for the possibility of ending up somewhere so far away that they couldn’t make it back to Blue Sea…

The old Wang Moning might have worried about something like that. But after truly becoming one of the faithful, she finally understood why Blue Sea’s people always seemed so utterly fearless.

She could feel that, just like every other Blue Sea citizen, she was sheltered within the warm embrace of the great Creator God.

It was difficult to describe.

It was a bit like when she had been a high school student on Velvet Star. Even though she hardly stayed at home and spent most of her time at school, and later would leave for university in a completely unfamiliar city, she had always known one thing:

If anything happened to her while she was away, her parents would come for her.

She would always have a home to return to.

After the apocalypse struck Velvet Star, Wang Moning lost her parents, and with them, that absolute sense of security.

But after becoming a believer of the great deity, she found that feeling once again.

No matter how far she was from Blue Sea, no matter where she happened to be, the deity was always with her.

So what was there left to fear?

Wang Moning thought that the Blue Sea people’s way of thinking often seemed rough and impulsive, as though they simply made decisions on the spur of the moment.

But wasn’t that exactly the mindset best suited for surviving in the apocalypse?

A Safe City would only ever remain in an apocalyptic world.

Like the people of Blue Sea, facing danger honestly—even actively seeking it out—and constantly growing stronger through battle was the best way to survive the apocalypse.

Sometimes, Wang Moning even felt that most Blue Sea people were the kind who seemed foolish on the surface but possessed great wisdom underneath.

Though every time she spent more than five minutes with any one of them, that impression quickly disappeared.

Take this moment, for example.

Song Xi burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahaha!!!”

Wang Moning had known Song Xi for quite a while and had seen her laugh countless times.

She knew Song Xi had an easygoing personality and loved to laugh.

But in a situation like this—surrounded by pitch-black darkness, illuminated only by the wavering beams of flashlights, where the snow had long since turned into a field of blood and the roars of savage beasts echoed all around like the set of a horror movie—

Did she really have to be laughing now?!

The thought had barely crossed Wang Moning’s mind when she suddenly saw the afterimage of a snow beast lunging toward her.

It was her supernatural ability activating.

Almost instinctively, Wang Moning identified the afterimage representing the beast’s movement one second into the future. She ducked beneath the attack and, following the trajectory revealed by the vision, slashed backward with her blade.

The ambush failed.

Instead, the snow beast took a deep cut across its abdomen and immediately let out an enraged roar.

Still laughing, Song Xi rushed forward and drew her curved saber viciously across the beast’s throat.

Their third teammate, Shen Jinyang, also wielded a long saber. Despite dragging her injured right leg behind her, she managed to hack off one of the snow beast’s legs.

Only then did the three of them finally succeed in pinning down the three-meter-tall monster.

But it still wasn’t dead.

The three women clung to the beast like predators more savage than the beast itself, repeatedly striking it to deepen its wounds and hasten its blood loss.

They kept it up for more than forty minutes.

At last, the snow beast’s breathing stopped.

Even then, none of them relaxed their grip.

Only after a silver card slowly condensed above the beast’s corpse did they finally let their guard down.

Snow beasts only dropped cards after they had truly died.

Wang Moning leaned back against the massive carcass, breathing heavily in relief.

Having just finished the battle, Wang Moning was drenched in sweat, and her body temperature had risen sharply. If she sat down on the ground now and melted even a thin layer of snow beneath her, the frigid nighttime temperatures of Dazzling Star would freeze her protective suit to the ice before she could stand up again.

Still, although the cold-weather suit from the Item Card transferred body heat away rather easily, it was far better than the bulky polar protective suits the three of them had originally worn from Blue Sea.

At the very least, if they had still been wearing those heavy suits from their first few days in this region—when even moving was a struggle—they definitely wouldn’t have been able to defeat such a ferocious snow beast.

“Captain… why were you laughing the whole time?”

After catching her breath a little, Wang Moning finally asked the question that had been bothering her throughout the fight.

For a moment back there, she’d even wondered whether the snow beast had somehow bitten one of Song Xi’s ticklish spots.

Song Xi was exhausted as well. She spoke between heavy breaths, but that didn’t stop her from laughing.

“Hahahahaha! Halfway through the fight, I suddenly realized this snow beast matches the combat strength of a Tier-2 snow beast!”

“A Tier-2 snow beast! That means it’ll drop a Tier-2 Item Card! Hahahahaha—we’ve struck it rich!!”

The moment she said that, both Wang Moning and Shen Jinyang felt the corners of their mouths shoot upward as well.

“Tier 2?”

Shen Jinyang rolled over with some effort. Her injuries were fairly serious, but the pain couldn’t outweigh her desire for contribution points.

She reached out and picked up the silver Item Card.

Sure enough, the words on it identified it as a Tier-2 Item Card.

“It really is!”

Now, in the middle of the night, standing on a blood-soaked patch of snow, there were three people laughing wildly.

Song Xi and Wang Moning slowly got to their feet and helped support Shen Jinyang.

“Let’s head back first. Then we can discuss whether we should exchange this card for contribution points… or exchange it for contribution points… or maybe exchange it for contribution points.”

The three of them burst into laughter again.

After all, there wasn’t really anything to discuss. A Tier-2 Item Card was far more valuable as contribution points than as a random draw. For them, turning it in for points was practically a foregone conclusion.

The three of them trudged slowly through the snow for about three minutes before reaching their little cabin.

Although they had a habit of picking fights, tonight’s battle really hadn’t been their doing.

They had just obtained a torch that could raise the indoor temperature to that of a normal summer day and were happily celebrating at home.

Then the Tier-2 snow beast had come crashing right to their doorstep.

After fighting all night, they were genuinely exhausted.

Still, it hadn’t been for nothing—they had earned themselves a Tier-2 Item Card.

As soon as the three women stepped inside, a wave of warmth greeted them.

Looking closer, it was obvious that almost all of the heat came from the torch standing in the middle of the room.

Without a word, Song Xi walked over to the cabinet by the entrance, opened a drawer with practiced familiarity, and took out a green syringe, handing it to Shen Jinyang.

Shen Jinyang removed her cold-weather suit, exposing her injury, and injected the medicine directly into the wound.

It was a healing serum obtained from a green Item Card, capable of repairing injuries.

The fact that the three of them had become increasingly fearless in battle recently also had a lot to do with the box of twelve healing injections they had been lucky enough to obtain.

“Hiss! That’s intense!”

Shen Jinyang shut her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth as she stared at the ceiling.

About a dozen seconds later, the tension left her face.

The gruesome wound had completely healed. After wiping away the blood, aside from looking a little pale, she appeared no different from normal.

Meanwhile, Wang Moning had already set a pot of water on to boil.

“You two both got hurt today. I’ll heat the water. Once it’s ready, we can all have a proper wash and then get a good night’s sleep.”

The pot and the water had both come from Item Cards.

The same went for the smokeless stove she was using.

No matter how many times she used it, Wang Moning still found it amazing.

This thing was practically science fiction.

Yet it was precisely because of so many miraculous high-tech items like these that, despite living in a place where they didn’t even know exactly where they were, the three of them were gradually building a life that was becoming surprisingly comfortable.

When they had first arrived, the three of them had gone three straight days without obtaining a single Building Card, forcing them to survive by hiding inside makeshift snow shelters.

Once they finally got a Building Card, they at least had a proper place to rest.

Now they spent their nights sleeping in this little wooden cabin and their days searching the surrounding area for newly arrived snow beasts.

Little by little, life settled into a routine.

Now they could even enjoy hot meals and hot water.

And this was only after opening a small portion of the Item Cards they had collected. Most of them remained unopened.

What a joke.

No matter how comfortable life was out here, it was still out here.

The good stuff naturally belonged back home.

They had never forgotten that they were pioneers of Blue Sea.

“It feels like we’ve already been away from home for four months.”

They had traveled incredibly far and accumulated a great deal of loot.

But precisely because they had traveled so far, the three-person team had never found an opportunity to return.

Seriously—who would have guessed that the snow beast that carried them away would suddenly take flight halfway through the journey?

If it had wings, why had it bothered charging at them on foot in the first place?!

Fortunately, Wang Moning’s precognitive ability had shown her the moment the snow beast was about to fly, allowing her to warn the other two in time.

The three of them clung desperately to the lasso and ended up dangling beneath the flying beast for more than half a day. They were so cold they nearly went to meet their God ahead of schedule. Eventually, when the beast descended to a suitable altitude, they wounded it, forcing it to drop them safely back onto the ground.

Back in the present, Song Xi had suffered only a few scrapes, so she didn’t bother using a healing injection. Instead, she casually pulled out a packet of biscuits, kept one for herself, and tossed one each to her teammates.

“Tonight we hit the jackpot. And now we’ve got transportation for traveling long distances too. Let’s take stock of everything we’ve got and prepare to head home.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she carefully placed the silver Tier-2 Item Card into a small box, then gently patted it.

“With this many Item Cards, we should definitely have enough for the down payment!”

Song Xi sighed nostalgically.

“It’s been so long since I prayed beneath our God’s statue.”

Shen Jinyang stretched her arms and legs before getting to her feet as well.

“Me too. I even dreamed about our God last night.”

Wang Moning wanted to go back too.

Her best friends were right here beside her, their living conditions had become increasingly comfortable, and every so often she could faintly sense the deity’s gaze falling upon them.

Especially during their first days in this region.

Back then, Wang Moning had even found herself wondering:

Was our God confused about why everyone else was hitching rides on snow beasts, yet the three of us somehow ended up this far away?

It had to be her imagination.

An omniscient deity wouldn’t experience something like confusion.

Wang Moning looked into the distance, toward where Blue Sea Safe City was supposed to be.

“It’s been so long since we’ve gone back… I wonder what the temple is like now.”

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.48 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“Boom! Rumble!”

“Bang! Bang bang bang!”

“Splat! Splat splat!”

Everly barreled through the harbor in a fire truck, crashing recklessly from one obstacle to another and creating an enormous commotion.

Any monster that got in her way—whether mutated humans or sea anemone tentacles—was met head-on. She neither swerved nor slowed down. Trusting in the fire truck’s rugged construction, she kept her foot planted on the accelerator, plowing straight through them, sending countless monsters flying or crushing them beneath the wheels. Before long, the windshield was plastered with yellow and green slime.

Fortunately, all that muck made the truck’s exterior extremely slick. Even when monsters managed to latch onto the sides with their tentacles and suction cups, a sharp turn of the steering wheel was usually enough to fling them back off.

Ignoring every traffic rule imaginable, Everly drove wildly for nearly ten minutes. She literally forced a path through piles of monsters and wreckage before finally reaching the southeastern container yard she had been aiming for.

The magic circle she had spotted earlier was just ahead. Following the road a little farther would bring her right to it.

Along with the magic circle were more than a dozen slowly writhing flesh-mound monsters.

Everly still had no idea how these creatures attacked. However, considering that the flesh-mound monsters had been transformed from cultists, were much rarer than the mutated humans, and would probably qualify as elite enemies in any game, she suspected their combat strength was only likely to be greater, not weaker.

The fire truck’s water tank still contained more than half a tank of highly flammable gasoline.

If she drove too close and one of the flesh-mound monsters damaged the fuel tank, triggering an explosion that caught her in the blast, the consequences would be disastrous.

To avoid taking that risk, Everly decided to keep her distance.

The flesh-mound monsters remained active only around the magic circle, while the fire truck’s high-pressure water cannon had a maximum range of sixty meters—more than enough to cover the entire area where they roamed.

She brought the truck to a stop about thirty meters from the magic circle.

Click!

As soon as the fire truck came to a stop, the mutated humans chasing it surged forward like a tidal wave, surrounding the vehicle. Their tentacles lashed out frantically, hammering the truck’s body with a deafening barrage of clangs.

Mixed in among them were sea anemone tentacles that had emerged from who knew where. They were clearly more intelligent than the mutated humans. Climbing onto the mutants’ bodies, they repeatedly slammed themselves against the windows, aiming directly at Everly inside the cab. They resembled giant fleas that felt no pain, throwing themselves at the glass over and over again.

In an instant, the scene descended into utter chaos.

Fortunately, fire trucks are built to withstand fires and explosions, with exceptionally sturdy construction. Had it been an ordinary vehicle, it probably wouldn’t have survived the monsters’ relentless assault.

Everly didn’t even consider using the door. Setting aside whether the monster-blocked door could still be opened, even if she managed to push it open, she’d be swarmed the moment she stepped outside. That would be nothing short of s**cide.

Instead, she escaped through the roof hatch above the driver’s seat.

The truck’s high chassis turned out to be an advantage. The monsters, caught up in their frantic assault, hadn’t yet managed to climb onto the roof. Seizing the opportunity, Everly climbed out through the hatch, sprinted across the steel framework of the aerial ladder mounted on top of the truck, and in just a few strides reached the ladder’s turntable platform at the rear.

The moment the monsters noticed her moving, they swarmed after her like fish chasing irresistible bait.

The turntable was a small open-air platform that served as the aerial ladder’s main control station. The ladder’s power switch, hydraulic control levers, acceleration and deceleration buttons, and every other control were all located there.

The platform stood less than a meter above the ground, putting Everly well within reach of the mutated humans and sea anemone tentacles below. But she had no choice. To activate the aerial ladder and the high-pressure water cannon, she had to operate the controls from the turntable.

Fortunately, Everly had studied how to operate the aerial ladder beforehand.

After sprinting to the turntable, Everly took advantage of the brief window before the monsters caught up. Her hands flew across the control panel with a rapid series of clicks. She pressed the aerial ladder’s power switch, pulled the hydraulic lever, adjusted its height and direction, and aimed the ladder straight at the magic circle ahead.

Creeeak…

As she pressed the final button, the aerial ladder mounted above the cab began to rise slowly under the force of the hydraulic pump.

By then, however, the monsters chasing Everly had already reached her.

She leaped upward, grabbing the ladder’s steel frame firmly with both hands. Planting one foot against the platform, she pulled her center of gravity upward while whipping both legs through a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree sweep, kicking every monster that had crowded around her and sending them flying.

As she tucked her legs back in, she used the upward rebound to push off the ladder frame again. Her body rose nimbly, and within moments she had climbed to a height of nearly two meters.

“Raaagh!”

Seeing this, the monsters below became even more frenzied.

Packed shoulder to shoulder, they shoved and climbed over one another. Within moments, they had unintentionally formed a sloping ramp made entirely of their companions’ bodies beneath the truck.

Using that grisly ramp as a foothold, the monsters in the rear charged forward with furious roars. Mimicking Everly, they grabbed onto the ladder with hands, feet, and tentacles alike, scrambling upward in a desperate race to catch her.

Perhaps because they had extra tentacles to aid their grip, the mutated humans climbed the ladder with astonishing speed, gradually threatening to overtake Everly.

She had only climbed halfway when the first monster reached her feet.

To shake it off, Everly shifted her posture, straddling the steel framework of the ladder with her legs spread apart while gripping the rails with both hands. Then she drove her left foot hard into the creature’s grotesquely twisted octopus-like head.

The kick burst its skull open in a spray of pulp, and its limp body slipped from the ladder, tumbling to the ground below.

She had barely climbed a little farther after kicking that monster away when another one was already at her feet.

If it had only been the mutated humans, it wouldn’t have been so bad. The real problem was the sea anemone tentacles hitching rides among them. The slightest lapse in attention, and one would suddenly spring forward, just like a facehugger from a sci-fi horror film, lunging straight for her vital areas. Even with her fireproof suit on, those little monsters were more than enough to make her life miserable.

Fighting off monsters while struggling upward, Everly finally climbed into the personnel basket at the very tip of the aerial ladder, drenched in sweat.

Fortunately, once she had a stable platform beneath her feet, dealing with the monsters that climbed up after her became much easier.

Everly carried several melee weapons with her. Drawing the machete strapped to her waist, she dispatched the pursuing monsters as effortlessly as chopping vegetables. Then she hoisted the high-pressure water cannon onto her shoulder, aimed it at the magic circle on the ground diagonally ahead, and opened the nozzle.

Whoosh!

The pale-yellow gasoline shot from the nozzle like a high-speed arrow, streaking toward the magic circle below and blasting the ritual items arranged upon it in every direction.

“Roooar!”

The flesh-mound monsters guarding the magic circle immediately sensed something was wrong. Their massive bodies slowly turned, and the dark, hollow eye sockets of the skulls embedded atop them all fixed upon Everly on the aerial ladder. Deep, muffled roars echoed from within their bodies.

Everly was not the kind of person to quietly endure being threatened.

Seeing them roar at her, she immediately swung the water cannon toward the flesh-mound monsters and sprayed them without the slightest hesitation.

The high-pressure stream slammed into their bodies like an invisible water blade, gouging deep dents into their flesh. Before long, the monsters’ tough outer skin was sliced open by the razor-sharp jet, exposing an interior as porous and spongy as a giant sea sponge.

Inside those sponge-like cavities writhed countless crimson tentacles.

The pressurized stream severed them within the monsters’ bodies. The tentacles convulsed violently as large quantities of yellow-green pus poured from the freshly cut wounds.

As the yellow-green fluid spilled onto the ground, a chorus of sizzles rang out.

Everly watched as the hardened concrete was eaten away, deep grooves rapidly appearing wherever the liquid flowed.

The yellow-green bodily fluid was actually corrosive!

Everly silently congratulated herself for not charging in recklessly. If she had fought the flesh-mound monsters up close and been splashed with that corrosive fluid, she would have been in serious trouble.

After drenching both the magic circle and the surrounding monsters with gasoline from the high-pressure water cannon, the fuel tank finally ran dry.

Letting out a long breath, Everly tossed aside the water cannon. Gripping the railing of the personnel basket with both hands, she fixed her eyes on the fire truck’s cab below, swung herself forward, and jumped.

Thud!

She landed heavily on the roof of the cab, the impact sending a dull ache through her knees and shins.

But she had no time to worry about the pain.

Seeing her jump down, the monsters on the aerial ladder immediately followed, raining down like dumplings dropped into boiling water. Most of them crashed onto the ground or the truck’s rear compartment, but several landed directly on top of the cab.

To avoid being surrounded, Everly gritted her teeth against the pain and used both hands and feet to kick every nearby monster off the roof. Then she dropped back into the driver’s seat through the roof hatch, started the engine, and slammed the accelerator, driving straight toward the magic circle.

Since the aerial ladder was still extended, monsters continued to tumble from its framework as the truck sped forward. They crashed onto the roof with a constant barrage of loud bangs and thuds.

Everly ignored every single one of them.

Her entire focus was on driving. She smashed through anything that blocked her path, and when the truck was finally close enough to the magic circle, she seized the moment.

Cracking the driver’s window open just a little, she pulled out a windproof lighter.

Click.

The flame sprang to life.

Without hesitation, Everly tossed the lit lighter through the gap in the window, sending it straight onto the nearest flesh-mound monster.

She didn’t even bother closing the window afterward.

The instant she threw the lighter, she yanked the steering wheel, floored the accelerator, and sped away as fast as the fire truck could carry her.

“Whoooosh—BOOM!!”

The fire truck hadn’t made it very far before a pillar of flames shot into the sky, followed immediately by a deafening explosion.

The blast wave slammed into the vehicle. The side windows could no longer withstand the pressure, cracking with a sharp crack as spiderweb fractures spread across the glass. The instrument panel’s cover shattered into countless fragments, spraying Everly’s face with shards.

Ignoring the pain, she stubbornly kept driving.

The entire truck felt as though it had been thrown into a giant washing machine, lurching violently—one moment soaring into the air, the next crashing back down. Since Everly wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, she was tossed around helplessly inside the cab, her head ricocheting between the steering wheel and the rear seat like a pinball. She nearly threw up.

It wasn’t until she finally escaped the blast radius that she looked up—

—and was met with a breathtaking sight.

Have you ever seen a watercolor painting on a wall during the rainy season, after moisture has seeped into it?

Drops of water gather under gravity into thin streams that trickle down the wall. As they pass over the watercolor, the pigments dissolve into the water, blending with neighboring colors. The result is curtain-like streaks of color trailing downward, as though the painting had grown the flowing train of a formal gown.

Now, right before her eyes…

A painting was doing exactly that.

The title of the painting was “The World.”

The distant sky looked as though it had been painted onto a canvas. Heavy with moisture, it bled downward, shedding white tears.

Beneath the sky, the deep-blue sea caught those tears. White and blue mingled together, and where ocean met land, even more blue-and-white droplets formed.

By the time the effect reached the harbor, the colors became increasingly chaotic. The crimson steel frameworks, the charcoal-gray buildings, the yellow crane booms, the green shipping containers…

Everything within sight that possessed color began to resemble melting wax.

Twisted and distorted, every hue was pulled downward into long, flowing streaks of color, as though the entire world itself were dissolving into wet paint.

A damp, chilly sensation slid across her palm.

Everly looked down and discovered that, at some point, the steering wheel in her hands had also begun to melt, collapsing into a rapidly sagging mass of shapeless black.

It wasn’t just the steering wheel.

Her fireproof suit, the driver’s seat beneath her, and even the fire truck itself all seemed to have been made of papier-mâché. They softened, became waterlogged, and slowly caved inward.

Caught completely off guard, Everly lost her footing and fell helplessly into an ocean of color.

Countless colors swirled together, blending into a filthy, murky brown-black.

Enveloped by the sea of pigments, Everly smelled that familiar odor once again—

the stench of rotting flesh, mixed with the pungent scent of turpentine.

The thick, acrid, murky fumes rushed straight into her nose, making her head swim and her stomach churn with nausea.

She thrashed desperately, struggling through the viscous sea.

Riiip!

Amid the chaos, the faint sound of paper tearing came from somewhere.

In the next instant, weightlessness overtook her.

Once again, Everly began an uncontrollable fall.

…

<< TOC >>

The post Rules Ch.290 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

He added another example:

[Coriander Safe City: That Tier 4 big shot once went through an extreme-heat world. When their Safe City first arrived, ordinary heat-resistant protective suits were enough for people to move around normally.]

[Five months later, only upgraded protective suits worked.]

[After seven months, only ability users could function normally outdoors.]

[By the eighth month, just before the Safe City departed, that entire world had become a sea of flames.]

[Boss, can you imagine it? It was terrifying!!]

[There was nowhere to hide. The entire planet was on fire!]

Cheng Qisheng thought to herself:

You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you—not only can I imagine it, I’ve actually seen it.

That was how Eldest Primitive Man had died.

She would never forget it.

Back then, she had still been inexperienced. She didn’t yet understand that fragile human civilizations required constant protection.

She had merely gone into the living room to pour herself a glass of water.

By the time she came back…

…the entire Dark Star had already become a sea of flames.

Recalling that dark memory, Cheng Qisheng promptly went into the living room to pour herself another glass of water to calm her nerves.

Then she changed the subject.

[Do you have anything going on today? If not, come attend another management lesson for a while. We can use your Safe City’s current situation as a case study and figure out how to keep your residents from leaving.]

Wen Huahua’s eyes lit up.

[!]

Boss Blue Sea’s management lessons were incredibly valuable.

Back in his original world, no matter how many teachers lectured him, he had never wanted to listen.

Now, however, anyone willing to teach him useful knowledge was practically a second parent to him.

—As long as they were a City Lord.

Although Wen Huahua had only experienced his second disaster world, he had already figured out one of the unwritten rules among City Lords.

Knowledge should only be learned from other City Lords…

…or from close blood relatives—preferably your own parents—if you genuinely trusted them.

If you weren’t absolutely confident that you could completely command your city’s respect…

Never learn from your own residents.

There was a saying:

“Never expose your own ignorance.”

That principle applied perfectly within a Safe City.

Once residents discovered, “Wait… the City Lord who governs the entire Safe City and holds all of our lives in their hands is actually an incompetent amateur?”

…their sense of awe and respect would vanish almost instantly.

And there was a good chance they’d begin thinking:

“If you can do it, so can I.”

Or worse:

“You don’t understand any of this anyway. I can tell you whatever I want, and you’ll never know the difference.”

At best, a resident might simply deceive the City Lord for personal gain.

At worst…

They might kill the City Lord and seize the city’s core.

That was why nearly every City Lord deliberately maintained a certain distance from their residents—issuing orders, but avoiding unnecessary communication.

Learning from Boss Blue Sea, however, was a completely different matter.

Boss Blue Sea was already far more capable than he was.

She had known he was a rookie from the very beginning!

—If Boss is still willing to teach someone as clueless as me, then she must really accept me as one of her subordinates!

As Wen Huahua encouraged himself with that thought, he hurriedly postponed all of today’s administrative work until tomorrow.

[Thank you, Boss! Boss, I don’t have anything to do today! I’m coming right now!]

—

Wen Huahua happily settled into another management lesson.

The more he listened…

…the more amazed he became.

How does Boss Blue Sea do it?

The lessons covered an astonishing range of subjects, spanning multiple disciplines.

Everything was organized logically, progressing from simple concepts to advanced ones.

Every recommendation was tailored specifically to the circumstances of his Safe City.

The material balanced theoretical reasoning, practical implementation, strategic planning, specialized expertise…

…and countless other fields besides.

He almost felt as though there were more than a dozen experts from different professions teaching him simultaneously.

—

Meanwhile, Cheng Qisheng was eating hot pot while watching those dozen or so experts give the lesson.

Whenever Wen Huahua asked a question, the experts answered it.

Aether acted as the intermediary, relaying information between both sides.

As for Cheng Qisheng…

She picked up a slice of napa cabbage.

Mmm. Delicious.

She continued eating her hot pot while sitting in on the lesson herself, casually learning alongside Wen Huahua.

After all, her own management style had always been extremely straightforward.

Whenever she needed something done, she’d simply go find either the President, the Marshal, or the Pope—whichever of the three was appropriate.

She would explain what she wanted.

And that was the end of her involvement.

Those three would mobilize the resources of an entire nation, if necessary, to make it happen.

After auditing the lesson for more than seven hours, Cheng Qisheng’s attention began to drift slightly.

She was long accustomed to multitasking.

So she peeled off a tiny fraction of her attention to check on the residents she had sent out into the wilderness and see how they were doing.

——

Bang!!!

A gigantic white beast, roughly three meters long, crashed to the ground.

A silver card slowly materialized, appearing before the three of them.

Lu Song wiped the frost crystals off his visor with a gloved hand, his face lighting up with delight.

“A Building Card! Thank goodness! We finally got one!”

He looked utterly bedraggled. Qi Yi and Qi Er weren’t in much better shape—their bodies were covered in the white beast’s fur, and with no chance to replenish their energy, their body temperatures had dropped. They were shivering uncontrollably from the cold.

This was the seventh snow beast the three of them had killed.

They had even dug out and slain the snow beasts that crawled beneath the snow—creatures about as thick as an arm and resembling giant worms—just to see if they would drop an item card.

If they still hadn’t gotten a Building Card after this, they would have had no choice but to keep hunting while trembling from the freezing cold.

The reason was simple.

At first, they had merely been traveling with the crowd as usual. Everyone had spread out by unspoken agreement, though they were still not too far from the Safe City.

Then they encountered their first snow beast.

It was the most common variety: a Red Bear.

At the time, their group happened to be the closest to it, and all three immediately prepared to engage.

At the very same moment, with the Red Bear as the center point, at least several hundred people from Blue Sea spotted it as well. Their eyesight was excellent, and the instant they saw the beast, their eyes lit up as they charged toward it from every direction.

The Red Bear had originally been about to rush at them.

But the moment it saw so many people charging straight at it, it instantly turned tail and fled.

Qi Er reacted in a flash, pulling out a lasso and looping it around the Red Bear’s head.

At that very instant, Qi Yi had a sudden flash of inspiration. Moving with incredible speed, he tied the other end of Qi Er’s lasso to the large object he’d been carrying on his back the whole time—something that looked remarkably like an oversized snowboard.

Then the two of them leapt onto the board in one smooth motion, with Qi Yi reaching out a hand toward Lu Song.

“Quick, get on!”

Lu Song didn’t even have time to think. Acting on pure instinct, he grabbed Qi Yi’s hand and climbed onto the board.

All of it happened in the blink of an eye.

And then…

…they were swept away in a roaring storm of wind and snow.

The Red Bear, a lasso looped around its neck, dragged the three of them on the board as it sprinted forward with all its might. It was far faster than the people of Blue Sea, weighed down by their thick protective suits.

At such breakneck speed, the wind and snow struck with the force of gravel, rattling loudly against their visors.

Lu Song’s ears were filled with nothing but the roar of the storm. Through the noise, he could only vaguely make out Qi Yi and Qi Er shouting repeatedly over the public communication channel.

“This Red Bear is ours!”

“Ours!”

“Ours!”

His sense of balance wasn’t as good as that of the Blue Sea residents. Even after grabbing the rope Qi Er handed him, he didn’t have a free hand to wipe the snow off his visor.

Besides, there was no point. The moment he cleared it, the next second it would be covered again.

Even though he could barely see anything, he instinctively joined his teammates in shouting:

“It’s ours!!”

In the end, through the narrow gaps in the snow plastered across his visor, Lu Song could just barely make out the Blue Sea residents who had been charging over slowing to a disappointed stop.

Once a lasso was around the Red Bear’s neck, the prey belonged to the three of them. The people of Blue Sea were actually quite strict about observing that rule.

—Of course, if your lasso snapped, that was a different story.

If your lasso was gone, how could you still claim it was your prey?

The crowd could only stand there silently, secretly praying:

“Great Creator, please let it snap… let it snap… let it snap…”

Unfortunately for them, the Creator’s blessing was with the three-man team.

The lasso didn’t break.

Qi Yi and Qi Er had spent a hefty sum to buy the sturdiest lasso available. It was strong enough for the Red Bear to drag all three of them at a full sprint for over an hour, carrying them far away from Blue Sea.

Perhaps because it had finally put enough distance between itself and the crowd, the Red Bear caught the scent of the humans behind it and decided…

I can take them.

It stopped.

It charged at three humans whose combat power all exceeded seventy.

It fell.

It contributed a white item card.

Getting an item card made the three of them very happy.

But once the excitement wore off, they had to face a rather serious problem.

Given:

A Red Bear can run extremely fast.

It had dragged the three of them for over an hour.

Question:

Where on earth were the three of them now?

The defining feature of Dazzling Star was that no matter where you went, all you could see was an endless expanse of white.

The only thing the three of them could be certain of was that they were now very, very far from the Safe City.

Because they had completely lost their connection to the AI network.

Qi Yi and Qi Er only brooded over it for a moment before waving it off.

“Perfect. There were too many people before. Even when we found prey, we couldn’t get to it.”

“Now we’ve ended up in some godforsaken place that nobody knows about. Who’s going to steal our kills now?”

The more they talked, the happier they became.

Lu Song: “…I’ve fought alongside plenty of Blue Sea people, but sometimes I really have to admire your ability to adjust your mindset.”

Originally, the plan had been simple. If they got a Building Card, they would settle down outside the city. If they didn’t, they would return to the Safe City, restock on food and water, get a night’s sleep, and head back out the next day.

But now, after being dragged away by the Red Bear for over an hour, they had to obtain a Building Card before nightfall.

Otherwise, their only option would be to dig a hole in the snow and barely survive the night.

All three of them were experienced fighters, so they weren’t particularly worried about encountering snow beasts while camping in the wilderness. In fact, if they did run into one, it would actually be a good thing—snow beasts dropped item cards.

What they feared was the nighttime temperature.

If it dropped much further, they might wake up the next morning as three human popsicles.

Besides, without some kind of shelter from the cold, they couldn’t even take off their visors long enough to eat. That simply wasn’t sustainable.

Qi Yi put it this way:

“In that case, we’ve got about three days at most. So we’d better hurry.”

Lu Song stared at him.

“…You mean you can actually survive three days under these conditions?”

Just how absurdly tough are the people of Blue Sea?

In the end, the three of them had no choice but to hurry through this unfamiliar wilderness, searching everywhere for snow beasts.

Lu Song was even more enthusiastic than Qi Yi and Qi Er.

After all…

He definitely couldn’t last three days.

They fought nonstop for seven straight hours.

At long last, they finally obtained a Building Card.

Only then did all three of them let out a sigh of relief.

Qi Er was so exhausted that he slumped against the snow beast’s corpse and sat down.

“Thank goodness. If we still hadn’t found one, we’d have had no choice but to pray for the Great Creator to guide us back to the city.”

Leaning against the snow beast’s body himself just to stay on his feet, Lu Song blinked in surprise.

“…You can actually pray for the Creator to guide you?”

He had always assumed that divine guidance was a one-way blessing.

After all, wasn’t the usual understanding of gods that they could bestow favors upon believers, but believers couldn’t ask for things whenever they wanted?

Qi Yi nodded.

“Of course. As long as you pray sincerely—if you’re anxious enough and earnest enough—the Great Creator will notice us and show us the way home.”

Back on Dark Star, the Creator hadn’t answered believers’ prayers very often.

But ever since Dark Star’s destruction, perhaps because the new world was so dangerous, the benevolent Creator had become much more attentive to Her people. There had already been several instances where worshippers prayed and genuinely received a response.

Lu Song: “…???”

He couldn’t help voicing the question that had just struck him.

“Then… why didn’t we just pray to go back seven hours ago?”

Qi Yi answered matter-of-factly.

“The Great Creator is merciful. We shouldn’t trouble Her over every little thing.”

Still leaning against the snow beast, Lu Song echoed blankly,

“…A little thing?”

“Yeah. We weren’t going to die anytime soon. Besides, isn’t this place great? Nobody’s here to compete with us.”

Lu Song: …

Of course nobody’s competing with us—because there’s literally nobody here!

Still, now that he was holding the Building Card in his hand, he had to admit…

This place really wasn’t bad.

A Building Card.

And they’d gotten one on the very first day.

Between the three of them, they now had three cards in total.

If they’d stayed near Blue Sea, they’d have been lucky just to claim a single snow beast. They might not have gotten even one card.

…Wait.

When he’d been riding that board behind the fleeing Red Bear, through the blur of snow he’d vaguely seen quite a few Blue Sea residents pulling out lassos as well.

Surely…

They hadn’t all gotten the same idea?

Were they planning to catch a fast-running snow beast, let it drag them far away from the Safe City, and monopolize the snow beasts in some remote region all for themselves?

After hearing Lu Song’s theory, Qi Yi thought it was highly likely.

“Actually, I could’ve taken that Red Bear down halfway through the chase. But then I figured it could carry us even farther away, so I held back.”

Qi Er grinned at Lu Song.

“To be honest, if your body could’ve handled it, we probably would’ve stayed out here for another two days before asking the Great Creator for help. Then we’d spend one day traveling back.”

Lu Song didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he was also touched.

He could tell they meant every word.

They had only just become teammates, yet Qi Yi and Qi Er were already taking responsibility for keeping him alive.

The people of Blue Sea really did treat their comrades well.

They were even willing to shorten the number of days they could recklessly flirt with death—for his sake.

“…Thanks. I ended up holding you two back.”

“Holding us back? Not at all!” Qi Yi said, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. “What we value is your combat ability. So what if your endurance is a little worse, or your physique isn’t quite as good? That doesn’t matter.”

Lu Song wanted to point out that back on Velvet Star, he had been considered one of the physically strongest people around.

But then he thought about the Blue Sea residents’ absurd constitutions…

…Never mind.

Qi Er suddenly said, “By the way, why are we standing here shivering in the freezing wind? We’ve already got a Building Card!”

“…Right!”

Qi Yi and Lu Song immediately climbed to their feet.

“So where should we use it?”

“Let’s just do it here. It’ll save us the effort of hauling the snow beast around. This thing’s huge—we’ll be eating it for quite a while.”

The three of them, operating like a thoroughly makeshift crew, settled on a location after a few casual exchanges. They handed the Building Card to their team leader, Qi Yi.

Following the AI’s tutorial, Qi Yi let the card float in midair and pressed a finger into the star-shaped emblem at its center.

The silver card began to glow.

The light grew brighter and brighter.

When it finally faded, a small wooden cabin—about the size of two cars parked side by side—stood before them.

From the outside, it looked utterly ordinary.

It was low, plain, and rather shabby.

And when the three of them pushed open the door and stepped inside…

…they discovered it really was just as shabby as it looked.

Three grown adults squeezed into the cabin, making it difficult even to turn around.

But it was warm.

Not particularly warm, but it was still infinitely better than the frozen wasteland outside.

The three of them eagerly peeled off their heavy protective suits, took deep breaths, and, with trembling hands, dug compressed biscuits out of their backpacks.

After fighting nonstop for so many hours without a single bite to eat, both the Blue Sea natives and the Velvet Star native were absolutely starving.

As Lu Song ate, his eyes drifted toward the fireplace in the middle of the cabin.

“Hey, look! There are words there!”

Floating lines of information hovered beside the fireplace.

When Lu Song looked over, he saw the text in Velvet Star’s language.

Qi Yi and Qi Er, meanwhile, saw it in Blue Sea’s language.

Building Name: Basic Log Cabin

Building Type: Small Shelter (Provides protection from the cold wind)

Floor Area: 13 square meters

Occupancy: User-defined

Indoor Temperature: 8°C (Chilly)

Interior Facilities: Small Fireplace (If the fireplace runs out of fuel, the indoor temperature will continue to drop until the fireplace is damaged.)

Qi Yi walked over and noticed another panel of information floating on the opposite side of the fireplace.

Besides the facility details, there was an additional prompt.

Please add: Hardwood | Kindling | Peat | Charcoal | Animal Fat

Current Fireplace Fuel: Hardwood (Remaining Time: 7 days)

Qi Yi immediately turned around.

“Quick, check the information you downloaded on your phones! Does the item card database mention hardwood?”

Lu Song instantly pulled out his phone.

“It does! Hardwood comes from the red cards!”

“Then it looks like if we want to keep this building warm, we’ll have to get red Energy Cards as well.”

Qi Yi let out a long breath and sat down on the floor, basking in the glow of the fire.

“Forget it for now. Let’s get some rest first. Then we’ll go drag the snow beast’s body back and cook some meat.”

The moment they thought about meat, all three of them perked up immediately.

“No wonder they said Dazzling Star isn’t suitable for communal living. This little cabin is way too cramped. We need to find another two Building Cards as soon as possible. Ideally, each of us should have our own cabin.”

“Sounds great! Let’s add extra pepper to the meat later.”

“Where are we supposed to get pepper…? Wait—why on earth did you bring pepper with you?!”

Just then, Cheng Qisheng’s gaze happened to fall on the three of them, sprawled together inside the tiny cabin.

She watched the little cabin with curiosity for a while.

As expected.

The formatting and interface of the building’s information were clearly from the same system as the Safe City itself.

After studying the facility details for a moment, Cheng Qisheng shifted her attention back to the area around the Safe City.

Very good.

Quite a few residents had already encountered snow beasts.

…Wait?

The Creator cast a puzzled glance their way.

Why…

Why are all of you standing on wooden boards, being dragged along by snow beasts?

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.47.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Naturally, the 1.5 million residents didn’t all leave at once—they headed out in batches.

The first group of Blue Sea residents to step through the Safe City’s gates were positively beaming with excitement.

There was still a massive crowd lined up behind them!

Sure enough, living near the city gates really was more convenient.

Whenever there was an event that required people to queue up to leave the city, they always ended up in the first wave. Hehe.

Not everyone heading out was from Blue Sea, however. Mixed in among them were residents from other planets.

Compared to the Blue Sea natives, they were far less enthusiastic.

Watching the frozen world outside from the warmth of an indoor shelter was one thing; actually stepping into that icy wasteland was an entirely different experience.

The first thing they noticed was how obstructed their vision became.

The moment they left the heated area, wind and snow blasted straight into their faces.

People had to awkwardly brush the snow off their face shields with their gloved hands, then adjust the angle of the visor and keep their heads slightly lowered to avoid more snow being blown into their faces.

The second problem was how severely their movements were restricted.

The protective suits were so thick and bulky that wearing one felt like having dumbbells strapped all over the body. Their joints couldn’t move naturally, and the insulated boots were incredibly heavy as well, making even walking much slower than usual.

Finally, there was the cold.

The purpose of the protective suit was to retain as much body heat as possible, not to generate heat on its own.

It would keep people from freezing to death, but their hands, feet, and faces still felt unmistakably cold.

The Blue Sea people handled it much better. Because of their genetics, they were naturally drawn to challenges that looked difficult.

Feeling physically cold would instinctively make a Blue Sea native feel gloomy, irritable, and emotionally tense.

But stepping into the vast, boundless world outside and facing an extremely demanding challenge would make them feel exhilarated, joyful, and full of anticipation.

As a result, those two opposing emotions neatly canceled each other out, leaving the Blue Sea people free of any negative feelings they might otherwise have experienced.

The end result was this:

They were still cold—but they were in an excellent mood.

The other alien residents, however, didn’t have Blue Sea’s genetic advantage. Aside from two humanoid residents covered in thick fur, who were naturally more resistant to the cold, everyone else was freezing.

A resident from Velvet Star shouted over the public communication channel:

“I thought wearing the protective suit would at least feel comfortable. Is my suit defective?”

He couldn’t help but raise his voice. The blizzard outside was so fierce that even though everyone was wearing helmets with face shields, any sound they made was instantly swallowed by the howling wind.

This was exactly where the polar protective suit’s built-in shortwave squad communication system came in handy.

At the very least, it allowed everyone to communicate with one another instead of effectively becoming deaf and blind.

Different squads could also stay in contact and coordinate their tactics as normal.

Someone else answered the Velvet Star resident’s question over the public channel:

“It’s not defective. That’s normal.”

“There are thermal suits that can keep you warm and comfortable. But once you’re fully suited up in those, your mobility becomes even more restricted—you wouldn’t even be able to squat down, let alone fight snow beasts.”

Hearing that, the Velvet Star resident who had asked the question immediately felt much better about the current temperature inside his suit.

“All right. Maintaining combat effectiveness is more important.”

A combat rating of 70 wouldn’t be considered the absolute elite among the Blue Sea people.

After all, Blue Sea natives were born with exceptional physical abilities. If you grabbed a random passerby off the street, they might already have a combat rating of 50 to 60.

But for the Velvet Star people, whose natural physiques were much weaker, reaching a combat rating above 70 meant one of two things: either they possessed an awakened ability that boosted their strength, or they had undergone specialized training and developed solid combat skills.

So after hearing that explanation, every Velvet Star resident accepted the current level of cold inside their suits without further complaint.

A little extra cold wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like they would freeze to death, and as long as they moved around a bit more, they’d quickly warm up. But if their mobility was too severely restricted and they ran into a snow beast, they really could end up dead.

So everyone continued walking toward their chosen directions while casually exchanging all sorts of information over the public communication channel.

“I’m heading south. Anyone want to team up?”

“I’m an Outer City resident. I’m strong, hardworking, and not afraid of tough jobs. Would any official Inner City resident be willing to take me along?”

“If you haven’t finished reading the ‘Dazzling Star Pioneer Guidelines,’ make sure you download it now. Once you’re outside the AI’s signal range, you won’t be able to access it anymore.”

“Stop chatting idly in the public channel. If too many people keep talking at once, it’ll drain everyone’s batteries faster. If you don’t find cold-weather clothing in time, you’ll really end up deaf and blind later.”

As soon as those words were spoken, even more people began looking for teammates.

The AI had already distributed detailed information about the various types of snow beasts to all the pioneers.

Given that no one had found any building cards yet and their bulky protective suits already limited their movements, traveling in groups was clearly the safer option.

Taking into account the snow beasts’ tendency to target places where only a few people were gathered, pioneers generally limited their teams to no more than five members, with most forming squads of three.

What if, in the short time they’d been walking, people had already spread out so far in their preferred directions that many had moved beyond one another’s communication range?

It didn’t matter.

Even this first wave of pioneers numbered 300,000 people.

No matter which direction someone chose, they were still surrounded by a dense sea of fellow travelers.

Say a single sentence over the public channel, and you’d have a whole crowd replying to you almost immediately.

Of course, there were also people who had no interest in teaming up and preferred to venture out alone.

Compared with those lone wolves, however, ninety-nine percent of the Outer City residents were busy trying to find official Inner City residents to team up with.

Lu Song was one of them.

“Outer City resident. Velvet Star native. Combat rating: 73. Former special forces soldier. Experienced in combat. Skilled in wilderness survival. Previously completed a 209-day solo survival assignment on Velvet Star.”

“I’d like to join a team of up to three official Inner City residents. I’m willing to accept as little as a twenty percent share of the team’s joint gains, and I hope to sign a formal contract after joining.”

Taking advantage of the fact that they were still within the AI’s network coverage, Lu Song successfully joined a team.

Including him, the team now consisted of exactly three people.

“Hello, I’m Qi Yi, and this is my younger brother, Qi Er.”

After a lengthy process of confirming the partnership over the public channel, repeatedly jumping up and waving their arms in the crowd to identify each other’s location, and finally finding one another, Lu Song met his two future teammates.

The brothers perfectly matched his stereotype of Blue Sea natives: tall, broad-shouldered, a full head taller than him, and wearing bright, open smiles.

“Welcome aboard. We can sign the contract right now. But can I ask something? Why are so many Outer City residents looking for official Inner City residents to team up with?”

Looking at the unmistakable curiosity on the brothers’ faces—a curiosity so obvious that even their face shields couldn’t hide it—Lu Song strongly suspected that the main reason they had agreed to team up was simply because they wanted to know the answer.

To be safe, he signed the contract with the brothers first before explaining.

“It’s to improve our chances of survival.”

“We’re not followers of the Great Creator God. So if something unexpected happens, we can’t return to the temple under the guidance of the deity the way you can.”

“If we stay with you, we’ll always be able to find our way back.”

To be honest, Lu Song himself had originally been like most Velvet Star residents who had recently joined Blue Sea—he hadn’t believed that Blue Sea really had a god.

That changed while he was still on Velvet Star.

Although he had joined Blue Sea, he failed the crystal-ball test and therefore couldn’t enter the Inner City. However, thanks to his respectable combat rating, he was accepted into a crystal hunter squad.

Because of his high combat rating, Lu Song earned plenty of crystals by hunting zombies, which he exchanged for a good amount of points. He ate well every day and even treated himself to a relaxing bath now and then. Overall, life was pretty good.

Other than not being able to join the better-treated Inner City, Lu Song was thoroughly satisfied with his life in Blue Sea.

He still insisted on taking the crystal ball test once every week. He believed the crystal ball test was simply the Blue Sea government’s way of consolidating power through religion. If he took it enough times, surely he’d pass eventually.

Then came the last operation on Velvet Star.

The crystal hunter squad he had joined had already reached another city. Everyone was discussing how they should continue their exploration.

Suddenly, nineteen of the squad’s twenty-three members stopped in their tracks.

Then those eighteen native Blue Sea residents, along with one Inner City resident who had joined Blue Sea later, solemnly told the remaining four:

“Our God has issued a divine revelation. The temple is about to leave this world. We need to head back immediately.”

At the time, Lu Song and the other three Outer City residents could only stare at them in silence.

“…”

It all sounded unbelievably far-fetched.

Still, the minority should follow the majority. Since those nineteen were absolutely convinced, the four of them decided to go along.

More importantly, there was no way they were going to let those nineteen leave while the four of them remained behind to explore an unfamiliar city alone.

What surprised Lu Song even more was that the nineteen didn’t retrace their steps.

Instead, they headed off in a direction none of them had traveled before.

When someone asked why, the answer was:

“Our God has revealed that the temple has already relocated. The direction we’re heading now is toward the central point of all believers currently outside. It’s the fastest route that will allow everyone to return to the temple.”

Lu Song: “…”

No matter how shaken he had been at the time, or how skeptical he still felt…

What happened afterward was undeniable.

The entire group really did follow that invisible, intangible, yet unmistakably real divine guidance. Taking a route completely different from the one they had used to get there, they successfully returned to Blue Sea Safe City.

At the same time they returned, crystal hunter squads were arriving from every direction.

All of them had been scattered across distant regions. All of them had received the deity’s revelation far from home, and only by following the divine guidance had they managed to find their way back to the Safe City after it had relocated.

Lu Song: …I have no choice but to believe it now.

Only then did he finally understand why Blue Sea Safe City had a rule stating that only official Inner City residents could form crystal hunter squads.

And only by forming or joining one of those squads could residents venture far away to explore.

Back then, Lu Song had honestly thought it was just racial discrimination by the Blue Sea people.

As it turned out, they were simply afraid that non-believers would get lost.

From that day on, Lu Song began reading books about the Great Creator God’s creation.

Unfortunately, believing that such a deity existed and sincerely having faith in that deity were two entirely different things.

No matter how hard he tried to brainwash himself…

He just couldn’t develop genuine faith.

So the only thing Lu Song could do was make sure he stayed attached to official believers whenever they entered an unfamiliar world.

That way, when the Safe City relocated and the deity announced it, he could hitch a ride home with them.

“Thanks be to our God.”

Although he still hadn’t become a true believer in the Creator God, that didn’t stop Lu Song from imitating the other Blue Sea residents when they prayed.

“Back on Velvet Star, the decree that only Blue Sea natives could form hunter squads was actually the deity’s mercy toward us Outer City residents.”

“I noticed that once the Outer City residents realized why that rule existed, the decree disappeared. Thanks be to the Great Creator God for Her compassion.”

He genuinely meant it.

After all, he had personally benefited from that regulation.

And he had also witnessed something else.

Believers in the Creator God didn’t just enjoy a more comfortable life in the Inner City—they could also receive divine warnings that helped them avoid danger and guided them safely back to the temple.

Is Blue Sea’s god really this amazing?!

By now, no one was more anxious than Lu Song to become a true believer.

Qi Yi and Qi Er exchanged looks of sudden understanding.

Then they nodded as though it all made perfect sense.

“Our God has always been like this—benevolent toward all living things. Blue Sea has survived to this day only because of Her protection.”

Thus, two genuine believers and one Velvet Star native who wished he could instantly become a believer found themselves chatting away in the frozen wilderness.

Before they knew it, the three of them were performing a set of prayer gestures toward the sky.

Meanwhile, the Great Deity herself was sitting comfortably at home, enjoying a steaming hot pot.

Cheng Qisheng: “…”

Only Blue Sea natives could form hunter squads?

This was the first she’d ever heard of it.

Minor administrative matters like that were usually handled by the Blue Sea government.

Cheng Qisheng guessed it was probably just an accident. After all, while Blue Sea had been on Velvet Star, they had spent almost all their time fighting, and then the following months had been devoted almost entirely to mining. There simply hadn’t been enough time to perfect every policy. A few administrative loopholes were only to be expected.

She turned to Aether, who was sitting on top of the television remote beside her, and asked,

“Aether, was that really a thing?”

Aether answered immediately: “Yes, City Lord.

“When the profession of crystal hunter was first established in Blue Sea, the city had not yet decided to accept local survivors. Therefore, the registration process for forming a crystal hunter squad was hardcoded to require an Inner City resident identification code.

“After local survivors were admitted into the Safe City, separate ID formats were created to distinguish Inner City residents from Outer City residents. Inner City IDs retained their original format, while Outer City IDs used a new format.

“As a result, when Outer City residents attempted to register a crystal hunter squad using their resident IDs, the system displayed: ‘Insufficient permissions.’”

The AI displayed the relevant records one after another on a virtual screen.

“Because no one reported this bug, it went unnoticed until last month, when a staff member discovered it. After a report was submitted, the application process was updated to recognize Outer City resident ID codes as well.”

Cheng Qisheng smiled wryly.

“Well… I suppose it turned into a fortunate misunderstanding.”

If that rule hadn’t existed, there really was a chance that Outer City residents would have formed their own squads, ventured out of the Safe City on their own…

…and then been unable to find their way back after the city relocated.

That, she realized, had been her oversight.

After taking it easy for so long, Cheng Qisheng had long since grown accustomed to simply glancing at whoever she wanted to observe. With a single look, she could see them.

The non-believers she paid special attention to had always stayed inside the city, so it had never even occurred to her that non-believers might actually get lost.

Now that the loophole had been discovered, naturally it needed to be fixed.

“Aether, add a new regulation. Whenever Outer City residents leave the AI’s coverage area, they should, for their own safety and to avoid getting lost, travel with Inner City residents whenever possible.”

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Qisheng added, “Make it clear that this recommendation exists for their safety and to ensure they can make it home if something unexpected happens. If an Outer City resident still insists on traveling alone, advise them once. If they refuse after that, let them make their own decision.”

This world was rather unique.

Although the temperature kept dropping lower and lower, defeating snow beasts yielded item cards that allowed people to maintain a normal standard of living.

And because of the snow beasts’ unusual behavior, city lords had no choice but to send large numbers of residents out to explore independently.

Once residents obtained their own houses through building cards, however, things became different.

The item cards could even contain things like a torch capable of heating an entire home.

Yes—a torch.

It produced no smoke, required no fuel, and a single Tier 1 Torch could keep a 30-square-meter house warm for fifty days.

Blue food cards might contain a whole box of instant noodles…

…or a package of frozen meat…

…or even an entire pork leg sealed in vacuum packaging.

Because of that, it was inevitable that some residents would start thinking:

“Staying in this world doesn’t sound like such a bad option.”

In the city lords’ group chat for this world, most discussions revolved around one topic:

How could they bring as many residents as possible with them when it was time to leave?

Coriander was especially active whenever that topic came up.

He practically lived in the group chat twenty-four hours a day, constantly keeping up with every discussion. Every so often, he’d privately send Cheng Qisheng summaries of the most useful information he had gathered.

Among all the city lords, Cheng Qisheng was probably the one who had the least reason to worry about her residents deciding to stay behind or run away.

No Blue Sea native would ever willingly leave the protection of their Creator God.

If Cheng Qisheng were to issue a divine decree ordering them to hand over every item card they had obtained, the Blue Sea people would obey without the slightest hesitation.

But of course, she would never do such a thing.

When your people are already willing to offer up everything they own, taking their possessions loses its meaning.

The better her followers lived, the stronger Cheng Qisheng became.

She wished every one of her believers could become rich.

As for non-believers, hers was a faith-based organization. She believed in taking things slowly and letting faith develop willingly.

If someone ignored her advice, there was no point forcing them to stay.

However, Cheng Qisheng noticed something.

Although the group chat was extremely active, nearly all the discussions revolved around first- and second-tier Safe Cities.

City Lords of Tier 3 and Tier 4 almost never participated in conversations like these.

Coriander diligently continued acting as her information scout.

[I had a private chat with one of the Tier 4 big shots. He said there’s no way his residents would ever choose to stay behind.]

[The more disaster worlds people have survived alongside a Safe City, the less likely they are to leave it.]

[Safe Cities only descend upon worlds that are on the verge of destruction. Some worlds may look peaceful and perfectly livable on the surface, but if you stay behind, you’ll actually die even faster. Residents who’ve followed a Safe City through multiple worlds all understand this.]

Residents of lower-tier Safe Cities, however, had never experienced anything like that.

Even if their City Lord explained it to them, they probably wouldn’t believe it. They’d simply assume the City Lord was making it up to stop them from leaving.

So these days, Coriander spent every day lurking in the group chat, collecting every trick and suggestion people shared for persuading residents to leave with the city.

Cheng Qisheng replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

[You actually managed to get information from a Tier 4 big shot? That’s incredible!]

Coriander replied:

[Coriander Safe City: Hehe, all I can really do is chat with the big shots. As long as I can help you, Boss, that’s enough for me!]

Wen Huahua, for his part, remained perfectly clear-headed.

Although Boss Blue Sea was only a Tier 3 City Lord and technically ranked below the Tier 4 veterans…

When it came to loyalty and personal bonds, there was no comparison.

To him, Boss Blue Sea would always come first.

The two of them had survived the Velvet Star world together.

Wen Huahua had personally witnessed the way Boss Blue Sea had treated the other three Safe Cities with generosity and integrity. That alone was enough to ensure he would never switch sides just because someone stronger came along.

Besides, although everyone said that advancing from Tier 3 to Tier 4 was a major hurdle, Wen Huahua simply had an inexplicable confidence in Boss Blue Sea.

Who knew?

Maybe one day Boss Blue Sea would surpass even that Tier 4 powerhouse.

The reason he had deliberately mentioned that the information came from a Tier 4 City Lord was also because he wanted to demonstrate his own value as much as possible.

Look, Boss! I’m useful!

I know lots of things!

Ask me! Come on, ask me!

As expected, Cheng Qisheng praised him enthusiastically, sincerely acknowledging how good he was at gathering information.

She had actually already guessed part of what she wanted to know.

But seeing Coriander practically wagging his tail as if shouting, “I know so much!”…

Well, since he’d already acknowledged her as his boss, she decided to humor him.

So she asked:

[Blue Sea Safe City: In a disaster world like this one, with item cards available, people should be able to survive for around fifty years, right?]

Fifty years would essentially be an entire lifetime for residents who were currently only in their twenties or thirties.

Coriander replied:

[Coriander Safe City: This isn’t like Velvet Star. Dazzling Star is a natural-disaster world. Although there’s a very long buildup during the early stages, the disasters keep getting worse and worse as time goes on.]

[The temperature is still dropping. When I first arrived, people could still expose a little skin and only suffer frostbite. By the time you arrived, Boss, going outside without cold-weather gear would freeze you to death. Give it a little more time, and it’ll definitely become even worse.]

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.47.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Everly and Misha had once bought tacos from Wendy’s, and she remembered that the shop’s main entrance faced southeast.

Using the taco shop as a reference point, she quickly determined the four cardinal directions and roughly identified her current location as the center of Gilosha.

With her bearings established and a map in hand, finding the harbor wouldn’t be difficult.

The human mutation outbreak in Gilosha had erupted with shocking suddenness.

At the time, the raging radiation sickness had already been brought under control. The city’s residents had returned to their normal routines and resumed traveling around the city.

As a result, the streets were littered with vehicles that had crashed into one another. Among them were plenty of smaller means of transportation, such as bicycles and motorcycles.

Time was of the essence.

Everly promptly “borrowed” a motorcycle parked by the roadside—one that still had its key in the ignition. After casually wiping away the bloodstains splattered across it, she swung onto the bike and sped off.

The city’s roads were in terrible condition.

Moreover, it was obvious that the closer she got to the harbor, the more extensive the destruction became.

The buildings were increasingly devastated, while the roadsides were strewn with ever greater amounts of blood and dismembered body parts.

By the final stretch of the journey, the road itself was almost completely covered with mangled flesh, severed limbs, and gelatinous slime.

The air reeked with a nauseating stench of blood and decay.

Everly had no choice but to slow down and drive with extreme caution. Otherwise, the motorcycle’s tires would easily lose traction, sending both the bike and herself crashing to the ground.

After nearly twenty minutes of careful riding, she finally arrived at the harbor marked on the map.

The ship carrying the ancient relic statue was somewhere out on the distant sea. Everly had no idea of its exact location, making it difficult to search for.

But she had a fairly good idea where the cultists’ ritual array was.

When the Gilosha mutation incident had occurred, a video filmed from atop a high-rise building had circulated in one of Misha’s group chats.

By sheer coincidence, the person recording it had inadvertently captured what appeared to be members of the Dagon Order performing a ritual.

There weren’t many high-rise buildings near the harbor, and Everly remembered that the background of the overhead video had shown one particular corner of the docks.

Combining those two clues, she quickly identified a building on the harbor’s southern side.

Corresponding to that building were the harbor’s southwestern and southeastern corners.

With a motorcycle at her disposal, searching those two areas one after the other should have been a simple task.

However, not long after entering the harbor, Everly realized she had been far too optimistic.

There were monsters in the harbor.

She had assumed that the only creatures trapped inside this painted world were herself and the Weeping Mother with her child.

She hadn’t expected there to be other monsters.

These creatures closely resembled the mutated humans that had appeared in the videos from the Gilosha incident.

They still wore the clothes they had been dressed in as humans. Their bodies were coated in thick layers of yellowish-white slime. Some had heads transformed into those of octopuses, while others had arms—or other body parts—that had become writhing tentacles.

Each one was grotesque in its own way.

All of them were vicious and highly aggressive.

For some reason, instead of throwing themselves into the sea, these monsters had remained within the harbor area, wandering aimlessly.

The moment Everly entered, the roar of her motorcycle engine attracted their attention.

In an instant, more than a dozen monsters charged toward her.

They ran with astonishing speed. As they sprinted, blobs of slime splattered onto the ground with wet plap-plap sounds. Once the slime dried, it quickly became the same translucent gelatinous substance Everly had noticed scattered throughout the city.

She hadn’t even had time to grab a harbor map before the first monsters were already upon her.

If there had only been the few directly in front of her, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

She could have turned them into human speed bumps and sent them straight to the ground.

But perhaps drawn by the commotion, fresh monsters continuously poured out from every corner of the harbor.

As far as the eye could see, they came in dense, overwhelming waves.

It was even more horrifying than kicking over a nest of cockroaches.

She couldn’t win.

There was simply no way she could fight them all.

To avoid being overwhelmed by the monsters, Everly gripped the handlebars, made a sharp 180-degree turn on the spot, twisted the throttle to its limit, and sped back out of the harbor.

Strangely enough, the moment she crossed the harbor’s boundary, the savage creatures immediately abandoned the chase.

Reluctantly, they retreated into the harbor, dispersed, and resumed wandering around.

Everly hid at a nearby street corner and observed them for a while.

In her judgment, there could only be one explanation for their behavior:

They were guarding something.

Horror Movie Survival Rule #1: Pay attention to the hints.

The cultists’ ritual array was hidden somewhere in the harbor.

Could that be what the monsters were protecting?

Very likely.

But that made things much more troublesome.

Everly was alone, and the weapons she had were limited.

Meanwhile, the harbor contained an absurd number of monsters.

If she had to kill them one by one, who knew how long it would take?

Time wasn’t on her side.

Earlier, she had passed a skincare advertisement and happened to glance up at it.

She discovered that the model pictured on the poster had progressed beyond merely wearing an eerie smile.

Several red-and-black tentacles had silently emerged from the figure’s eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears.

They had broken through the boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space, protruding from the surface of the poster itself.

When Everly walked past, they seemed to sense the presence of a living person.

The tentacles writhed frantically across the poster, repeatedly reaching toward her with tips lined with razor-sharp fangs and claws, trying to seize her through the air.

Fortunately, they were still too short to reach her.

For the time being, they posed no immediate threat.

But Everly knew that if she delayed much longer, it was only a matter of time before those revolting things broke free of the paper and entered the real world.

She had to act quickly.

For the next stretch of time, Everly remained hidden outside the harbor, conducting a series of experiments on the monsters inside.

The results of her experiments showed that, regardless of whether the monsters still possessed recognizable eyes, ears, noses, or other human sensory organs, their vision, hearing, and sense of smell remained exceptionally sharp.

That meant it was practically impossible to sneak past them using the usual zombie-movie tricks—such as masking her scent with foul-smelling substances or keeping perfectly silent.

There was, however, one piece of good news.

By chance, Everly discovered a fire station nearby.

A fire engine was still parked inside the garage, and its keys hung on the wall of the nearby duty room.

The truck had likely been assigned specifically for fighting fires around the harbor.

Its chassis sat high off the ground—about 1.2 meters (nearly 4 feet)—and its oversized tires could easily traverse rubble, steep slopes, and even collapsed sections of buildings.

The body was built from high-strength steel, giving it excellent fire resistance and stability.

Mounted on the rear were a water tank and an extendable ladder.

The firefighting equipment wasn’t particularly difficult to operate.

After only a few attempts, Everly managed to open the lid of the water tank.

Perhaps to prevent rust from forming inside, the tank was currently empty.

Perfect.

An empty tanker was exactly what Everly wanted.

After spending a little time familiarizing herself with the controls, she stepped on the accelerator.

In the span of a single second, she completed the transformation from a bright, cheerful college student into a fire truck driver.

Following the directions on the map, she drove straight to a nearby chain gas station.

Relying on the truck’s high ground clearance and rugged construction, she forcefully shoved aside the smaller cars blocking the pumps until she had squeezed the fire truck between all four fuel dispensers.

She then inserted all four fuel nozzles into the opening of the empty water tank at the back.

After that, she ran into the convenience store, grabbed a stack of prepaid fuel cards, activated each pump, and had all four dispensers simultaneously pumping gasoline into the tank.

The filling process took another ten minutes or so.

While she waited, Everly also took the opportunity to gather a few useful supplies from the convenience store.

Once the tank was about two-thirds full, Everly shut off the pumps and drove the fire truck—now loaded with highly flammable fuel—to the tall building on the south side of the harbor.

The building was in complete disarray.

Tables, chairs, and other furniture lay overturned everywhere, and every few steps she encountered another large pool of dried blood.

Fortunately, since it stood outside the harbor, there were no troublesome monsters lurking inside, and the elevators were still functioning normally.

Everly took the elevator all the way to the rooftop.

Using a pair of binoculars, she surveyed the harbor below.

It didn’t take long before she found what she was looking for.

The ritual array was located in the harbor’s southwestern corner, surrounded by several stacks of shipping containers.

It looked almost exactly like it had in the video.

The only difference was this:

In the video, the ritual array had been encircled by a dozen or so cultists dressed in black robes.

Now, surrounding the array were a group of enormous masses of flesh draped in black cloaks.

They were, quite literally, mountains of meat.

Perhaps because of the ritual’s influence, the cultists below had completely lost every trace of their human form.

Their bodies had grotesquely swollen and warped.

Their bones had seemingly melted away.

Their heads, limbs, and torsos had fused together into enormous heaps of soft flesh that sprawled limply across the ground, resembling gigantic human-flesh slugs.

Only the skull-like halves of human faces protruding from the tops of their bodies, along with the black cloaks covering their backs, still hinted at what they had once been.

Like the other monsters in the harbor, these flesh-mountains were on patrol.

Centered around the ritual array, they tirelessly wandered within a radius of roughly twenty meters.

Whenever the angle was favorable, Everly could even see countless fleshy tendrils writhing beneath the monsters where they touched the ground.

Those appeared to serve as their “feet.”

As the gigantic flesh monsters crawled along, their damp, tentacle-like appendages left behind trails of translucent gelatinous slime.

The scene was so bizarre, so mentally disturbing, that it was enough to make anyone feel sick to their stomach.

And yet, Everly couldn’t afford to look away.

As she watched, Everly carefully studied the monsters’ patrol patterns.

She needed to identify their routines, plan the safest route from the harbor entrance to the ritual array, and prepare several backup plans in case something went wrong.

When she finished her observations and left the building, she discovered a fourth thing scattered across the ground, in addition to the bloodstains, severed limbs, and gelatinous slime:

Living, crawling tentacles.

They weren’t very large—about the size of an adult’s hand—and resembled flattened sea anemones.

Around the outer edge of each creature writhed a dozen or so crimson-and-black tentacles.

At the center was a circular, sucker-like mouth, its rim lined with several dense rows of razor-sharp teeth, giving it an utterly horrifying appearance.

Despite their small size, these anemone-like creatures possessed astonishing jumping ability.

Whenever someone passed by, they would hide in dark corners, then suddenly spring out in an ambush.

All of their tentacles would flare open at once as they lunged forward, using the tooth-filled sucker in the center to bite their victim.

Fortunately, Everly had been worried that the gasoline-filled fire engine might explode in flames.

To be safe, she had deliberately put on a firefighter’s protective suit.

Although it did absolutely nothing to keep her warm, it completely blocked the first sea-anemone creature’s attack.

At the same time, it alerted Everly to the existence of this new kind of monster.

As for where they came from, it didn’t take her long to find the answer.

They had fallen out of the eerie smiling portraits.

As time passed, the dangers lurking within the painted world were steadily escalating.

She had only spent a short while on the rooftop gathering information.

Yet by the time she came back down, the portraits lining the streets had changed again.

The smiles on their faces had disappeared.

In place of their eyes, noses, and mouths were enormous black holes.

And writhing their way out of those dark openings…

…were countless crimson-and-black sea-anemone creatures.

Transitioning from two dimensions into three apparently required an enormous amount of energy.

As a result, the sea-anemone creatures didn’t emerge very quickly.

But that hardly mattered.

There were simply too many human images scattered throughout the city, and there seemed to be no upper limit to the number of sea-anemone creatures each portrait could spawn.

For now, there still weren’t that many of them.

But if she allowed this to drag on…

Everly didn’t even dare imagine what the city would become.

Fighting back a wave of goosebumps crawling over her skin, she sprinted back to the fire truck.

She slammed her foot onto the accelerator.

Once again, she charged straight toward the harbor.

<< TOC >>

The post Rules Ch.289 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The police inspected Ning Qiaoqiao’s equipment and, to avoid any further complications, shut down her livestream first.

They didn’t make things difficult for the young woman. Instead, Xiang Yu pulled Ning Qiaoqiao aside and asked her a few more questions. Worried that the stream might have captured Shen Jiu dodging bullets and using his crutch to stop the van, she also specifically asked Liu Bo—who had arrived with Ning Qiaoqiao—what exactly he had seen.

“I saw how awesome you were, Boss.” Liu Bo was completely won over, looking at Xiang Yu with nothing but admiration.

“Boss, you were freaking amazing! Damn, you and Brother Shen—one using a staff, the other using a whip—you beat those traffickers senseless! Holy crap, that was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Oh, by the way, what’s up with Brother Shen’s leg? Does his crutch actually count as a regulated weapon?”

Xiang Yu let out two dry chuckles and turned to look at Shen Jiu. After the villagers had rushed in, he’d quietly retreated to the back. Now he stood there as if nothing had happened, casually leaning on his crutch.

The man was standing off to one side, looking as calm and elegant as a chrysanthemum, pretending to be crippled. But after seeing him alter the trajectory of bullets and force a speeding van to a stop, even his silent, low-key presence now radiated an overwhelming “B-King” aura.

So this is what a true powerhouse feels like… so dazzling.

She had countless questions for him. How exactly did his ability work? Did all Special Employees possess supernatural powers? Were there limits to using them? What kind of job had he actually come here to do?

What a ridiculous day. The new employee hadn’t even finished introducing himself before helping her fight an all-out brawl.

As if sensing her gaze, Shen Jiu turned toward Xiang Yu and slightly curled the corner of his mouth.

Although his expression barely changed—a smile made up of perhaps a single pixel—he really was smiling. Xiang Yu caught it immediately and couldn’t help smiling back.

Somehow…

…this felt like the classic case of “no acquaintance without a fight.”

The moment a fight starts, he joins without hesitation. Acts decisively. Actually listens when people talk. Yeah… this guy’s someone worth keeping around.

She was thinking exactly that while, on the other side, everyone was busy processing the crime scene. The ambulances had already arrived, but the condition of several of the criminals left even the medical staff at a loss as to where they should begin treating them.

The medical staff eventually put on thick protective suits and, pinching their noses, dug the manure back out of the unconscious traffickers’ mouths.

The water Liu Bo had brought finally came in handy. Bucket after bucket was poured over them, and before long, the fire truck he’d called in also arrived. The firefighters had rushed over with high-pressure hoses expecting to put out a fire. They found no flames—but the hoses didn’t go to waste.

Standing atop the truck, they sprayed the traffickers down one by one. Once the filth had been washed off, those with severe injuries were taken to the hospital, while those still able to walk were escorted to the police station.

Sun Quanyou had already been tortured into a delirious state. As he was about to be loaded into a police car, he caught sight of Xiang Yu and suddenly shrieked,

“It’s her! It’s her!”

Using both his hands and feet, he tried to lunge at Xiang Yu. His mind was no longer clear. Even while being restrained by two police officers, he kept baring his teeth and waving his arms at her.

“She jumped out halfway through! She’s the one who killed them! She beat all of us to death! And that man—he’s a ghost! A ghost! Aaaah!”

If that woman and that man hadn’t suddenly shown up, we would’ve gotten away!

Ji Gang was so fed up with him that he roared,

“Even if she had beaten you to death, it’d still count as a righteous act!”

He had manure splattered all over himself too. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to switch off his body camera and slap the trafficker across the face.

But instead, he had to patiently escort the ringleader of the trafficking gang, investigate the identity of the little girl found in the trunk, send the half-dead traffickers to the hospital, and later return to take statements and write reports. The entire village was in the middle of funeral arrangements—whose family, after having their child kidnapped, would be in the mood to cooperate with the investigation and follow the police back to give a statement?

Afraid Pingping’s mother might splash him with another ladle of manure, he simply turned to Ji Kailang.

“Teacher Ji, could you come with us and give a statement?”

Then he looked at Xiang Yu, his tone becoming much gentler.

“Miss, they say you were the first witness at the scene. Would you mind coming along too? It won’t take too long.”

Xiang Yu agreed. She told Liu Bo to stay behind and help clean up the aftermath before climbing into the police vehicle herself. Then she took a deep breath.

“…Can I ride in Director Ji’s electric cart instead?” she asked awkwardly. “The smell in here is… pretty intense.”

They had no idea what this hastily improvised livestream would become once the power of the internet got hold of it.

Ning Qiaoqiao wasn’t a famous streamer. She was a journalism and media student who had only recently started creating content. She was still an amateur—unsigned by any MCN agency—and at the stage where she was making up for inexperience through sheer hard work.

The night before, she’d seen a post on her university’s campus forum about a hot spring that supposedly had “a mysterious aura.” So early that morning, she headed over to film. After shooting the exterior, she moved inside. The hot spring resort turned out to be much nicer than she’d expected, and she figured this video might do reasonably well.

What she hadn’t expected was to stumble into the chance to go viral.

The moment the owner arrived, she started shouting that there was a fire and told the manager to call the police and get help.

Sensing a story, Ning Qiaoqiao followed without hesitation. The muscular store manager had initially tried to stop her, but then figured having another person to pass buckets of water would be useful. Since the livestream camera she’d been using around the hot spring was hanging from a lanyard around her neck, she never turned it off. Wearing the camera the whole time, she helped fill buckets, loaded them onto the vehicle, and charged straight to the scene.

She never imagined she’d capture so many unforgettable moments.

It started with a whip and a staff beating up human traffickers, followed by the “Lightning Five-Hit Whip,” a funeral procession stepping in to help with weapons drawn, manure literally raining down on the criminals, and firefighters blasting everyone with high-pressure hoses…

Not a single moment lacked entertainment value.

The only problem was that her livestream was far too obscure. Without the platform pushing it to more viewers, even excellent stream quality couldn’t save it. By the time she ended the broadcast, she’d only attracted one or two thousand viewers.

But then she met the person who changed everything.

Among those viewers was a content creator who specialized in making clipped videos from livestreams. They downloaded the recording and uploaded it to Xyin. Whether they were too busy to edit it or simply thought every second was entertaining, they posted the entire recording completely uncut, exactly as it had happened.

For the first hour, almost no one watched it.

Then, because it happened to include one of the platform’s promotional exposure hashtags, more and more people started clicking on it. Somehow, a major account on Weibo picked it up and drove traffic to it under the title:

“[You Won’t Believe All of This Happened in a Single Day]”

Soon, the barrage comments and comment section outnumbered the likes. As viewers began enthusiastically recommending it to one another, the recording exploded in popularity.

Still shaken after everything she’d experienced, Ning Qiaoqiao finally returned to her dormitory and opened her account.

She was greeted by 999+ notifications for mentions and likes.

Her inbox had been flooded with private messages.

Following the links people had sent her, she opened the recording on Xyin.

The moment she saw it, her vision went black. 

198,000 likes. 88,000 comments. 6.4 million views.

It had reached #1 on the local trending list and #5 on Xyin’s overall trending chart.

With trembling hands, Ning Qiaoqiao tapped on the video.

A flood of bullet comments immediately covered the screen.

[The place where it all began.]

[A timeless classic.]

[There’s no escaping this one.]

[The most righteous episode.]

[A new holy scripture has appeared.]

[Stay tuned.]

As an internet veteran, she knew exactly what comments like these meant.

They meant explosive traffic.

They meant fame and fortune.

They meant that the vast, eldritch horror that was the internet hivemind had glanced in your direction—and that single glance was enough to shower you with countless “Cullinan fragments” (enormous wealth brought by viral fame).

Ning Qiaoqiao’s hands shook so badly she could barely hold her phone.

Amid the internet’s jubilant celebration, the video began with that ordinary country road where the now-legendary incident had taken place—a road that countless netizens would later visit as if making a pilgrimage.

Her filming equipment was professional. Hanging around her neck, it had produced remarkably stable footage, and the audio quality was excellent. Although the action was distant and somewhat blurry, viewers could still clearly make out a man and a woman in the middle of the frame, fighting a crowd with exhilarating abandon.

The man’s staff moved like a black dragon bursting from the sea, sweeping through enemies with unstoppable force.

The woman’s belt danced like a soaring dragon, its long leather strap striking like a venomous serpent. Every time the heavy brass buckle came crashing down, it landed with overwhelming power—one hit, and another trafficker went silent.

Both displayed extraordinary footwork. The staff flowed with the man’s movements, seamlessly blending offense and defense. One fought with hard, direct force; the other with supple precision. Their coordination was flawless. Wherever they passed, people fell in heaps. Despite being surrounded, they cut through the crowd as effortlessly as a general deploying his troops, felling enemies one after another.

Not to mention the immensely satisfying spectacle of “lifting them up and whipping them.”

The bullet comments streamed across the screen in perfect formation:

[Chinese kung fu.]

[Human Beyblade King.]

[First strike the legs so they can’t run.]

[Second strike the mouth so they can’t beg.]

[Third strike the head so they can’t resist.]

[Power in every whip crack, precision in every kick.]

[Raise your hand with confidence, swing your whip with perfect angle.]

[Every lash has conviction; every move has style.]

The barrage of comments had practically become an organized army marching in lockstep.

The comments section below was even more entertaining.

[This combo is insane. The guy knocks one down with a staff, then the woman lashes them back onto their feet with the belt, they spin around, and then—bam!—another staff strike…]

[Is it really this smooth? Sis should consider teaching ballet. Even the Dance of the Little Swans doesn’t have this many spins.]

[Is the skinny guy in black the leader? Look at his expression. Doesn’t he look like the friend who tags along in every group fight but has never actually enjoyed any of them…?]

[Can someone who knows martial arts analyze this? Did these two come down from Wudang Mountain? They’re taking on eight people with just the two of them like it’s nothing.]

[I don’t know martial arts, but I do know physics. Watching those guys get whipped into spinning tops is making Newton’s coffin lid rattle.]

[Holy crap, how far has this spread? My Nepali roommate watched it and insisted I demonstrate the whip technique for him.]

[These two are so ridiculously strong that everyone forgot they’re fighting with a belt and a crutch.]

[The belt I get… but what’s the crutch for?]

[To beat someone lame, then let them use it to hobble home? Very honorable martial ethics.]

[These have to be stunt actors, right? The guy’s hair is so long—they must be filming something. If this is real, I’ll eat my phone.]

[I think they’re stunt actors too. They’re way too good-looking. The woman’s got to be around 175 cm tall, and the guy totally looks like an actor. Two traffickers stacked together still wouldn’t be as tall as him.]

[Who cares if they’re stunt actors? Even if they are, pulling off a fight scene like this takes real skill. Did the actors playing the traffickers get spun around on wires? This is incredible.]

[No idea. But if they’re actors, somebody tell me who they are so I can follow them. Every single person in this scene, from the leads to the extras, is amazing.]

The comments section was in complete chaos.

Some argued it had to be a staged production.

Some were fixated on the pair’s looks.

Others wanted to know where Xiang Yu had gotten the belt.

Still others couldn’t stop asking what was going on with Shen Jiu’s crutch.

Amid the lively discussion, a new wave of bullet comments suddenly began flooding the screen:

[Teacher Xiang, what happened?]

[Teacher Xiang, what happened?]

[Teacher Xiang, what happened?]

[You’re a fake Yu Ji, I’m the real Xiang Yu.]

[Introduce yourself!]

[Say the line! Say the line!]

[Here it comes—!]

In the video, Xiang Yu switched to a different whipping technique. Reusing her previous “Five Consecutive Whips” move, she cupped her fists in a martial salute toward the trafficker in front of her and said:

“I am Xiang Yu, head of the Mixed Whip Xingyi Sect. Just now, a friend asked me, ‘Teacher Xiang, what happened?’…”

Then she shouted with each strike:

“First whip! Second whip! Third whip, then fourth whip!”

“Fifth whip!”

“Followed by Flash!”

(The last line is a reference to Flash, the teleport ability from games like League of Legends, used jokingly because she suddenly darted forward.)

The Five Consecutive Whips routine was so ridiculously catchy that the bullet comments marched across the screen in perfect unison, as if in a military parade, echoing every count:

[First whip! Second whip! Third whip, then fourth whip!]

The chant appeared not only in Chinese, but also in English, Japanese, Spanish, and several other languages. Some viewers even used special bullet-comment effects to draw whip-shaped patterns across the screen. The entire thing looked as festive as Chinese New Year.

After Xiang Yu finished her Five Consecutive Whips, Liu Bo and Ning Qiaoqiao’s little three-wheeled utility vehicle finally came roaring into view. Moments later came Xiang Yu’s exasperated shout upon seeing them:

“Why did you bring the customers here?!”

The bullet comments erupted again:

[I swear, when the boss yelled, “Why did you bring the customers here?!”, her entire mental state collapsed.]

[But if they hadn’t brought the customers over, we wouldn’t have gotten to watch this masterpiece. LMAO.]

[So what was actually going on? Weren’t they supposed to be putting out a fire?]

[Obviously not. “Put out the fire” meant “go get more people.” Our video crew really did bring several buckets of water, though.]

[The young guy and the streamer may be a little dumb… but they’ve got good hearts.]

Then came the funeral procession joining the fray, swinging pickaxes like a torrential downpour, followed immediately by Pingping’s mother arriving with her ladle of manure.

The bullet comments reached their absolute peak.

After finishing the video, viewers flocked to the comment section:

[Is this in this year’s Lunar New Year movie lineup? If not, I’m not watching.]

[I’ve never seen a video with zero dull moments—it’s nonstop highlights.]

[I refuse to watch it a second time. I’m saving it to watch during the Spring Festival Gala.]

[Even if it’s scripted, I don’t care. Whoever wrote a script like this is a freaking genius.]

[If it is scripted, how did they convince the actors to let themselves get drenched in manure? They really opened their mouths and swallowed it?]

[When I first saw the ‘two-person performance’ (actually: two people fighting while a whole crowd spins around), I thought they were filming a staged video. The moment the manure ladle came out, I knew it had to be real.]

[Holy crap, I think the police officer searching the van is my cousin!]

[Seriously? Isn’t this just a skit?]

[A skit? Go ask the film crew how much they’re paying. Then you’ll have your answer to “How much would someone have to pay you to eat manure?”]

[If this is real, that’s horrifying… My God, these are actual human traffickers.]

[Near the end, when the camera shakes a few times, I think there’s still someone inside the van.]

[??? We’re all just here to have fun on the internet. Don’t scare us like that.]

[Then… that chubby little boy they carried out at the beginning was real too?]

[I was laughing when his mom knelt to thank the police and when his great-grandfather told him to kowtow to the coffin… Wait, are you telling me that was real? That’s way too dark.]

[Stop laughing… I think I spotted my uncle too. Holy crap, was this video filmed in cooperation with the police?]

No one had ever seen a video packed with so many twists.

At first, the accounts reposting clips had given them lighthearted titles such as:

“The Human Spinning-Top King”

“Chinese Kung Fu”

“Sea of Manure, Swarming Maggots”

“A Belt Dipped in Povidone-Iodine—Every Beating Is Extra Disinfected”

Since the situation had been successfully resolved, the “hostages” in the video had all been rescued, and the good guys had taken control of the scene, viewers on Xyin instinctively assumed it was just another comedy video.

Then more and more people started recognizing acquaintances in the footage.

As one of the people actually present, Ning Qiaoqiao immediately sensed the shift in public opinion.

The account that had reposted the clip was decent enough to pin a comment tagging her, and her own account quickly gained a huge amount of exposure.

Watching her numbers climb higher and higher, she suddenly tossed her phone aside, sat down at her computer, and opened a blank document.

She knew exactly what she needed to do.

Other than the people who had been taken away by the police, she was the only firsthand witness at the scene.

Every piece of information she possessed could bring her an overwhelming flood of traffic.

Whatever the internet wanted to know…

…she could answer it.

 Of course…

Of course she had to put everything she’d learned to use—and add a little emotional punch to the information she held.

Half an hour later, the person who had filmed the “Human Spinning-Top King Incident” published a long post.

Its title read:

“Please, everyone, help the hot spring owner who bravely stood up to the human traffickers. She might be facing prison.”

<< _ >>

**TN

“Teacher Xiang, what happened?” is a meme adapted from the viral “Teacher Ma, what happened?” internet clip featuring martial artist Ma Baoguo. Whenever someone displays unexpectedly impressive fighting skills, netizens often spam this phrase.

“You’re a fake Yu Ji; I’m the real Xiang Yu” riffs on Xiang Yu’s name (向榆, Xiang Yu), which is pronounced the same as the famous historical warlord Xiang Yu, while Yu Ji was his legendary consort. It’s another layer of internet wordplay built around her name.

Mixed Whip Xingyi Sect 浑扁形意门 (Hún Biǎn Xíngyì Sect) is a parody of 混元形意门 (Hunyuan Xingyi Sect), the fictionalized martial arts school associated with the internet-famous Ma Baoguo. The author replaces 元 (yuan) with 扁 (biǎn, “to whip/flatten”), turning it into a joke about Xiang Yu’s belt fighting style.

The post Scenic Area Ch.17 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The soldiers’ adrenaline surged.

Just moments ago, trudging slowly through the snow, they had still felt the biting cold.

Now…

They weren’t cold anymore.

They weren’t moving sluggishly anymore.

It felt as though their blood itself was boiling.

If there had been an energy bar hovering over their heads, it would have read Energy +100.

They reached the snow beast.

It remained ferocious, baring its fangs and roaring in an attempt to intimidate its enemies into keeping their distance.

The intimidation failed completely.

These humans seemed born without the instinct to fear.

Whenever they spotted an opening, they simply grew more excited and drove their spears forward.

Through her connection with the three believers, Cheng Qisheng could sense the thoughts racing through their minds.

Well…

“Thoughts” was perhaps too generous a description.

There was really only one sentence, repeating over and over like a broken record.

This is amazing! This is amazing! This is amazing! Hahahaha!!

Cheng Qisheng: “…”

I’m used to this by now.

As Blue Sea had developed, most of the younger generation had grown up in cities.

Very few of them had ever had the chance to hunt dangerous wild animals.

So it was understandable that facing a deadly beast for the first time filled them with overwhelming excitement.

“ROAR!!!”

“Rrraaaagh!!!”

Across the endless snowy plain, only the snow beast’s agonized cries echoed through the air.

Gradually, the roars weakened…

Until they faded into silence.

A Tier 1 Black Item Card slowly materialized above the beast’s corpse.

Only then did the three soldiers finally stop, breathing heavily.

Every so often, one of them would nudge or pat the carcass almost instinctively, already estimating how much edible meat it contained and how much warmth and energy it could provide.

Cheng Qisheng gently stroked each of their heads through the divine connection.

That simple gesture triggered another wave of excitement.

The soldiers checked their injuries.

Because their heavy winter gear had slowed their movements slightly, they had suffered a few scrapes and sprains during the fight.

One soldier had dislocated his shoulder.

He simply grabbed his arm, gave it a sharp twist—

Crack.

The joint popped back into place.

Through the faint connection of the divine revelation, they sensed the Creator God asking about their condition.

All three answered almost in unison.

“We can keep going!”

“That was incredible!”

“That was so much fun!”

Well then.

Out of the thirty small squads, seven had encountered snow beasts.

Three of those squads had also run into Red Bears—which seemed to confirm that they really were the most common species.

The remaining four squads encountered only small snow beasts.

The larger ones were about the size of an ordinary dog.

The smallest were no bigger than rabbits.

But their offensive power was nothing like that of normal animals.

One rabbit-sized snow beast was even capable of biting straight through a steel plate.

After a series of fierce battles, only the rabbit-sized snow beast managed to escape.

In the end, including the squad from earlier, the teams obtained a total of four Tier 1 Item Cards.

Three of those had been dropped by Red Bears.

The rewards consisted of:

— Two White Daily Necessities Cards,

— One Black Weapons Card,

— One Green Medical Card.

The most serious casualty occurred when one soldier fought a Red Bear.

To drive her spear through its abdomen, she deliberately chose not to dodge as it lunged at her.

She succeeded.

She effectively solo-killed the Red Bear.

But the beast’s collapsing body came crashing down on top of her, instantly breaking her arm.

Now her teammates were escorting her back to Blue Sea.

Through her divine connection, Cheng Qisheng could hear the injured soldier muttering resentfully the entire way.

“It’s only a minor fracture. It won’t affect my fighting.”

“You don’t need to send me back.”

“I’ve dealt with this before. I can tell it’s a closed fracture.”

“Just set the bone, splint it with a rigid board or a metal plate, strap it tightly, and it’ll be fine.”

“Really—I think I can kill another one.”

“I’ve got experience.”

Cheng Qisheng decided not to wonder exactly where that “experience” with broken bones had come from.

After witnessing the combat ability of the Red Bear—a creature rated as upper-middle tier—she was finally able to put her worries to rest.

“Aether, have you finished drafting the wording for the mission announcement?”

Aether, who had become thoroughly addicted to television dramas over the past few weeks and had consequently gained a much deeper understanding of human society, immediately replied,

“City Lord, everything is ready.”

“I’ve also reviewed the archived footage and assigned every resident a basic combat rating. This should allow us to quickly identify the people best suited for the first wave of expansion missions.”

Cheng Qisheng smiled.

“Nicely done.”

“Tonight, your reward is an extra hour of watching TV.”

She had noticed that Aether would never increase its own leisure time.

Unless she, the City Lord, explicitly approved it, Aether would rigidly stick to the previously established schedule of one hour of entertainment per day.

So whenever she found an opportunity, Cheng Qisheng deliberately granted it a little extra free time.

Aether immediately floated happily above her head.

Cheng Qisheng’s gaze shifted to the President, the Marshal, and the Pope.

Eeny, meeny, miny…

Hmm… let’s pick the President.

—

The President, who was quietly working through a mountain of paperwork while sipping coffee mixed with starfruit juice, suddenly received a divine revelation.

Qin Zhi’s eyes lit up.

He immediately bowed respectfully toward the heavens.

“Yes, my God.”

“Blue Sea will obey Your divine will.”

Zhang Xiongyuan had just arrived at the laboratory.

Earlier, when Blue Sea had urgently begun constructing heated shelters, he had also been assigned work.

Blue Sea was extremely fair when distributing tasks.

Except for children, every resident who was physically capable of working received an assignment whenever the entire city mobilized.

Because Zhang Xiongyuan was elderly, the work assigned to him had been relatively light.

Even so, knowing that the world outside had fallen into extreme cold, and that Blue Sea had called on everyone to work so people could survive the freezing temperatures, he had thrown himself into the task with complete dedication.

This was his first time experiencing a world transfer, and deep down he was still somewhat uneasy.

As soon as the shelter work was finished, Zhang Xiongyuan hurried onto a city bus and headed straight to the laboratory.

He wanted to continue contributing to Blue Sea in this new world.

But the moment one foot crossed the laboratory doorway—

Ding.

His phone chimed.

The sound was already a familiar one.

Every time the Safe City issued an important announcement, that was the notification tone it used.

He immediately did the same as everyone else in the laboratory and pulled out his phone to check the notification.

[Attention, all residents—

Expansion Mission for the Extreme Cold World is now available.

Mission Difficulty: Extreme Danger

Possible Hazards: Extreme cold, snow beasts. (Tap to expand for detailed information.)

Tip: Defeating snow beasts has a chance to drop Item Cards. (Tap to expand for detailed information.)

Residents who wish to volunteer for this expansion mission may register using the link below. Please note: this mission involves encounters with snow beasts. During the first phase, only residents with a combat rating of 70 or above are eligible to apply.

Upon successful registration, you will receive a Blue Sea polar protective suit on loan before departing from the temple to carry out the mission. Any surplus Item Cards should be turned in at the temple, and you will receive contribution points as a reward.

There is no time limit and no mandatory objectives. The only requirement is that you survive in this world.

Go forth and build your own new home in this frozen world. May our God watch over you.]

Zhang Xiongyuan stared blankly at the announcement.

…What does this mean?

Does this world require the residents to go out and live on their own?

Leave the warmth of the Safe City…

And head out into a world that’s −70°C…

Me?

Zhang Xiongyuan was completely bewildered.

Meanwhile, the native Blue Sea residents in the laboratory instantly sprang into action.

Most of them barely bothered reading the full announcement before frantically tapping the registration link.

“Ahhh! Registration’s already full! I knew it would be!”

“That took, what, forty seconds? Their reflexes are insane!”

“I got into the application page! I actually got in! But then it said my combat rating was too low and rejected me! Aaah! Why?! I only lost one arm! This is discrimination!”

Still standing there, completely lost in thought, Zhang Xiongyuan looked utterly out of place among his coworkers.

…Did none of you notice that the mission is literally labeled Extreme Danger?

They just… signed up without a second thought?

Although Zhang Xiongyuan had gradually grown accustomed to the way Blue Sea’s people behaved, moments like this still left him feeling dazed.

He decided to find where his combat rating was displayed.

It turned out to be easy enough.

After closing the message, he noticed that his phone’s interface had changed at some point.

Beneath the clock, where there had previously been nothing, was now a combat rating display.

Resident: Zhang Xiongyuan

Combat Rating: 3

Zhang Xiongyuan: “…”

Three?

Not even in the teens?

Just… 3?

He glanced back around the laboratory.

Those who had successfully registered were celebrating excitedly.

Those who hadn’t were busy reopening the information on snow beasts and Item Cards.

Others, unwilling to give up, were checking their own combat ratings.

“Why is my combat rating only 55?”

“I’m only 54. I guess it’s because I’ve been so busy working that I never have time to exercise. I need to start working out. Great God above, please bless me so I can raise it to 70 within three months!”

“I got 69!! Waaaah! I’m just one point short! Damn it! I’m obviously in great shape!”

“I’ve got the lowest score—only 46. Damn. I need to eat more Starfruit vegetables to improve my health. Even Tu Zhang, who lost an arm, still scored 47.”

The entire laboratory erupted into complaints about everyone’s combat ratings being too low.

At the same time, people enthusiastically discussed training plans and fitness routines, trying to figure out how they could quickly raise their ratings to the minimum qualifying score of 70.

A student who had also come from Velvet Star approached Zhang Xiongyuan with a miserable expression.

“Professor, what’s your combat rating? Mine’s only 30. I’m too embarrassed to tell the others.”

Zhang Xiongyuan: “…”

He looked once more at the glaring 3 displayed on his screen.

Then, without a word, he quietly slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Keeping a perfectly serious expression, he said,

“We’re researchers. Combat rating isn’t important.”

“As long as we do our jobs well, that’s what matters.”

“All right, let’s get back to work.”

The scene wasn’t unique to the laboratory.

The residents’ offices throughout Blue Sea were filled with the same chorus of lamentation.

Those whose combat ratings were too low…

And those whose ratings were high enough but who had failed to grab one of the limited registration slots…

All of them were groaning in disappointment.

Wang Moning looked at her successful registration and let out a long sigh of relief.

Her combat rating had landed at 71, just barely above the cutoff.

It was probably because she had awakened a supernatural ability that her score had been boosted so much.

If it had been before that, she definitely wouldn’t have qualified.

Thank goodness my fingers were fast.

She had only skimmed the announcement before immediately scrolling down and furiously tapping the registration button.

Otherwise, she’d be among the crowd lamenting their bad luck right now.

Hahaha!

I’m in the first wave of pioneers!

To conserve resources, the city’s AI had changed the housing arrangements.

Instead of assigning one resident to each cave dwelling, every cave now housed at least three people.

Wang Moning currently shared one with Song Xi and another member of their squad.

She looked up happily and saw that Song Xi was grinning as well—

wearing her trademark crooked smile.

Wang Moning: crooked grin.

The third teammate: crooked grin.

Song Xi took one look at their expressions and immediately knew the outcome.

That only made him happier.

“Looks like all of us got in!”

“Awesome! Let’s go buy some chicken drumsticks to celebrate!”

Wang Moning became even more excited.

“Yes, yes! I’m getting a chicken mini drumstick!”

We’re so lucky!

We actually grabbed one of the limited slots for an Extreme Danger mission! Hahahaha…

…Huh?

As she laughed, Wang Moning suddenly realized something.

She used to be quite afraid of danger.

And yet now…

Simply securing a spot on an Extreme Danger mission had filled her with genuine happiness.

I guess your environment really can change your personality.

Meanwhile, Song Xi was already reading through the detailed mission description, her imagination running wild.

“This is an Extreme Danger mission! There are snow beasts! We can really sharpen our combat skills.”

“And these Item Cards—I knew it!”

“I just knew that the more dangerous the mission, the better the rewards!”

“How about this?”

“Let’s set ourselves a small goal first…”

“Let’s save up enough for a down payment! What do you think?!”

Wang Moning blinked in surprise.

“A down payment? The rewards are really that generous?”

“You see? Item Cards can be exchanged for contribution points. Kill a snow beast, and you have a chance of getting an Item Card.”

Song Xi had clearly thought this through.

“According to the briefing, there are plenty of snow beasts out there.”

“So earning enough for a down payment is only a matter of time!”

“We managed to get into the first wave, so we only have to repay the loan for Blue Sea’s own protective suit.”

“But by the time the second wave heads out, they’ll have to pay contribution points to rent the insulated suits that come from Item Cards.”

“Those cost three times as much.”

“And we can even make money as middlemen.”

“We can open the Item Cards ourselves. If we get insulated suits, we can rent them out to other residents.”

“If we’re lucky, we’ll earn even more.”

A moment ago, Wang Moning had been wondering whether she’d become a little too reckless.

After hearing Song Xi’s analysis…

She no longer thought so at all.

The greater the danger, the greater the opportunity.

Blue Sea really doesn’t lie to us!

“Then let’s pack up and head out!”

This time, however, Song Xi was the calmest among them.

After all, he was the squad leader.

“Hold on.”

“Let’s wait for the AI to assign our departure schedule.”

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the city’s AI sent another notification.

Their departure route and assigned time slot for leaving the city had all been arranged.

“…Why do we have to wait another three hours?”

Back in the previous world, they had also needed to queue up before going out to hunt zombies, so Wang Moning was already used to waiting.

Still, this was the first expansion mission.

She had assumed there wouldn’t be that many participants.

The third teammate guessed, “Maybe opening the city gates in this weather requires extra preparation.”

Wang Moning nodded.

“As long as there aren’t too many people.”

In the previous world, competing with everyone else to hunt zombies had been utterly exhausting.

Song Xi laughed.

“There probably won’t be that many.”

“Although…”

“If the government wants our first batch to bring back lots of Item Cards, then use those cards to equip more residents so they can head out too…”

“…then there really might end up being a lot of people.”

She had only meant it as a joke.

But the more she thought about it, the quieter her voice became.

…Wait.

That might actually happen.

The mission briefing had explicitly stated that this world wasn’t suitable for everyone staying inside the temple. Residents were expected to venture out, obtain building Item Cards, and establish homes of their own in the wilderness.

If that was the plan…

Then the size of the first expedition probably wouldn’t be small at all.

Wang Moning’s expression stiffened.

The memory of the previous world—where three people had competed over a single zombie—flashed through her mind.

She coughed awkwardly.

“…The protective suits we’re borrowing can’t be taken too far from the temple, right?”

“So… they probably won’t issue them to that many people?”

The third teammate rubbed her face.

“But if we obtain Item Cards…”

“…then we can move farther away from the temple, can’t we?”

Wang Moning tried to estimate.

“So maybe… one hundred thousand people?”

“Two hundred thousand?”

As the squad leader, Song Xi dared to guess even higher.

“Maybe… three hundred thousand.”

The instant the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

“Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo!”

“May our God protect us!”

“I take it back!”

“Please, anything but three hundred thousand!”

—

The gates of Blue Sea Safe City slowly opened.

Cheng Qisheng watched as the residents boarded the buses that had already been assigned to them.

The buses sped along the spiraling ring roads that wound downward layer after layer, racing toward the city gates.

These were Blue Sea’s first pioneers.

And they were also the seeds being scattered across this frozen world.

How many Item Cards Blue Sea would ultimately acquire…

How many residents would eventually be able to leave the temple and establish lives of their own…

Everything depended on these 1.5 million pioneers.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.46.2 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Wen Huahua reminded Cheng Qisheng that the first thing she needed to do was purchase a batch of insulated one-piece cold-weather suits.

[The temperature on Dazzling Star has dropped dramatically again over the past few months. Without the insulated bodysuits obtained from item cards, residents simply can’t function normally.

[Boss, except for the half hour around noon, don’t let anyone leave the heated shelters unless they’re wearing one of those insulated suits.]

Just talking about it made Wen Huahua feel fortunate that he had left the previous world when he did.

Back then, he had fled because the ever-increasing number of high-level zombies had scared him off.

Ironically, arriving in this world early had ended up giving him a chance to survive.

At the time, it had already been cold, and people could easily freeze to death at night.

But it wasn’t yet so severe that simply staying outdoors for a short while outside of noon would cause severe hypothermia and low-temperature organ failure.

Wen Huahua had immediately sent all the residents out to live separately (the real reason being that he was too poor to supply enough energy for everyone). Scattered across the wilderness, relying on item cards, most of the people from Coriander Safe City gradually managed to survive.

At first, he had worried that once people got used to living outside, they might decide there was no need to return to the Safe City.

But as the temperature continued to plummet day after day, that concern gradually disappeared as well.

Back then, he had been thinking to himself:

Thank goodness I arrived early.

If I had only arrived after the temperature had dropped to what it is now, I’d have been unbelievably unlucky. At these temperatures, I wouldn’t dare stay for more than an hour before running away.

Then, only a couple of days after having that thought…

His boss arrived.

Wen Huahua was genuinely worried that Blue Sea would decide to cut its losses and leave.

Emotionally, as long as Blue Sea was here, he felt an immense sense of security.

Logically, after coming to this world, he had realized just how important items were to a Safe City. Used properly, they could even raise the residents’ quality of life by an entire level.

Since Wen Huahua had latched onto such a powerful backer, he naturally hoped that backer would continue growing stronger and stronger.

— Coriander Safe City has transferred 500 tons of hardwood and 125 Item Cards (White, Tier 1) to Blue Sea Safe City. —

Coriander Safe City: [Boss, I’m sending you some lumber. These are also all the Item Cards I currently have in stock. Use them for now—you don’t need to pay me any crystals. Just pay me back after you have some.]

At the moment, Cheng Qisheng was effectively multitasking with her attention split three ways. A single glance at the Item Card listings in the group chat was enough for her to realize that Coriander was making a huge sacrifice.

Perhaps because there were as many as forty-two Safe Cities that had descended onto Dazzling Star, this group chat was especially lively. Many city lords were chatting casually, while many others were selling all kinds of goods.

The going market price for White Item Cards was consistent:

—300 crystals for one card,

—2,500 crystals for ten,

—and 20,000 crystals for one hundred.

Buying them was essentially like purchasing blind boxes—no one knew what an Item Card would contain until it was opened.

The more you bought, the cheaper each card became.

In other words, Coriander had just transferred the equivalent of more than 20,000 crystals worth of goods to her—without even asking her to sign a contract.

It was a complete act of trust.

Looking at the message, Cheng Qisheng’s lips curled into a faint smile.

So… that trust had already been built.

Blue Sea Safe City: [Thank you, Coriander. This is a huge help. I’ll repay you as soon as possible~]

Staring at that reply, Wen Huahua finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Back on Velvet Star, every time he had helped Blue Sea in some way, Blue Sea had always repaid him with something even more valuable afterward.

For example, when he had given Blue Sea some timber, Blue Sea had sold him grain that it normally wouldn’t have sold to anyone. When he had shared information that newcomers didn’t know, Blue Sea had taught him how to manage a Safe City. When he had found the coordinates of the granary and sent them over, Blue Sea had discounted the price of grain for him.

Wen Huahua had long since grown accustomed to the idea that helping Blue Sea always led to generous returns.

Trust was built little by little, one interaction at a time.

Of course, he knew that to other city lords, what he was doing probably looked like giving away valuables for free.

But Wen Huahua believed in Blue Sea’s character.

Of course, trust was one thing. Handing over such an enormous amount of wealth still made him feel uneasy.

Wen Huahua rubbed his face, patted his chest, and tried to reassure himself.

—Don’t panic! Stay strong! Boss will definitely repay me!

…

Coriander had been right. This world really was better suited to letting the residents fend for themselves.

As soon as the duration of the Tier 3 Protective Barrier expired, Cheng Qisheng watched Blue Sea’s energy consumption skyrocket.

Blue Sea covered a vast territory and had a huge population. Even though Aether had already done everything possible to arrange for more people to stay together, the city was still consuming enough energy every minute to support a single person for several hundred years.

Fortunately, Blue Sea had a substantial reserve. They had spent several months mining on Velvet Star, so they could still afford the expense—for now. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted long.

Cheng Qisheng had already moved the White Item Cards into the warehouse, where the military was now opening them.

The defining characteristic of Item Cards was that, until you opened one, there was no way of knowing what it contained.

One card might hold nothing more than a bottle of body wash.

Another might contain thirty insulated cold-weather suits.

Yet another could produce a hundred pairs of ordinary shoe insoles.

What you got depended entirely on luck.

Before opening the cards, the soldiers prayed solemnly:

“May the great Creator God bless us—”

The great Creator God, Cheng Qisheng: “…Uh…”

That… wasn’t really something she could do.

Sitting in her study, Cheng Qisheng decided to wash her hands and light a stick of incense, completing the traditional “bathe and burn incense” ritual before trying one’s luck.

Whether it actually worked or not, at least the sense of ceremony was there.

The military wasted no time. As soon as the prayer was over, the 125 soldiers who had been selected each opened the Item Card in their hands.

Ripples spread across the ground.

The shimmering distortion looked somewhat similar to the spatial waves that appeared whenever a Safe City relocated or descended into a new world.

When everything settled, Blue Sea had obtained:

— 12 cartons of toilet paper,

— 57 tubes of toothpaste,

— 31 bottles of anti-freeze skin cream (cold-protection cream),

— 62 towels,

— 17 sets of gloves and scarves,

as well as a miscellaneous assortment of everyday supplies, including garbage bags, dental floss, disposable cups, soap, nail clippers, matches, candles, sewing needles and thread, and various other odds and ends.

No wonder more than half of Dazzling Star’s population had managed to survive by relying on Item Cards.

These cards really contained just about everything.

She had even seen one produce an aquarium.

In theory, Item Cards solved one of the biggest problems of the apocalypse: with industry at a standstill and society collapsed, humanity could no longer manufacture the necessities of daily life on its own.

No wonder none of the forty-plus city lords wanted to leave. With something as incredible as Item Cards available here, who would willingly walk away?

After sighing in admiration, Cheng Qisheng shifted her attention to the large crates stacked in the middle.

Inside them were the one-piece insulated cold-weather suits, along with all kinds of winter clothing—thermal socks, insulated underwear, knee warmers, and similar items.

Their luck wasn’t bad.

They had obtained 398 insulated one-piece cold-weather suits, which was a fairly generous drop rate.

Of course, Cheng Qisheng had never expected those 398 suits alone to solve Blue Sea’s problems.

What she really wanted to learn was how the Item Cards worked, and more importantly, whether the cold-weather suits produced by the cards could be reverse-engineered so Blue Sea could manufacture them itself.

Blue Sea already had contingency plans for extreme cold and had stockpiled its own polar protective suits.

The outside temperature was currently around −70°C. Although it would become even colder at night, Blue Sea’s polar gear was still sufficient for temperatures like these.

There was just one small problem.

They only had three million suits.

In almost any other world, the obvious strategy would have been to equip the army with polar gear and launch a full-scale offensive.

But Coriander had already explained that the snow beasts of this world possessed a certain level of intelligence.

They only attacked small groups or isolated individuals.

If they saw a large concentration of humans, they would simply run away.

Snow beasts moved extremely fast across the snow. If they truly wanted to escape, then aside from a handful of speed-type ability users, ordinary people had no hope of catching them. They would only end up exhausting themselves in the frozen wilderness.

That was why the people of Dazzling Star rarely lived in large communities.

Most families lived alone in individual item-generated buildings.

At most, there might be a small village.

Even then, when it came time to hunt, the hunters still spread out and operated separately.

After all, a snow beast wouldn’t die if it failed to eat a human.

But if a human couldn’t kill a snow beast and obtain an Item Card, they really would die.

Even these small settlements had to remain constantly vigilant.

A lone snow beast wouldn’t recklessly charge into a village inhabited by a group of humans.

However, there was a chance that several snow beasts would gather together and cooperate to besiege the settlement.

When that happened, very few people in the village survived.

As a result, true villages were rare on Dazzling Star. At most, people would place a handful of item-generated buildings close together and live as neighbors.

The Dazzling Star inhabitants who were still alive today were either strong enough to protect themselves or had family members capable of protecting them.

In Cheng Qisheng’s view, the people of Dazzling Star had actually adapted to this way of life.

If the temperature weren’t continuing to drop, they could probably have gone on living like this indefinitely.

We have to move quickly.

Before the world’s temperature fell to the point where ordinary industrial cold-weather gear became useless, every resident needed to have at least one proper insulated suit.

Cheng Qisheng shifted her gaze toward the reconnaissance team outside Blue Sea Safe City’s walls.

While the rest of the city was still busy constructing heated shelters, this squad had already departed wearing Blue Sea’s polar protective suits.

Their mission was to locate snow beasts, fight Blue Sea’s first battle against them, evaluate their combat strength, and assess how well humans could operate in the outside environment.

After receiving Coriander’s warning, Cheng Qisheng had issued a divine decree ordering the team to split up.

Now, they had divided into thirty small squads.

From her bird’s-eye view, the endless snowstorm was nothing but a vast expanse of white.

No trees.

No mountains.

No buildings.

Only a few bulky Blue Sea soldiers, bundled up from head to toe. Their thick hoods completely covered their heads as they trudged slowly across the snow.

Cheng Qisheng also noticed another advantage of the insulated suits that came from the Item Cards.

They weren’t nearly as bulky.

Although wearing one still restricted movement slightly, they didn’t make it difficult to bend one’s joints or move naturally.

Cheng Qisheng had already begun to suspect that Blue Sea’s hope of reproducing these insulated suits through conventional technology was probably doomed to fail.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Blue Sea’s researchers reached the same conclusion.

“The material used in these insulated suits doesn’t belong to any substance known to Blue Sea. In fact, their function is remarkably similar to that of a Protective Barrier.”

The experts from Blue Sea’s National Institute of Advanced Protective Materials were presenting their report to senior officials.

“A conventional protective suit has to completely cover the body, including the face, with a full windproof mask. That’s because at the current temperatures, leaving the facial skin exposed for even ten or twenty seconds is enough to cause frostbite.”

They continued, “Our protective suits are also equipped with breathing apparatuses. The main reason is that inhaling extremely cold air directly into the respiratory tract is highly dangerous. It can cause pulmonary edema or freeze and damage the airways.”

The expert pointed toward a live video feed.

It showed a soldier wearing one of the one-piece insulated suits obtained from an Item Card, casually walking around outside the city’s gate.

Inside the city, the White-Robed Bishops in the temple stood by on full alert, ready to pull the soldier into a prepared medical room at the first sign of an emergency.

Because frostbite victims couldn’t simply be exposed to high temperatures all at once, emergency treatment had to be carried out in a low-temperature environment.

The bishops themselves, waiting inside the windproof room, were bundled up in thick winter clothing as they watched the scene outside with complete concentration.

But judging from the experts’ observations so far, it seemed the Pope wouldn’t be called upon to perform a rescue after all.

“This insulated suit appears to generate a peculiar invisible energy field. Once someone puts it on, they still need to wear the hood, but they no longer need a face mask.”

“The wearer seems to be enveloped by this energy field. Their entire body experiences an effective ambient temperature of roughly 0°C. Even with their face exposed, they suffer no frostbite whatsoever.”

“Likewise, once you’re wearing it, there’s no need for any breathing apparatus. You can breathe normally.”

The expert tapped a coin-sized circular light located on the upper left chest of the insulated suit.

“There’s a small white indicator light here that’s constantly illuminated. After disassembling the suit, we were unable to determine what powers it or where its energy source is located.”

“What we have confirmed is that when the suit is destroyed, the light goes out completely. While the suit is in the process of being damaged, however, the light flashes. This serves as a warning to the wearer, giving them time to replace the suit before it fails entirely.”

Cheng Qisheng had been listening attentively.

But when she heard that part, her expression became rather indescribable.

The light stays on during normal operation… starts blinking when it’s about to break… and goes out completely once it’s broken?

She couldn’t help being reminded of a certain children’s TV series.

Blue Sea, of course, had never had a show like Ultraman, so the experts remained completely unaffected by the resemblance and continued their analysis with utmost seriousness.

“In summary, with Blue Sea’s current level of technology, it is impossible for us to reproduce an insulated suit with equivalent performance. Even if a damaged suit were repaired and reassembled, we would still be unable to recreate the energy field it originally generated.”

“Furthermore, these suits are extremely difficult to damage. Our recommendation is that anyone who needs to operate outside should wear one of these item-generated insulated suits whenever possible. They provide far better protection against environmental hazards.”

In short—

These were incredibly valuable pieces of equipment.

The more they could obtain, the better.

Just looking at the officials listening to the presentation made that obvious.

Every single one of them had eyes shining with excitement.

Now, everyone was simply waiting for the Great Creator God’s command.

Cheng Qisheng, however, didn’t issue the order immediately.

Blue Sea Safe City really was consuming energy at an astonishing rate.

But caution had become second nature to her.

She wanted to first observe Blue Sea’s initial battle against the snow beasts, evaluate how capable her people were in combat, and make sure they could hold their own.

Only then would she allow the rest of her followers to leave the safety of the city.

The Creator God’s gaze settled on one of the small squads that was currently engaged in combat with a snow beast.

The squad consisted of only three people.

Their opponent was roughly the size of a Northwestern wolf, with a body length of about 1.5 meters and shoulders around 65 centimeters high.

Its body resembled a wolf’s, but its head looked more like a lion’s. It had no tail. Its fur was entirely white except for its crimson-colored underbelly.

It prowled continuously around the three soldiers, probing for an opening. Whenever its claws struck the ground, they left deep impressions in the snow.

This was a typical medium-sized terrestrial snow beast.

Its hunting style closely resembled that of a wild predator, and Cheng Qisheng quickly matched it to the photograph in the information Coriander had provided.

Red Bear

Great strength, high speed, and extremely sharp teeth. Its bite force is powerful enough to crush human bones. It constantly circles its prey, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack. It prefers targeting the weakest opponent. Its legs and abdomen are its weak points.

Combat Rating: Upper-middle tier. The most common snow beast found on the snowy plains.

After killing one, the drop rates were approximately:

70% chance of a Tier 1 Item Card.

0.01% chance of a Tier 2 Item Card.

An excellent opponent for evaluating the snow beasts’ combat capabilities.

Cheng Qisheng immediately sent a divine revelation to each of the three soldiers in turn, conveying the information from Coriander’s dossier.

She carefully timed each revelation so that none of them would become distracted in the middle of the fight.

The three soldiers gripped their high-carbon steel hunting spears tightly.

At their waists hung integrated steel hunting knives, meant only for close-quarters combat.

Even after receiving the divine revelation, they maintained their back-to-back triangular formation, each watching a different direction while carefully assessing the Red Bear’s strength.

The Red Bear licked its lips as it patiently circled the trio, searching for an opening.

It recognized the long spears in their hands.

It knew from experience that being stabbed by one would hurt badly.

So it kept looking for an angle of attack that would allow it to bypass the spear points altogether.

After circling one another for about three minutes, the Red Bear finally spotted what it thought was an opening.

One of the three prey looked slightly smaller and leaner than the other two.

During the standoff, that human failed to turn quickly enough, exposing part of their back.

“ROAR!!!”

The Red Bear seized the opportunity and pounced.

But instead of panicking and trying to dodge, the “prey” remained perfectly calm.

As the beast leapt through the air, its crimson eyes reflected the scene before it:

The soldier calmly stepped aside, while the two teammates behind them thrust their spears forward simultaneously.

If the snow beast had been able to read human expressions, it would have realized that the prey it had judged to be the weakest—simply because they were slimmer—was actually wearing an expression of eager excitement.

“ROAR!!”

“Cut its legs!”

“Stab its belly!”

“It’s trying to run!”

The snow beast only managed to rake one soldier with its claws.

The human cried out in pain…

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, became even more excited.

His grip tightened, and his attacks only grew fiercer.

The beast opened its jaws to bite.

A hunting knife shot straight upward, piercing through the roof of its mouth.

The soldier didn’t care in the slightest whether the beast’s razor-sharp teeth might clamp down on his hand.

He even twisted the knife while it was embedded, making the snow beast howl even more violently.

“ROOOAR!!!”

The snow beast quickly realized something was wrong.

All three of its prey were becoming more energized the longer they fought.

Meanwhile, its own abdomen was bleeding.

Without another moment’s hesitation, it turned and fled.

But its keen ears caught the sound of something slicing through the air behind it.

The three soldiers had thrown their hunting knives like throwing daggers.

Each deliberately aimed at one of its legs.

As for how they would recover their knives afterward…

Or what they would do if another enemy appeared before they retrieved them…

Blue Sea soldiers simply didn’t think that far during combat.

Once the fight began, there was only one thing in their minds—

Win.

Only one knife found its mark.

But that was enough.

The snow beast, sprinting at full speed, suddenly stumbled as one leg gave way beneath it.

Unable to keep its balance, it crashed headfirst into the snow.

The three soldiers immediately charged after it, determined not to let it escape.

<< _ >>

The post Safe City Ch.46.1 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The situation was not looking good.

Five minutes earlier, Everly had watched with her own eyes as the large and small monsters were blown to pieces. Their scattered flesh was ignited by the gasoline, charring into black ash. Even the ruins surrounding the two monsters were caught in the blast, triggering a second collapse.

Yet five minutes later, as the smoke gradually cleared, the bricks, shattered stones, chunks of flesh, and black ash on the ground suddenly began moving on their own, as though they had grown legs.

The broken bricks reassembled themselves. Displaced stones slid back to their original positions. The scattered pieces of flesh crawled toward one another and fused together. The burnt black ash gathered into heaps, transforming back into fresh, living flesh…

The entire process was silent and astonishingly swift. Every blink brought a dramatic change to the scene before her eyes. In less than half a minute, the ruins that had collapsed a second time reverted to the state of the first collapse, while the large and small monsters that had been blown apart pieced themselves back together like jigsaw puzzles. Flesh wriggled in from every direction, reconstructing them into the human figures from Scars.

What was even more bizarre was that this restoration occurred only within the area enclosed by the painting’s frame—that is, the portion of the painting visible to people in the real world.

Outside that boundary, everything remained exactly as it had been. The black scorch marks left by Everly’s explosion, as well as the shards of broken glass scattered across the ground, stayed untouched. It was as though the mysterious force that restored everything simply ignored anything that people outside the painting couldn’t see.

Everly couldn’t explain the mechanism behind it. The only thing she was certain of was this:

The “door” had not appeared.

Just moments ago, she had genuinely managed to kill both monsters—if only briefly. But after the explosion, amid the devastation, she had seen nothing resembling a “door” or a “key.” If something like a “key” really existed, surely it couldn’t have been blown to bits in the explosion. No movie would ever handle it that way!

A faint sense of foreboding crept over her.

Her original hypothesis… was probably wrong.

Perhaps the way to leave the world inside the painting wasn’t hidden within those two monsters after all. She would have to search elsewhere for an escape.

Of course, that decision carried its own risks. But Everly was willing to take the gamble, because what had just happened had already proven one thing: simply killing the large and small monsters accomplished nothing.

She had killed them once, and no “door” had appeared. There was no reason to believe killing them a second time would produce a different result. On the other hand, if she didn’t kill them, a single poke from either monster was enough to trigger mutation, making it impossible for her to search their bodies directly.

Staying here any longer would only waste time.

She needed to change her approach—find a new lead, or at the very least discover a way to stop the monsters from reviving.

As soon as she made up her mind, she acted.

Turning around, Everly retraced the route she had taken earlier.

Something came back to her.

While searching the surrounding area for useful items before, one of the nearby buildings had struck her as strangely familiar.

She was certain she had seen it somewhere before, but the impression had been too faint for her to recall where. Besides, at the time her priority had been gathering supplies and dealing with the monsters, so she had pushed the thought aside.

Now that she thought about it, however, that building might be the breakthrough she was looking for.

She decided to take another look around it. If it managed to jog her memory, whatever she remembered might help her find a way out of this place.

She followed the road for a while.

Before reaching her destination, Everly suddenly stopped and looked around in confusion.

Something felt… off.

On closer inspection, it was indeed the same road she had walked before. The dilapidated buildings lining the street looked exactly as they had earlier, with no obvious changes.

And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different.

What was it…?

Standing where she was, she carefully surveyed her surroundings. She even took out her compact mirror and used it to inspect the blind spots behind her.

Her brow slowly furrowed.

She couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, yet her mind kept insisting that something had changed.

As a result, the next stretch of her journey became agonizing.

If her footsteps grew even slightly louder, she’d have the unsettling illusion that someone was following close behind her.

If the wind stirred a curtain in a nearby window, her heart would race, convinced that someone was hiding behind it, secretly watching her.

Suspicious of everything she saw, she pressed on. By the time she finally returned, following her memory, to the dilapidated building, Everly was drenched in cold sweat.

It was a shop located on a street corner.

The storefront had been heavily damaged. Its entrance and signboard had both been destroyed, lying crookedly on the ground. At the doorway remained a large pool of blood mixed with mangled pieces of flesh.

Walking up to the shop, Everly used a wooden stick to lift the fallen signboard, which was smeared with a layer of translucent gelatinous slime.

The first thing she saw was a line of garbled characters painted in bright red.

In the upper-right corner of the sign was the image of a smiling red-haired, freckled girl holding up a taco.

The moment she saw the girl, Everly instantly remembered why the building had seemed so familiar.

It was the logo of Wendy’s, a local street-food brand in Gilosha that had been around for more than fifty years.

According to the story, the logo was modeled after the founder’s youngest daughter, Wendy. Her identity as a family member, together with the innocent, cheerful smile on her face, continuously conveyed the brand’s image of serving homestyle tacos, making customers naturally associate it with quality ingredients and clean, hygienic food.

Gilosha was the city where Everly and Misha had changed planes on their way to university.

Since their layovers there were usually quite long, the two of them would take the opportunity to explore the city and have some fun.

And Wendy’s slow-braised pork tacos and spicy shredded chicken tacos were famous local specialties, so naturally neither of them had missed the chance to try them.

No wonder the place had seemed so familiar to Everly—Misha had brought her here once to eat tacos!

But…

Wasn’t there something wrong with Wendy’s sign?

The surge of excitement lasted only an instant before Everly noticed something strange.

She lowered her head and examined the logo inch by inch.

The cartoon girl held a taco in one hand, wearing a red-and-white checkered dress. Her eyes curved into crescent moons with delight, while the corners of her mouth stretched almost to her ears, forming a smile that looked bright and cheerful at first glance—but the longer one looked at it, the stiffer and more unsettling it became.

The worst part was that staring at the smile for too long created the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched with malicious intent.

A storefront sign like this could never make customers think of the warmth of home.

Everly’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

At last, she realized where the strange feeling that had haunted her all this time had come from.

Faces.

Along the way, every human image she had seen—store signs, display posters, street graffiti, mannequin figures…

…every single one of them was smiling.

And not an ordinary smile, either.

They all wore eerie, uncanny smiles, the kind that looked almost human but somehow not quite.

The first time she had passed through this street, all those faces had looked perfectly normal.

So why had they changed when she came back?

Were they really just ordinary pictures?

Or were they living monsters in disguise?

Everly forced herself to steady her ragged breathing and looked at the sign once more.

Perhaps it was only her imagination, but the girl’s smile seemed even wider than before.

Her eyes, drawn with simple black lines, stared fixedly at Everly. They seemed filled with resentment and malice, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to sink its fangs into her.

Crack!

Without hesitation, Everly raised the wooden stick and smashed the sign bearing the girl’s image to pieces before striding away from the shop.

Although she had witnessed something deeply disturbing, she couldn’t deny that this trip had yielded an important discovery.

Wendy’s was a local brand exclusive to Gilosha, with no branches anywhere else.

That gave Everly an important clue:

The painting Scars had most likely been created with Gilosha as its setting.

At the exhibition of Shelly’s final works, the paintings had been arranged in chronological order according to the creation dates written on the backs of the canvases. Since Scars was displayed first, it meant it was the very first painting Shelly had completed after shutting himself away in his studio.

There was another piece of information as well.

The lawyer, Charlie, had once told her that at the end of August last year, Shelly had returned from a research trip and immediately secluded himself in his studio to begin painting.

Late August of last year.

Gilosha.

A city reduced to ruins.

The weeping mother transformed from a human into a tentacled monster.

And the Dagon Order totem depicted in Self-Portrait…

Putting all the clues together, Everly arrived at a bold hypothesis:

Shelly’s research trip had taken him to Gilosha.

After all, July through August of last year was exactly when Gilosha experienced the outbreak of radiation sickness and the mass human mutations. The devastated city and the mother’s grotesque transformation both matched the events of that disaster perfectly.

As for why the streets in the painting were completely deserted, there were two possible explanations.

The first was that, to heighten the painting’s tragic atmosphere, Shelly had deliberately omitted both the mutated monsters and the fleeing survivors from the background.

The second was that by the time he gathered his reference material, the mutation incident was already nearing its end. The mutated humans had been drawn to the ancient relic statue aboard the ship, flocking to the shoreline before throwing themselves into the sea, leaving the city’s streets eerily empty.

Verifying the theory wouldn’t be difficult.

Although every written word in the city had turned into incomprehensible squiggles, non-textual images remained unchanged.

All Everly had to do was find a newsstand, locate a local tourist map, and compare the city’s layout with that of Gilosha.

As luck would have it, there was a newsstand on a street corner only a few hundred meters away from the taco shop.

Everly quickened her pace and headed straight for it.

Once she noticed the unsettling changes in the city’s human images, the entire place became every bit as terrifying as a haunted house.

Standing outside the newsstand and peering through its window, Everly saw that whether it was the posters hanging on the walls or the newspapers and magazines spread across the counter, every single human face printed on them was staring directly at her through the paper.

Without exception.

They all wore enormous, unnatural smiles, their mouths stretched impossibly wide, the corners pulling all the way back to their ears.

It even seemed as though those smiles were gradually growing wider with the passage of time.

Everly had no idea what would happen if they continued to change.

But judging by the logic of horror movies, things would only get worse, never better.

So she ignored the creepy images—which, for the moment at least, were unable to attack her—and hurriedly searched through the pile of newspapers until she found a local map.

First, she confirmed her suspicion that this place really was Gilosha.

Then, following the illustrations on the map, she headed straight for the harbor on the city’s western side.

The reason she was going to the harbor was simple.

She had previously investigated the Gilosha incident and knew that the city’s mutation had originated from two separate sources:

the ancient relic statue aboard the ship, and the ritual array painted across the harbor district by the cultists.

The Weeping Mother and her infant had also been transformed under the influence of those two things.

That realization inspired a new hypothesis.

Perhaps, if she could eliminate the source of the city’s corruption, she would be able to escape from the painting.

After all, the world inside the painting was merely the effect of the mutation.

Without the cause, the effect should cease to exist.

Wouldn’t that amount to destroying the painting from within, albeit indirectly?

The theory was at least plausible.

And if it was plausible, then it was worth trying.

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The post Rules Ch.288 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.