«The Peacock Landmark»
He Fang hadn’t had time to look at the other information yet, but now the daily task was blatantly occupying the huge screen. He couldn’t find the close button anywhere. Did clicking on the status bar of the landmark count as accepting the daily task?
At the bottom, there were two options: Accept and a very faint “Give Up“. He Fang thought for a moment and decided to accept the task first. After finishing it, he would look at the other information.
After all, this daily task was extremely simple—it was almost not even a task.
He Fang arrived at the base of the city’s central landmark and looked up at the white statue.
The statue depicted a man and a massive beast with the body of a lion and the tail of a dragon intertwined together. The carving was incredibly detailed—so much so that He Fang could even see the texture and curvature of the man’s long, curly hair. The sharp, menacing fangs of the beast were displayed with exquisite ferocity. The man’s legs were entirely concealed by the beast, making them appear as though they were one with the creature, like they had grown together.
The man’s appearance resembled the most fashionable aesthetic of the time, the kind of look that would make everyone admire and appreciate it. His piercing eyes looked down imperiously on everything, and his strong facial features made him appear cold and unapproachable. His thin lips had no curve as if nothing in the world was worthy of a smile from him—he was the epitome of a tough, masculine, handsome man.
No matter how many times He Fang looked at it, he felt that the design of the game’s iconic structures was unique in its own way. He wondered if, once he expanded his city, he could unlock all the other landmarks. The visual experience was so realistic; rather than the man, he actually found himself wishing for the delicate female deity sculpture.
He Fang’s hand gently touched the white statue. This was his first time using the sensory simulation pod, and he had never actually touched the statue before, even though the pod simulated a realistic tactile experience.
He Fang was a bit confused. He had originally thought the statue would feel cold, but after touching it, he realized it was warm. Standing where he was, he couldn’t reach the man, but when he stroked the lion-headed beast’s mane, it felt as if he was really caressing its soft fur.
“You’re still beautiful,” He Fang murmured. Even though the statue didn’t appear particularly strong, when he looked up at the man and the beast, he couldn’t help but admire the stunning, majestic beauty of the sculpture.
Suddenly, a pop-up window appeared in front of him: “Daily task completed. Successfully gained faith points (+5).”
That’s it?
He Fang didn’t think he had said anything particularly praising, but it seemed like the system had detected keywords and automatically marked it as a success.
Looking at the massive statue, He Fang muttered, “How can I control it?”
What responded to him was a dialog box that appeared in front of his eyes, with the words “Please enter a command“. He Fang blinked in surprise.
Should he try?
But what should he input?
He Fang thought for a moment and typed: Patrol the city.
After inputting the command, He Fang clicked confirm.
There was a brief pause, and then He Fang heard a prompt indicating a deduction of a small amount of faith.
He Fang looked up and saw the statue before him. His pupils dilated slightly as he saw the man in the enormous statue raise his muscular arm. His long, perfect hand made a grasping motion in the air. A huge burst of colorful light radiated from his hand, quickly spreading outward. The bright light nearly covered the entire sky.
The beast beneath him suddenly emitted a deafening roar, its majesty unstoppable.
He Fang felt like he was watching an epic CGI scene. The pure white statue emitted a holy light. For a moment, He Fang forgot that this was just a game. He truly felt like a divine being had descended.
The man’s hand withdrew, returning to its original state, and the beast also resumed its prior form. However, in front of He Fang, a blueprint unfolded, and he clearly noticed some changes in the design. Though small, it was evident that the control map had been refreshed.
He Fang: …This is really impressive.
Staying in place and sweeping across the entire town?
He Fang suddenly felt that the potential of this statue was enormous, but it required faith points, and his faith points were just too low.
He Fang looked back at the panel and opened the defense section to check “Rainbow Squad“.
What is the Rainbow Squad? He Fang’s mind immediately recalled the seven rainbow-colored light pillars he had used as decorations.
Rainbow Squad: The defensive structures placed by the esteemed city lord around the city.
Attack preference: Defensive (Triggers cleansing function immediately when attacked; once the danger is cleared, the cleansing function stops).
Attack power: Unmeasured (No world-standard baseline for measurement, making it impossible to determine accurate data).
Status: Defending.
Defensive attempts: Unlimited.
He Fang accessed the city overview privileges.
Looking at the rainbow light pillars he had placed around the city, he fell into deep thought.
It really is these.
He Fang left the statue and headed towards the rainbow light pillars.
Meanwhile, after He Fang left, the passersby who had been walking around the statue in a showy manner finally began to talk among themselves. Each one of them looked at the giant statue with disdain.
“What’s with this display in broad daylight? It’s just a scan of the town, nothing to do, and it’s all taken care of. And then it even does this handshake pose, showing off in front of the Creator. Such a middle-schooler mentality.”
“Releasing a light halo? Isn’t the point of the halo just to remind everyone that we’re scanning the map? How are we supposed to locate enemies like this? Completely useless!”
“This ‘Divine Lord’ has been here for who knows how many years, hasn’t done anything meaningful, just standing there as a statue. And now it thinks it can take credit in front of the Creator? That rookie the Creator brought back knew how to pick up trash at least.”
“Ugh, it drives me crazy! A stone statue is competing for attention with us. God knows, I walked around the Creator so many times, yet, he didn’t even give me a single glance!”
“The Creator even touched that beast, did you see it? The beast’s tail is even sticking up now. Doesn’t even have the decency to be a proper statue.”
However, the statue that was being mocked by the crowd still had its cold, indifferent expression, with a posture that remained strikingly handsome. Its eyes were full of pride. The beast with the lion’s body and dragon’s tail had its tail standing upright, so proud that it seemed ready to soar into the sky.
He Fang arrived in front of one of the light pillars.
He had never read the description of the rainbow light pillars. When these pillars were first introduced, there was a long string of complex Western names that looked very impressive, so to make identification easier, he renamed them the “Rainbow Squad”.
Could he change it back? He Fang spent a long time trying to find the renaming button.
…He really felt bad about it.
The light pillars were very expensive, with the red ones requiring a lottery to obtain. He had spent three months’ worth of earnings just to collect all seven light pillars.
He could still feel the sting of spending so much on them. But the light pillars were incredibly decorative, especially at night, when their soft glow illuminated the town’s buildings beautifully.
It was only now that He Fang realized that these were not just lights but actually a defensive area.
When he had originally planned to get these items, he thought of them purely as decorations and had even noted that they were not recommended. He never imagined that these were actually preparing for the future online connection.
I’ll delete that video later.
But, was this really a defense measure?
He Fang, still skeptical, leaned in close to the light pillar and squinted into it.
The light pillar emitted a very noticeable glow from the inside out. No one would naturally get close to the pillar to stare into the glaring light.
But when he looked, He Fang was stunned.
From a distance, it was hard to tell, but when He Fang got closer, he could clearly see a massive foot inside the light pillar. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be wearing a pair of metal-like shoes.
He Fang was stunned and quickly stepped back. It looked like just a regular light pillar, but from what he had just seen—the enormous foot—it was clear that whatever was inside this pillar was a terrifyingly massive entity.
He Fang could hardly believe that there were so many frightening things in his city.
Had this game been planned for the online connection from the very beginning?
As for the police station, as the name suggested, He Fang eagerly opened it. The gist of it was that residents who passed training and exams could join as public servants, with slightly stronger attack power than ordinary residents and the ability to equip weapons.
After the shock of the statue and light pillar, seeing such a mundane setup left He Fang with a sense of disappointment.
However, the ability to equip weapons was quite intriguing.
To his surprise, there was a weapon option on his panel. The weapons currently equipped at the police station were…
Batons and riot shields.
He Fang: “……”
That’s it?
The entire police station, and they couldn’t even find a single gun?!
