ATIGIBTC Chapter 60

Moonlit: Thank you to pendragon for the ko-fi~

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Guo Miaofeng’s measurement of the entire “Land of Hope” had finally reached its final stages. The measurement itself wasn’t difficult—so much so that it could even be categorized as extremely simple. This was because the entire space had been designed with a highly structured layout. As long as the doors, which Guo Miaofeng had previously dismantled, were reinstalled, it would become apparent that the terrain was perfectly symmetrical and well-organized.

What made the measurement process so challenging for Guo Miaofeng was the sheer variety of vegetables growing in the area, along with numerous unfamiliar weeds. These newly discovered, unrecorded plants made information input and observation quite difficult, requiring the establishment of proper records within the city.

He Fang speculated that the reason he had never seen these vegetables before was most likely because he didn’t like eating them—or perhaps he had simply never eaten them. He didn’t have a particularly broad diet when it came to vegetables, nor did he have any special preference for novel ingredients, which was why he hadn’t included them in the game in the first place.

Unexpectedly, the game had somehow diversified the vegetable selection on its own. Either way, He Fang wasn’t going to eat them—eating them wouldn’t fill him up anyway. At best, they were just there for the sake of variety.

With Guo Miaofeng’s measurements completed, the construction of the orbital tracks was about to begin. But before that, one crucial matter required attention—the locator device that the researchers had been studying all this time.

“Still no progress?” He Fang straddled a chair, leaning against the backrest as he watched Zhu Yan. He was growing a bit impatient about when the locator would finally be cracked.

“It’s possible,” Zhu Yan replied while analyzing the data. Although he seemed preoccupied and somewhat perfunctory in his response, his tone was exceptionally gentle. “If we always stay cautious and never take the first step, we’ll forever be trapped by fear. No one knows what will happen next. We’ve already taken every precaution we can think of—now, all that remains is the final step: taking the risk.”

He Fang unconsciously tensed up. “Is it really that difficult?”

“Cracking it is easy,” Zhu Yan replied. “But if something unexpected happens… City Lord, you have two options to choose from. First, we keep the locator, but that would expose the fact that we’ve tampered with it. Second, we destroy it outright, but in doing so, we may lose contact with the outside world.”

He Fang pondered for a moment before asking, “If we destroy the locator, how difficult would it be for you to create and integrate a new one?”

Zhu Yan thought for a moment. “It’s not difficult, just a bit time-consuming. Plus, there’s a chance we might repeat this failure all over again.”

“Then destroy it,” He Fang decided without hesitation. Lying low was always important. He wasn’t sure if their current strength allowed them to be so bold. In the end, failure was just failure. He could afford to fail a few more times.

“I understand,” Zhu Yan said, exchanging a glance with the researchers nearby. They nodded in understanding and began preparing to hack into the locator for its final override.

Before they started, He Fang issued an order to the Divine Lord, instructing full protection over the entire hacking operation. Immediately after, he saw a massive deduction from his Faith Points.

Faith Points were already hard to obtain, and using them just once was this expensive? He Fang gritted his teeth, wincing at the loss.

He didn’t know much about hacking, so he had no idea whether the intrusion scene before him was realistic or not. But one thing was clear—it didn’t look as intense or dramatic as he had imagined. Instead… it was surprisingly calm.

All the researchers remained calm and focused. He Fang, however, found his gaze fixed on Zhu Yan’s face. The reflection of various data streams flickered in Zhu Yan’s eyes, moving rapidly across his pupils. Yet, no matter how fast the data shifted, Zhu Yan absorbed it all effortlessly, continuously analyzing it. Occasionally, he would input commands, then pause, as if searching for an imperceptible flaw hidden within the system.

It wasn’t a particularly terrifying scene, yet the oppressive atmosphere made He Fang unconsciously hold his breath.

Would they succeed?

Would they fail?

The researchers’ expressions betrayed no emotion. It was as if, once they were fully immersed in their work, nothing external could disturb them. At that moment, He Fang felt his own nervousness creeping up, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Suddenly, all the researchers stopped at the same time. A strange expression—one that could only be described as odd—appeared on their faces. It was as if something completely unexpected had happened, something that left them puzzled and unsure.

“What’s wrong?” He Fang finally felt that this might be an appropriate time to ask. He lowered his voice slightly, trying to understand the situation.

Zhu Yan turned to look at him, his expression subtle and difficult to decipher.

“…What? Did we fail?” He Fang felt a moment of unease. If they had failed, why hadn’t the locator been destroyed yet?

“No… We succeeded. Very successfully,” Zhu Yan said, his brows furrowing deeply as he stared at the locator before him. After a long pause, he spoke again, his tone filled with disbelief. “Incredible. There weren’t any traps at all.”

“This is way too easy! If it were really this simple, wouldn’t we have cracked it on the first day? What exactly have we been afraid of all this time?”

“Speaking of which, this is so easy that it makes me wonder if it’s just another trap. Are we really fine like this? I feel really uneasy.”

“Up until now, it looks like nothing has happened.”

At this moment, the researchers were voicing their concerns one after another, while He Fang let out a deep sigh of relief. “It worked! Isn’t that great?!”

He Fang figured that the researchers were so confused because things had gone too smoothly. Although he had no idea how much of this success was thanks to the Divine Lord, getting a satisfying result was already more than enough.

Ignoring the researchers who looked like they were “questioning their entire existence”, “feeling like they had fought a battle with no enemy”, and “left with nowhere to vent their burning passion”, He Fang immediately stepped forward and grabbed Zhu Yan’s arm. “Well? Can we locate other cities? Can we? Can we?”

Zhu Yan was examining the massive amount of data that had been unlocked. Without looking up, he reached out and patted He Fang’s head. He Fang froze. This kind of affectionate, soothing gesture seemed entirely unconscious on Zhu Yan’s part as he remained absorbed in the data. Feeling a bit strange about it, He Fang quietly took a step back.

Three minutes later, Zhu Yan finally looked up and explained, having seemingly forgotten about his earlier action. “City Lord, this locator can be turned on and off. It had been active this whole time, but most other cities have theirs switched off. So for now, locating other mobile cities is impossible.”

He Fang received the answer but didn’t feel disappointed. Instead, he had a sense that this outcome was within his expectations.

“But…” Zhu Yan noticed He Fang’s expression and curved his lips slightly. “There’s something quite interesting.”

“Hm?” He Fang looked up in confusion.

“The locator has a path-tracking function,” Zhu Yan said.

“!” He Fang’s eyes widened in shock.

Path-tracking was a common feature in many games. For example, in open-world games, the places a player had traveled through would be marked by a line on the map, showing which areas had already been explored and guiding players toward unexplored regions.

“Turn it on! Let me see!” He Fang exclaimed excitedly.

Path-tracking had a significant advantage—it could potentially reveal a rough map of the areas one had traveled through. By analyzing the routes that Hope City had previously taken, He Fang could piece together an approximate record of its movements. With some effort, he could even reconstruct a general map!

This was an incredible stroke of luck. He Fang couldn’t wait for Zhu Yan to activate the path-tracking function. He immediately opened his system panel—if the tracking data was accurate, he could directly copy it into his system’s map!

Any area that had been mapped out could be monitored for movement. If someone passed through a previously tracked region, He Fang would be able to detect their presence. And even more importantly—he could potentially track the movements of other mobile cities!

A major breakthrough—this was an absolute breakthrough!

He Fang quickly integrated the locator’s data into his own map. In an instant, his system map expanded significantly. Most of the newly revealed areas were still shrouded in shadows, but at the same time, he could clearly see Hope City’s movement trajectory. And within these recorded movements—everywhere the city had traveled—was now mapped out!

The earliest recorded location of Hope City wasn’t in its current position. Instead, it had first made contact with another mobile city. The two cities had approached each other, remained close for a while, and then separated.

“It’s possible that Hope City obtained its locator from that city, which is when the tracking function first started recording,” Zhu Yan analyzed and explained from the side.

From that point onward, Hope City’s movements were continuously logged. Over time, its trajectory stabilized, and it made contact with several other cities, each interaction lasting for a significant period.

“Maybe something special happened during those encounters? Like trade or something?” He Fang speculated.

“Or perhaps war,” Zhu Yan reminded him. Their eyes remained fixed on the map’s path-tracking display. Then, at a particular moment—before He Fang could even react—Zhu Yan pinpointed a specific location on the map with his finger. “From this point onward, Hope City’s movement speed noticeably slowed down,” he said.

He Fang hadn’t noticed the change at all. The movement trajectory on the map had been updating rapidly. Such a subtle variation was beyond what he could detect with the naked eye.

“Could it be that they temporarily slowed down their escape because they felt safe? Or perhaps the decrease in personnel and the shortage of food left them without enough motivation to keep moving?” He Fang furrowed his brows, trying to speculate.

“Maybe it’s due to a change in leadership,” Zhu Yan glanced at the time.

As He Fang and Zhu Yan discussed, they observed the movement trajectory. Toward the later stages, Hope City’s movements became highly irregular, seemingly without any plan—drifting wherever they happened to go. Whenever they detected another mobile city nearby, they would deliberately move in the opposite direction. It was clear that by this time, Hope City was already in a dire state.

Eventually, Hope City remained stationary at their current location for a prolonged period. The locator showed numerous traces of movement approaching the area, but these traces disappeared here, suggesting that the locator had been turned off before departure, leaving Hope City’s final fate at this spot.

“Since the other cities didn’t enable location sharing, we probably won’t know exactly how many mobile cities interacted with Hope City. However, the mobile cities that deliberately approached this area later on are clearly visible. They likely shared their location temporarily for the sake of fixing their coordinates,” Zhu Yan noted. Toward the end, many mobile cities had come near and then left, making it evident that they had taken away many resources—and people.

“What’s this?” He Fang suddenly pointed at an adjacent figure.

“It’s the number of times the locator’s path tracking was downloaded,” Zhu Yan explained, narrowing his eyes slightly. “From every perspective, this download count must have accumulated after Hope City was destroyed. The people who came here scavenged whatever resources they could take, but they also needed Hope City’s route data to help them fill in their maps and determine their next direction.”

He Fang glanced at his system map. All of that data had already become part of his map—he simply hadn’t recorded the download count.

“A Hope City that anyone could take advantage of.” He Fang couldn’t help but sigh. “When the time comes, we should ask if there are any elders who have a clear understanding of Hope City’s development and what happened during different time periods. Ask several of them, and then look at which cities Hope City has encountered. Maybe through this information, we can identify movement patterns of certain cities and grasp the operating rules of mobile cities.”

With his current map data, He Fang could also determine whether any other mobile cities were approaching Hope City. Until Hope City could protect itself, everything remained dangerous.

Among the NPCs of Hope City, there were certainly many people who had interacted with the cities Hope City had encountered in the past. After all, many of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who remained were like living repositories of fragmented information. There was even a chance that these scattered bits of knowledge could provide an early understanding of the mobile cities they had come into contact with.

“It’s time to establish a mobile city archive. Guo Miaofeng should handle this. He’ll need to apply for an office and start recruiting people,” He Fang said after some thought. Then, after considering for a moment, he added with a troubled expression, “We’ll need to hire a few smart ones.”

Zhu Yan couldn’t help but laugh, his amusement obvious. A city lord troubled by such minor matters was truly endearing.

Just then, He Fang’s brows furrowed. On his system map, a point suddenly appeared along one of the roads. It was a small house-shaped icon, flashing continuously, as if it were moving. He Fang zoomed in on the map. Although he could enlarge it to a one-to-one scale, he had no idea what the small house represented. He could only examine the surrounding terrain.

Since mobile cities needed relatively flat ground to move easily, they generally avoided mountainous regions, meaning mountains were rarely visible on the map. On a vast plain, He Fang saw that the small house icon was moving forward.

He Fang furrowed his brows. Hope City’s migration path was long and far, yet this small house had been traveling in a perfectly straight line the entire time. And that line… was clearly headed directly toward Hope City.

“It’s been a long time since anyone has come to Hope City, hasn’t it?” He Fang suddenly asked.

“Yes.” Zhu Yan seemed to realize something, his tone turning serious and cautious. “At this point, there’s nothing left in Hope City worth taking. If someone wanted to melt down the framework, the cost wouldn’t be worth the gains. Plus, we’re too close to the Nightmare Beast Forest—it’s unlikely that any mobile cities would come here anymore.”

Hearing this, He Fang frowned as he stared at the small house icon on the map. But the fact remained—it was heading straight for them.

He Fang tapped on Zhu Yan’s map, marking the small house icon and a short segment of its recorded movement on the map. “From here to Hope City, how long would it take?”

“If it’s a direct, unobstructed path, about a month and a half,” Zhu Yan calculated. “Is there something at this location?”

“Yes, there is. It’s moving. I don’t know what it is.” He Fang had no intention of hiding anything from the NPCs. According to the Game Player Management Policy, anything related to personal privacy or purely player-related data was automatically filtered out anyway.

“It looks like we need to start building defenses immediately,” Zhu Yan stated decisively. “If we go by the speed you’ve marked, this movement rate is very likely that of a mobile city. And it’s fast.”

He Fang was also deep in thought. “Although it appears to be moving in a straight line now, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will come here. We just need to keep an eye on its movements at all times.”

Since its path overlapped with Hope City’s previous route, and Hope City itself had moved as quickly as possible to its current location, if the other party was truly heading toward Hope City, there would likely be multiple points where their paths intersected. He Fang could monitor the small icon’s movement at any time using the system map.

Right now, nothing had begun to develop yet. If a mobile city suddenly arrived and exposed their situation, things could become quite tricky.

“Should we take precautionary measures?” Zhu Yan asked. “Chong Ying has already inspected all the weapons available in ‘Land of Hope’—they’re all operational. We could start training Hope City’s residents to use them for now.”

He Fang considered it. They hadn’t yet established proper routes, and without opening connections between both sides, development was still limited. Right now, they were in a recovery phase. It wasn’t impossible to have the residents do something, but he was still uneasy about distributing weapons to people whose loyalty wasn’t yet high.

“Let’s hold off for now,” He Fang shook his head. His own city hadn’t even standardized weapon distribution yet—his soldiers were still using batons, after all. It wouldn’t make sense to start handing out weapons to Hope City’s residents now. “Actually, solving this problem isn’t difficult. We can use the same tactic as before with Hope City. Have Chong Xiao disguise himself as a Nightmare Beast again—maybe that’ll be enough to scare them away.”

“We should still take precautions,” Zhu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint chill flashing beneath his gaze. “After all, we’ve discovered the ‘Land of Hope’ here, but those who knew too much about it… have already fled long ago.”

When He Fang heard this, the words “former city lord” surfaced in his mind. That city lord, unable to sustain Hope City and find a way out, had immediately fled with all available resources. Before leaving, he had enabled Hope City’s tracking signal and distributed all remaining resources to other cities as a form of payment.

“There’s definitely a chance we’ve been exposed,” He Fang suddenly said. “Speaking of which, how long will it take to lay down the tracks?”

“Conservatively, it will take twenty days. But the final timeline depends on Guo Miaofeng and the research institute’s plans. If we speed up the process, it’ll take around twenty-five days in total.”

Hearing Zhu Yan’s response, He Fang secretly calculated. Twenty-five days… If that thing really is coming straight here, the time gap would be a little too close for comfort.

“Can we speed it up a bit?” He Fang asked.

“We can,” Zhu Yan answered without hesitation.

“Huh? That easy? Are you sure there won’t be any problems? If there are difficulties, let me know in advance,” He Fang worried that he might be putting too much pressure on his NPCs.

“The only difficulty is Min Zhizhou.”

Min Zhizhou? He Fang immediately understood what Zhu Yan meant. No one in their city could activate Nightmare Beast seeds, so Min Zhizhou was the only one who could personally create the necessary cores to cultivate more Nightmare Beast seeds and Revival Nightmare Plant.

“Then let these residents do it. There are so many of them—might as well put them to use,” He Fang finally realized that Min Zhizhou had been the only one handling these tasks all along. If everything were left to Min Zhizhou… even if all he did were touch things, his fingerprints would probably wear off. “Besides, if all we need is to activate the seeds, can’t we just use the trash these people have already discarded?”

“Building tracks requires skill. With their abilities, they’d just end up producing low-quality materials,” Zhu Yan made no attempt to hide his low opinion of Hope City’s residents.

“Then… then get Min Zhizhou some hand cream,” He Fang sighed, feeling guilty about overworking him. “And let the city residents try making them. We’ll run quality checks and lighten Min Zhizhou’s workload as much as possible. He’s got it rough.”

“Understood, City Lord,” Zhu Yan responded.

“If possible, I’d like to find some capable people to assist Min Zhizhou. The demand for this will only grow over time,” He Fang muttered as he lay on Hope City’s skeletal framework, watching the frail elderly and disabled residents stumbling as they walked. “But of course… there’s only one Min Zhizhou.”

Behind him, Zhu Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous glint flashing within.

Only one Min Zhizhou…

That was a very dangerous thought. How could there be only one Min Zhizhou?

How could Min Zhizhou be the only one worthy of serving their revered Creator?

At this moment, Min Zhizhou, who was painstakingly crafting track materials, suddenly felt his scalp tingle, his hair stand on end, and his entire body tense up. He immediately lifted his head and looked around warily. For a brief instant, he truly felt as if something terrifying was watching him. That eerie sensation was even more dreadful than when he faced a Nightmare Beast.

However, no matter how he looked around, he saw nothing. Yet, cold sweat continued to seep from his pores. He had a strong feeling that he had once again become the target of jealousy from the city lord’s fanatical admirers for some unknown reason. This wasn’t the first or second time it had happened.

Wiping away his sweat, Min Zhizhou silently wished that the city lord could pay a little less attention to him. Otherwise, he felt like his life expectancy was seriously in danger.

——

The railway tracks were being laid at an astonishing speed. Surprisingly, there was no need for highly precise machinery—only direct adjustments by the researchers. Since they worked in shifts, the process moved quickly, especially with Zhu Yan’s urgent orders to accelerate production.

Min Zhizhou, however, was utterly exhausted. By the time he finally finished his assigned workload, both of his hands were wrapped in bandages. For once, the usually serious Min Zhizhou took the rare initiative to request hospitalization, earning himself a brief moment of peace.

He Fang was puzzled about why Min Zhizhou suddenly wanted to be hospitalized. But when he arrived with a gift and saw the massive piles of presents stacked beside Min Zhizhou’s bed, he seemed to understand something. Curiosity was written all over He Fang’s face. He even checked Min Zhizhou’s status panel multiple times but found no signs of greed.

That said, Min Zhizhou had indeed injured his hands from prolonged, large-scale production. His knuckles were swollen, making even a grown man look pitifully miserable.

Then, He Fang watched as an exceptionally beautiful nurse, with light makeup and a gentle, considerate demeanor, softly fed Min Zhizhou. At that moment, He Fang decided to let this NPC figure out his own ways to enjoy life.

The railway construction was progressing smoothly. Once the tracks were laid to a certain extent, the train was made to run back and forth repeatedly to check for any issues. But since the ones handling this were NPCs, He Fang believed that the likelihood of errors was extremely low, so he felt reassured.

To ensure that the railway would immediately boost Hope City’s economic development upon completion, He Fang set up a tourism plan within the city. The plan was named “Doomed Hope City: Limited-Time Tour”. Due to the city’s fixed nature, the only sightseeing spots available were the mountain ranges at its outskirts. However, to the residents of Hope City, these mountains were just the scenery right outside their doorsteps—hardly something worth traveling for. At best, they were suitable for casual hikes.

Considering the city’s current unique circumstances, He Fang devised this tourism plan to encourage more of his residents to visit and explore Hope City. While it was still a ruined city, it held immense visual appeal, as this was the only period where people could witness its state of desolation. Once Hope City developed, it would never again look like this. Using this as a selling point, He Fang, with the intention of filling his treasury, set the tour prices very high—after all, his residents had plenty of money in their pockets right now!

Furthermore, once a city with ten thousand people began to grow, numerous possibilities would emerge. The first wave of businesses moving in would likely be general stores and department shops, which would gradually lead to commercial circulation. Since Hope City’s residents now had a “Land of Hope”, they would also begin accumulating wealth. Once the economy started flowing, many people from Hope City would definitely be interested in seeking business opportunities in this new area.

Additionally, He Fang’s previous recruitment for rural teachers had been completed, and the police department was prepared to establish a branch in Hope City as soon as the railway was operational. With this series of arrangements in place, it was clear that the main city’s NPCs were fully prepared to move into Hope City.

For the first trip, however, He Fang didn’t plan to take people over right away. Instead, he intended to transport one of the Rainbow Squad’s light pillars to Hope City via train.

Although Yuan Zhiran had stationed a portion of his troops in Hope City, their numbers were limited. If a large mobile city were to arrive, they might not be able to hold their ground.

The combat strength of the Rainbow Squad was already well recognized, so He Fang decided to temporarily place a light pillar in Hope City. He had also set up wind power stations around Hope City, successfully bringing electricity to the city. This meant that the Rainbow Squad’s light pillar could also replenish its energy there.

However, He Fang hadn’t yet decided which light pillar to send. He wasn’t sure if the other light pillars were mechas like Xiao Hong or if they were something else entirely. At the very least, when he pressed his face against the light pillars to peek inside, he could clearly see that they were different things.

What worried He Fang the most, though, was the small house icon that was steadily moving closer to Hope City. No matter how frequently he logged in to check, he always found that the little house had inched closer.

He Fang felt that the small house’s destination was most likely Hope City, making it even more urgent to send the light pillar over.

And then…

“What did you just say?” Qi Jingwei abruptly turned his head upon hearing He Fang’s words. The burly man instinctively lowered his body when speaking to their Creator, making him look like a bear curling up on itself.

He Fang felt like he was facing an incredibly powerful elder when talking to Qi Jingwei, making him unconsciously cautious with his words. “I said, I want to go see what exactly that thing moving toward Hope City is.”

“Didn’t Zhu Yan already make a guess? It’s a mobile city.” Qi Jingwei’s rugged face was filled with disapproval. “You want to approach a mobile city on your own? Do you understand what that means? You’d be putting yourself in danger.”

“I can disguise myself as a mercenary and bring some rare supplies. Mobile cities are always welcoming to mercenaries!” He Fang had learned from Min Zhizhou that mercenaries, with their high degree of freedom, could often obtain rare items that mobile cities desperately needed. As a result, mobile cities were usually more than happy to open their gates for trade whenever mercenaries arrived.

“City Lord, I won’t sugarcoat my words, so don’t take offense.” Qi Jingwei’s sharp gaze was ice-cold as he stared at He Fang. “Do you really think your physique could pass as a mercenary’s?”

“That’s exactly why I came to you!” He Fang looked at the tall, muscular Qi Jingwei with hopeful eyes. Unlike Zhu Yan, Yuan Zhiran, and the others who had refined, handsome features, Qi Jingwei had a rugged, mature charm, exuding a raw, untamed presence.

Min Zhizhou was already a decent mercenary. With his heavy armor and naturally sturdy physique, he was a robust man. Based on that standard, He Fang felt that Qi Jingwei’s build and appearance were perfect for blending into any mobile city as a formidable mercenary.

Although, in terms of physique, Guo Miaofeng was also a suitable choice. However, his intelligence made He Fang a little uneasy. After weighing all his options, he felt that Qi Jingwei was undoubtedly the best candidate.

“I agree with your idea of scouting out the enemy situation, and of course, I can also follow your orders, City Lord, to investigate that thing moving toward us. However, while I can go, you cannot.” Qi Jingwei rejected the idea outright.

But He Fang had to go. As a player, how could he just sit back and not take action when faced with a potential mission?

He strongly suspected this was a quest—after all, there had even been a time reminder, which was basically a mission notification telling him to get ready. If he sent Qi Jingwei but didn’t go himself, he worried it might lead to the same situation as before with Guo Miaofeng.

Guo Miaofeng had been missing for so long, likely because He Fang hadn’t personally gone to “Land of Hope” to trigger the storyline. As a result, the NPC had been locked in the scene. To avoid a repeat of that, He Fang figured it was safer to go in person.

“I need to see the situation with my own eyes in order to make an accurate judgment.” He Fang straightened his posture, noticing how Qi Jingwei had bent down slightly to speak to him at eye level. Sitting up properly would at least make the conversation more comfortable for him. “Besides, you’re incredibly capable. If anything, I’d say sending you alone would be an underutilization of your talents.”

Qi Jingwei rested his elbows on his knees, propping his chin on his hand as he looked at He Fang. “City Lord, are you flattering me?”

“I’m just speaking the truth,” He Fang replied seriously.

“In terms of strength, I’m no match for Chong Xiao.” Qi Jingwei showed no sign of displeasure despite admitting he was weaker than someone else.

“Chong Xiao isn’t suitable. I don’t plan to let him appear in the public eye.”

“Oh.” A hint of amusement flickered in Qi Jingwei’s gaze. “Indeed, he’s much better suited as a Nightmare Beast.”

“Is that okay?” He Fang asked tentatively.

“How many people do you need?” Qi Jingwei responded.

“According to Min Zhizhou, a typical mercenary team needs at least four people, so to be safe, let’s go with five. One of them should be from the finance department since we’ll be disguising ourselves as mercenaries for trade, which will definitely involve money. It’s a good chance for someone to gain experience. Min Zhizhou has to come as well, but since his hand is injured, he probably won’t be able to do much. That leaves one more slot—do you have any recommendations?”

“Don’t you think that’s too few people?” Qi Jingwei asked. “Even if I pick someone good, that still only makes two real fighters. Your safety would be at risk.”

“It won’t be,” He Fang said with certainty. “You’re strong, and with Min Zhizhou around—he’s been in and out of various mobile cities so many times—he must know how to handle things. As long as we don’t stir up trouble, we’ll be safe.”

“Alright.” Qi Jingwei finally agreed. He Fang let out a sigh of relief. It seemed convincing an NPC wasn’t that difficult—Qi Jingwei had only put up a token resistance before giving in.

Qi Jingwei smiled slightly. He could easily see through the young Creator’s thoughts. But He Fang’s worries were unnecessary—after all, as NPCs, they were bound to fulfill their Creator’s wishes.

That said, ensuring the Creator’s safety was still a priority. The last available slot had to be chosen carefully. The question was—who should it go to?

Chong Xiao, as the strongest combat force, had been hidden away. However, finding another force that could rival him was likely to be extremely difficult. The newly established military was still in its infancy and not yet capable of shouldering such a heavy responsibility. As for the police officers sitting in their offices—though they were certainly capable, their behavior often overstepped boundaries, which would undoubtedly offend the Creator.

This was truly a difficult decision to make.

Qi Jingwei sat in his office, pondering for a long time before finally making a phone call. It rang for a long while before being answered. From the other end came a deep rumbling noise, as if the person was in an exceptionally loud environment.

“What’s the matter, my old friend?” A hoarse, low yet somewhat frivolous male voice came from the other end.

Qi Jingwei ran a thick hand through his hair, worried that this frivolous fellow might not be able to restrain himself from offending the Creator. “What are you doing?”

“Building airplanes.” The person on the other end was clearly immersed in his own world. “The research institute guys recently came up with some fascinating blueprints. Airplanes are pretty interesting things.”

“So, what’s more interesting—building airplanes or leaving the city with the Creator?” Qi Jingwei tilted his head slightly as he spoke to his old friend over the phone.

“Hahahahahaha!” The man immediately understood the meaning behind Qi Jingwei’s words and burst into laughter. “Thank you, my old friend. The next time you send over a car for modifications, I’ll take care of everything for you.”

“That’s it?” Qi Jingwei teased, his voice carrying a hint of laughter.

“I’ll dig up the wine I buried ten years ago. Let’s have a drink together tonight.” The person on the other end clearly played along with Qi Jingwei’s teasing.

“Alright.” At the mention of the wine, Qi Jingwei was already tempted. “Make sure to prepare some snacks to go with it.”

“Hahahaha, got it. Thanks!” The man on the other end hung up without hesitation.

Qi Jingwei glanced at his phone, let out a chuckle, then stood up and hooked his black police uniform over his arm—ready to leave work early.

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Moonlit: I highly suspect Zhu Yan really is the ML (•̀⤙•́ ) (≖_≖ ) Btw, when buying me a coffee, pls mention the series or its abbreviation if it’s for the extra chapters. Otherwise, I’ll assume it’s for the finished series.

Aaaaaaand I also wanna say thank you to the supporters who bought me coffee with no series mentioned. ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚