Sunlight scattered through the huge glass windows of the research institute’s main hall. On the ground, densely covered with energy blocks, a familiar figure stepped lightly. The white figure stood out strikingly in this vast, empty hall. The other’s exquisitely handsome and cold face still caused an unintentional sense of amazement. At this moment, the silent gaze locked He Fang inside the cage created by those very eyes.
In that instant, He Fang felt as if he wasn’t in a strange world at all, but rather, like when he used to control models and roam around, this was an ordinary meeting, ordinary beyond ordinary.
“Zhu Yan.” He Fang looked at this NPC he valued the most—oh no, he should call him a genius. He Fang surprisingly felt no trace of unfamiliarity.
“City Lord.” Zhu Yan’s eyes flickered briefly, then said, “Creator, may I ask if you are free now?”
“Ah, yes.” He Fang was momentarily stunned.
Zhu Yan half-turned: “Then there’s no time to waste. Many things need you, the Creator, to handle. You haven’t come to manage things for a long time.”
He Fang: “…” Suddenly, he wondered if Zhu Yan was angry right now.
“I understand very well that you, Creator, have always hoped the city could continue to operate after you leave, but we really need you to maintain it. We can’t do without you.” He Fang followed behind Zhu Yan, only seeing Zhu Yan’s upright back. “If possible, I hope you, the Creator, can enter the world using the sensory simulator pod. This way, time can be allocated; one day for you might be several days or even months of development for us. Coming here in your real body directly is really such a waste of time.”
He Fang choked up, unconsciously clenched his hand, feeling inexplicably guilty and nervous: “If I really use my own body, aren’t you happy about that?”
At this moment, Zhu Yan stopped walking and turned back. He took a step closer, standing just in front of He Fang.
He Fang instinctively wanted to lower his head, but abruptly stopped. In the end, his gaze rested on Zhu Yan’s hand. He saw Zhu Yan take off his gloves. When those slightly cool fingers touched his cheek, He Fang felt his heart skip a beat.
“I’m very happy, Creator. I’m even more ecstatic than you might imagine.” The fair, slender fingers belonging to the researcher touched lightly yet steadily, as if conducting a very precise experiment. “Thank you, Creator, for giving me this opportunity to meet the real you.”
He Fang felt that he was more helpless than anything else when facing Zhu Yan: “No… no need to thank me?”
Zhu Yan let out a light hum, a faint laugh, then put his gloves back on: “But if possible, what I hope even more is that you can live longer, longer than any of us. Of course, that’s just my own thought.”
He Fang raised his eyes and met Zhu Yan’s gaze. From those eyes, he saw genuine emotion.
He Fang unconsciously pressed his lips together.
“During your absence recently, development has been quite fast. The Summit of the World has applied to join the Hope City Alliance. Information about this has been tightly controlled. Regarding the application from the Summit of the World, I think it can be approved. Although the Library manages countless materials, in reality, theoretical data is even more abundant. The Summit of the World has been researching mobile city technology, and every one has been experimentally verified. There are many aspects worth learning from.”
“Hm…” He Fang listened eagerly as Zhu Yan rambled on.
“In other words, as long as you have all the current technology and ideas from the Summit of the World, Creator, when you open up cities in the future, you can use the information from the Summit of the World as a blueprint to make better use of space, build cities, and increase population density. That way, others can come to the city as quickly as possible.”
He Fang blinked. If he made his city into a mobile city like that, with countless layers to accommodate countless people…
“That seems feasible?” He Fang thought this might allow those NPCs still waiting outside the world to come here sooner.
“Air transport is very advanced now. The online shopping channels you’ve been considering before, Creator, I think they can start trial operations now. I’ve already made corresponding websites. Almost everyone now has a terminal, so it shouldn’t be a big obstacle.”
“The first generation of intelligent robots has been successfully developed and is about to be put into use. Currently, we have compiled a list of places that require intelligent robots. These need you, Creator, to decide on the direction of their deployment…”
He Fang stood still, listening to Zhu Yan’s endless chatter about the changes in the city during this period. He realized that basically, all he needed to do was make a confirmation and a decision. Everyone else in the research institute had already thought through everything for him.
“Thank you.” After confirming one item after another, He Fang suddenly felt like an emotionless confirmation machine, but at the same time, he genuinely felt involved. In the end, He Fang couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time as he looked up and thanked Zhu Yan.
“Assisting the Creator is our honor and the responsibility we have taken upon ourselves,” Zhu Yan said.
He Fang’s expression was a bit helpless: “I’m not thanking you for that. I’m thanking you for always considering what I want to do.”
Though these tasks seemed complicated, they basically all realized the ideas he had been proposing all along. Thinking carefully, it seemed that almost all of his ideas had been completed.
“Following me must be hard on you all. Shouldn’t you take a break sometimes?” He Fang felt a little embarrassed and scratched his cheek.
“Then tonight it shall be,” Zhu Yan said suddenly.
“?” He Fang was stunned.
“Dress nicely. There’s a dinner tonight. As the leader, Creator, you should at least acknowledge our continuous efforts.” Zhu Yan smiled at He Fang. “I will invite Yuan Zhiran, the Chong brothers, and others you have always been familiar with. Meeting them all at once might be much better than making you hesitate and meet them one by one.”
He Fang looked at Zhu Yan eagerly. What kind of mind-reader was this Zhu Yan exactly?
“Zhu Yan, you, your previous life…” He Fang suddenly asked with great curiosity. What was Zhu Yan’s previous life? How could he so deeply understand what He Fang was thinking?
“No previous life.” Zhu Yan suddenly lowered his gaze, his eyes full of faint attachment. “I was born in this city. I am just a person of this city. I am only yours, Creator.”
When He Fang stepped out of the research institute, he still felt a bit dazed.
Zhu Yan had said he had no previous life.
He Fang looked at the Divine Lord, who had been wearing a stern expression since the beginning, and asked with some puzzlement, “Zhu Yan doesn’t have a previous life?”
“That’s impossible.” The Divine Lord smiled coldly, a smile that barely reached his eyes. “He’s just trying to show loyalty.”
He Fang: “…”
But…
Zhu Yan gave him two hours to prepare a speech for their commendation at this banquet. In truth, just asking him to write a commendation speech. He Fang felt that Zhu Yan really thought of everything from every angle. When facing Zhu Yan, He Fang honestly feared there might be something he was too embarrassed to say out loud. But in reality, Zhu Yan was always guiding his words and never made him feel unfamiliar.
Now, with everyone gathered, the larger the crowd, the less He Fang could get tangled in his thoughts. It was also meant to help him train his social anxiety.
Thinking this, He Fang suddenly wondered—maybe Zhu Yan had also long resented his social anxiety?
Although He Fang knew this would be a meeting of all the main city people, he never expected that it would be broadcast live the entire time!!!
All the main city residents who couldn’t attend the banquet quietly sat in their places, as if watching a show.
Min Zhizhou was confused. What exactly was happening? Why was everyone suddenly on high alert one by one?
But when he was passing through the Home Appliance City, holding a plate of fried rice noodles, his eyes suddenly caught the high-definition close-up of He Fang on a television there. He Fang’s youthful face looked a bit embarrassed, but he was trying hard to look at everyone.
Min Zhizhou stopped in his tracks. Suddenly, he realized many people were standing there; some had stopped and were holding their phones. Yet the usually noisy city suddenly fell completely silent in that instant.
Min Zhizhou looked around at everyone. He could hear what was coming from the television. He could hear the young city lord sincerely making promises to everyone. He could see that the young city lord was also suppressing an excited expression at this moment.
He didn’t fully understand, but vaguely, deep inside, his long-held suspicions were confirmed by the young city lord’s speech this time.
It was He Fang who had brought the god who would transform this world into this dying world.
But not to save their world.
Instead, to save themselves.
Min Zhizhou saw many people around him crying bitterly after hearing He Fang’s speech.
He saw tears of joy from everyone within his sight.
Ever since he arrived here, he had known the close bond between this city and its city lord.
And now, that bond seemed even stronger.
Though this was a city full of monsters, Min Zhizhou felt that perhaps this was the warmest and safest place in the world.
After the speech ended, chaos suddenly broke out on the television screen.
He watched as the young city lord was fought over like a toy by all kinds of people, pulled into their arms.
From the moment the Minister of Finance pressed the young city lord to her chest, Min Zhizhou knew the young city lord’s spirit had probably flown far away.
Chong Ying tugged and pulled at the young city lord, saying something like, “My brother said if he could be with the Creator, they could do the following…” At this, Chong Ying was immediately silenced by a tall, extraordinarily handsome blond man.
He saw Guo Miaofeng and his colleagues showing maps to the young city lord.
He saw the young and beautiful Minister of the Armed Forces, dressed like a peacock competing in splendor, rarely showing a childlike, silly smile.
He saw the police chief clinking glasses with his silver-haired adult male friend, then watched as the silver-haired man sneakily forced a drink into the young city lord’s mouth. The young city lord’s cheeks flushed bright red from choking, instantly drawing the crowd into a frenzy. Meanwhile, the silver-haired man stood beside them, laughing joyfully with a purely genuine smile.
Although he wasn’t actually part of this world being broadcast live on TV, Min Zhizhou stood still, holding his plate of fried rice noodles, taking bite after bite, as if watching a world even more interesting than any TV drama produced by Angel City.
Just by watching, Min Zhizhou couldn’t help but smile.
It was a joy born from being touched by everyone’s happiness.
This is so touching wuwuwuwuwu