ATIGIBTC Chapter 125.2

Yuan Zhiran immediately stood up and gave He Fang a military salute.

“You’ve been working hard lately. How are you doing? Is your funding still enough for now?” Due to the sudden expansion of the Holy Land, Guo Miaofeng had begun conducting widespread map surveys and collecting information on cities. During this period, the Land and Resources Bureau was practically overwhelmed with work. He Fang would occasionally check on Guo Miaofeng’s status and found that he was constantly on the move.

Guo Miaofeng’s maps were more detailed than the ones from He Fang’s system. The detail wasn’t in the terrain itself, but in the topography. Guo Miaofeng carefully documented the flora and fauna on the land as well as other fine-grained information. His thoroughness made the workload at the Land and Resources Bureau extremely heavy.

“Not bad at all, since there are a lot of interesting new places,” Guo Miaofeng said with an uncontrollable silly grin, as he always did when talking to He Fang. “City Lord, I haven’t seen you in a long time. I really missed you.”

Looking at this somewhat clumsy but straightforward NPC, He Fang’s mood lightened as well.

“If you’re too exhausted, you can apply for a break. We don’t expect you to be working outside twenty-four hours a day.” Suddenly, He Fang became worried. Given that Guo Miaofeng’s emotional intelligence and regular intelligence were both not exactly high, if he didn’t even have time for himself, he might end up never getting married and dying alone. He said with concern, “Be sure to make time for your personal life. Career is important, but so is family.”

“Understood, City Lord. There’s something I need your opinion on,” Guo Miaofeng said seriously to He Fang. “Should I provide the maps I’ve surveyed to the cities currently occupying the land?”

He Fang was taken aback for a moment, then gave it some thought.

Actually, it wasn’t some particularly top-secret matter.

But it also wasn’t something that should be available to just anyone.

After thinking it over, he said, “Upload everything to the terminal and let the government handle it. Anyone who wants access to the maps must go through a government approval process first. As for the general city layout after the land is confirmed, that part can be made available to anyone.”

He Fang’s terminals were already being sold in the current mobile cities within the Holy Land, and just like in Ao City, they were extremely popular. However, their functions had not yet been fully activated. They were currently only being used as a form of entertainment.

Later on, He Fang granted a few permissions on the terminals to the upper management of the major mobile cities, such as communication and contact access.

The terminals were gradually becoming a hot commodity. Once all these people had settled down quietly in the Holy Land without stirring up trouble, he could begin to tentatively open up all permissions.

He wanted every city to have the opportunity to communicate with each other. Only then could development progress more quickly.

He Fang sat in his seat and looked at the twin siblings in front of him. Probably due to their years of academic study, they had an air of scholarly refinement about them. They looked just like university students who had just stepped out of school, with a very distinct aura.

“You can’t tell me who the initiator of the peace treaty is?” He Fang asked.

Shi Canghai and Shi Sangtian exchanged a glance. In that moment, it seemed as if they had silently communicated something to each other, and only then did they turn their gaze to He Fang.

“City Lord, now that we are under your jurisdiction, there may be some things that are hard to hear, but we’ve decided we must still tell you,” Shi Canghai said with resolve.

“Go ahead.” He Fang blinked calmly. What could possibly be unspeakable?

“City Lord, your sudden move this time to force all the mobile cities to completely withdraw from the peace treaty is a serious misstep. You’ve only just established the Holy Land, people have only just begun to settle, and many haven’t even had time to find a foothold. Yet you’ve already rushed into taking this step. To those mobile cities that have not yet found stability, this action almost openly declares that Future Hope City intends to suppress the others,” Shi Canghai said bluntly.

Shi Sangtian picked up where Shi Canghai left off and said, “Right now, people’s hearts are unsettled. Many of the mobile cities staying here may, in fact, be pieces placed by other mobile cities, testing the state of your rule through their communications. Mobile cities are different from those that are grounded on land; they don’t have proper regional divisions. And now, City Lord, you’ve divided the entire territory into east, south, west, and north, and labeled the mobile cities within them according to region. That, too, is a very unwise move.”

Shi Canghai closed his eyes briefly, clearly no longer intending to conceal much. “Now, in the southeastern region, nearly one-quarter of the traversable land has been directly taken away from the mobile cities. And with Ao City’s puppet emperor, the movable area has been split in half. While under your protection, City Lord, we are safe from Nightmare Beast seeds, but to the other mobile cities, this is fatal. With Nightmare Beast seeds constantly compressing their living space, they are like trapped beasts in a cage on the verge of a violent outbreak at any moment.”

Shi Sangtian looked even more agitated and said, “City Lord, I don’t know if there’s anyone at your side giving you honest advice, but when you made these decisions, you really, truly lacked proper consideration. We are very grateful that you’ve taken command of the entire northern region on our behalf, but the global situation is intricately connected. Pull one thread, and the whole web moves. Inserting yourself into the global layout so directly like this is bound to cause massive chain reactions—reactions that are completely unpredictable!”

“Now things have escalated into a full-blown conflict. The southeast regions have practically united in opposition, tightly bound together. There’s no chance either of those regions will ever submit to you, City Lord. Even a cornered rabbit will bite. And now you’re forcing control over the peace treaty with overwhelming pressure. This is pushing the rabbit into biting!” Shi Canghai added, reinforcing Shi Sangtian’s words.

He Fang was completely stunned.

He stared in disbelief.

After playing this game for so long, he had thought the main quest was finally nearing completion.

But now, he’d just been thoroughly scolded by a wild NPC out of nowhere. He was numb.

Even Yuan Zhiran didn’t look too good. Though he wanted to reprimand the twins for being disrespectful toward their Creator, the truth was, everything they said was completely valid.

He Fang scratched his head awkwardly. “Uh… yeah, no one actually told me.”

He was just a player. He’d never studied world politics. In a game where there was no room for trial and error, all he ever thought about was how to develop and how to make things flow naturally.

“Ruins Without Restart” had already forced players into becoming architects, coordinators, chefs—juggling bits and pieces of every role imaginable. And now he was expected to take political science classes too?

Looking at the twin brother and sister in front of him, He Fang finally understood why they had looked so worried this whole time. It was obvious they disagreed with his decisions. They’d noticed things going wrong, but because He Fang had been acting with single-minded determination, they had suppressed their doubts for a long time, unsure whether they should speak up and request an audience.

Shi Canghai was filled with fear. Subconsciously, he shifted slightly to shield his sister by his side.

Mirage was a very headstrong city. After entering it, they had come to understand that—though it appeared to be a simple and ancient-style city—it was clear to him that every person in Mirage carried themselves with immense pride.

Their eyes seemed to harbor pasts unknown to the world, guarding secrets that no one else could see. And the only reason they were now able to show genuine smiles within this city… was likely because of the city lord in front of them, who, for some reason, possessed a strange and magnetic charisma.

Perhaps due to the indulgence of Mirage’s people, this city lord’s way of doing things was also unusually unrestrained. His style of action hadn’t caused any issues so far, precisely because he possessed overwhelming and unmatched personal strength.

Yet the more they observed, the more they realized that no one around this city lord ever spoke to him bluntly. The gifted figures of Mirage used all kinds of extraordinary skills and methods to meet his wishes in roundabout ways.

Shi Canghai even began to wonder. If the city lord demanded the sun in the sky, these powerful people of Mirage might actually find a way to bring it down for him.

And now, here he was, speaking so directly with criticism and reprimand to this city lord, who held the hopes of so many.

Would they end up being silenced, simply because the city lord was angered or embarrassed?

Shi Canghai felt his sister consciously grab hold of his arm. He turned his head slightly to glance at her and saw the worry in her eyes.

However, what he saw on the city lord’s face was not anger or rebuke, but silence.

The City Lord was thinking.

In the end, the City Lord revealed a rather strange expression. “Were my decisions really that terrifying?”

Yuan Zhiran, standing to the side, replied, “What they’re worried about… isn’t without reason.”

Hearing those words, the heart that had been hanging high in Shi Canghai’s chest slowly began to settle. He stared at the two people in front of him—people who were seriously considering their words. Shi Canghai felt a bit dazed.

Guo Miaofeng, though he hadn’t understood the full depth of the discussion, could tell they were asking the City Lord not to act so rashly. He said, “Are these two… actually really smart?”

At that moment, the three people from Mirage simultaneously turned their gaze toward the twin siblings.

Under the sudden attention, Shi Canghai abruptly bent down into a deep bow—a sharp, respectful gesture that, in He Fang’s city, was the highest form of honor: “We are truly sorry, City Lord. We know we shouldn’t have been so harsh toward you. Please, forgive us!”

He Fang was taken aback for a moment. “It’s fine, really. It’s actually great. Having someone give feedback is a good thing.”

He Fang had always relied on his own judgment to decide what to do. After all, NPCs were just supposed to assist. But now, with an NPC offering suggestions, he was genuinely pleased.

This pair of twin siblings really did look quite smart.

“You all are indeed right to be suspicious, but that’s also because you don’t know enough about the main city.” Although Yuan Zhiran wasn’t exactly a standard politician, he still knew that situations couldn’t be generalized. “All of the City Lord’s successful decisions up until now have been based on that foundation.”

“We still have to guard against potential hidden dangers.” He Fang didn’t think it should be dismissed so lightly. “We need to come up with a more secure approach.”

As He Fang pondered little by little, a tag suddenly flashed through his mind: ‘Politician’.

Inside his mobile city, there were NPCs with the ‘Politician’ tag. Maybe he could send one over to discuss things with these two NPCs? They would understand the current apocalyptic landscape better.

“Then let’s put this matter on hold for now.” He Fang decided to heed the NPCs’ advice. “If you come up with a better plan, inform me.”

Shi Canghai and Shi Sangtian exchanged a glance and saw surprise and delight in each other’s eyes. They had been holding back all this time, only to now realize that there had been no need for restraint at all.

The gentle and kind City Lord, who commanded the world’s most powerful Mirage, truly wasn’t someone who ruled with an iron fist!

“Usually, those with the ‘Politician’ tag end up going to the government, so directly transferring someone from the government should work…”

The twin siblings watched the City Lord, who seemed to be lost in thought about something.

“Ah, the food delivery’s here.” The City Lord suddenly said something strange, and just like that, vanished before their eyes.

Shi Canghai, Shi Sangtian: “……”

“Isn’t the City Lord very cute? There’s no need to be particularly afraid. City Lord has always listened to everyone.” Yuan Zhiran smiled meaningfully and stood up. “I hope you all will truly be as you’ve shown today—greatly useful to the main city.”

He Fang logged out of the game, opened his phone, and sure enough, saw a message from the deliveryman saying the food had arrived. Without much hesitation, he opened the door. As expected, the deliveryman was standing right outside, flashing him a very handsome—though slightly goofy—smile.

However, beside the deliveryman stood another man, tall in stature, seemingly a neighbor who had taken the same elevator.

He Fang instinctively wanted to close the door, but his movement stalled. His whole body went stiff as he waited for that person to open the door to the apartment next door and go inside. Only after hearing the sound of the door closing did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t shrunk back like a turtle and hid away. That counted as a bit of progress, didn’t it?

Luckily, the neighbor didn’t seem interested in him either. From start to finish, he hadn’t even lifted his eyes to glance in this direction.

He Fang let out a breath of relief.

“Customer?” The deliveryman waved the hand holding the food in front of He Fang’s face.

Seeing the deliveryman, He Fang smiled. “Wait a sec. I warmed up some milk tea. I’ll grab it for you!”

---