ATIGIBTC Chapter 53

He Fang woke up, still drowsy, feeling like his body was floating. The sunlight filtering through the curtains seemed oddly strange.

He sat on the bed in a daze for a long time, his mind completely blank. It took quite a while before he finally gained some clarity and picked up his phone to check the time.

“?”

He Fang suddenly snapped out of his grogginess, staring at the time multiple times to ensure his phone wasn’t malfunctioning.

“How did I sleep all the way until almost dinner time?”

Finding it hard to believe, he checked the clocks around the house and even the one on his computer. He was now absolutely certain—it was already the afternoon.

How could he have slept this long?

Even though he had overslept, his body didn’t feel the usual fatigue that came with it. At first, his brain hadn’t fully woken up, but once it did, he realized he was overflowing with energy—so much so that he even wanted to go outside and run a few laps just to burn it off.

He remembered that last night, after having the calming chicken soup, he had gone straight to sleep and didn’t wake up until now.

Come to think of it, the day before yesterday, when he had the same soup, he had also slept straight through to the next morning without waking up at all.

What kind of “calming” chicken soup was this? Did they put sleeping pills in it? What if it actually put someone to sleep permanently?!

Fuming, He Fang opened the food delivery app and immediately left a negative review for the shop. If someone ate this and passed out like he did, living alone with no one to check on them, wouldn’t that be disastrous? The thought made him grit his teeth in anger.

Then, he went ahead and filed a complaint on the app.

But just as he was about to submit it, He Fang froze.

If he filed a complaint, someone from the shop would definitely call to inquire about the situation. What was he supposed to say then?

But on second thought, he couldn’t just let a shop like this do whatever it pleased on the food delivery platform. If someone really ended up having a serious issue because of it, he would feel guilty for not speaking up!

Still, when submitting the complaint, He Fang made sure to add a note: “If you need more details, please contact me via text, not by call. Thanks.” Then, without hesitation, he finalized the complaint.

Right now, He Fang was bursting with energy. He paced back and forth in his room a few times but didn’t feel like just sitting down and playing games. If he couldn’t physically burn off this excess energy, he would feel uncomfortable. So, he decided to do a full-scale cleaning of his apartment.

His lifestyle was usually pretty simple, but he had high standards for his living space. Only when everything was spotless, with no strange odors lingering around, could he truly enjoy playing games with a relaxed mindset.

No hoarding trash, no smoking or drinking—he always maintained his best mental state when gaming. That was the only way to achieve higher rankings, analyze game mechanics more seriously, and fully appreciate a game’s unique charm. This was He Fang’s personal ritual.

After cleaning, he took a shower, dried his hair thoroughly, made himself a small meal to fill his stomach, and brewed a cup of herbal tea. Only then did he finally settle comfortably into his sensory simulation pod.

On the stats panel screen, He Fang noticed something new—there was a large additional category in his interface, a secondary panel, with three bold words at the top: Hope City.

He Fang was a little surprised. So this really was how the game worked.

Opening the Hope City panel, he found that it was structured exactly like his main stats panel, except that all the numbers on it were significantly lower.

Right now, the population data for the entire city has been fully compiled. The total number of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled individuals in Hope City was just over ten thousand.

The age distribution of the city’s population showed a stark polarization—there were many very young children, while the older population, which should typically be in their prime, was mostly in their forties and fifties. People over sixty were extremely rare, making He Fang pause in thought.

The older a person was, the lower their productivity, meaning their chances of being abandoned were nearly one hundred percent. But there were clearly very few elderly individuals. Did this mean that, under the harsh conditions of the apocalypse and the demands of high-intensity labor, the average human lifespan had decreased?

Or was it similar to what happened with Min Zhizhou’s parents—once a person reached a certain level of ability, they were selected for scouting teams, using their fragile bodies to make their final contribution to the mobile city?

He Fang frowned. That possibility seemed very likely.

However, people in their forties and fifties, if given proper care, were still at an age where they could generate value and had the potential for further contributions.

Moving on to other statistics, he saw that the average loyalty score was only seventy, whereas his own residents’ loyalty had already skyrocketed to four thousand. The increase was astonishing—far faster than what he had experienced in traditional city-building games. Was this due to some internal game mechanics?

A loyalty score of seventy was actually quite high if compared to a perfect hundred, but because his own city’s loyalty was absurdly high, it made seventy seem unimpressive in comparison.

What surprised He Fang, however, was that despite the residents of Hope City having generally poor physical attributes, some of them actually possessed useful skills.

These skills were things He Fang had never seen on any of his own NPCs, nor were they skills he had any use for—things like “Mobile City Third-Level Maintenance Worker” or “Outer Wall Cleaner”. These were clearly skills meant solely for life in a mobile city.

On average, when using Min Zhizhou’s stats as a reference point, there were actually some NPCs who had excellent attributes during their prime. However, due to factors like age and hunger, most of their attributes were now grayed out—typically an irreversible state.

From this, it seemed likely that these NPCs had once held important positions when they were younger, only to be discarded once they grew old.

If this was truly the case, then the reality of mobile cities was far too cruel.

He Fang wondered whether these skills could be of any use to his own city.

But just as he was pondering this, he suddenly froze upon seeing the resident’s happiness score.

He checked it multiple times, even clicking on it several times to make sure he wasn’t misreading it.

The happiness score was unbelievably high—so high that it was nearly half of his own city’s resident happiness score!

Half was a lot—a staggering amount. Compared to all the other overwhelmingly low stats, this number stood out like a giant, bright red flower blooming right in the middle of the data, impossible to ignore.

He Fang was dumbfounded. What was going on? How could the average happiness score be this high?

He hadn’t originally planned for these NPCs to do anything else. Right now, almost all of them are in a negative state. If he wanted them to be more motivated and efficient, the first step was to adjust their attributes. Simply put, they needed to eat well, dress warmly, recover from illnesses, and nurse their bodies back to health. So, He Fang had arranged in advance for people to distribute food and sent a few doctors over.

At first, He Fang hadn’t expected this to go smoothly. After all, transferring his NPCs to other wastelands was bound to be met with resistance—those who had been living in the refined city wouldn’t be happy about it. It was just like how people were generally unwilling to be sent to the countryside. Because of that, He Fang deliberately raised wages and benefits, though not too much, fearing that it might cause dissatisfaction. He had discussed it with Lu Hu for a long time before settling on a reasonable range.

However, to his surprise, the moment he sent out the recruitment notice, people responded immediately. He Fang wasn’t sure whether it was the lure of a high reward that had attracted brave souls or if some higher ideal had motivated them. But regardless of the reason, the outcome was worth celebrating.

To ensure nothing went wrong—after all, those NPCs looked extremely poor, and if they suddenly saw an influx of resources, there was a risk of riots—He Fang even transferred personnel from the police station to prevent any conflicts over food.

But now, everything seemed well-organized, and the situation was looking good.

He Fang opened the event statistics for Hope City and found that everyone’s condition had improved significantly.

“XXX felt incredibly happy after eating a delicious sweet treat. He walked with more energy than usual and smiled more brightly than before.”

“Mm, not bad, not bad. Looks like things are improving.” He Fang nodded in satisfaction.

“Madam XX’s chronic illnesses, which had accumulated over the years, have greatly improved with the help of doctors. Now, she can farm for longer periods than before. She is very happy and is gradually becoming more beautiful.”

“Mm, mm, this is good too.” After all, there were no ugly NPCs in his city—he couldn’t let the wild NPCs drag down the overall aesthetic.

“Mr. XX, having eaten his fill and regained his strength, rekindled his youthful passion with his partner.”

“…?” He Fang was dumbfounded. What the hell?

But looking at the overall data, he finally understood why Hope City’s happiness levels were so high. It was because they had experienced an extreme contrast—rising suddenly from rock bottom to a better life, which resulted in an overwhelming sense of happiness. However, He Fang also knew that this kind of happiness was different from the stable, well-established happiness in his city. These numbers were flimsy—once they got used to this new standard, their happiness might decline.

“Mr. XXX attempted to snatch food from Young XX’s distribution. The police intervened and suppressed the situation.”

“Madam XXX offered a portion of her food to Mr. XX, earning his appreciation.”

He Fang had been reading through the event statistics in order from top to bottom. At first, everything seemed orderly, but as he scrolled further, increasingly strange information began to appear. His expression tightened.

Clicking on these individuals’ profiles, he found that they were all wild NPCs. Meanwhile, the NPCs from his city were still diligently fulfilling their assigned roles.

When everyone was waiting for death, when people had lost hope and could only rely on each other in the end, the hierarchy that should have naturally formed was suppressed. He Fang still remembered that when he first arrived in Hope City, the people weren’t gathered together. Instead, they were all doing their own things. Yet despite there being ten thousand of them, aside from the children, no one had formed groups.

Now that the fear of death had disappeared, people were able to eat their fill, receive medical treatment, and slowly recover their physical strength. In the game, after sleeping for a full day and night, quite a long time had passed. As the wild NPCs gradually regained their wits, their thoughts also started stirring.

Did these people think he was going to pick a leader from among them?

He Fang had never once considered letting the wild NPCs take power. He had so many excellent NPCs—why would he use those with uncertain and mediocre attributes? That would be foolish. Even if he had to settle for second-best, the only person he could truly trust and use was probably Min Zhizhou.

“Useless and already forming cliques? That won’t do.” He Fang muttered to himself. It was indeed the right decision to have assigned police officers here from the start.

Although his NPCs had higher attributes than the wild NPCs, He Fang still remembered the standoff between Min Zhizhou and the volunteers. The volunteer girl had kept dodging out of fear. Even though she had high attributes, her personality had still been nurtured in the comfort of the city, making it clear that attributes alone couldn’t be the only standard for judgment.

Looking closely, sure enough, the productivity of these NPCs was practically zero. Just the fact that they had been working the land for half a day without producing anything was proof enough. He Fang casually tapped on a vegetable plot on the map, and at that moment, a single word appeared on the field: Grass.

No matter how he selected the crops, He Fang only ended up with “grass”. He frowned.

Were these wild NPCs not growing vegetables at all?

He Fang had no experience in farming—not even in growing flowers. In the game, he only relied on labels rather than recognizing the actual shape of the crops. So, while inside the game, he had never really paid attention to what was being planted in the fields.

Were these wild NPCs growing grass? Had they been eating grass this whole time?

Only now did He Fang suddenly realize that there might no longer be any real food left in Hope City. The people here had likely been surviving on grass all this time. When the city’s lord left, he had probably taken all the seeds with him, leaving nothing for the doomed residents.

He Fang sucked in a sharp breath. He couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of admiration for the former lord of Hope City. Just how ruthless did one have to be to make such a swift and decisive choice?

His initial judgment had been correct—the only thing these wild NPCs needed to do now was recover their health.

But just to be safe, maybe he could have Yuan Zhiran deploy some troops here. Training them in this place would still be training, and it would also help maintain order.

Even if He Fang wanted to rebuild Hope City now, it would be impossible. There was no functional road connecting the main city to Hope City. Although food, water, and medicine could be temporarily supplied by air, the materials needed for reconstruction couldn’t be transported. Right now, they desperately needed the research institute to develop a solution so they could reconnect the road between the main city and Hope City as soon as possible.

At that time, he had also sent researchers to Hope City to study the only functioning locator there. He wanted to see if it was truly possible, as Zhu Yan had suggested, to use the locator to pinpoint the locations of other cities.

This was a difficult task. After all, He Fang understood that in the real world, hacker warfare was incredibly intricate. He didn’t want to put too much pressure on the researchers.

He Fang opened the map of Hope City. Compared to his own city, Hope City was even more grand. As a city capable of housing over a hundred thousand people, it made his own city, which had barely reached forty thousand residents, seem insignificant.

The framework of Hope City was overly ambitious—perhaps designed to accommodate multiple functions, which resulted in a lower percentage of practical space. Because of this, its total land area was even larger than that of He Fang’s city.

However, this comparison only applied to the city itself—it didn’t include the vast, resource-rich mountain range that He Fang controlled.

Now, looking at the internal map of the enormous Hope City, he noticed that the roads were an absolute maze. It looked just like the 3D castle layouts he had encountered in other games. A place like this wasn’t easy to let sunlight in. But people needed sunlight—even someone as much of a shut-in as He Fang still occasionally pulled back his curtains to prevent mold from growing.

How could he design a city with reasonable lighting and convenient functionality? Even if he had to sacrifice some usable space, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Many of the city’s mobile structures could be dismantled—after all, they no longer needed to move.

As He Fang pondered, he realized that in “Ruins Without Restart”, the concept of national borders likely no longer existed outside of his city. Should he go ahead and set a territorial boundary for himself?

As He Fang pondered, he absentmindedly clicked around Hope City’s model, observing its details from various angles. Without realizing it, his fingers pinched together in a shrinking gesture.

Suddenly, an even larger map appeared before him—so massive that it left him completely stunned.

A national land map had appeared right in front of him!

He Fang stared at it, eyes wide with shock.

Without hesitation, he logged back into the game and immediately sought out Guo Miaofeng. The NPC, who had been in the middle of correcting the map, tensed up the moment he saw He Fang arrive. His entire body stiffened as he tried to compose himself into a more mature posture—but it was useless. Seeing their creator approach, he was so overwhelmed with embarrassment that he looked like he wanted to bury himself.

Noticing Guo Miaofeng’s obvious nervousness, He Fang tentatively asked, “You’re not still holding a grudge over what you said before, are you?”

The large, middle-aged man suddenly looked like a scolded puppy, lowering his head and curling in on himself slightly. His entire posture radiated anxiety and unease—he looked utterly pitiful.

He Fang couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He didn’t even know why—maybe because the sight was just too similar to the cute pet videos he usually watched.

“I’ve got a task for you,” He Fang said, patting the table. “Show me the latest updated map of Hope City.”

He Fang genuinely liked Guo Miaofeng—probably because he was the only NPC in the game whose emotions were easy to read. That sense of control over the conversation and the situation made interactions with him feel much more natural and relaxed.

Guo Miaofeng’s map unfolded before He Fang, and sure enough, it was exactly as he had expected. Not only had Guo Miaofeng mapped out the terrain, but he had also included the full height and intricate details of Hope City. It looked identical to He Fang’s system map, except it had real-life visuals!

The difference was like comparing an in-game minimap to a detailed strategy video found online.

Using his system map as a reference, He Fang drew a rough, crooked line over the unexplored areas of Guo Miaofeng’s map. Within this marked zone, he pinpointed several locations that needed further exploration.

“You’ll take the next flight to Hope City,” He Fang instructed while considering the plan. “Once there, follow the outline I’ve drawn and explore the surrounding areas.” After a pause, he added, “The distance is a bit far. Do you need me to assign some people to you or send a transport vehicle?”

Guo Miaofeng examined the map, estimated the distance, and thought for a moment before replying, “No need. I’ll just take my bicycle.”

He Fang blinked. “Bicycle?”

“Hehe,” Guo Miaofeng chuckled a little awkwardly. “It’s a sports bike developed by the research institute. It’s designed for all terrains, shock-resistant, extremely sturdy, and hard to break. I use it all the time to explore maps.”

He Fang blinked again. Wouldn’t riding a bike for long distances make his butt hurt? His gaze instinctively shifted toward Guo Miaofeng’s backside.

Lean and well-toned. A solid butt.

He Fang continued, “Do you need any funding?”

For some reason, Guo Miaofeng felt like the Creator’s attention had been lingering on something… odd. His body instinctively tensed as he replied, “When I survey maps, I just need to bring enough food with me. Thank you for your concern, City Lord, but there’s no need.”

He Fang never interfered with NPCs’ decisions, so instead, he simply reminded him, “Make sure to pay close attention to your surroundings—not just the mapping. If you come across any caves or anything unusual in the mountains, be sure to check them out as well.”

Guo Miaofeng nodded, though a trace of doubt surfaced in his mind. It almost felt like the Creator knew something.

“I’m counting on you!” He Fang patted Guo Miaofeng’s shoulder and gave his meticulously precise Director of the Land and Resources Bureau an encouraging nod. “I know you’ll complete this mission perfectly!”

Surveying maps didn’t involve social interactions, and in this area, Guo Miaofeng had always excelled. He Fang had absolute confidence in him.

He Fang left, but Guo Miaofeng remained standing in the office, dazed. The spot on his shoulder where the Creator had patted him felt strangely warm.

This time, he had been assigned a new task—one he was already highly skilled at and familiar with. Did this mean he had a chance to make up for his past mistake?

The past few days had been unbearable for him. He was probably the only NPC in the entire city who had caused the Creator such a significant mental blow. And yet, the Creator still trusted him enough to assign him important missions, still relied on him, and still reassured him.

“…Thank you, dear Creator.” Guo Miaofeng’s previously lost expression softened with a hint of quiet relief. “I’m truly grateful to have been born in this city.”

When He Fang zoomed out of his city map, a national land map appeared. This was the territory that the system had designated for him when Hope City had once occupied the area. Now, within this expanse of land, He Fang could see the entire environment surrounding the city.

The map was filled with numerous intricate markers, each one highly detailed and complex. There were also several large icons. As He Fang studied the map, he noticed something that looked like a water source symbol.

It appeared to be a water source marker—a small droplet icon. Typically, water sources were represented by rivers, but no rivers were visible on the map. Instead, there were multiple small droplet icons scattered across different areas. He Fang speculated that these might indicate cave water or underground water sources, which would explain why a clear water source wasn’t displayed.

He also spotted cave entrance markers. If there were caves, there was a good chance they contained minerals. This meant he might not have to exploit the resources of his own city too aggressively—he could potentially gather materials from the surrounding area instead.

The presence of water sources was especially crucial. With water, large-scale farming would be possible. He Fang decided to use his city’s seeds and have the NPCs of Hope City plant them just to see if they could grow properly in this new environment.

To do that, he needed a more detailed and precise map.

If he could confirm these resources, he could significantly reduce the need to transport supplies. He Fang had already considered the possibility that his city’s resources might only be sufficient for his own population. If he had to support Hope City as well, there was a risk of overexploitation.

As he patrolled the area around his city, he watched the farmers working the fields. Then, he glanced at the fertile land where he could grow all sorts of crops at any time. A thought crossed his mind—maybe he should download some farming knowledge from the internet and integrate it into the game. That way, he could avoid a scenario where his seeds refused to sprout in the soil outside his city.

“Hey.” He Fang walked along the ridges between the fields, taking the initiative to approach a farmer NPC who was busy working. “Hello, can you communicate?”

The farmer NPCs all had distinct features characteristic of farmers—long limbs, weathered skin, and wide-brimmed straw hats for sun protection. As He Fang passed by them, none of the NPCs made eye contact with him, which made him hesitate. He wasn’t sure if these NPCs were intelligent.

One of the farmer NPCs raised his hoe high and swung it down into the soil without sparing He Fang a single glance.

He Fang pondered for a moment. Should he issue a command? Just like with that old man from before, the one who kept raising his armor non-stop after receiving an order.

“You…” He Fang started to speak but decided against it. If he gave an order and ended up making this NPC repeat an action for several days, that wouldn’t be ideal. With that thought, he turned around and walked away.

The moment He Fang’s figure disappeared from sight, the farmer NPC who had been spoken to lowered his hoe and sat down heavily on the ridge where He Fang had just been standing. A deep sense of dejection surrounded him.

“It’s okay, don’t be sad. You did great,” one of the other farmers approached to comfort him. “We really can’t let the Creator notice anything unusual.”

The farmer who had been spoken to looked utterly crestfallen. His honest, simple face was filled with grievance, as if he had just been scolded by his wife. “I wasn’t ignoring the Creator. I swear I wasn’t! I really, really wanted to talk to him. But I was too afraid. I feel so awful…”

“It’s okay. You really did great, you did an amazing job,” his companion reassured him. “Tonight, we’ll drink! Drown our sorrows in booze!”

“Alright.” The dejected farmer accepted his companion’s suggestion, deciding to drink his sorrows away tonight. After all, it was the first—and possibly the last—time in his life that he had been in such close proximity to the Creator. “I’m telling you, the Creator looks really adorable, completely different from us.”

“Better looking than your wife?” his companion teased with a laugh.

“That’s different. The Creator and my wife—one is faith, the other is family. How can you ask me to compare them? You’re really heartless.”

“Hehehe…”

He Fang believed that the foundation of a city should first be solving the food problem. Since there was grassland, that meant they could plant crops and raise livestock—securing food supply came first.

“Should I find a professional to teach them how to grow vegetables and raise livestock?” As usual, He Fang headed to the research institute, where he stood before Zhu Yan, the researcher he had always trusted and relied on.

“That’s unnecessary.” Zhu Yan took out a tiny object that emitted an exceptionally bright light. It looked like a miniature lightsaber, and the shape of the light could be adjusted from the hilt. He had shaped it into a small groove. “After our investigation, it turns out that everyone in Hope City is proficient in farming and animal husbandry.”

He Fang was stunned. “Everyone?”

“Yes, these are essential skills they all have to learn.” Zhu Yan turned around and pulled something out of a nearby drawer. “Unlike us, who must study various subjects in school, the people of Hope City only need to learn farming, livestock raising, and their respective jobs. Their work determines their position in the city, while farming and husbandry are basic survival skills.”

“Will they be planting crops inside Hope City?” He Fang frowned in thought. He recalled that there didn’t seem to be much available land for farming within Hope City.

“They do plant some crops regularly, but most of their agricultural techniques are used when the mobile city stops, just like what Gatekeeper Zhao Wei did before. The mobile city halts in a relatively safe area to recuperate, usually for several months. During that time, farming is essential to replenish the city’s supplies.”

He Fang suddenly remembered—this was something Min Zhizhou had told him before!

“Looks like I was overthinking it. So what they really lack are just seeds and livestock hatchlings?” He Fang watched as Zhu Yan placed a black, graphite-like object onto the sand table and then attached the tiny lightsaber to the graphite.

“I actually think using food as leverage for now is a good strategy. It would be better to make them prioritize repairing Hope City first.” Zhu Yan sealed the sand table tightly, ensuring its security.

“But we can’t just keep feeding Hope City forever. My expansion efforts were meant to generate more economic benefits, not to take on another burden of land.” He Fang’s gaze followed Zhu Yan as he operated something. He saw tiny gray sand grains falling into the sand table.

“City Lord, you can do whatever you want. Right now, with the Divine Lord monitoring them at all times, it’s impossible for these people to escape.” Zhu Yan lowered his eyes, watching the sand table. From the small hole created by the miniature lightsaber, the graphite inside suddenly sprouted a tiny, withered branch. Zhu Yan suddenly smiled.

“A little tree has grown?” He Fang blinked, his eyes filled with curiosity as he looked at the tiny sapling. “Is this a Nightmare Beast seed?”

“Yes.” Zhu Yan’s usually cold and indifferent face finally showed a faint trace of a smile. “The twenty-fourth simulation experiment was a success.”

“Simulation? Simulating what?” He Fang was still confused.

“A simulation of constructing tracks using Revival Nightmare Plants within the Nightmare Beast Forest.” Zhu Yan’s voice carried a distinct hint of amusement. He lifted his gaze slightly—his eyes, which rarely displayed any clear emotions, now held a teasing glint. He looked at He Fang with a certain expectant gaze as if waiting for him to show the reaction he had anticipated. “City Lord, we did it.”

He Fang froze. Then, his eyes slowly widened in disbelief.

He had been waiting for the research institute to develop a method to control Revival Nightmare Plants for a long time. Within the timeline of “Ruins Without Restart”, a significant amount of time had already passed. Yet now, in the middle of this casual conversation with Zhu Yan, they had actually succeeded?

“You… You just said the twenty-fourth time. So that means the experiment had already succeeded long ago?” He Fang murmured.

“Yes. To be on the safe side, we conducted additional experiments for some time. Now, we can confirm that there won’t be any issues. We can completely shape the Revival Nightmare Plants into whatever form we desire.”

As Zhu Yan spoke, he never took his eyes off He Fang, as if he wanted to capture every trace of surprise on his face.

He Fang was overjoyed!

How could he not be excited?!

His city had cars, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, and well-developed roads—everything had advanced to the extreme. But there was one thing his city lacked—trains!

Overjoyed, He Fang stepped forward and grabbed the corner of Zhu Yan’s coat. “Are you serious? You really mean it, right? Is the strength sufficient? Didn’t we say before that Revival Nightmare Plants were extremely hard? Won’t the train’s weight cause accidents?”

“We conducted tests, and they were successful. Theoretically, it works. We’ve already built the train. Now, all that’s left is laying the tracks and conducting trial operations.” Zhu Yan lowered his gaze to look at He Fang, a faint smile curving his lips. He actually seemed quite happy.

“You already built the train?!” He Fang’s eyes widened in shock. “How considerate are y—N… uh, I mean, what an amazing researcher you are! You’re basically my right-hand assistant!”

Once the trains started running, the development of Hope City would expand rapidly. He Fang had already begun to dream—would the free movement of NPCs bring even more NPCs into his city? Would his city’s population surge to new heights?

Where there’s circulation, there’s growth. Right now, aside from the reserved spaces for urban facilities that hadn’t been developed yet, every other available piece of land had already been filled to capacity. And once his NPCs discovered new land to expand upon, perhaps they would autonomously develop and build. Surely, many NPCs seeking land and opportunities would enter Hope City to chase prosperity. The full restart of Hope City was just around the corner!

And then—!

Money will start flowing in, won’t it?!

An entire city!

A vast expanse of land, even rivaling his own city in size!

Seeing He Fang’s vivid joy, Zhu Yan’s smile deepened. He Fang’s wide, astonished eyes and the way his lips curled up in excitement—he looked both thrilled and delighted. Zhu Yan simply couldn’t resist this kind of happiness, as if it were a reward in itself.

“Can I get a reward?” Zhu Yan asked with a smile.

When he heard that Chong Xiao had received a verbal reward promise for assisting their Creator, Zhu Yan felt a little jealous. Now, he had accomplished something significant—he had helped the Creator obtain the train he had always longed for. Shouldn’t he also get a promise in return?

“What kind of reward do you want? I can give you anything!” He Fang felt like he had struck gold having an NPC like Zhu Yan.

“I haven’t decided yet. Can I ask for it later?” Zhu Yan couldn’t deny that he felt a bit competitive toward Chong Xiao. Maybe he didn’t have Chong Xiao’s unmatched combat prowess, but he possessed an unparalleled ability to expand his thinking—something Chong Xiao could never compete with. He certainly wouldn’t be any less valuable than him.

“Sure!” He Fang agreed readily. What could an NPC possibly want? Most likely just money. And if it were something else, it would probably trigger a quest. In the end, wouldn’t he be the one benefiting from it anyway?

Ever since Zhu Yan’s previous NPC quest, he seemed to have undergone a qualitative transformation. He Fang was more than pleased with this change.

Could other NPCs also undergo changes through completing quests?

Did all of his NPCs still have hidden quests waiting to be triggered?

Could his city take yet another leap forward?

He Fang’s thoughts spiraled outward. He began to feel that the future development of his city’s NPCs was boundless.

Expanding the idea even further—although the wild NPCs currently had worrying attribute stats, if they could also receive NPC quests like Zhu Yan’s, wouldn’t it be entirely possible to unlock new attributes for them? And then, perhaps, they too could experience a qualitative leap!

At this moment, He Fang felt that Zhu Yan was undoubtedly his greatest ally in “Ruins Without Restart”. The insights, achievements, and even the NPC quests Zhu Yan provided had given him tremendous inspiration.

Overwhelmed with joy, He Fang suddenly threw himself into Zhu Yan’s arms. “You’re absolutely amazing!”

Zhu Yan let out a faint chuckle, gently wrapping an arm around He Fang’s half-embrace. Then, he slowly lifted his gaze—his eyes gleaming with a provocative challenge as they locked onto a distant figure watching them. A stunning man with flowing golden hair.

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