The Gatekeepers, whether male or female, are extremely silent individuals, as if they have been deprived of the instinct to speak. He Fang had no idea how Ye Sheng communicated with the other Gatekeepers, but they generally followed orders. Even so, He Fang was uncertain whether they were truly obedient or secretly plotting something.
Since the loyalty of Ye Sheng and the other Gatekeepers was always at zero, He Fang chose to trust Ye Sheng and let them work, but still held some reservations. To be cautious, He Fang did not remove everyone’s collars.
At that time, He Fang asked Ye Sheng, “Due to your peculiar nature, I will not remove the collars. Do you agree?”
“No problem,” Ye Sheng replied in a robotic tone, not one that could be considered cold, but rather resembling the mechanical compliance of a machine.
“I will temporarily assign you to the outskirts of the city. You can set up posts wherever you prefer, but I will not provide you with lethal weapons. Your task is merely to monitor whether anyone crosses the border and report back immediately. Can you do that?”
He Fang ensured that new identity cards were issued for residents exiting the city since Hope City had a vast population. If someone sneaked in undetected, they wouldn’t know. Tracking population flow was crucial.
“What about the Nightmare Beasts?” Ye Sheng asked.
“There won’t be any Nightmare Beasts entering here; they don’t have that capability,” He Fang answered with certainty. He then noticed an unusual, complex expression in Ye Sheng’s typically mechanical eyes. Sometimes, He Fang thought it would be better if Ye Sheng really were a robot—at least robots don’t deceive people. The scariest thing is dealing with individuals whose inner thoughts remain completely inscrutable.
As Gatekeepers, they possess the skills necessary to guard a city, such as testing mercenaries or verifying the true identities of individuals attempting to enter. However, He Fang completely removed the Gatekeepers’ function of detecting Nightmares.
With their loyalty rating at zero, He Fang, despite trusting Ye Sheng, remained vigilant. He informed Yuan Zhiran to form a patrol team that would routinely patrol around each post, serving as an additional safeguard beyond the collars.
The ordinary people on the exploration team were all integrated into Hope City’s workforce. These individuals, who once believed they were dead, quickly submitted when they realized they had a second chance at life. Previously, when they were part of the patrol squad for Scorching Sun City, they were essentially considered dead. Now, within Hope City, they had become entirely new people.
Scorching Sun City had low standards for discarding individuals, and most of the exploration team members actually had substantial working capacity. They were even stronger than the elderly and sick residents of Hope City, and unlike Hope City’s survivors, they experienced true rebirth—death and resurrection in the truest sense. These former exploration team members of Scorching Sun City turned out to be highly enthusiastic about Hope City’s reconstruction.
After utilizing the Gatekeepers for some time without detecting any abnormalities, He Fang began considering whether NPCs with “zero loyalty” could still be utilized effectively.
Upon deeper reflection, He Fang felt that his relationship with the Gatekeepers was less about being a ruler and residents, and more akin to employer and employees. They adhered to contracts, and as long as He Fang could continue paying the price, perhaps the Gatekeepers would continue working for him.
He recalled the time when Ye Sheng agreed with his words, and He Fang asked in return, “Why did you come to this understanding?”
With a cold expression, Ye Sheng responded, “From my perspective, the more lives that survive in the city lord’s city, the better.”
He Fang pondered for a moment and felt that the meaning behind this statement might relate to the internal balance of intelligent NPCs. For example, as a Gatekeeper, Ye Sheng’s purpose is to protect a city where people can survive. Clearly, his city offers a better chance of survival than Scorching Sun City, so Ye Sheng chose to comply.
However, through Ye Sheng, He Fang also saw the potential feasibility of an “employment relationship” for external individuals. If his city develops in the future, it wouldn’t be practical for just anyone to immediately become a resident.
Based on the current conditions of national or city residency registration, external workers often need to fulfill certain requirements over time, such as “paying social insurance” or having a “high contribution rate”, to qualify for transferring their residency to the city. He Fang needed to establish these criteria.
In the future, if his city expands and attracts smaller groups seeking refuge, an employment relationship could be established with the city, followed by a probationary period.
After all, when considering reality, few employees genuinely work for the good of their companies; most simply aim to earn more for themselves.
He Fang understood this, which is why the residency system became particularly important to him.
The design institute had already completed the blueprints for Hope City. Upon reviewing them, He Fang felt they were quite satisfactory, so he directly handed them to Lu Hu. Lu Hu would allocate funds from the national treasury to begin constructing Hope City.
Before the construction of Hope City was completed, residents could purchase their desired properties from He Fang at more favorable prices. Their payments would all come from loans issued by He Fang’s city, and Lu Hu would manage all these operations.
Looking at the interest being generated, He Fang felt confident that the city’s development was just around the corner.
He Fang began constructing a prison near Hope City, along with a biological research facility requested by the research institute and a temporary housing area for residents as mandated by the public security department. Schools and healthcare facilities were directly built inside Hope City, while an advanced court was established in the main city.
He Fang adjusted the game’s time ratio, allowing the construction of Hope City to progress rapidly. Residents from the main city quickly purchased homes in Hope City, and commercial streets gradually opened within it.
Once the permits were finalized, Hope City residents could apply for passes to travel to the main city. With that, the two cities finally began to interact. He Fang watched as the national treasury steadily grew richer, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
It turned out that his decision to directly expand the city was correct. With the experience gained from the main city, as long as he proceeded cautiously, Hope City would avoid destruction. And by establishing enough cities, even if one city encountered issues due to negligence, the others could support it, preventing catastrophic losses that would require restarting from scratch.
Given the developmental phase, He Fang had no intention of rushing. He adhered to a steady, methodical approach, planning to expand outward only after Hope City became well-established.
However, He Fang also realized the unlikelihood of finding another city framework like Hope City. Constructing a new city would likely require starting from scratch.
“If only I could find the skeleton of another city,” He Fang muttered while lying on the sofa, gazing at the sensory simulation pod. “Otherwise, I guess it’s time to expand outward?”
He Fang reflected on the meaning of this setting in “Ruins Without Restart”. Surely, it couldn’t mean infinite space and infinite construction—after all, how long could one keep building?
Feeling reassured, He Fang decided to relax by playing some other games. He watched as the game he had ordered earlier was being delivered and waited for its arrival.
Due to He Fang’s social anxiety, all his packages were ordered with extra payment for direct home delivery, left at the doorstep. However, unlike timed food delivery, it was anyone’s guess when the package would arrive. Lying on the sofa, He Fang ordered himself a milk tea to unwind.
This time, he deliberately checked the rider who took the order. It was someone unfamiliar—not the blond delivery person. He wondered if it might still end up being the blond delivery person again.
Lying stretched out on the sofa, He Fang gradually drifted off to sleep, his body covered with a piece of clothing, slowly dozing off.
When the simultaneous sound of his phone’s message alert and knocking at the door woke him up, He Fang blinked in confusion. Hearing the knocking sent chills down his spine. Was it food delivery? Hadn’t he specified to leave it at the door? Wait… could it be the courier?
The knocking persisted. He Fang hadn’t even had time to check the message before he peeked through the peephole to see who was outside. Sure enough, it was the courier, wearing a familiar uniform. The courier was knocking, frowning slightly as if puzzled by the lack of response from inside.
He Fang froze completely, hastily picking up his phone to send a message to the online shopping service. But at that moment of hesitation, the courier’s call had already come through. He Fang panicked, dropping his phone on the floor. By the time he picked it up and pressed the volume button, it was too late.
The courier outside had clearly noticed that someone was inside. He loudly said, “Hello, delivery!”
Since He Fang was renting, he couldn’t expect much regarding soundproofing. At night, he could still hear various noises from the neighboring unit. Clearly, the sound of his presence had been noticed. If he didn’t open the door now, it would be considered rude.
With a bitter expression, He Fang stood by the door but didn’t dare to open it. He merely stood there, intending to tell the person to leave the package at the door.
“You…” He Fang opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, he suddenly heard a familiar, cheerful voice—a voice that always spoke to him with a hint of laughter.
“Just leave the delivery at the door; the owner of this house will come out to retrieve it,” the voice said, seemingly accustomed to the situation. Upon hearing this, He Fang felt an inexplicable jolt in his heart. He quietly peeked through the peephole to see what was happening outside.
The delivery person and the courier stood together in the not-so-spacious hallway. The courier’s appearance was quite good—at least, it aligned with He Fang’s aesthetic preferences—but surprisingly, it seemed to pale compared to the delivery person.
He Fang couldn’t help but wonder—was there now a requirement for high appearance standards in courier and food delivery jobs? Was it because of the service industry? Such fierce competition?
However, He Fang had a vague sense that something felt off. For some reason, when the delivery person and the courier exchanged glances, the tension between them was palpable, even though the delivery person kept smiling.
The courier, holding the package in his hands, glared coldly at the delivery person and said with a forced smile, “You seem very familiar with this.”
“Indeed, I handle all the deliveries in this area,” the delivery person said with a shrug, smiling as he slightly stepped aside to make room. “Apologies, was I blocking your way? I’ll move over; please go ahead.”
He Fang swallowed nervously for reasons he couldn’t explain. He genuinely felt that the situation wasn’t right, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. For some reason, the scene gave him a sense of a “tense standoff” crisis.
The courier eventually lowered his eyes, bent down to place the package at the door, and then turned and left without hesitation. He even pressed the elevator button for downward travel immediately, not giving the delivery person any chance to ride the same elevator.
He Fang figured that the text message sound he had heard earlier was likely the notification the delivery person habitually sent when bringing food to his door.
Feeling a little puzzled, He Fang thought to himself—it wasn’t this delivery person who had initially taken the order, but it always ended up being him who delivered it. Could there now be a new system or format for food delivery?
However, upon seeing the familiar delivery person, He Fang felt a wave of relief. At least he didn’t have to interact with anyone.
As the blond delivery person turned to glance at the peephole, his exceptionally beautiful eyes shone brightly, even in the dimly lit hallway. His golden hair seemed almost to glow, making him appear strikingly radiant as he stood there.
Previously, if He Fang had unexpectedly made eye contact with someone in such a way, he would’ve quickly averted his gaze out of shyness. But this time, perhaps because it was through the peephole, and coupled with his admiration for the delivery person’s consistently friendly and sunny demeanor, He Fang didn’t look away.
Seeing the radiant delivery person, who seemed to know He Fang was watching from inside, he spoke with the usual gentle smile, “It looks like this courier doesn’t deliver to you often. If you’re not comfortable with this, you could have your packages left at the front desk in the future. When I bring your food, I can grab them for you—free of charge. Delivery to your door costs extra, right?”
He Fang froze for a moment, feeling surprised. He had occasionally encountered posts online where delivery people shared their least favorite situations, like customers requesting supermarket items or asking them to take out the trash—behaviors that delivery workers found quite annoying.
But this person… is so kind.
“Well, I don’t treat every customer the same way, but you’re special,” the delivery person said. He didn’t seem in a rush to leave, almost as if he was certain He Fang was standing behind the door listening. He casually struck up a conversation, “You always give me positive reviews when I mention it, and you’re considerate enough to take your food delivery in a way that makes my job easier. You even kept safe something I accidentally dropped. It seems like you’re not fond of interacting with others, but you’ve always been respectful to me. Even though you don’t answer calls, you still respond to messages without fail.”
He Fang blinked, listening to the delivery person say so much, yet unsure what point he was trying to make.
“But the main reason is that you helped me recover something very important. I’m truly grateful. It was actually a piece of game merchandise. I love this game for its storyline and CG art; the combat system is so innovative. This pendant appears repeatedly in the game, and I’m absolutely in love with it—that’s why I bought it…”
Standing behind the door, He Fang listened to the delivery person ramble on and suddenly felt he could relate. If he could communicate freely, perhaps he would also enthusiastically introduce his favorite games to others like this.
Even though they didn’t converse directly, He Fang felt as though they were sharing a moment chatting about games, and he actually enjoyed listening.
At that moment, the delivery person’s phone rang. After glancing at it, he showed a hint of regret and said through the door, “I have to go now. Another order came in. Let’s chat again when there’s a chance. Next time, feel free to add a note asking me to pick up your package. Bye-bye.”
Leaving already?
He Fang felt a sudden wave of panic and lightly knocked on the door, the sound faint but carrying a hint of hesitation and longing.
He had never communicated so smoothly with someone before, even without meeting face-to-face. He didn’t mind having a chatty friend who would keep talking by his side.
Despite the soft knock, the delivery person still heard it. He stopped in his tracks and asked curiously, “What’s wrong, customer? Do you have trash to throw out?”
He Fang quickly ran to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of drink, and confirmed that the delivery person was still standing at the door. He opened the door slightly and placed the drink on the side.
This time, he didn’t close the door completely but left it ajar, waiting for the delivery person to take the drink he had placed there.
“Thank you.” The usually talkative delivery person spoke gently, uttering just this one word without any excuses or excessive chatter. This simplicity made it easier for He Fang to accept. Through the small gap in the door, He Fang saw a pale, slender hand reaching for the bottle. It was the most beautiful hand he had ever seen.
Back when his social anxiety wasn’t as severe, He Fang would always lower his head while talking to people, never making eye contact. As a result, he often noticed people’s hands more than their faces. For him, recognizing a pair of hands was easier than recognizing a person.
Now, looking at this pair of hands, He Fang thought they were model-worthy. Anyone would find them stunning—fair and elegant, holding the colorful drink with an added touch of beauty. The way they grasped the bottle inexplicably stirred a subtle, ticklish feeling in his heart.
“Thank you, and I feel bad for troubling you to give me this. I still haven’t properly thanked you for helping me recover something I lost last time,” the delivery person said. Just as he finished, the elevator doors opened. For the first time, He Fang heard his voice directly, not through a door, not over the phone, but just as if they were face-to-face. “Goodbye, customer.”
The voice was exceptionally pleasing, like soft, warm whispers gently brushing past the ear. Unlike the mechanical tones conveyed by phone signals, his natural voice carried a distinct charm that seemed to hook onto something unique, making it impossible not to admire and wish to hear more.
But then he left. He Fang opened the door, saw the milk tea placed atop his package, and brought everything inside.
He looked at the package, opened it, and found the game inside. As he stared at it, memories of the delivery person’s joyful expression while enthusiastically promoting his favorite game resurfaced in his mind.
On impulse, He Fang took a photo of the game and sent it to the delivery person.
After sending the photo, He Fang immediately wondered if he might have come across as overly eager. He considered retracting the message, but since it was a text message, there was no way to do so. The inability to undo his action left him feeling restless and frustrated.
To his surprise, the delivery person responded quickly: “Wow, it’s the one! Was the package I saw earlier really this game? Amazing! I feel like we’re really connected—it turns out we genuinely like the same thing!”
“Customer, would you like to add me as a friend? We can share games we play. I’m so curious to hear your thoughts after playing this one!”
“I’ve never met anyone in real life who likes games. You’re the first!”
As He Fang pondered, a friend request suddenly popped up on his screen.
His heart skipped a beat. It had been ages since he last received a friend request. His list was practically empty—he had always avoided socializing too much. What if an online chat grew into a good relationship, and then, in real life, the other person wanted to meet? They’d surely be disappointed. Even though he knew the probability was low, He Fang didn’t want things to ever come to that.
But this friend request was overwhelmingly tempting. It had been so long since he’d even thought about making a friend, and now this tiny pop-up box was enough to nearly bring tears to his eyes.
Could he really have a friend? A friend who shared the same interests? Was it true?
He clutched his phone, pacing nervously back and forth in his room. Normally, he would have ignored it outright, but this time was different.
First, the other person had such a strikingly good-looking face. Even He Fang couldn’t deny his fondness for aesthetically pleasing things. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have picked the best-looking landmark in “Ruins Without Restart”, even if his initial reason was simply because of the beautiful beast.
Second, they had already spent some time interacting. The delivery person had always treated him gently, never minding his socially anxious behavior. Despite He Fang’s reserved and sometimes outright avoidant tendencies, the delivery person continued to communicate with warmth. Wasn’t that a kind of allure in itself?
He Fang had been homebound for so long that he had almost forgotten how to interact with people. Even though he had chosen to cut himself off from others, there were moments when loneliness would creep in unexpectedly.
In the end, He Fang accepted the request.
The moment the request was successfully added, the delivery person immediately sent a message: “Customer?”
He Fang thought for a moment and replied with a simple “1”.
What followed was a rapid flood of game screenshots, accompanied by the delivery person excitedly introducing the game. For most people, this kind of behavior might come across as annoying, but for He Fang, it was perfect. He much preferred a friend who dove straight into talking about games instead of engaging in stiff and overly polite small talk.
He Fang carefully opened each screenshot and video. He had to admit—the game was impressively well-crafted and visually stunning.
Furthermore, he noticed the delivery person’s gaming skills were incredibly polished. Judging by the footage, it seemed like they were playing on the hardest difficulty level—the “Hell Mode”. The bosses were immensely challenging, but even so, the delivery person managed to execute flawlessly elegant moves, completing the gameplay without a single mistake. This level of skill could only belong to an experienced and highly proficient player.
After some thought, He Fang sent a message: “Did you record all this yourself?”
“Of course I did! I played it over and over to get it just right—adjusting angles and refining the camera work. I wanted to make sure every clip looked amazing. If it doesn’t look good, how can I convince others to check it out?”
He Fang blinked, reading the familiar, enthusiastic tone, and a smile crept onto his face. He really enjoyed this kind of interaction.
When playing the game, He Fang wondered if he could exchange gaming insights with his new friend—after all, it was rare to find someone with the same interests.
For the first time, He Fang was genuinely excited to start a game.
The game turned out to be exceptional—its design was intriguing, the scenes were stunning, the combat system innovative, and the sense of impact during battles strong. The storyline also had its highlights. He Fang could fully understand why the delivery person was so fond of it.
As someone deeply engrossed in gaming, He Fang found himself completely immersed—but one’s energy is always finite.
He never expected that upon snapping out of his gaming trance and checking “Ruins Without Restart”, the first thing he’d see would be a drop of over a thousand points in the residents’ happiness rating.
He Fang was stunned.
A drop… of that magnitude?
Why?
He Fang had always prioritized the happiness of his residents, watching their steady improvement day by day. Yet after just three days of neglect, their happiness plummeted by such a staggering amount.
Suddenly, He Fang remembered that he had adjusted the game’s speed earlier. In those three days, the in-game time had likely accelerated to years. The game’s event statistics now displayed a plethora of critical information—far too much for him to process all at once.
But He Fang was quite puzzled. In the past, such situations weren’t entirely unheard of—after all, city-building games require time to develop, and He Fang’s city had always been constructed very slowly. Even though he had played the game for three years, the in-game timeline usually spanned almost three generations. It shouldn’t be possible for the residents’ happiness to plummet so much from just three days of being offline.
This isn’t normal?
Suddenly, He Fang thought that perhaps something was amiss with Hope City. Instead of rushing into the city, he began to review the important events in the event statistics one by one.
Hope City was developing quite well. The commercial district had been established, and a second railway line had already been built and put into operation. There was already considerable interaction between the inhabitants of the two cities. Because he’d been offline for three days, a whole year had passed in the game—and in that one-year span, Hope City, which once was just a skeletal framework, had gradually taken shape and was built quite nicely.
During this period, Sai Gu had returned several times, bringing with him information about other mobile cities. At Guo Miaofeng’s place, some dossiers regarding these other mobile cities had already been established. When He Fang opened one of these files and saw the incredibly detailed information within, he was truly astonished by how formidable Sai Gu’s ability to gather information was. Every dossier contained minute details—even vulnerabilities that Sai Gu could pinpoint.
After more than a year of training, the armed unit led by Yuan Zhiran had produced some very capable soldiers, and a barracks had even been developed in Hope City. Surprisingly, during this time, the Gatekeepers had also been working quietly and diligently without any mischief.
“How strange—everything has been developing so smoothly. There hasn’t been any shortage of resources due to rapid development. What, then, could be causing such a drastic drop in the residents’ happiness?”
He Fang couldn’t help but murmur to himself. He spent a long time combing through the event statistics, yet he couldn’t find any clues.
“Could it be because the lord of the city is absent? Does the long-term absence of the city lord lead to a decline in residents’ happiness?”
However, the happiness decline is only seen in the main city. In contrast, the happiness level in Hope City has suddenly increased significantly, with the average loyalty score directly crossing the 100-mark threshold.
If that’s the case, Hope City also doesn’t have a city lord, but it shouldn’t result in declining residents’ happiness, should it?
Could it be due to exclusivity? Not wanting people from Hope City to enter the main city’s inner areas?
That doesn’t make sense, right? At least Min Zizhou has been doing well so far.
He Fang glanced at the event statistics for Hope City, but his brows furrowed deeply.
The most noteworthy thing was:
The prison has already been completed, and it is fully occupied!
He Fang was puzzled and bewildered. Could it be that Hope City’s crime rate had suddenly surged without his knowledge? Is it because the laws weren’t quickly disseminated, or is there another reason?
He Fang frowned as he opened the prison event statistics, transitioning from a worried expression to one of total confusion.
The inmates in the prison were mostly unregistered mercenaries from outside!
——
Not long ago, a rumor suddenly emerged.
There is a rumor about a strange phenomenon occurring at the site of Hope City’s destruction.
Everyone who entered that area never returned.
According to current information, Hope City should have become the Nightmare Beast Forest. However, there is a persistent rumor about an underground resource area near Hope City called the ‘Land of Hope’. It is said that this place is rich in resources, left behind by the former residents of Hope City as a backup plan before their evacuation.
This rumor only surfaced later, and it is said that the first ones to know about it were from Scorching Sun City. Eventually, this rumor was confirmed by some who had escaped from Hope City.
In this resource-starved apocalypse, the allure of abundant resources naturally incites a strong desire to claim them. As such, countless mercenaries have gone to Hope City, hoping to acquire resources from the ‘Land of Hope’.
This was a deal that could make one rich in a single venture, ensuring a lifetime free from worries about food and drink.
Mercenaries, after all, gamble their lives on their ventures, and it was not uncommon for them to enter the Nightmare Beast Forest. However, it is said that all mercenaries who set out for Hope City eventually lost contact.
Even though it was all part of the Nightmare Beast Forest, not a single piece of news came out of it. This was incredibly bizarre.
In the mobile cities, there is a system for sharing intelligence about the Nightmare Beast Forest, known as the Black Map. Mobile cities typically have a duty to detect and log the surrounding status of the Nightmare Beast Forest into the Black Map so everyone has a better chance of survival.
However, Scorching Sun City has marked the territory of Hope City as part of the Black Map. Yet even the Black Map has failed to produce any information, which is very strange.
In this apocalypse, where the basic status quo has already been established, the sudden appearance of such an anomaly is bound to trigger panic. An already uncontrollable nightmare beast forest, if it were to suddenly mutate, would be utterly overwhelming for them.
That’s why every mobile city now feels the need to thoroughly investigate this strange area. Some cities have even temporarily assembled elite personnel into mercenary-like squads to conduct reconnaissance, though none of those who go ever return.
That place, rumored to have the power to obliterate entire cities, is nothing short of a bottomless pit, plunging all the mobile cities into terror.
This time, the Black Flag Mercenary Squad received an assignment from the ultra-large mobile city “Angel City” to explore Hope City.
Black Flag is one of the most renowned mercenary teams around. Their unit consists of ten members, each of whom has previously led a mercenary team. They are adept at discerning the signs of Revival Nightmare Plants within the Nightmare Beast Forest, and they know exactly where resources are more readily available. They always manage to return with abundant supplies without losing a single member—truly elite.
But now, these elites have started bickering with one another.
“Captain! Why did you take on this mission? You know full well how terrifying Hope City is—no one who goes there ever comes back! Even if we love money, we still need our lives!” At that moment, Qiao Qiao—one of the only two women in the unit—was complaining to their tall, burly captain. “No mercenary team has ever emerged from that place, not one! You know what that means, right?”
The captain, Zhou Fang, furrowed his brow in a strange manner as he took a drag from his cigarette. He then looked around and asked, “Do you all share the same opinion?”
“Right now, the situation is indeed somewhat complicated. After all, no one can be sure what’s really happening over in that nightmare beast forest—up until now, there hasn’t been any fixed, reliable information. This puts us at a disadvantage; the rate of disappearance is just too high. Even if we’re completely in sync, we might still end up losing some comrades.”
Zhou Fang’s younger brother, Zhou Yuan, added, “Bro, taking on this commission was way too reckless.”
But Zhou Fang simply took a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaled slowly, and his expression grew grave.
At that moment, another woman nearby quietly noticed Zhou Fang’s demeanor. Having always admired their captain, she naturally found it easier to read his emotions. Gently, she leaned against him and asked, “What’s wrong? Is there something bothering you?”
The cigarette in Zhou Fang’s hand was nearly burned out, yet he made no move to stub it out. After a long silence, he finally said in front of his team, “Angel City has revoked our trading rights.”
In that instant, everyone fell silent.
Everyone present understood all too well what it meant to have their trading rights revoked.
As mercenaries, they rely on trading various resources with different mobile cities to secure a prosperous life. Once those trading rights are stripped away, the worst part isn’t that they can’t trade anymore—it’s that even if they manage to secure resources, if they’re intercepted and confiscated by someone else along the way, they come with no protection at all. It’s essentially like cutting off a mercenary’s lifeline.
“This damned Angel City—what are they thinking? Do they want us dead, no matter what? Are the people of Angel City deliberately sending us off to investigate the situation, or is there someone out there holding a grudge against us and trying to use this opportunity to take us out?!”
The team members’ words weren’t entirely without merit, but even if they were, there was nothing that could be done. They were only a ten-person mercenary unit—how could they possibly stand up to a gigantic mobile city?
“Maybe they’re just using us as a scapegoat. The other mobile cities have also sent out mercenaries, and it’s quite likely that the very first group they sent, composed of their own people, was completely wiped out. So when Angel City’s turn came, in order to protect its own citizens, they chose to force a commission onto a mercenary unit that’s completely unrelated to them.”
“Their people’s lives are valued—so, do our lives not matter at all?” At that moment, the person beside him was so furious he might as well smash a wall.
Zhou Fang then attempted to continue smoking, only to discover that his cigarette had nearly burned down to the filter. Cigarettes had become a luxury these days; managing to smoke even one was already a treat. Normally, he was very sparing with his smoking, but now, in his agitated state, he forgot his usual frugality and pulled out another.
Nearby, Qing Qing stepped forward with a lighter to help him light it, her graceful face revealing a trace of worry.
“Even though they’re forcing us to take this mission, they’ve also promised us enormous benefits.” Leaning against the wall with a complex, troubled expression, Zhou Fang continued, “As long as we make it out of this mission, we’ll each receive three years’ worth of pay—and even the resources we bring back will be compensated at ten times the market price. If we lose even one person, there will be extra compensation…”
One by one, Zhou Fang recited all of the terms promised by Angel City, and the mercenary unit, previously seething with indignation, suddenly fell silent.
This time, the rewards were exceedingly generous, so much so that it was breathtaking.
“Could it be a trick?” Zhou Yuan couldn’t help but ask. The terms were just too favorable.
“They were posted directly on the mission board, with Angel City as the issuer. If they break their promises, it’s their own interests that will suffer.” At this moment, Zhou Fang shook his head and said, “This commission isn’t our original pay—it’s the extra bonus added after we’ve lost countless mercenary units. Now that Angel City is pressuring us, we have no choice but to accept. The numbers might look attractive, but we still need to survive to claim them.”
High rewards always attract brave souls. As mercenaries, they make their living with their lives. With rewards this good, how could anyone not be tempted?
“Since we can’t refuse, we might as well give it everything we’ve got. Our accomplishments as Black Flag aren’t for show—what others can’t achieve, maybe we can,” chimed in Qiao Qiao, placing her hands on her hips. Her charming tone moved everyone present.
Yet Zhou Fang’s expression remained grim. He took a thoughtful drag on his cigarette, yet even that couldn’t ease his troubled mind.
“What’s wrong, Captain? You look so down,” Qiao Qiao said as she stepped in front of Zhou Fang. “Isn’t it just the nightmare beast forest? We’ve been there countless times—are we really still afraid of it?”
Zhou Fang shook his head. Under the puzzled gazes of the others, he slowly continued, “This time, things are a bit strange. Angel City gave us some tech-based location charts, and what they depict is not the nightmare beast forest at all. It seems that Hope City hasn’t turned into a beast forest—there’s no sign of darkness.”
Everyone around frowned. “So does that mean it wasn’t overrun by the beast infestation? But that was the news from Scorching Sun City! And even if it really wasn’t infested, why have none of the mercenaries who went in ever come out?”
“That’s the irrational part. I’ve heard whispers, and now many mobile cities have already begun to harbor grim suspicions.” Zhou Fang’s cigarette burned slowly, with tendrils of white smoke rising into the air. He added in a measured tone, “The nightmare beast forest might indeed have mutated.”
New characters! This.is getting more Interesting…🔥