ATIGIBTC Chapter 72

When He Fang logged back on, he suddenly recalled that the spot where he had previously logged off was right in the vicinity of the border defense gatekeepers. Their complete lack of loyalty had always given him lingering apprehension, so he would often sneak over to check on the situation.

Now, although the gatekeepers’ loyalty remains at zero, at least their level of happiness has increased in step with that of the residents of Hope City.

For He Fang, the small apartment he’s been renting, where no one ever disturbs him, has become a haven of happiness, so he doesn’t feel like going anywhere else. Empathizing with others, he believes that if happiness can be elevated, it would also boost the NPCs’ sense of belonging to the city; after all, no one would willingly leave a place that makes them feel comfortable.

These days, the gatekeepers have captured a host of mercenaries who had ventured too close to Hope City—clearly, they are now earnestly working for him.

When He Fang finally entered the game, he was greeted by an impeccably constructed outpost accompanied by clusters of innovative new weapons arrayed around it.

In the event statistics, he found an introduction about this very phenomenon—the concept he had proposed long ago: “using the mobile city’s ability to distance itself to construct mobile defenses”. He had originally conceived this idea to provide adjustable space during the city’s expansion, and he never imagined it could actually be realized.

By harnessing the unique properties of every weapon in the “Land of Hope”, drawing on the gatekeepers’ understanding of these arms, coupled with Zhu Yan’s research on the entire mobile city framework—and finally, following simultaneous negotiations between Yuan Zhiran and Chong Ying—they succeeded in producing a defensive city wall that can either move or remain completely fixed.

To He Fang, it appeared as if cannon barrels were mounted along the wall; yet, upon closer inspection, that wasn’t quite the case.

He Fang couldn’t help but reach out and touch it—indeed, it was capable of successful defense. His NPC is truly amazing.

Could an intelligent NPC evolve weaponry to such a degree? Or is it only possible because it’s a game? After all, achieving this in reality would probably be very difficult, right?

Suddenly, He Fang sensed someone watching him. He lifted his head and looked in that direction, only to raise an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing who it was.

It was Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng had changed. It seemed that spending nearly a year in the game had really allowed him to live well. He was now wearing a military green uniform that differed from Yuan Zhiran’s attire. Moreover, every gatekeeper now sported a collar around their neck—probably to make the collars more noticeable, as the uniform’s neckline was designed to be rather open, giving off an oddly seductive vibe.

But, didn’t he also seem a bit overweight?

He Fang thought that if it weren’t for age restrictions, Ye Sheng might have followed in Min Zhizhou’s footsteps.

“Yuan Zhiran isn’t going to turn out like this, too, is he?” He Fang murmured to himself. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing that person, whose beautifully androgynous face he admired, eventually morph into a buff, muscular man.

“My City Lord, are you calling me?” A familiar voice suddenly came from behind. He Fang’s heart skipped a beat as he quickly turned around. Sure enough, Yuan Zhiran stood behind him.

He Fang immediately took in Yuan Zhiran’s figure, now clad in a black military uniform. It appeared… that he hadn’t transformed into a complete muscleman after all.

Thinking about it carefully, although Chong Xiao is very strong, he doesn’t have the intimidating appearance of a muscle-bound man. Could it be a genetic factor?

Do people who survive in a post-apocalyptic world store energy more easily due to environmental conditions?

“Are you looking at something?” Yuan Zhiran noticed He Fang’s gaze. Before He Fang could respond, Yuan Zhiran unbuttoned his coat, removed his black jacket, and revealed a well-toned but not overly exaggerated physique.

He Fang reached out and poked the exposed arm muscle under Yuan Zhiran’s inner shirt. “Your muscles aren’t that exaggerated.”

Being touched, Yuan Zhiran’s face gradually turned red.

“Although I’ve been eating diligently, I still can’t grow very bulky muscles. But in terms of physical fitness, I won’t lose to anyone,” Yuan Zhiran said, maintaining his usual serious and not particularly endearing demeanor.

“There’s no need to become that exaggerated…” He Fang glanced at the gatekeepers around them, then leaned closer to Yuan Zhiran and asked quietly, “You didn’t feed the gatekeepers anything strange, did you? They all seem to have bulked up a lot.”

“They seem to aspire to that kind of physique, just like Min Zhizhou back then,” Yuan Zhiran replied, though his gaze remained fixed on He Fang. “Probably due to prolonged hunger, they’re obsessed with eating to fatten themselves up. They’ll eat anything they can get their hands on. At first, I thought they weren’t getting enough food, so I gave them more, and then I saw them quickly gaining weight.”

He Fang’s expression turned peculiar. “So what I’m seeing isn’t that they’ve bulked up, but that they’ve gotten fat?”

He Fang stared in shock at the gatekeepers, each one a hulking, rugged figure. It was almost unbelievable that these individuals had single-handedly fattened themselves up!

“Hmm.” When He Fang originally handed over the task of settling the gatekeepers to Yuan Zhiran, of course, Yuan Zhiran was determined to exceed He Fang’s expectations. “Although they’ve gotten fatter, they’ve been training diligently all along—every bit of muscle hides beneath that layer of fat. Remarkably, they’ve even gained more strength.”

He Fang paused momentarily before immediately opening the gatekeepers’ attribute panels. Sure enough, their attributes had undergone secondary development; their former average values had now doubled.

“My goodness…” He Fang thought, recalling some of those burly wrestlers. Is this what they call being laden with fat?

“If you don’t like it… I could plan some weight-loss training for them tomorrow,” Yuan Zhiran offered with a slight note of hesitation.

“No, no need. If they prefer it this way, then let it be.” With an extremely mixed expression, He Fang glanced at Ye Sheng standing at the sentry post. Although Ye Sheng was still a relatively young man, He Fang simply couldn’t understand why he would aspire to have a body where fat wraps around muscle. With words failing to capture his perplexity, he withdrew his gaze and said to Yuan Zhiran, “What are you doing here?”

This was a border sentry post—while the Armed Forces Department was in the main city area, and the barracks were nearby, it was hardly appropriate for the minister of the Armed Forces to be present at the frontier!

“Ah…” Yuan Zhiran’s eyes flickered with a trace of embarrassment. “We’re doing our daily circuit run around the city, and we happened to pass by. After catching sight of you, City Lord, because… I felt such a deep sense of longing… we stopped for a bit.”

As Yuan Zhiran mentioned how much he missed him, his cheeks gradually turned red. Watching his expression, He Fang, driven by a mix of curiosity and amusement, suddenly opened Yuan Zhiran’s attribute panel.

Then he saw Yuan Zhiran’s residents’ happiness steadily rising, bit by bit.

He Fang looked, in disbelief, at the soldiers lined up neatly in the distance, like an honor guard awaiting a parade. Every one of them stared straight ahead with determined expressions, and nothing seemed amiss.

He Fang opened the entire attribute panel and saw—plainly visible—that the soldiers’ residents’ happiness was increasing.

He Fang pulled at the corner of his mouth and asked awkwardly, “Do you miss me?”

“Of course,” Yuan Zhiran replied decisively. At that moment, He Fang noticed a bright gleam in Yuan Zhiran’s eyes—as if a candle had been lit deep within, illuminating his entire dark gaze—with an almost tangible joy.

He Fang could hardly believe that his long absence had caused the overall dip in residents’ happiness.

He felt… a bit embarrassed.

He remembered that he once jumped on the bandwagon and played a rhythm game—a dancing game—in which if you didn’t keep dancing, your in-game character would gain weight. He had quit because he really wasn’t into social games, but after a long time, nostalgia for the old game drew him back online, and then…

He saw that his character had become as round as a ball.

The official setting in “Ruins Without Restart” is clearly designed to keep players tethered to the game—there isn’t a single item available to quickly boost residents’ happiness.

However, considering that all it takes is for him to log in and the residents’ happiness starts soaring—just like a little dog’s tail that spins into a propeller at the sight of its master—he figured that perhaps this setting wasn’t so bad after all. All he needed was to log in regularly.

Yuan Zhiran truly seemed happy. Although every word he spoke sounded like a report on matters he needed to address during his absence, He Fang could clearly sense the joy on his face.

He even began to wonder if the military camp’s daily “around-the-city run” was actually a patrol to check whether he was logging in.

He Fang couldn’t help but laugh. Apparently, he needed to spend a bit more time wandering around in the city.

Suddenly, as Yuan Zhiran was speaking, he extended his hand and half-blocked He Fang’s face. Taken aback by this sudden gesture, He Fang asked in confusion, “What’s up?”

“There’s a mercenary peeking at you, City Lord,” Yuan Zhiran said. His expression grew inscrutable for a moment before he quickly resumed the solemn demeanor expected of a proper military man. “In order not to leak any information about Hope City, we’ve taken in all the mercenaries and squads that have arrived here. But now that so many have been housed, it seems the outsiders have sensed something amiss—there are more people being dispatched than before.”

“Really?” He Fang frowned slightly.

“Therefore, we’re now going to start apprehending that pair of mercenaries who arrived here.” As Yuan Zhiran spoke, he turned his head toward a distant area where nothing at all could be seen, as though he were uttering something else. He Fang, lost in thought, didn’t pay much attention to the small gesture.

He Fang did not believe that his construction of Hope City would remain concealed for long. Now that the defenses were complete, the city’s facilities—according to the event statistics—should have already reached a considerable scale, and furthermore…

Other mobile city leaders are not exactly fools; it’s only natural that after such a long time, they’ve picked up on a few clues.

“I want to join in on the capture, too,” He Fang said proactively. “How are we going to capture them?”

When He Fang saw the vehicle approaching at that moment, his eyes lit up.

“Let me drive,” He Fang said, taking the driver’s seat proactively. “Yuan Zhiran, get in.”

Yuan Zhiran sat in the passenger seat, guiding He Fang through the proper driving procedures.

The vehicle gradually lifted off the ground and suddenly sped away. Yuan Zhiran, turning his head, could see the excited, bright eyes of their creator—just watching them made his heart unconsciously soften.

“This is done very well.” Thanks to his natural aptitude for multiple games, He Fang found this kind of driving to be second nature; as soon as he understood all the control modes, he quickly got the hang of it. Coupled with his previous experience piloting aircraft, he could clearly feel the tremendous improvements in performance and handling of this vehicle. “Was this made by Zhu Yan?”

“Yes, this is based on your suggestion from back then, City Lord. Don’t you remember? You said that an aircraft in the sky, if uniquely modified, might be transformed into a small, single-seater craft.”

Yuan Zhiran’s words suddenly reminded He Fang of the casual idea he had offhand when he saw a plane taking off from level ground: “You guys actually remembered every word I said?”

“Everything that City Lord mentioned, we will do our utmost to achieve,” Yuan Zhiran said.

He Fang’s expression faltered for a moment—perhaps…

Another reason to truly love this game has just been added.

Yuan Zhiran sat in the front passenger seat, and in that brief span, he watched as their Creator took over the vehicle’s controls. Their Creator kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, while Yuan Zhiran’s gaze remained locked on him.

The Creator hadn’t changed at all from a year ago—or rather, no change was expected. Despite countless years passing, their Creator still maintained that perfect, youthful visage.

Yet it was only after the Creator had entered their world that they could genuinely experience an even more splendid side of him.

Yuan Zhiran was utterly mesmerized as he watched their Creator; the look of awe revealed by his brilliant driving skills was simply captivating. That very passion, immersed in a world of consummate mastery, seemed to enchant him in return.

It was rare indeed to see the Creator display such an intense, almost scorching gaze that seemed capable of searing everything in its path. Yuan Zhiran couldn’t help but wonder if his own fondness for the Creator was what made him view the Creator as breathtakingly beautiful.

“They’ve been on the run all along. Let’s give them something to slow them down,” the Creator suddenly said.

Immediately, Yuan Zhiran began explaining the weapons mounted on the vehicle—their characteristics, range, capabilities, and functions.

Then, he watched, wide-eyed, as He Fang casually fired a shell.

However, that shell landed at the rear of the vehicle carrying the fleeing mercenaries. Yuan Zhiran instinctively assumed that their Creator had made a mistake—he was about to find some words to console him—when he heard the Creator remark, “I suppose I’ve already figured out how to operate it.”

Yuan Zhiran fell silent, trusting wholeheartedly in their Creator’s innate talent.

Yet on the next several shots, the Creator didn’t hit the target directly; each projectile landed precisely on the side of the escaping mercenary vehicle, delivering a measured impact. At that moment, Yuan Zhiran too sensed that something was amiss.

“City Lord, did you deliberately aim off target?” Yuan Zhiran asked.

“Yes, this shell wields tremendous power—if it hit them, they’d be doomed,” He Fang replied.

Seeing that even in such an electrified state, the Creator still chose to respect every life. Yuan Zhiran sheepishly rubbed his nose. Truly, compared to the Creator, he was still on a different level. Sometimes, during training when his eyes grew bloodshot, he would indeed resort to lethal force against his comrades.

But…

The Creator is indeed a remarkably restrained person.

Their only wish was that they could someday see the Creator act without inhibition; otherwise, it leaves them, the residents, with little sense of achievement.

He Fang said appreciatively, “During my absence, you all have worked very hard. Is the power of this shell enough to deal with the mercenaries?”

“Yes. Actually, the shells we’re using now aren’t exceptionally powerful. Their strengths lie in their long range and rapid firing rate, as well as a strong short-range impact,” Yuan Zhiran explained to He Fang.

“So, does that mean there are even stronger weapons?”

“Yes.” As Yuan Zhiran spoke, he added a reminder, “After we return, City Lord, you can go look for Chong Ying—he’s always been the one managing the weapons.”

“Okay.”

Yuan Zhiran then looked at their Creator. At that moment, the Creator, with an intensely focused expression during the chase, seemed to be lost in thought.

They caught up with the mercenaries’ vehicle.

Naturally so.

After all, the gap was clear. They all knew very well that no matter how formidable the mercenaries were, the resources available to them were extremely limited. Their city boasted naturally abundant resources that could be tapped freely—a stark contrast to those other barely surviving mobile cities.

However, two vehicles attempted to cause chaos and managed to let one vehicle break away, which was also anticipated.

“I’m chasing. Everyone, wait here.” Suddenly, Yuan Zhiran heard the unmistakably resolute voice of their Creator, and then the vehicle, which had already eased its speed, suddenly shot forward.

Yuan Zhiran kept his gaze fixed on their Creator—the ever self-assured Creator.

“After entering a valley with such hairpin bends, there’s an auxiliary navigation system. City Lord, you might try it out first. Once you get the feel, disable the assist, and you should rapidly master the technique,” Yuan Zhiran explained.

“How long did it take you to master this technique?” their Creator asked.

Yuan Zhiran replied truthfully, “Three days.”

“And how long do you think I would need?” Their Creator asked, staring steadily ahead; even after being playfully mocked, he still sported a genuinely delighted smile.

“Three minutes,” Yuan Zhiran answered with a gentle smile.

This isn’t merely the Creator’s innate talent—no, it’s the culmination of relentless effort and adaptation, where every sensation has been deeply engraved in his mind for rapid processing. He devotes himself to mastering every game he loves, painstakingly achieving those feats many might consider superfluous.

It is precisely such a Creator who has provided them with a secure place to call home.

Not long ago, Yuan Zhiran had asked Ye Sheng, “You’ve been here for nearly a year now—do you have anything you’d like to say?”

“No.” Ye Sheng, as always disinclined toward socializing, replied very calmly, as if he were indifferent to whatever environment he found himself in.

“So, do you still want to leave here and return to your Scorching Sun City?” Because Yuan Zhiran hadn’t seen the Creator for a long time, his mood was quite low. In meeting Ye Sheng, he couldn’t help but let slip such immature, provocative words.

At that moment, Ye Sheng’s cool, detached gaze fell on him. Yuan Zhiran could discern a change in the man’s once-mechanical eyes, as though they now held something he’d never seen before.

At that time, Ye Sheng said, “You want to hear me pledge loyalty to the City Lord.”

“So, what of it?” Even though Yuan Zhiran knew that He Fang’s prolonged absence had nothing to do with the gatekeeper, the very fact that the creator had vanished for so long left him admittedly in a sour mood, lashing out a little.

“The City Lord has never demanded that I pledge allegiance.”

Yuan Zhiran could not refute Ye Sheng’s words. The Creator’s city was different; the Creator allowed every form of life to exist within his domain. Perhaps there were distinctions of rank or varying levels of achievement, but even the impoverished and the ordinary were allowed to live in the city.

The Creator embraced all.

“I’m going to win.” When he heard the Creator say those words, he saw the triumphant smile on the Creator’s face, and Yuan Zhiran could hardly tear his eyes away from their Creator.

Yuan Zhiran, from the passenger seat, watched their Creator glance at the fleeing mercenary with a hint of provocation. He bent down—his slender frame, though delicate, held a notable erectness—and as he leaned against the car window to look inside, his challenging gaze was, in fact, dazzling.

—

He Fang, along with the vehicle, had brought the entire mercenary team back to Hope City.

The ten-member mercenary squad possessed quite abundant resources, a stark contrast to the state in which Min Zhizhou had entered the city, nearly at death’s door. Clearly, this mercenary group was formidable.

“I thought the prisons were already at capacity. Have you arranged for any other facilities?” He Fang asked Yuan Zhiran. “Surely you can’t just lock them up in the ‘Land of Hope’ again, especially when the Land of Hope is still occupied with cultivation?”

“They can be housed in temporary makeshift prisons,” Yuan Zhiran replied.

“And under what charge have these mercenaries been locked up so far?” He Fang inquired casually.

“Illegal intrusion.”

At these words, He Fang nearly stumbled. How could it be an illegal intrusion? They never even meant to enter—they were simply captured and brought back, yet they were labeled as illegal intruders?

“Do they engage in any work normally?” He Fang continued.

“Yes. They work for free in some factories. Although the restoration of Hope City has made considerable progress, many areas remain unfinished, and there is a massive demand for labor,” Yuan Zhiran answered.

“Do you run factories?” He Fang, whose main city boasted numerous industrial zones—each with a designated area—had invested heavily in environmental cleanup to prevent pollution, sparing no effort at all.

“It was Lu Hu’s idea. We operate on a nine-to-six schedule with normal working hours, and we even have weekends off,” Yuan Zhiran explained.

“Do they all get enough to eat?”

“Yes—a balanced mix of meat and vegetarian dishes, extra meals on the weekends, and a strong emphasis on cleanliness. After each shift, they can choose to take a shower. Of course, everyone gets their own set of cleaning supplies to avoid cross-contamination,” Yuan Zhiran replied in a meticulous tone, which directly astonished the mercenaries following them.

“Do they cause trouble?” He Fang asked, seemingly impressed by the system.

“At first they did—after all, it’s a place full of men, brimming with youthful vigor,” Yuan Zhiran answered with a rather indifferent expression.

“How do you handle it?” He Fang, having never set any prison regulations before and curious about how the intelligent NPC manages these matters, inquired further.

“If they want to fight, let them fight. After a brawl, everyone involved is barred from eating, and the person who sustains the worst injuries gets medical care and extra meals.”

He Fang: “?”

“After a few rounds, they simply stop fighting.” A faint smile crept onto Yuan Zhiran’s strikingly handsome face as he added, “Once they discovered that by beating someone up, the one who ends up the most battered actually gets to enjoy a rather good period afterward, they began to hesitate when striking. And as soon as that hesitation appears, the fight just fizzles out.”

“Pfft…” He Fang couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Don’t you all care about right and wrong? This is just way too unprincipled!”

“After all, they’re only criminals.” When referring to the group locked up in the prison, Yuan Zhiran replied very matter-of-factly, almost devoid of the sense of justice typically afforded to the city’s residents. “Since their morals don’t fall under our jurisdiction, we need not distinguish right from wrong for them.”

He Fang blinked, making no comment on Yuan Zhiran’s statement. Every NPC has its own way of thinking, after all. Now that the prison was managed jointly by the police and the military, this approach was evidently a decision made by both, leaving him with no particular objection.

At that moment, a massive wall appeared before everyone. Topped with an electrified wire net, nothing inside could be seen from the outside.

The prison spanned a huge area but had only a single exit; the rest was tightly enclosed. The sole element of thoughtful design was the solemn, imposing main gate representing the prison. Above the gate, the two brilliant characters “監獄[mfn]Prison[/mfn]” shone prominently, giving the overall design an immediate and overwhelming sense of oppression.

When He Fang designed the prison, he referenced countless images from the internet, striving for perfection. Yet he hadn’t anticipated that once the prison was actually built, he would feel such enormous oppressive force in the architecture.

“With a prison this massive, is it completely filled up?” He Fang exclaimed in disbelief.

“Well, the number of inmates isn’t actually that high. We do our best to provide each person with private space for activities, so we’ve used extensive spatial partitions and even arranged for people with compatible temperaments to live together—to avoid the prison turning into utter chaos.” Yuan Zhiran stepped forward, knocked on the door, and continued, “We will spare no effort in maintaining your great city, City Lord—even in the prison, we simply cannot allow them to turn this place into a mess.”

He Fang blinked as he watched the massive main gate open. He Fang was the first to step inside, and the expansive area before him immediately caught his eye. He had only designed the building’s structure, not its interior. Perhaps due to the limited intelligence of the NPC, without adequate informational support, the interior décor turned out rather plain. The vast space, combined with the abundance of exercise equipment, evoked in He Fang a sense of openness and solemnity.

Zhou Fang pursed his lips and silently followed in, but behind him, Qiao Qiao finally couldn’t hold back and blurted out, “How can you all build structures on the ground? Aren’t you afraid they’ll be parasitized?”

He Fang let out a deep sigh. He had explained similar issues many times to different people, yet he always ended up hearing the same question.

“This isn’t something you need to worry about,” Yuan Zhiran replied, surprisingly calm. Now that they could see the Creator with their own eyes, all the earlier gloom and displeasure had vanished, and his patience was remarkable.

The prison’s interior resembled that of a studio apartment. Upon entering, He Fang noticed that in the vast space straight ahead in the lobby, countless chairs were arranged in neat rows. Although the chairs were clearly not fixed to the floor, they appeared as if they had been measured meticulously with a ruler.

He Fang pointed at the chairs and turned his curious gaze toward Yuan Zhiran.

“This is the conference hall. One day out of every day in the prison is set aside for holding meetings with the inmates, during which we explain the ‘City Lord’s Ideological Overview’ to correct their thinking,” Yuan Zhiran explained.

He Fang’s expression was hard to describe. What kind of ideological overview could he possibly have? Is it another City Lord museum? He didn’t think he was so self-absorbed as to have created his own ideological overview during his chuunibyou phase.

“What about these chairs…” He Fang asked.

“They represent order. The people here must learn to obey and follow arrangements, so that in the future, if the City Lord requires their service, they can immediately comply,” Yuan Zhiran explained.

He Fang blinked a few times. Given his personality, he’d certainly like these individuals to be useful, but…

“Wouldn’t there be resistance?” He Fang turned to look at Zhou Fang’s team behind him. “Mercenaries are inherently free-spirited. Many of them might not have been forced to leave their homes, but became mercenaries to pursue freedom. Now that they’re being forcibly confined here, surely some would be discontented?”

“That’s not our concern. Personal ideologies aren’t needed in prison, City Lord,” Yuan Zhiran’s response was chillingly detached. “These mercenaries have learned about Hope City, and they’ll undoubtedly relay this information to the outside. Keeping them locked up here is already the best course of action.”

He Fang frowned slightly. The fact that Hope City had remained unscathed by the parasitic Nightmare Beast Forest nearby for such a long time was already suspicious enough. It was only a matter of time before abnormalities were discovered, though suspicions and certainty would lead to different outcomes.

“What’s your name?” He Fang turned to the mercenary leader, who had been silent the entire time.

Zhou Fang raised his head, his expression stoic, and stated his name.

“Zhou Fang, what did you think of our recent chase battle?” He Fang asked suddenly.

Zhou Fang’s face darkened abruptly. He didn’t understand the significance behind the question, but judging by how others addressed this young man, it was evident he must be the City Lord of Hope City.

There weren’t many people escorting them—at least, not at the moment. They numbered ten, while those escorting them, including the unknown City Lord and officials, totaled only four. On numbers alone, they held the advantage.

Yet they dared not act rashly. Their instincts, which had always been reliable, now warned them that taking unnecessary action would lead only to failure.

After hearing Zhou Fang’s words, He Fang bowed his head and pondered for a moment before suddenly asking Yuan Zhiran, “When is the next meeting?”

“Meetings can be held at any time. City Lord, do you need one now?” Yuan Zhiran responded promptly.

He Fang nodded.

Based on event statistics, Hope City seemed to be thriving. Even small details—such as the performance of its vehicles—revealed progress and differentiation from its past. Its external defenses also appeared well-established, suggesting the city might be ready for the next steps in his plan.

The first step was to build a new city. The second was… establishing communication with other mobile cities.

Initially, He Fang had opted for cautious observation, as he was unfamiliar with the current situation. But now, with a general understanding in place, there was something he needed to do.

He wanted to open trade channels.

His lingering concern had always been whether his city could withstand external pressure. As a potential target, Hope City had to be fortified. Now equipped with powerful weapons, the city urgently needed an opportunity to prove its current strength.

For example, a small-scale city battle.

Through such a battle, he could assess their current combat capabilities. If they can ensure their city possesses sufficient strength to contend with other cities, he plans to leverage Hope City’s reputation to step onto the grand stage led by these mobile cities.

With Hope City as the front, his main city could retreat to the background, while Hope City receives his strongest protection.

Their city’s uniqueness demands learning self-preservation. Yet, alongside protection, their distinctiveness will undoubtedly attract countless covetous eyes. Therefore, he requires more data and information to identify which city will be the first for him to test.

“Now that so many people already doubt Hope City, exposure is only a matter of time,” He Fang told Yuan Zhiran. His gaze then shifted to the now-silent mercenary group of ten. “Go call Guo Miaofeng for a meeting. I want to extract some information from these mercenaries.”

He needed Guo Miaofeng to perform territorial statistics and compile dossiers on mobile city information.

At present, the financial growth among the forty thousand main city residents and the ten thousand Hope City residents has stagnated. Daily tax revenue to the treasury has become stable, signifying that Hope City’s development has reached a mature stage.

What’s more, the fact that he hasn’t logged into the game for an entire year has already given other cities ample time to notice abnormalities—hiding it any longer is impossible.

Now, he can consider opening trade channels and, beyond that, ensure his city establishes its footing among the numerous mobile cities engaging in commerce.

He needed a probing city battle—or rather, this could take the form of a simulated exchange between cities. Therefore, He Fang had to choose a city very cautiously to realize his current idea.

Although Sai Gu’s information was detailed, Sai Gu’s capabilities were ultimately limited as just one individual.

But now, with all these mercenaries gathered here…

They were practically the perfect resource for obtaining the information he needed.

“What a pity,” He Fang muttered unconsciously. “If Uncle Gu were here to lead the meeting, he’d surely extract far more information.”

“Shall I call him back?” Yuan Zhiran asked.

“No need,” He Fang replied with a smile. “I’ll do it.”

—

As the sun set, painting the sky with radiant crimson light, a soldier preparing to rest suddenly noticed something faintly glowing beneath the feet of the soldier ahead.

“Hey, did you step on something?” the soldier asked, giving their companion a pat on the shoulder.

Five kilometers away from Hope City’s border, there was a long, thin trail on the ground that glimmered brightly under the sunlight. It was a fine powder, indistinguishable from the surrounding soil.

In some areas, the light shone brightly, while in others it faltered, becoming chaotic. Certain places seemed as though a massive explosion had occurred, scattering the glowing patterns across a wide area. Among the disarray, faint traces could be seen heading toward Hope City’s interior.

In some spots, clear footprints were visible.

A stealth drone swiftly recorded all this scattered data from the air. It operated silently, gathering information from high altitudes and distant locations.

Moments later, having seemingly collected sufficient data, the drone departed quietly, leaving no trace behind.

As for the light, it would completely vanish once the sun set, never to illuminate again.

---