Indeed, according to the original plan, once he had taken in those fleeing from Arrival City, he was supposed to leave. However, He Fang no longer intends to follow through with that plan.
He feels a bit strange.
Although he has fulfilled Shen Houyun’s request, the purple task icon has not disappeared. This indicates that, according to the algorithms of “Ruins Without Restart”, this task has not been completed.
He Fang looks at Shen Houyun. It is clear that this nineteen-year-old male does not intend to stop there. He wants to keep striving forward and firmly believes that everyone in Arrival City needs to be “rescued”.
But this is only Shen Houyun’s perspective. After all, this is a highly personal opinion. NPCs can’t dictate what players do, right? Players are responsible for a particular task given by an NPC, not for the NPC’s entire life.
There must be reasons why this task is not considered complete.
After playing “Ruins Without Restart” for so long, He Fang has gained some understanding of the game. All tasks in the game seem to stem from the game’s built-in algorithms. However, the randomness of the tasks is too high. The algorithms likely generate tasks randomly, but this generation must be based on certain principles. The most probable principle is “reality”.
He Fang has played many games. Virtually every game assigns the concept of “human” to its narrative. The messages it conveys, the tear-jerking moments, the heartwarming storylines—all of these are based on “human” principles. So, something like the setting of Arrival City should not exist.
Games aren’t reality. Reality lacks logic, but games must have it. A game without logic will never become a masterpiece. Even a purely villainous character has hateful traits as well as aspects worthy of respect. But Arrival City has none of this.
It has merely rationalized an irrational reality. For He Fang, the governance in this city feels profoundly out of place.
The incident of someone escaping is quite serious, yet until now, He Fang has only seen a few managers. The decision-makers have shown no reaction from beginning to end, which He Fang finds very strange.
“Ugh.” One of the managers, who had been lying on the ground, finally let out a whimper. He struggled to lift his body, attempting to stand. He Fang instinctively reached out his hand toward the man, who seemed to gain some strength from the support. The man managed to stand with He Fang’s help, albeit unsteadily, but he could keep his balance.
He Fang was also surprised. The electric current, which could directly render someone unconscious, had not caused any apparent harm to the NPC. At least, nothing could be observed from the attribute panel.
“Are you okay?” He Fang tilted his head slightly, observing the NPC who had regained consciousness after being electrically stunned. Contrary to what he imagined, the NPC’s hair did not appear disheveled as a result.
“Thank you, I’m fine. What happened?” The NPC manager rubbed his forehead vigorously, shook his hands, and tried to rid himself of the lingering numbness left by the electric shock.
“I don’t know. After the sound of an explosion, you all collapsed.” He Fang spoke earnestly—or at least, he believed himself to be sincere.
“You’re Dr. Bai’s assistant.” The NPC looked at He Fang, not recognizing him, but identifying Bai Fu, who stood behind He Fang.
As always, Bai Fu kept his mouth shut whenever the matter wasn’t related to medicine, refusing to utter even a single word.
“Damn it.” The NPC rubbed his forehead again, clearly in poor condition.
He Fang didn’t dare to say much, as this NPC had been electrically stunned before having any time to react.
After the explosion sounded, He Fang gave the women who could escape one minute to respond. After one minute, a collective electrical stun would be executed, and the duration was controlled within ten minutes.
He Fang only gave these people ten minutes to escape. Within ten minutes, everything could still be managed without leaving too much evidence behind. It was also a way to truly filter out a group of strong-willed individuals who genuinely wished to leave Arrival City.
Although the time limit seemed rather harsh, if it were extended beyond this, it could easily lead to herd behavior. What He Fang needed this time was precisely those who, deep down, completely wanted to break free from Arrival City, and these would be the ones he would take away first.
“Emergency announcement from Arrival City, emergency announcement, emergency announcement. East Gate 3, East Gate 12, East Gate 24, East Gate 37, East Gate 44, East Gate 49, and East Gate 55 have been destroyed. Repair personnel, please immediately proceed for emergency repairs. Repair personnel, please immediately proceed for emergency repairs.”
“Emergency alert from Arrival City. Due to a large number of breeders leading escapees out of Arrival City, Arrival City will undergo localized restoration. All personnel who have not left, please report immediately to the managers to register. Managers, conduct a full inspection to ensure there are no hidden or overlooked cases.”
“Arrival City gatekeepers have suffered serious injuries. Replace the gatekeepers immediately, and bring the injured gatekeepers to the hospital for treatment.”
“Attention all residents of Arrival City: Quickly apprehend the following individuals: ‘Shen Houyun’, ‘Bai Fu’, and ‘He Fang’. Quickly apprehend these individuals and escort them to the interrogation room. Repeat…”
The broadcast echoing through Arrival City made He Fang feel awkward. At this moment, he looked toward the direction of the sound and then at the NPC he was still supporting. The fierce manager’s eyes were now coldly staring at him.
He Fang: “…”
Shen Houyun’s expression stiffened. Utilizing his mercenary skills, he quickly darted silently toward the NPC who was staring at them, without being noticed. The young mercenary raised his hand high, poised to knock the NPC unconscious.
Right before Shen Houyun could act, He Fang suddenly said, “I’ll go with you!”
Shen Houyun’s hand suddenly froze in place.
“We are innocent. We’ll go with you, so please don’t lock us up, alright?” He Fang breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing Shen Houyun hesitate. Looking up, he could see Shen Houyun frowning slightly, seemingly puzzled.
“Okay.” The NPC was not particularly forceful—probably because He Fang had helped him up—so his attitude remained relatively mild.
Shen Houyun took two steps back, suppressing the cold aura he carried, and appeared unexpectedly obedient.
He Fang more or less understood Shen Houyun’s intentions. This wasn’t someone with an inherently evil nature. Since he possessed the desire to help others, it demonstrated he hadn’t lost his sense of gratitude. It seemed Shen Houyun had planned to knock the NPC unconscious to assist them in escaping Arrival City.
“Let’s go.” The NPC opened the door directly. Though his tone was icy, his expression didn’t seem especially hostile toward them.
During Bai Fu’s time here, he had treated others every single day, sincerely and diligently. They hadn’t done anything out of line, which ultimately left a positive impression on the NPCs.
Following behind the NPC, He Fang walked slowly. To avoid raising suspicion, he quietly tore off the communicator hidden in his hood when the NPC wasn’t paying attention. He placed it in his mouth, chewed it into pieces, and spat it out in an inconspicuous corner.
Luckily, the device was quite fragile—otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to handle it.
He Fang’s gaze continuously scanned his surroundings.
The passageways here were even narrower than those in Hope City, preventing them from walking side by side. Having already spent some time here, He Fang was naturally not unfamiliar with the area.
If he had to say, He Fang had absolutely no interest in taking in Arrival City. The city had nothing—no human spirit, no human faith. What they revered as procreation was merely the rationalization of a bizarre behavior.
Arrival City was nothing more than a hollow shell of a city, devoid of any spirit. The women indoctrinated within it couldn’t bring any advantages to his own city.
The only thing worth noting was the sheer number of people. Even with just one escape, he had managed to gain about the same number of people as his main city’s population.
According to Shen Houyun, this city had ceased all development at some point. Its activities revolved around a repetitive cycle: having children, selling them, surviving, and then having more children. It completely lacked progress, as if it had turned into a lifeless puppet.
As he walked, He Fang glanced at the women who were bewildered by the unexpected incident. Their eyes still carried the remnants of fear that hadn’t yet dissipated, but he also saw a tinge of regret among them.
Humans aren’t tools; they can’t truly become puppets. Those who were fed up with such treatment had already fled quickly. However, the ones who stayed behind might not necessarily wish to continue living this way—it could be due to a mismatch of personality.
He Fang hadn’t truly intended to give up. He was a serious player, someone who would complete every task and never leave it half-finished.
This first wave of escape was meant to serve as an example for those who were still too stunned to react.
Sure enough, as He Fang followed behind the NPC, he noticed a woman brushing past them. He Fang, being shorter than the woman, could see her lowered face and the expression she bore.
It was one of inner conflict and unwillingness.
He Fang took one glance and then looked away.
“Excuse me, are we being taken to the interrogation room because we are suspected of being involved in this incident? Will we be interrogated? Will there be corporal punishment?” He Fang asked the NPC at the front.
However, the NPC said nothing, remaining silent until they reached a large door.
The NPC opened the door. “Enter.”
It was a completely pitch-black space. The only light source was the faint beam from the open door shining into the room. The space itself was utterly empty, appearing as a vast, barren circular room with nothing inside.
He Fang quietly opened his system map to take a look and discovered that this place was surprisingly close to the center of Arrival City.
He Fang took a step forward, followed closely by Bai Fu, who stayed slightly behind him. Once the three of them entered the space, the door shut behind them. Just as He Fang expected, the moment the door closed, the entire room plunged into pitch-black darkness. No matter how much He Fang blinked and tried to adjust to the dark, he couldn’t see anything at all.
Darkness tends to amplify one’s sensitivity. The longer one lingers in complete darkness, the stronger this sense becomes. A mounting psychological discomfort began to creep over He Fang, so much so that he even considered idly letting the computer handle this part of the storyline.
Thankfully, Bai Fu remained close at his side. The faint scent of disinfectant wafting from Bai Fu’s presence offered a sliver of comfort in the nearly lightless abyss.
He Fang knew exactly where this place was. Before tampering with Shen Houyun’s memories, he had already learned about Arrival City. Every time, Shen Houyun would come here to report information to the decision-makers of Arrival City.
Now that he had arrived at this location, He Fang felt a strange sense of unease.
Though he couldn’t see anything, it felt as though he was being watched.
This kind of observation was vastly different from the emotionally driven gaze of humans. Instead, it was cold and mechanical, akin to the unsettling sensation of being scanned by a machine.
He Fang gripped Bai Fu’s clothing tightly, while Bai Fu lightly touched He Fang’s back—a gentle motion that somehow seemed to impart strength.
“Shen Houyun, Wanderer Bai Fu, He Fang, please explain your roles in the collective escape incident of Arrival City.” A voice suddenly echoed in the pitch-black space.
He Fang tried his best to widen his eyes, but despite his efforts, there wasn’t a single bit of light. He still couldn’t see anything.
“I don’t know.” Bai Fu’s voice came from nearby, as calm and emotionless as ever, with an unshakable steadiness. He Fang felt Bai Fu lightly pat his back, as if synchronizing with his heartbeat, easing his unease through this rhythmic action.
“Please explain your roles in the collective escape incident of Arrival City.” The voice repeated the question word-for-word, unchanged.
“I don’t know.” Bai Fu answered as succinctly as before.
“Please explain the reason Wanderer Bai Fu and He Fang entered Arrival City.” This time, the question changed, seemingly losing interest in repeated answers.
“If you don’t want us, we’ll leave.” Bai Fu spoke arrogantly, “My medical skills are top-notch in any city.”
“Wanderer Bai Fu has an excellent record in treating patients, with remarkable medical expertise, a one-hundred-percent surgical success rate, an overall health improvement of 0.5%, and commendable achievements.” Surprisingly, the mechanical voice actually praised Bai Fu before swiftly shifting tones. “Wanderer Bai Fu, your distributed ‘pendant’ has not been detected to have any medicinal value. Please explain the reason behind distributing the ‘pendant’.”
“Mental therapy.” Bai Fu replied coldly.
“Wanderer Bai Fu, please explain why mental therapy requires the uniform use of the same pendant and the reason you possess so many identical pendants.”
He Fang’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected such a detailed question.
Bai Fu, however, simply replied coldly, “A hobby.”
“…” He Fang felt a complex mixture of emotions, and it seemed that the other party remained silent for quite a while as well.
“Wanderer He Fang, please explain why mental therapy requires the uniform use of the same pendant and the reason you possess so many identical pendants.”
He Fang’s heart jumped again. The exact phrasing was repeated—could someone truly have an obsessive compulsion to speak this way?
“It’s because having a consistent item makes it easier to create psychological suggestions. The people in Arrival City are always mentally strained. Having a shared item allows them to express themselves more freely to others. As for those pendants, they really are a personal hobby. I like them a lot, so I made many of them.”
He Fang felt inexplicably nervous. For some reason, as he spoke, he could distinctly sense strange sensations surrounding him, as if something was watching his face.
His heart skipped again, and, as if compelled by an instinct, he stretched out his hand and waved it in front of him. To his surprise, he felt something—solid, cold. As soon as he touched it, the object immediately retreated, but He Fang’s heart raced.
“After cross-referencing internal city surveillance, no anomalies were found regarding Wanderer Bai Fu or He Fang. Neither came into contact with any of the blown-open breaches nor interacted with the associated breach managers. It is determined that the explosion is likely unrelated to either individual. Now, reconfirming Wanderer Bai Fu and He Fang’s involvement: can it be confirmed that the escape incident is unrelated to the two of you?”
“It is.” Bai Fu responded.
“Wanderer He Fang, can it be confirmed that the escape incident is unrelated to you?”
The formal tone and structured phrasing made He Fang suspicious. It sounded like the speaker was testing with a pre-written template. He Fang slowly responded, “Yes.”
“Shen Houyun, is the escape incident related to you?” This time, the focus shifted directly to Shen Houyun.
He Fang listened to the ongoing interrogation. The questions were detailed, with constant repetition for confirmation, requiring accurate and definitive answers before moving to the next query. It was almost like…
It was almost like an undeveloped artificial intelligence, only capable of analyzing fixed vocabulary.
He Fang frowned. Human voices can lack emotion, and he had heard mechanical-like tones before. For example, the gatekeepers of Scorching Sun City he had once dealt with, had been stubborn and cold.
So…
What was really going on?
He Fang discreetly opened his system map, but what he saw left him stunned.
They couldn’t see anything with the naked eye, but the system map could. Although the map didn’t fully present the real situation in front of the player, the general outline was consistent.
He Fang was represented as a circular point. Upon zooming the map to a 1:1 scale, he suddenly noticed that in the pitch-black circular room, countless “eyes” were staring at them.
Those weren’t eyes—they were surveillance cameras. Numerous cameras were scanning their faces, bodies, and even every detail down to their ankles.
He Fang suddenly realized what he had unconsciously touched earlier. It was a surveillance camera recording him right in front of his face!
“All questions have been collected. Organizing collected data. Analyzing collected data. Analysis complete. Discrepancies were detected in the testimonies of Wanderer Bai Fu, He Fang, and Shen Houyun. Errors found in facial data collection. Signs of deception were detected in Wanderer He Fang. Cross-referencing data with Bai Fu and Shen Houyun’s information indicates alignment. Conclusion: The escape incident is linked to Wanderer Bai Fu, He Fang, and Shen Houyun. All are classified as criminals.”
In that instant, He Fang’s mind went blank.
A word suddenly surfaced in his thoughts—lie detector.
Similar to the lie detector in his main city, Arrival City likely used surveillance to monitor their behavior. Perhaps his nervousness while lying had given him away.
“What’s that sound?” Bai Fu suddenly asked.
A faint noise of something rotating reached their ears. Then, the cold mechanical voice spoke again: “A termination decision has been made for the interrogated individuals Bai Fu, He Fang, and Shen Houyun. Termination initiated.”
At that moment, He Fang felt an overwhelming sense of danger. The pitch-black space around them seemed to radiate an intense fear from all directions, leaving He Fang terrified. Suddenly, he felt Bai Fu’s entire body shield him, pressing He Fang’s underdeveloped, frail frame beneath him.
On He Fang’s system map, countless gun barrels were now aimed directly at them.
And in that split second, all the guns fired simultaneously. He Fang watched as the world before him lit up for a brief moment, accompanied by the sound of flesh being pierced.
“Chong Xiao!” Without a second thought, He Fang called out Chong Xiao’s name.
The door burst open with a thunderous sound, and light instantly flooded the entire space. A dark figure appeared in the brightness, resembling a savior. The cold glint of a black blade shimmered. In just an instant, He Fang heard the clattering of metal falling all around.
In the light, He Fang saw himself shielded beneath Bai Fu, but Bai Fu’s white doctor’s coat was riddled with holes. Alarmed, He Fang hurriedly opened Bai Fu’s attribute panel. Upon seeing the panel, He Fang let out a sigh of relief—Bai Fu was indeed injured, but it wasn’t as severe as it appeared. His health bar was still stable, though it had decreased somewhat.
The loss of health was similar to when a member of the Finance Department in Scorching Sun City had been struck by the city lord—only more severe, but still not fatal.
Suddenly, He Fang’s heart jumped, and a realization struck him. He immediately turned around.
The sound of blood dripping onto the ground reached his ears. Starting from a pair of feet standing upright, his gaze slowly moved upward, only to see the shattered and battered body of Shen Houyun.
For a moment, He Fang’s mind froze.
He opened his mouth, then abruptly turned to Chong Xiao and said, “Where’s your signal jammer? Activate it now!”
The moment He Fang mentioned the signal jammer, Chong Xiao had already activated it. A massive disruption instantly severed all communication within Arrival City.
He Fang quickly accessed Shen Houyun’s attribute panel. To his shock, he saw the information displayed there.
Shen Houyun’s health bar had dwindled to a mere “1”.
Shen Houyun’s health was completely depleted, yet the resilient “1” on his health bar did not drop further. At that moment, He Fang noticed a new icon beside Shen Houyun’s name—“Faith Buff Active”.
He Fang’s heart skipped a beat. It was a landmark!
Before He Fang could even give an order, Bai Fu, who was shielding him, stood up first. Without hesitation, he tore off his own clothing. His medical instincts kicked in the instant he saw that there was still life in Shen Houyun. He rushed forward to staunch the bleeding from Shen Houyun’s wounds. “Get to the emergency room now!”
“Go! Quickly!” He Fang gritted his teeth. “Bai Fu, just stabilize his wounds to keep him alive. How much time do you need?”
Bai Fu pressed his lips together. Supporting Shen Houyun, who was still alive but critically injured, he gritted his teeth and responded, “Thirty minutes.”
“Chong Xiao.” He Fang stepped forward and clung to Chong Xiao’s back. “Get us to the emergency room as fast as possible!”
Thirty minutes…
That was far too short.
He Fang did his best not to slow them down, clinging tightly to Chong Xiao’s back to avoid hindering his movements.
Right now, He Fang couldn’t do anything but try to organize his thoughts. The first thing he had done was instruct Chong Xiao to block Arrival City’s entire signal network, driven by a suspicion.
Previously, when He Fang orchestrated the collective escape from Arrival City, he had also implemented a ten-minute signal blockade. During that time, there were no “emergency announcements” in Arrival City.
However, after the managers recovered from the electric stun and the blockade was lifted, the “emergency announcements” began immediately.
In other words, just one signal jammer was enough to temporarily paralyze all of Arrival City. However, this time was different from the last. Since the managers hadn’t been stunned by electric shocks, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
They had to escape before they were completely found out. Thirty minutes was enough time for these well-trained managers to locate them.
Especially…
When they rushed into the emergency room in a hurry, they were spotted by doctors.
He Fang looked at the doctors. Their summoning to the interrogation room had been broadcast to everyone in Arrival City, so these doctors must have known.
He Fang glanced at Chong Xiao as he clung to Chong Xiao’s back, squinting at the shocked and fearful expressions of the doctors and nurses. They had already seen the blood-covered Shen Houyun being brought into the emergency room. He Fang briefly considered whether to have Chong Xiao knock out these people to avoid trouble.
“Do you need help?” As He Fang was pondering this, one of the doctors suddenly stepped forward, raising her head to look at him. “Dr. Bai—does he need assistance?”
He Fang stared at the doctors with mixed emotions as many of them entered the emergency room to assist. Meanwhile, a nurse kept watch at the door. He hadn’t expected to receive any help.
“Don’t you worry about being discovered later and killed for this?” He Fang asked the nurse while waiting.
The nurse froze, her entire body stiffening. Her expression seemed on the verge of tears.
He Fang chose not to press the question further. He opened the nurse’s attribute list and saw two glaring tags: “Fear” and “Anxiety”. She was clearly terrified, but despite her fear, she was still choosing to act.
Thirty minutes—no more, no less. Shen Houyun was given emergency treatment, strapped onto a large stretcher, and wrapped tightly in layers of fabric.
“Let’s go,” He Fang said immediately upon seeing Bai Fu emerge. But before leaving, he suddenly turned back to ask the young nurse, “If you had the chance to leave Arrival City, would you?”
The nurse hesitated briefly, then lowered her head and replied, “If everyone else leaves, I’ll leave, too.”
He Fang didn’t press further and simply departed.
This time, he didn’t interpret the nurse’s response as mere “herd mentality”. After witnessing Shen Houyun’s condition, he was more inclined to understand it as “wanting to stay to help those who still need her”.
He Fang left, escaping by air. In the cover of night, the arrival and departure of the stealth aircraft went unnoticed by anyone. The escape itself was smooth, provided they evaded the managers’ patrols.
Arrival City felt as though it lacked any real defensive measures.
—
Shen Houyun’s condition was far from optimistic. Though the landmark’s effect was keeping him alive, the attacks he endured were nearly fatal—even bullets had pierced his head and heart.
The doctors in the main city were highly skilled, but saving someone with barely a sliver of health was uncertain. He Fang thought Shen Houyun’s chances of survival were slim; his life was hanging by a thread solely because of the landmark’s intervention.
The situation had been too sudden. Bai Fu had only managed to protect He Fang while inadvertently neglecting Shen Houyun.
He Fang fell silent for a long time, reflecting on whether Shen Houyun had understood this grim possibility. Yet even knowing this, Shen Houyun still chose to remain in Arrival City.
“You’ve been observing Arrival City for so long. Did you notice anything unusual?” He Fang asked Chong Xiao in the conference room, referring to the latter’s time spent wandering around the city.
Chong Ying immediately stepped in to act as Chong Xiao’s interpreter: “Unusual? Did the city lord give any hints?”
Frowning, He Fang thought for a moment before asking, “Did you see anyone dressed uniquely, someone who might resemble the city lord?”
“Brother says no. Everyone dresses pretty much the same. Huh, why does everyone dress the same?” Chong Ying seemed to realize something odd himself as he looked up and asked, “Brother, did you carefully check every corner of the city?”
Chong Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly displeased by Chong Ying’s questioning tone.
He Fang figured that Chong Xiao must have thoroughly explored Arrival City. If it weren’t for his strategic placement of people for the “one-time electric stun”, there would’ve been some reaction during that ten-minute window.
“Could it be that the entire city has no city lord? Even if there’s no city lord, shouldn’t we at least have seen the ‘decision-makers’ Shen Houyun mentioned? This isn’t some powerful mobile city. How could they possibly hide so well?” Chong Ying, who hadn’t entered Arrival City, began brainstorming after hearing He Fang’s question, continuously discussing possibilities with Chong Xiao.
Based on the general assumptions about mobile cities, for instance, Hope City, it was understood that individuals of higher rank had access to better resources. A higher-ranking individual would naturally eat and dress better. Yet in Arrival City, that wasn’t the case.
Chong Xiao had seen nothing out of the ordinary.
At that moment, Bai Fu entered the room, joining their discussion.
“How is it?” He Fang immediately asked Bai Fu, clearly referring to Shen Houyun’s condition.
Bai Fu, however, avoided eye contact. For the first time as a doctor, he felt uncertain about whether he could successfully treat a patient.
Bai Fu was clearly deeply dejected, revealing a healer’s frustration with death, yet he was utterly powerless.
He Fang glanced at Bai Fu’s health bar—it was already full. As expected, Bai Fu had recovered completely.
“In all my medical consultations, I’ve examined the resource allocation, reviewed all files and records, but I haven’t seen anyone resembling a ‘city lord’,” Bai Fu said slowly in response to Chong Ying’s questioning of Chong Xiao. Perhaps due to Shen Houyun’s situation, Bai Fu seemed to lack even the energy to be irritable. “All hospital records are well-preserved. These records are uploaded to facilitate accurate predictions of pregnancy periods, women’s pregnancies, and men providing their seed. Every individual’s information is meticulously documented, and resource allocation is extremely balanced.”
He Fang frowned. “But if the records are so detailed, there would surely be gaps, wouldn’t there? After all, a city lord must be born and must fall ill. Is there not even a single record?”
“There is one death record of a city lord from fifty years ago,” Bai Fu said. “Afterward, there’s no sign of the so-called ‘city lord’ in any of the allocation records.”
He Fang’s heart skipped a beat.
He had always thought his speculation was overly bold, yet based on various clues, he felt his conjecture might be correct.
“Could it be that Arrival City doesn’t have a city lord or decision-makers at all?” He Fang directly voiced his thoughts.
With just a signal blockade, everything functioned smoothly, and the true enforcers of governance seemed to be the managers. Even Shen Houyun had never encountered the decision-makers, and those decision-makers were constantly transmitting information outward, almost as if seeking protection.
That room, the mechanical voice—He Fang had initially wondered if the so-called decision-makers weren’t monitoring them from behind the scenes. Instead, those mechanical sounds might be the decision-makers.
“If the city lord of Arrival City passed away long ago, without a successor, could it be that the system was set up a long time ago?” He Fang proposed his theory.
He Fang believed that as long as someone was “human”, they would have thoughts. Even though the people in Arrival City were meticulously crafted to appear lifelike, beyond that vivid realism, he still couldn’t sense any vitality within the city.
Humans have aspirations, ideas, and even purposes. Yet Arrival City’s sole purpose was “procreation” and “resource exchange”—a repetitive cycle of minimal survival conditions.
By contrast, Angel City, which lacked offensive capabilities and relied entirely on “information” for survival, was fundamentally dependent on various mobile cities. However, even under such circumstances, they steadfastly guarded the “spark” of their existence and secretly manufactured mechs to gradually strengthen Angel City. Arrival City, on the other hand, sought no development at all. Its entire purpose was merely to exist.
Would anyone willingly settle for merely existing?
He Fang thought it impossible—at least not within “Ruins Without Restart”. Otherwise, how could such an intelligent NPC as Shen Houyun be born?
“It’s entirely feasible for a city to be maintained through purely system-based operations,” a voice said suddenly. Zhu Yan appeared on the wall of the conference room. He Fang was momentarily surprised. Had Zhu Yan been listening all along? Zhu Yan continued, “If it were purely system-operated, based on my understanding of current technological advancements, it’s highly plausible that system-based operation has led to Arrival City’s current state.”
He Fang recalled his first entrance into Arrival City and the strange sensation he felt—a sticky, viscous feeling, as though infinite muck was forming beneath his feet. It was as if the space itself was stagnant.
At the time, he thought it was because he felt awkward about observing the women there. But it turned out to have an entirely different meaning.
“If it’s a purely programmed system, there must be set standards for judgment,” Zhu Yan explained. “For instance, when the system detected ‘lying’, it directly decided to eliminate the targets without extracting any further useful information. That strongly suggests a system. If it were humans, the methods wouldn’t be so clean and decisive—they’d try to extract as much information as possible first.” Zhu Yan maintained his usual cold, elegant demeanor, but his words gave him the air of an interrogator.
“And Shen Houyun once revealed that he had never seen anyone related to the decision-makers. He always said that his rank wasn’t high enough,” He Fang said thoughtfully.
“If the city is governed by a system, then there must be an established judgment framework. If it dates back to fifty years ago, when intelligent development wasn’t advanced, the city might have defaulted into a cyclic judgment mechanism upon failing to receive ‘external prompts,’” Zhu Yan quickly added. “Although the specific judgment criteria are unknown, if it truly is a system, I can try to infiltrate Arrival City’s system and attempt some modifications.”
He Fang was momentarily stunned. “Is that possible?”
“It is. But if Arrival City indeed has a city lord and decision-makers, any alteration would immediately expose us,” Zhu Yan responded to He Fang.
Of course, there are pros and cons, He Fang thought, contemplating whether there might be a way to gain only advantages without drawbacks.
How could he determine if Arrival City was genuinely controlled by a system?
Looking around the space, He Fang’s gaze fell on Chong Ying.
Chong Ying had always been outside Arrival City, constantly receiving information transmitted by the city.
When Arrival City sent information to Hope City, there should have been plenty of hints received by Chong Ying.
So, what if they tried signaling again now?
In fact, with Arrival City’s latest escape, Hope City had already sent people to Arrival City’s gates to receive refugees. It was essentially an outright grab, but undeniably an escape. Even for those who understood the situation, there was no feasible argument against it.
What would a normal person choose to do?
The first step would undoubtedly be negotiations. Although Hope City was being cunning, it remained true that the people fleeing were from Arrival City.
“Chong Ying, is there any way you can send another message to Arrival City, hinting to them…” He Fang pressed his lips together, finally revealing his first decision of the meeting: “to attack Hope City!”
Even for a combat city, not every city can easily instigate a war. If a small mobile city were to challenge a mobile city coalition, wouldn’t that be akin to a moth darting into the flame?
This is why the preliminary reconnaissance work for war is critically important—assessing the strength of both sides is essential.
Currently, Arrival City has just arrived near Hope City. There had been no time for any explorations yet. If Arrival City directly attacked Hope City based on Chong Ying’s transmitted suggestion, it would be enough to confirm that Arrival City operated as a simple system-driven city.
Moreover, as the “attacked Hope City”, it would gain a legitimate reason to counterstrike Arrival City. It would then be framed as a city battle initiated by the other side—a peaceful city like Hope City forced into war, perfectly justified.
This reasoning was far more solid than Shen Houyun’s initial claim of a simple “attack on the city lord”!
Thinking of Shen Houyun, He Fang couldn’t help but glance at Bai Fu.
The doctor, now quiet again, displayed visible instability in his mood within his attribute frame.
For Bai Fu, everyone in Arrival City was a patient. He had personally witnessed his doctor painstakingly strive to treat each patient within the harsh constraints of the rules.
If the matter with Arrival City wasn’t handled well, his doctor would undoubtedly suffer immense psychological trauma.
As the city lord, He Fang knew he had to protect his doctor.
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