When He Fang input the command into the landmark, he was still muttering to himself inwardly, wondering whether the command might fail and revival would be impossible. Yet to his surprise, the command actually succeeded.
However, just as it succeeded, a sudden pop-up appeared, with a line of text on it: Because reversing life and death requires an enormous amount of faith value, do you confirm to begin consuming a massive amount of faith value to perform resurrection of the deceased?
It was only when He Fang saw this line that he truly understood. Shen Houyun was most likely already completely, thoroughly dead. What the landmark had been maintaining this whole time wasn’t Shen Houyun’s life, but rather the preservation of Shen Houyun’s corpse, keeping it from decaying, which is why he still appeared just like a living person.
He Fang raised his head to glance at the cameraman nearby. After all, such a rare resurrection scene had to be recorded in its entirety. In the future, it could be made into a promotional video for the landmark. After all, if one were to preach faith, there needed to be something concrete to spread. Faith value from the landmark had already become an indispensable part of his city.
Earlier, He Fang had even asked Bai Fu whether they should use medical instruments to monitor Shen Houyun’s vital signs. But Bai Fu refused. It seemed that in Bai Fu’s view, medicine was medicine, divine power was divine power. These were two entirely incompatible domains.
He Fang clicked “Confirm” on the pop-up window. Then another window immediately appeared before him, displaying the total amount of faith value he currently possessed.
And then, He Fang watched with his own eyes as that total began to drop rapidly at a speed too fast to follow with the naked eye. A sudden sense of shock surged in his heart.
The rate at which the faith value was being consumed was simply terrifying. Even the faith accumulated over such a long time by nearly 1.8 million residents didn’t seem sufficient to support a single resurrection.
Sure enough, the act of resurrecting life was ultimately something that defied all logic and reason, and the cost was just too great. It couldn’t be as simple as He Fang had imagined, where he wouldn’t need to worry about the lives of all N-PCs.
Staring at that faith value counter, He Fang clicked the pause button with a pained heart and looked toward Shen Houyun.
Shen Houyun’s wounds had actually healed quite a bit, though it was only that they no longer looked as grotesque as before. Now, Shen Houyun’s life status had risen from a sliver of blood to about a quarter. But the consumption of faith value was far too intense, completely disproportionate to the result.
Generally speaking, one-quarter should already be enough to survive. When he first saw Min Zhizhou barely hanging on to life, his state had been even worse than a quarter—yet Shen Houyun still hadn’t woken up.
He Fang vaguely sensed that something was off. During the direct healing process he had initiated, all the wounds on Shen Houyun’s body had been undergoing repair. But in truth, the injuries that would’ve caused fatal damage to Shen Houyun’s life should have been limited to those on his brain and heart.
After thinking carefully for a moment, He Fang re-entered a new command: Repair to the minimum level required to guarantee Shen Houyun’s resurrection.
He Fang planned to first heal only the fatal injuries, then have Bai Fu and the other doctors sustain Shen Houyun’s life afterward. The consumption rate of the faith value was simply too fast, so fast that He Fang felt deeply uneasy.
And sure enough, after this new command was executed, He Fang saw that the rate of faith value depletion had noticeably slowed.
However, this time, the healing process came to an abrupt stop.
A pop-up appeared: “Minimum life-value restoration complete. Would you like to begin soul reprogramming?”
He Fang froze. Reprogram the soul?
He could understand the concept of a soul, but why use the word “reprogram”?
Looking at Shen Houyun, whose body now appeared much improved on the surface, He Fang also realized that Shen Houyun was probably just physically restored, but completely unconscious. In other words, he lacked a soul.
They had already come this far in saving him. If they gave up now, it would truly be a waste after all the effort. He Fang clicked “Confirm” on the pop-up.
What happened next left He Fang stunned.
He saw a faint blue glow begin to emerge around Shen Houyun’s body. That light slowly condensed into strands of indiscernible blue code, which continuously streamed into Shen Houyun’s body.
And at that very moment, He Fang saw Shen Houyun’s eyelashes suddenly tremble. During this process, Shen Houyun slowly opened his eyes.
Shen Houyun had woken up!
He Fang saw that Shen Houyun’s lifeless eyes were gradually regaining vitality. At that moment, Mother Shen, who had suddenly pounced on Shen Houyun and was crying uncontrollably, was now gasping for breath. Just as all the blue lights disappeared, Shen Houyun’s hand moved slightly.
He slowly lifted his hand and gently placed it over his mother’s hand. Mother Shen’s sobs came to an abrupt stop. She stared closely into her child’s eyes. And in this atmosphere of both agitation and silence, Shen Houyun opened his mouth and said one word:
“Mom.”
At that instant, the resurrection was successful. The entire room was shocked.
After calling out to Mother Shen, Shen Houyun suddenly let out a whimper of pain. Then He Fang saw that the not-yet-fully-healed holes on Shen Houyun’s body were oozing fresh blood. And He Fang could clearly see the life bar on Shen Houyun’s status panel dropping.
“Prepare for emergency treatment!” Bai Fu suddenly shouted, and everyone quickly sprang into action. The wounds left on Shen Houyun’s body weren’t fatal, so what was needed now was treatment.
Everyone hurriedly left the hospital room, leaving only He Fang and the cameraman who had been filming the whole time.
He Fang looked up and said to the cameraman, “Let me see the playback.”
He Fang rewatched the entire recorded process. The camera hadn’t captured the soul programming he had seen with his own eyes. The whole white screen looked somewhat eerie.
“Make a backup of this and send it to Zhu Yan. Then make a few more copies and send them to the government for archiving,” He Fang instructed the cameraman before letting him leave. Then he lowered his head and looked at the bed where Shen Houyun had been lying. Since Shen Houyun had been moved, the entire bed was now stained with blood.
He Fang pressed lightly on a patch of congealed blood with his fingertip. The warm and all-too-real sticky sensation made him shudder. He immediately left the blood-soaked hospital room.
Sitting in the hospital corridor, He Fang still had bloodstains on his finger. Watching the very real blood on his hand slowly dry, he felt a strange sensation.
The details had been rendered with such precision that it felt exceptionally real. If he didn’t know clearly that this was the world of “Ruins Without Restart”, He Fang felt he wouldn’t be able to distinguish reality from illusion anymore.
He Fang carefully recalled the details of the resurrection and took a look at his current Faith Points. Good heavens! This consumption nearly emptied his entire reserves. Resurrection truly consumed an excessive amount of faith; as expected, it wasn’t a skill that could be used often.
However…
He Fang rubbed his chin.
He had just seen something very strange.
Shen Houyun’s attribute panel had changed color.
It wasn’t the kind of faint color shift you’d see when a wild NPC gained some tags or obtained some kind of unique ability. It was a very pure color, very similar to the NPCs from his main city. Because Shen Houyun had been wheeled away too quickly, He Fang hadn’t had the chance to examine it closely, but he saw that Shen Houyun had gained many new tags.
Shen Houyun’s attribute panel looked almost no different from that of the NPCs in the main city!
He Fang stood at the entrance of the emergency room, waiting for Shen Houyun to be brought back out. He wanted to get a good look at Shen Houyun’s attribute list.
Meanwhile, beside him stood Mother Shen, covered in blood. But in stark contrast to her horrifying appearance, her face was now filled with an eerie smile. She didn’t even acknowledge He Fang beside her. She smiled like a madwoman, giving off a heavy sense of pressure.
“City Lord!” He Fang heard a familiar youthful voice. Looking up, striding toward him was Wei Qixuan, the Deputy City Lord of Hope City.
At the time, He Fang hadn’t appointed Wei Qixuan as Deputy City Lord directly, but this child was indeed diligent and hardworking, and he was also the first youth whose attribute panel had changed color.
When He Fang saw Wei Qixuan, he opened up the boy’s attribute panel. Compared to before, the color seemed to have changed slightly again, and three glaring tags were now clearly displayed.
He looked more carefully at the stats on Wei Qixuan’s attribute panel. All of the attribute caps were increasing. This wasn’t something strange—after all, a baby’s attribute values were bound to rise with age. Wei Qixuan was still in his growth period, so an increase was inevitable.
However, judging by the growth rate of Wei Qixuan’s attribute values, even when he reached the upper limit of his development, his attribute ceiling would only go that far. This showed that the cap was clearly defined. But just now, from that one casual glance at Shen Houyun’s attribute values…
It looked like there were several more zeroes added.
“City Lord, are you injured?” While He Fang was lost in thought, Wei Qixuan had already walked up to his side and noticed the small traces of blood on He Fang’s fingertips.
“Ah, that? I accidentally touched it earlier and didn’t get the chance to wipe it off,” He Fang was pulled out of his thoughts by Wei Qixuan’s voice. Looking down at his bloodstained fingers, he added, “You’re way too observant. How did you even notice that?”
“Please wait a moment.” Wei Qixuan turned and ran off.
He Fang’s mood was a bit complicated. This youth so desperately wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with the NPCs from the main city, but no matter how hard he tried, all he could achieve was a slight tint of color on his attribute panel. Shen Houyun, on the other hand, had only joined Hope City for the sake of Arrival City and his mother. If it really came down to doing attribute modification, He Fang couldn’t help but feel that Wei Qixuan was the more suitable candidate.
There was a faint sense that Shen Houyun had picked up a massive bargain. He Fang felt a subtle sense of unease.
Wei Qixuan returned to He Fang’s side, motioned for him to sit down, then half-knelt beside him. Using some borrowed alcohol and gauze, he began cleaning the blood off He Fang’s fingers.
“You don’t need to be this meticulous, really.” He Fang could feel the chill of the alcohol spreading from his fingertips. The scent of alcohol mixed with the disinfectant in the air made it somewhat uncomfortable to breathe.
Looking at the youth kneeling before him with his head slightly bowed, quiet and obedient, He Fang once again felt a sense of pity. So much Faith had been spent on a wild NPC whose loyalty was still uncertain.
“This is a hospital. There are bound to be all kinds of bacteria. If there’s a hidden wound under the dirty blood that goes unnoticed, it could get infected easily,” Wei Qixuan said, carefully examining He Fang’s fingers. “No wounds—good. And having it cleaned feels more comfortable, doesn’t it?”
He Fang looked at the boy. He was still slender and tall—seemed like he’d grown again. If he could put on a bit more weight in the future, it would be even better.
“You sure know quite a bit.” He Fang smiled as he praised him.
“There’s a lot of miscellaneous knowledge when studying. I find it interesting to remember these things. And also…” Wei Qixuan lowered his eyes, and a faint blush slowly spread across his gradually fairer cheeks. “If I can get to touch City Lord, I’ll be really happy.”
He Fang blinked and suddenly thought that maybe even wild NPCs had their own kinds of charm, like Wei Qixuan.
Shen Houyun surely had his strengths, too. With a bit of nurturing, perhaps those adorable traits could be brought out as well.
“Did you come to see me for something?” He Fang asked suddenly.
Wei Qixuan had just opened his mouth to speak when the lights outside the operating room suddenly went out. Mother Shen, who had been anxiously watching the entire time, sprang to her feet in panic and tried to rush toward the doors.
At that moment, the person inside was being pushed out. Bai Fu also came out.
The entire surgery hadn’t lasted very long. He Fang asked, “Did the surgery go smoothly?”
“Very smoothly. His body’s recovering well. What emergency room? Damn, the moment I went in, I realized there wasn’t even much that needed doing. Just had to stop the bleeding and stitch him up. What a waste of my medical resources, tch.” Bai Fu finally let out a sigh, and He Fang caught a faint trace of relief on that bad-tempered doctor’s face.
As a doctor, Bai Fu didn’t want to see anyone with a chance at survival die before his eyes. Shen Houyun’s recovery—this was a good thing for Bai Fu as well.
“Are you happy?” He Fang wanted to hear an answer from this irritable NPC.
“…” Bai Fu glanced at He Fang, then pulled off his gloves in frustration and scratched his head. He looked at He Fang again, his stormy mood practically pouring out in full force.
Just as He Fang was trying to figure out what Bai Fu was thinking, the man suddenly stepped forward and pulled He Fang into a fierce hug.
He Fang froze, completely caught off guard. He stood there blankly as he received this intense emotional outburst from an NPC.
Bai Fu’s build couldn’t be considered tall or burly, but it was at least sturdy. However, compared to He Fang, there was still a noticeable difference. When he suddenly hugged He Fang, it was nearly as if He Fang’s entire body was engulfed in his embrace.
He Fang opened his arms but didn’t dare to struggle, hesitating whether he should give his doctor NPC a reassuring hug in return.
Finally, He Fang heard Bai Fu intentionally let out a long sigh right next to his ear. That sigh was filled with frustration, and his grip tightened.
Bai Fu’s voice sounded in He Fang’s ear: “City Lord, thank you for indulging my immaturity.”
He Fang blinked, feeling a little conflicted. Indeed, part of the reason for saving Shen Houyun was because he didn’t want his doctor to be left with psychological trauma. It could be considered a kind of trial as well. To have Bai Fu show such deep gratitude now… it was a little embarrassing, actually.
Bai Fu let go of He Fang. In his eyes were specks of intimacy and reliance, yet he still pushed away and said, “City Lord, life and death are destined. I am a doctor. Many lives are bound to slip through my fingers. I’ve long been mentally prepared for that. Your indulgence this time has already been more than enough. In the future, when I face life and death, I will be able to handle it calmly.”
He Fang didn’t fully understand what Bai Fu meant, but for some reason, he could sense that Bai Fu seemed to have shaken off a heavy burden that had been pressing down on him. His whole person looked visibly lighter.
“Did something happen to you before?” He Fang felt this wasn’t the behavior of someone in a normal state.
“It’s nothing.” The usually irritable Doctor Bai Fu now showed a relaxed smile. “Just some immature past, that’s all.”
Even though he didn’t understand and couldn’t relate, since the other party had come to terms with it, that in itself was a good thing.
“Then congratulations on moving on,” He Fang said as he looked at Bai Fu and nodded, awkwardly scratching his head.
These intelligent NPCs in “Ruins Without Restart”… could they actually have tragic pasts? If the game went into detail to this extent, it would really be mentally exhausting for the players.
Just then, He Fang suddenly noticed someone being pushed out. At a glance, it was clearly Shen Houyun, because Mother Shen had already rushed up to him in anxiety.
He Fang immediately opened Shen Houyun’s attribute panel and carefully examined the information on it.
After closely studying it, He Fang felt that Shen Houyun’s transformation toward a main-city NPC wasn’t complete. Indeed, his stats were several tiers higher than those of a wild NPC, but he still didn’t quite compare to a true main-city NPC.
Was it because he still retained the body of a wild NPC, so it was only a half-transformation?
Then He Fang saw Shen Houyun’s loyalty value, which was a flat “0”—and he felt a headache coming on.
He Fang opened Mother Shen’s attribute panel and took a glance. At least she had some loyalty.
He Fang rubbed the space between his brows and looked at Shen Houyun with a bit of displeasure. He really didn’t want to use up a huge amount of faith points to turn this NPC into a powerful one, only for things to go wrong and end up with him becoming hostile toward He Fang. That kind of enemy could pose a real threat to his city.
He needed to find a way to raise Shen Houyun’s loyalty.
What could be done to quickly gain loyalty?
Military service?
He Fang gave Shen Houyun a sinister glance and said to Bai Fu, “Observe his physical condition over the next period, record and report at different times. Keep track of his physical state.”
In any case, they needed to get him healed first. Before that happened, the priority was to keep a close eye on him and make sure he didn’t run off.
At this moment, Shen Houyun was covered in cold sweat and pale-faced, looking disoriented. There was clearly no way to communicate in this state. Until he was physically well, He Fang decided to temporarily put Shen Houyun’s matter aside.
“What were you about to say just now?” He Fang turned his gaze to Wei Qixuan, who stood nearby.
“City Lord, someone’s arrived,” Wei Qixuan said, a little excited. “Someone from outside the city has taken the initiative to come to Hope City. At the border post, Ye Sheng has already issued a temporary entry permit to the person wanting to enter Hope City. Would you like to go take a look?”
Someone’s here?
Someone’s here!
He Fang was immediately filled with delight. Ah! His Hope City—was this the first time someone had come from the outside, and not to spy on his activities?!
“Go! Go, go, go!” This was the very first reception of a guest, and it carried commemorative meaning! He had to go see, absolutely had to!
Bai Fu stood in place, watching He Fang jog away cheerfully with Wei Qixuan, a peaceful calm washing over his heart.
Left alone, sitting in front of the operating room, Bai Fu covered his face.
Look at what he had done.
How could he, just like a wronged child, rush up and ask for a hug the moment he saw an adult who would stand up for him? He was already at this age!
Bai Fu closed his eyes, feeling a mix of embarrassment, shame, and a touch of self-mockery—but also a sense of relief.
In a moment of crisis, he had managed to save one person. With his ability, that was the limit—he could only save one. He wasn’t like the powerful Chong Xiao, who possessed formidable strength.
Faced with a choice between two lives, it was only natural that he would choose the one most important to him: his Creator.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Just like what he had experienced in the past, there was nothing wrong with it.
Even though watching the other person, the one he couldn’t save, die before his eyes had cast a shadow of depression and pain over him, almost enveloping his entire being, he still didn’t believe he had done the wrong thing.
And yet, deep down, there remained guilt—guilt he could never shake off, no matter what.
Reality felt like it was playing a joke on him, forcing him to repeat everything that had once happened, and he had already naturally accepted the reality that another person would die.
But they didn’t.
At the moment Shen Houyun woke up, the weak, helpless version of himself from the past seemed to suddenly receive a redemption he thought he would never obtain.
As a doctor, life and death were commonplace.
But as long as there was one unexpected turn of events—even just once—it could become the foundation that, the next time he had to make a decision, would allow him to face it without confusion or pain.
The Creator had made it happen.
The Creator had fulfilled the wish that none of them had ever dared to even dream of.
—
He Fang and Wei Qixuan secretly crept together. The two of them craned their necks from the outskirts of Hope City, sneaking peeks with shifty expressions at the people who had just entered through the border.
“They really are here!” He Fang stared with wide eyes at those completely unfamiliar wild NPCs, who bore no markings of Hope City. His eyes are sparkling. “How did they get here? Was it because of the Search Squad’s outreach? Or the previous broadcast? Or maybe they heard some rumor from outside?”
“According to Ye Sheng’s report, it seems they’re a small group that was rescued by the Search Squad and came here by following their guidance,” Wei Qixuan also deliberately lowered his voice, matching the sneaky behavior of his city lord.
“Nicely done!” He Fang clenched his fist. “Forming the Search Squad really was the right move!”
He Fang noticed that Wei Qixuan had been tilting his head to look at him. Feeling puzzled, he lowered his head, only to meet Wei Qixuan’s eyes. Wei Qixuan simply smiled at him, then turned his gaze back to that small group.
That small group looked like a family. Their appearances were quite similar, so they were probably related by blood. There were both elderly and children among them. Every single one of them had a haggard face, their bodies skinny as sticks, and all of them carried massive bundles on their backs. Pressed against their thin and small frames, it looked incredibly mismatched.
He Fang glanced over everyone’s attributes. All of them had very ordinary gray-white panels, no tags—just regular wild NPCs.
“They even have children,” He Fang noted as he saw a child carrying a small backpack. The child’s eyes were sparkling as they looked around at the lush green fields surrounding them. Their fingers were in their mouth, as if trying to hold back saliva, a restrained expression of longing.
However, the adult holding the child’s hand kept pulling the child close to their side. Despite the wide-open road, the whole group squeezed tightly together in the center of the path, as if they were deliberately avoiding the surrounding fields.
“Did I make the road too narrow?” He Fang began to question himself.
“It’s because they don’t dare to touch the fields,” Wei Qixuan explained. “To small groups like them, Hope City should appear as a city that’s temporarily settled in place to rest and recover. Every single crop is an extremely precious resource. If this were a mobile city and a group carelessly damaged a single plant, they could be beaten to death on the spot.”
While Wei Qixuan seemed completely unsurprised by this, He Fang felt a sudden tightening in his chest. He hadn’t thought it would be like this.
At this moment, He Fang noticed that although the group looked at the surrounding farmland with clear longing, they didn’t dare to do anything.
“You all, wait a moment.” Suddenly, a voice called out from within the field. He Fang saw the small group freeze instantly, their faces filled with terror. Two of the adult men immediately stepped in front of their family protectively.
Although they were called adult men, they were simply a bit taller than the others. One of them quickly raised his voice in explanation: “We didn’t touch any of the fields! Can’t we at least take a look?”
But the farmer who had called out was stunned for a second. He seemed to have just realized how on edge and ready-to-flee the entire group was. He quickly raised both hands. “No, no—don’t be angry, don’t be scared. That’s not what I meant when I called out to you.”
“Then what did you mean?” The adult man did his best to act fierce, like someone who wouldn’t be bullied easily.
The farmer bent down and plucked a few ripe, red tomatoes from a tomato patch. He casually wiped them off and walked forward. “Come here, little one. These are for you and your family to eat.”
When the adult man saw that movement, his face instantly showed terror. “You…”
“Quick, quick, put it away. Whatever you do, don’t let the administrator see it!” The woman being protected behind the man was anxiously trying to push away the tomato. “We can’t cause trouble for you because of us! If the administrator finds out we took the tomatoes, you’ll definitely be punished.”
The adult man realized he had misunderstood. He immediately looked around, as if checking whether there were any administrators nearby. “Elder, please, quickly put the tomatoes away, before the administrator sees.”
The farmer was momentarily stunned, then suddenly seemed to remember something. A little embarrassed, he scratched his head. “Ah—look at me. I’ve been living a comfortable life for so long, I forgot about all that. Don’t be scared, it’s fine. I’m giving them to you, just eat them. These things aren’t anything rare around here.”
“Not rare?” The people in the small group looked at each other, clearly not believing it. “Elder, please don’t do this. If your kindness causes harm to you, we’ll feel terrible about it.”
“Take it.” At this moment, other farmers nearby stood up too, leaning casually on the hoes and other tools in their hands. “It’s alright. Just eat it. It’s not worth much. You all look like you’re so hungry you can barely walk. At this rate, you might collapse before even making it into the city.”
“Eat up, it’s alright. No one’s going to come and punish you. Have a bite for now—there’s a restaurant inside. You must have at least a little money on you, right? Go grab a proper meal. Look at this child—nowadays, you won’t find kids this skinny anywhere in our city.”
The members of the small group took the tomatoes from the farmers in a daze. The people nearby all smiled kindly. For a moment, the scene was bustling with light noise. With the small group’s bewildered expressions, the whole situation unexpectedly came across as a bit amusing.
He Fang watched this friendly moment unfold before his eyes and felt immensely proud.
“Xuan Xuan, under your management, everyone is so kind. I’m truly pleased,” He Fang sincerely praised.
Wei Qixuan lifted his head, opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but in the end, said nothing. He continued looking ahead.
“People who have too strong a sense of morality usually don’t live very well. Looking at that little group, it’s very likely that it was precisely because their moral sense was too strong that they were cast out.” Wei Qixuan said, his tone carrying a hint of subtle complexity.“This is a world not suited for people with too much of a moral conscience.”
He Fang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly noticed that the small group had all gone completely stiff.
Following their line of sight, he saw that in the distance, a squad of patrol soldiers was walking toward them.
The patrol soldiers’ steps were in unison, their momentum full of strength. But as the small group watched the patrol soldiers get closer and closer, it looked like their mental state was on the verge of collapsing, especially the child, who burst into tears from fear. The child’s family immediately covered her mouth, but still couldn’t stop the panicked sobbing.
The patrol soldiers stopped in front of the small group.
The adult man from the group clenched his jaw. Though his entire body was trembling uncontrollably from fear, he still forced himself to speak: “I’m sorry—we…”
“What’s wrong? Do you need help?” The tall and sturdy patrol captain looked down at the group in confusion, then leaned in to glance at the child whose mouth was being covered to stop her crying. “Why is she crying? Is she sick? Do you need us to call a vehicle?”
The man was stunned as well. “N-no… It’s just… she’s a little scared.”
“Scared of what?” The patrol captain was briefly stunned, then his expression turned a little complicated. “Scared… scared of me? Do I look that frightening?”
“Pffff—HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The patrol soldiers behind him couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. “Captain, your face is too scary. You made a little kid cry!”
“I…” The patrol captain looked awkward and scratched his head, frustrated, then reached behind the team and pulled a female patrol soldier forward. “You talk to them that I’m not gonna eat anyone.”
The female patrol soldier held back her laughter and squatted down in front of the child. The group didn’t know what she was trying to do and didn’t dare to resist. She took a clean white tissue from her pocket and gently wiped the tears off the child’s face. After one swipe, she saw the tissue was dirty, so she kept wiping until the child’s whole face was clean.
Looking closely, it turned out the child was actually a very cute little girl.
“Don’t cry anymore. That uncle isn’t scary at all. He didn’t mean to look like that either. If you cry like this, that uncle will feel really sad.” The female patrol soldier’s voice was very gentle. She was beautiful, and beautiful, gentle people always naturally inspire more goodwill. The little girl stopped crying.
She looked timidly at the patrol captain. “Will Uncle feel sad?”
“Pfft—” The patrol soldiers on the side were all secretly holding their stomachs as they laughed.
“Of course he would. Because such a cute little girl started crying just from seeing him. It must be because he’s too ugly!” The female patrol soldier tried hard to keep a straight face, but anyone with eyes could tell she was holding back laughter.
The little girl stole a few glances at the patrol captain, then shook her head. “Uncle isn’t ugly. He’s handsome.”
The patrol captain instantly let out a huge breath of relief and wiped away imaginary sweat.
The female patrol soldier comforted the little girl, then stood up and said to the man leading the group, “Just a bit farther ahead and you’ll see the city. If you’re looking for a specific place, just ask someone directly and you’ll find it.”
At this point, each person in the little group was holding a tomato in their hand. And yet, they hadn’t been scolded by the patrol soldiers. Every one of them looked bewildered.
Finally, the man cautiously asked, “Um, excuse me, where… where should we go if we want to find the resource exchange center?”
Resource exchange center?
He Fang suddenly remembered the scene back when they brought a mountain of resources to Scorching Sun City. His expression froze immediately. “I forgot to set up a resource exchange center!”
But right next to him, Wei Qixuan said, “City Lord, Hope City probably doesn’t need a resource exchange center.”
He Fang was stunned, furrowing his brow as he thought carefully. After some thought, he realized that the reason a resource exchange center existed was that there was a constant need for all kinds of resources, where even the tiniest bit wouldn’t be overlooked. But did his city lack resources?
Does he lack anything?
He doesn’t.
“A mobile city in itself—the areas that regular civilians can enter are already very limited, and places that allow small groups like them to enter are even fewer. They must have accumulated a lot of resources by now,” Wei Qixuan sighed. “Small groups are usually made up of people who aren’t capable of living in a mobile city. They form self-reliant, self-sufficient wandering teams. They usually stay around the outskirts of mobile cities or along the routes they travel, picking up whatever usable items they can for themselves. If they’re lucky enough to encounter an open mobile city, they can trade for some resources.”
Only now did He Fang notice the massive packs on the backs of these people. Even though they looked like they could collapse under the weight at any moment, not one of them was willing to let go.
“We don’t have a resource exchange here,” the female patrol soldier said, “but if what you have is something someone else needs, you can arrange barter trades on your own. However, if possible, I still recommend buying things with money.”
“We… we don’t have much money,” the man said, lowering his head in shame. “We can’t even afford a single tomato.”
“The price of tomatoes? How much is that? I remember tomatoes are considered a luxury item in mobile cities, aren’t they?” At that moment, the female patrol soldier turned to look at a nearby farmer. “Is that right?”
The farmer nodded. “Yes, they’re really expensive outside. But if you have enough money for a tomato out there, you could live here for a while. And during that time, you could find a job that pays daily. Bit by bit, life will get better.”
The small group still hadn’t quite processed it all. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re talking about price differences. With the money you have now, if you spend it carefully, you should be able to live in Hope City for some time. Then you can find a job or something. Or… are you not planning to settle down here in Hope City?” The farmer waved his hand. “Don’t leave. Look at you—how much further can you even go? You might as well stay here. The kids need to go to school, too. You can’t just keep wandering forever.”
Everyone in the small group was stunned, listening in disbelief. Then someone spoke, their voice trembling, “Are you saying… you’re willing to let us stay? Even grandpa and grandma, can they stay, too?”
“It’s possible. It’s just that if your grandparents aren’t able to work, things might be a bit tougher for you,” the female researcher said, glancing at the elderly couple at the back of the group who were so frail they could barely walk.
“It’s okay, it’s okay—we’re not afraid of hardship. If just a little hardship means we can stay in the city, then it’s okay, it’s really okay!” At last, the timid woman among them, who had remained quiet until now, suddenly burst out in emotion for the first time since entering Hope City. It was a surge of excitement that had been building up inside her.
Wei Qixuan watched silently. He could understand the woman’s emotion, this almost delirious joy, because he had once felt the same way, when he had desperately wanted to stay by the City Lord’s side. It was the madness of someone trying to cling to hope.
“It really was the right choice to come and see.”
Wei Qixuan suddenly heard the City Lord say this beside him. Turning his head, he saw the City Lord deep in thought, murmuring to himself.
“People who’ve just arrived from the outside still carry the worldview of the outside world. They definitely can’t understand how Hope City operates in a short time. If they keep thinking the way they used to, some major misunderstanding is bound to happen. Should we place some kind of city-entry guide pamphlets at the border checkpoints? No, that’s not right—a lot of people probably can’t read. Then, should we use recordings instead? And once they’ve listened and understood, could they return the recordings so we can reuse them? Or maybe it’s better to just establish a newcomer support office…?”
Wei Qixuan stared at his revered City Lord, watching him think with his head lowered, every word driven by the desire to make things easier for every person who entered Hope City.
He wasn’t arrogantly making decisions based on his own perspective. The City Lord had come here personally, observed the situation firsthand, summed things up, and only then started making decisions.
Wei Qixuan gazed at the City Lord’s profile deep in thought. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this was what a god looked like.
—
“Can you guarantee that everything you said is true?” At this moment, high above, the voice of the one no one dared look up at rang out—cold, commanding, and full of overwhelming authority. His voice alone was enough to send a chill down the spines of the Black Flag Mercenary Squad kneeling below.
“Yes, I swear every word I speak is the truth, Your Majesty.” Zhou Fang lowered his head, but his tone carried a trace of hatred. “‘The Land of Hope’ is not only real, but it must also possess some kind of resource capable of suppressing the Nightmare Beast seeds. The current Hope City is completely situated upon a stretch of land that lies extremely close to the Nightmare Beast Forest, and yet it remains untouched. They have vast fields, everyone is well-fed and clothed, and they’ve even started vigorously promoting education…”
In this era, where knowledge is held in the hands of a select few, are they promoting education vigorously?
The youthful man nearby, his face still bearing the signs of immaturity, spoke out anxiously upon hearing this: “How can precious knowledge be allowed to spread freely? What exactly is the person currently governing Hope City thinking?”
Within the ranks of the Black Flag mercenary squad, a robust man wearing a hood stood silently. A strand of silver hair slipped from beneath the hood. His eyes, shadowed by darkness, fixed upon the flustered young man.
“Indeed, he ought to be rebuked. If everyone had access to knowledge, there would be no reason for you to be standing here, would there?” Next to the youth stood a middle-aged man with a sallow face, his eyes slanted with nothing but indifference and contempt. “At the very least, I believe that the current leader of Hope City must possess a fair share of wisdom and courage. Surely, he’s a bit more competent than you, don’t you think? Former City Lord of Hope City—Bei Ji?”
Bei Ji clenched his teeth, speaking angrily: “Before I left, I confirmed that Hope City was beyond saving. I—”
“No commotion before His Majesty!” The guard standing higher up struck the floor hard with his long spear, producing a crisp and piercing sound.
“The so-called city lord of Hope City—who is he?” The person seated upon the imperial throne asked coldly. Upon hearing this, the young man, Bei Ji, turned anxiously toward Zhou Fang.
A trace of calculation and shadow flashed through Zhou Fang’s eyes. “Merely a young man who knows nothing of the immensity of heaven and earth.”
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