She skipped over the fact that she herself was one of those unlucky people.
[So what you’re saying is that when Safe Cities descend, they’re not only a source of resources for city lords—they also represent a kind of hope for the native civilization?]
[Coriander Safe City: More or less. Not every disaster world has a Safe City descend into it. After we arrive, we can take in the local inhabitants and preserve a spark of their civilization.]
[Coriander Safe City: But some city lords treat residents of other civilizations as expendable resources, and they don’t seem to be punished for it, so they act pretty recklessly. Still, a Tier-4 expert I met in my last world told me (whispering ear.jpg) that it’s better to treat residents well—whether they belong to your own civilization or not. It’ll benefit you in the future!]
[Blue Sea Safe City: Thanks, I know what to do now =v=]
Wen Huahua received her thanks and felt extremely pleased.
A big shot had remembered the favor he’d done her—he felt as though his own chances of survival had just gone up.
After thanking him, Cheng Qisheng fell into thought.
So many worlds were being destroyed by some kind of “rule,” and Safe Cities were suddenly appearing in those worlds.
Not only could they take in people from their own world, they could also shelter beings from other civilizations. They would remain in each disaster world, replenish their energy, then move on to the next stop.
That was basically… a lifeboat.
Cheng Qisheng suddenly thought of something.
If so many worlds had been destroyed, and this so-called world-ending rule truly existed—then what about the world she was currently in?
…No, no.
Better not think about something so unlucky.
Cheng Qisheng lightly cracked a walnut in her hand, carefully controlling her strength so that the kernel came out intact.
She had been practicing this lately.
Although becoming a Tier-2 transcendent hadn’t completely cured her illness, it had at least given her physical strength.
According to Aether, transcendants came in many different types: elemental controllers, physical enhancers, beast shapeshifters, psychic types, mechanical types, and so on.
But neither Cheng Qisheng nor Aether could determine which category she belonged to.
Because right now, she was a… slow-moving, awkwardly moving… powerhouse.
Compared with an ordinary human, her strength was indeed substantial, but it still wasn’t enough to count as true physical enhancement. It was more like the baseline physical strength of a Tier-2 transcendent.
Cheng Qisheng slowly ate the freshly shelled walnut kernels while flexing her fingers.
In any case, as long as she knew she had strength now, that was enough.
And in the future, she would only become stronger.
Of course, in the process, she would also need a little “help” from certain kind-hearted people.
Through her believers, Cheng Qisheng shifted her gaze toward Qianli City.
Guided by the survivors, the crystal hunters successfully located the Safe City situated in a nearby town.
They did not approach it, because their mission was only to verify its existence.
Cheng Qisheng transmitted the coordinates back to Blue Sea, and the result showed a deviation of roughly ten kilometers from the previous estimate.
It seemed the ruler of this world was more cautious than they had initially assumed.
She instructed the crystal hunters not to go any closer, to find a safe location, settle the six rescued locals there, and then leave Qianli City.
Finally, Cheng Qisheng awarded each crystal hunter 10,000 points.
Ten thousand points was by no means a small amount in Blue Sea at the moment—an ordinary Blue Sea worker earned only around 500 points per month.
Meanwhile, Wang Moning was retreating with the hunters when suddenly every one of them broke into expressions of excitement.
Every face showed the same unmistakable joy:
“Oh my god! I’m rich!”
Wang Moning: “What happened?”
Song Xi cheerfully told her that because they had completed their mission exceptionally well, the Creator God had rewarded them all.
The crystal hunters respectfully lowered their heads toward the sky.
“Grateful to our God for your mercy!”
Wang Moning’s eyes widened. “What reward?!”
A blessing?
Power?
Healing?
Then she heard Song Xi say blissfully that the god had given them a bonus.
Wang Moning: “???”
The Creator God rewards believers with bonuses?
Does that even make sense?
Song Xi said, “You get a share too. Although you’re not a main combat member, you handled translation duties, so the great Creator God has granted you 5,000 points.”
She quickly did the math in her head and gestured so Wang Moning could understand.
“5,000 points is enough for you to eat and live comfortably for half a year, and you could even buy two burst-fire guns and three crates of ammunition.”
Wang Moning: !!!
She immediately bowed her head toward the sky.
“Thank you, great Creator God!! I am grateful for your mercy!”
Cheng Qisheng had only casually glanced over while issuing the bonuses—but then she noticed something unexpected.
On the chain of believers… there was one more person.
Very faint.
Very small.
But unmistakably there.
She tried sending a message to this new believer.
“Good child, you’ve worked hard.”
Wang Moning felt as though she had been struck by lightning. She abruptly stood up.
Now it was the Blue Sea people’s turn to stare at her in confusion.
Wang Moning stammered, “I—I heard it. I heard the voice of a god…”
In truth, she hadn’t clearly made out what the god had said at all.
But she felt something wrap around her from every direction, as though she were being protected.
It felt like being held in a mother’s embrace—warm, powerful, and deeply reassuring.
A sense of belonging that reached all the way into her soul, as though she had finally found a home.
Emotion surged uncontrollably through Wang Moning’s heart—gratitude, excitement, happiness—and she couldn’t stop herself from crying.
So… so this was a god?
This was the world Song Xi and the others lived in?
The Blue Sea people were stunned for a moment, then quickly became delighted.
Song Xi, especially, happily stepped forward and hugged Wang Moning.
Then she announced:
“From this moment on, the great Creator God has acknowledged you. You are now our sister!”
Cheng Qisheng took even longer to process this than the Blue Sea people did.
She had only said one sentence—“Good child, you’ve worked hard.”
Why was this child crying so hard?
…Forget it.
Let her cry if she wanted to.
At least when she cried, the believer link grew stronger.
After confirming the coordinates of Cosmic’s Safe City, Cheng Qisheng directly sent him a private message, completely ignoring the fact that it was the middle of the night.
Sending messages at night made things seem more urgent, didn’t it?
***
Cosmic was asleep when a special city lord alert—costing 10 crystal cores—suddenly popped up.
He jolted awake and irritably looked at the virtual screen.
[Blue Sea Safe City: Big brother, you said before that you could help suppress residents—how much do you charge for that?]
[Blue Sea Safe City: My residents used to be very obedient, and I treated them well too, but they keep wanting more and more. I feel like I can’t keep them under control anymore.]
[Blue Sea Safe City: Ah, big brother, are you asleep? Then you should rest first. Things haven’t actually gotten out of control yet. I just feel like something is a little off. I’ll try revising the laws tomorrow T-T]
Cosmic was instantly wide awake.
He wasn’t sleepy anymore.
He didn’t even feel like getting angry.
Instead, he immediately sent a barrage of messages.
[Little sister! A rebellion is no joke! You could die! Don’t even think about dragging this out—you have to suppress them hard from the very beginning!]
[Setting laws is useless. You need to show force!]
[Maybe while you’re sleeping tonight, they’re already plotting how to overthrow you. Trust me—I’ve been overthrown plenty of times. I have experience!]
[How about this: come over here, and I’ll suppress them for you. Don’t worry, just leave it to me—no problem!]
Cheng Qisheng replied:
[But big brother… I don’t have many crystal cores right now… maybe I should try suppressing them myself first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll trouble you then.]
The piece of fat meat was already right at his mouth—how could Cosmic possibly let it escape?
He immediately replied:
[It’s fine, it’s fine. We get along well. I won’t charge you!]
Cheng Qisheng slowly rubbed her temples.
As expected—this guy’s “mouthpiece” wasn’t around.
Otherwise, how could he possibly say something like that?
Any halfway competent city lord would immediately realize that someone offering to “not charge you” must have ulterior motives.
She deliberately showed caution and remained silent for half a minute.
Cosmic finally realized his mistake and hurriedly added:
[Let’s settle it in grain, okay? I’ll charge you less, but it can’t be too little. My soldiers still need to eat, after all.]
Only then did Cheng Qisheng put on a show of hesitation, inner conflict, and uncertainty—so convincingly that Cosmic was practically itching to reach through the screen and drag her over himself.
He hurriedly called his “mouthpiece” back over to help persuade her.
Finally, as dawn broke:
[Blue Sea Safe City: Alright, big brother. Let’s go with the price we agreed on. Give me a little time to prepare—I’ll teleport over in two days =v=]
Cosmic couldn’t help grinning.
[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Good. I’ll be waiting.]
Hahaha—finally hooked!!!
***
Two days later.
Cosmic had been waiting since early morning, pacing anxiously along the city walls, terrified that Blue Sea Safe City might suddenly realize something was wrong and flee.
At last, a lookout reported:
“Your Majesty, a Safe City has appeared in the distance.”
He looked over.
Sure enough, it was a Tier-2 Safe City.
Its coordinates were roughly ten kilometers away from the location he had given.
So Blue Sea wasn’t completely stupid after all.
They had been somewhat wary of him.
Then he would have to move faster.
Otherwise, Blue Sea might still be holding onto 1,000 crystal cores, ready to flee at any moment.
But once prey was already in his pot, how could he possibly let it escape?
No.
He had to make absolutely sure.
“AI, spend 1,000 crystal cores to relocate directly beside that Safe City, then immediately spend another 1,000 crystal cores to initiate a Safe City war. Use the non-waivable voucher. Not even one second of delay!”
“Yes, City Lord. The AI is executing the operation.”
In an instant, Cosmic Lord Safe City relocated directly beside Blue Sea Safe City.
The very next second, Cheng Qisheng, who was sitting at her desk, heard Aether’s report.
“City Lord, Tier-3 Cosmic Lord Safe City has initiated a non-waivable voucher war against us.”
Cheng Qisheng raised an eyebrow.
“So he even used a non-waivable voucher. He really thinks highly of me.”
She had heard those things weren’t easy to obtain—impossible to purchase from shops and available only through sheer luck in disaster worlds.
Once a Safe City war was activated, the gates of the two cities would press together, forming a circular passage that allowed direct entry between them.
“Hahahahaha!! It worked!! Finally, it’s done!!!”
Cosmic overflowed with confidence, already waiting to see Blue Sea panic and beg for mercy.
In the group chat, he openly displayed the arrogance of a victor.
[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Hahahahaha, let me teach you something. War is always the fastest way to obtain resources.]
[Cosmic Lord Safe City: The weak exist only to become nourishment for the strong.]
He expected shock.
Panic.
Begging.
But instead, Blue Sea’s reply appeared—and the moment Cosmic saw it, his blue eyelids twitched violently.
[Blue Sea Safe City: =v=]
Cosmic stared at that emoticon.
A deep sense of unease suddenly rose in his chest.
Something was wrong.
Why… was Blue Sea so calm?
Cheng Qisheng sent the emoticon, then looked toward the two connected city gates.
After confirming that Cosmic could no longer deploy shields, she slowly took a sip of hot water.
Finally.
He had taken the bait.
—Cosmic struggled to suppress the unease in his heart.
He looked down.
Just as the fully armed soldiers of Cosmic Lord Safe City were about to charge into Blue Sea Safe City, a deafening explosion greeted them first.
“For the glory of our god!!”
“Blue Sea will live forever!!!”
Cosmic stared in disbelief.
“How is this possible? A Tier-2 city—how can there be so many people?!!!”
But no one answered him.
Countless Blue Sea soldiers—so densely packed they were impossible to count—armed with all manner of weapons and armored vehicles, surged forward like a suffocating tidal wave.
They poured in with overwhelming force, like an unstoppable ocean.