This wasn’t the first time Cheng Qisheng had watched the Blue Sea civilization fight.
But it was the first time doing so hadn’t given her a headache.
Because this time, the Blue Sea people weren’t fighting among themselves—they were fighting someone else.
——When Cheng Qisheng first began cultivating human civilization, she had wanted to make everything perfect.
Back then, she had still been very naive.
She believed that if she could cultivate humanity well enough, they would rapidly climb the medical technology tree and eventually find a way to cure her illness.
And so, Cheng Qisheng began cultivating them.
Physically, she wanted human civilization to possess the eagle’s eyesight, the wolf’s hearing, the leopard’s speed, the bear’s strength, and the cat’s agility.
Mentally, she wanted them to possess superior intelligence, rich emotions, and powerful abilities to learn and evolve.
After generations of cultivation, only the Old Seventh Star Civilization managed to achieve internal evolution.
And, as expected, Old Seventh became the only one of her civilizations to reach the spacefaring stage.
Then, precisely because of its superior intelligence, Old Seventh grew so arrogant that it came to believe itself omnipotent. Carelessly, it brought an unknown virus back from space—and ultimately destroyed itself.
Naturally, Cheng Qisheng had been devastated.
After that, she decided to let things take their course. No one was perfect.
There was no need to insist on cultivating a perfect human civilization. As long as they could survive, time would eventually bring them everything else.
Unexpectedly, however, letting go had brought an unexpected blessing.
After more than five million years of brutal survival, the Old Eighth Blue Sea civilization—probably because it had spent so long competing with all manner of beasts in both strength and cunning—had developed every external combat ability Cheng Qisheng had once hoped humanity would possess.
As for the internal side… well, no one was perfect!
Old Eight really was a good child—but even so, there had been a time when they gave Cheng Qisheng endless headaches.
After the birth of the Blue Sea civilization, more than half of its history had been spent in a primitive, savage era. Even after entering the modern age, deep down they were still like wild people swinging from vines, roaming freely through forests and mountains.
They possessed an extremely strong sense of territory. No matter what environment they entered, the first thing they did was make sure there was enough food. Whenever they encountered a problem, their instinctive first response was to settle it physically.
As a result, the Blue Sea civilization had been plagued by endless wars.
Cheng Qisheng had managed to stop several large-scale wars, but she couldn’t stop them all.
At one point, she issued an outright ban on large-scale warfare. The result was a sharp decline in Blue Sea’s birth rate, while large numbers of people inexplicably developed depression every year. Even having the government build fitness centers and extreme-sports facilities all over the world had done nothing to help.
In the end, Cheng Qisheng had been forced to admit the truth.
Telling the Blue Sea people not to fight was like telling a human not to breathe, a fish not to live in water, or Cheng Qisheng herself not to work.
Later, as her condition worsened, she truly no longer had the energy to manage them and could only let Old Eight do as it pleased.
Perhaps the only consolation was that every major war in Blue Sea civilization’s history had at least had a legitimate cause.
When the nations were divided, some wanted unification.
Once they were unified, others wanted independence.
And once they split apart again, someone would inevitably want to reunify them.
In short, they cycled endlessly between division and unification, much like the human history Cheng Qisheng knew—except the Blue Sea civilization fought far more often.
So often, in fact, that Cheng Qisheng had once worried the Blue Sea civilization might eventually destroy itself through internal conflict.
Or worse, fail to adapt to modern society and technologically regress into a primitive agricultural era.
—She had worried deeply about them back then.
Now, however, she was completely reassured.
Only after watching them fight an external enemy did Cheng Qisheng realize that whenever the Blue Sea civilization had fought among themselves in the past, they had actually been holding back.
Against a foreign race, though, they showed no restraint whatsoever.
Cosmic’s native civilization was called Klan.
Their facial features and physiques were identical to those of humans, except that their skin was blue and their lips bluish-purple.
They actually looked rather intimidating.
But their combat ability was only around the level of ordinary humans. There was simply no comparison with the Blue Sea civilization, which practically had combat encoded into its genes.
What was more, Blue Sea didn’t merely possess an enormous army. They also had a complete weapons system and a fully established command structure.
The battle was almost entirely one-sided.
The Klan army had originally intended to launch an invasion, only to suddenly find themselves being invaded instead. Caught completely unprepared and overwhelmingly inferior in strength, their forces collapsed almost immediately.
They did try forcing slaves captured from other civilizations onto the front lines. But those slaves were so malnourished they could barely manage one proper meal a day. Weak and emaciated, and perfectly aware that they were being sent out to die, they surrendered the moment they reached the battlefield.
The Blue Sea civilization had no interest in bullying the weak. What they enjoyed was the rush and exhilaration of real combat. Fighting opponents this feeble only bored them.
As long as the slaves surrendered, they were told to find somewhere to squat down, and the Blue Sea soldiers simply ignored them.
As a result, the slaves sent onto the battlefield surrendered faster and faster.
Seeing this, Cosmic raged helplessly inside his city lord’s mansion:
“All weapons! Deploy every weapon and aim them at the enemy!”
“Any slave who surrenders—kill them all!!!”
His AI replied calmly:
“All weapons in storage were deployed ten minutes ago.”
“Personnel belonging to the Cosmic Lord Army have decreased by 60 percent.”
Cosmic could hardly believe what he was hearing.
How could it have happened so quickly?
How could the Blue Sea civilization possess such overwhelming combat power?
Even if the enemy had far more people, how could his Cosmic Lord Army have collapsed in such a short amount of time?
“City Lord, your probability of victory in this battle is 0.03%. The AI recommends surrendering, ceding territory, and using nuclear crystals to relocate the remaining territory.”
Once a Safe City war began, there were only two possible outcomes: one side won and the other lost, or the losing city lord gritted their teeth and sued for peace by ceding territory.
They would simply sever the land already occupied by enemy civilians and flee with whatever remained of their Safe City.
Cosmic had considered doing exactly that.
But those damned Blue Sea residents were like ants crawling into every available crack. Worse still, they possessed aerial equipment. In such a short amount of time, they had already spread throughout the entirety of Cosmic Lord Safe City.
If he severed the occupied territory now… what would even be left?!
Was he supposed to flee with some tiny scrap of land and live on in humiliation, only to become a laughingstock to Meow Meow Safe City?!
Furious, Cosmic waved his hand and dispersed the AI-generated image of the Klan people.
“Surrender? Dream on!! Send out every soldier! The Royal Guard too! I’m Tier 3—how could I possibly lose to a mere Tier 2 like her?!”
“AI, open the shop. I’m buying heavy weapons and killing her!”
The AI’s dispersed hologram calmly reformed.
“Apologies, Lord. Your nuclear crystal reserves are insufficient to purchase any weapon suitable for warfare on this scale.”
Cosmic refused to believe it.
“How could they possibly be insufficient?! I still have more than six thousand crystals! Just buy that pulse shock net for 5,000 crystals! It can at least drive the people of Blue Sea Safe City out of the central district, can’t it?!”
That was the bare minimum he could accept—at least he could escape with the central region intact.
Cosmic was practically about to start smoking from sheer panic, yet the AI remained as calm as ever.
“You spent 1,000 crystals on relocation and another 1,000 crystals to initiate Safe City warfare.”
“At present, you have only 4,932 crystals remaining. Your reserves are insufficient to purchase any large-scale war weapon.”
Cosmic froze.
Only then did he realize…
That was true.
“We’re only short 68 nuclear crystals! Tell the Royal Army to stop fighting! Have all of them hunt zombies! Go find nuclear crystals!”
AI: “City Lord, it is already too late. Blue Sea Safe City’s army has sealed every route out of the city. According to calculations, if you sever the territory now, you may still preserve part of the central city district.”
“No! That won’t work! If I escape with so little land and so few people, I won’t have enough population to continue expanding the Safe City! I’ll be trapped in this world!”
Cosmic finally made up his mind to leave the “palace.”
He would go out himself and kill zombies to obtain nuclear crystals.
He was a Tier 3 transcendent. If he had entered the battlefield from the beginning, the situation would never have become this one-sided.
But Cosmic was afraid of being injured—and even more afraid of dying in battle. That was how the aristocrats of his native world had educated him: fighting was something for the lower classes. All he needed to do was remain safely inside a secure room and wait for the results.
So even after advancing in rank and gaining considerable strength, he had never dared to enter a real battlefield.
But now…
It was time to risk his life.
He charged outside. As he passed one of the rooms, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Right!
That damned woman who had given him such a terrible idea—wasn’t she staying somewhere around here?
This was all her fault!
If she hadn’t suggested giving coordinates that were ten kilometers off, he wouldn’t have wasted 1,000 nuclear crystals on relocation!
If he hadn’t spent those 1,000 crystals, he would have been able to afford a large-scale weapon right now!
Cosmic’s eyes nearly turned blood-blue with rage. Like a rampaging machine, he smashed through the first door—
Nothing.
She wasn’t there!!
Where the hell had that damned woman gone?!
The AI’s cold voice sounded beside him.
“City Lord, your poor judgment has caused you to miss your final opportunity to escape.”
The holographic projection disappeared.
At the same time, every resident of Cosmic Lord Safe City heard the AI’s cold, mechanical voice.
[AI Announcement: Combat personnel of Cosmic Lord Safe City have dropped to 20%. In this Safe City war, Blue Sea Safe City has achieved victory.]
[Core system of Cosmic Lord Safe City… sssst… has been absorbed by Blue Sea Safe City… City Lord, please… sssst… proceed to your death…]
“No!! No!! I don’t want to die!! I, Chen Miaoyu, will become the King of the Universe!! I am the king of all civilizations!”
He tried desperately to flee, but his movements were gradually slowing.
On Cheng Qisheng’s virtual screen, she could see the coordinates of the two Safe Cities slowly overlapping.
The display of Cosmic Lord Safe City was also becoming clearer and clearer. It could now even be switched between and zoomed in on just like Blue Sea Safe City.
She had Aether pull up Cosmic’s feed.
Now there were two displays on the virtual screen: one showed Cosmic, while the other showed the two Safe Cities slowly merging together.
As the two Safe Cities fused, Cosmic’s body grew increasingly stiff. At first, he could still move slowly.
Then he became completely unable to move.
Until finally, the two Safe Cities fully merged into one.
The residents of Cosmic Lord Safe City were expelled from the merged territory at the same moment that Cosmic’s body crumbled into ash.
Cheng Qisheng watched the entire process.
“So this is what happens to a defeated city lord?”
Logically speaking, as a fellow city lord, she should have felt something upon witnessing such a scene.
But she didn’t feel much of anything.
Cheng Qisheng had been ill for far too long, and she had spent far too many billions of years on Dark Star.
She knew only one thing.
Because she was afraid of death, she would do everything in her power to remain cautious, develop her Safe City, and ensure that she would never end up like Cosmic.
Cheng Qisheng watched as Cosmic’s ashes scattered in the wind, leaving not a single trace behind.
Then she opened a private chat with Meow Meow Safe City.
—Blue Sea Safe City transfers an electromagnetic barrier shield (with 800 nuclear crystals attached) to Meow Meow Safe City—
[Blue Sea Safe City: Thanks for lending me the shield. I ended up not needing it. As agreed, I’ve sent the rental fee plus the service charge =v=]
[Meow Meow Safe City: That was fast, meow? You won, meow?]
[Blue Sea Safe City: Yep~ I won. And thanks for lending me the shield to anchor the formation. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared challenge a Tier 3 while I’m only Tier 2.]
[Meow Meow Safe City: No problem, meow! I’m happy I could help you beat Cosmic!]
[Meow Meow Safe City: You’re so strong! You beat him without even needing a Tier 3 barrier net. I admire you, meow!]
—Meow Meow Safe City transfers 200 nuclear crystals to Blue Sea Safe City—
[Meow Meow Safe City: You don’t need to pay that much rent, meow. Since it was used against Cosmic and didn’t consume any energy, I’ll refund the energy fee. If you borrow it again next time, though, the rent will be the same whether you use it or not, meow~]
[Meow Meow Safe City: Alright, I’m done chatting. We’re throwing a party to celebrate Cosmic finally dying, meow! Meow meow meow~]
Cheng Qisheng thanked her again.
When she had spoken with Cosmic earlier, she had clearly been able to tell from his tone that he was extremely confident—and that he had enough nuclear crystals to purchase large-scale battlefield weapons.
Yet somehow, even though Cheng Qisheng had already borrowed a shield from Meow Meow Safe City in preparation, Cosmic had died without ever managing to purchase a single large-scale weapon.
Cheng Qisheng had a strong feeling that this had a great deal to do with that so-called “mouthpiece” resident.
She turned her attention to the Safe City that had now fully merged.
Originally, Blue Sea Safe City had covered 1,600 square kilometers, while Cosmic Lord Safe City alone occupied a full 4,800 square kilometers.
Cheng Qisheng did a quick calculation.
A Tier 3 Safe City should initially cover around 3,200 square kilometers.
That meant Cosmic must have absorbed either two Tier 1 Safe Cities or one Tier 2 Safe City to reach exactly 4,800 square kilometers.
And now…
All of it belonged to her.
Cheng Qisheng opened the Safe City panel.
[Safe City — Tier 2]
[Actual Territory: 6,400 square kilometers]
[Descent Occupied Area: 40 square kilometers]
At this moment, Blue Sea Safe City had become a true behemoth, spanning 6,400 square kilometers.
Although accommodating 360 million people was still somewhat cramped, it was much better than before.
Previously, everyone had been forced to go outside according to strict schedules and designated time slots. It was similar to traffic restrictions based on license plate numbers, except that Blue Sea Safe City restricted its residents according to their ID numbers.
Now, things were far more relaxed.
Life would only get better from here.
Cheng Qisheng then turned her attention to the former residents of Cosmic Lord Safe City who had been expelled beyond the territory.
The Blue Sea army had not ignored them simply because they had been forced outside.
Almost the instant Cosmic’s residents were expelled, the Blue Sea military command reacted, ordering its soldiers to pursue them.
By now, all the former residents of Cosmic Lord Safe City had been completely surrounded.
The civilians were terrified, with no idea what the Blue Sea people planned to do with them.
As for the Blue Sea people themselves…
They didn’t really know either.
They simply couldn’t tolerate enemies escaping—especially when those enemies had fled right to the edge of their own territory.
What they would do with them afterward could be decided later.
For now, only one thing mattered.
They had to remain under Blue Sea’s control.
Capture them first. Decide what to do with them later.
Some residents who had lived in Cosmic Lord Safe City for more than half a year—and therefore understood what a Safe City truly was—began pleading with the soldiers to let them become citizens of Blue Sea Safe City.
The soldiers couldn’t understand their language, but from their gestures, they could more or less grasp what they were asking for.
And that created a new problem.
The Blue Sea people had fought countless internal wars throughout their history. But no matter how chaotic things became, there was one point on which everyone had always agreed.
They were all part of the same civilization.
You are a child of the gods, and so am I.
Therefore, after I defeat you, I can still accept you and let you live among us.
But…
These aliens weren’t children of the gods.
The great Creator God had guided them to conquer this enormous city.
The spoils of victory were now visible to everyone.
The temple had expanded once again, this time growing so vast that it seemed almost boundless.
But what were they supposed to do with all these extra aliens who had come along with it?
The deity had given them no instructions.
Kill them?
They could certainly do that.
But what if the great Creator had some other purpose for them?
The military went to find the Pope.
The Pope knelt inside the temple and prayed, asking the great divine being for guidance.
Cheng Qisheng herself was also conflicted.
She had cultivated eight human civilizations before, and she understood the darker side of humanity all too well.
These alien humans were no different.
At present, the Blue Sea civilization existed as a single unified whole. It was at its most stable, most cohesive, and most internally unshakable.
Cheng Qisheng was extremely satisfied with the current situation.
Rationally, she knew it would be best not to introduce any outside variables.
And yet…
She couldn’t simply ignore the information Coriander had revealed.
Bringing multiple civilizations into a Safe City could provide benefits.
Moreover, over the long term, Safe Cities would travel through different worlds and continue expanding each time they advanced in rank.
The other city lords were continuously absorbing new civilizations as well.
If Cheng Qisheng refused to do the same, then in the long run, other city lords would continue replenishing their populations, while her Blue Sea civilization could only consume its own.
At the current low tiers, a city lord with one million residents was already considered powerful, while her 360 million residents placed her far ahead of everyone else.
But what about the higher tiers?
The in-game shop even sold an Air Tower capable of accommodating one billion people—though its price made Cheng Qisheng’s eyes hurt just from looking at it—and it could be upgraded even further.
In the end, Cheng Qisheng still couldn’t make up her mind completely.
She needed time to observe whether these foreign civilizations would have any adverse effect on the Blue Sea civilization.
So she issued a divine decree to the Pope.
“Those willing to join our Safe City may remain here temporarily, but they may only live on the outskirts of the city. They may receive Blue Sea’s protection and accept Blue Sea missions, but only those who become my believers may truly become citizens of Blue Sea.”
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Qisheng cautiously added another instruction.
“Do not accept the blue-skinned people. Expel them.”
Cosmic might have treated the other civilizations poorly, reducing them to slaves.
But he had shown a certain degree of preferential treatment toward the Klan people, who shared his blue skin. Those of higher status had become members of the elite, while those lower down had served as guards.
Perhaps, for the other civilizations, Blue Sea’s conquest of this Safe City wasn’t entirely unacceptable.
But to the Klan people, it would feel as though Cheng Qisheng had destroyed their homeland.
She had no desire to end up in some “endured years of humiliation before returning for revenge” storyline—especially not when she would be the villain in it.
After receiving the divine decree, the Pope immediately informed the military.
The military acted swiftly, expelling the Klan people while bringing in locals to serve as translators.
Since the military now had translators, the aliens were also able to use local former slaves as interpreters.
Once word spread that people could apply to remain in this new Safe City, long lines quickly formed.
Most of those lining up were people from other worlds.
They knew that even if this world survived the present crisis, it would eventually be destroyed anyway.
The locals, on the other hand, were mostly hesitant.
Having only just escaped a nightmarish life of slavery, they found it difficult to immediately place their trust in another group of aliens—the Blue Sea people.
However, one neatly dressed woman stood firmly in the registration line.
When the local translator asked for her name and specialization, she answered without hesitation.
“My name is Ru Buyan. I am a highly talented researcher. My primary field is…”
Cheng Qisheng watched the long registration line and placed a check mark beside Cosmic’s name in her notebook.
There were still at least two months before they left this world.
During that time, she could slowly consider whether she wanted to accept other civilizations and observe how the other city lords handled the matter.
Ah, right.
Speaking of the other city lords…
She glanced at the group chat.
The usually quiet chat had exploded into chaos.
[Blue Leaf Safe City: Cosmic’s name turned gray?? He’s dead??]
[Blue Leaf Safe City: @Meow Meow Safe City, was it you?]
To be honest, almost every city lord who saw the message assumed Meow Meow had done it.
[Meow Meow Safe City: Not me, but I know who did it, meow~]
[Coriander Safe City: !!! What!! Who’s bold enough to take down a Tier 3 Safe City!]
[Coriander Safe City: Oh my god! Don’t tell me the local zombies did it?!]
[Blue Leaf Safe City: Impossible. Tier 3 Safe Cities have shields. Even if you can’t win, you can activate the barrier and spend 1,000 nuclear crystals to escape, right? It must have been another city lord.]
[Coriander Safe City: This weakling is trembling… which big shot did it?]
[Withered Star Safe City: Not me.]
[Gu Gaga Safe City: Not me.]
[Zhou Yue Safe City: Not me.]
The replies lined up one after another in perfect tacit agreement.
Until, finally, a different answer appeared.
[Blue Sea Safe City: =v=]
[Blue Sea Safe City: It was me =v=]