Listening to Liang Shuguang’s seemingly random bout of madness, Liu Yun could only ignore it for now. She hurriedly checked her communicator to see what message he had just sent.
For some reason, she always seemed to end up dealing with mentally unstable people.
There was Liang Shuguang right in front of her, and then there was the current Bai Feifei. Her own disciple, at least, had a perfectly upright moral compass, but now even she seemed to have defected to Bai Feifei’s side.
Liu Yun gripped her communicator, her eyes scanning the message on the screen.
Looking at the words pleading for mercy sent in her name, she couldn't help but find it bizarre. This didn't fit Liang Shuguang's personality at all.
“Why did you... send this?” She looked up, gazing at Liang Shuguang in his wheelchair.
“Why? If you think it’s inappropriate, you can always go and explain it to her yourself,” Liang Shuguang replied with a carefree smile.
Liu Yun: “...”
She didn't think that would be necessary. It didn't really matter if she just let the message stand as if she had written it herself.
Staring at the increasingly bizarre man before her, Liu Yun remained silent for a long time before turning around and vanishing into the shadows.
Watching her leave, Liang Shuguang began rocking his wheelchair back and forth again, humming that old Dawn City nursery rhyme.
He had a premonition.
This time, the message he truly wanted to convey would be understood by someone!
...
The next morning, sunlight poured into the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Bai Feifei rubbed her throbbing temples and slowly sat up in bed.
She felt as though she had slept for an eternity, yet upon waking, she still felt a lingering drowsiness, as if she hadn't rested well at all.
Scratching her head in confusion, she got out of bed anyway and began her usual morning routine.
“Ah... Why are you up so early?”
Fashionably late as always, Xu Mo's voice rang out in her mind once again. Only this time, he was yawning, sounding as if he hadn't slept well either.
Do Evil Gods even need sleep?
“Heh, while you were asleep yesterday, I found you a helper from within our organization,” Xu Mo said, his voice laced with a hint of smugness, as if seeking praise.
“...Huh?” Bai Feifei froze.
“A helper? Do you mean for the assassination of Liang Shuguang?”
“Who... Who is it?”
Bai Feifei's heart instantly tightened with anxiety. Was she finally going to meet someone else from the organization?
Was she about to uncover the Old-Timer's grand conspiracy that spanned across timelines?
“Yeah, she's a new recruit too. Her codename is Unceasing Purple. Of course, she also goes by another name you might be more familiar with—Wan Qianhong.”
Bai Feifei: “...”
She stared blankly for a moment, her lips twitching.
“What on earth do you keep doing with my body while I'm asleep?!”
“What do you mean 'your body'? It's our body, okay? Watch your phrasing,” Xu Mo corrected her, sounding highly displeased.
Bai Feifei let out a sigh. Naturally, she had no control over what an Evil God chose to do.
However, she couldn't help but express her concern:
“But... is it really appropriate to drag her into this?”
“Assassinating the City Lord... This means standing against the entire city. She might not even be able to stay here anymore.”
In Bai Feifei's eyes, she had made a deal with an Evil God and didn't have much time left to live anyway, so it was fine for her to act on impulse for what she believed was right.
But at this very moment, assassinating the City Lord was practically equivalent to turning against the entire city, defying the very order of the world!
She felt that involving Wan Qianhong was as good as pushing her down a path of no return.
“Oh, that,” Xu Mo chuckled. “Actually, she wanted to take action herself. I merely made the arrangements along the way.”
“Besides, let me remind you of something: that isn't called standing against the entire city. It's called the entire city standing against you!”
“And besides, as long as you succeed in killing him, what's the problem?”
Bai Feifei fell silent, having no choice but to accept this reality passively.
She had no idea what “she” had said to Wan Qianhong last night or what plans had been made.
Just as she was about to ask, Xu Mo's voice beat her to it.
“Don't worry, I've got everything arranged. Just strike when the time comes.”
“By the way, it's pretty lively outside. Want to go take a look?”
Hearing this, Bai Feifei was taken aback. She quickly put on her Scavenger uniform and pushed open the door of her temporary room.
Sunlight streamed in, and she saw that the streets outside were packed with people.
It was a dense crowd of a scale she had never witnessed before in the Inner City.
People flooded the streets with smiles on their faces, holding flags of various colors and chanting celebratory slogans. To her, this was an entirely foreign sight.
“What... are they doing?”
She muttered to herself, thoroughly bewildered.
Having lived in the Outer City since childhood, she had never experienced such a grand, festive atmosphere of celebration.
The entirety of Dawn City had completely transformed into a different world.
The Yan family had finally made their move.
This faction, which usually had the lowest presence among the five major families, had thrown every single resource they could mobilize into this event. Every media outlet in the city was singing the exact same tune.
Billboards had sprouted like mushrooms after rain throughout the streets and alleys of the Inner City, all plastered with massive slogans.
Near buildings with high foot traffic, temporary LCD screens sponsored by Turing City had even been set up, broadcasting stirring, motivational chants.
Alongside the parading crowds, people were continuously scattering flyers onto both sides of the streets.
Bai Feifei looked down and picked up a flyer from beside her foot.
On the flyer, Liang Shuguang’s image was printed as the background, overlaid with bold, striking slogans.
“The hidden threat in the North District has been completely resolved!”
“The sword hanging over Dawn City has been shattered once and for all starting today!”
“Let us thank Dawn City's hero, Bai Feifei, and the heroic Scavengers who participated in this operation!”
Seeing her own name mentioned on the flyer, Bai Feifei was momentarily stunned.
I'm involved in this too?
Watching the jubilant crowds around her, a look of daze washed over her face.
Huh?
Had she somehow traveled to another world? Were they really... supposed to be this happy?
Did these people not know how close they had come to total destruction? Did they not realize that the remnants of the very potions they had injected still lingered inside their bodies?
Just then, the parading crowd passed through the street where Bai Feifei stood, and she heard a resounding cry echo from among them:
“The City Lord is going to hold a fully public Voting Assembly to make some major announcements!”
“On that day, the gates of Dawn City will be opened to the entire world! All organizations across the continent and all other cities can send representatives to witness the ceremony!”
“The City Lord will announce a monumental event!”
The cheers grew even louder.
Standing before her doorway, Bai Feifei’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
It was as if... absolutely no one was mentioning the great battle at the North District's city gates from the day before yesterday. It was as though it had never even happened.
For some reason, the students who had participated in the battle of the red soil in the North District had also remained completely silent.
From time to time, she could see journalists carrying cameras weaving through the crowds, their lenses trained on every excited face and every fluttering flag of Dawn City.
Everyone was cheering, welcoming the arrival of a golden age.
Rate on N.U.
