City of Order 2

Chapter 68

Neither Shen Wang nor Zhou Xiangzhe wanted to sign that agreement.

It wasn't about being bothered by the other party's arrogance; they just weren't sure what would happen.

The Grade S Contaminant inside the ghost city had been tentatively named [Order]. His talent ability had to do with rules, and his lair was even called the City of Order. That meant rules were extremely important in this city. The moment you signed your name on that agreement, you'd truly be at their mercy.

The last two weren't so bad, but the first one was completely outrageous: no Mutants allowed to exist, so everyone had to downgrade themselves to ordinary people...

At that moment, Jing Chunjun lifted her head. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but the look she gave the screen was utterly calm.

Her voice trembled as she spoke. 'Even if you don't sign, you can still enter the ghost city, because the City of Order... has no order!'

As soon as she said that, with a sharp crackle, the barrier in front of them suddenly sparked and flared. Countless snowflakes completely buried the agreement.

Jing Chunjun was very calm; even her tears couldn't drown out her voice. She just stared at the barrier in front of her and repeated what she had just said.

This time the screen outright exploded. The barrier gate before them slowly swung open, and the sounds of the ghost city poured into their ears.

The moment she heard the sound, Jing Chunjun's tears flowed even faster.

Shen Wang let out a breath of relief and looked back at Jing Chunjun behind him.

Jing Chunjun stood behind them, still shedding tears, but this time she cried without a sound. She seemed utterly indifferent and detached, just continually dropping tears amidst that strange coldness.

'You okay?' Zhou Xiangzhe also looked toward Jing Chunjun.

'...I'm okay.' Jing Chunjun answered very slowly, but she did answer. She was still crying, yet her eyes remained very calm. 'I'm fine.'

Jing Chunjun wiped her tears with her sleeve. 'It really sucks. I can't control the physical reaction.'

Zhou Xiangzhe was a bit surprised.

He had known Jing Chunjun for a long time. Her talent ability was Grade B, which meant she had to put in massive effort to jump grades and become an S-class Mutant. As a result, when she reached S-class her Contamination Level was already much higher than theirs. So whenever they worked together, he always saw Jing Chunjun crying her eyes out.

But this time, even though Jing Chunjun was crying, she had maintained basic reason and the ability to think.

'You...?'

Jing Chunjun made a peace sign at the two of them. 'I took precautions in advance.'

'What precautions?'

'When we were entering Contamination Site No. 3, I had a premonition things might get rough.' Jing Chunjun wiped her tears again. 'So three days ago I asked Zhou Qing to sever my sadness. That way, even if I have severe mental abnormality, it won't make me lose control completely.'

Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes widened slightly.

Zhou Qing's talent, Sever the Threads of Love, allowed him to cut off a person's emotions. He was the best candidate for saving victims in extreme situations, but it wasn't suitable for normal people, because after having their threads of love severed by him, it would take years for them to recover their original feelings.

Zhou Qing had never advocated for anyone to lose their emotions through his talent. Lacking emotions itself was also a kind of abnormality.

But he never expected that Jing Chunjun would actually ask Zhou Qing to sever her sadness.

'How did you talk him into it?' Shen Wang asked. 'Zhou Qing seems rough and irritable, but he's the type who thinks about things a lot. He wouldn't cut off the emotions of a normal person.'

'Yeah, so I begged him for a long time.' Jing Chunjun smiled, but since she was currently shedding tears, that smile looked incredibly pitiful.

'But the current situation no longer allows me to lose control along with everything else. Zhou Xiangzhe, your Contamination Level is so severe; you only got out of Sector S because your husband vouched for you. And Zhou Qing is a support type. I have to step up, otherwise how can ordinary people trust the Anti-Contamination Center? Trust us?'

'We're the ones who are supposed to protect them.'

So Jing Chunjun talked with Zhou Qing for a whole day and night, and finally wore him down enough to sever her sadness.

From then on she would never again feel sadness, and this kind of mental abnormality could no longer affect her thoughts. Only the crying was a physical act she truly couldn't control.

Zhou Xiangzhe sighed softly. 'After this is over, go to Sector S for a checkup.'

'Even if you can't feel sad, that doesn't mean your Contamination Level won't keep rising. This way you'll have even less ability to judge your own Contamination Level.'

Jing Chunjun made an OK gesture, showing she understood.

'We can't leave no one outside, so you two hurry in and quickly find Zhou Qing.' Jing Chunjun said. 'Even if we can't take down this S-class, don't let yourselves get hurt. Right now we're the only hope.'

'Once you all come back, I'll go to Sector S for the checkup.'

Jing Chunjun smiled. 'I believe you'll all return safely.'

/

Under Jing Chunjun's gaze, Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe entered the ghost city before them.

Of course, it should have been called the City of Order.

After entering the City of Order, Shen Wang frowned slightly. He looked around, then looked at Zhou Xiangzhe beside him. 'How are you doing?'

Zhou Xiangzhe glanced at Shen Wang, then shook his head. 'I'm fine.'

When they were outside, the people they saw seemed more or less like ordinary people. But once inside, they could feel the intense contamination aura. Contamination was woven throughout the entire city, the thick reek of contamination everywhere. Every single person who passed by them carried more or less contamination.

At most, the people in this city just hadn't been mentally contaminated to the point of losing their minds like in other contaminant lairs.

But people who are mentally contaminated to a certain degree can maintain their reason. It was just like the Deer God back then. They simply believed in the Deer God, became extreme in their thinking in that regard, and were normal in all other aspects.

[Order] being able to do something like this was perfectly normal.

Zhou Xiangzhe watched the pedestrians who didn't even glance at them and sighed. 'Without The Hound and Lan here, it really is a bit troublesome.'

'We have no idea what the situation is here.'

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow. 'Right?'

Although there was contamination, this place was a little more normal than they'd imagined. There were hurried people everywhere; even most of them carried briefcases, and there were students with backpacks. They all seemed to be seriously going about their lives. After observing for a while, Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe decided to ask the vegetable-selling grandma nearby about the situation.

The two walked over. The grandma who was picking through vegetables looked up with some confusion. When she saw it was two young men, she promptly grinned.

'Young lads, wanna buy some vegetables? These veggies are really fresh!'

Shen Wang crouched down. He looked at the vegetables, then looked at the grandma. 'Can we ask a few questions?'

'Ask questions?' The grandma looked at them oddly. 'You're not buying vegetables, but you want to ask questions?'

Zhou Xiangzhe said, 'We're new here.'

'New here?'

Shen Wang noticed a glint in the grandma's cloudy eyes, as if she'd spotted some plump sheep.

She looked at Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe greedily.

'Alright, alright, you can ask. But this is labor, you know, so you have to pay for asking questions.'

'How about a hundred bucks per question. There's two of you, so I'm giving you a real bargain.'

Zhou Xiangzhe wasn't short on money. He was just about to agree outright, but Shen Wang grabbed his hand from in front of him. Zhou Xiangzhe looked up at Shen Wang, then stepped back and said nothing.

He wasn't good at this kind of interpersonal stuff, but there was someone here who was.

Because Zhou Xiangzhe obeyed so readily, the corner of Shen Wang's mouth quirked up a little. Then he stood up and looked down at the old woman before him.

'Are you answering questions?' Shen Wang said.

The grandma froze. The sense of threat hit her in the face, and her hands trembled.

But even so, she didn't seem willing to let go of her greed.

'You young folks can't let an old lady like me get the short end of the stick.'

'Short end of the stick?' Shen Wang smiled. 'Are you sure?'

'If you answer our questions, we'll buy your vegetables. Otherwise we'll go buy from somewhere else. There are plenty of vegetable sellers here anyway; there's bound to be someone willing to answer our questions.'

'What do you think you are, finding fault with customers here?'

Hearing this, the grandma's eyes widened slightly. She hurriedly looked around, and sure enough, the surrounding vegetable sellers were all eyeing them covetously. A few even had jealousy gleaming in their eyes. If they kept asking, these two would definitely leave.

'I got it!' The grandma said quickly. 'What do you want to ask? I'll tell you.'

Shen Wang hooked his finger against Zhou Xiangzhe's palm, and Zhou Xiangzhe gave a very soft laugh.

'What is this place?' Shen Wang asked her. 'Are there any things to watch out for?'

'This is the great City of Order!' The grandma's eyes went wide as she looked at them. 'In the City of Order there aren't any things to watch out for. As long as you're free, that's all. You can do whatever you want. There are endless entertainment venues here, and every kind of delicious food you can imagine. As long as you have money, you can enjoy the most wonderful life.'

Shen Wang looked at her. 'Looks like you're out of money, so that's why you're here setting up a stall.'

'What do you know? I used to be rich too!' the grandma said. 'I had so, so many servants, and everyone treated me well!'

'As soon as I have money again, I can go back to that!'

Shen Wang nodded. 'I see. So this place is all about spending money.'

'It's such a wonderful place! As long as you have money, you're the master of the world!' the grandma said, trembling. 'That's why I have to earn money and go back in one more time!'

'So you poisoned the vegetables you're selling.' Shen Wang looked at the lush green vegetables on the ground. 'As long as the person who buys the vegetables dies, you can take all the deceased's property?'

The grandma froze. She hadn't expected to be exposed just like that.

Her eyes instantly turned vicious.

'Since you already know, then don't blame me.' She pulled out a knife from under the vegetables.

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at her oddly. 'An old lady like you really think you can take out two young men?'

'Of course this old woman wouldn't think that way!' The grandma stood up and yelled. 'Everyone! These two are new here! They've definitely got money on them! Kill them and we split the money!'

As soon as she spoke, the surrounding vegetable stall vendors all stood up together. No matter men, women, old, or young, every one of them gripped a knife.

They glowered at Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe with grim ferocity, their eyes deep with greed.

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the people around him and frowned slightly.

'Their mental contamination hasn't reached the point of losing their reason.'

'Coming up with a plan for a group to gang up on two people—that doesn't look like being mentally contaminated to the point of losing your mind.' Shen Wang looked at them. 'Seems the mental contamination in the City of Order is very particular.'

'It purely stirs up a certain kind of desire.'

'Desire?' Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the people closing in on them. 'But if that's the case, they don't fall within the Anti-Contamination Center's purview for extermination.'

Shen Wang smiled. 'We can't kill them, so let's just immobilize them on the spot.'

As soon as he spoke, a bloody color stained his eyes. Zhou Xiangzhe watched as Shen Wang's hair faded to white, bloody thorns sprouted from his collar, and crimson flowers bloomed beside his ear, forming a rather beautiful picture.

Zhou Xiangzhe froze. He vaguely recalled that he had actually caught a glimpse of the Bloody Thorn in person inside that Grade C contamination source.

Digging that memory out of his mind, that image really matched the current Shen Wang quite well...

So, what he saw back then must have been Shen Wang. At that time he had just reunited with Shen Wang and hadn't noticed anything wrong; he really thought the Bloody Thorn was attacking Shen Wang...

Shen Wang snapped his fingers. With a crack, flowers spread out from under his feet. In an instant, they bloomed into a sea of flowers. After the sea of flowers bloomed, those grim-faced people all froze at once. They dazedly dropped their knives and walked step by step into the flower sea.

Zhou Xiangzhe recalled the observer's description of the Bloody Thorn again.

The sunny greenhouse, the gorgeous sea of flowers, and the leftover human bones beneath it.

Mm. He felt the Bloody Thorn that observer had seen probably wasn't Shen Wang, because according to that observer's timeframe, Shen Wang was still receiving treatment in the hospital and hadn't left.

'Let's go.' Shen Wang pulled Zhou Xiangzhe out of the sea of flowers.

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded and forcibly yanked his thoughts back.

'So the City of Order is a city kind of like Las Vegas?'

'I don't think so,' Shen Wang said as he walked. 'If it were really like that, why would it be called the City of Order and not the City of Desire? The latter name is even flashier.'

Zhou Xiangzhe: ...

No, he thought the name City of Order was way flashier than City of Desire.

But forget it. It wasn't surprising that his and Shen Wang's tastes didn't match.

'So are we going to check out that place she mentioned?' Zhou Xiangzhe asked.

'Of course we're going. Why wouldn't we?' Shen Wang said calmly. 'By the way, did you bring any money?'

Zhou Xiangzhe thought for a moment. 'Guess whether they take card.'

'I don't think so.'

'I don't think so either.' Zhou Xiangzhe nodded. 'So I'm essentially without money.'

Shen Wang had even less. He had only joined the Anti-Contamination Center not long ago; when he got his salary he couldn't be bothered to spend it. At most he'd buy himself a couple pieces of clothing. Because of his illness, he had zero interest in food. Every time he ate, he remembered how hungry he'd been during his flare-ups when he couldn't eat.

He even had a bit of an eating disorder.

And the Anti-Contamination Center's staff benefits were truly good. No matter where they went, there'd be service points where you could eat, stay, and ride for free.

Shen Wang didn't even carry money when he went out.

'If we have no money, we probably won't be able to get in,' Zhou Xiangzhe said. 'Look at that grandma; she had to work hard selling vegetables and killing people just to save up.'

Shen Wang thought for a moment. 'How about we go rob some.'

Zhou Xiangzhe: ...?

After serving as the protector god of the Anti-Contamination Center for over a decade, today they were actually going to rob money?

'For example, what you said earlier was perfect.' Shen Wang showed a pleased smile. 'Those who rob people need to have the awareness that they might get robbed in return. Those thugs are still under control right now.'

Zhou Xiangzhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing it wasn't really robbing.

So they went back to where they started and searched all the people controlled by the flower sea, taking all the money they had on them.

In the end they counted it and actually had thirty thousand kuai.

'They actually had this much?' Zhou Xiangzhe was a bit surprised. 'They carry all their money on them?'

'Probably because they don't feel safe putting it anywhere else; if they hide it they're worried someone else might steal it.' Shen Wang looked at them. 'Because they're that kind of person, they guard against others like themselves.'

After taking the others' money, Shen Wang finally became generous.

He asked for directions the whole way and gave a hundred each time he asked.

All around were ordinary people, all of them desperately working to earn money. Through questioning, they learned that these people toiled away just to enter that place. Because that place was paradise, so they worked hard to earn money, just to go one more time.

After dealing with three waves of people along the way who wanted to kill them and steal their money, Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe finally saw the so-called 'paradise' those people talked about.

A glittering gold door, and The Butler in his butler's uniform standing by the entrance.

The Butler glanced at them.

'Hello. This is the Layer of Greed. Are you here to have fun?'

The Layer of Greed?

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe mulled over the name.

A place called the City of Order, and yet there's a place called the Layer of Greed—that's way too weird.

'How's the pricing here?' Shen Wang asked him.

'Our Layer of Greed tickets come in three tiers,' The Butler explained with a smile. 'They are 8,888, 18,888, and 38,888 per person. Of course, this is just the admission ticket price, and you can only stay inside for one day. If you wish to enjoy the various services, you'll need to buy additional tickets inside.'

Shen Wang laughed. 'No wonder those people have to work like mad to earn money. Just the ticket price alone is terrifying enough.'

'How could that be?' The Butler continued to smile. 'This is the threshold. Only the distinguished and wealthy can enter our Layer of Greed. This is a pleasure ground specially provided for them. Those without money naturally can't get in.'

'Something's off here,' Zhou Xiangzhe said perceptively. 'I don't believe this place's name was picked at random.'

'Neither do I.'

Shen Wang looked at Zhou Xiangzhe. 'But we need to go inside and take a look.'

Zhou Xiangzhe thought for a moment. 'One of us goes in, the other stays outside. A single ticket only lets you stay for one day. We'll meet up outside tomorrow.'

Shen Wang looked at Zhou Xiangzhe a bit surprised. 'I thought you'd say we should go in together and come out together.'

'Did you?' Zhou Xiangzhe thought for a moment. 'But there's no real need. Using our time efficiently is the main thing.'

Shen Wang smiled. 'Then I'll go in?'

'Okay.'

'You're agreeing just like that?' Shen Wang looked at him. 'Didn't you hear them say? Inside there are all the most interesting things, all kinds of amusements. You don't mind me going in?'

'It's fine.' Zhou Xiangzhe said calmly. 'You have no money.'

Shen Wang: ...

They had only taken 30,000 from those vegetable-selling robbers, and Shen Wang had already squandered a thousand or two asking for directions. Now the money they had was just enough for Shen Wang to buy a mid-tier ticket, leaving ten thousand for emergencies.

So Zhou Xiangzhe was very much at ease.

Shen Wang sighed. 'Your way of talking... if you weren't my boyfriend, I'd really beat you up.'

'Not boyfriend.' Zhou Xiangzhe took his hand. 'We got the license. We're spouses.'

'Also, I think you'd look down on the stuff inside.'

Zhou Xiangzhe had a physical cleanliness obsession and hated dirty things. Shen Wang was a normal person, but Zhou Xiangzhe had always felt he had emotional cleanliness. The people Shen Wang approved of, he'd protect to the end; people he disliked, even one glance disgusted him. He looked like he was carefree and up for anything, but in reality he was very picky.

This so-called Layer of Greed was clearly something built from contamination. Shen Wang would definitely despise it.

Shen Wang had never liked contaminants his whole life.

His dad being the exception.

Zhou Xiangzhe said, 'None of them are as good as me.'

Hearing those words, Shen Wang couldn't help but laugh out loud. He hadn't expected Zhou Xiangzhe to say something like that so deadpan.

'Don't compare.' After laughing, Shen Wang said, 'There's no comparison. You'll always be the one and only I've chosen.'

Seeing Shen Wang laugh, Zhou Xiangzhe also smiled.

He checked the time. 'So, this time tomorrow, I'll pick you up at the entrance.'

'I'll do some investigating outside. I still don't think a place called the City of Order is only about greed.'

Shen Wang nodded. 'Okay.'

The Butler at the door smiled as ever, as if he hadn't heard a word between Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe. It wasn't until Shen Wang walked over that he smilingly repeated, 'Would the guest like to enter the Layer of Greed for enjoyment?'

'Yeah.'

'Which tier ticket would you like to purchase?'

Shen Wang bought the mid-tier ticket, and the magnificent, glittering gate in front of him immediately swung open.

Zhou Xiangzhe watched Shen Wang walk inside, then prepared to turn and leave.

At that moment, The Butler behind him suddenly spoke up.

'You sent your beloved into the Layer of Greed for enjoyment and gave him all your money. Have you thought about what you're going to do?'

Zhou Xiangzhe turned back and looked at him strangely. 'What did you say?'

'Sir, those who enter the Layer of Greed will lose their opportunities,' he said to Zhou Xiangzhe as if hinting. 'You possess the ability to earn money, and the resolve not to indulge in pleasure. You have more potential. Do you want to go one step further?'

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at him subtly. 'How do I go one step further?'

'Prepare ten thousand and come find me.' The Butler faced Zhou Xiangzhe with that same ever-present smile. 'When the time comes, I will tell you how to punish your beloved who betrayed you.'

Oh...

Zhou Xiangzhe thought calmly: Another scam. So unoriginal.

He turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

'So your resolve really is this firm.' From behind him, The Butler's voice carried over from a distance. 'Even I am moved by your firmness.'

'This is the kind of fine resident the City of Order should have!'

'Please be sure to hold fast to your heart and become that useful person!'

Zhou Xiangzhe began to consider whether he should follow Shen Wang's example and find some place to rob a bit of money.