Chapter 46.2 – Bloody Ferrara (18)
◎ Lying Low ◎
The next day, Song Ke opened her eyes and saw Zhuang Qingyan’s back. He was sitting in her room, playing a silent projection repeatedly, freezing the image of the man with icy blue eyes, with a cold expression.
Song Ke pulled the blanket up to her chin, lying in bed without moving, blinking her eyes silently while observing Zhuang Qingyan. In fact, she knew that Zhuang Qingyan had many secrets, and his words were sometimes true and sometimes false, but she often couldn’t tell the difference. After knowing each other for so long, Song Ke, despite her foolishness, slowly realized that Zhuang Qingyan could not possibly be just an ordinary researcher, as he claimed.
But why, even though she had been deceived just like last night, she had never been as angry as she was yesterday? Song Ke pinched the lump in the blanket, probably because their goals and interests were aligned, in a way. They could be considered as part of the same fate community, and Zhuang Qingyan’s lies were mostly not directed at her and wouldn’t cause her any substantial harm. Is this the special treatment of Golden Thighs?
Song Ke’s gaze became unfocused, gradually drifting away.
“Have you seen enough?” Zhuang Qingyan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and asked calmly.
“Enough, enough,” Song Ke was caught off guard, not feeling embarrassed at all. She lifted the blanket and got out of bed.
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were sitting in her room for a meeting. The projection still froze on the man with ice-blue eyes.
Song Ke took a bite of her bread and said with her mouth full, “This per, person is not in your data.”
“That’s right,” Zhuang Qingyan admitted. “Just like Wu Xianghai we saw last night, both of them entered the main competition through unconventional means.”
“What do you mean by unconventional means?” Xu Xing took two bottles of milk and handed one to Song Ke. They both drank it down.
“The normal process is that D-level or higher awakeners sign up for the preliminary competition, succeed in the challenge, and meet the popularity criteria to advance to the main competition. Only teams that enter the main competition can make personnel adjustments. But they only need to buy a spot from the teams that have already advanced.”
“Buy a spot? Didn’t they say the championship rewards are attractive to everyone? Why would someone be willing to give it up?”
“Because there is only one champion, and some people know that they can’t reach that level.”
Zhuang Qingyan’s tone was meaningful. “So, as long as the other party’s offer is high enough, they won’t hesitate.”
“Leaving aside the other one, does Wu Xianghai have the money to buy a spot?” Xu Xing expressed doubts about this. “When he followed Wu’s team, he had to sew clothes to make extra money. How come he can afford to buy a spot now?”
“Wu Xianghai is indeed suspicious. I watched his recording, and although the footage was limited, his ability is definitely not something decorative; it’s a dark-type ability with offensive capabilities.”
“Evolved?” Song Ke proposed a conjecture.
“Impossible,” Zhuang Qingyan shook his head. “Evolution only goes in the same direction as the original, it wouldn’t change as drastically as his. Next time if you encounter him, be more cautious.”
Xu Xing asked again, “What is his purpose for participating in the competition? Is it also to make a wish to Ilya?”
“I don’t know about Wu Xianghai’s purpose, but as for this person,” Zhuang Qingyan’s fingertip drew a circle in the air, and a red mark appeared on the head of the man with ice-blue eyes in the projection, “his name is Lu Xinglan, he’s from District B.”
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough!” Song Ke choked on her food, coughing loudly, and Xu Xing hurriedly patted her back.
Someone from District B participating in a competition in District C? This was too absurd. How bored could this person be?
“Not only from District B, but he’s from District B8, Erjia,” Zhuang Qingyan said nonchalantly. “However, this participation in the competition should be his personal action.”
“How do you even know which district he’s from?” Xu Xing widened his eyes in amazement.
Zhuang Qingyan explained calmly, “Erjia is the stronghold of the Lu family. The Lu family is known for their dominant characteristic of ice-blue irises. The lighter the eye color, the purer the bloodline, and the higher the status within the family.”
Lu family? The images of hundreds of starships crashing in the port of Hua City were still vivid in her mind.
Song Ke asked hesitantly, “Is it the, the Lu family’s star, starship, that Lu?”
“That’s right,” Zhuang Qingyan nodded.
Xu Xing’s eyes turned red, and he almost lost his temper. “Their family’s starships are all in such a terrible state, and instead of thinking about how to repair them, he has the audacity to come and participate in the competition?”
Xu Weiguo had bought tickets early on, planning to take him out of District F. If it weren’t for the drastic reduction in the number of starships after the apocalypse, they wouldn’t have been separated, and his father might not have become a zombie.
Xu Xing knew he shouldn’t hate Wu Juemin, and he shouldn’t hate the guards who couldn’t protect the food factory, but he would always remember the starship that was temporarily canceled right in front of them because of “energy issues” just seconds before boarding.
“Lu Xinglan’s eye color is clearly impure, even within the Lu family, he has no say. Don’t expect anything from him,” Zhuang Qingyan said calmly.
“Hmph,” Xu Xing grumbled, “And there’s another guy? His eyes definitely aren’t ice-blue.”
Zhuang Qingyan’s eyes flickered slightly, and he didn’t respond immediately.
Xu Xing couldn’t read the signals and pointed to the corner of his own eye, saying, “Yes, the one with a mole here, you haven’t mentioned him yet.”
Song Ke reacted quickly, rubbing his head, “Xiaoxing, I’m hungry! Go order, order some food.”
Xu Xing was pushed away in a daze, completely forgetting that not long ago, he had used the same excuse to dismiss Song Ke.
“Shouldn’t we let him keep asking?” Zhuang Qingyan sneered.
“Hehe,” Song Ke tried to force a smile, and the dimples on her cheeks appeared and disappeared, forming a gentle wave. “If, if you don’t want, want to say, that’s fine, you don’t have, have to.”
Zhuang Qingyan stared at those dimples for a moment, then his tone returned to normal. “It’s not a matter of wanting to say or not. I just accidentally remembered some unpleasant people. It’s okay to tell you; I’m not that petty.”
“Mm-hmm,” Song Ke nodded solemnly.
Ah, right, you’re not petty at all. You never seek revenge.
“They are from the Xie family.”
“The Xie family?”
“Yeah, when I say the Xie family, you might not have a concept.”
“The Supreme Marshal of Azure Phoenix, named Xie Lan.”
Although Song Ke was mentally prepared, she was still surprised. The Supreme Marshal of Azure Phoenix, isn’t that Wu Juemin’s immediate superior, the leader of those powerful awakener soldiers? He sounded like an impressive figure.
“Song Ke, I watched recordings from different angles,” Zhuang Qingyan focused on her as he spoke slowly, “After killing that water-type zombie, did you want to give the crystal to Lin Youyou?”
Zhuang Qingyan’s observational skills were indeed terrifying; he even captured her momentary hesitation.
Song Ke nodded slightly and then shook her head quickly. “At first, I, I thought about it, but later, I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because of Xu Xing.”
Lin Youyou’s desire to win was far more urgent than hers. If it were just Song Ke, she might have really handed over the crystal, as she had said; there would always be other ways to advance, and even in the face of endless slaughter mode, Song Ke could carve out a path.
But she wasn’t alone; she had Xu Xing. Sending Xiaoxing into a melee battle was too risky.
At that time, Song Ke wasn’t sure if the green crystal counted as a flag, so even if she had a moment of hesitation, she wouldn’t have handed over the crystal.
After a good night’s sleep, her anger towards Lin Youyou had diminished. They both had no other choice at that time; they were just unlucky.
Zhuang Qingyan looked at her for two seconds and nodded approvingly. “Well done, you’ve grown.”
…
Xu Xing returned with a pile of food, and after a simple breakfast, Zhuang Qingyan’s expression became serious. “Let’s talk about some real matters now.”
“Ferrara is very dangerous right now.”
Rather than appearing as calm and peaceful as it seemed on the surface, Ferrara was more like a simmering pot of hidden turmoil.
Zhuang Qingyan’s wheelchair stopped by the floor-to-ceiling window, and he looked down at the mist-shrouded city center outside.
“The most obvious evidence lies in two aspects: first, the abysmally low employment rate for the general population in Ferrara. Finding a job here is extremely difficult, as ordinary people simply cannot compete with the vast number of artificial intelligences. AI is better suited for all job positions than humans.”
Since their arrival in Ferrara, they had encountered artificial intelligence in various fields. Almost 90% of job positions were controlled by these synthetic life forms. Occasionally, when they did encounter a non-AI human worker, it was a rare sight.
No, not all, right? Song Ke paused. At least in the Awakeners’ base, there was the girl who watched videos and the woman at the commission center window, and they were both regular humans.
She raised her question.
“Yeah, that’s right. Those three annoying auditors were also human,” Xu Xing added.
Zhuang Qingyan slowly shook his head. “What you’re talking about all belong to organizations under the Alliance.”
These directly affiliated organizations had their personnel assigned by the Alliance and naturally didn’t compete with artificial intelligence for jobs. Apart from these special cases, Ferrara was a completely autonomous city.
For ordinary people who couldn’t find work and had no fixed income, they had nothing to do all day and idled away their time. The city held various large-scale entertainment events every so often, from concerts to Throne Race Competitions. All of these required significant expenses. Gradually, a culture of gambling flourished, with some people getting rich overnight and others losing their entire fortunes. Some ended up taking on commissions, doing dangerous tasks for others, and not knowing when or where they would meet their demise.
The wealth of this neon city was concentrated in the hands of the top 1% of major conglomerates, or rather, in the hands of those who held power behind the scenes.
Outside the window, dark clouds loomed, and steel and concrete structures intersected, cutting the city into layers. When viewed from a high-rise, the people below looked as tiny as ants.
“But… what if there are fewer and fewer people, and they all die off?” Xu Xing couldn’t help but murmur.
“It won’t happen,” Zhuang Qingyan said with a chilly smile. “Don’t forget, Ferrara is an open and inclusive city with no entry restrictions. New people arrive every day.”
Song Ke and Xu Xing fell into silence, feeling a chill creeping up their spines.
Ferrara welcomes everyone.
Looking back on that statement now, it sent shivers down their spines.
After Song Ke and Xu Xing had processed this information, Zhuang Qingyan pointed to the needles placed on the table.
“Secondly, I accessed the dark web using your terminal and found some interesting information.”
“What is it?”
“Some of the previous candidates for ruling officials are conspiring to unite and resist Ilya’s rule. There may be significant actions taking place in the near future.”
This news was even more explosive than the previous one. Could they still stay here and make money in peace?
Song Ke was amazed. “So, what should we do?”
Zhuang Qingyan narrowed his eyes in contemplation. “In yesterday’s competition, you attracted quite a bit of attention, and the news about having a Level 2 crystal in your possession has already been made public along with the recordings. In the coming days, there may be more unscrupulous individuals coming your way.”
Song Ke furrowed her brow.
Being greedy and wanting it all, the crystals were still scarce commodities. Combined with the false information released by the Alliance, the number of people coveting the crystal in her possession was undoubtedly going to increase.
Zhuang Qingyan accessed the V587 points system backend and thought that making money would be the same with a different approach.
“There’s still some time before the next match. I suggest that we leave Ferrara for a while to avoid trouble.”
