Chapter 366: A Year of Abundant Harvest (6)
"When the city-state becomes independent, outsiders will surely attack. We produce a large number of these war plants underground in order to quell the chaos in the city as soon as possible and to prepare for the battle in a month." Feifeid explained.
"We've learned from our mistakes and designed a comprehensive city-state defense system. It will provide strong support for Jingsha after independence, but the prerequisite is that Jingsha must leave the secret realm as planned... We haven't hidden anything, and everyone underground knows these things. Now is the time for us to dedicate ourselves to the sacred tree. They understand this, and therefore have volunteered to work on my farm."
Fifeide pointed to another open corridor. "If you don't believe me, there's plenty of evidence there. You can go back and ask my great-great-grandfather or other elders. They'll tell you everything I said is true."
Ji Huaisu shook his head: "No need, I believe you."
The chubby Gumbo heaved a sigh of relief and asked expectantly, "Can we work together?"
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid not." Ji Huaisu smiled, "I have my own position here!"
Ling Feng instantly struck out, striking Ji Huaisu in the chest. However, her fist only hit the loose rope. The light rope that bound Ji Huaisu had snapped at some point. She punched the ground, and the beast head, condensed from the raging wind, suddenly tore through the earth and swallowed her whole!
When the storm dissipated, only a huge crater remained on the ground, and Ji Huaisu had long since disappeared. Feifeide hurriedly said, "Chase him!"
"We can't catch up. That guy has someone to help him." Ling Feng smacked his lips. "Parriman is right. Hurry up and act. These guys are not easy to deal with."
·
Deep underground, Chu Hengkong was walking slowly with the girl in his arms.
When their ambush was discovered, they were ready to respond. He could now control Deathwing freely, and it was no big deal to dodge under the farm and back again. Moreover, Captain Ji had the foresight to collapse the floor first, making the rescue operation easy.
"How does it feel to be beaten by the Supreme Sephiroth 5?"
"That's all. Next time I will kill her alone." Ji Huaisu hummed.
Chu Hengkong was amused: "Miss Ji, your mouth is harder than your fist."
"You know what, I'm not going to lose the battle! I've already escaped the enemy camp, so put me down now and stop trying to take advantage of me!"
Chu Hengkong pretended not to hear anything. His fingertips slid across the calf wrapped in the tights: "It feels really good. Rub it for a while longer."
Ji Huaisu raised his toes and tried to kick him in the head: "Ugh! Your clumsy behavior is like you've gone back to puberty!"
"I didn't have a girlfriend in hot tights during my teenage years. I'm trying to make up for the regrets of my teenage years."
"Other people become more serious and crazy after their transformation, but you, Chu Hengkong, become a gangster after your transformation."
"Miss Ji, you're mistaken." Chu Hengkong said solemnly, "I've always been a gangster, but I disguised myself very well before."
Ji Huaisu struggled: "Then you fucking keep pretending!"
"I'm clear-minded now, why should I pretend to be profound? I'll just live my life to my heart's content~"
A cold voice rang out from the communicator: "I need to remind you two that I'm listening."
Ji Huaisu immediately hugged someone's neck and stuck close with a wicked grin. Chu Hengkong was puzzled: "Boss, do you want a princess hug too?"
"Please be quiet. I don't want to communicate with you for the time being."
"Why? Hey! Can you be reasonable?"
In the base camp, Fander twisted his tentacles and whispered to Gulibo, "At least we don't have to add vinegar to our meals these days."
"But we need to turn on the heater. It's so cold around here."
The young couple dawdled for nearly five minutes before returning to base camp. Once inside, they quickly returned to work. Ji Huaisu took out a few Y2K videos and placed them back on the table. "Here's all the footage I collected along the way. Honestly, this was a bit of a surprise. I could have guessed the other side had a point, but..."
"That guard was incredibly strange," Shi Zhong said. "Under the guise of providing advice to Fifid, he clearly laid out the next steps. Let's not even consider how a guard could have such foresight and intelligence. Fifid's behavior alone is suspicious: he showed no surprise, seemingly accustomed to it, and he took the instructions seriously. As for his discovery of Miss Ji's whereabouts, that's even more inexplicable."
Velvet nodded back and forth behind Ji Huaisu, accessing the data from her tights. "The optical camouflage module is functioning normally, and the personal information shielding function was also functioning normally. Considering the widespread use of 'Little Qiu Yinghua' that monitors thoughts, I believe the other party is using a similar thought-monitoring capability."
Gulibo objected: "But Bai Lianhua was not discovered during her previous lurking process."
"Hiding from the machine doesn't mean hiding from the 'human' controlling it. If the person behind the guard is the source of the thought-monitoring ability, then it's only natural that they could discover Ms. Ji," Velvet pointed out. "Finally, the fact that a thought-monitoring system can be deployed over a large area using plants is technically absurd. Even the White Lotus used as a countermeasure requires kindness as its energy source, so how does the little autumn flower operate?"
Ishizane pondered, "Do you think that behind Koaki Eika is a powerful person who can monitor the people's thoughts?"
"Not only that, he also possesses the ability to instill psychological suggestion and thoughts on a large scale."
Finder followed his train of thought: "Isn't indoctrination about using that guard as a spokesperson? What's the basis for the psychological suggestion?"
"A group of voluntary laborers," Velvet said. "Fifede's speech was powerful, but the peasants aren't so fragile as to change their stance based on a past event. Besides, 20 years isn't a long time in the Shendong Realm, and most citizens still remember the famine. It's understandable that the younger generation was moved by this and chose independence, but it's hard to explain why the middle-aged and elderly would do the same."
"This is... the weirdest part, boo!" Grandpa said angrily. "Gulibo is the one among us with the strongest fighting spirit, which is why he was chosen to be a spy on the surface, boo. How could he be so moved to give up resistance after being captured for just half a day?!"
"Grandpa, it was Molibo who was taken away, not mybo..." Gulibo said weakly.
Grandpa Zuzu rubbed his eyes: "? Then what are you?"
"I'm Guli Bobo..."
Ji Huaisu suppressed the urge to interrupt the idiotic conversation and returned to the main topic seriously: "So, behind Fifid is something that can influence hundreds of thousands of people?"
"It's far more widespread than that," Velvet said. "The independent factions on the surface of the fields have also demonstrated unnatural execution and obedience. Civilians cannot be transformed into an army simply through ideological agreement. That mind controller—whether it's Parriman or someone assisting him—has the ability to influence at least hundreds of millions of people."
"The magnitude is quite outrageous, a particle size 7?" Chu Hengkong commented.
"Or perhaps it's some kind of spell that requires strict conditions to activate," Velvet commented. "I prefer this explanation. Sephiroth 7 is such a powerful force, Jingsha wouldn't be completely unaware of it."
The discussion reached a stalemate. They had guessed at the existence of the mind controller, but had no idea how to counter it. They discussed Fifid's next move, which clearly involved the Second Vein Order. Finally, Velvet announced that she and the other gardeners would continue researching a countermeasure against Koaki Hina. The combatants, unable to contribute to the research, were forced to disperse and rest.
The beds in the underground base camp were made of large, resilient leaves, much better than the dirt beds in the wilderness. Ji Huaisu lay on the leaf bed, wanting to rest but unable to calm down.
Being defeated by Ling Feng wasn't a big deal, but the old photos from that time kept replaying in her mind. The confusion and fear in people's eyes, spanning twenty years, sank into her heart. She once again realized the truth: the people's choice of independence was justified. This wasn't a conflict between good and evil, but rather the unsolvable contradiction faced by the city-state system, the extreme imbalance between productivity and the pressure of war.
The Jingsha city-state integrated military and agriculture, with farmers primarily producing both food and munitions. In the past, when the pressure on the front lines was low, the Divine Tree's 30-year plan was sufficient to maintain the city-state's overall normal operations, ensuring a balanced production and consumption of food and munitions.
However, after the destruction of the Netherworld Kingdom, the pressure on the front lines increased dramatically, and the increase in pressure on Jingsha far outstripped the increase in productivity. A single city's resources are limited, and no matter how well-planned the Divine Tree is or how strong the people's will is, they can't make up for this shortfall out of thin air. Even forcibly increasing the workload wouldn't significantly change the situation, because food takes time to grow, and even a few extra hours of farmers working the fields wouldn't yield much more.
The only way to fundamentally resolve this conflict is to address the war situation. However, the Empire and the Spiral Tower remain, and the offensive from the outsiders will not abate. The end of the war 20 years ago had already driven Jingsha to a point where everyone was a soldier, and the outcome of defending the front this time was unlikely to be any better.
The current Jingsha sacred tree can no longer withstand the second great famine. If the city-state does not stay away from the front line, it will really see no way out in 10 years.
From the perspective of the local people in Jingsha, "protecting the sacred tree" is simply the most legitimate reason.
It was only natural for locals to prioritize protecting their own homes. So what legitimate reason could she have forcing the citizens of Jingsha to fight on the front lines? Because they were already there? Because the battle was supposed to be winnable? But what if the war was truly lost over the next decade?
Can she honestly say that this is justice and that this is a reasonable choice for 1.7 billion people to pay the price for tens of billions of people?
Ji Huaisu was getting more and more depressed when there was a knock on the door. She opened the door in a bad mood and almost bumped into the smiling killer.
"Go out for a walk?" Chu Hengkong said.
·
In reality, they didn't "leave." Young Master Chu simply spread his Deathwings and flew into the sky, his movements full of show. She lay in her boyfriend's arms, feeling unhappy, and secretly vowed to build her mount as big as possible so that she could carry him up next time.
"Your mind is in turmoil."
"I didn't." Ji Huaisu said stubbornly.
"If you were in good shape, you wouldn't be so restrained. You're a knight who can even show off his power against Olek."
Ji Huaisu turned her head and bumped into him. She had thought Chu Hengkong was being attentive for once, but she hadn't expected him to see through the fighting. A martial arts fanatic is a martial arts fanatic. All he cares about is fighting. He can't tell if he's not wearing makeup, resting, or eating well. If his fighting style changes, he'll ask if he's worried about something.
"A little," she admitted. "I rarely get into fights this weak, and the guy on the other end isn't a bad guy. I'm not afraid of losing, but I'm afraid of not knowing how to answer if someone questions me."
"Huaisu, I've always felt that your problem is that you're too upright," Chu Hengkong said. "You couldn't even muster the heart to deal with those incited and unruly people in the swamp back then, so you're more prone to overthinking things when faced with a situation like this."
"Then what should I do? I'm a righteous knight, not a murderer. Back then in the swamp, we were able to solve the problem with the blessing tactic. Do you have any other quick-witted tricks this time?"
"No, and there's no need." Chu Hengkong said leisurely, "Some things can't be achieved in both ways."
"What should we do then?"
Chu Hengkong didn't respond, landing lightly like a feather on top of a glittering tower. Ji Huaisu squinted at the dazzling light, watching colorful fireworks drift across the night sky and entertainment equipment dancing in a sea of balloons.
In just a few words, they had crossed most of the thorny path and arrived at the Feiyan Amusement Park. But the amusement park was quite deserted tonight, with few visitors. The employees were staring blankly at the balloons, while the dim outside was filled with voices.
Ji Huaisu turned around and saw a long line under the street lights, stretching from a few small hills to the entrance of the amusement park.
At the end of the line was the port of the Fifth Meridian, where people were waiting for the ferry leaving Jingsha.
(End of this chapter)
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