Ghost tucked away the data and brought up a map of Zhongzhou.
The map was densely marked with various colored regions—red, orange, yellow, green—along with many grey areas. The grey indicated dead zones that had completely fallen, where no human activity remained.
Ghost said, "To maintain social stability as much as possible, the authorities have always suppressed and concealed whatever they could to prevent news from spreading."
Yue Shi nodded. He understood that in the face of a disaster of this magnitude, any government would choose to block information.
This wasn't about deceiving the public; it was about avoiding greater chaos.
However, when the chaos grew too large to hide, the blockade lost its meaning.
Combined with interference from foreign powers, internal corruption, and systemic issues inherited from the old regime, the Zhongzhou government's credibility had plummeted at an alarming rate over the last thirty years.
Many people no longer trusted official news or the safety guarantees promised by the authorities. The government could no longer protect their lives or property.
At first, people in remote areas organized their own self-rescue efforts. Soon, calls for reform began to emerge, and those voices only grew louder.
Yue Shi narrowed his eyes. "This so-called reform... how much of it actually comes from the people's demands?"
Ghost pulled up another file. "Only a small portion is the voice of the people. The rest is driven by behind-the-scenes manipulators, including foreign powers and elite families."
Yue Shi wasn't surprised. Chaos was the best soil; once the seeds were sown, whoever sprouted first grew the fastest.
Ghost continued, "Some foreign capital groups collaborated with the elite families, reaping massive benefits from this political storm. They used 'protecting the people' as their slogan and 'providing Safety Zones' as their method to draw large populations into the cities they controlled."
"A concentration of population means a concentration of labor. A concentration of labor leads to a concentration of productivity, which in turn leads to a concentration of wealth. And that wealth eventually flows into the pockets of those already at the top."
"What about Liming City?" Yue Shi asked.
Ghost zoomed in on the map and pointed to a region. "Liming City is a representative mega-city in Zhongzhou. It has a permanent population of nearly ten million and is three times the size of Forging City."
Yue Shi watched the area marked as a "Safety Zone" on the map, his brow twitching slightly.
Ghost went on, "Liming City wasn't this large thirty years ago. It has been continuously merged and expanded over the years. It's a giant safety city established by the Zhongzhou government to counter the land and population control of the top elite families."
Yue Shi tapped his finger lightly twice.
The government building a city to fight the elite families?
Interesting.
This wasn't just a political game; it was a struggle for the right to exist. Whoever could provide a safer environment and a more stable life could attract more people.
People meant productivity, and productivity drove the growth of military strength and greater influence. It was a positive feedback loop—a winner-take-all game.
"How do the people choose?" Yue Shi asked.
Ghost brought up several news reports and opinion pieces. "The common people don't look that far ahead. Even if they see the power struggle at the top, they can only go with the flow. They go wherever they can find stability."
"They would rather be exploited and squeezed in these mega-cities as long as they can live like human beings. They'd even prefer wandering and begging in a big city over returning to the dangerous zones filled with contamination."
Ghost flipped through a few more pages and grumbled, "Some capitalists are experts at selling dreams. They use those dreams to coax others, saying that living in a big city offers more opportunities to rise, that it's easier to become one of the elite, and that hard work will be rewarded... It's honestly ridiculous."
Yue Shi chuckled. Such empty promises were common. In every era, every world, and every corner, someone was always saying things like that.
The words weren't entirely false; opportunities did exist. But not everyone had the ability to seize them, and not everyone with the ability had the luck to do so.
Most people were just kept going by the 'dream,' like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey. They would spend their whole lives walking toward it without ever getting a bite.
Ghost added, "Over the last thirty years, Zhongzhou has revised its hazard classification standards for dangerous areas several times."
He pulled up a document showing the latest standards.
Yue Shi's eyes scanned the list and immediately found Forging City. It was classified as an A-rank danger zone, plagued by extreme hazard contamination, making it nearly impossible for humans to survive.
Very few regions reached this rating. There were only a handful in all of Zhongzhou, and Forging City was one of them.
Thirty years later and the contamination still hadn't dissipated. That was truly a pleasant thought.
Seeing Yue Shi's interest in Forging City, Ghost pulled up a satellite map of the area. The entire screen was covered in grey.
"Currently, there are no transportation routes to Forging City, and all access to the surrounding areas has been completely severed."
"After the incident thirty years ago, the contamination was initially in a latent period, and Forging City even began reconstruction. By the time it was discovered, it was too late. The Zhongzhou government quickly dispatched massive forces for rescue operations, but the contamination spread too fast. The surrounding areas fell in a short time. Countless people went mad as their inner malice erupted, and they began attacking everyone indiscriminately."
Yue Shi nodded with satisfaction, as if he were listening to an MVP summary screen.
Back then, when he was shot down, he had scattered Extreme Evil across the entire land at the moment of impact. The malice in the hearts of those contaminated would be infinitely amplified and distorted. Going mad was nothing; those who regained their sanity afterward were the true bad seeds.
Ghost said, "By the time the Zhongzhou government was forced to decide on a total blockade, the contaminated population had already spread to the surrounding regions, causing chaos and triggering even more abnormal incidents."
Yue Shi leaned back in his chair, recalling the arrow the Bureau of Strategic Investigation, Control, and Logistics for Supernatural Incidents had shot at him, as well as that True Immortal.
He was a man who held grudges. He would stir up trouble even when nothing was wrong, let alone when he had a score to settle.
"So, is Forging City currently the most dangerous place in all of Zhongzhou?" Yue Shi asked.
If it wasn't, he would have to add a little more spice to the mix.
Ghost wasn't sure of Yue Shi's stance, so he spoke carefully. "Forging City is one of the most dangerous regions in Zhongzhou. No one dares to enter an A-rank danger zone lightly."
Yue Shi remained silent. He felt that A-rank wasn't quite enough. It should be S-rank, or even triple S-rank, to be barely acceptable.
Rain continued to fall outside. The light from the streetlamps filtered through the rain, creating a blurry halo on the glass.
The snow leopard cub crouched on Yue Shi's lap and nudged him with its head.
The computer screen still displayed the map of Zhongzhou with its dense labels and multicolored zones.
Thirty years of change had left the country unrecognizable. His fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard as he continued to browse the information Ghost had filtered for him.
Rate on N.U.
