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Chapter 186 Awesome, Very Awesome

The group found a café.

In the afternoon café, there weren’t many customers, and the only waiter behind the counter was curled up, sleeping and slacking off. Even with so many people walking in, she remained undisturbed.

A chubby service robot waddled over to ask what they wanted. Xia Jincang ordered everyone a cup of plain boiled water — for free.

Of course, that wasn’t the main point.

After that, everyone settled into a corner to exchange the intelligence they had gathered.

This intelligence sharing also gave Xia Xinyan a more comprehensive understanding of the information she had previously collected.

Indeed, everyone had encountered that organization calling itself the Resistance Army and had run into different groups. According to those members, the spire they referred to as the “Control Hub” controlled the entire city.

As for how it controlled things… it seemed that they had taken control of all institutions in the city — schools, companies, hospitals, etc. They used this control to dictate every individual’s life, including where they went to school, where they worked, and even when they would die and where they’d be buried — all of it has been arranged in advance.

What puzzled them was that since the city’s establishment, it seemed no one had ever resisted such a system. In fact, not many people even knew they were so thoroughly arranged — except for the Resistance Army they had encountered.

Xia Jincang asked those individuals about this point, and the answer was, “A failed rebellion means death.”

Those who rebel against the spire would be directly erased from the city, subsequently losing all resources for survival. No company would hire them, no hospital would treat them, and no one would help them. Eventually, these failed rebels would die silently.

This punishment was even more brutal than being shot dead by the police; watching oneself slowly approach death with no way to save oneself was torturous.

Thus, the Resistance Army’s plot has been in the works for a long time, because failure would mean death.

“Couldn’t their families support them? Even if friends refuse to help, family wouldn’t abandon them, right?” Tian Yi asked curiously.

Xia Jincang shot him a glance and casually replied, “Losing all resources for survival means they lose their significance for family support. Even if familial love could sustain someone living off their family, it would be hard for them to endure sickness.”

“I see… that makes sense. So what do we do next?” Tian Yi continued to ask.

Xia Jincang was about to respond when the fat guy suddenly spoke up, “Wait, wait, wait! Are we seriously discussing how to flip the city right here in the café?”

He glanced over at the counter.

After all, there was a girl over there who was part of the city’s system; what if she overheard them and called the police…

“No need to worry. I’ve put her into deep sleep.” Another burly man chuckled in a simpleminded way, “My ability is mental hypnosis; she won’t wake up until we leave.”

“Hypnosis?” The fat man paused, his expression becoming odd, “Is it the kind of hypnosis I’m thinking of?”

“…No, my hypnosis isn’t that powerful.”

Ling Mo couldn’t help but cough lightly: “Let’s talk business, talk about serious matters.”

Xia Jincang shot him another glance and said, “What the Resistance Army members said isn’t necessarily the truth. Since this dungeon is called Fraudulent City, it must have its reasons. Regardless of whether it’s the spire or the Resistance Army, both are breakthrough points for us. My idea is to divide our actions; part of us infiltrate the Resistance Army to gather information, while the other part follows the rebellion to storm the spire. Working in tandem, we’ll surely uncover valuable leads sooner or later.”

He paused and looked at the others, whispering, “In short, observe more and act less; it’s the only way to reduce the error rate in this dungeon.”

The burly man scratched his head: “So where does Xia plan to go?”

“Just call me Xia Jincang.” Xia Jincang smiled friendly, “I’ll head to the Resistance Army, as I’m more skilled in infiltration missions. Who else wants to come with me?”

Several people immediately raised their hands, and the burly man was among them.

Xia Jincang then turned to Xia Xinyan.

The latter looked indifferent: “I’ll go to the spire with Mo Mo.”

As for the issues surrounding that guy, no need to rush into it.

The fat man also leaned in, “I’ll go to the spire too; I’m good at hitting people.”

Murong Yue weighed her thoughts and stood with Xia Xinyan.

Tian Yi and Zhu Di pondered for a moment and also chose to side with Xia Xinyan: “The spire looks pretty dangerous. Having more people helps; we’ll go to the spire too.”

Xia Jincang: “…”

He no longer wanted to go with the Resistance Army.

But now that he had said it, it was too embarrassing to take it back; he could only sadly bid farewell to his sister, feeling rather pained, before leaving the café amidst many reminders.

The fat man took a sip of boiled water and asked, “So what now?”

Upon hearing this, Xia Xinyan turned to look at Ling Mo.

She had done enough guiding; now it was time to see what Ling Mo could do.

After all, one of the key goals in this dungeon was to train Ling Mo’s abilities.

Noticing her gaze, Ling Mo hesitated for a moment and then spoke up: “I was wondering… why don’t those who fail to rebel just choose to leave the city?”

Even if the spire could control the city, they couldn’t possibly control the whole world, right?

“Maybe there’s only this city in the world,” Tian Yi shrugged, “It’s just a game dungeon after all; with a map this small, the NPCs can’t just run outside the map, right?”

The fat man nodded: “That’s about right. I specifically checked the city’s map before; it’s just a big island surrounded by sea, with no possible way to leave.”

Ling Mo frowned slightly.

He remembered the words Xia Xinyan had told him — to try treating these dungeons as real worlds, as it might lead to unexpected discoveries.

He remembered everything Xia Xinyan had said.

And he was doing just that.

If he broke free from the limitations of the game dungeon, his question suddenly became significant.

“Does this city not have an airport or port?” he asked tentatively, “Perhaps this could be a breakthrough point? Checking it out wouldn’t hurt since we have nothing else to do.”

Everyone thought for a while and didn’t refute him: “Alright, let’s listen to you and go check it out.”

Then, the group left the café.

The fat man had obtained a map of the city earlier, which indeed marked the locations of the airport and port. Since there were no ticket booking apps on their phones, they would have to see for themselves.

As they waited for a taxi, Ling Mo leaned closer to Xia Xinyan and quietly asked, “Xinyan, do you think what I’m doing… should be okay, right?”

He could sense that Xia Xinyan seemed quite skilled at this game from the start, but she had been intentionally cultivating his abilities.

He wouldn’t ask her why she was doing this, just like he wouldn’t ask her why she was good at this game.

He didn’t have the confidence yet; he hadn’t become the person Xia Xinyan expected him to be.

So, he would just do his best.

To this, Xia Xinyan merely smiled: “Awesome, very awesome~!”

Ling Mo’s face turned slightly red.

He was praised.

Happy.