Chapter 71: 秩序之城5

Chapter 71

From Shen Wang's tone, Cheng Xiangtian judged that Shen Wang would never let him go.

Before he was trapped here, he still remembered everyone's assessment of the three Class S Mutants. They said those three Class S Mutants stood before everyone — they were the High Wall in people's minds, and also a literal human-shaped High Wall, each Mutant separating the ordinary people inside the wall from the high-level Pollutants outside.

Everyone both loved and revered them, but they weren't exactly people with good tempers.

Just like the Pollution Control Center, when they acted, they sometimes didn't care about right or wrong — they only chose the option more beneficial to humanity.

They had the ability, the responsibility, and also the privilege.

So, even if the Pollution Control Center hadn't changed the regulations, Shen Wang would still dare to kill him. Because the Pollution Control Center would never trouble their 'High Wall' over a guy who sold his teammates' Identification Plaques. And besides, if he died, he'd just be dead for nothing — no one would even think he was still human.

Cheng Xiangtian's mind, eroded by Contamination, cleared for an instant. He finally realized the stupidity of confronting Shen Wang.

'Save me!' Cheng Xiangtian immediately cried out to the surrounding attendants. 'I'll pay! I'll pay you to save me!'

Cheng Xiangtian shouted, 'I still have a pledge item worth 500,000!'

He struggled violently, throwing something from his person into the nearest Pledge House. A *ding-dong* sounded — pledge successful.

'I've spent money!' he yelled. 'Save me!'

The black shadows dragged Cheng Xiangtian's lower half into the black river. Cheng Xiangtian choked on a mouthful of black water. In an instant, his entire body was in pain — the feeling of the Contamination inside him being suppressed was like having a layer of his skin ripped off.

'Come save me!'

Shen Wang stood expressionlessly beside him. Cheng Xiangtian struggled, and the Premium Ticket pinned to his chest fell onto the floor nearby.

At that moment, the clack of high heels stepping on the floor sounded.

Shen Wang picked up the Premium Ticket from the floor — the one that had cost three million. In that instant, the spending amount on the ticket increased by 500,000, now nearing four million.

After confirming the number, Shen Wang turned to look at the attendant who had walked over at some point.

'What do you want?'

'Hello, guest. This guest has purchased a service.' The attendant wore a stiff smile as it extended its hands toward Shen Wang. 'Please give me this guest's Premium Ticket and release the guest.'

Shen Wang looked at it. 'You're here to save him?'

'No, we are only here to provide service.'

Shen Wang glanced at Cheng Xiangtian struggling in the black water, unable to even cry for help because his throat was filled with it, then looked at the attendant standing beside him.

After a long moment, he finally spoke. 'In your Greed Layer, if you pay, you're guaranteed service, right?'

'Yes.' The attendant kept its hands outstretched. 'Guest, please do not make things difficult for us.'

'What if you simply cannot provide the service?'

The attendant abruptly raised its head.

The next moment, countless black mists dragged Cheng Xiangtian entirely into the black river. In an instant, he vanished from sight. The attendant tried to rush over but collapsed onto the floor. It was like fragile pottery — its limbs shattered and separated as it fell, but its severed head still strained to look up at Shen Wang.

Shen Wang looked at it. 'If money is paid, and you cannot provide the service?'

'That's completely contrary to the rules of the Greed Layer, isn't it.'

Attendants from all around stepped forward. Each wore a tailcoat and a stiff smile. They surrounded Shen Wang from all directions, red streaks of blood flowing from the corners of their eyes.

They were trying to eliminate the person preventing them from providing service.

Shen Wang clicked his tongue. 'You're just a bunch of brainless incidental Pollutants, puppets created by Order's Contaminated Talent. And you happen to be the type I counter.'

'Dealing with you is much easier than dealing with those suffering from Mental Pollution.'

As the words fell, a ripping sound echoed. All the attendants were pierced through from below by black mist. Red blood water flowed onto the floor. They rolled their eyes, their shattered bodies unable to move.

Shen Wang turned to look at the guests who had fled in fear. They stood at the very back, watching Shen Wang cautiously. The moment Shen Wang looked over, terror filled every eye.

'These people spent money too, right.' Shen Wang walked forward. 'Their service hasn't ended either, right.'

The guests screamed and scattered. Because Shen Wang was right at the Greed Layer entrance, they could only run deeper inside.

Shen Wang watched as some guests were blocked by an invisible air wall. They desperately pounded on it but couldn't get through — they'd only bought low-level tickets, so they couldn't go any deeper.

Too bad for them. Shen Wang had bought a Premium Ticket. He could kill his way through layer by layer.

Just as he was about to reach those guests blocked by the air wall, an arm appeared out of thin air, blocking Shen Wang's path.

It was the butler guarding the entrance.

The butler smiled at Shen Wang. 'Guest, if payment is made but service cannot be provided, we will issue a refund.'

After speaking, Shen Wang watched as the spending amount on Cheng Xiangtian's ticket instantly dropped by 500,000.

'We will also refund these guests whose service was not completed.'

Shen Wang laughed. 'What's the point of refunding a dead man?'

'That is no longer the Greed Layer's concern. We have followed the regulations and issued the refund.' The butler said, 'And you, sir with great desire — what is your demand?'

'Why are you causing trouble in the Greed Layer?'

'That's strange. You think I'm the one causing trouble?' Shen Wang looked at him. 'Look more carefully. Who exactly is causing trouble here?'

'Are you planning to bully the customer because your shop is big?'

The butler was still smiling, but this time it looked quite forced.

The Greed Layer really did bully customers because it was big. Because everyone who came would be contaminated. Once contaminated, guests couldn't leave the Greed Layer — they had to follow its rules, then one by one Distort into monsters. They never expected someone who simply couldn't be contaminated to show up.

This person didn't spend a cent on his first visit, got judged as a 'great desire' resident. On his second visit, he smashed up the Greed Layer and was prepared to kill all the guests and attendants inside.

Forcing the Greed Layer to add new rules.

How long had it been since the Greed Layer added new rules?

The butler asked, 'Then how does the guest intend to handle this?'

Shen Wang looked at it. 'Oh? You're letting me set the terms?'

'Of course.' The butler's smile remained forced. 'It is compliant and reasonable for a guest to set conditions. We will do our utmost to satisfy the guest.'

Even adding new rules wouldn't satisfy him. This resident with 'great desire' was prepared to overturn the Greed Layer's foundational rules.

'Pollution Control Center Identification Plaques.'

Shen Wang didn't think this was any big deal at all, nor did he think his demand would be met. So he just casually said it.

'Everything you've received in the Pledge House — give it all to me.'

The butler stared at Shen Wang. After a moment, he raised his hand. 'Listen to this guest.'

The attendant behind the butler climbed up from the floor. Its tailcoat was stained with blood, its face marked with cracks. It still maintained a stiff smile, but its eyes were full of malice. It didn't refuse — instead, it turned and entered the Pledge House.

It brought out all the Pollution Control Center Identification Plaques the Pledge House had received. Including the one Cheng Xiangtian sold, there were only five.

Shen Wang hadn't expected the butler to actually give them to him.

'Please.' The butler said.

Shen Wang took the plaques. He looked at the butler with a strange expression, starting to wonder if he'd accidentally hit a nerve.

Of course, once given, he wasn't giving them back.

Shen Wang calmly put the plaques in his pocket, then turned to leave.

'Guest, are you leaving?' The butler asked from behind him. 'You have spent 0 in the Greed Layer and only stayed a little over an hour.'

'Mm.' Shen Wang responded calmly. 'Nothing here can attract me.'

'You truly are a person of great desire, the most suitable resident for Order City.' The butler said. 'You not only possess great desire, but also formidable strength. You have added two new regulations for our Greed Layer. The Greed Layer thanks you.'

Shen Wang paused mid-step. He looked back at the butler strangely.

'Are you a masochist?'

He'd come in and killed a guest of the Greed Layer, nearly wiped out all the guests and attendants, forced the butler out to issue refunds — and now the butler was thanking him for adding new regulations?

What kind of Stockholm syndrome was this?

'How could that be? This is a fortunate event for the Greed Layer!' The butler said happily. 'The Greed Layer hasn't added new rules in many years!'

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow slightly.

The underlying logic of Order City was rules. Even with a vast Greed Layer, Order City only selected people of high virtue or those with great desire. And now, Shen Wang vaguely realized the condition for clearing this Greed Layer.

That was to force the Greed Layer to add or change rules.

The Greed Layer was a tool Order City used to test 'residents.' It was inherently flawed, so entering the Greed Layer meant losing the opportunity.

But among those who enter a casino, besides gamblers addicted to gambling, there are also police who want to shut the casino down.

The so-called 'great desire' meant putting oneself at risk and inflicting trauma and change upon the Greed Layer...

Not much different from ordinary people who steadfastly refuse to enter the Greed Layer.

How ridiculous — a Pollutant, using this method to pick good people as its city residents.

Just how much unfair treatment had it suffered in life, to manifest such a 'selection ground for good people'?

/

When Shen Wang returned, he saw Zhou Xiangzhe and the child squatting on the steps where they'd sat yesterday.

The two of them squatted there watching the people ahead, one big, one small, both silent, calmly observing the people working in front of them.

Shen Wang walked over and squatted down beside Zhou Xiangzhe. 'What are you two doing?'

Zhou Xiangzhe glanced at Shen Wang, then said, 'Can't find work.'

This was a place where most people were filled with greed. Everyone was using dirty methods to accumulate money to go squander in the Greed Layer. So a man like Zhou Xiangzhe, who at a glance was extremely conspicuous and practically radiated threat, simply couldn't find normal work.

No one would hire him under the risk of being robbed, and no one thought he was someone genuinely here to work and earn money.

Those whose bodies and minds were completely eroded by greed only wanted to hire someone weak, rob them first, then force them to work, and rob their wages again afterward.

The child added expressionlessly, 'They wanted to hire me to work.'

Shen Wang: …

Of course. Zhou Xiangzhe was so big, clearly not someone to mess with. The child was much easier to handle.

As the Pollution Control Center's guardian deity, this might be the first time Zhou Xiangzhe had been completely shut out — every job position turned him down.

Shen Wang smiled. He crooked a finger at Zhou Xiangzhe. Zhou Xiangzhe looked at him, and after a moment, extended his hand.

Once the hand was extended, Shen Wang placed something in his palm.

It should have been metallic, but because Shen Wang had been holding it, it had taken on human body temperature and didn't feel cold. Zhou Xiangzhe looked at his palm. Seeing what was in his hand, he froze slightly — it was five Pollution Control Center Identification Plaques.

'Where did you find these?' Zhou Xiangzhe asked Shen Wang.

'The Greed Layer.' Shen Wang tapped Zhou Xiangzhe's palm with his fingertip. 'These are the Identification Plaques that were pawned.'

Zhou Xiangzhe instinctively closed his hand, trapping Shen Wang's fingertip inside his fist.

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't point it out. Zhou Xiangzhe, as if unaware, kept looking at him and continued the conversation.

'What did you give up to bring these plaques back?'

Zhou Xiangzhe's voice was soft. 'Polaris takes the Identification Plaque very seriously — it's a second life for the dead. But for us, the living are most important. No plaque is worth more than being alive. I hated Cheng Xiangtian because he sold plaques to enter the Greed Layer for pleasure. If he'd just done it to survive, I wouldn't have blamed him.'

'Shen Wang, don't sacrifice anything of yourself for dead things.'

Hearing this, Shen Wang laughed.

Maybe he found it genuinely funny, because he laughed for a long time.

Zhou Xiangzhe watched Shen Wang's smile. He didn't join in the laughter, but he didn't let go of his hand either. He just watched him, his gaze light and faint.

If anyone had been there, they would have seen his eyes filled with poorly concealed helplessness and affection.

'I didn't sacrifice anything of mine.' Shen Wang said after he finished laughing. He tapped Zhou Xiangzhe's head with his other hand. 'You think I'm like you? Willing to give myself up for some external objects? Please, I'm an incredibly selfish person.'

'These are compensation for wrecking the Greed Layer.'

Zhou Xiangzhe blinked. The child beside them also looked up at Shen Wang, her big eyes fixed directly on him.

'You wrecked the Greed Layer?' Zhou Xiangzhe said. 'And they gave you compensation?'

'Yeah.' Shen Wang nodded calmly. 'If they didn't apologize and compensate me, I'd just keep wrecking it until they admitted they were wrong. If Order didn't like it, it could come talk to me personally. I'd ask it exactly why it couldn't be wrecked.'

Zhou Xiangzhe: …

Right. That was the Shen Wang he knew.

Sacrificing himself to retrieve the dead's plaques really wasn't something Shen Wang would ever do.

After teasing Zhou Xiangzhe, Shen Wang finally spoke up. 'Also, I think I've already got the key to the next layer of Order City.'

'Because you wrecked the Greed Layer?' Zhou Xiangzhe asked, puzzled.

'Does Order have some strange hobby?'

'It's picking good people to be residents of its city.' Shen Wang stretched out his long legs, settling in as if to rest.

'The Greed Layer is a completely flawed test. Not submitting to it, or resisting and changing it, can both earn you the chance.'

Zhou Xiangzhe sighed. 'That condition still sounds like it has a strange hobby.'

'It won't make you wait long.' Shen Wang analyzed for Zhou Xiangzhe. 'If we follow the logic that Order City needs to find good people to become residents, then kind people entering here will be deceived and robbed, because good people are often the ones who get bullied.'

'And following your conditions, if you can't find work for a whole day and night, you can't eat.'

Shen Wang said, 'Someone who just entered, without robbing anyone or pawning anything in the Greed Layer, can't get any money. But people can't go without food forever. Something will definitely change soon.'

Only then did Zhou Xiangzhe react. 'I haven't eaten for a day.'

'Yeah.' Shen Wang looked at him. 'Hungry?'

Zhou Xiangzhe hesitated, then shook his head.

He wasn't hungry at all. Ever since he used Devour on the Deer God Entity three years ago, Zhou Xiangzhe had lost his sense of taste from the Contamination. He ate mostly to give his body nutrients so it wouldn't die too quickly. But as his Contamination Level climbed higher and higher, he'd even stopped feeling hunger.

Contamination was changing his body, making him lean more and more toward a non-human monster.

'If you're hungry, would you like a bowl of ramen?'

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe looked up simultaneously at the person who had suddenly appeared before them.

The child was pulled up by Zhou Xiangzhe and tucked behind him. She didn't say a word, but was more clever than expected, immediately shrinking behind him and staying still.

Both Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe were Class S Mutants. They were sensitive to Contamination and extremely alert, yet neither had noticed at all when this person had walked up in front of them.

The person before them hung their head, messy hair falling down to cover their eyes, making them look like a beggar.

And this beggar extended a Flyer toward Zhou Xiangzhe.

'If you're hungry, come have a bowl of ramen.'

Zhou Xiangzhe's golden eyes overflowed with danger as he looked at this person. When Shen Wang made to stand up, Zhou Xiangzhe grabbed his wrist firmly, signaling him not to act rashly.

'Come have a bowl of ramen.' The person repeated.

Zhou Xiangzhe reached out and took the flyer. 'Okay.'

'Thank you.' The beggar-like person thanked Zhou Xiangzhe.

'Oh, there's something I want to tell you.' The beggar said with their head lowered. 'Entering the Greed Layer can suppress the growth of your Contamination Level. Remember that. If your Contamination Level goes out of control, you'll turn into a monster.'

The moment they finished speaking, the beggar vanished before their eyes, leaving not a trace.

'What did they mean?' Shen Wang stood up. 'Was that thing Order?'

'Doesn't seem like it. The Contamination wasn't that high, a notch below the Deer God Entity back then.' Zhou Xiangzhe frowned slightly. 'Probably a program left behind by Order, triggered under special circumstances.'

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the flyer in his hand. 'This wouldn't be the final test, would it?'

'Huh?' Shen Wang sounded disgusted. 'You mean 'the powerful, steadfast conviction to not enter the Greed Layer even if it might turn you into a monster'?'

'So cliché.'

'Yeah.' Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the flyer. 'So cliché…'

Shen Wang reached out to take the flyer from Zhou Xiangzhe's hand, wanting to see if it really was just about ramen.

Before Shen Wang could touch the flyer, *sizzle* — the whole thing spontaneously combusted. The burning flyer turned into a visible black Light Point that instantly vanished into Zhou Xiangzhe's finger. Zhou Xiangzhe was startled by the surprise too, but the next moment, he suddenly clutched his chest.

The Contamination Level he had forcibly suppressed before entering was now skyrocketing wildly.

'Zhou Xiangzhe?'

A sharp pain spread from his heart. Zhou Xiangzhe had a high pain tolerance, but this pain even forced a muffled groan from him. The Pollution Inhibitor he wore was slowly corroding. Shen Wang quickly pulled him up. The moment Zhou Xiangzhe lifted his head, Shen Wang saw his eyes.

Those originally golden, inhuman eyes now looked even more eerie. A faint golden mist slipped from the corners of his eyes, and tiny golden scales began to grow there.

The rims of his eyes were red, not from pain, but from Distortion.

'Shen…' Zhou Xiangzhe leaned against Shen Wang, frowning as he glanced at the child behind them, his voice weak. 'Can't stay here.'

Shen Wang frowned at him, then glanced at the expressionless little girl beside them.

He told the little girl to hide and wait for them to return. Then he helped Zhou Xiangzhe up and took him to the most desolate alley nearby.

Once inside the alley, Zhou Xiangzhe leaned his whole weight against the wall. The intense pain brought cold sweat to his forehead, and even his vision started to go wrong. He could make out Shen Wang standing right in front of him, his blurred shadow broken and mottled by the sunlight, like scattered points of light — each fractured shard a tiny Light Point.

'…So it really is such a cliché plot.' Zhou Xiangzhe forced the words out, only to find his voice pitifully small.

Ordinary people discovering their Distortion would surely fall into fear. They'd struggle between holding on and normality, ultimately deciding whether to enter the Greed Layer. But Zhou Xiangzhe was different. His Contamination Level had long been off the charts. Forcing a Contamination spike could only lead to this result.

The Deer God Entity's Contamination seeped from his fingers pressed against the wall, silently corroding the wall behind him.

Shen Wang watched as the golden scales under Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes grew denser.

'No good.' Shen Wang said. 'We're going into the Greed Layer.'

'Shen Wang.' Zhou Xiangzhe grabbed Shen Wang's hand. 'Can't go.'

He opened his blurry eyes. 'If our guess is right, then this is the final test. Only by holding out can we enter the next layer.'

'I don't want to stay here waiting for you.' Zhou Xiangzhe said. 'Don't make me stay here waiting for you.'

Zhou Xiangzhe hated waiting most of all — guarding a vague hope, year after year, hoping the person he loved was still there.

He didn't want to guard. He wanted to stand by Shen Wang's side.

Shen Wang frowned slightly, looking at him. 'We can enter the Greed Layer and then wreck it again. Together.'

'No. You were judged from the start as someone with 'great desire,' but I don't meet that standard.' Zhou Xiangzhe leaned against his chest. 'A person can't become a different person in just a day. If we really went to wreck the Greed Layer, I'd be disqualified immediately.'

'So, we can't go.'

Shen Wang sighed softly.

He grasped Zhou Xiangzhe's hand, holding his fingers just like before.

'Then do you want to try my method?'

Zhou Xiangzhe looked up at him.

'It might hurt a bit.' Shen Wang reached out to undo the button at his collar. As he spoke, his warm breath brushed against Zhou Xiangzhe's neck, carrying a strange heat.

'Your Contamination Level spike isn't because you can't suppress it yourself, but because of Order's rule-based Talent. In other words: a Talent is causing your Contamination outbreak.' After undoing the button, Shen Wang gently pinched Zhou Xiangzhe's chin. 'So, maybe I can try to counteract it.'

Zhou Xiangzhe stared into Shen Wang's eyes, straining to see him clearly, but his blurred vision could only make out Shen Wang's glowing outline.

Finally, Zhou Xiangzhe managed a smile. He pulled Shen Wang's hand. 'Of course.'

'I believe in you.'

Shen Wang gazed into his eyes. There was no focus in Zhou Xiangzhe's golden eyes — that golden mist had already veiled them — but he still struggled to look at Shen Wang, as if gazing at some treasure. The cherishing in those eyes always made Shen Wang lose control of himself.

He kissed Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes, then, fingers interlaced, pressed him against the wall.

The moment Zhou Xiangzhe instinctively closed his eyes, Shen Wang bit down hard on the side of his neck. He bit deep, crimson blood welling up. Zhou Xiangzhe felt a tearing pain, as if something was burrowing into his body through the wound.

It hurt. But remembering this was Shen Wang, Zhou Xiangzhe felt a sense of peace.

Like someone beyond saving, he welcomed the pain Shen Wang bestowed upon him with joy and eagerness.

After pain so intense his consciousness seemed to waver, Zhou Xiangzhe felt the erupting Contamination within his body slowly receding. The snowflake-like spots before his eyes quietly faded. He saw Shen Wang release his bite and face him, finally able to see his face clearly again.

Zhou Xiangzhe let out a very soft, very light sigh of relief.

He leaned against Shen Wang, drained. '…It worked.'

'Yeah.' Shen Wang let him lean. 'But, don't you feel something's off with your body?'

Zhou Xiangzhe froze.

'You're the one with strange tastes.' Shen Wang said. 'Didn't that hurt just now? But you…'

'I thought someone as ascetic as you would never have any… physical reactions.'

Zhou Xiangzhe: …

He really wanted to explain that 'this is probably a negative side effect of Mental Aberration,' but he felt any explanation under these circumstances wouldn't be very credible. It would just sound like making excuses, and the more he explained, the murkier it'd get.

In the end, he could only say very quietly, '…I'm a man, not a block of wood.'

'Is that so?'

Shen Wang glanced at his lower half. 'So what are you planning to do about it now, block of wood?'