Chapter 78: City of Order 12

Chapter 78

That was one hell of a suggestive line.

Shen Wang understood what Zhou Xiangzhe meant, but decided not to listen to him.

While Zhou Xiangzhe wasn’t paying attention, Shen Wang reached out and poked the little horn on top of his head. Zhou Xiangzhe flinched, his shudder really obvious; he almost couldn’t even stay kneeling, and looked at Shen Wang with utter disbelief.

Shen Wang spread his hands very slowly. “You really thought I’d listen to you?”

Zhou Xiangzhe: ...

Yeah, no.

“Really, no.” Zhou Xiangzhe struggled to stand up from the ground. He really wanted to find a hat or something to cover his head and hide that sensitive horn under layers of fabric. Having it exposed to the air, with Shen Wang occasionally trying to touch it out of curiosity, made him feel extremely unsafe—like exposing... a vital spot.

It was terrible.

Shen Wang even asked curiously, “What does it feel like when it gets touched?”

Zhou Xiangzhe didn’t want to answer. He looked around at the white mist and very awkwardly changed the subject. “What’s the situation now?”

“Situation?” Shen Wang looked around. He decided to go along with Zhou Xiangzhe’s attempt to change the subject and said, “The Deer God is probably trying to escape. It finally got out, and probably doesn’t want to get swallowed by you again.”

Zhou Xiangzhe frowned slightly, watching the surroundings. “Order only controls talents. The Deer God is a monster with no talent, just contamination, so Order’s rules can’t restrict it. But we don’t know how many rules Order can make, and we’re not sure if the Deer God can hold Order off.”

Shen Wang, however, didn’t care at all. “I’m not worried in the slightest.”

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at Shen Wang. “Why?”

“Because the Deer God doesn’t even need to beat Order. You just used the Deer God’s contamination to destroy Order’s contamination petri dishes, and that drew it out. As long as the Deer God isn’t brain-damaged, it knows that wrecking Order’s contamination petri dishes on a large scale will eventually drive Order insane.”

“After all, the Deer God’s goal isn’t to kill Order; it just wants to get out of here.”

As he spoke, Shen Wang reached out for Zhou Xiangzhe, and Zhou Xiangzhe instinctively covered his head—only to see Shen Wang calmly withdraw his hand, clearly doing it on purpose.

Zhou Xiangzhe lowered his hand. He was silent for a few seconds, then nodded as if nothing had happened. “You’re not wrong.”

“Zhou Xiangzhe.” Shen Wang smiled. “You’re really interesting.”

Zhou Xiangzhe had never expected to receive such a comment in his life. He was a boring person by nature, didn’t like to laugh or joke around, and as an S-class Mutant, no one dared to joke with him. Only Shen Wang dared to tease him without restraint and then smile and say he was interesting.

To put it in a super sappy way, there was a subtle sweetness to it.

Zhou Xiangzhe had no choice but to steer the conversation back again. “After we leave here, if nothing changes, you can touch it all you want.”

His voice was steady and firm, but if you listened closely, you could detect a faint tremble that didn’t suit him at all. It was easy to imagine that having that horn touched was an unbearable sensation for him.

That sensitive?

Shen Wang looked thoughtful, then grinned mischievously. “I want to tie a bow on it.”

Zhou Xiangzhe: ... A bow.

He didn’t want to ask why, because he knew the answer would definitely be terrifying. So Zhou Xiangzhe just nodded vaguely.

Better than being constantly messed with in this environment.

Of course, Shen Wang enjoyed teasing Zhou Xiangzhe, but this really wasn’t a normal situation. They were still surrounded by both the Deer God and Order.

It was better to be cautious.

“Right now Order is dealing with the Deer God, but it’ll definitely clear the Deer God out at some point. We need to use this time to figure out how to deal with it,” Shen Wang said.

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded. “What do we do?”

“Let’s go back and regroup with Zhou Qing. We need to check the situation in the City of Order.”

There wasn’t any great plan right now, and letting them fight each other was the best option. They retraced their steps.

The Layer of Lust was completely wrapped in white mist. The distant yet near sound of bells echoed continuously, children’s voices sang hymns praising the Deer God, the pink lights of the Layer of Lust were gone, and everywhere was silent.

Zhou Xiangzhe had a strong sense of direction and an even stronger memory; even in the fog he didn’t get lost. But on their way back, the victims in the small rooms were all kneeling on the ground, heads bowed in silence, drenched from head to toe, as if soaked by rain in that enclosed space.

The windows in the small rooms had completely shattered. Through the hazy air they could see outside; beneath the white mist, it seemed to be a yellowish-brown color, as if they had switched to another world.

Water flowed off them, forming small puddles, and in the puddles they could see vague human silhouettes.

When they returned to the staircase entrance of the Layer of Lust, they found the door already open, the mist seeping out through it, and everything was damp like the humid season.

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe stepped onto the wet stairs and climbed up. The lights were out, so Shen Wang had to use his communication device for illumination.

“Be careful.” Zhou Xiangzhe took Shen Wang’s hand. “There’s too much water on the steps; they’re slippery.”

“And it’s so dark.” Shen Wang complained, “Is Yutang South City this wet all the time?”

Zhou Xiangzhe sighed. “It’s determined by the terrain. Yutang South City has a lot of rain, but it’s warmer. There are benefits too.”

By the dim light, they stepped onto the wet floor and ascended into the City of Order. As they left that door behind, they saw a city completely enveloped in mist.

On the familiar Central Street there were many people. They were no longer in dog form; they acted as if the white mist didn’t exist and went about their daily activities as usual.

They no longer paid attention to the king, and they didn’t care at all that The King’s Wheel had vanished from the city wall.

When they saw Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe, an old man even smiled and waved at them.

“Young ones, are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

“It doesn’t matter if you have no money. I’ll treat you for free.”

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe exchanged a glance. Shen Wang frowned slightly and asked, “Why treat us for free?”

“Because I’m doing a good deed to spread the word of our great Deer God!” The old man’s eyes filled with longing, and faint specks of golden light could be seen in them. He said, “Do you know the Deer God? The Deer God is the greatest deity. It was born into this world to save us!”

“As long as we believe in the Deer God, we can live freely and safely!”

“The Deer God will keep us away from Contamination, let us live in peace and prosperity, and return to the pre-apocalypse days!”

Zhou Xiangzhe let out a forceful breath. This feeling was all too familiar and disgusted him.

This was exactly like Yutang South City back then.

Everyone had their own reasoning, lived in peace and prosperity, and could even be considered quite kind in some ways. But they exalted the Deer God above all else; in their hearts, the Deer God was greater and more trustworthy than family or friends. If anyone opposed the Deer God, it meant a holy war of one against many.

All the personnel sent by the Anti-Contamination Center were either assimilated and contaminated by the Deer God or killed by the ordinary people who had been contaminated.

They tried to rescue the ordinary people and get them out, but the ordinary people thought they were harming them and killed the very people who came to save them.

Every ordinary person had gone mad while fully lucid.

Back then, it had taken Zhou Xiangzhe considerable effort just to reach the position closest to the Deer God.

“In a bad mood?” Shen Wang said calmly. “Just think: these people were originally Order’s victims, and now they’ve been snatched by the Deer God. At least we don’t have twice the victims from two Grade S Contaminants.”

Zhou Xiangzhe furrowed his brow. “That’s the only way to look at it.”

Seeing that Zhou Xiangzhe hadn’t been affected, Shen Wang looked back at the old man. “Do you know where you are?”

“Where I am? Of course I’m in...” The old man’s voice trailed off. After a few seconds he thought about it. “I think I’m in... the City of Order?”

“That’s right.” Shen Wang smiled. “You’re in the City of Order, not in the Deer God’s territory at all.”

“Aren’t you a believer of the Deer God? Why are you in the City of Order? Your Deer God is going to get angry and abandon you.”

The old man’s face went pale. He ran out in terror and started shouting over and over.

“This isn’t the holy land the great Deer God chose for us!”

“This is the City of Order!”

“We have to leave! We must return to the great Deer God’s embrace!”

Shen Wang watched as more and more people started running. In an instant, the ‘city of justice’ that Order had created descended into chaos.

“Let’s give the Deer God a hand.” Shen Wang said. “Order’s original goal was to build this City of Order. Now the whole city is rebelling. I don’t believe it won’t panic.”

After causing that little commotion, they continued searching for Zhou Qing. But before they could leave Central Street, Order’s figure materialized in front of them.

Order’s cheek was broken, revealing ceramic cracks on its face. It glared darkly at Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Shen Wang frowned slightly. “You can still come out?”

“What the hell is it?! How could it affect my City of Order without any warning!” Order demanded.

“You!” Order pointed at Zhou Xiangzhe. “If your talent is restored, can you take it back?!”

“That thing was released by you!”

“No, and I never intended to release it. You’re the one who let it out.” Zhou Xiangzhe replied calmly. “The moment you suppressed my talent and it got out, there was no going back. It’s a Contaminant, not an idiot. Why would it ever go back after finally escaping?”

Order’s expression turned extremely ugly. That look told them the Deer God had indeed caused it a massive headache.

And that was the truth.

After becoming a Contaminant, Order had set about building the entire City of Order, wanting to create the land of justice it dreamed of. But now, all the residents of the City of Order had been mentally contaminated by the Deer God. Its Mental Contamination ability was stronger than Order’s, so Order couldn’t win its residents back.

Its City of Order was ruined.

The screen in front of Order’s black eyes flickered.

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow. He felt that uncomfortable sense of restriction disappear from his body. He reached out his hand, and a tiny thorn vine climbed onto his wrist as if greeting him. His talent had been restored.

Shen Wang looked at Zhou Xiangzhe and saw him exhale softly. A black furball appeared at his feet.

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded at Shen Wang.

Order ignored them, turned to look ahead, and set a new rule.

“Forbid Mental Contamination!”

With a crack, Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe felt the air around them stop moving. The white mist froze in place. A few seconds later, a wind blew, sweeping away all the mist. The faint sound of bells faded away. In an instant, the Deer God’s presence vanished without a trace.

The black furball raised its tail and pointed somewhere.

Zhou Xiangzhe glanced at it. “Ran off?”

The furball wagged its tail in confirmation.

Shen Wang looked between them. “You understand what it means?”

“It’s my talent, after all.” Zhou Xiangzhe said. “It says the Deer God took the chance to flee and has already left the City of Order.”

The two of them turned to look at Order.

Order stood where it was. After the white mist vanished, everyone in the City of Order looked around in confusion, staring at themselves and their surroundings. Once they realized something, their eyes filled with terror.

With Forbid Contamination in effect, not only the Deer God’s influence but also Order’s mental influence on them had disappeared.

Everyone was horrified that they had been living so contentedly in a city built by a monster. The most terrifying thing was never going mad—it was recalling the experience of madness while fully lucid.

That was the kind of fear that clung like a bone-eating parasite.

At that moment, everyone suddenly screamed. They fell to the ground, rolling in agony, as their bodies began turning into ceramic starting from their fingertips.

“What are you doing?” The black furball lunged at Order, but Order floated up into the air, making the furball miss.

It stared coldly at Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe.

“What am I doing?” Order flexed its wrist, its black eyes full of icy malice. “The residents of the City of Order are filthy. I’m going to clean them out and bring in a new batch.”

“Once I’ve dealt with this trash, I’ll deal with you!”

Such matter-of-fact cruelty...

The victims’ screams filled the air. In just a few seconds, half their bodies had turned into ceramic, some even shattering into pieces in midair. Watching their own bodies break apart terrified them to the point of madness, and on top of that they were all enduring the same agony.

Black tentacles shot toward Order. Order sneered.

The screen in front of its eyes flickered again. It snapped its fingers at Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe, and instantly the black tentacles vanished, along with the black furball beside Zhou Xiangzhe.

Their talents were restricted once more.

“What can you do?” Order stared at them expressionlessly. “You can only watch them die.”

“No one can save them. And no one can save you.”

[Order] Grade S Contaminant, talent [Rule Restriction]. Its talent could be called all-purpose, effective even against other Grade S beings of the same level. Though it could only restrict one thing at a time, that one thing was enough to crush anyone.

It could restrict the talents of everyone in an area, or their sight, their voices, even their lives.

Those who violated the rules had to die!

“You are Grade S, so I can’t order you to die. But that’s fine. Without your talents, I’m still stronger than you.” Order declared.

Order was very confident.

It was a Grade S Contaminant, but almost the top of its grade. The Deer God had only bested it in Mental Contamination, but as long as it used its rule to forbid Mental Contamination, the Deer God would be helpless and could only flee with its tail between its legs.

No one in the world could break its talent, because there was no Mutant of a higher grade than it.

Perhaps that terrifying Contaminant far away in Zero Contamination Zone could, but that Tyrant never left Zero Contamination Zone. It had never even met the Tyrant. Moreover, the two Grade S Mutants here were from the Anti-Contamination Center—the very reason it had been forcibly sealed away for so many years.

The Tyrant would surely be delighted to see the Anti-Contamination Center’s people suffer.

Kill these two Grade S Mutants, and the Anti-Contamination Center would be crippled, never again able to resist their Contaminants.

Then it could build a City of Order as big as it wanted!

“Blame yourselves for overestimating your strength.” Order stretched out a hand toward them. “In your next life, remember not to provoke me again.”

Shen Wang didn’t say a word. He calmly watched Order, unmoved amid the screams of countless people. Order’s figure reflected in his black eyes. Zhou Xiangzhe stood quietly beside Shen Wang, showing little tension either.

Knowing Shen Wang’s true identity, Zhou Xiangzhe no longer worried that Shen Wang would come to harm.

Because he had the strongest backing in the world.

The corner of Shen Wang’s mouth lifted. He smiled at Order. “In your next life, remember not to provoke me.”

Order found it strange that he repeated its words, then realized Shen Wang wasn’t asking a question but making a statement.

It was about to sneer at Shen Wang’s overestimation, but as it opened its mouth, it sensed something was off.

Order’s voice choked. It looked around uneasily.

This felt nothing like when the Deer God had been accidentally released—in fact, it was worlds apart.

When the Deer God appeared, it had felt like a beast had its eyes on it, but Order itself was a beast too. It was mostly just annoyance at being provoked. So it kept hunting the Deer God, trying to tear it apart. When it found its City of Order being eroded, it had been so disgusted it wanted to throw the whole city away.

But now, Order felt a prickling, deeply uncomfortable sensation.

It felt like an eye behind it was watching it. The eye was hidden somewhere unknown, just staring and staring. If that were all, it would be fine, but it felt an uncontrollable fear.

Yes, fear.

“What is it?!”

Under fear, many people become aggressive, as if fierce cursing could drive away the thing they feared.

Order kept looking around. “Who?! Come out if you dare!”

“Come out!”

It cursed, “You don’t dare come out! If you come out, I’ll definitely destroy you!”

Shen Wang let out a snort.

He deeply understood that saying now: When you’re too weak, even your rage looks adorable.

Order clearly heard Shen Wang’s laugh. It dropped to the ground quickly.

“What are you laughing at?!”

Shen Wang calmly unbuttoned his jacket and draped it over Zhou Xiangzhe’s head. Zhou Xiangzhe glanced at him, then obediently stood there with the jacket over his head, his black eyes calmly watching Shen Wang’s figure ahead.

After doing all that, Shen Wang spoke. “You’d be better off worrying about yourself.”

“Worry about myself?” Order flew into a rage. “I will never lose!”

As soon as the words left its mouth, drip, drip. Order froze. It turned to look at the sky. The City of Order, which had just stopped raining after driving out the Deer God, was raining again. The rain pattered down to the ground, but this rain was different from the Deer God’s.

There were no golden specks of light in the rain, no distant bells. There was only black, sticky rainwater.

That black rain was thick with the aura of Contamination.

Order stiffened where it stood, the fear in its chest reaching an impossible-to-ignore level.

The victims, half their bodies turned to ceramic, no longer dared to make a sound. Their eyes wide, mouths slightly open, they breathed so lightly out of fear. Their pupils dilated, as if about to die of fright.

The victims stopped screaming and crying.

But that only made the atmosphere even eerier.

Order didn’t want to admit it, didn’t dare to admit it, but this contamination aura...

At the end of Central Street, someone walked over, one step at a time. He was made of ceramic, exactly like the ceramic The Attendant from the Layer of Greed, but as he moved, ceramic pieces fell away from him, and beneath was a person of flesh and blood.

When those concealing ceramic shards were gone, an intense contamination aura—one that made even Order afraid—was unleashed.

Zhou Xiangzhe, still under Shen Wang’s jacket, asked quietly, “Your family’s here?”

“No,” Shen Wang answered. “But I told you before—my father has minions in every place with decent power, including the City of Order. Though ‘minions’ isn’t quite right; they’re not Contaminants he controls, but his puppet avatars.”

“I got bullied, so of course he’s going to come stand up for me.”

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded. He looked at Order again, this time with a hint of pity in his eyes.

Offending Shen Wang wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Shen Wang was definitely not someone to provoke. Behind him wasn’t the Anti-Contamination Center, but an SSS-class Tyrant, an S-class Mermaid, and even an S-class defector Lan.

These three terrifying powerhouses were Shen Wang’s true backers.

And Shen Wang was the least bullyable person in this world.