DBMEP CH89

Chapter 89: Surface Scam Syndicate

Fu Ming, the mayor of Radiance City, dialed the number for Gusu City’s Surface Poverty Alleviation Foundation for the 6th time this month.

He waited in the freezing snow for half a minute before the phone finally connected after a long series of dial tones.

“Director Zhao, you see, winter is almost here. Our city’s power supply is severely lacking. Usually, the hotter the summer, the colder the winter. Temperatures this summer hit over ten degrees; this winter is going to be incredibly tough to endure. If we can’t keep the heating on…”

Director Zhao spoke in a bureaucratic tone, yet a hint of impatience colored his voice: “Fu Ming, the thing is, you know how it is. The mycelium disease in Gusu City has been very severe lately. There really is no one available to deliver the batteries you asked for. These things cost ten or twenty million a pop. If there’s insufficient protection and highwaymen intercept them, who can afford to take that responsibility?”

“Could you have a robot deliver them?”

Director Zhao continued: “Oh, we definitely wouldn’t dare use robots. The Omnics equipped with anthropomorphic modules might mutiny, and the ones without them can’t handle unexpected situations. That would cause even more problems.”

“Then what about the twenty thousand people in my city!”

“Don’t you have mountains over there? Just chop some wood and burn that, wouldn’t that work?”

“The fast-growing forest near Radiance City was completely chopped down last year. Soil erosion is severe, and we have to reforest it this year. Director Zhao, please have some mercy…” Fu Ming pleaded humbly.

“How about this? I’ll push them again at the next meeting, so don’t you worry. With so many small settlements around, everyone’s resources are tight. I’ll let you know immediately if there’s any news.”

Director Zhao hung up the phone, his plump body reclining in an ergonomic chair.

His workstation was in an office on the surface of Gusu City.

The surface environment was harsh, but Director Zhao was very happy to “dedicate” himself. His surname was “Zhao,” indicating that his ancestors had once been wealthy and prominent. After graduating from middle school, Director Zhao failed to get into university. Fortunately, he pulled some strings with the main branch of the Zhao family and finally secured a position as a staff member at the Surface Poverty Alleviation Foundation.

Over the course of fifty or sixty years, Director Zhao relied on his seniority to become one of the three leaders of the Gusu City Surface Poverty Alleviation Office.

Director Zhao merely resold poverty alleviation supplies, engaged in petty corruption and extortion, and sold off collective assets at dirt-cheap prices… Today, his wife and children owned three apartments in Gusu City’s Upper District, and he had even bought an 18-square-meter micro-apartment in Luoyang City.

The apartment wasn’t big, but its price was roughly equivalent to the three apartments in Gusu City combined. If any changes were to occur in Gusu City—say, the Divine Court attacked, or it was blown up by Omnics—the Director could swiftly take his wife and children to Luoyang City, the safest place in the world.

The batteries Radiance City needed had long been sold off at a low price by Director Zhao.

Of course, Director Zhao knew what he was doing was unethical. But if he didn’t do it, plenty of others would. It was better to benefit himself than to let others profit.

The moment he hung up the phone, Director Zhao bobbed his head and slipped on his VR headset, a foolish grin spreading across his face: “Hehe, Mi Feng~ my precious little honey bee.”

Mi Feng was a newly emerged personal virtual VTuber.

He hadn’t signed with any agency yet achieved sky-high popularity right after debuting, consistently ranking first in various polls.

Mi Feng’s rise was exceptionally difficult in an era where voting channels were strictly gatekept by entertainment companies.

He rapidly attracted a cohort of fans who admired the strong, “husband” fans, and career-focused fans.

Rival agencies had previously spread rumors online, claiming Mi Feng exploited loopholes in the voting system, which was how he kept winning in the promotional ranks!

Utter nonsense! If the voting system were that easy to hack, the entire cybersecurity department would be laid off.

In short, after a wave of fan-baiting tactics, everyone had become even more diehard.

Fu Ming hung up the phone, a suppressed anger flashing in his eyes: “I haven’t been stingy with treating them to drinks and meals! We follow whatever policies the Human Alliance dictates, but the moment we actually need resources, they drag their feet and make excuses! The energy pump was approved ages ago, yet they keep delaying its delivery. If I had known, I might as well have defected to Yinshan City!”

At the very least, the Divine Court actually ensured people had full stomachs.

Beside him, his emaciated secretary said: “Mayor, mind your words. The Divine Court is no good either.”

“I know…”

Fu Ming let out a long sigh.

He had lived on the surface since he was a child, hailing from a hometown right on the border between the Human Alliance and the Divine Court.

Once, the Divine Court’s Apocalypse Knights were passing through and caught the scent of Human Alliance ambushers hiding in their village.

Fu Ming had gone to another town to buy medicine that day. When he returned home, all he saw was a ground covered in corpses, gnawed upon until they were unrecognizable as human.

Fu Ming had read a quote in a book stating that power is only responsible to its source.

The power of the Human Alliance derived, at least in some small part, from the ancestors of these surface remnants. They were fellow humans who had participated in the construction of the underground cities. Yet they had been abandoned by the Human Alliance.

And the power of the Divine Court derived from God, the Church, and its believers.

Therefore, Fu Ming would never lead Radiance City to defect to the Divine Court.

He refused to believe in God.

“If we chop any deeper into the forest, we’ll reach the habitat of the Mutants. If we anger them and trigger a Mutant tide, our city’s armaments are completely powerless to resist.” Rubbing his forehead, his hair graying, Fu Ming said: “Have all citizens prepare for winter. Prepare for relocation. Once the coldest days of winter hit, move everyone into the underground air raid shelters. With so many people gathered together, it will be warmer. And we can save some electricity.”

Fu Ming paused for a moment: “Place the children and pregnant women in the center. The young adults on the outside, and the elderly on the very outermost perimeter.”

This was a cruel decision. Every year, the elderly suffered the highest number of deaths by freezing. But it couldn’t be helped.

On the surface, compassion without capability was a form of stupidity.

“Mayor!” A knock came at the office door, and a young man walked in, his tone somewhat hesitant. “Mayor, we confiscated a small mechanical device. This device has a broadcasting function.”

“Confiscated” wasn’t exactly the right word. Because this thing had literally flown down from the sky on its own.

The machine was entirely spherical, with an electric, bamboo-copter-like propeller on top of its head.

It possessed a feel that was both highly advanced and primitive at the same time.

The secretary didn’t dare touch it with his hands, fearing it might explode.

Cautiously, he nudged it with his foot.

The sphere rolled across the office floor, bumped into the wall, and coincidentally hit the play button.

A voice speaking standard Human Alliance language emanated from the sphere: “Friends of Radiance City, hello. I am the current Commander of the Survivor Base, Xiang Nanli.”

Six hundred words of base introduction were omitted here; it was essentially just repeating the same spiel meant to fool people.

A lie believed by everyone will eventually become the truth.

Finally, Xiang Nanli stated: “At the end of this month, the base will hold a Harvest Festival within its jurisdiction of Eternal City. We formally invite Radiance City to dispatch a diplomatic delegation to participate in the festival.”

“Additionally, our base’s radio frequency code is: *****. If you possess radio equipment, you can contact us by calling this frequency.”

The recording ended there.

Fu Ming pondered: “Eternal City is the former City of Eternity. That’s a medium-sized settlement, far stronger than our small city. And it was actually occupied by the base? Survivor Base, why does this name sound a bit familiar…?”

The secretary rummaged through a drawer, pulling out a file folder, and placed a printed image in front of Fu Ming: “Mayor, look!”

Previously, citizens had discovered this promotional slogan on a tree in the suburbs. It featured a QR code and an advertising pitch. The ad claimed they were called the Survivor Base and possessed technology more advanced than the Human Alliance’s.

At the time, Fu Ming scoffed at it, thinking it was just another cheap trick by some surface scam syndicate, and he wasn’t going to fall for it.

But now, this unknown base had become their only hope in a desperate situation.

Fu Ming was the son-in-law of the previous mayor. The mayor’s sons had all died in combat against Mutants, which was how the position fell to Fu Ming. Truly, most places on the surface were chaotic, filthy, and disorderly.

But there was always a group of people whose original intention was simply to live a decent life.

Perhaps they had never been to an underground city in their entire lives, nor had they seen the skyscrapers, brain-computer interfaces, or cybernetic prosthetics. They lived amidst radiation sickness, poverty, and the threat of Mutants. They couldn’t generate GDP, were illiterate, and couldn’t research technology, but they still wanted to survive.

Even if the daylight hours on the surface were so brief, even if the pressure of survival was so agonizing.

With an anxious heart, Fu Ming dialed the base’s phone number.

He waited for a transfer for about two minutes.

The exact same voice he had just heard from the recording sphere came through: “Hello, this is Xiang Nanli. The operator said you were looking for me. How can I help you?”

Fu Ming had already introduced himself earlier, so he cut straight to the chase: “Commander Xiang, I wanted to ask if you have any lithium-air batteries over there?”

Xiang Nanli fell deep into thought for a moment: “Do you only want lithium-air batteries?”

Fu Ming murmured: “Traditional large-capacity batteries lack specific energy; I’m afraid they can’t sustainably power a city.”

Of course, a more advanced option would be controllable nuclear fusion batteries. But anyone could guess those were impossible to find on the surface. Even if they existed, the base wouldn’t possibly sell them to Radiance City… Even overcoming all the aforementioned harsh conditions, a hundred Radiance Cities combined couldn’t afford one.

Xiang Nanli’s slightly distorted voice came through the phone: “Mm. What I mean is, the base has a power station and can supply electricity. Do you want to buy electricity?”

Fu Ming’s eyes widened, his breathing abruptly quickening.

… …

Eternal City. Second-floor conference room.

Xiang Nanli drew a circle on the map with a red pen.

“From Eternal City to the base’s main city district is a distance of over a hundred li (approx. 50km). The power grid construction will be a straight line. Using this as an axis, diplomatic invitations have been sent to all nearby settlements.”

The Harvest Festival was something Xiang Nanli had made up on the spot. But a festival certainly needed to be held; everyone had labored so hard for so long, they needed some celebration.

Moreover, festivals could increase spiritual cohesion.

The base also needed an excuse to engage in some diplomacy.

Xiang Nanli was playing a very large game of chess.

The cost of constructing a power grid was extremely high.

And the base was extremely poor.

Fu Ming’s request for help gave him a brand-new idea.

If each settlement was responsible for constructing a section, the overall cost would be significantly reduced.

Once the power grid was constructed, Xiang Nanli planned to offer a temporary discount on electricity bills to the human settlements that participated in the construction.

Xiang Nanli obtained the circuitry, and they obtained the electrical energy. It could be considered mutually beneficial.

Even when shearing sheep, one must ensure sustainable development.

Furthermore, there was another advantage to this: he could unite the surrounding small settlements using common interests.

In the absence of conflicting interests, the people of Eternal City and the people of other settlements were all the same in Xiang Nanli’s eyes.

He hoped more people could receive assistance, even if he had never met them before.

And inviting people over also served the purpose of flexing their muscles.

Xiang Nanli turned around and began assigning tasks: “Ge Gen. Clean the rust off those broken cannons in the warehouse and mount them on the city walls. You’ll also be in charge of security and patrols during the Harvest Festival.”

“Haili, prepare a financial budget. During the Harvest Festival, bring out all the useless jewelry and porcelain from the warehouse and auction them off. They’re just taking up space in the warehouse anyway.”

These precious metals were left behind by the former noble lords.

“Xiao Fu. Go to the main control room and operate the city’s robots. Also, urge the highway construction forward; at the very least, the main road must be repaired before the Harvest Festival begins.”

“Andrew, pick a few students from the school to form a diplomatic delegation with you. You’ll be in charge of reception. I’ll build a few more broadcasting robots during this time.”

Xiang Nanli not only invited people from nearby settlements but also dispatched robots to Gusu City to hand out flyers.

As for whether they came or not, that wasn’t something Xiang Nanli needed to worry about.

Xiang Nanli read down the list of names, outsourcing all the tasks. Feeling there were no omissions, he nodded in satisfaction: “That’s it then. Meeting adjourned.”

Long ago, when he was doing scientific research, Xiang Nanli clearly understood one thing: work that could be delegated to others should never be done by yourself, in order to avoid wasting labor.

If he handled everything personally, he would sooner or later die of exhaustion on the job!

Hmm, as for why Dongfang Qingdi wasn’t among this group of people—

The poverty alleviation materials he had ordered online earlier had arrived. The Gusu City Poverty Alleviation Foundation stated that their previous driver had died of the mycelium infection, and they hadn’t hired a replacement yet. With the current labor shortage, they simply had no time to make the delivery!

Therefore, Xiao Qing had been dispatched by him to pick up the package.