Deceitful Game

Chapter 232 Hive City

The hovercar traced an arc and began to descend.

The skyscrapers of Central gradually receded, becoming smaller and smaller. Those tiny, ant-like people were no longer visible.

As they passed through the "black net" formed by the overlapping bridges, the sunlight began to diminish rapidly.

The brightness decreases significantly with each descent.

A thin layer of grayish-yellow fog began to appear in the surrounding air.

Of course, to be precise... this should be some kind of haze.

Industrial dust, coolant vapor, and radioactive dust drifting from the wasteland were all mixed together in the sky. Ai Shiping felt that if the airship hadn't blocked these things, they would probably have coated his body like a film.

If you look down from above, it looks like a giant net that swallows up the light.

Once they break through this layer of grayish-yellow smog, they will have entered the Nest City.

Mingpo, on the other hand, had long since adapted to this style.

However, Ai Shiping

He pressed his face against the window, almost touching the glass, like a child riding in a car for the first time, or a pet dog placed in the back seat. But his eyes didn't show the joy of witnessing a new world; instead, they held an indescribable sense of awe.

"...Are all the nests this deep?"

"This is just the beginning... we haven't even reached the bottom yet."

Mingpo scoffed.

As they ventured deeper into the haze, the location marker in the upper right corner of their field of vision blurred and transformed into a new location.

【Xiacheng District - Ca12】

Xiacheng District.

This is a collective term for the large settlements below the ring city, which were originally worker camps during the construction of the Paradox Engine and gradually developed into permanent settlements.

It is also the official name of "Nest City," which sounds much milder than Nest City.

The name "Nest City" actually comes from a board game released by the Celestial Fantasy Zone before the war. It depicted a city structure, densely packed and porous like a honeycomb, capable of housing billions of people within a limited horizontal space.

It wasn't that the lower city's structure resembled a beehive, but rather that they jokingly referred to themselves as being deeply trapped in a hive city. Later, this name somehow spread throughout the world, becoming a common term both within and outside the hive city.

"...Do you come here often, Mingpo?"

Ai Shiping murmured under his breath, "Coming here to kill someone?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Mingpo said lazily, "Even I wouldn't kill people every day, okay? The Execution Department has to patrol regularly, even in Nest City."

"...Patrol? To maintain public order?" Ai Shiping asked.

"Huh?! How could that be? They don't listen to us at all. They have their own rules, and there's no point in forcibly managing them. Power will never be vacant anyway. If we don't intervene, the local gangs will take over. We've never really bothered with things like maintaining order."

Mingpo chuckled and patted Ai Shiping on the shoulder: "You have a talent for telling jokes, Ai Shiping."

As he spoke, he pointed to "that thing" that their car was currently circling: "Of course, it's for maintenance. Someone comes to do regular maintenance, and we also have to patrol regularly."

That's Taji.

After all, the six sectors aren't floating cities. Although the Paradox Engine can provide incredible energy, they still need a "fulcrum." In each hive city, there is a "tower" supporting the central sector. Some jokingly call it "Optimus Prime."

Even from here, you can see the dense array of lights inside, like a honeycomb. Behind each light is a group of workers maintaining the tower's base.

Although they've arrived in the heart of the city, these staff members are still technically considered residents of Central. They just have to take the elevator down to work, and because the working hours are long, many of them live there.

The working conditions here are terrible, so many people are recruited from urban centers, including many non-human entities with limited human rights. People from Central would rather work for a small company than come here.

"Many people in Chaodu have ulterior motives."

Mingbo said calmly, "For example, robbing the skilled workers who come down, or stealing the non-human sentient beings inside. Or... someone might want to destroy these towers, causing everyone on top to fall and die."

"...Then they'll have to die too?"

Ai Shiping was taken aback: "The people of Chaodu agreed?"

"That's exactly what I was saying."

Mingpo also looked outside and said in a low voice, "Most people disagree. But there are also madmen... who have nothing left, so they don't care about anything anymore."

"But nothing they did worked. It's not like no one could blow up the Tower of Babel, but so what?"

"If something really happens, there will naturally be agents who go back in time to take them out."

As Mingpo spoke, a sarcastic smile appeared on her lips, though it was unclear who she was referring to.

"...For the eight giants who possess the ability to observe time and space, engaging in such petty tricks is pointless."

A terrifying silence fell over the hovercar.

As the airship descended further, its speed began to decrease.

Strangely, the brightness actually increased after descending to this height.

Aside from the industrial lighting at the base of the tower, you can also see the neon signs on the street.

"...I miss it so much."

Mingpo sighed softly, "I remember the streets were full of these kinds of things when I was a child."

"Do they still use electricity?" Ai Shiping asked in a low voice.

"Um."

Mingbo nodded: "They definitely won't be allowed to use the Paradox Engine."

These kinds of things are basically nowhere to be seen in the upper city area anymore.

With the existence of a paradoxical engine capable of exploiting parallel universes, energy has essentially entered a realm of infinity. Last month, Tailing Heavy Industry and Millennium Technology launched their second fleet of exploration vessels into the outer solar system.

Unlike the previous batch, this batch features a new iteration of technology. Therefore, in addition to the gene pool, this fleet also includes, for the first time, twelve carefully selected living individuals.

When energy can be squandered at will, the effect of holographic projection is far better than that of neon signboards.

These faint neon lights are only effective in the Nest City.

In Central, its brightness can't even outshine the glow of the streetlights. However, the city has become a kind of "eternal night," which is just right. And because of this, these old-fashioned LED light strips in the city have a retro aesthetic.

Red, purple, blue, and green intertwined, eventually dyeing the entire street a murky reddish-purple hue.

"Neon glow...it's quite beautiful."

Mingbo murmured softly, "Once upon a time, this was a symbol of advanced civilization."

He parked the hovercar in an abandoned parking lot.

This used to be the top of a high-rise building, offering a view of neon signs dozens of meters below. The building's steel frame has been corroded by acid rain, leaving only a skeleton, and stepping on it produces a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

The building's owner apparently defied the company, which is why it's now completely destroyed. It's like a cake with two-thirds scooped out from one side.

As a threat, the company did not turn back time to restore it.

Without an elevator, the people of Nest City couldn't climb to this height. Therefore, Mingpo didn't need to worry about his vehicle being stolen or vandalized. Of course, he also didn't need to worry about parking in the middle of the road, because Mingpo's hovercar was equipped with intelligent firepower.

But Mingpo didn't want to cause trouble... Who knows what kind of jerk would try to touch his car? If he killed too many people, he'd have to write a report and write a self-criticism when he got back.

Mingbo opened the door of the hovercar and took a deep breath: "I love this Nest City smell... It's so much freer here than Central." There was no foul odor in the air, but rather a strange earthy and sweet smell. It was like a basement that hadn't been ventilated for many years.

Ai Shiping tried to take a breath like Mingpo, but as soon as he opened the door, he choked on his breath, frowning and coughing uncontrollably. "Hahahaha!"

Mingpo laughed gleefully.

Looking at Mingpo, Ai Shiping glared at him fiercely.

This guy definitely did it on purpose.

Unlike Mingpo, Ai Shiping didn't have a modified respiratory system; the air in the lower city was too polluted for him. His body was instinctively sending out warning signals; just smelling it made him feel dizzy.

Seeing Ai Shiping's disheveled appearance, Mingpo smiled, opened the drawer in front of him, and handed him a mask-shaped respirator.

Those are masks used by secret agents.

The Deceivers in the Executive Department are known as agents—deceivers seem to have a special rule: they can't let anyone see their faces. Therefore, when they go out, they wear similar masks to prevent their identities from being revealed. These masks also serve as shields against shock, flashes, and poison gas; they're more than enough to function as respirators.

This mask doesn't belong to Mingpo; it belongs to one of his junior classmates.

She had joined Mingpa's group, but soon became a con artist. Because her parents worked for the company, she wasn't sent to the mines, but instead became an agent.

It is said that the old man and her father were comrades-in-arms back then. After his sacrifice, that uncle took care of Mingpo for a period of time.

All I can say is that having a father who is still alive is truly enviable.

It's been almost a year since I last saw her. Judging from how busy she is, she's probably a level above Mingpo now.

"Alright, put it on and get down now."

Mingpo urged, "Open the car door a little longer, I need to wash the car when I get back."

"It needed to be washed anyway."

After putting on the mask, Ai Shiping's voice became somber: "The air is full of radioactive dust; I've already called the alarm. Not just the car, you'll need a full-body cleaning when you get back."

Mingpo stretched with both hands, as if praising the sun.

Welcome to Nest City!

Mingpo laughed wildly and fell backward.

He remained in a freefall posture and jumped backward from the height of the seventh or eighth floor.

He spun steadily in the air and landed smoothly.

Then, he gave Ai Shiping a mocking smile, like looking at a puppy trapped on the table, too afraid to jump down. "And me?"

Ai Shiping's voice came from above.

Immediately afterwards, Mingpo received a message from Ai Shiping: "How do I get down?!"

Mingpo bowed respectfully like a gentleman and casually replied, "You stay here quietly for a while. I have some important business to attend to and will be right back to pick you up."