Chapter 275: Who Is This Rule Really Guarding Against?
The people running suddenly halted when they heard the words behind them, turning back in disbelief.
"What did you just... say?" One of the project managers was breathing heavily.
He was powerful—already at the tenth tier—or else he wouldn’t have been put in charge of a project.
But what he hated most in life was that, despite his strength, he still couldn’t protect his family.
The Dark Forest had arrived too suddenly. He was out working, and when it appeared, panic drove them to the nearest city.
Later, there was a chance for an exchange. He originally wanted to reunite with his family, but after comparing all the territories, he couldn’t honestly say which Lord’s land was better or worse.
He thought about it for a long time, and he and his family ended up choosing to each stay where they were.
Just live well, even if separated.
Then Cold Blade assigned him to Jiang Che’s dungeon, and he felt like he’d just jumped from one pit to another.
And this time, it was a Lord whose personality was impossible to grasp—a real nutcase.
He honestly didn’t expect Jiang Che’s territory to be any better, but luckily he was tenth tier; wherever he went, he wouldn’t be treated badly.
But after arriving, he realized things here were even better than he imagined.
In a world where order had collapsed, people here actually talked about democracy?
And even fairness?
At that moment, he wanted to bring his family over, but he knew too well: too many people in the territory, and the Dark Forest would invade and consume everyone, no matter what.
Luckily, Jiang Che’s side didn’t have many people, so he figured bringing a few would have no effect.
That’s why he’d been working hard all this time, just to earn work points to exchange for the right to bring his family here.
He wasn’t trying to become stronger, or chasing energy spheres.
He knew many people here thought just like him.
So, when he heard the bus’s first run could bring family over, he rushed out immediately, afraid he’d lose out on the chance, afraid he’d be even a step too slow.
But now, the person delivering the news actually said everyone could bring their family here?
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The messenger blurted "yes" several times, his raised voice unable to hide his excitement.
"See, I didn’t rush—the first thing I did was to come tell everyone."
Everyone instantly stopped in their tracks, locking eyes with each other, chest heaving with every breath, tears of excitement overflowing.
"The Lord also said, that area was built for his own family," the messenger pointed to the construction site. "He said since everyone lives here, their families should get a look, too."
After hearing that, their hearts pounded faster, beating like drums in their chests.
They’d heard about Jiang Che, knew he was neurotic, and that in psychiatric wards he’d go around asking if anyone had seen his family.
"Did the Lord find his family?" someone whispered; by now, none of them thought Jiang Che was insane anymore.
They’d thought him mad before, but now, not at all.
"Yeah! The Lord has already found his family," the messenger grinned slyly.
"Where? Why hasn’t anyone seen them, why hasn’t anyone said anything, why hasn’t anyone introduced anyone—what if we run into them in the territory and accidentally offend them?"
"I think the Lord’s family isn’t entirely human," the messenger said, a little nervous. "Once, I saw a livestream—the Lord, because of mental issues, mistook the SSS-level dungeon’s evil spirits for his own family."
He said it quietly, ending with a soft sigh.
Because saying the Lord had no problems... well, maybe he had a few.
"Who cares—from the moment he said I could bring my family here, I trusted him completely."
"Nowhere is truly safe, maybe that’s the only flaw of this territory..."
"We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Those evil spirits didn’t kill the Lord when he was weak, so will they really kill him now?"
...
As they talked, they’d already reached the bus.
By this point, people were lining up to board.
Before getting on, everyone had to report how many people they planned to bring back, and the bus would reserve seats accordingly.
The newcomers watched the orderly line, naturally moving to the end to queue up. The line moved slowly; nobody pushed, everyone took their time, and only when the people ahead had arranged things would the line move forward a few steps.
Almost everyone could see the person in front of them trembling.
Xiong Jie stood at the head of the line. He didn’t give many instructions, but those here to register hadn’t reported any outrageous numbers.
In this era, people had long figured out who’s worth protecting.
"Can I bring friends back? I don’t have any family," someone asked timidly when they reached the desk.
"Of course you can," Xiong Jie grinned.
"If you think they’re worth it, you can bring them."
The people ahead boarded the bus one by one; inside it was mostly empty—a bus that could seat 200 rarely had more than a dozen onboard.
But the passengers always felt like the bus went out full.
And came back full, too.
Jiang Che heard the notification sound from his phone; he’d just unlocked it and saw Cold Blade had posted the registration info.
They all used the same database, provided by Cold Blade.
The database was stored inside the Dark Forest; another advantage of the Dark Forest was that, except living things, anything else could be stored there—the forest wouldn’t attack these lifeless objects.
Online, things were already boiling over. People stared at the latest info in confusion.
[We’re supposed to register ourselves in the system? And our territory? What’s that supposed to mean?]
[No, look at this notification—leaving for seven days and not coming back means you’re expelled and dead; neither territory cares if you live or die.]
[Hilarious. Seriously overestimating me. If I could leave, I would’ve long gone—why would I hang around here?]
[There’s Dark Forest all around, wrapped tight. If I could get out, I’d have started my own territory as Lord, instead of putting up with this shit.]
[No way—do they really think I have the strength to sneak across?]
...
When people saw the new info, their first reaction was laughter.
Because none of them could move an inch—step outside and you die. Who would dare sneak out?
"Wait—that means, besides the Lord, anyone else can enter the Dark Forest?"
"Isn’t that area forbidden?"
"Even if it’s not forbidden, I don’t see how any other territory is better than the one I’m in. And what exactly is this rule supposed to be guarding against?"