Chapter 37: Storm Over River City

During the era of grand infrastructure, River City only occupied the lowest tier, now called the Lower District or Old Town, a stretch of barely a hundred meters. Later, as “technology” advanced and the initial design flaws became increasingly apparent—cramped spaces, maintenance difficulties, and recurring natural disasters making the surface layer unsafe—the city was forced to add layer upon layer, ultimately forming the multi-tiered, cake-like tower that stands today.

The Lower District spans a diameter of 820 meters and rises a hundred meters high, covering roughly fifty thousand square meters—about 750 acres—all divided into five major levels, each further split into five sub-levels. Here lie abandoned homes, police stations, hospitals, schools, factories, isolation zones, and more. There remain faintly glowing farms, the forest of the Obsessed, prisons, exile grounds… Legend holds that this place harbors shantytowns and illegal black markets free from the upper echelons’ control.

Do not be deceived—River City is more than a mere building. If you laid out the five levels of the Lower District, plus the underground sector, it would be a vast city spanning three square kilometers, all uniformly five stories tall. Above it are the Middle District and the Upper District; altogether, the city covers more than six square kilometers—larger than most ordinary counties.

Transport, ventilation, water and power supply, sewage—every conceivable conduit crisscrosses the limited three-dimensional space of this architectural marvel, inevitably creating lawless nooks and blind spots beyond the city administrators’ reach.

Ascending via slanted skyways or riding the creaking, long-neglected elevators between the massive supporting columns, one reaches the second tier: the Middle District.

The Middle District, 660 meters in diameter and equally a hundred meters high, is River City’s true residential zone, constructed throughout from nanobubble alloy—light, sturdy, warm, and soundproof. Functional units like schools and hospitals are neatly distributed.

The greatest difference between the Middle and Lower Districts is—light! Not because of abundant electricity, but because this tier is high enough to reach the canopy, basking directly in sunlight.

However, this surge of vitality brings with it a much stronger transpiration effect; clouds and rain abound here, turning the district into a near-tropical rainforest. A rainless day is as rare as newlyweds abstaining from love on their wedding night.

And today, after visiting his comatose father, Ye Chao walks this weathered slope toward the second tier, accompanied by Gun Gun and Alpha Ji.

Thunder booms, lightning flashes! The downpour begins in earnest!

Though separated by thick city walls, with lookout and ventilation holes spaced along them, the sounds of wind and rain seep through.

Strangely, as the storm intensifies, River City’s lights grow brighter. Originally only 0.2 lux, with the increasing wind and rain, the brightness climbs—Alpha Ji senses it now at nearly 1 lux.

How thoughtful, she muses—it seems the city knows that stormy nights breed loneliness and cold, so it offers more light.

Ye Chao, glancing at the contemplative Alpha Ji, peers through a lookout hole at the storm-ravaged world outside and quietly asks, “Just how far can you fly in my field of vision?”

Alpha Ji was happily playing with Gun Gun, especially fascinated by how the slope allowed Gun Gun to roll freely in every direction. She often felt that even a wall couldn’t stop it; Gun Gun would simply roll right up.

Hearing Ye Chao’s question, she paused—so did Gun Gun, suddenly ceasing its canine antics.

She’d never truly tested this. When she first crossed over, it was in a cave with limited movement. Once she emerged, the journey was too unpleasant for experiments. Until now…

With a swift flicker, Alpha Ji vanished—reappearing outside the city wall.

Like a lightning bolt, she flashed repeatedly outside.

Gun Gun whined like a little train, eager to follow, but lacking Alpha Ji’s ability to phase through glass, it could only roll back and forth along the wall.

Ye Chao, helpless, called it back.

Alpha Ji, now a dozen meters outside, was transformed from a delicate three-inch beauty to a vague, blurred mass—like a sand sculpture warped by water, makeup ruined by rain.

She hadn’t realized she would project as such a blob. Lately, her uncertainties were multiplying.

It seemed her form now mirrored the blurred perspective of Ye Chao’s vision.

Gritting her silver teeth, she secretly increased her power. Her body began to glow and swell, the tiny beauty morphing in an instant into a breathtaking, statuesque woman.

Not only did her stature grow, her figure became fuller—especially in once meager places. In Ye Chao’s vision, she became much clearer.

Of course, it benefited Ye Chao—after all, this life-size form was typically reserved for those held in high esteem.

Alpha Ji cast Ye Chao a glance through the rain, seeing him stare intently—not with the lustful gaze of former shut-ins, but as if he’d just solved a tricky problem, or a villainous eunuch tale suddenly found its ending—a pure, natural delight.

Hopeless! This guy is hopeless, even she can’t fix him! Alpha Ji shook her head, continuing to expand, shimmering in her life-size form.

The wind and rain, though unable to touch illusions, still obscured Ye Chao’s sight and diminished certain unique resonances in the air—forcing Alpha Ji to keep boosting her power, expanding her body…

Vaguely, Ye Chao again felt his knees weaken, his energy draining away.

By then, Alpha Ji had only managed to reach a hundred meters or so.

Just as he was about to call her back, Alpha Ji stopped. Now towering over ten meters tall, she remained a blurred mass in Ye Chao’s vision, due to the distance.

She gazed skyward, letting rain pour into her mouth.

As she flew out, she sensed something odd: the city was brightly lit despite the storm, but outside, lights flickered too.

Now she understood—it wasn’t city lights, but lightning!

From bottom to top, River City had four layers: Lower, Middle, Upper, and the grand council hall atop the city, totaling 380 meters. That was just the building’s height; above the council hall stood the city’s towering “Eiffel Tower” hair zone, another hundred-plus meters.

Even with the world’s abnormal vigor and plants growing unprecedentedly tall, nothing compared to humanity’s last fortress.

A total height of five hundred meters—peerless and proud.

Perhaps because it stood so tall and proud, lightning struck almost ceaselessly, crackling against River City’s lofty crown, filling the surroundings with dazzling flashes.

Alpha Ji finally realized—the city’s brightness was not a welfare gesture, but a necessity. With so much wind, rain, and electricity, the city had to discharge excess power rather than waste it.

Hmph, they could have said so directly! Instead, they made her come out and get soaked…

[Affection -55]

Suddenly, a series of explosions erupted at Alpha Ji’s ears—not thunder this time, but artillery fire.

The city’s first tier, atop the walls, was in the midst of battle! But darkness, wind, and rain obscured Alpha Ji’s view, making it hard to see what was happening.