Chapter 39: Quarter Past Nine Alley

Central District, Sector Two, Ring Eight, Quarter Past Nine Alley.

Twisting and turning along the labyrinthine ant trails at the heart of River City, just when Alpha Ji, shivering with cold, was starting to lose all sense of direction, she finally arrived home.

The meaning of Central District had been explained before.

As for Sector Two, Ring Eight, it referred to the five-tiered structure of the Central District, ascending from the bottom up. To distinguish between the major and minor tiers, the smaller ones were called sectors, each twenty meters high.

From the innermost part outward, the city was built in concentric rings, each encircling the next. The first ring formed the city’s core, housing the hospital, police station, and administrative center, followed by the second, third, fourth, and so on.

The first, second, and third rings made up the inner circle; the fourth, fifth, and sixth were the mid-circle; the seventh and eighth the outer circle; while the ninth ring was the city wall.

"They say pre-catastrophe cities were built like this, too."

That might be true, but even before the disaster, cities weren’t mad enough to have eight rings… Alpha Ji grumbled inwardly.

As for Quarter Past Nine Alley, it was even easier to understand.

Imagine River City as a giant clock face lying flat on the ground, north at the top, south at the bottom, west to the left, and east to the right. The site of the recent battle had been at one o’clock; Quarter Past Nine Alley was in a sector just northwest of the city’s exact west.

This method made navigation much easier in a round city—but…

Because the city was circular, the streets were arc-shaped, the neighborhoods fan-shaped, and everything here followed a curve. Worse still, all the curves bent in nearly the same direction. It was enough to—

"It’s enough to drive a perfectionist insane!" The farther Alpha Ji walked, the more uncomfortable she became, her heart tightening with every step.

"Would it kill them to make things square and straight? I don’t want to live in some cheap, clunky mechanical drive; I want to live in a high-end, comfortable solid-state drive!" she couldn’t help but shout.

Indeed, she’d seen plenty of such spaces in the data world—cheap mechanical drives were always like this. But why, in reality, did she have to live in a place like this too…?

Ye Chao: ...

Had this calculation unit been frightened out of her mind?

But there was nothing to be done; this was River City—or rather, the most common form of the Fortress City Project. Few knew the real reason for its design; it probably wasn’t just to facilitate armored train operations. Rumor had it that it was tied to the city’s disaster defense mechanisms.

Outside, thunder crashed as monsters besieged the city in a wild frenzy. Inside River City, it was equally lively. With electricity brightening everything, people came out in droves for fresh air, showing no panic at the ongoing siege.

Alpha Ji and Ye Chao walked side by side, and her strongest impression was this: it was a place where advanced and backward, ancient and modern, coexisted and danced together. The battle atop the city walls was one thing, but inside was no different.

Children crowded the streets, waving toy lightbulbs, hairdryers, electric irons, induction cookers, their mouths mimicking all manner of sound and light effects.

Before the catastrophe, who could have imagined such a scene? Back then, kids played with cellphones or tablets, or attended endless afterschool classes. At most, their parents would take them out for a stroll after dinner.

But letting them run wild through the streets, brandishing toy swords and spears, pretending to be heroes, firing imaginary guns at monsters with shouts of "bang bang! ah ah ah!", hopping on one leg in games of tag, playing human chain eagle-and-chick, or blindfolded hide-and-seek—never.

Of course, this wasn’t a nostalgic return to the childhoods of the eighties generation. Here, the monsters were often real—usually the family pets in costume. The eagles chasing the chicks were real, too, though maybe they were mynas, parrots, thrushes, starlings, or larks. And the hide-and-seek was real hiding: when the seeker started counting, the hiders scattered, scaling walls or rooftops, and if they couldn’t, their pets helped them.

But the seekers weren’t helpless either—some had noses keener than dogs, some ears sharper than bats, and with their pets’ help, they scrambled just as much. It wasn’t the same game as before the disaster.

Meanwhile, the children’s clothes were ragged, many even naked, their living conditions reminiscent of the eighties or even the seventies and sixties.

Yet, for all its backwardness, giant billboards stood at every street corner, some with dazzling LED displays. At least half the city’s light came from these signs and screens, the rest from regular streetlamps.

While the children ran wild, the adults worked.

Many took advantage of the light to scrub walls and mop floors—not with cloths and water, nor with vacuum cleaners, but with their bare hands. This was no ordinary cleaning, but the use of a restorative ability.

A wall caked with dust would become spotless; faded and peeling slogans would be restored to vivid color, matching the messages scrolling across the screens:

"Having a son or a daughter is the same—otherwise, your son will never find a partner!"

"Dog food may be tasty, but don’t steal any!"

"Knowledge is power! Education equals ability!"

"Personal rights are distributed by need! The right to livelihood by effort! Political rights by capability!"

Of course, some slogans were embellished with graffiti: "Nonsense! Bullshit! Lies!"

Occasionally, a restorer would grab a passing troublemaker and swipe their hands from head to toe. The dirt on the child’s clothes would vanish, and worn patches would be renewed—no need for laundry.

There were rare instances when a garment, subjected to this treatment, would fall apart in tatters—it had reached the end of its durability. The child would wail naked in the street, but as soon as they closed their eyes, the culprit would disappear without a trace.

Suddenly, a hidden loudspeaker began to blare, drowning out the wailing:

"Emergency broadcast: Due to heavy rain, the central reservoir is full. Tap water will be supplied at half price. For safety, please do not go to the second level plaza for water or bathing."

"Emergency broadcast: The central power plant is fully charged. From now on, electricity will be supplied at thirty percent of the regular price."

"And now for the daily report…"

Thunder rumbled. The streets, bustling with people only moments before, emptied as everyone hurried home to turn on taps and plug in their chargers…

Ye Chao couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

River City’s reservoir was sizable, and the power plant wasn’t small either, but the city itself was tiny—how big could an eight-hundred-meter-diameter area really be? So for the rain to fill the reservoir and charge the batteries to capacity was a rare event, requiring an absolute downpour.

But after only a few quick steps, he slowed again.

Why? Because Gungun was much faster than he was—the black-and-white blur rolled itself into a gray mass, reached the ground floor in a couple of spins, then with two leaps was up on the fifth floor, bursting through the front door…

After all those upgrades and expansions, he’d actually thought he could beat Gungun in a race—what madness. Ye Chao shook his head and slowed down.

Alpha Ji, meanwhile, stood frozen in shock. She’d noticed Gungun was fast, but hadn’t imagined he was this fast.

Was this still Gungun? He was practically a black-and-white cheetah!

[Gungun’s favorability +66]

[Ye Chao’s favorability +33]