All of Tianshu City had become an engine running at full throttle.
The vacant-eyed survivors who once wandered its streets and alleys were nowhere to be seen.
In their place were "workers" and "soldiers" with fire in their eyes.
The wall patrols no longer needed forced recruits. Every day, people competed for the available slots with Contribution Points.
The work of clearing rubble had once been a punishment. Now it was the most popular entry-level task: low risk, with a steady supply of Contribution Points.
The numbers ticking upward on each person's Personal Terminal had become a greater source of inspiration than any Divine Oracle.
"Damn it, so close! Just 0.5 Contribution Points short, and that enchanted energy rifle would've been mine today!"
David, once the Guard Captain and now the "number one miner," pushed a cartload of cut metal ore into the smelter. Watching the numbers surge on his terminal, he punched the wall, thrilled and frustrated at once.
Not far away, the young man with a limp named Leo deftly operated a Mechanical Arm, sorting and stacking the smelted metal ingots.
He worked fast and steady. His Contribution Points kept him comfortably ahead of David.
"David, in the time you've spent complaining, I could've moved three more ingots," Leo teased without looking back.
David snorted and wiped the sweat and grime from his face, but his hands moved even faster.
"Just watch. Tomorrow, that top spot on the leaderboard is mine!"
This friendly competition played out in every corner of Tianshu City.
Season Star hovered above the city, looking down on it all.
On the virtual screen before her, countless green data streams representing Contribution Points converged from every part of the city and poured into the massive Logic Lighthouse in the central square.
The lighthouse hummed as