Dawn City's Origin could be traced back to the chaotic period after the Great Disaster. When the Federation's founders arrived on this land, they saw a beautiful dawn, and Dawn City was thus named.
As the Federation's oldest Fortress City, Dawn City was also one of its most prosperous Commercial Cities. Of the Federation's top fifty major conglomerates, three originated from Dawn City. This massive Fortress City was home to 28 million people.
The rest were simple introductions about the economy and people's livelihoods. He Ao skimmed through them, then opened the keywords that interested him more.
Great Disaster:
A catastrophic event that destroyed prehistoric civilization. Large numbers of mutant beasts and mutated plants suddenly appeared, wiping out prehistoric civilization. The surviving humans of the planet established the Original Federation upon the ruins of that civilization.
Fortress City:
Humanity built towering walls to separate itself from the dangers of the wilderness, and the prosperous cities established within those walls were called Fortress Cities. At present, over 99% of the Federation's population lived in Fortress Cities.
Federation (referring to the Original Federation's Second District):
The current Federation government was the government of the Original Federation's Second District. It consisted of the Original Federation Second District's 113 Fortress Cities and 32 Fortress Cities built afterward, for a total of 145 Fortress Cities, excluding three Fortress Cities still under construction. Its total population was approximately 200 million. The Federal President was the Federation's highest leader, and each Fortress City was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Federal Central government.
Original Federation:
The unified government of civilization established by humanity amid the ruins of the Great Disaster. It was divided into five districts. Ten years after the Original Federation was established, storms swallowed the seas and communications were severed. The other four districts had all been lost.
Beneath these entries were detailed explanations of the terms. He Ao roughly skimmed through them before closing the windows.
He had originally thought the Copy World was a future world. He had not expected it to be a world rebuilt after an apocalypse.
After thinking for a moment, he tried searching online for information about the prehistoric civilization before the Great Disaster, but found nothing.
There were only a few fragmented posts discussing prehistoric civilization online, and without exception, they were all wild speculation.
It was as though prehistoric civilization had been completely submerged by that massive catastrophe, leaving behind no trace at all.
After a moment of silence, he searched online for "Talent Sequence" instead, but once again found nothing. The search engine returned only a jumble of irrelevant information. It seemed the relevant information had been deliberately "erased."
So he searched for "Mechanical Modification," and this time, a large number of ads for Dawn City cybernetic companies appeared.
He Ao roughly browsed through them, but found nothing useful. Just as he was about to search for "Evil God," a piercing alarm suddenly sounded inside the car.
Selina sat bolt upright. The electric car doors opened at the same time, and her voice was stern and icy. "Mu Xiu has appeared."
He Ao looked up at the display on the windshield. All the surveillance feeds had now switched to the same image. At the center of the screen, a figure shrouded in a black hood and marked by a red box was walking step by step toward the casino entrance.
The moment he saw the figure, He Ao slipped out through the door on the other side and chased after Selina. By then, Selina had already reached the middle of the street.
Beep—
A piercing horn blared as a massive bus passed in front of Selina.
Without the slightest hesitation, Selina gave a light leap and vaulted directly onto the roof of the bus. She ran two steps with the momentum, then leaped down from the roof.
That was kind of cool...
He Ao marveled at Selina's move, then obediently ran across the street using the crosswalk.
The black-hooded figure did not turn around, but he seemed to have noticed Selina pursuing him. He suddenly burst forth with terrifying speed, slammed aside the people in front of him, and darted straight through the casino entrance.
Selina bounded through the crowd and chased in after him almost immediately.
Logically, given Selina's speed, catching the black-hooded figure suspected to be Mu Xiu should have been easy. But when He Ao ran into the casino, he saw Selina being stopped at the entrance.
"Miss Serena, please remain calm," the Thin Man in a Silver Suit said as he walked out of the casino. "We're still conducting an internal inspection. Once we finish, we'll naturally let you enter and search."
"Move aside. I just saw a suspicious person enter."
Selina's face was frosty.
He Ao looked at the man in the Silver Suit and suddenly realized he looked familiar. He seemed to be the man who had conducted a contraband deal with the Wilderness Wanderers several hours earlier.
He Ao had personally seen him being taken away by the Dawn City Police Department.
"He was released on bail," Selina casually explained, seeming to understand He Ao's confusion. "Under Dawn City's bail system, as long as you pay enough bail, you can go home early. You just have to show up for the trial."
Well, money really could do whatever it wanted.
"Move aside."
After speaking to He Ao, Selina looked back at the man in the Silver Suit, her tone cold. The person suspected to be Mu Xiu had already run into the casino. If he started killing people inside, it would be too late.
"Ludo, I know you need time to clean up those dirty dealings of yours. I won't interfere with your transactions. Mu Xiu is my only objective, and you know what he's like. If we wait until he starts killing, it'll be too late."
"Miss Serena, listen to yourself," Ludo chuckled. "We're a law-abiding company, and every transaction we conduct is permitted by law. It's just that we haven't completed our internal inspection yet, so we can't let you in. If we catch Mu Xiu, we'll personally deliver him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"And it's not like there's definitely a suspect just because you say there is. We need to verify it first. Miss Serena, please go back."
"Ludo, you!"
Selina realized at that moment that Ludo was likely still holding a grudge over what had happened earlier and was deliberately making things difficult for them.
"Oh my," Ludo took half a step back. "Miss Serena, you look so frightening. Are you going to attack us? Is the Hero from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who wiped out a wilderness cult going to assault an ordinary law-abiding citizen?"
"You!"
Selina was choked speechless by his words. She had no concrete evidence that the person who had entered was Mu Xiu, but her analysis software told her that the person had a 98% similarity to Mu Xiu.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's authority to kill during missions was also restricted. Unless the other party drew a gun or made an obvious attack, she could not simply press a gun to his head.
Yet the instant that thought crossed Selina's mind, something pitch-black and cold was already pressed against Ludo's forehead.
"Excuse me," He Ao said with a smile, gripping the handgun as he watched Ludo's expression gradually stiffen. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ander."
"Investigator Ander, what are you doing?" Ludo swallowed nervously. "Are you threatening a Federation citizen?"
"Mr. Ludo, please let me finish introducing myself," He Ao tilted his head. "My name is Ander. My parents died in an accident five years ago. I have no siblings, no wife. I'm not married, and I don't have a girlfriend. Of course, I don't have any children either."
He smiled gently, his index finger resting on the trigger. "If I pull it, I might face twenty years in prison, with no one waiting for me. And you'll go meet God. Are you willing to trade places with me?"
Before you continue