Stress Response

"You should download and read through Prosperous City's city regulations. There are some things you need to watch out for."

Having arrived at the lavish hotel beside the administrative building, Su Ren used a self-service platform similar to a ticket dispenser to pay for a suite. Taking the room card that popped out, he casually spoke to Su Shijie.

"Alright."

Su Shijie had already connected his Personal Terminal to the city intranet, so downloading the city regulations was easy.

After skimming through them, he found the contents fairly straightforward and easy to understand, without countless convoluted clauses.

However, after returning to Suite 1808 with Su Ren and reading through everything carefully—

He discovered what Su Ren had meant by things that needed attention within the city.

Privilege!

Privilege written plainly into the city regulations!

For example, someone with C-class authority could be exempted from liability for even malicious violent injury inflicted on ordinary people below C-class authority, so long as they paid a fee.

Even more absurdly, descendants of the Earl of Prosperous could forcibly violate someone of the opposite sex and settle the matter simply by paying compensation. If the victim was a woman who happened to become pregnant, she was not allowed to harm the fetus and had to cooperate with the birth.

Although it also stated that she would receive greater compensation and various forms of restitution—

Seeing such clauses written so bluntly was truly chilling for ordinary people.

Perhaps because the cost of committing such crimes was high, the fines would be painful enough that people normally would not be stupid enough to do it. But openly and grandly writing the evils that should have remained in the shadows into the regulations would still severely crush ordinary people's will to resist.

Resistance was useless anyway. Better to accept some benefits and submit.

Such undisguised privilege was openly pinned to the top of this prosperous city's intranet, where everyone could see it clearly...

Even though, once he passed his certification tomorrow, he too would gain a certain degree of privilege, Su Shijie still felt heavy-hearted.

Perhaps that was another reason his father had never moved into the city.

Maybe the people living here had long since grown accustomed to it, but for those who had not adapted, it was simply too stifling.

"I thought most places were like the shelters."

Su Shijie sighed.

"Not all shelters have normal order like P-314. Your old man here looked at quite a few before choosing this place."

Seemingly knowing what Su Shijie had seen, Su Ren took out a rolled cigarette, walked to the window, and lit it.

"City-states govern themselves. Every Floating City has its own city regulations, and writing them out in the open not only directly suppresses ordinary people's spirit and gets them used to accepting the disparity.

"Another reason is that the Dawn Goddess assists in supervising and enforcing them, so they can only write these things openly."

Hearing this, Su Shijie fell thoughtful.

In other words, the restraints imposed by all those clauses were still relatively fair in terms of enforcement procedures.

But just then, a faint cry came from the corridor outside.

The hotel's soundproofing was excellent, and its materials absorbed sound exceptionally well.

If the other party had not been shouting loudly enough, and if Su Shijie's perception had not been sharp enough, he might not have heard it at all.

"Help! Is there anyone who can save me? Please, save me..."

It sounded like a somewhat shrill female voice.

Well now, they had barely finished reading about it and already encountered a typical case?

Surely not...

Bang bang bang~ Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~

The voice was no longer merely shouting. Someone was knocking on doors and ringing doorbells all the way down the corridor.

Then, seemingly having noticed that the display outside Su Shijie's room showed it was occupied, she began pressing their doorbell like a death knell and pounding on the door.

Su Shijie glanced at his father. Seeing that he did not object, he went over and opened the door.

A long-haired woman in a white business shirt, with more than half her collar pulled open, immediately threw herself into Su Shijie's arms.

The scent of perfume drifted into Su Shijie's nose.

His eyes also critically flicked over the obscene abyss beneath her collar.

Not bouncy enough. Nowhere near as good as his wives.

Though she screamed in terror, his emotional perception did not detect such intense fluctuations from the woman. He even sensed hostility directed at him.

Su Shijie immediately grew solemn and alert.

We only just entered the city, yet someone has already targeted me? And she harbors hostility toward me?

Why?

Could it be...

Had the Evil God Cultists I noticed in the wilderness earlier discovered something unusual about me?

'When they are enemies, humans are always more dangerous than Spirit Beasts.'

His father's warning still echoed in his ears.

She wanted to harm me!

Su Shijie's heart sank as he suddenly felt immense pressure.

An Evil God Cultist had set their sights on him?

He couldn't die! And he couldn't drag his family down with him!

His secret absolutely couldn't be exposed!

This woman could not be allowed to live!

Su Shijie activated his telekinesis. The little box in his back pocket opened, and a tiny alloy steel needle shot out without a sound.

Though he possessed the level-six telekinesis Bloodline Trait, his evolutionary level was still far behind even his father's. The greatest force his telekinesis could exert was only around thirty-five or thirty-six kilograms.

With so little force, without relying on weapons such as Firearms, only an alloy steel needle like this had sufficient lethality.

This woman was merely at the Mortal tier. If he found the right spot through the gap beside the third vertebra in her back, he could make her die in an apparent accident from cardiac paralysis...

Even if it were discovered, given the circumstances, he could reduce the punishment by paying a fine.

I will never sit around and wait to die!

Smack—

Relying on his extensive theoretical knowledge, Su Shijie had just been about to make his move when his father smacked him on the head.

"Uh, I think you might be being a little too cautious..."

Su Ren had originally just wanted Su Shijie to experience the dangers of society firsthand, as a practical lesson for him.

But after noticing Su Shijie's little movement from behind, he was left speechless.

Were you scared stupid by Evil God Cultists or something?!

We'd only left the camp a little early. Why would they be so bored as to target random passersby like us? They were busy, okay?

"It's just a honey trap. It's not that serious..."

"Huh?"

A honey trap?

Su Shijie froze for a moment, silently recalled the steel needle, then shoved the disheveled woman onto the carpeted hallway floor.

"Let go. Your perfume is way too strong—I thought it was poison.

"And what era is this? You're still using silicone? At least put some effort into it."

Wiping his hand on his clothes in disgust, Su Shijie frowned at the bewildered woman before him. Thanks to plastic surgery and makeup, both her face and figure were quite good.

At that moment, her long hair was loose, and she wore only an oversized shirt with its buttons popped open over her upper body as she sat on the floor of the hallway with her legs folded to the side. Visually speaking, she was indeed quite alluring, full of that delicate, scheming air—a true professional.

Yet her face was utterly blank.

After pausing for a moment and seemingly realizing something, she suppressed her anger. With a miserable expression and tears streaking her face, she said, "I've been wronged! You've misunderstood me. I only begged for help because I was forced into a corner..."

Just as Su Shijie was about to say something else, he turned toward the end of the hallway.

There, a blond punk who looked arrogant at a glance, swaggering with an utterly insolent gait, was heading their way under the protection of two burly men in suits.

He was cursing as he walked.

"Bitch! You beat me up and still think you can run?"

"It was them! You have to testify for me..."

When the woman saw the three people chasing after her, her face turned deathly pale. Then, with a sobbing voice, she continued pleading to Su Shijie and his father for help.

Yet likewise, Su Shijie still couldn't sense much emotional fluctuation from her. She seemed quite calm.

On the surface, her acting was pretty convincing. If he didn't have this special ability, he really wouldn't have been able to tell.

Why did this not seem much like a honey trap after all?

Otherwise, shouldn't these newcomers be here to cause trouble for him and his father? Why were they after this woman instead?

And his father had already exposed her, yet she hadn't reacted much at all?

There was definitely something wrong here!

'If they're Evil God Cultists, they could absolutely use ordinary people—normal people—to lower your guard, while hiding behind them and delivering a fatal blow. They aren't as straightforward as Spirit Beasts.'

His father's advice seemed to echo in his ears once again.

His father had no way to perceive emotional fluctuations like he could, so it was normal for him to misjudge the situation before them.

Sure enough...

This was still the work of Evil God Cultists!

Ding—

The steel needle silently emerged from the pocket behind him, only for Su Ren to grab it in one hand.

"The one setting the honey trap should be him..."

After saying that, Su Ren couldn't help sighing inwardly.

It was over. His kid had been scared senseless by Evil God Cultists.

But thinking about it, perhaps he really had protected him too well in the past. He just hadn't expected that, after suddenly encountering these things, his son's stress reaction would be this severe.

If I'd known, I would've phrased things more tactfully back at the camp. Why did I have to scare him...