A Society Without Money or Trade
After getting off the Rail Transit, Bai Qiuran and Tang Ruowei were greeted by a vast and magnificent City.
Everything in the city is made of an alloy that gleams with a golden luster. The City's buildings are towering, with an architectural style like streamlined towers. Between these towers, there are countless tracks and viaducts of varying heights that are interconnected. Countless vehicles with Runes engraved on their surfaces float on these tracks and viaducts, shuttling back and forth endlessly.
Bai Qiuran and Tang Ruowei were surrounded by a crowd as they walked off the City's subway platform and arrived at a place resembling an exit.
"Over here, over here."
The young man in blue who had been sitting opposite them, and who had been very enthusiastic and talkative, was now waving at them from near the exit.
The two walked over, and the blue-skinned youth warmly invited them, "I'm going to participate in the Ascension Ceremony; why don't we travel together a little further?"
Bai Qiuran agreed, and Tang Ruowei adopted an attitude of following Bai Qiuran and listening to his every word.
So the three of them walked out of the station exit together again.
Outside the station exit lies the City's lowest level, yet it remains bustling and vibrant, with wide, flat roads on the ground and pedestrian walkways and underground streets on either side.
Along both sides of the road, beneath those streamlined, enormous towers, stand countless shops, row upon row.
In the center of the pillars or towers on both sides, one can occasionally see a huge light screen. Inside the screen, a Puppet with a serious face and Blood Qi is reading out an advertisement for the so-called Ascension Ceremony in a passionate tone that may or may not be specially synthesized.
"Serast truly lives up to its reputation as one of the largest City in the world."
The young man in blue said as he walked, "I heard that the Maimai biscuits made here are especially fragrant and crispy. Hey? What I said came true! There's a biscuit shop up ahead."
After saying that, he walked straight over. There was indeed a shop selling all kinds of pastries not far ahead. The blue-skinned youth went into the shop, picked out a light blue flatbread from the cabinet near the door, and put it in his mouth without paying.
"Mmm, it smells delicious."
He took a big bite of the biscuit, then mumbled something between chews.
The young man in blue quickly finished the pancake and then asked Bai Qiuran and Tang Ruowei if they wanted one.
The two declined, saying they were already full, so the blue-skinned youth came out and led them forward—he showed no intention of paying, and no one from the shops stopped him.
Does this civilized shop mean you can eat and take whatever you want?
Bai Qiuran surprised, but he remained outwardly calm. He glanced at the shop and found that there were indeed many blue-skinned races inside. He went straight in, picked up some food and ate it. After finishing, he wiped his hands and mouth with a tissue and left without paying.
He looked around and noticed that in all the shops around, whether they sold daily necessities, drinks, expensive jewelry, or even handguns, the Blue-skinned People would simply go in, choose what they wanted, and leave.
Just as they had absolutely no concept of money or transactions.
Inside the shop, there were many people of the Blue-skinned People race dressed as shop assistants, but none of them were cashiers; they simply served as greeters and introduce customers.
Their work seemed to be something they could come and go as they pleased. Bai Qiuran had seen the same shop's employees go backstage at different times, change out of their uniforms, and then leisurely leave the shop more than once.
It seems that working as a shop assistant is just a diversion in their lives, much like those who own several properties and have no worries about making a living, who have had enough of loafing around at home, and occasionally come out to find a job.
For most people, finding a job is for making a living, but for them, finding a job simply means "finding something to do."
And this blue-skinned race seems to live in this way as a whole.
Faced with this situation, Bai Qiuran couldn't help but admire it from the bottom of his heart. Even in the Immortal Realm, there was no race like the blue-skinned race.
This requires a significant spillover of material production capacity across society, as well as an extremely high level of moral character and ideological quality among the people.
Otherwise, no matter how high the level of material productivity is, there will always be people who want to turn everything into their private property, because human Greed knows no bounds.
Bai Qiuran doesn't really believe in human nature. He thinks that human nature is inherently good, but it also carries a Primordial evil. Babies will be close to their parents, but they will also kill insects that come near them without any guilt.
In Chaos and uncertainty, the existence of both good and evil is human nature. Moreover, every great tree has its withered branches, and every large population has its idiots. Therefore, rather than believing that an extremely high level of morality is what allows these Blue-skinned People to live so harmoniously, Bai Qiuran would rather believe that some more powerful force has established the rules and forcibly constrained their behavior.
Moreover, the fact that these Blue-skinned People don't work makes sense in explaining the high productivity of this society.
Bai Qiuran gradually formed a rough idea of the civilization under the rule of this Puppet Civilization, but there were still many aspects he had not seen, so he was not in a hurry to draw conclusions.
In any case, the material living standards of these Blue-skinned People are enough for the Immortal Realm to learn from and strive for for tens of thousands of years.
The Ascension Ceremony was to be held at the very top of the City. Bai Qiuran and the blue-skinned youth went directly to a shop selling private vehicles, got a car, and headed towards the Ascension Ceremony location along the tracks and overpasses.
However, the blue-skinned youth didn't seem to be in a hurry. He seemed to be quite interested in the Serast City. The group stopped and went along the way. The blue-skinned youth picked up a lot of things and put them on the vehicle. Bai Qiuran also took some items with simple Runes structures.
This civilization seemed to have a rule against maliciously damaging goods "purchased" from the store, but Bai Qiuran naturally ignored these rules. Taking advantage of the blue-skinned youth's inattention, he disassembled each item with his utterly low manners and studied the internal Runes structure. The rudimentary alarms and preventative measures inside the goods were completely useless to him.
After Bai Qiuran quietly disassembled everything that could be taken apart and examined it under Tang Ruowei's disdainful gaze, the vehicle gradually arrived at the top floor of the City.
Countless tracks and bridges meandered, converging into a giant disc at the City's center and highest point. The disc was filled with the Blue-skinned People of this world, and in the middle of them, there seemed to be a high platform with several tall golden Puppet standing on it.
That was the site of the Ascension Ceremony.