The citizens who had just been cheering wildly in the square fell silent in an instant.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?
That was one of the Upper Three Sects! A colossal power entrenched in the Heaven Dou Empire, like a mighty dragon!
They had just witnessed a miracle, but in the face of such deep-rooted awe, they still couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"My god, is the boss going to war with one of the Upper Three Sects?"
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan... I heard every one of their clansmen can spit lightning. They're as strong as monsters!"
"Can... can we really do this?"
Whispers began to spread through the crowd.
Qin Feng took in all their reactions.
He knew that inspiring faith was only the first step. To help these commoners, oppressed for centuries, truly stand tall, he had to show them even greater strength and a more secure life.
"Brother Wolf." Qin Feng ignored the crowd's murmuring and spoke calmly into his communicator.
"Boss, what can I do for you?" Grey Wolf's voice came through, accompanied by the clatter of a keyboard in the background.
"It's time for Red Queen to come online."
"Got it!" Grey Wolf let out an odd cry, his voice brimming with the excitement of an inventor about to show off his creation.
"All residents of Nuoding City, please pay attention!"
"Next, you're about to witness one of this great king's greatest inventions!"
"Nuoding City's central artificial intelligence management system—Red Queen—is officially taking control of the city!"
As soon as Grey Wolf finished speaking,
"Vmmm—"
Red streams of data, flowing like veins, lit up across the surfaces of every alloy structure in the city, from the ground to the buildings.
The lights flashed and vanished so quickly that people thought they might have imagined them.
Then a pleasant, emotionless, synthesized female voice rang throughout the city.
[Red Queen system startup complete.]
[City power grid takeover complete... Energy distribution efficiency increased by 17.3%.]
[City water supply and purification system takeover complete... Water resource utilization increased by 29.1%.]
[City security system takeover complete... Monitoring coverage with no blind spots at 99.98%.]
[Scanning biological information of all citizens...]
The residents hadn't yet processed what was happening.
An older woman had been accidentally trampled during the commotion, injuring her ankle. She was sitting on the ground in pain.
Suddenly, a nondescript panel slid open on the exterior wall of a nearby building, and a small mechanical arm extended from it.
The arm aimed at her injured ankle and sprayed a puff of cool, white mist.
"Hiss..."
The woman sucked in a breath. A cool sensation seeped into her ankle, and the pain vanished within seconds!
She looked down and saw the swelling and redness fading before her eyes.
[Citizen Wang Cuihua, ID N-07341: soft tissue injury to right ankle detected. Nano Medical Gel applied. Estimated recovery time: five minutes.]
Red Queen's voice calmly announced.
Wang Cuihua froze. She looked at her foot, then up at the mechanical arm, which had already retracted. Her mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
"A-a miracle! The gods have answered us again!"
That was like the first domino falling.
Similar scenes began to unfold all across the city.
A child, excited and distracted, bumped into a wall and scraped his forehead. Before he could even cry, a mechanical arm extended from a nearby streetlight pole and applied an auto-healing bandage.
[Citizen Goudan, ID N-11025: minor abrasion to forehead detected. Bio-active Bandage applied.]
An old man had been standing so long that he began to feel dizzy and see spots. As soon as he steadied himself against a wall, a small compartment popped out of it, holding a cup of glucose water at just the right temperature.
[Citizen Zhao Laosi, ID N-01588: low blood sugar and irregular heartbeat detected. Immediate sugar intake and ten minutes of rest recommended.]
With trembling hands, Zhao Laosi picked up the cup and took a sip. It was sweet.
He began to cry.
In his sixty years of life, no one had ever handed him a cup of sugar water when he was on the verge of fainting.
And the one giving him this cup wasn't a person. It was a city.
"This... This city... Is it alive?"
A young man murmured what everyone was thinking.
They no longer felt as though they lived in a cold city. It was as if they were in the embrace of a caring "mother."
She knew your name and your ailments, and whenever you needed help, she was there at once.
They had never felt so damn safe!
[Citizen information registration complete.]
Red Queen's voice rang out again.
[Generating "Nuoding City Citizen Digital IDs" based on personal information and assigning basic social benefits.]
[Benefits distribution beginning.]
As soon as she finished speaking,
"Ding-dong."
A small screen lit up beside the entrance of every house in the city that was still in decent condition.
A man curiously walked over to his front door. The screen showed his name and a line of text.
[Household head: Zhang San. Citizen ID: N-03344. Your basic monthly energy allowance: 100 units of electricity and 3 tons of purified water. Delivered to your home.]
[Your occupation has been identified as blacksmith. You have been automatically enrolled in a technical training course at the First Industrial Park. Please report tomorrow at 9 a.m. with your Citizen ID.]
[Your son, Zhang Xiaobao, has turned six. He has been automatically enrolled at the Nuoding City First Work-Study Academy. School begins tomorrow.]
Zhang San stared blankly at the screen, reading every word.
By the time he reached the end, the seven-foot-tall man could no longer hold back. He dropped to his knees with a thud and burst into tears.
Free electricity! Free water!
Technical training to keep food on his table!
And schooling for his son!
Was this really just ordinary life? This was a life fit for the gods!
They'd used to live like dogs.
Now they were treated like people! People who were respected and cared for!
"Boohoo... Lord Qin Feng! You're our savior!"
"Anyone who dares oppose Lord Qin Feng will have to get through me first!"
"What's the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan worth? Have they ever given us a single unit of electricity? A single drop of water?"
"Defend Nuoding City! Defend our home!"
At that moment, the people's loyalty became an unstoppable tide of steel.
Qin Feng stood on the city wall, listening to the thunderous cries below. His expression remained calm.
Everything was going according to his calculations.
He didn't want a group of believers who knew nothing but how to kneel.
He wanted a civilized army, armed with science and aware of what they were fighting for!
"Brother Wolf, deploying Red Queen is only the first step."
Qin Feng's voice traveled through the internal channel to the control room on the third underground level.
"I need you to start the second phase immediately."
"I want every citizen of Nuoding City to become my eyes and ears."
"I want an intelligence network that covers the entire continent."
Grey Wolf grinned, flashing his signature smile.
"Boss, you're planning to arm the whole population!"
"No." Qin Feng shook his head.
"I'm turning everyone into a player in the Fourth Disaster."
At that moment, Red Queen's emotionless voice suddenly cut into their communications.
[Warning.]
[High-intensity Soul Power detected thirty kilometers outside the city.]
[Number of targets: one.]
[Energy level assessment: Titled Douluo.]
[Target approaching at high speed. Estimated arrival time: three minutes.]
On the screen, a glaring red dot was hurtling straight toward Nuoding City at an astonishing speed.
Behind it trailed a long line of yellow dots representing Soul Masters—the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's main force.
"Would you look at that, they're quick." Grey Wolf whistled.
"From the looks of it, they sent a strong fighter ahead to scout?"
Qin Feng studied the red dot. Instead of looking tense, he wore a strange expression.
He recognized the signature of that Soul Power fluctuation.
"No, this isn't a scouting mission."
Qin Feng cut off the communication and descended from the city wall.
"This one's here... to deliver a package."
Before you continue