128: Hope City was born to replace it! (Please read

Chapter 128: The Birth of Hope City – I Can Replace Him! (Seeking continued readership)

Wang Shengbang agreed without hesitation.

Lu Zheng's reduction conditions were indeed very sincere.

It only required providing information about one person, not forcing someone to follow Lu Zheng.

This was already very easy.

With Lu Zheng's financial resources and strength, finding people himself would only take a little more time.

Compared to that time, the crystals offered as discounts were a significant amount.

In Wang Shengbang's view, Lu Zheng might not even be after a 'top-tier goddess' but rather genuinely wanted to assist the officials.

At the same time, he also needed to protect his own interests.

It was just giving him a way out.

Lu Zheng's ship already had nearly forty unique women; how could he still be obsessed with pursuing other beauties?

Little did he know, what Lu Zheng pursued most importantly was the top-tier goddess.

The number of crystals the officials could provide was limited, but if he obtained a transcendent material card, the resources within it would be limitless.

If he could also acquire a skill book material card similar to the Sword Control Technique or a spiritual elixir material card like the Strengthening Pill, the increase in combat power and benefits would be far greater than a batch of crystals.

After all, Lu Zheng was currently relying on transcendent materials like the Teleportation Formation Plate and the Beast Taming Ring to trade for vast resources with the officials.

After finalizing the cooperation with Wang Shengbang, Lu Zheng landed on the plaza outside the Jinge Building.

By then, he had temporarily cleared an area free of black fog using a spatial barrier.

Everyone from the Azure Society gathered there, awaiting his speech.

Fifty thousand Azure Society members, along with tens of thousands of survivors struggling in the surrounding black fog who had rushed over upon hearing the news, packed the temporary Safe Zone around the building.

People's gazes were fixed on Lu Zheng and the colossal entity spanning the sky behind him.

It was an existence beyond imagination.

Looking up, their vision was dominated by an indescribably massive landmass, so huge it obscured the sky to the horizon!

It floated hundreds of meters above the ruins of Canglan City, like an artificially cut cube.

Under the shadow cast by that giant object, the crowd was as tiny as ants.

The plaza was deadly silent. Fifty thousand pairs of eyes stared fixedly at the sky; heavy breathing, suppressed gasps, and even more people forgetting to breathe due to overwhelming shock, intertwined to create an unspeakably heavy atmosphere.

Shock!

Absolute shock dominated the mind of everyone present.

"Is... is that a miracle?" an old man with white hair murmured, his cloudy eyes covered by the immense shadow, as if losing focus.

He had once been a staunch atheist, but everything in the apocalypse, the emergence of abilities, was gradually overturning his understanding.

And at this moment, this scene before him seemed to have completely transformed him into a believer in gods.

He couldn't imagine who else, besides the legendary gods, could achieve such a feat.

"Land... flying in the sky?"

A young man with a scar on his face pinched his arm hard; the pain reminded him this was not a dream.

His companions around him also looked dazed, mouths agape, wide enough to fit an egg.

"Is it really safe? Will it fall down?"

Low murmurs of doubt arose from the crowd, carrying the instinctive suspicion cultivated by years of struggle in the apocalypse.

Some instinctively took a step back, seemingly worried that the towering city above them might plummet at any moment.

For humans accustomed to solid ground beneath their feet and an open sky above, a giant city floating overhead inherently carried a certain sense of unease.

"What's it like inside? Can we go up?"

A mother holding a baby looked on with longing, but even more with apprehension.

She tightened her grip on the sleeping child in her arms; that small, fragile life made her both hopeful and fearful of any promise.

"Going up... what price do we have to pay?"

More people were weighing the costs.

Lu Zheng had never been a benevolent person.

Within the Azure Society, people also needed to undertake various roles to obtain resources.

And a place like this, far from the black fog and monster attacks on the ground, offering true absolute safety, a new society, a new civilization, would not allow them to enter for free.

Among the crowd, some survivors who had experienced the collapse of order, been deceived and abandoned, showed particularly strong vigilance in their eyes.

They yearned for safety, but also knew deeply that there was no free lunch in this world.

Just as the crowd grew agitated, Lu Zheng's voice rang out clearly, and the plaza instantly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Lu Zheng's gaze swept over the countless faces below, a mixture of shock, apprehension, and longing. His voice was steady and powerful, piercing through the last shred of doubt.

"As you can see, above us is 'Azure Hope City,' which I have poured my efforts into building. It will become humanity's new home for survival in the Dark Age, an absolutely safe sanctuary."

"Hope City!"

These three words exploded like a clap of thunder in the crowd, then were quickly drowned out by wild joy and deeper anticipation.

"The bottom layer of the Safe Zone is a hundred meters of fertile soil, already planted with vegetation sufficient to sustain the ecological system's cycle. Above it will be your living communities."

He briefly introduced the structure.

Then, he announced the rules for entry, his voice devoid of emotion, yet it determined the fate of countless people.

"Azure Society members and their registered direct relatives have priority application qualifications. Each household needs to apply for housing quotas according to standards. Non-Azure Society members must apply publicly; those whose abilities are assessed or who possess special skills can obtain quotas through normal rental channels."

"The housing rental fee is one second-tier crystal per set per month, with a deposit of one month and three months' rent paid upfront."

"All positions within the Safe Zone are to be competed for based on ability! Management positions will be publicly selected! Any 'parasites' attempting to live idly will be expelled immediately!"

"Bugs only deserve to live in the dark black fog!"

The cold words announcing the rules were like a giant stone thrown into the just-ignited lake of hope, stirring up violent ripples.

Cheers and uncontrollably excited embraces erupted from the core members of the Azure Society and their families.

"We have a home! We have a real home!" Cries and tears of wild joy filled their area.

However, a huge commotion instantly erupted in the larger crowd!

The high costs and strict conditions instantly made many feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Second-tier crystals! One per month? How... how can ordinary people like us earn that!"

"Aren't all Azure Society members directly allocated? Still need to apply? How is it assessed?"

"Expulsion? Heavens, can't they help everyone?"

"Rental! Not allocation! What about us?"

Doubt, arguments, and even shouts of dissatisfaction intertwined. The joyful inner circle and the anxious, uneasy outer crowd formed a stark contrast.

But one person's thoughts were different from all of them.

Zhai Jin-cheng looked at Lu Zheng, high above, like a god towering over everyone, his eyes filled with madness and jealousy.

"A true man should be like this! I can replace him!"

But the next moment, he suddenly noticed that Lu Zheng's gaze was cast towards him, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.