225: Chapter 225 Being pretty is useless, go move the cannonballs first.

The shopkeeper appeared from nowhere, her fox ears twitching with excitement.

"This market is huge!"

"Talent shows, voting leaderboards, Upper Deck interview vouchers, slots to watch the Lord's hot spring from afar..."

Yi Chang tilted her head to look at her.

"If you dare sell that last one, I'll raise the tavern tax rate to eighty percent."

The shopkeeper changed her tune immediately.

"I was just stress-testing the commercial boundaries."

Shen Wanbing enlarged the list.

"There are four people among them who are suspicious."

"Their application reasons are written too standardly; there are heavy traces of public opinion manipulation."

"They are suspected to be external messengers who snuck in from the Grey-White Sanctuary."

Jiang Jiuyou's finger was already pressing on the troop deployment interface.

"Arrest them."

Chen Chen raised his hand to stop her.

"Don't arrest them yet."

"Everyone wants to enter the Upper Deck, so let's give them a chance."

Yi Chang raised an eyebrow.

"Public screening?"

"Central Plaza."

Chen Chen tossed the list back into her hands.

"Three assessments."

"Moving artillery shells."

"Pacifying the Lower Deck family area."

"Ecological module sanitation rotation."

Shen Wanxing blinked.

"This is too realistic."

Chen Chen looked at her.

"In the apocalypse, being pretty can only get you one interview."

"Only those who can work get to eat."

Half an hour later.

The Central Plaza was temporarily cleared.

A row of spare shell casings for the Star-Splitting main cannon were laid out on the ground, each half a person's height.

On the other side was the complaint queue for the Lower Deck family area, where over three hundred people were crowded in front of the water tank, arguing loudly.

In the distance, the ecological module sanitation area had just been cleared, and the smell of clogged pipes drifted out, causing several girl group members to change their expressions on the spot.

Iron Wall stood on the high platform, carrying a loudspeaker.

"If you want to enter the Upper Deck, line up and get your gloves first!"

"Don't let your performance outfits get in the way of working!"

Several girl group members wearing shortened stage outfits stood at the very front.

Sequin skirts, stilettos, crop tops.

One long-haired woman looked up at Chen Chen, her voice sickly sweet.

"Lord, we used to be an idol group, skilled in singing, dancing, and boosting morale."

"Can we swap this rough work like moving shells for a talent show?"

Chen Chen glanced at her.

"Iron Wall."

Iron Wall immediately threw a bundle of work gloves over.

"If you can't move them in heels, take them off and move them."

Su Xiaoqi crouched nearby, gnawing on a bone, and commented earnestly.

"This big sister's arms are too thin; she can't even hold meat steady."

The girl group member's face stiffened.

The shopkeeper took the opportunity to set up a small stall nearby.

[Upper Deck Employment Training Class]

[Curriculum: Apocalypse Basic Etiquette, Point Rules, Yi Chang's Point Deduction Avoidance Guide]

[Registration Fee: Starting from 20 points]

Several influencers immediately crowded around.

"Shopkeeper, will we be able to enter the Upper Deck after learning this?"

The shopkeeper flicked her tail.

"I can't guarantee you'll get in, but I can guarantee you'll make fewer stupid mistakes."

Yi Chang passed behind her.

"Tax the training fees."

The shopkeeper took a deep breath.

"I'll pay."

"I'll pay, okay?"

On the other side of the plaza, a woman in a long white dress walked out.

Her name was Xu Qingzhi.

Before the apocalypse, she was a pure-style actress, a triple threat in film, television, and music, with over a hundred million fans.

At this moment, her dress hem was stained with dust, but her face was still relatively clean, making her very conspicuous in the crowd.

She looked up at the high platform.

"Mr. Chen Chen, give me a chance."

"I can make the people in the Lower Deck more obedient to management."

"Before the apocalypse, I did charity livestreams, hosted large-scale events, and I know how to communicate with ordinary people."

Blood Rose rested her chin in her hand.

"This one knows how to pick her words."

Jiang Yanxue chuckled softly.

"Knowing how to talk is useless."

Chen Chen pointed to the group of people about to fight in front of the water tank.

"Go."

Xu Qingzhi was stunned.

"Now?"

"Now."

In front of the water tank, dozens of mine slaves and people from the newly incorporated family area were fighting over water.

A burly man grabbed a bucket and shouted.

"Why do the craftsmen get to go first?"

"Our children need to drink too!"

Someone nearby shoved.

"What's the point of queuing? If you're late, it'll be gone!"

Xu Qingzhi just walked over and spoke gently.

"Everyone, please don't be anxious, we can slowly..."

Before she could finish, a mine slave bumped into her.

She almost fell, and her white dress was stepped on, leaving a black mark.

No one in the crowd listened to her at all.

"Get lost!"

"Is being a celebrity so great?"

"Could your singing get you water before?"

Xu Qingzhi's face turned pale.

She looked back at the high platform.

Chen Chen didn't move.

Yi Chang didn't speak up to help her either.

Xu Qingzhi bit her lip and suddenly snatched the loudspeaker from a soldier nearby.

"Everyone shut up!"

The sound exploded, and the crowd in front of the water tank paused for a beat.

She opened the rule board issued by Yi Chang and read directly from it.

"The family area will collect water by number."

"Technical craftsmen have priority, but the basic water ration for each household will not be deducted."

"Those who queue will get an extra half bowl of hot soup."

"Those who fight for water will have their eligibility for tonight's ecological module lottery cancelled."

"If you push people again, you'll be sent to the outer cleaning zone!"

She read faster and faster, and her voice was no longer soft.

"If children lack water, register the child's number, and it will be reissued separately."

"If the elderly lack medicine, go to window number three."

"Whoever shouts useless words again, look at the cannon muzzle above your head first!"

Several of the most aggressive mine slaves looked up and saw the crystal rail cannon turning toward them, and immediately retreated.

The line slowly formed into three rows.

The chaos of over three hundred people was forcibly suppressed.

Xu Qingzhi gripped the loudspeaker, her hands still shaking, but she no longer showed cowardice on her face.

Su Xiaoqi blinked.

"This big sister has a loud voice; she's suitable for shouting that it's time to eat."

Shen Wanxing whispered a cutting remark.

"Can you stop thinking about food for everything?"

Chen Chen looked at Yi Chang.

"Lower Deck propaganda team."

"Lowest authority."

Yi Chang recorded it.

"Treatment as a trainee personnel."

Xu Qingzhi bowed to Chen Chen.

"Thank you, Lord."

Chen Chen didn't give her any extra preferential treatment.

"If you don't do well, you'll be demoted back to the Lower Deck."

"Understood."

With this, everyone in the plaza who still wanted to use their looks to get ahead went quiet.

Several girl group members wearing performance outfits silently took off their high heels and started moving artillery shells.

The shopkeeper watched, her abacus beads clicking rapidly.

"Raising the price of the training class."

Yi Chang's audit notification immediately popped up.

The shopkeeper gritted her teeth.

"I haven't raised it yet!"

Just at this moment.

Chen Chen's Mental Power tentacles swept across the back of the plaza.

A low-frequency vibration mixed into the human voices, drilling along the ground toward the family area.

"The Lord treats ordinary people as coolies."

"The Upper Deck enjoys hot springs, while the people in the Lower Deck can only drink gruel."

"You must petition."

"Demand fairness."

The voice was very soft, but it drilled into the crowd's ears layer by layer.

Several mine slaves who had just lined up became restless again.

"Why do they get to live above?"

"We want to go up too!"

"Didn't the Lord's audience meeting say we could apply?"

Chen Chen raised his hand.

Four hundred points of Mental Power spread out.

At the back of the plaza, a man wearing a baseball cap and an influencer manager badge stiffened.

Inside his spine, a grey-white bone fragment was flashing with a faint light.

Chen Chen pressed his five fingers down.

Bang!

The man knelt on the ground from hundreds of meters away, his knees denting the metal plate.

The people around him scattered in fear.

Jiang Yanxue walked out from the shadows of the crowd, the tip of her blade prying open the back of his neck.

"Found it."

She twisted her blade and forcibly pried out a grey-white bone fragment.

The bone fragment was still vibrating.

Jiang Yanxue held the thing, her smile tinged with the scent of blood.

"Should we hang it on the South Gate?"

"It's quite suitable as a warning sign."

Chen Chen walked down from the high platform.

"Read it first."

Shen Wanbing had already inserted the data needle into the bone fragment.

A projection expanded.

A string of grey-white lists popped out.

[Public Opinion Pollution Squad: Has infiltrated the Lower Deck population layer.]

[Objective: Create a coolie narrative.]

[Objective: Amplify jealousy toward the Upper Deck.]

[Objective: Induce a ten-thousand-person petition, forcing the territory to deploy troops and suffer internal friction.]

Mio's voice tightened.

"They aren't attacking the city this time."

"They want to tear apart the order from the Lower Deck."

Jiang Jiuyou raised her hand, ready to issue a purge order.

Xu Qingzhi suddenly raised her hand.

Her face was paler than before.

"Lord."

"I know one of the people on the list."

Chen Chen turned his head.

"Who?"

Xu Qingzhi pointed to an avatar at the very bottom of the projection.

It was a clean-looking young man, with data labeled as a top male idol before the apocalypse, with over a hundred million fans.

[Codename: Daybreak.]

Xu Qingzhi's throat tightened.

"His name is Gu Ci'an."

"He was in the same company as me before the apocalypse."

"He is very good at inciting fans and also very good at making people believe he has been wronged."

Shen Wanbing quickly pulled up the surveillance from the deepest part of the Lower Deck.

On the screen, in front of the abandoned ammunition depot, the crowd was gathering more and more.

Gu Ci'an stood on a high platform, wearing a clean white shirt, holding a loudspeaker.

He looked up at the crowded people, and his voice had already come through.

"We are not against the Lord."

"We just want to kneel and request fairness."

"Everyone, follow me to the central elevator."

"A ten-thousand-person petition."