42: Chapter 42 The Color of Atmosphere

"They... are they building a city?"

A refugee rubbed his eyes, his voice trembling.

"They are building a city!"

"Good heavens, how many people must this take? How many Materials?"

"This city is just too big, right? It's bigger than any of the cities we lived in before!"

"Isn't Flower City an F-rank small city? How can there be such a massive project?"

...

The refugees discussed it heatedly, their faces filled with shock.

How much manpower would this require? How many resources? And how much courage must the decision-maker have?

Minister Wang Fugui listened to their discussions, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly as a sense of pride welled up in his heart.

"Never seen it before, have you?" He cleared his throat, his voice resonant, "This is the handiwork of our City Lord."

"After the new city is built, its scale will be at least ten times that of the current Flower City!"

"By then, every one of you will be able to have a spacious place to live, and you won't have to crowd together anymore."

The refugees listened, dumbfounded.

Ten times?

Ten times the current Flower City?

Strategist Zhu Ge sat in his wheelchair, quietly watching this scene before him.

His gaze swept over the busy figures, over the city walls that were beginning to take shape, and finally landed on the distant skyline.

This Flower City... is truly extraordinary!

This City Lord... is even more extraordinary!

...

Minister Wang Fugui brought the refugees to the registration office.

Wan'er was not here, but it didn't matter; the registration work was handled by the scribes.

"Come, come, come, get in line!" Minister Wang Fugui shouted at the top of his lungs, "One by one, register your names first, then collect your wooden tablets!"

Although the refugees were exhausted, they were orderly.

They formed several long lines and walked up to the scribes one by one.

"What is your name?"

"Li Daniu."

"Age?"

"Thirty-two."

"What did you do before?"

"I was a farmer!"

...

The scribe quickly recorded it in the register, then took a wooden tablet from the box beside him and handed it to him.

"Alright, this is your identity tablet, keep it safe. Next."

Li Daniu took the wooden tablet and looked down at it.

The wooden tablet was engraved with his name and a mark of "Flower City".

Just as he was examining the wooden tablet—

"Click."

A soft sound.

The cold metal collar on his neck suddenly popped open on its own.

"Clang!"

The collar fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Li Daniu was stunned.

He subconsciously reached out to touch his neck.

Smooth skin, without any restraints.

That metal collar he had worn for over a decade... just fell off like that?

"This... what is going on?" Li Daniu's voice was trembling.

The refugees behind him were all stunned as well.

But as one refugee after another registered to become a citizen of Flower City...

"Click."

"Click."

"Click."

...

A succession of sounds rang out continuously.

One metal collar after another fell from people's necks, hitting the ground and clanging together.

Everyone looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Wha... what's going on?"

"Why did the collar fall off?"

"Is it broken?"

"That's not right, how could this collar be broken?"

...

They discussed it heatedly, but no one could explain why.

This collar was their shackle, and also their nightmare.

They had tried countless times to remove it, but had no way to do so.

But now... the collar had actually fallen off on its own?

The refugees were completely bewildered.

The scribe watched their reaction and couldn't help but laugh. "Haha, why are you all just standing there stunned?"

His tone was light and cheerful, not taking the matter seriously at all, "The collar fell off, so it fell off, it's not a big deal."

The refugees widened their eyes, looking at him in disbelief, "Not a big deal? How could this not be a big deal?"

"If the collar falls off, what about the execution line?"

"How will our contribution points be calculated?"

...

The scribe waved his hand, laughing even more heartily.

"execution line? What execution line?"

"In our Flower City, there is no execution line!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole place fell silent.

The refugees stood rooted to the spot, as if they had been hit by a freezing spell.

No... execution line?

How could there be no execution line?

What city doesn't have an execution line?

Just then, a few workers passing by saw this scene, stopped in their tracks, and gathered around with grins on their faces.

"Yo, you guys are new, right?" A burly man covered in mud grinned, "Stunned, aren't you? Don't know what to do, right?"

"Hahaha, when I first arrived, my reaction was exactly the same as yours!"

Another worker also laughed and chimed in:

"That's for sure! When my collar fell off, I almost thought I was going to be executed, I was so scared my legs went weak!"

"But then they told me that Flower City has no execution line, and I was just dumbfounded there!"

"Later, when I came to my senses, I was so excited I almost cried out loud!"

"Hahahaha!"

The workers laughed together; there was no hint of mockery, more just the teasing of people who had been through it before.

The newly registered citizens of Flower City, however, still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"No execution line..."

An old man muttered to himself, his voice trembling, "Really... no execution line?"

"Of course it's real!" The burly man patted his chest and said, "This was an order personally issued by the City Lord!"

His voice resonated, echoing in the registration office.

Listening to these words, the refugees stood there, stunned one by one.

"Wuu... wuu wuu..."

I don't know who started crying first.

Immediately after, the sound of crying spread rapidly, as if it were contagious.

One refugee after another squatted on the ground, covering their faces and sobbing uncontrollably.

They cried heart-wrenchingly, yet there was also a sense of relief from surviving a disaster.

The execution line... that nightmare that had been hanging over their heads for over a decade... was finally over!

...

In the crowd.

Strategist Zhu Ge sat in his wheelchair, quietly watching all of this.

His hand gently stroked his bare neck, where the collar he had once worn had now fallen to the ground.

"No execution line..." He muttered to himself, a complex light flashing in his eyes.

He had once thought that this was the rule of the City Lord World, which no one could break.

But now, this rule had been broken!

This was completely beyond his scope of understanding.

"Abolish the execution line?"

"What is this doing?"

"Is this intending to make an enemy of the whole world?"

...

Shang Youjun stood in the crowd, his eyes tightly closed.

He could not see the surrounding scene, but he could vaguely perceive the color of the surrounding atmosphere.

And this atmosphere would materialize into a certain color.

In previous cities, the color he perceived was gray.

After being expelled from the city, the gray turned into black.

When he arrived at the gate of Flower City, the black turned into blue.

When the demon wolf was killed, the blue turned into green.

After entering the city, the green turned into light yellow.

And now—

The color he perceived had turned into orange.

A bright, warm, and brilliant orange!

This was a color he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

The last time he felt it was when he was very young, in his mother's arms.