Qiao Yifeng fell into a state of silent contemplation.
A few seconds later, there was an expression on his face, which indicated that he wanted to drink some wine. Then, he realized that he had already finished his. Even his goblet had been tossed far away. Qiao Yifeng then reached for Chen Xiaolian’s goblet and gulped it all down in one go.
“All right, let’s talk.” Qiao Yifeng’s tone became tangled. “At any rate, it would seem that you would be unwilling to continue our business discussion if we don’t clear up this matter.”
“I’m listening,” said Chen Xiaolian with a very frosty face.
Although there was a smile on Qiao Yifeng’s face, his eyes were also frosty.
“In the beginning, I had wanted to kill you.”
Hearing that caused Chen Xiaolian’s eyes to narrow.
There did not appear to be much guilt in Qiao Yifeng’s expression as he continued calmly, “It’s not that surprising. It’s true that you’ve helped me before. However, killing you is just one of the options on the table. I’ll admit I’m not some good-hearted fellow – to be part of this game, those genuinely good people would all have died long ago.”
“All right, I’ll admit that your words are logical. Continue.”
“That was a quest. I meant the thing with Zayad in Africa; that was a quest. A quest issued out by Zero City.” Qiao Yifeng then glanced over to Chen Xiaolian before continuing, “I don’t know how much you’ve learned about this matter. Originally, by having you enter this quest, I had assumed that you would have no chance of surviving through it. Regardless if your assassination of Zayad was successful or not, you would probably end up dying under someone else’s hand. That way, my problem would be resolved. Meaning, the problem with Qiao Qiao would no longer exist.”
“You’re quite the cold-hearted one.”
“Yes. Qiao Qiao will be heartbroken. But it is better to be heartbroken than dead.” Qiao Yifeng said coldly. “I have no desire to see her follow you and die some day in an instance dungeon only to be refreshed like a backup program.”
After saying that, Qiao Yifeng chose not to make eye contact with Chen Xiaolian. He then continued.
“To my surprise, you are really lucky. Not only did you not die, you also got the mine. As such, I will have to use a completely different way to deal with this matter. I had hoped that you would die. But now that you have the mine, you had better not die. Otherwise, we won’t be able to profit from it.”
“It refers to the mine?” Chen Xiaolian sneered.
“Yes.” Qiao Yifeng finally turned toward Chen Xiaolian. “If you want an explanation or anything else, all of them would be granted. I had deceived you to pull you into this trap, nearly causing you to die. I can apologize and show you my sincerity. If you so desire it, I can jump on the table and dance like a monkey – as long as you are happy. Because you now have that big of a value.”
Chen Xiaolian turned to regard Qiao Yifeng – the atmosphere and temperament exuding from this Qiao Yifeng before him was now completely different from the one he had met earlier.
The Qiao Yifeng earlier had seemed like a highly placed figure, a titan, a being of majesty.
At this moment however, this Qiao Yifeng… was a more business minded, more realistic and even colder. Not only was he colder toward others, he was even colder toward himself. He no longer cared what methods he had to use!
Chen Xiaolian waggled the corners of his eyes and said, “This mine originally belonged to your guild?”
Qiao Yifeng raised his eyebrows and he asked, “How did you guess that?”
Chen Xiaolian smiled.
He spread out both his hands in a shrug and said, “I guessed.”
Qiao Yifeng nodded and did not deny it. “All right, you guessed correctly.”
“The guild that you are part of, it is one of the resident guilds in Zero City?”
“Of course, that is also correct.” Qiao Yifeng nodded again.
Chen Xiaolian whistled.
He had underestimated this old man’s guild.
Back then, he thought that Qiao Yifeng’s guild should just be an ordinary large-scale guild with some power. Unexpectedly, they were strong enough to be a resident guild in Zero City.
“At present, Zero City has seven resident guilds,” said Qiao Yifeng. However, after pondering the matter, he smiled bitterly and continued, “Nominally however, there is a total of 33 guilds.”
“I don’t get it.” Chen Xiaolian frowned.
“Because the world is ever changing.” Qiao Yifeng’s tone became solemn. “Guilds would grow strong, then fall weak and then be exterminated. Zero City has been around for a long time. During those many years, various guilds had managed to acquire the qualifications to become resident guilds in Zero City. After becoming resident guilds, they would develop and flourish, then…”
“I watch as he ascends the vermillion stairs, I watch as he entertains the guests, I watch as his building collapses,” said Chen Xiaolian with a sigh. “Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren.”
“I nearly forgot, you are a writer.” Qiao Yifeng smiled.
“Continue on.”
“Just as there are times when one flourishes, there will be a time when one falls into decline,” said Qiao Yifeng as he shook his head. “That is the fate of many guilds. Although Zero City is a refuge, the competition within this refuge is also very intense.
“That is the kind of place Zero City is.
“Throughout the years, they had been a total of 33 guilds that made it into Zero City as resident guilds. However, as time passes, some guilds would survive while some others would flourish a moment only to gradually decline, some would fall into a hopeless situation with just a stumble…
“And now, only seven remains that hold the qualifications to be resident guilds in Zero City. As for the others, they have all been annihilated.”
“When you say annihilated, you mean utter destruction? Guild extermination?”
“No, you don’t understand the workings of Zero City.” Qiao Yifeng shook his head. His next words surprised Chen Xiaolian. “The mechanism of Zero City is very special.”
“I’m listening eagerly.”
…
“Wow, welcome home.”
Nicole stood in the central plaza of Zero City and observed the empty streets before speaking to herself.
The present moment was not the regular opening time for Zero City. Thus, the streets looked empty and not many people could be seen within.
The lively Sea of Love that was located some distance away appeared less lively as well.
However, although it was not the regular opening time, Zero City was not without outsiders.
In this world, there would always be some Awakened ones or guilds with special powers. Those entities would receive privileges from certain forces within Zero City and would have the clearance to enter Zero City – the condition given by the silhouette to Chen Xiaolian was one such privilege.
There were still people displaying their goods in the public trading district. However, the number of people there was not as many compared to the amount during the regular opening time.
Some strangers could be seen on the streets.
Thus, Nicole’s actions of walking through the streets did not cause too much attention.
Zero City would always require the existence of outsiders.
These outsiders were those with special cooperative relationship with the various resident guilds in Zero City. Some outsiders were there to contribute some information of the outside world, to provide rare resources, to provide channels for support, as peripheral members etc.
Nicole’s face had undergone special treatment and no one would be able to recognize that she was once a ‘Floating Angel’.
She casually entered a hotel opened for outsiders and used a fake name to check-in.
In the hotel lobby, she watched the latest news of Zero City from the holographic screen.
“Oh? Another referendum is starting? Another guild is about to fall…”
…
“The fall of a resident guild in Zero City is a very big matter. For every resident guild, their most valuable asset is not their strength, members, composition etc. … rather, it is the allocation of resources by Zero City!”
“I do not understand.” There was a very puzzled look on Chen Xiaolian’s face.
“It is very normal for you to not understand. Truth be told, this thing is very complicated.” There was helplessness and self-deprecation in Qiao Yifeng’s voice. “Because, Zero City had always been a strange existence to begin with. How should I put it… Zero City, has no designated owner!”
“Wait, Zero City… has no owner? What does that mean?”
“I mean, Zero City does not have a ‘rightful’ owner.” Qiao Yifeng’s voice was very tangled.
…
Zero City is a small world.
First, put everything else aside and look at it from this perspective. Zero City and the C11 mine have a common ground.
Take the C11 mine for example. There will be an owner for the mine.
An occupier, an owner.
This owner is someone who has acquired the highest authority over the mine! The owner has the authority to start up any of the mines, the production process, the refining process. If there was a need, the owner could even shut down the mine.
All that authority rests in the hands of this ‘owner’.
However, for Zero City… that is not the case.
…
“I don’t know how things were in the very beginning. The only thing I know is: No one person or guild has the highest authority over Zero City.
“I’ve heard tales that the founders of Zero City were a group of people, maybe a few, maybe tens of them… I don’t know that much.”
When he heard Qiao Yifeng’s words, several figures naturally appeared within Chen Xiaolian’s mind.
Bai Qi!
Mr San!
From what Chen Xiaolian could gather thus far, these people were the founders of Zero City!
Clearly, Qiao Yifeng did not know about that.
Qiao Yifeng continued.
“Zero City does not have an owner. In other words, it has no master. That is why Zero City has a strange mechanism. Simply put, the various large guilds in Zero City would send their representatives to negotiate and jointly control the operations of Zero City by sharing the authority of Zero City.”
“Like a Board of Patriarchs or a Supreme Council?” asked Chen Xiaolian.
“Something like that.” Qiao Yifeng let out a wry smile. “However, there is a problem. As far as I know, this Board of Patriarchs actually do not have the highest authority over Zero City. In other words, they are unable to fully utilize the functions of Zero City.”
Noticing the look of confusion in Chen Xiaolian’s eyes, Qiao Yifeng slowly said, “It’s like an apartment. The real owner of the apartment is not around and nobody could find him.
“However, there are many tenants living inside the units of the apartment.
“Some of the tenants are very powerful. Thus, a group of them came together to jointly manage the apartment.
“They can do many things. For example, they can repair some of the damaged parts of the apartment or the electrical appliances. They can renovate some empty rooms and put them to use. They can pay the electricity bills to ensure that the apartment’s operations continue. If someone wants to enter the apartment, they can open the entrance to let them in.
“From all outward appearances, that group of people would seem like the owners of the apartment. Under the management of these people, the apartment would be able to continue functioning.
“However, these people were in fact, not the real owner.
“Thus, there are some locked rooms within the apartment that those people are unable to open nor force their way in – it is possible that those rooms have things that are important.
“Thus, they have no ability to control some of the important matters of the apartment.
“For example, if a certain tenant did not pay up in rent, those people have no right to chase those people out – those resident guilds that exist only in name would still occupy the spot within Zero City.
“Another example would be, if they want to change the structure of the building. They cannot do so.
“I wonder if you can understand that comparison.”
Chen Xiaolian thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. “I think I understand.”
“There are many levels of authority in Zero City. There are also many functions there. In truth however, to this very day, many level of authority and the functions remain inaccessible to us.
“For example, Zero City would occasionally issue out some quests by creating something similar to the C11 mine.
“However, those resident guilds in Zero City could only passively accept the quests. They have no ability to control the issuing of the quests.
“What I mean is… something like the C11 mine… the time of its creation, the amount created and where it is created… all of those are not within the grasp of the Board of Patriarchs.
“Instead, those quests are issued by Zero City itself. We can only passively accept it. A C11 mine has appeared in Kombia. It will open at this time… we can only passively accept the quest.
“We are unable to take control of the process, unable to make any changes to the issuing of the quest.
“For example, to have it not appear in Kombia, but in New York, America… these are things we cannot accomplish.
“The only difference lies in the fact that outsiders do not know of these quests while we do. Thus, we were able to monopolize the benefits brought forth by these quests.
“Should this information be leaked to the outsiders, for example you, you would be able to participate in the competition to seize those benefits. Just like what you’ve just done.
“We are in fact… not as powerful as you imagine.”
After saying that, Qiao Yifeng exhaled and smiled bitterly. “There are many other functions similar to that. However, we are unable to exert any control over them nor do we have the authority over them. We… are just a bunch of tenants renting the units within ‘Zero City’. Since the real owner is not around, we ended up forming the management of this apartment.
“Although we appear very much like the real owner of Zero City…
“In truth, we are not!”
Chen Xiaolian did not ask him “Who is the real owner of Zero City?” or “Where is the real owner of Zero City?”
Naturally, he would not ask that.
Chen Xiaolian’s question was, “So, how do you manage Zero City? The allocation that you spoke of, what do you mean by it?”
“The allocation… is a damnable thing.” There was dejection in Qiao Yifeng’s tone.
…