Chapter 55: Chapter 55: All Fabrication! Simple and Brutal

Since Lin Jiao had suggested it, Lu Feng decided to take a trip to the City East Alliance as well.

’The City East Alliance must be something like a camp in a video game. In-game, it would be a hub for players, but in the game’s world, it’s a gathering place for survivors.’

"How far is the City East Alliance from here?" Lu Feng asked.

Lin Jiao answered, "On foot, it’s about a half-day’s journey!"

"Mm." Lu Feng nodded. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He checked the time and thought it would be better to wait until the next morning. Otherwise, they might get caught on the road after dark.

After giving a few instructions, Lu Feng willed himself out of the game.

The moment he was back in his apartment, he got a call from Da Fei. "Young Master Feng, County Head Lin is at the teahouse. He says he wants to discuss the intangible cultural heritage status for Qingfeng Tea."

"Okay, tell County Head Lin to wait for me." Lu Feng was puzzled. ’Didn’t I already have Da Fei deliver the application materials to the county office?’

Still, he headed straight for the teahouse and met with Lin Xuecheng.

When Lin Xuecheng saw him arrive, he immediately held up a document. "Boss Lu, the materials you submitted were very detailed. However, for the intangible cultural heritage application to succeed, we’re missing one crucial element: a story for Qingfeng Tea."

"It would be best if the story had a legendary quality. Of course, it doesn’t have to be true—even a complete fabrication will do. After all, this kind of cultural value is created, so let’s create a good one."

"???" Lu Feng was clearly taken aback by Lin Xuecheng’s words.

’That’s allowed?’

But on second thought, with so many items designated as intangible cultural heritage, ’are all their stories actually true?’

’Probably a lot of them were just made up on the spot.’

’But even if it’s a fabrication, once the item is approved, the story becomes official. It can be used for marketing, and you can even present it to the world as fact without any shame.’

Lin Xuecheng was clearly an expert in this area. He immediately said, "Boss Lu, isn’t the most famous historical figure from our Youcheng, Zhu Zi? We can use him in our story. We’ll say that one day, Zhu Zi was on an outing in the tea mountains with a friend when he saw an old farmer roasting tea with a special method. The farmer, recognizing Zhu Zi, insisted on serving him the tea."

"As the story goes, Zhu Zi was so captivated by the tea’s flavor that he couldn’t bring himself to leave. The old farmer then asked Zhu Zi to give the tea a name. On that day, the sun was warm and a clear breeze brushed his face, so he named it Qingfeng Tea for the old farmer."

"Of course, we can flesh out the details when we write the official story to make it more vivid."

Lu Feng’s mouth fell open as he listened to Lin Xuecheng. In the end, he could only nod. "I’ll follow your lead, County Head Lin."

’My Qingfeng Tea is straight out of a game,’ he thought. ’And now it’s connected to the famous historical figure, Zhu Zi. Apparently, the great man himself even came up with the name.’

’I wonder if someday someone makes a TV series or movie about Zhu Zi, will they include a scene of him naming Qingfeng Tea?’

With that in mind, Lu Feng had Da Fei find someone to flesh out the story and even write a few more tales about Qingfeng Tea from other dynasties. Then they could just hand it all over to Lin Xuecheng.

...

「The next day.」

Lu Feng went to his rented apartment first thing in the morning. With a thought, he entered the game, appearing inside the bank.

Lin Jiao had clearly already briefed Xu Bin and the other two. All four of them knew they were heading to the City East Alliance and were ready to go.

Lin Jiao brought the laser rifle, but she wrapped it in cloth strips as a precaution to avoid trouble.

The City East Alliance was east of the bank. After setting out, Lu Feng’s group traveled for half a day before spotting a distant area at a street intersection, marked by distinctive flags.

The flags bore a patterned emblem, clearly representing a faction.

Just then, Lin Jiao explained, "Boss, that’s the symbol of the City East Alliance. We’ve entered their territory."

At that exact moment, a strange sound rang out.

A car shot out from the side of a street. To Lu Feng’s surprise, the vehicle had no tires and was hovering slightly above the ground.

It was a hovercar.

A strange device was attached to the back of the hovercar, seemingly burning and emitting white smoke.

The white smoke seemed to be attracting something. A moment later, enormous black creatures charged out of a nearby alley.

The creatures flapped translucent wings—they were cockroaches, each the size of a calf.

The hovercar was luring the cockroaches.

The instant the cockroaches swarmed out of the alley, gunshots erupted from the buildings on both sides, aimed at the giant insects.

A rocket even landed among the swarm, instantly blasting a large number of them to pieces.

In a matter of moments, the lured giant cockroaches had suffered heavy casualties.

Then, a group of people charged out, followed by several trucks, and began loading the giant cockroach carcasses onto them.

Seeing this, Xu Bin remarked, "Looks like the City East Alliance’s breeding program is doing well this year. Prices should drop quite a bit."

It dawned on Lu Feng, and he asked, "They farm these giant cockroaches?"

He had assumed the giant cockroaches were a threat and these people were here specifically to eliminate them, but the reality was clearly not what he expected.

Lin Jiao explained, "Giant cockroaches are rich in nutrients. They can be processed into a high-protein nutrient paste, similar to bread. It’s the primary form of food-based currency in the City East Alliance."

Hearing this, Lu Feng felt a wave of nausea.

’Nutrient paste, food-based currency... it’s obviously meant to be eaten.’ The thought reminded him of the cockroach paste from post-apocalyptic movies.

He never imagined that people in this post-apocalyptic world actually ate cockroaches, even if these giant ones were different from the normal kind.

This made him vow that once he entered the City East Alliance, he would never, ever eat that nutrient paste.

Lu Feng and the others continued onward, heading toward the City East Alliance’s main area. They soon reached the entrance, where a squad of soldiers carrying old-fashioned rifles was on patrol.

As the four of them approached, the soldiers noticed them. After looking them over, one stepped forward.

"Welcome to the City East Alliance. All four of you, standard procedure, we need to check your DNA codes."

"Understood." Xu Bin nodded and went with Chen Tao and Chen Hao to a special device at the entrance.

Lin Jiao quietly explained to Lu Feng, "Boss, DNA code scanning only became common after detection devices appeared about ten years ago. After the apocalypse, it became a way to prove a survivor’s identity, since everyone’s DNA is unique."

"Plus, once a DNA code is registered, it can be used for things like wanted lists, lookups, and investigations. This device is a huge help for the City East Alliance’s governance."

After that, Lu Feng followed Lin Jiao to the device.

The device had a special slot. You’d insert your hand, and it would scan for hair and skin particles to detect your DNA code.

Lu Feng looked at the device. ’If this technology could be brought to the real world,’ he thought, ’it would be absolutely revolutionary.’

’But I know I’m completely incapable of doing that right now. I don’t even understand the principles behind the technology, let alone have the blueprints.’

’So, I can’t rush things. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I should focus on sorting out that electromagnetic rice cooker technology first.’

’That’s the most suitable and achievable thing for me at the moment.’

’Once I get the complete technical data and sell off that ton of Gold, I’ll have the capital to invest in a factory.’

"Apologies, no record of your DNA code found. Please begin new registration. What is your name?"

The device’s voice chimed as Lu Feng’s hand was being scanned.

Following Lin Jiao’s instructions, he entered his name into the device to register.

He just picked a random name. It didn’t matter in this game world, so why not?

After confirming that none of the four had criminal records or were wanted by the City East Alliance, they were allowed to enter.

The whole process surprised Lu Feng.

He’d expected a post-apocalyptic scene straight out of the movies, with slaughter and plunder everywhere.

But that clearly wasn’t the whole picture.

At the very least, the City East Alliance maintained a certain degree of civilized rules, or rather, a simple form of order.

’Then again, that makes sense. In the game, the camps were also well-organized and had some semblance of order.’

Soon, Lu Feng entered the City East Alliance.

The scene inside was bustling. In many places, groups of people were gathered together, talking animatedly.

Many of these people were armed with blades at their waists or even old-fashioned firearms slung over their backs.

Lin Jiao explained, "Those are mercenary teams. They usually go out to hunt Mutant Beasts on their own, collecting their source crystals, meat, or other materials. The corpses and various parts of some Mutant Beasts are all useful."

"Of course, the bigwigs in the City East Alliance sometimes hire them too. Chen Tao and Chen Hao used to have a team like that, but everyone else died in that Department Store."

"If you ever need to hire some temporary muscle, Boss, they’re a good option."

Lu Feng nodded.

As he continued, he saw more crowds of survivors. They were all skin and bones, and many seemed too weak from hunger to even walk.

Some women in distinctive clothing were openly soliciting clients in front of makeshift tents, but business was clearly slow.

A seven-man squad of soldiers patrolled down the street. The one in the lead held a special bullhorn, his voice echoing: "Abide by the laws of the City East Alliance! Murder and theft are punishable by death! Tax evasion on transactions will result in expulsion! Malicious assault will result in imprisonment!"

Hearing this, Lu Feng couldn’t help but think, ’Those are some simple and brutal rules.’

’But in the apocalypse, you probably don’t need a lot of bureaucratic red tape. Sometimes, simple and brutal is more effective at maintaining order.’

Lu Feng followed Lin Jiao to the City East Alliance’s "talent market." The moment he stepped inside, he witnessed an astonishing scene.