In just a few short days, a raging frenzy had swept through the Seven Cities.
The cruel, tempestuous Endless Sea seemed to have transformed into a lavish, complimentary buffet. In this feast mingled with the stench of brine and blood, everyone gorged themselves until grease dripped from their chins and their eyes gleamed with greed.
It was just like the Federation's Kunwu Gold Rush of years past.
Go! Go, go!
Do you want money? Do you want a future? Do you want to live a life of lavish luxury, spending gold like dirt?
Then go!
To the sea!
The sea has it all!
It wasn't just the Celestial Chosen honing their blades; countless ordinary folk, their eyes red with greed over the promised returns, gritted their teeth and threw themselves into the hunt, scrambling over one another in their desperate haste. It reached the point where a single spot on any vessel became a hot commodity, attainable only through payment and bribes.
Every day, butchered carcasses of gigantic beasts were hauled back to the docks, sparking waves of cheers and shouts.
As for the bones buried beneath those behemoths, the blood washed into the brine, and the tenfold sacrifice trailing every fraction of a gain—all of it was drowned out by the hundredfold bounty. No one cared.
Some even defied maritime bans, firing up their rickety fishing boats and charging out into the sea under cover of darkness...
No one cared how many returned.
Ji Jue impassively flipped through the bounties posted by the various cities. Unable to hold back any longer, he let out a cold sneer.
Bones, flesh, and tissue of calamity beasts were priced by the gram. Even the humblest haul—a single scale—was worth more than a full month of hard labor in previous years. And if one were lucky enough to stumble upon an unknown species, getting rich overnight was practically guaranteed!
Yet was the true worth of these materials limited to such paltry sums?
How could their real value be so meager?
Compared to the prices quoted by the Ring of Taiyi, the bounties offered by the oligarch families were slashed by more than tenfold. On top of that, sellers had to pay hefty taxes, endure agonizingly long payment settlement cycles, accept local fiat, and bear all profits and losses themselves.
The figures publicized by the cities—those bounties that seemed so exceedingly generous—were nothing more than the scraps regurgitated by the upper crust after stuffing themselves full. Even then, those scraps were subjected to layer upon layer of extortion and deductions. How much would actually make it into the hands of ordinary hunters?
Meanwhile, propaganda relentlessly showcased cases and tales of sudden wealth, yet never breathed a word about the vastly greater number of sunken ships, dead crews, and ruined lives. Whenever the topic was touched upon, it was dismissed with a breezy mention of "enter at your own risk."
With a sliver of negligible profit, they had the rabble below scrambling to gamble their lives and march to their deaths, all to harvest wealth for the elites...
The remains of calamity beasts?
Were remains really so easy to come by?
Even scavenging hyenas waited until the lions finished before showing their faces. Why would titanic beasts ever care about the life or death of mere insects?
Besides, even a dead calamity beast remained fraught with perils for ordinary folk.
The pollution festering in its wounds, its lingering hazards, the venomous flesh, curses born of lingering resentment, and even mutant parasites inside the carcass—any of these was more than enough to claim a human life with ease, whether the victim was bare or clad in full armor.
At present, across the Endless Sea, almost all of the Thousand Islands were throwing themselves into this perilous hunt.
Yet places as devoid of a moral baseline as the Seven Cities—where human lives were treated as utter trifles—were exceedingly rare.
In other regions, the main forces were drawn from local Wild Gatherings—the new generation of Celestial Chosen born under the influence of the White Stag.
The Wild Gatherings did it because they genuinely required vast catches as offerings to the White Stag!
Yet the frenzied scramble in the Seven Cities was born of a simpler truth: people could no longer survive...
First, disaster winds locked down the ports; then earthquakes struck and Sea Locusts ravaged the lands. One calamity followed another, effortlessly shoving the already destitute populace to the brink of the abyss.
To make money, to get ahead, to climb the social ladder—or simply to afford a bag of rice and medicine whose prices were skyrocketing—they were blinded by desperation, willing to pay any price.
After all, they had long since been driven to a dead end.
Aside from their single life, what else did they have left?
Once people were maddened by poverty, starved to the bone, and terrified of unending misery, they would do anything to break free of their plight.
What was more, lavish riches dangled right before their eyes.
Yet that was precisely the problem...
"They can't survive, they're driven mad by poverty, and they'll starve if they can't earn money—that's why they went out to sea searching for a way to live. But what does that have to do with you lot?"
Right now, inside his office at the Luo Island Administrative Center.
Ji Jue looked across his desk at the dense row of "petitioners." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
After a long pause, he opened his eyes and asked gravely, "Are the wages I pay not enough to live on?"
At once, everyone in the office shook their heads in unison.
Ji Jue asked again, "Are Haian's food and medicine too expensive?"
In the silence, everyone shook their heads once more.
Ji Jue asked a final question: "Is Haian's business so poor, its compensation so low, and its welfare so lacking that you see no hope for the future?"
The same silence, the same stillness, the same shaking of heads.
At that, Ji Jue chuckled in exasperation.
"Then tell me right now—what do you mean by wanting Luo Island to post bounties and lift the maritime ban?"
He asked with genuine curiosity, "Do you feel that living a good, steady life is too much to bear? Are you tired of living?"
In the awkward quiet, the petitioners exchanged uneasy glances until a cough broke the tension. The lead organizer stepped forward, lowered his head, and mumbled, "Well, the market's rarely this good, and everyone's used to life at sea anyway. We just figured, why not..."
"Why not go court death too?" Ji Jue countered coldly.
"Well... we were just thinking of contributing a bit more to bring some honor to Luo Island. Men of the Thousand Islands naturally yearn for the sea, after all."
The petitioner's face twitched. Summoning his courage, he finally blurted out the real reason: "Everyone... just wants to make a little extra money."
Money.
At the end of the day, it was always money.
No matter how generous Luo Island's welfare was or how high Haian's wages were, human desire was an insatiable beast. Watching familiar faces in the news strike it rich one after another, their hearts burned with restless agitation, itching to take a gamble.
Even if they understood the risks, weren't they even more acutely aware of the staggering profits?
Besides, with Luo Island offering such great conditions, any bounties it posted surely wouldn't be lower than those elsewhere, right?
Even if someone got injured or crippled, couldn't they still come back to work in the factories?
Couldn't the elderly, women, and children at home keep doing odd jobs?
It was a good thing—a wonderful thing all around!
Good for the city, good for the people, and immensely good for Haian!
Even if Mr. Ji knew about it, he was bound to understand, wasn't he?
Watching those eyes filled with hope and craving turn toward him, Ji Jue remained expressionless. He picked up his teacup with cool detachment.
"Get out."
A single soft syllable echoed through the silence.
Nothing more to be said.
The expectant faces froze in stunned disbelief.
Ji Jue said nothing more, merely pointing toward the office door.
Get lost. Disappear from my sight.
"Mr. Ji... wait, you might have misunderstood..."
"Everyone's just thinking of Luo Island..."
"Don't be angry, sir, we were only asking..."
A clamor of disordered voices erupted, but the moment Ji Jue set down his teacup, he had already turned and walked away.
It wasn't anger.
It was fear.
If he wasted even one more second on these idiots, he wouldn't be able to suppress his professional artisan instincts!
There was nothing in the world that wasted more time than talking to an idiot—except, perhaps, knowing someone was an idiot and still having to hold one's nose to keep them from getting themselves killed!
If not for the fact that these people could still tighten screws on an assembly line, Ji Jue would probably have run them through the waste disposal process on the spot.
And so, following that day, Luo Island's maritime ban remained as strict as ever, unchanged.
No matter how many petitions or appeals were made, they proved utterly futile. From start to finish, Luo Island showed not the slightest sign of loosening surveillance or offering bounties.
No matter how people racked their brains to fish for insider news, all they received from city hall was a cold rebuff: No, not under consideration, utterly out of the question!
Consequently, rumors soon ran rampant and filled the air.
"Haian won't post any bounties because it wants to hog all the profit for itself without sharing a single cent with us!"
"That man named Ji just wants to chain us to the assembly lines to tighten screws and do hard labor for the rest of our lives! He won't ever give us a chance to break free from Haian!"
"My relative told me he saw Luo Island's fleet head out last night, and when they came back, they were hauling boatloads of calamity beast remains!"
"Ji Jue's already making a killing! He scooped up all the bounties across the Seven Cities for himself!"
Under the watchful eye of the Paradise system, covert agitators and rabble-rousers multiplied. Some even networked among themselves, plotting protest marches, with slogans, banners, and placards all prepared.
Demand human rights! Demand freedom! Down with the tyrant's dictatorship!
Unfortunately, before that dissatisfied minority could even mobilize, they were hauled off to the administrative compounds by Riot Cats for tea and questioning.
Worse yet, there was never any widespread swell of support...
No matter how intensely the instigators agitated and cajoled, the vast majority responded with shock, envy, and then a shake of the head.
"They really made that much? Wow, incredible... Huh? Me? I have work tomorrow. If I get Star Employee for one more month, I'll be promoted to supervisor!"
The middle-aged man, prematurely aged with a face full of wrinkles, grinned to reveal a set of yellowed teeth, waving his hand dismissively at the invitation.
Watching his old friend leave, he heard his wife's voice call out from behind the door: "What's wrong with your friend? It's rare for him to visit—won't he stay for dinner? The rice is almost on the stove."
"Bad luck walking," the man muttered.
The exaggerated smile vanished from the man's face. Shutting the door, he spat on the floor. "Stay away from his family from now on. If he comes looking for me again, just tell him I'm not home."
"Huh?" His wife poked her head out of the kitchen. "What happened?"
"I don't want his blood splattering all over us when he dies."
The man sank into their newly purchased sofa, popped open a can of beer fresh from the refrigerator, lit a cigarette, and reclined in pure contentment. Sniffing the fragrance wafting from the kitchen, he beamed. "This beef smells amazing. I'll exchange for another two jin tomorrow."
"There's already too much at home, we don't have room for it. Let's save a bit," a resigned voice called from the kitchen. "Aren't you aiming to be supervisor? Buy a nice watch first to be prepared, so people won't look down on you. And didn't you really like that pair of leather shoes from the Empire? We've finally saved some money, so we can afford them."
"Mm, how about we get a new stroller first?"
"You rascal..."
Amid the clatter of spatulas, the hum of the exhaust fan, and the faint murmur of the television, fragrant steam drifted up from the pot, fogging the windowpanes.
Outside, twilight crept across the sky, and lights flickered on one after another in the newly constructed apartment complexes.
In the somewhat cramped plaza below, children were still shouting and playing.
"Me! Me! Me! It's my turn!"
A child hopping with excitement raised a hand. "I—I want to draw a puppy!"
Over in the corner, a Riot Cat perched like a decorative statue lowered its head, letting the thrilled children scrawl graffiti across the blank space atop its head.
Under the warm glow of the lamps, everything seemed serene and dreamlike. Even the storm clouds and thunder rumbling on the far horizon felt distant and intangible.
Peaceful years, quiet and sweet.
Pity was, some people were simply never destined to enjoy such blessings.
Beneath the darkening night, at a hidden wharf along a desolate beach, a gathering of people quietly untied the mooring ropes and boarded their boats under cover of dusk.
Ignoring the rising storm clouds and distant thunder, they fired up their engines and ventured out to sea in the dead of night!
Not a single lamp was lit aboard the hushed vessels. Cloaked by darkness, they crept at minimum speed, slipping out of Luo Island's waters inch by inch, slow as crawling turtles.
Once certain they had reached international waters, they could no longer contain themselves, erupting into excited shouts and cheers.
In the waters ahead, early departures who had been waiting turned on their lanterns, signaling to them. And so, vessels large and small congregated beneath the night sky, once more forging ahead into the churning, tempestuous ocean!
High above in the storm clouds, the indicator light of a drone blinked faintly.
It turned its indifferent gaze away from them,
ignoring them completely.
As the saying went, life will find a way.
No matter how strictly Ji Jue imposed bans or issued warnings, there would always be those unable to rein in their impulses—those who treated the exorbitant bounties as private fortunes already sitting in their pockets, racing impatiently toward their own doom.
Besides, the Seven Cities might lack many things, but boats were never one of them. Boats of every size were as common as stray dogs by the roadside; stopping them all was impossible.
Even though the entire island was under Ji Jue's thumb through the monitoring of the Paradise system—and if he wished, "not a single plank shall touch the water" was far from an empty boast—he still made no move to stop the numerous vessels sneaking away into the night.
Want to leave?
Then leave!
Go if you want to go. Every last one of you, go!
Then, once most of them had set sail, Luo Island's long-dormant fleet slipped out of port en masse, taking up their positions in daily patrols.
They locked down the waters surrounding Luo Island completely!
Once you leave, don't ever come back.
Beneath a somber sky, when the returning fleet, laden with their spoils, arrived at Luo Island's maritime border, all they saw were warships already deployed in battle-ready formations, their dark cannon muzzles trained on them.
A piercing siren wailed on repeat:
"Vessels ahead, turn back immediately. You are approaching Luo Island territorial waters. We will take defensive action. Repeating: vessels ahead—"
Drones swarmed like flocks of birds, rising and falling in vast clouds that choked the sky, looking down with chilling indifference.
The faces on the boats, still glowing with triumph, instantly froze.
"Wait a second, is there some mistake?"
"What's happening?"
"Don't shoot! We're on your side! We're your own people!"
Intimidated by the naval guns, the jubilant fleet hastily slowed to a stop on the open water. Yet no matter what pleas they broadcast over the radio, the only response they received was a curt, icy command:
Depart immediately!
"Officer, we're all from Luo Island! We're all..." The captain was drenched in cold sweat. "You've definitely made a mistake."
The voice on the other end of the radio was devoid of emotion. "Luo Island's maritime ban has never been lifted. To date, aside from officially authorized phlogiston transport vessels, no civilian ships have put out to sea."
"W-wait, I have proof!" Among the crew, someone's eyes lit up. He frantically fumbled through his pockets, fished out his ID card, and stumbled through the registration number several times.
Regrettably, it did nothing to thaw the frost.
"Fraudulent."
The voice on the radio grew even colder. "That identification card was revoked two days ago. Stop wasting our time with this nonsense. Turn around immediately. Right now!"
Boom!
With a deafening roar, a secondary cannon abruptly discharged. The shell grazed past the flotilla and plunged into the sea, churning up massive surges of spray.
The men aboard stood paralyzed, their faces draining of all color.
They had never imagined that man named Ji could be so ruthless.
"If there's no room for me here, there's plenty of room elsewhere!"
The captain snarled, unable to contain his fury. "I've got more than enough money anyway! From this day forth, I'm severing all ties with Luo Island! Let that bastard Ji regret it!"
After lingering for a long while, the flotilla was ultimately driven away by the naval guns, heading straight for Dancheng without looking back.
Furious curses still crackled through the radio.
Yet no one cared.
Haian's fleet impassively blockaded the entire maritime domain. After driving off four separate flotillas of varying sizes, no one dared venture out into the sea again.
No questions were asked about casualties, nor about their haul.
If they chose to leave Luo Island, then they could fend for themselves.
To each their own dreams, to each their own path.
Across the Thousand Islands, blockbuster news arrived in a relentless flood. Rumors circulated constantly throughout the Seven Cities: so-and-so struck it rich overnight, bought citizenship in the Federation or Empire, and left to live in luxury; or someone else's entire fleet was wiped out, leaving not even bones behind... Such occurrences were so commonplace they ceased to be surprising.
Amid mounting hauls and ever-escalating bounties, the shipbuilding and repair industries across the Seven Cities enjoyed their greatest boom in decades.
No matter how Ji Jue opposed or policed it, he could not curb the collective madness sweeping the Thousand Islands.
Spurred by endless myths of overnight fortune, countless people pawned their family belongings, gritted their teeth, took out loans to buy secondhand boats, and hoisted their sails for the open ocean.
Those who had nothing left but their lives chose to cast those lives away, chasing an unattainable mirage.
Reflected in countless illusory dreams of hope, everything appeared to be thriving.
The Seven Cities boiled, surging and frothing.
Songs and revelry seemed as though they would never end.
Under the cold, watchful gaze looking down from above, it marched step by step toward its predetermined end.
When storm clouds gathered once more on the horizon, Ji Jue lifted his head inside his workshop.
Once again, he could not resist letting out a silent laugh.
"Finally..."
Just moments ago, the ward down in the abyss had been tripped!
Like a bobber dipping slightly beneath the surface of the water.
A big fish was about to bite!
Chapter 767