Facing Ritian's skepticism, Chu Yu continued explaining her perspective. "Of course I support it. It looks unreasonable on the surface, but in reality, it aligns with Emperor Wu of Han's strategy of weakening the feudatories." Before Emperor Wu's reforms, enfeoffed princes could choose their own heirs to inherit their fiefs. As the number of princes grew, the imperial court's land dwindled, gradually shifting the balance of power between both sides.
After the reforms, whenever an enfeoffed prince fathered a child, that child was carved a piece of land from the fiefdom. As a result, several decades later, not a single region retained the power to challenge the court.
Chu Yu's idea was to siphon off the wealth of the rich through their number of wives and children. The more wives and children they had, the faster their fortunes would disperse. On the other hand, their children possessed far more resources than ordinary kids, making it much easier for them to become accomplished.
Out of a total population of eight million, suppose ten elites originally managed the city. After reproduction, there would be fifty elites, and in another generation, two hundred and fifty elites. With the total population remaining unchanged, the average resources each elite received could only decline.
In the end, the elites would end up trapped in cutthroat competition among themselves, while ordinary folks who wished to work hard would have room for advancement, and those who didn't would have guaranteed survival.
Chu Yu said, "It sounds absurd and overly idealistic, but with so many Sixiang Cities, I believe at least one will develop this way. A Sixiang City that evolves like that is a city I'd be satisfied with."
Setting aside whether Chu Yu's analysis was right or wrong, Ding Shi became increasingly convinced of his own view: the aliens were stirring up all this trouble simply to observe humanity. The instances observed individuals and teams, while Sixiang City observed society and development. However, this ran counter to an earlier theory of his, where he had thought the aliens might be searching for specific people they needed.
Alas, an alien's heart was a needle at the bottom of the sea—impossible to fathom.
While driving and chatting, Ding Shi spotted pursuing vehicles. "Brother Kai, Yuyu, get down!"
Two agent vehicles caught up with VV711. Ding Shi rolled down his window. The other side took a look—black suit, dark sunglasses, just like them, another agent pursuing the target. So they stepped on the gas, overtook VV711, and sped ahead in pursuit.
This trick worked like a charm every time—until Shabi arrived. Ding Shi immediately noticed that this car, SB250, was different from the rest. Others would pull alongside first to confirm the situation inside, but Shabi's car went straight to business.
Shabi went for an American-style PIT maneuver right off the bat. Ding Shi wasn't about to let him have his way; he tapped the brakes to drop his speed, bringing the two cars side by side. Ding Shi rolled down his driver-side window while Shabi rolled down his front passenger window. Both exchanged a glance—no mistake, it was the right guy.
Hunched over the steering wheel to drive, Ding Shi kept low as Chu Yu gripped her handgun with both hands from the passenger seat, aimed at Shabi's vehicle, and pulled the trigger. Shabi braked preemptively, and all three bullets she fired missed. That was the inexperience of a rookie: hesitating on the trigger and taking too long to aim.
Ding Shi yelled, "Get to the back seat! Use the emergency hammer to break off a section of the rear window!"
Under normal circumstances, Chu Yu wouldn't have understood that command, but right now her blood was pumping hot and her adrenaline was surging; she instantly grasped what Ding Shi meant. Scrambling into the back seat, she let Brother Kai take the front passenger seat while she smashed the rear window with the emergency hammer and snapped off a chunk with her hands.
At the same time, Shabi was also dismantling his front windshield. He pulled over to the roadside without hesitation, smashed through the windshield with an emergency hammer, and kicked the glass out. Stomping the gas pedal to the floor, he pursued them from behind.
Shabi had already figured out how he had died three times, but he couldn't accept it, nor did he want to admit he had been taken down by Ding Shi three times.
Shabi had killed more than a dozen questers, seized the X pathogens they carried, and completed the system quest long ago. Originally, he had just intended to idle away the time until he accidentally saw the photo sent out by the War Police system showing all occupants of the traffic-violating car—and saw Ding Shi's damned face.
Five minutes later, Shabi's car caught up to Yuyu's car. Without slowing down, he rammed toward it at full speed. Ding Shi saw it clearly and turned the steering wheel in a wide lane change. Shabi wisely chose not to follow through. His car was traveling forty kilometers per hour faster than Yuyu's car, and Yuyu's car was heavier; recklessly following through would likely cause Shabi's vehicle to flip.
Chu Yu aimed her gun with both hands through the opening in the rear window. Shabi slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel to the right, causing her bullet to strike his car's A-pillar. Shabi accelerated to catch up, holding the wheel with his left hand while firing at Yuyu's car with his right.
Chu Yu shouted, "Here he comes!"
Ding Shi slammed on the brakes, triggering the brake steering assist while cutting into the right lane. Shabi cursed inwardly. They were too close; he couldn't swerve directly into the right lane to ram Yuyu's car, as that would roll his own vehicle. As a result, Shabi was forced to brake as well; otherwise, his car would shoot out in front.
Shabi was on his own. If his car was ahead with the enemy behind, he wouldn't be able to turn around and shoot. Yuyu's car, on the other hand, had a dedicated rookie shooter in Chu Yu, who could fire whether they were in front or behind.
In a car chase gunfight, marksmanship and driving technique mattered, but luck was the ultimate deciding factor; when a rookie shooter hit a streak of insane luck, they could pull off an instant miracle. That fell into the realm of the mystical—though people often said beginner's luck was extraordinarily strong.
Whenever Shabi braked hard, Yuyu's car floored the accelerator.
One chasing, one fleeing, both vehicles were unwittingly pushing their mechanical limits to the brink.
Ding Shi knew the vehicle intimately, pushing it close to its handling limits with every maneuver. Shabi could only react move for move. Though he appeared to be the pursuer, he was actually on the defensive the entire time.
Suddenly, a scene of War Police chasing a player appeared on the road ahead. A police cruiser was trailing behind a jeep, demanding that it slow down.
At the sight of the War Police, both Chu Yu and Shabi simultaneously lowered their weapons.
Once they cleared that stretch of road, Chu Yu resumed trading fire with Shabi. Shabi suddenly realized a critical problem: the other side had more ammunition than he did. How could they have more ammo than him? Could it be his own fault for playing 'chief transport officer' and delivering it to them?
Shabi decided that once his ammo ran out, he would withdraw to a base to resupply before resuming the chase.
Ding Shi warned, "Hold your fire."
Chu Yu stopped and shrank back into the rear seat as a row of speed cameras flashed repeatedly, snapping photos of passing vehicles.
"Back to work. Empty two magazines first!"
Chu Yu climbed back into her firing position, seeing Shabi close within a hundred meters, his right hand raising a gun. Half an hour ago, Chu Yu would have scrambled for cover and asked Ding Shi for advice. Now, she chose to go head-to-head with Shabi, and both pulled their triggers at the same time.
Most handguns on the market were semi-automatic, discharging one round per pull of the trigger. Chu Yu's handgun, however, was fully automatic; holding the trigger down unleashed rounds at maximum firing rate. An entire magazine turned into a spray of lead, sending twenty bullets flying at Shabi's car from varying angles.
Chu Yu ducked back, slapped in a fresh magazine, leaned out, aimed, and held down the trigger. In no time, her two-magazine assignment was complete.
Chu Yu didn't see whether Shabi was hit, but she saw his car lose control and slam into the guardrail on the right. The entire vehicle launched several meters into the air, rotated one hundred and eighty degrees, and crashed roof-first onto the pavement. Five seconds later, an explosion erupted, and raging flames swiftly engulfed the car.
Ding Shi said admiringly, "Impressive, Yu!"
Chu Yu was thrilled. "Thanks for the compliment, Driver Ding!"
Ding Shi said, "Check yourself. See if you've been hit." He had already checked his own body and found nothing.
Chu Yu patted herself down, focused on her body, and confirmed she wasn't wounded.
Ding Shi glanced at Brother Kai in the front passenger seat, took a second look, and called out, "Yuyu."
Chu Yu checked Ritian. He was still alive, though somewhat delirious from the agony of his illness. Hearing Ding Shi call her, she answered, "I'm here."
Ding Shi said, "Brother Kai is dead."
Chu Yu gasped in shock. Looking at the back of the front passenger seat, she spotted three bullet holes. Leaning forward, she saw the front passenger seat soaked in blood. Brother Kai's body was held upright by the seatbelt, his head swaying faintly with the slight vibrations of the car.
At the sight, Chu Yu's tears spilled uncontrollably. Covering her mouth, she sank back into the rear seat, doing her best not to make a sound.
Ding Shi said, "We'll reach Jibei Province in three hours. First we'll drop Ritian off in Beishang County, then take you to Jibei County, and finally I'll head to Beiyang County on my own." He unbuckled Brother Kai's seatbelt and, with a gentle push, lowered the body down onto the passenger footwell.
Chu Yu choked out, "Okay."
An agent vehicle caught up from behind, honking its horn. Ding Shi told Chu Yu to stay hidden while he drew parallel with the car. Rolling down his window, he pointed forward. The agent gave him a thumbs-up, stepped on the gas, and surged ahead in pursuit.
Ding Shi smoothly blended his car into the pack of pursuing agents. Although some suspected that the target had slipped into the pursuit group, no one had formed teams, there were no walkie-talkies, and with the vehicles traveling at high speeds, nobody could say for sure which car was the target.
Chapter 59