Chapter 121: The Conscience of the Alliance

"I think City Three is excellent," Qi Chen said from the bottom of his heart.

Although he had not yet visited any of the other cities in the Alliance, and his only glimpse of the settlements within the Mist was a fleeting one at Yellowstone Town, he could still give this answer with great certainty. At the very least, based on his life in City Three and his work experience at the Anomaly Handling Department, he was incredibly satisfied with the city. Despite the lingering, oppressive atmosphere that still permeated its streets, City Three was, on the whole, a rare city that was striving for progress.

Hearing Qi Chen's sincere response, Li Taixing chuckled and rose from the sofa to top off his cup with water. This gesture left Qi Chen feeling somewhat flattered. The Chief Executive was pouring tea for him—good heavens!

"I feel honored to receive such an evaluation from you," Li Taixing said as he sat back down, his eyes filled with warmth. "I heard from Xiao Fu that you haven't been to any other cities, right? But surely, you must have heard something about the situation in the other cities of the Alliance? Your partner, Warm Man, isn't a native of our City Three, yet he is now a true part of it."

Qi Chen nodded. He knew that Warm Man had once lived in City Two, and from his partner’s accounts, he had learned what kind of place that city was. By Warm Man’s description, compared to City Three, City Two was rotten to the core. Even accounting for a "hometown filter," the fact that Warm Man held such a low opinion of City Two—especially as an Anomaly Walker—spoke volumes about how terrible a place it truly was.

Yet, why was Li Taixing asking this? Qi Chen looked curiously at the old man who had held such a high position for decades. "Elder Li, what do you think of the other cities in the Alliance?"

Li Taixing smiled, not answering the question immediately, but instead shifting the focus. "Do you know the purpose of the multi-city conference we are attending on behalf of City Three?"

Qi Chen certainly did not know. He was merely an operative on the front lines of the Anomaly Handling Department, far from the upper echelons; how could he know the details of the multi-city conference? However, since Li Taixing had asked, it meant he would soon find out.

"This multi-city conference includes participants from only four cities," Li Taixing said, taking a sip of tea to soothe his throat. "City One, City Three, City Six, and City Nine. You must be wondering: the Alliance has nine cities, so why is the conference held only between the four of us?"

Recalling what he knew of City Two, Qi Chen formed a vague guess, and what Li Taixing said next confirmed it entirely.

"Because... only these four cities are still thinking about the bigger picture," Elder Li said, his gaze drifting off. "In reality, the nine cities of the Alliance were meant to be one family. We all originated from the initial City One. But in that era, due to various forms of immaturity, and in order to expand our survival space, waves of talent migrated out from City One to establish new cities in different regions. At the very beginning, there was no such thing as an 'Alliance.' We were all people of City One, sharing the same identity."

Qi Chen remained silent. He could imagine that as time slowly passed, the isolation caused by the Mist, the inconvenience of travel, and the chaos of the wilderness during the early days of the Mist's arrival would have inevitably weakened the connections between the old and new cities. There would no longer be just one City One. New interests would create new interest groups, with the various cities as the primary actors. Once core interests diverged, the once-unified collective was naturally fragmented, eventually evolving into the nine cities of the Alliance.

"To this day, there are significant rifts between the cities of the Alliance. But because of external threats that cannot be ignored, and for the sake of generating greater collective benefits, the Alliance has managed to endure," Li Taixing said with a faint, mocking smile. "Xiao Qi, do you find that ridiculous?"

Qi Chen could not laugh. He could feel the heavy, profound sorrow Li Taixing was suppressing as he spoke. This man, who could be considered one of the very first pioneers after the advent of the Mist era, could hardly feel happy about the current state of affairs, where the cities were united in name but divided in spirit. This, perhaps, was the purpose of the conference he mentioned earlier: to reconnect the loose Alliance into a tight-knit whole once again!

"For humanity, when facing anomalies and all kinds of threats, unity is the most effective solution," Li Taixing said slowly. "In the early days of the Mist era, it was through unity that we managed to grasp the rules of the anomalies and survive until today. If we abandon our greatest strength now and are content to fight alone, we will certainly be defeated one by one."

By now, Qi Chen could clearly perceive the direction of Elder Li's vision. His focus was not merely on City Three, but on the entire Alliance, and perhaps even something further beyond.

"Do you think our efforts are meaningful?" Li Taixing suddenly smiled, looking at Qi Chen kindly.

"They are meaningful! Of course they are!" Qi Chen replied with absolute certainty, not because of Li Taixing's status as Chief Executive, but purely because of everything he had just said.

"Haha!" Li Taixing laughed heartily. "It seems Xiao Fu’s judgment is truly excellent. I heard she was the one who insisted on recruiting you into the Anomaly Handling Department. Without you, we might have suffered even greater losses in the most recent anomaly event."

*Knock, knock.*

Li Taixing’s door was suddenly rapped, and the voice of his personal guard came from outside. "Elder Li, the meeting with the other administrators is about to begin. How soon shall we depart?"

"Just a moment," Li Taixing replied. He turned back to look at Qi Chen, his eyes lacking the cloudiness typical of his age, appearing instead clearer than a child's. "Xiao Qi, I’m going to say something that you might find laughable: our City Three... is perhaps the last conscience of the Alliance. I hope more people can become the backbone of City Three, and the backbone of the Alliance. Of course, this is not an obligation, merely my hope."

Qi Chen remained silent as he followed Li Taixing out of his residence. The guards waiting outside immediately ushered Li Taixing into a car, and the latter had also arranged for a vehicle to take Qi Chen back.

Before they parted, Li Taixing offered Qi Chen a warm, cheerful smile. "I enjoyed our chat very much; I feel as though I’ve grown younger. If you have the chance, come and talk to me more often, Xiao Qi."

"I certainly will!" Qi Chen watched as Li Taixing’s car drove away, and he then boarded his own vehicle to begin the journey back to the Anomaly Handling Department.

Inside the car, he slowly closed his eyes, the conversation with Li Taixing echoing in his ears.

"The... conscience of the Alliance, is it?"