Chapter 39: Too Noisy

The streets outside the Municipal Hall were clamorous; even Chen Zhi, situated in the underground space, could feel the excitement of the people on the surface.

Cheers were everywhere, especially from that large loudspeaker at the entrance of the Municipal Hall; it was unclear what method it used to produce sound without electricity, but it was so loud that even underground, it could be heard clearly.

Several players who had changed their attire were standing on tiptoe, looking toward the viewing platform. The surroundings were filled with celebration banners made of ribbons and colored paper, all to welcome the new Governor.

Not everyone had the right to vote for the Governor; only the official tax-paying residents of Tana City were eligible to vote.

In previous elections, there were instances of paying taxes directly for serfs, which meant votes could be purchased.

But this year was different; because of several malicious incidents involving the Evil God cult, the number of votes in Tana City had decreased significantly, so even paying taxes for serfs was a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, this Governor was also one of the most valuable Governors.

Many newspaper reporters were mixed in among the crowd watching in the first row. The War Church and the Wealth Church had both dispatched guards and Gold Ties to maintain order, and several captains were watching the crowd closely, fearing even the slightest problem.

The last Evil God sacrificial incident had just concluded, and the final mastermind had turned into a dried corpse due to the failure of the ritual.

However, the Seal Object used to guide the ritual had not been found. The entire church power structure of Tana City was very concerned about this matter; whether it was the Zheng Shen Church or the Evil God cult, both attached great importance to it.

Dozens of Sun God Cult Believers raised banners to protest the election results, but they were quickly cleared out from among the onlookers. The remaining spectators were mostly from the City Hall and nearby middle-class residents.

Viktor Edmond brought Yezi to the square. At this moment, Yezi was completely different from when she had first arrived in Tana City; the clothing on her body was a silk long dress worn by ordinary middle-class people, with embroidery and intricate prints on it. The leg-of-mutton sleeves made her head look very small, giving her a very photogenic appearance on camera.

Some reporters moved their lenses toward Yezi, but they quickly turned them back.

A newly popular dancer was not yet worth these reporters spending too much space to describe.

After all, camera film was limited, and they had to save their important shooting content for the main event.

"If I'm not mistaken, this new Governor should be the esteemed Mr. Jones, who has been in the spotlight recently. He played an absolute role during the last Municipal Hall incident. In any case, this gentleman with decisive ability will be the new Governor," Viktor said to Yezi beside him. "The young lady who often sends you flowers is Mr. Jones's daughter."

Yezi nodded. She not only knew that it was Mr. Jones's daughter, but she also knew that the person who often appeared by her side was an Awakened.

Ai Ai had told her all of this. Recently, she had let Ai Ai use her new identity to paint posters for the Theater, and the effect was very good.

If Ai Ai's face hadn't already changed, this Viktor would still think she was the original Emily.

But now Ai Ai was called Ada, and she was making herself different from Emily.

"Cough, cough." Viktor's body had not fully recovered. He continued, "In a moment, you need to present a bouquet to Mr. Jones. Don't be nervous; it's just going through the motions."

Being able to have Saina arrange for someone to deliver a bouquet showed Mr. Jones's certain victory; Viktor attached great importance to this matter.

Ever since the Theater had Yezi, business had become more prosperous than before; the audience was no longer just those bachelors from the Sun God Cult.

Soon, amidst a burst of cheers, the final candidate for Governor was confirmed. Mr. Jones confidently raised his left hand, welcoming an even higher level of cheering.

Chen Zhi, sitting dryly in the Sewers, felt it was extremely noisy, but as long as those players didn't come to bother him, noisy was just noisy.

Over these past few days, the players had finally cleaned up the Sewers. The entire sewer could accommodate ten thousand players, allowing them to respawn within the Sewers.

However, Chen Zhi still had self-awareness; it was unwise to bring in ten thousand players for testing right away, so he decided to increase the next batch by only 100 players, letting them slowly adapt to the environment of Tana City first.

It had to be said that the first test was quite successful; not only could the players ensure their own survival, but Chen Zhi himself also had quite a few gains.

Once this batch of players logged off, Chen Zhi would possess 17 Gold Tana. This money would become startup capital; by the next test, every player could have 10 Tana in their pocket, ensuring they would have the ability to consume as soon as they logged in.

It had to be said that the players were clever little money-makers. Apart from those players doing manual labor, the players who engaged in business and made handicrafts opened Chen Zhi's eyes.

The handcarts sold by Zhuguli and others became best-selling products on the Tana City railways. This product, which could improve the work efficiency of the workers, greatly alleviated the problem of cargo backlog in Tana City caused by Agnes.

Besides that, there were players who set up breakfast stalls in the city after having capital; the breakfast they made received unanimous praise in Tana City.

What Chen Zhi found most remarkable were the few players who ran into the mountains to hunt beasts.

They seemed to have their own ideas; after leaving the Nongzhuang, they found a Hunter to buy tools for hunting and started a life in the jungle.

Of course, the one who benefited the most was actually Chen Zhi.

"No wonder that guy wanted to devour things at will." Chen Zhi raised one hand and saw his spoils from this time—the Red Gallows.

This thing had already been slowly devoured by Chen Zhi in part.

Because he was afraid of going crazy, Chen Zhi was very cautious when doing this; once he discovered there was a problem with his brain, he would throw away the Red Gallows.

He would wait until he recovered before doing anything else.

And the content of devouring the Red Gallows also turned into strings of garbled code, stored on the computer's D drive in Chen Zhi's consciousness.

Ever since he started devouring the Red Gallows, Chen Zhi's sensing range had also grown much larger. For example, near the high mountains in the north, Chen Zhi could already sense the range of the Military Camp.

In the future, if players ran to the mountains or the Nongzhuang, Chen Zhi wouldn't have to worry about these players doing anything particularly outrageous or detrimental to the development of the game.

Of course, if these players were particularly good at running, then Chen Zhi couldn't control them, but as long as most players kept to the current rhythm, it wouldn't be a big problem.

He put the Gallows away, threw it to the side, and then said to Susan, who was wiping the newly crafted altar: "You've done a good job with your tasks recently. Once things settle down, I will issue your wages."

(End of chapter)