Chapter 698

NO. 67: Because it's not the New Year Meeting.

Indeed, the Qixi sacrifice once spread everywhere as a variant name for the Qixi Festival, but if it is taken as a definite ceremony, it is more often the stage of Jidong.

That land is very skilled at using the name 'festival' to consume expenses, and is more accustomed to passing on culture in the form of festivals.

In its policies and systems, it also offers considerable convenience and support for handling similar celebration programs.

And Heaven Gate City is no different.

Rather than saying it is a city rich in Jidong culture, it is better to say it is a city of extreme cultural diversity.

This diversity gives rise to an attitude that is easy to appear—appropriation.

If a method is practical, we take it; our Heaven Gate City can also use festivals to shift conflicts and internal consumption, and incidentally give the economy a small boost—beneficial in every way, with no drawbacks—

"An violent incident has occurred at Outdoor Area 3, with multiple personnel casualties!"

"Multiple prohibited items have been seized at Cultural Exhibition Hall 5, and the related search is still underway."

"The public's armed parade protesting the lack of holiday for Qixi has already injured multiple police officers."

"Report! Heaven Gate City data is abnormal! Possibly related to the on-site weapon clash, there will be a brief interworld influx phenomenon."

"The beast mascot at Outdoor Area 11 is grappling with the mechanical mascot at Area 12, and the area has already initiated a mutagenic barrier."

"An illegal Ullambana Festival has appeared at Rocky Area 12—" "Isn't it just opening a few days early? Why report this?!" "They've started fighting with those preparing for the Zhongyuan Festival! It has already developed into a clash between Buddhism and Daoism." "By the way, there's also a premature rehearsal of the Jidong Ullambana Festival mixed in there; a group of people practicing the Ullambana dance have been dragged into the fighting, and now it's unclear who is hitting whom."

Hey!

Words like 'all benefit and no harm' cannot be uttered by the senior police leadership nor the director of the Two Worlds Safety Office.

Diversity does not necessarily mean openness and tolerance; it may also be contradictory chaos, and the prosperity of Heaven Gate City is precisely built upon that relatively compromised degree of police-civilian cooperation freedom.

The public can at any time uphold the law and champion justice, which at first sounds cool, but it also subtly reveals the fact—how frequently must lawbreakers and unjust people appear before the public is granted the right to take action freely?

Don't ask; asking just means the populace is simple and honest.

Asking means the police bureau and the safety office have to work overtime!

Thus, when Aomo's party arrived at the Qixi festival stall on Rhodes Island—seeing that Miss Star Bear's 1.8-meter standee hanging there while the person was missing……the group's gaze inevitably turned toward the guide, Miss Kong.

And her face also showed a genuine look of surprise.

Rather than explaining, they first summoned a staff member from the scene—a tall, silver-haired woman in Jidong-style yukata who ran over briskly, smiling warmly as she approached, but when asked about the situation she revealed an embarrassed expression.

"If you'd come twenty minutes earlier it would have been fine, but she was dragged off to overtime twenty minutes ago, and Chen went with her. Actually I wanted to help too, but Ye Dao's lot told me to watch the stall… after all, the others aren't really good at fighting."

The girl saying this, with a pair of white horns upright on her head and a work badge on her chest bearing the name Matomaru/Chan Wan, had behind her a specially thickened and widened huge naginata.

The Jidong-style attire, racial traits, plus the weapon, when combined, create quite a jarring contrast, enough to make the two Jidong horse-girls in the team show subtle expressions.

A ghost wearing a yukata and shouldering a large naginata looks somewhat ahead of its time, and will probably not be spared from people questioning whether it's cosplay.

"How long will she probably be back?" Miss Kong asked.

The other party's talk of watching the stall and fighting, which should by rights be rather abnormal remarks, but in the scene nobody paid any attention.

After all, some people are stationed long-term in Heaven Gate City, while others have plenty of knowledge about it.

Even Aomo, who had only come to Heaven Gate City for the second time and previously only knew of this place through text and pictures, also noticed the other stalls upon arrival, noting that they more or less all had some equipment resembling weapons.

The security personnel responsible for back-and-forth patrols are even more fully armed, some wearing exoskeletons, some donning special armor, and even some walking around in mechs.

It is evident that the most common program of this Qixi festival is basically fighting.

This also quite matches his imagination of Heaven Gate City.

"I don't know either, ghost," Chan Wan shook her head, "although this place looks fairly peaceful, other places seem to have quite a lot going on."

"Looks like the luck isn't great," Aomo sighed, "if so, then we might as well……"

He wanted to directly change locations, or go straight home; having had considerable interaction with Miss Kong on the way here, he considered the 'colleague familiarity' segment already accomplished, and thus shouldn't disturb these two pairs——

——especially Ludaofu and Qianming, he was still hoping to see gossip reports on the forum or news later, truthfulness aside, he just liked reading the comment section!

But before he could finish his sentence, someone interjected: "Just go stroll around the festival; it's just that evening when it officially begins!"

He then glanced sideways at Xin Tiaoqian, who blinked and put on an innocent expression, even with the 'cover' of an uninvolved person.

"Yeah yeah, want to come try our program?" The enthusiasm of some people is natural, as with this Miss Chan Wan who seems oblivious to everything, simply recruiting customers for her own 'club': "Our team's simulated imaging is truly realistic! It was originally meant to develop toward headquarters."

It sounds like high-tech, but for some reason coming from her mouth it has a subtle feeling of a market stall pitch; but if we talk about market stall pitches, Aomo usually cares about price rather than the other's boasted texture, so……

"You all look like friends of Kong and Dekesasi, so no charge—I'll go notify Wei Enta, you wait here a moment! I'll be right back!"

That fiery ghost girl ran off, just as she had come quickly at the start.

Such her probably really could manage to come back quickly……

"Simulated imaging technology, I'm really looking forward to it! Do you know what program they're preparing here? Kong."

"Not sure, oh; I only recall that they asked friends from a tech company for technical guidance, and let friends from the library side create a script, using the version of the Blazing Country's Qixi, ah, when I say Blazing Country here I mean that Blazing Country from my original world."

"Basically consistent with the culture of Dongyan, even the language differs hardly at all." The previously silent Qieli nina only added a tip-like reminder here.

Compared to the occasional trendy-woman talk from Tiaoqian, Kong, and Qianming's side, she also just often had an off-and-on chat with Aomo and Ludaofu Xiangzheng.

"Huh? Sounds like the myth versions are different," Qianming said sharply, "What do you yourself think? Kong."

"Probably? I heard that the few friends who wrote the script even had an argument." Kong was somewhat uncertain.

Easily striking up rapport to the point of calling someone by their stage name is precisely Qianming's representative's social skill.

Those who excel always know how to use their advantages, and turn that advantage into a habit, a trait.

Just as loveliness and genuine cleverness are indistinguishable, so too is unrestraint inseparable from Qianming's representative.

That clear, free style always easily interrupts all arrangements without becoming annoying; when she stands together with Ludaofu Xiangzheng, Aomo inevitably finds himself imagining.

In that era, did this girl also repeatedly barge into the emperor's life countless times, as if deciding for him, thereby bringing him endless vexation.

"Could it be that a secondary creation was added?" the emperor asked.

The one who ought to have felt helpless joined the discussion, so that helplessness could only be piled onto the imaginer.

"It's quite likely that modern traditional stories all like to add subtle adaptations," Texas also said.

Cherlina, who has seen many dramas and even had her own past once become material for adaptation, saying this is also especially convincing.

Aomo silently watched this group of people chatting together, even Qielinena joined the discussion, and Xi expressed an expectation similar to Qianming's.

After he sighed, he stepped forward and asked, "May I ask who is on the list of script participants?"

Since everyone was interested, he didn't want to spoil the fun, but whenever he thought of 'script', he suspected that a certain short-video director was involved.

Nian's short video was well shot, but apart from short videos...

Then it could only be a lump.

But unexpectedly, the other party gave an answer he had never imagined:

"Miss Lin, Miss Huoerhaiya, Miss Xi, Miss Wubika, ah, their code names in the company are Awakening of Insects, Huoerhaiya, Xi, Polar Star, oh!"

Thoughtful Miss Kong felt that, compared to their real names, everyone might be clearer about the company code names.

Things like nicknames are generally easier to remember than names, especially long strings of names.

But even with her thoughtfulness, Aomo would still only feel bewildered by this list.

Could these really be names that could be placed on a list?

And why isn't Nian there?