Chapter 360: Testing Operations, Brainstorming

The negotiation over territory division atop the clock tower concluded amidst the heavy rain.

Wei Shan became the absolute ruler of this city without lifting a finger.

Dealing with this scum that fears power but not virtue, he believed military intimidation was far more effective than the lure of benefits.

The leaders of the seven gangs, though unwilling, did not dare to show even a shred of defiance.

The fate of the Gear Gang leader lay before them; that lump of iron still dripping blood was precisely the punishment for "refusal."

They might have had the confidence to clash with other gangs, but before Wei Shan, they possessed no power to resist.

Combat power far exceeding that of this world rendered all schemes and tricks futile.

Next, he only needed to use the hands of these seven leaders to spread a vast net for harvesting Shock Value.

But before that, he must first clarify the city's assets.

For instance, exactly how much daily resource output each district of the city produced, and how much basic consumption these outputs could support for the residents.

Only by settling this account clearly could he precisely control the scale of rewards for the "Courage Challenge."

Two days later.

A brand-new building rose in the center of New Cassini City, replacing the original clock tower.

The building's shape resembled a cluster of mist gathered on the ground, its surface flowing with eerie purple light patterns.

From afar, it looked like a crouching purple beast; up close, it appeared more like a phantom image generated by holographic projection.

If viewed from high above, it resembled a purple eye opening.

The building was protected by an invisible force, keeping rain and dust out.

Gang members who had previously roamed this area were long gone, replaced by guards wearing uniform attire.

Nearby residents hid behind broken walls and ruins, cautiously poking their heads out to peek.

Their eyes reflected the peculiarly shaped building, and amidst their whispering, they were full of uncertain murmurs.

"What the hell is that thing? Where did the clock tower go?"

In the crowd, an old woman missing a front tooth clutched a tattered scarf, her wrinkled face flashing with confusion.

She had never seen such a bizarre building.

The eerie purple light patterns flowing on the building's surface moved like living creatures, seeming not to be a product of this era.

Beside the old woman, several ragged children lay behind an abandoned private flying vehicle, their dirty little faces filled with curiosity.

The oldest boy suddenly pointed at the building and cried out:

"Look quickly, the light on this thing is moving."

In the direction of his finger, the mist on the building's surface expanded and contracted like breathing, and inside, many blurred outlines could be seen.

It was as if countless souls trapped within were trying to break through the barrier.

The most timid girl bared her teeth, about to cry, but the old woman tightly covered her mouth, glanced alertly at the guards outside the building, and dragged the little girl into the shadows:

"Stay far away; this is not a good thing."

Just as nearby residents felt puzzled by the sudden appearance of the new building, broadcasts in various districts of New Cassini suddenly rang out.

The voice of the Wild Wolf Gang leader reached every corner of the city clearly:

"Residents of New Cassini, we announce a major piece of good news: the city center tower has been demolished, and we have built a 'Nightmare Trial Ground' here. It is now open for use by all residents. As long as you have the courage to enter the trial scene and undertake the Courage Challenge, you can obtain clean water and sufficient food."

"Completing a Tier 1 challenge allows you to exchange for one bottle of 500ml purified water and two bags of grain; completing a Tier 2 challenge earns you three days' worth of compressed biscuits; Tier 3 and above challenges... Additionally, after the challenge ends, you can also obtain some basic Sheng Huo Yong Pin..."

The broadcast repeated over and over, and the city, once dead due to resource scarcity, suddenly came to life.

At the same time, in the streets and alleys of the city, notices were plastered all over broken walls, ruins, and abandoned streetlights.

The notices were written in eye-catching red paint.

They contained the same content as the broadcast, with challenge levels and corresponding rewards marked beside them.

At the very bottom, a line of small text was printed:

"No matter what you have done before, as long as you step into the Trial Ground, you can obtain an equal opportunity."

Many residents poked their heads out from the ruins where they hid to check the content of the nearby notices, yet their eyes were full of hesitation.

The reason was nothing else; the villains managing this city were simply not trustworthy.

Suddenly launching some "Courage Challenge," who knows what evil conspiracy lies behind it.

Perhaps they want to trick them into going there to undergo some terrible experiment.

Distrustful words were everywhere in the city.

"Heh, Courage Challenge? I'm afraid they just want to trick us in to be made into feed. These villains occupy all the resources in the city; we are already like this, and they still want to eat us dry and clean!"

"My cousin went to pick up trash near the energy station the day before yesterday, but the villains of the Iron Hand Gang broke his legs. Now they suddenly say they will give us water and food; they must want to trick people in to drain our blood for research."

"Maybe some villain from a gang wants to replace organs; this is just screening for matching candidates."

Several children clung to the edge of the notice board, staring longingly at the drawings of bread and water bottles on it.

But they were roughly pulled back by the adults behind them.

A mother sternly scolded her son who had ideas, her voice trembling slightly:

"Don't believe these things; when have those gang beasts ever shown kindness?"

Clean water and food are the most luxurious things for them now.

But they simply did not believe such good fortune existed.

After all, in this city, kindness has always been the most expensive scam.

The Iron Hand Gang had once set up a "free porridge distribution" stall in the city, but the people who drank the porridge were all caught the next day and taken to the energy mining area outside the city, where shackles were nailed to their ankles; thereafter, they could only become slaves until they died.

With such tricks happening so often, the eight major gangs had long lost their credibility.

Yet, as the broadcast repeated over and over, some who had long sunk into despair began to waver.

At this moment, near the Nightmare Trial Ground, an old man hunched over quietly pushed through the crowd and took stumbling steps toward the building.

"Grandpa!"

Behind him, the little girl cried out, trying to chase after him, but a neighbor held her tightly.

The old man turned his head at this moment.

His face, emaciated from extreme hunger, had prominent cheekbones and sunken eye sockets; for an instant, tenderness flashed in his gaze toward his granddaughter.

His cracked lips moved, but no sound came out—only his hand waved gently toward the girl.

His hands were covered in frostbites and fissures, with black mud from digging through rubble still embedded beneath his nails.

When he turned back, the tenderness in his eyes vanished, replaced by utter resolve.

He stared at the building with flowing purple light patterns, as if it were his last straw.

His Adam's apple struggled to move; the cramping in his stomach reminded him his body had reached its absolute limit.

The last half of the compressed biscuit had been given to his granddaughter yesterday; now he could barely even drink dirty water.

In this city seized by thugs, only two fates awaited them.

Either die from stray bullets in gang warfare, or slowly rot from hunger and disease.

His cloudy eyes swept over the faces along the way—some fearful, some hesitant—and he knew these people, like him, were weighing a calculation.

Was it more painful to starve to death, or to enter that strange building and face the despair it might bring?

But for this old man, whose body was already half-buried in earth, there was no choice—his feet were the answer.

He took a deep breath; his sunken chest rose slightly, then he stepped forward, one deliberate step at a time, toward the Nightmare Trial Ground.

His shoes crushed through puddles, splashing tiny mud droplets, making the surrounding onlookers tense up.

When the old man reached the front of the building, he glanced at the armed guards at the entrance, then his gaze swept to the tables behind them piled high with water and food.

Without further hesitation, he clenched his teeth and stepped inside.

Under the gaze of the onlookers, the old man's figure slowly vanished into the entrance shrouded in purple mist.

The onlooking residents held their breath, staring fixedly at the eerie building.

Time passed, yet none of the onlookers left—they still waited for the old man's return.

One minute, two minutes… an hour.

The old man did not return.

The crowd began to stir; whispers spread like a rising tide.

A man with a lame leg spat fiercely onto the ground:

"I knew it—that old bastard's been torn apart into parts. What good could those beasts possibly do?"

On the other side, the little girl stared blankly, her small hand unconsciously gripping the tattered hem of her neighbor's clothes, whispering:

"Will Grandpa come back?"

The air was thick with oppression.

Some began to silently step back; the purple building before them now looked like a monster that devoured life.

Several young men, eyes red, picked up broken stones from the ground, wanting to vent their rage by hurling them at the building—but they ultimately held back.

That act could easily make them wish they were dead.

"Go on, all of you, leave. In this world, there's no such thing as free blessings," said a middle-aged woman, shaking her head in sorrow.

Just as the crowd was about to disperse, the building's surface suddenly rippled.

The purple mist churned violently, forming a vortex-like passage.

The onlookers recoiled in terror—then saw a hunched figure emerge from within the building.

It was the old man who had just entered.

He stood trembling at the doorway, his face frozen in utter terror, as if he had endured unspeakable horrors inside.

His cracked lips quivered continuously, yet no sound escaped.

When he tried to step forward, his legs suddenly spasmed unnaturally, nearly causing him to collapse.

At that moment, the guards outside the building stepped forward, glancing at the faintly fading glowing numbers on the old man's arm.

Then they picked up from behind them a sealed bottle of purified water and two bags wrapped in aluminum foil.

"First-stage challenge completed. Reward issued in full," said the brutal-looking guard, handing the rewards to the old man.

The old man's pupils shrank sharply; he stared at the crystal-clear water, which reflected faces like a mirror, and a hoarse "huh-huh" escaped his throat.

He reached out tremblingly, then clutched the water and food tightly to his chest.

The rustling sound of aluminum foil rubbing against his chest was startlingly clear in the deathly silence.

The old man's hunched back seemed to straighten slightly under the weight in his arms; the lingering terror on his face gradually gave way to disbelief and wild joy.

"C-can I… go again?" the old man rasped, trembling as he pointed back toward the building's interior.

The guard nodded:

"If you wish to continue the challenge, you may do so at any time."

Upon hearing this, the old man's face lit up with joy—then he shook his head violently, clutching the water and biscuits, and turned to leave.

His steps remained unsteady, but urgent—as if afraid the guards behind him would change their minds.

As he passed through the crowd, the water bottle in his arms reflected the faces of those nearby—shocked, or greedy.

Someone instinctively reached out to snatch it—but the old man stumbled aside to avoid them.

He clutched his treasures tightly, rushing toward his little granddaughter.

When the girl threw herself into his arms, he immediately shoved the water bottle and biscuits into her hands; then, turning his back to the crowd, his hunched body stood like a crude wall, alert for anyone who might come to steal.

"Eat, Nān'er, eat quickly."

He trembled as he tore open the biscuit's foil, and a scent blending grains and oil instantly spread.

In the hunger-stricken sense of smell, this fragrance was magnified infinitely, making even the air seem sweet.

The already starving little girl, tears in her eyes, took a huge bite; crumbs fell onto her clothes, and the old man hurriedly picked them up with his withered fingers and stuffed them into his mouth.

For the 500 milliliters of purified water, he let his granddaughter hold it and drink her fill, while he himself took only two sips before screwing the cap tight.

As the water slid down his cracked throat, carrying a faint sweetness and coolness, he couldn't help but squint his eyes.

For the first time in three months, he tasted water that didn't mix with mud and rust.

A woman from the neighbor's house held her child, hiding not far away; the child, starving, gnawed on his fingers, his eyes fixed straight on the biscuits in the old man's arms.

The old man hesitated for a moment, broke the remaining half biscuit into two pieces, and handed one over:

"Give it to the child to tide him over."

The woman was stunned; her hands shook as she took the biscuit, thanked him repeatedly, and turned to stuff it into her own child's mouth.

The sound of fine chewing rose continuously, like stones thrown into a lake, stirring up ripples among the onlookers surrounding them.

Someone unconsciously swallowed, the sound of the Adam's apple rolling being especially clear in the silence.

Someone stared fixedly at that small half-bottle of purified water, the desire in their eyes almost overflowing.

The old man stuffed the last bite of biscuit into his mouth, wiped the crumbs from his granddaughter's mouth corner, turned to show everyone that the foil contained no biscuits left, and only then dared to lead the child deeper into the ruins.

His back remained hunched, yet because of the strength brought by that bit of food, his steps were noticeably steadier.

And the crowd left behind, like dry wood ignited, instantly erupted into chaos.

"He really got it."

"That water looks so clean; I really want to drink it."

"A first-tier challenge can fill the stomach; should we go try it?"

The whispering grew louder; just moments ago, fear and doubt, in the face of tangible food, were like ice and snow under the sun, gradually melting away.

But at this moment, still no one dared to continue trying.

They feared the old man was merely bait, that those villains wanted to use temporary benefits as bait to lure more people into this strange building.

How could this bunch of beasts managing the city possibly truly distribute resources to everyone?

They could not think of a single reasonable explanation.

Many curious crowds hurried toward the direction where the old man lived, wanting to ask in detail what he had experienced inside.

At this moment, Wei Shan, stationed behind the scenes, was also observing the city residents' reactions.

This bunch of beasts, already co-opted, had previously done nothing human, causing his plan's early progress to be slow.