Chapter 795: Mogang

Upon hearing the voice from behind the door, all the hardened criminals except Lu Mi changed expression.

Ge Yi blurted out:

"What's behind the door?"

Could it be that exile means being delivered straight into some monster's mouth to be eaten?

"Behind the door is a path leading to your place of exile," replied the beautiful woman with an oval face simply. "There will be no monsters waiting to devour you, but it is indeed dangerous. I don't know the exact nature of the danger, but there is certainly hope for you to keep living—far better than being hanged or shot outright."

Ge Yi, Les, and the others exchanged glances, then glanced at the clerics around them dressed in plain white robes edged with golden copper thread, momentarily restless—but ultimately held back.

They believed they were no match for the Church of Knowledge's clerics, and the beautiful woman who had read their verdict clearly held higher status.

The refined-looking Ge Yi turned his gaze toward Lu Mi and found that this self-proclaimed fugitive, who claimed to have committed multiple grave crimes, wore a calm, unafraid expression.

"I will open the door shortly. Enter on your own. Those who remain behind will face aggravated punishment and be executed on the spot." The beautiful woman with the oval face raised her hands, and in her pale blue eyes, countless illusory specks of light seemed to surface.

Dull, blackened rain fell silently from a height of four meters, drenching Lu Mi and the others.

Lu Mi immediately felt a surge of irritation, and a flicker of violent emotion rose within him.

It was as if Oumibela's bloodline was stirring.

"What have you done to us?" Ge Yi asked, uneasy and alarmed.

The beautiful woman, clad in a light beige jacket edged with golden copper thread, spoke in a tone of instruction:

"This is a secret art called 'Haps's Sterilizing Rain.' It renders you infertile, but can be reversed through corresponding secret arts or professional physicians."

"We do not wish for infants to be born in the place of exile—they are innocent."

Sterilizing Rain… No wonder Oumibela's bloodline reacted so strongly… I wonder if this art has already taken effect on me, or if Oumibela's bloodline has nullified it… If it truly works, will it prevent the embryo from implanting properly when I'm later impregnated by Oumibela under the 'Great Mother's' blessing? That would depend on the rank of the influence… Lu Mi thought the Sterilizing Rain wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The other hardened criminals didn't see this as a problem either—either they already had offspring, or they were cold-blooded, cruel, or twisted, and saw no appeal in children bearing their own blood.

The beautiful woman with the oval face stepped back several paces, faced the large copper door, and extended her hands, pressing down through the air.

The door groaned with a heavy metallic screech and slowly swung open.

For some reason, Ge Yi and the others suddenly felt a longing, and without thinking, they stepped through the doorway into the dark, narrow corridor beyond.

They did not notice that, aside from the oval-faced woman, all other Church of Knowledge clerics had already retreated to the start of the corridor and stood upon the steps as the copper door opened.

Lu Mi too felt the longing, and simultaneously sensed something familiar yet unknown calling to him from deep within the corridor.

He walked near the middle of the group when he heard the clang of the door shutting behind him.

The light inside the corridor instantly dimmed, illuminated only by the glowing gems embedded in the walls.

How extravagant… Lu Mi instinctively murmured.

At that moment, the refined-looking Ge Yi glanced left and right and said:

"Should we stay here and wait until the guards outside are gone, then find a way to break open this door and escape?"

"Do you think the previous exiles never thought of this?" sneered the gloomy Wei Jiepan. "And we're still wearing our restraints—how are we supposed to run?"

Lu Mi watched coldly, noticing that Ge Yi could, to some extent, resist the inner longing and consider escaping, while the other hardened criminals began finding reasons to reject his proposal.

After they argued for two or three minutes, Lu Mi asked casually:

"Do we have any food?"

"What if the guards' oversight only happens once every few days?"

Without giving Ge Yi a chance to answer, Lu Mi continued on his own:

"Actually, we do have food—you're all food."

Here, Lu Mi turned to Les, the cannibal chef, and smiled:

"How should we prepare ourselves?"

"Best suited for stewing and pickling—add the right spices to prevent a sour taste," replied the seemingly simple-minded Les, his face lighting up.

Ge Yi fell silent for several seconds, then, handcuffed and shackled, slowly walked deeper into the corridor. Lu Mi followed at the same pace.

They walked for a long time—Lu Mi estimated seven or eight hours, but doubted his sense of time had become distorted.

Throughout this time, not a single person chose to stop; ahead lay not a city of exile, but a land of hope.

They frequently heard the indescribable, horrifying sounds, prompting Les, the cannibal chef, to remark:

"We're walking through some monster's long digestive tract, heading toward its stomach—the sounds we hear are its gut churning and digesting."

Lu Mi wholeheartedly agreed; the others suddenly felt their hairs stand on end.

Finally, they saw stone steps ascending ahead.

This seemed to signal that the end was near.

After climbing the steps and pushing open the heavy wooden door, slightly ajar, Lu Mi and the others instinctively shut their eyes against the blinding, radiant sunlight—and the indescribable, chilling sound vanished instantly.

Almost simultaneously, a gentle voice sounded in their ears:

"Welcome to 'Exile City' Mogang."

So it is… Lu Mi exhaled silently, opened his eyes, and surveyed his surroundings.

They stood inside the main prayer hall of a church, sunlight streaming through stained-glass windows, casting a sacred, glorious scene.

Along the walls without glass, murals depicted mythological legends; below them stood rows of bookshelves forged from copper, filled with countless books and exam papers.

The place resembled a library more than a church.

The speaker was an elderly man clad in a plain white robe edged with golden copper thread, aged sixty to seventy, his hair streaked with white, his amber eyes clear and gentle, utterly free of cloudiness. He held a thick book in his left palm—a typical Church of Knowledge scholar-cleric.

But Lu Mi felt this wasn't a real person—he suspected it was some specially crafted automaton.

"Mogang? This place is called Mogang?" Ge Yi opened his eyes, curious.

The old man nodded:

"I am Herabeg, responsible for all theological affairs in Mogang."

As he spoke, he extended his right hand and pointed at Lu Mi and the others.

Their handcuffs, leg irons, and iron chains piercing their collarbones instantly softened, becoming like mud.

With clinking sounds, they fell away from the criminals' bodies and clattered onto the gray-white stone floor in their metallic forms.

This made the hardened criminals all tense, abandoning any ill intentions.

Herabeg then handed them the thick book and a steel pen with a copper casing:

"Register your names. This signifies your formal status as residents of Mogang."

Lu Mi strictly followed the rules, took the book, and wrote "Louis."

Next was Ge Yi, who took the book and pen and cautiously asked Herabeg:

"How do you know we're writing our real names?"

Herabeg replied calmly:

"The past is irrelevant. In Mogang, what matters is the present and the future."

Ge Yi pondered for a while, unsure what the cleric truly meant.

Considering the Church of Knowledge could exchange information via telegraph, he didn't fabricate a false name—he wrote his real one honestly.

Once all the hardened criminals had registered, Herabeg looked at Lu Mi and the others and said:

"Rules still apply here. Most laws are the same as in other cities of Lunbao, but legal duels are permitted if both parties consent, and no one will be held accountable afterward. Peaceful demonstrations not involving violence are also allowed."

"We have dedicated teams to maintain order in Mogang."

The seemingly simple-minded middle-aged man Les asked:

"Can we join the enforcement team?"

"All enforcement team members are experimental personnel," Herabeg replied gently.

Ge Yi pressed further:

"Then how do we become experimental personnel?"

The gloomy Wei Jiepan asked:

"What happens if we break the law here? Imprisonment? Or execution?"

Herabeg smiled:

"The most severe punishment for breaking the law here is becoming experimental personnel."

"So we just become enforcers?" Ge Yi blinked in surprise.

Isn't this encouraging us to commit crimes?

Lu Mi recalled the frequent appearance of the term "experimental personnel" in the "0—01" sealed dossier.

Just from that dossier, he knew becoming experimental personnel was certainly not a good thing.

Herabeg kept his expression unchanged:

"Yes, but remember—aside from the Church's overseers, experimental personnel are discarded at least two per day."

Discarded… Ge Yi and the others found this oddly used word deeply terrifying.

"How many people are there in Mogang now?" Lu Mi asked a strangely odd question.

Herabeg smiled and replied:

"Nearly two hundred thousand. There are farms, mines, and factories surrounding the city—all part of Mogang."

"Nearly two hundred thousand? Does Lunbao have this many hardened criminals?" Lu Mi felt slightly surprised.

Herabeg answered dutifully:

"They've accumulated over generations. We also spend money importing hardened criminals from abroad."

Importing… as if recruiting talent… Lu Mi weighed his options for a few seconds, chose not to commit a crime yet, and instead volunteered to become experimental personnel—hoping for a chance to get close to the sealed "0—01."

He bid farewell to Herabeg and walked toward the entrance of this library-like church, planning to first locate the two severed parts of the "Pus-oozing Broken Hand."

(End of Chapter)