Chapter 73: The Briber

"Kingdom of Disorder," in Ninglu's hand, the amber liquid in the silver glass surged with strange golden-brown ripples, as if countless eyeballs were soaking in molten gold.

He tilted his head and drank it down; the moment the amber liquid slid into his throat, the knuckles of his hands suddenly took on a pearlescent luster, and dots of golden light emerged on his fingernails.

At the same time, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

While Ninglu reined in the overflowing power of the Potion, he organized the extraordinary abilities of the "Briber."

The core ability is naturally "Bribe," which produces various effects by giving the target certain things in a literal or symbolic sense.

There are four aspects to its specific application.

"Weaken": Significantly weaken the target's attacks, defenses, or control against oneself for a certain period.

"Charm": Make the target develop a strong sense of favor, make it difficult for hostile intentions to arise, and even make them unwilling to fight the "Briber"; if the "bribe" is appropriate, there is even a tiny probability of them attacking their own companions instead.

"Arrogance": Make the target proud, arrogant, mentally diminished, and prone to misjudgment.

"Connection": Create a connection between both parties, establishing a link.

In addition to the core ability, Ninglu's Spirituality was further strengthened, and his physical body received a small boost.

His throwing ability was enhanced in a mystical sense, making him more adept when tossing bribe items.

At the same moment Ninglu was organizing his gains, at the Xinggang of Vostonia.

A man as tall as an average adult, wearing a golden robe, stood with a bald giant beside him, surveying the busy Xinggang.

The bald giant wore a green robe, and there was a lifelike hydra tattoo on the side of his right cheek.

The golden-robed man's consciousness spread to the surroundings; the voices of countless people talking and their thoughts all flowed into his mind.

Besides learning that Ninglu liked all kinds of strange items and creatures, several other pieces of information caught his attention.

"Suolapuwu, I just came from Exemplar City, the Hive City built personally by King Ninglu—do you know it? It is an amazing city, completely different from other Hive Cities."

"Exemplar City is just as its name suggests; other Hive Cities should emulate it. I really hope I can see that day."

"I really hope that one day, after I have eleven children, I will be lucky enough to complete one of the thirty-three requirements set by King Ninglu and obtain residency in Exemplar City."

"..."

The golden-robed man looked down at the scene below with great interest; his gaze was sharp, piercing through the toxic clouds to look at the city where industrial exhaust was thinnest.

It towered into the clouds and was the tallest Hive City in the entire world; the spire of the highest Hive Tower was only a dozen kilometers away from the Xinggang.

A dozen seconds later, he spoke to the man beside him who was holding a double-headed spear in standard High Gothic.

"Let's go, let's go see the Exemplar Hive City built by your brother and praised by the Vostonians."

The two walked toward the tarmac; the guards saw the tall figure holding a spear from hundreds of meters away.

The Captain of the guards opened his mouth to warn his subordinates, but the golden-robed man's gaze flashed, and the Captain's movements stiffened; after his brain was in Chaos for a moment, he forgot his words and thoughts.

In their eyes, they only saw the person in the green robe, and they could no longer see or remember the spear in his hand.

After the golden-robed man walked another dozen steps, he frowned slightly, lost in thought.

Immediately, he realized that this Xinggang was completely different from what he had seen on Terra and other Hive City Xinggangs; the busy workers had a light of hope shining on them.

A glimmer of brilliance flashed in his eyes, and he looked forward to Exemplar City even more.

Half a stellar hour later, in a luxurious aircraft, the golden-robed man spoke in Vostonian.

"You are all certified merchants of the Chao Du Hanghui, right? This is my first time going to Exemplar City; can you tell me what is special about it?"

Before he spoke, no one had noticed his existence, but the moment he opened his mouth, he attracted everyone's attention.

The five wealthy merchants looked at the man who possessed an angel-like perfect appearance and illuminated the entire flight cabin, feeling astonished; they wondered how they had not noticed such a dazzling person before.

The wealthy merchant, who wore a popular black robe and a bone bead bracelet from the Cradle of the Sea on his wrist, was stunned for a dozen seconds before he was the first to react; he subconsciously used an honorific to address the person in front of him.

"My lord, if you ask what is different, it can only be described as completely different."

"Exemplar City is a city designed by King Ninglu; although it also has a hierarchy like other Hive Cities, it rarely makes you feel the existence of classes."

"Dingchao, Shangchao, Zhongchao, Lower Hive, and Underhive are more like different components of an industrial Machine, a single industrial chain."

He paused for a moment; facing the noble man, he felt dissatisfied with his own answer. He wanted to give a satisfactory answer, so he decided to give an example.

"The factories in the Underhive recycle waste from other Hive Cities to form raw materials; the factories in the Lower Hive refine the raw materials into Miguel Steel; the Zhongchao uses this steel for different purposes to manufacture Mag-trans."

"People in the Shangchao use selected steel to manufacture Jinggong Wuji, and the families in the Dingchao perhaps use the best steel to manufacture Jinggong Huojia."

"The Mag-trans climbs upward from the Underhive, gradually unloading cargo and offloading steel of different standards; such a division of labor is not a cause for Shock..."

He took a deep breath, his eyes shining.

"What is most shocking is that all the workers essentially only have a difference in income."

"Residents of the Underhive have realistic and feasible channels to climb upward; one way is to improve their skills, and the other is through childbirth."

"Although the standards remain very high for them, it is much easier than the rapid ascent of the past."

"This gives them plenty of motivation; they no longer view labor as a forced act of survival, but as a path worth striving for to change their destiny."

He concluded with a suggestion, speaking to the most noble person.

"You can go to the Underhive and take a look; Exemplar City is different from other Hive Cities, there are no dangerous Hive City creatures or mutants."

"The environment is clean and tidy by the standards of the Underhive; even in the Dome, trash is rarely seen."

The golden-robed man nodded, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Thank you for your introduction and suggestion."

As he spoke, the aircraft vibrated slightly, completing its docking.

When the many wealthy merchants wanted to ask questions to curry favor, they seemed to fall into slow motion, watching the two leave.

The person in the green robe walked on the clean main road, looked at the pedestrians walking with Rapid steps, and spoke.

"The air pollution here is very low; if it weren't for the flow of air in this world, there might be no pollution at all."

The golden-robed person nodded slightly, looking at the levitating train traveling at Rapid speed in the distance.

"Let's go take a look there."

A moment later, three kilometers away from the cargo area, the green-robed man looked at the goods being spot-checked by the inspector and spoke.

"A total of one hundred shipping containers, each with one hundred precision-crafted laser guns; for ordinary people, these are powerful weapons, and their quality far exceeds the products of other Hive Cities."

"It seems the Hive City governed by this brother has not lowered the quality of its weapons in order to improve the people's standard of living."

"The other items, such as armor and grenades, are also of good quality."

The man in the gold robe nodded to acknowledge his judgment, then spoke.

"Go to the Underhive and see how he resolves the mutant problem."

(End of chapter)