Chapter 130: Construction and Undercurrents

Time flew, half a year passed silently amidst the fervent construction wave in Xuanwu City.

Over the past six months, for all the residents of Xuanwu City, every day has been a tremendous change.

Thanks to the vast amount of engineering machinery Lin Yue exchanged from the System Mall, and Black Tortoise's seemingly miraculous 【All Things Return to the Ruins】 ability, Wang Gongtou and his Engineering Department unleashed a staggering construction frenzy.

"Mayor Li, the central avenue of Dong Xing Zhen still lacks the final three kilometers to fully connect with Yong'an Zhen to the south! I've left the blueprints here, every detail marked clearly—tonight bring the crew to work overtime, and you must have it done by tomorrow morning!"

Inside the makeshift Engineering Department Command Center, Wang Gongtou said to the dark-skinned man before him.

That man was precisely the leader of the Black Wolf Shelter back then, and now he is Old Li, the village chief of the First Village of Dong Xing Zhen, and also the mayor of Dong Xing Zhen.

"Minister Wang, just watch!"

Old Li patted his chest, his face full of a vigorous smile,

"Don't mention three kilometers—if you want me to pave the whole road up to the City Lord's Mansion gate tonight, I'll get it done!"

"Hahaha! Having your word is enough!"

Wang Gongtou satisfiedly patted his shoulder, then immediately turned to the other side,

"Xi Ping Zhen! Your township's livestock farm plan is also out—come pick it up later! Remember, this is a project personally overseen by the City Lord; surely you all know what that means without me spelling it out!"

Wang Gongtou is now bursting with joy from good fortune—he never imagined he would ever have the chance to oversee such a grand project in his lifetime.

Brand-new five-story residential buildings rose from the ground, replacing the old shabby two-story houses; wide, flat asphalt roads crisscrossed like black dragons, tightly linking the four major towns; in the vast agricultural area, lush high-yield rice swayed in the wind, exuding a refreshing fragrance, while the sweet potato fields nearby were plump with large tubers, awaiting a single command to usher in an unprecedented bumper harvest.

Purified water was channeled into specially dug conduits, flowing through every corner of the city, not only solving everyone's drinking problem but also giving this steel city a touch of the grace of a Jiangnan water town.

All of this filled all the residents of Xuanwu City with boundless anticipation and hope for the future.

However, beneath the sunshine, shadows always grow.

……

Night fell, in Xi Ping Zhen, inside an inconspicuous residential building.

Under the dim light, a youth wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and scholarly, was spitting impassioned words at the dozen or so men before him, delivering a fervent "speech".

His name is Wu Bin, a top graduate of the Architecture Department at Qingbei University.

Before the apocalypse, he was a heaven-sent prodigy, harboring the ambition to make his mark in his hometown Hangcheng.

But a sudden apocalypse shattered all his pride and aspirations.

Fortunately, he became one of the over two thousand Hangcheng survivors taken in by Lin Yue.

Initially, he felt grateful toward Lin Yue.

He also smoothly joined Wang Gongtou's Engineering Department thanks to his expertise, once believing he had finally found a stage to display his talents.

But reality gave him a resounding slap.

His conceited designs, blending the most advanced pre-apocalypse architectural concepts, were dismissed as worthless in the face of Wang Gongtou, who only cared about "practical" and "sturdy," a mere country bumpkin.

"Flashy!"

"Impractical!"

"We're in the apocalypse now, not putting on an art show!"

Every proposal was met with Wang Gongtou's merciless rebuttal and mockery.

Sometime ago, Wu Bin's gratitude gradually turned into resentment and jealousy.

He hated Wang Gongtou, that stubborn old fool—how could a man who never attended college dare to boss around a Qingbei top graduate like him?

He hated Lin Yue even more!

In his view, Wang Gongtou could throw his weight around only because he relied on Lin Yue's trust in him.

This so-called Xuanwu City is certainly not humanity's last pure land, but a feudal dynasty controlled by a dictator, where rank is determined by seniority and there is no fairness whatsoever.

On what grounds?

On what grounds does Lin Yue loom high above, possessing this miraculous city, enjoying everyone's admiration and reverence?

On what grounds does Wu Bin, who possesses talent but nothing else, merely serve as a draft‑paper lackey under an old fool?

Jealousy twisted him completely.

He began secretly contacting those who were likewise dissatisfied with the state of Xuanwu City.

"Brother, are you willing?"

Wu Bin looked at the youth before him, who had been docked half a month's wages for slacking on the job, his voice full of seduction.

That youth was named Zhang Wei, who had been a good‑for‑nothing loafer in Suchen as well, and after joining Xuanwu City remained unchanged.

"Wu bro, I… I have nothing to be unwilling about?"

Zhang Wei shrank his neck, glancing around somewhat fearfully.

"Cut the act!"

Wu Bin snorted coldly, leaned close to his ear, and lowered his voice,

"I know you resent it! Why do we slave away every day and get only a pittance of Xuanwu Currency a month, while those who followed Lin Yue from the start, doing nothing, live in the best houses and eat the best food?"

Zhang Wei's breath instantly grew ragged.

Wu Bin's words struck right at his heart.

"Just look at Wang Gongtou—because he's senior, he orders us around! Is that fair?!"

"Wu bro, what… what do you want to say?"

Zhang Wei swallowed hard with difficulty.

Wu Bin's eyes flashed with a dangerous light.

He patted Zhang Wei's shoulder and said, word by word:

"What I want to say is, this city should not be controlled by a dictator! It should belong to each of us! We should establish a brand‑new, truly fair and just order!"

"Let ability, not seniority, determine one's status and treatment!"

"And we are the hope to change all of this!"

Zhang Wei's heart went "thump-thump", racing wildly.

The future Wu Bin depicted was, to him, filled with deadly temptation.

"Wu bro…… I…… I did it with you!"

In this way, relying on his extremely incendiary rhetoric and precise control over people's hearts, in just over a month Wu Bin secretly recruited more than twenty members among the newly arrived residents, and together with the original dozen or so formed an underground organization called the "Anti-Lin Alliance".

Among them, there were even three members of the Black Tortoise Guard who had previously been punished for violating discipline.

Moreover, thanks to their addition, Wu Bin now had in his hands a full five Gauss electromagnetic rifles.

This gave him the confidence to launch a coup.

He knew that Lin Yue usually kept to himself, with tight security around him, leaving them no chance to strike.

But now, Xuanwu City is undertaking an unprecedented massive construction project, with the influx of over eighty thousand new residents making the city's management extraordinarily complicated.

Wu Bin believed that, as City Lord, Lin Yue could absolutely not turn a blind eye to all this.

He will definitely come out to inspect!

And that is his only chance—Wu Bin's, and theirs, the Anti-Lin Alliance's only chance!

However, what he didn't know was that all this, which he thought was secret, had long been discovered by Lin Yue.