Looking at An Mu City from afar, it felt like a wall standing at the edge of the world.
Like a giant dragon lying across the land, with the rising sun as its open eyes, its dominating presence seemed to sweep over everything.
Feng Qi didn't stop. He led Xiao You and the others straight toward An Mu City.
At that moment, he saw large clusters of clouds suddenly fly out from above An Mu City, heading in their direction, quickly passing overhead, and flying straight toward Elf City.
These were Elf plants called cloud cotton, known for their ability to float and travel at high speeds.
Humans often used these plants for transportation or cargo delivery.
On the translucent cloud cotton, many figures stood, surrounded by wooden crates.
This batch clearly carried resources obtained from the frontline domain field.
Since the sky track between An Mu City and Elf City hadn't been completed yet, Elf City could only rely on these cloud cotton for high-altitude transport to receive frontline supplies from An Mu City.
Once the green sky track was finished, a stable supply route would link An Mu and Elf City, and the cloud cotton transport teams wouldn't need to make these trips as often.
But Feng Qi knew that even when the transport tracks were completed, it would only become harder for Elf City to get resources from An Mu City.
For now, things hadn't fallen apart yet. An Mu still officially served the Elf King.
But when An Mu finally chose to break ties, the Elf King would struggle to get any more support from the frontline to help Elf City grow.
This was somewhat like the relationship between the Institute of Technological Research and the Crimson Research Institute.
The Crimson Research Institute knew very well that the Institute of Technological Research had long been controlled by Black Shadow.
But many technological devices needed the Institute's help. The Crimson Research Institute wouldn't tear things apart just yet and would still seek help when needed.
Meanwhile, Black Shadow, unaware that the Crimson Research Institute had discovered its infiltration, would continue to offer support without hesitation.
The relationship between the Elf King and An Mu was just like that.
The Elf King had already sensed something was wrong with An Mu, but An Mu clearly didn't know it had been found out. It still played along, sending resources to the Elf King.
But compared to the East, the bond between the Elf King and An Mu was much more fragile.
A fully grown An Mu could break this balance anytime, without worrying about the Elf King coming after it.
The Elf King's nature meant it couldn't move freely. After all, it was the core of Elf City. Its roots spread throughout the entire city, with many offshoot plants merged into the city's buildings. If the Elf King moved, the entire city would collapse.
It would be like destroying a building's foundation—the structure couldn't stand, collapse was inevitable.
This was one of the reasons why An Mu could act so fearlessly.
Given enough time, it was only a matter of time before An Mu surpassed the Elf King, and not a long time at that.
Their talents were on completely different levels.
As the Elf King put it, An Mu was born from countless fragments of perfect life information, the chosen one. Its success was a fluke. Even with the same amount of time, the Elf King wasn't confident it could create another An Mu.
But at least, for now, they hadn't broken ties.
That was why Feng Qi wasn't worried about danger in An Mu City. He was still the Elf King's guest.
They got closer to the dark-red city gate.
No one guarded the southern gate.
Feng Qi wasn't surprised. After all, the south led to Elf City, and this area was completely controlled by humans—no other domain creatures existed here.
But he was sure the northern gate facing the domain field would be heavily guarded.
Standing before the vine-wrapped gate, Feng Qi paused.
A slender dark-red vine extended toward him. Then, a faint golden glow lit up on his chest, coming from the golden Elf seed rooted in his heart, responding.
At once, the vines forming the gate retracted to both sides, revealing a passage inward.
Feng Qi led Xiao You and the others into the city.
The scene inside An Mu City wasn't as vibrant as the Elf King's city, but there were still many colorful plants blooming.
Many buildings on the streets were entirely made of Elf plants, without a trace of cement or steel.
The plants here were generally darker in color.
But judging from the life force they radiated, they were no weaker than the green Elf plants in Elf City.
He remembered what the Elf King had said about An Mu's growth potential. It came up once before.
The Elf King had said that An Mu's potential wasn't just in itself, but also in the Elf seeds it could produce.
The ability to bear many offspring was part of the Elf King's own life information ability, something it passed on to An Mu at the beginning.
Back then, the Elf King's idea was simple—so An Mu could better build An Mu City, it gave it this ability.
Although An Mu didn't have a Life Furnace, the Elf seeds it produced still had extremely high potential.
Like how the offspring of a powerful race would naturally have high potential.
An Mu's potential was no less than that of a strong race, so its offspring Elf seeds started from a very high point.
The only downside was that the Elf seeds An Mu produced lacked diversity. Unlike the Elf King, it couldn't just use a Life Furnace to mix and create offspring with any ability it wanted.
That's why, in addition to the dark-red plants, there were many special plants transplanted from Elf City in the city.
Walking down the street.
Feng Qi felt this frontline city lacked the daily liveliness of Elf City and had more of a cold, killing aura.
People on the streets hurried by, life here seemed fast-paced.
If Elf City was a human paradise, An Mu City was more in line with a post-apocalyptic city, its colors darker and more oppressive.
The people on the streets glanced at them, their eyes drifting over Xiao You and the others.
But they barely paid attention to Feng Qi himself.
That was clearly because of the Elf seed implanted in him.
Since no one stopped him, Feng Qi kept walking toward the center of An Mu City.
The spiritual energy here wasn't as rich as in Elf City, but the air seemed to hold something that made the spirit feel more alert.
With each breath, he could clearly sense his mind sharpening.
At least it wasn't harmful to the body.
Heading toward the city center, the ground was covered in a thick layer of dark-red moss, giving off a light, fresh scent. Most people were geared up.
Soon, he reached the bustling part of the city.
There were no crisscrossing green railways here, just lots of cloud cotton moving between tall buildings.
As the sky darkened, the street lamps along An Mu City's roads glowed like Halloween pumpkins, casting an orange light, wrapping the whole city in a warm hue.
Compared to the serene, ethereal style of Elf City.
This place felt more mysterious, eerie. Twisting vines with eyes slithered everywhere, watching every move in the city—An Mu's offshoot plants monitoring constantly.
As he walked down a street, a figure suddenly appeared before Feng Qi, blocking his way.
It was a middle-aged man in a black trench coat, a dark-red Elf mark on his forehead, sharp brows like swords, eyes sharp and full of spirit. He held a cigar, smoke curling up, with veins bulging on his right arm, spreading like spider webs.
Feng Qi noticed a stiffness in the man's movements.
If he wasn't wrong, this man was close to being fully assimilated by the Elves, his life soon to continue in another form.
"You're Feng Qi, right?"
The middle-aged man took a deep drag from his cigar and asked.
"You know me?"
"No, but I know about you. Xie Yuanli, who met you in Elf City, graduated from the same academy as me. We were comrades. He told me you'd be coming and asked me to receive you."
As he spoke, the man took another deep puff, then smiled.
"After you entered the city, our law enforcement got the surveillance notice, so I found you easily. Now, come with me."
With that, the man turned and headed east down the street.
Feng Qi followed right after.
On the way, the man started to introduce himself.
From his story, Feng Qi learned that his name was Wen Xiuqi. He was the second-in-command of An Mu City's South District Law Enforcement, in charge of security there.
After some small talk, they arrived at the law enforcement office.
With Wen Xiuqi's help, Feng Qi completed identity registration. Now, moving around the city wouldn't attract too much attention from the surveillance network. Even if he left, Xiao You and the others wouldn't be attacked by An Mu City's Elf plants.
After wrapping up, Wen Xiuqi brought Feng Qi to a lounge.
Once they sat down on the sofas, Wen Xiuqi sat opposite him, smiling.
"You must have lots of questions about An Mu City. Ask me anything. If you need a place to stay, I can arrange that too."
Feng Qi's eyes focused on Wen Xiuqi's right arm.
"Your body… is it being assimilated by the Elves?"
Wen Xiuqi calmly took a drag, face expressionless.
"You're not wrong. My body's already turning Elf. I probably won't make it past this year. Once I finish my tasks, I'll head to the frontline too."
"You and Xie Yuanli should be about the same age. Why is the speed of your assimilation so different?"
Facing Feng Qi's doubt, Wen Xiuqi shook his head.
"It's not the same. Li Zi has the Elf seed from the Elf King, but I've got one from an An Mu Envoy. The difference in growth potential between the two is huge… Just based on strength, I can take on three of him. That make sense?"
As he spoke, Wen Xiuqi grinned proudly.
Feng Qi felt a bit awkward but got what he meant.
The Elf seeds born from An Mu had way stronger potential than the ordinary Elf seeds from the Elf King, which meant those implanted with them had shorter lifespans.
The stronger the Elf seed's growth potential, the more it clashed with human lifespan.
If one side got stronger, the other would naturally get weaker.
But Wen Xiuqi seemed to have already accepted his situation, showing no signs of regret.
Maybe that was just part of life in the Central Region—everyone had come to terms with being eventually assimilated by the Elves.
After that, with Feng Qi asking more, Wen Xiuqi began explaining the situation in An Mu City.
An Mu City wasn't nearly as big as Elf City, but it was planned and built following Elf City's layout.
The city was divided into four major districts—east, south, west, and north—with An Mu itself in the central zone, called the Core Zone.
The city kept expanding north. Every time they crushed a Domain Field, the city would grow along with An Mu's spread.
The military setup here was different from the Eastern Region.
The Eastern Region relied on free Domain Combat Squads for its frontline forces.
But An Mu City centered its war efforts around three main legions, with every soldier belonging to one of them.
Each system had its pros and cons.
The Eastern Region's army mainly defended cities, while the squads were the ones pushing the frontlines.
Small squads had tight bonds, and the system worked well for taking on multiple Domain Fields at once, helping them grow without much limit.
An Mu City's legion-based system was powerful as a whole, but if they got stuck at one Domain Field, splitting up to open a new one became a real hassle.
Orders had to go through layers of command, which took time to reach the front.
But squads didn't have that issue. The squad leader made all the calls, no need to wait for orders from above.
Feng Qi didn't know which system was better—he figured it just depended on the environment and what kind of growth each place needed. No right or wrong.
As they chatted, the topic shifted to growth systems.
When Feng Qi brought up the flaws in the Central Region's growth system, Wen Xiuqi's expression changed, and after a short pause, he said:
"We actually looked for solutions before. There was even unrest because of it."
"Unrest?"
"Yeah, about three hundred years ago, the top brass started thinking that the partnership with the Elf King was getting out of control. Things weren't going how they expected. If it kept going, humans would become the weaker side, with our lives totally at the Elf King's mercy. So they started looking for a new path."
"During that time, something happened. Some of the more extreme leaders thought we should keep some resources for ourselves to research a new path, not hand everything over to the Elf King. They stirred up public emotions in speeches, and people began protesting. They believed humanity had to forge its own way, to overthrow the Elf King's control."
Wen Xiuqi took a deep drag, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"That caused a split among humans, a real ideological divide. Elf City was in constant turmoil, protesters even surrounded the Elf King. But the Elf King didn't do anything."
"And then?" Feng Qi asked curiously.
"The Elf King didn't act, but we did. They were foolish. Even if we all knew the risks of working with the Elf King, we couldn't afford to be abandoned. Without the Elves, we couldn't survive here."
"The idea of building a new growth system was good, but they pushed too hard. Their failure was inevitable. After that, bringing up a new growth system became taboo. Hardly anyone talks about it now…"
Hearing all that, Feng Qi nodded silently.
He could imagine how many storms there must've been in the years of the Elf-Human alliance.
The peace now came with a heavy price and untold stories.
Alliances are about constant adjustment.
There's bound to be conflict over beliefs.
Unless it was like Star City's alliance with the Mist Clan—just trading resources, no fights over land or anything else.
That kind of alliance wasn't as tight as the one between Elves and humans, but it could last a long time.