The edge of the Safe Zone was a profoundly backward place.
This backwardness manifested in every aspect, not just the streets and the people gathered there.
Even education, which the Unified Government prioritized most highly, was no exception.
A day's curriculum for the senior year at «Jū'ān School» consisted of dull history about ancient humanity's glory and outdated scientific theories.
Even though gods now ruled the world, the classrooms here still spouted meaningless concepts like "separation of powers" and "social revolution."
Even mathematics with its functions and geometry, physics with its force field analysis, and chemistry with its molecular structures felt pale and powerless.
The old adage, "Master math and science, and fear no challenge under heaven," was utterly obsolete now.
This knowledge had been a stepping stone for exams and jobs before the apocalypse.
But in the wake of the apocalypse, it had completely lost its meaning.
There was only one way to change one's fate:
Awaken a Sequence ability.
Only by possessing a Sequence ability could everything be changed.
And courses related to Sequence abilities were completely absent from this backward school on the Safe Zone's edge.
On the impoverished fringes, traces of Sequence Ability users were almost nonexistent. The teachers were all ordinary people who had never had the chance to receive relevant education themselves; how could they teach it to students?
Although he didn't know the details, Qin Siyang believed that since the Safe Zones had been established for ten years and Sequence awakenings had a five-year history, the Unified Government must have developed courses related to Sequence users. They just hadn't reached «Jū'ān School» yet.
This lack of knowledge about the current world system made it impossible for Qin Siyang to see any future here.
Courses related to Sequence Ability users wouldn't just be for those who awakened abilities; they could also be offered to ordinary people.
Because the emergence of Sequence Ability users was bound to spawn many new industries and create numerous job opportunities.
After studying them, ordinary graduates would have a much wider range of potential jobs.
The platform and resources of «Jū'ān School» were the lowest in the Safe Zone, and the paths available to its students were extremely narrow.
Either compete for the pitifully few college spots through the entrance exams, or have their ancestral graves spontaneously combust [1] and awaken a Sequence ability, becoming a Sequence Ability user.
But for five years, the ancestral graves of «Jū'ān School» students had remained decidedly non-flammable.
The only hope for the students sitting in the classrooms was to test into the institutions specially established by the Unified Government for ordinary people凭借 (relying on) outstanding exam results, then work as clerical or research staff for the Unified Government after graduation.
But judging by the school's past performance, even the top ten students in the grade found it difficult to get into such institutions. Let alone Qin Siyang, who was currently ranked around one hundredth.
His previous life as a wage slave had taught Qin Siyang one lesson: Don't make pointless efforts. Rest when you should. Don't make things harder for yourself.
Qin Siyang was only waiting for lunch and dinner times to get extra portions from the cafeteria for his weekend meals.
Having not written a single assignment, he was reprimanded by teachers of every subject.
Also reprimanded were Li Jingwen and her close friends.
Li Jingwen's friends had always copied their homework from Li Jingwen. And Li Jingwen's homework had always been done by Qin Siyang.
Qin Siyang's cessation of his simp services had directly blown up the entire supply chain.
Throughout the day, Li Jingwen occasionally cast resentful glances at Qin Siyang, which he completely ignored.
The friends who were close to Li Jingwen were also offering her suggestions.
Qin Siyang was Li Jingwen's simp; they could also benefit from the reflected light.
For example, asking Qin Siyang to help buy things, fetch meals, etc.—requests he had never refused.
Now that Qin Siyang had stopped simping, their interests were also suffering.
"Jingwen, don't worry. He probably ran into something that put him in a bad mood suddenly."
"Right. Look, he's been spacing out all day. Maybe he's had some kind of shock."
Li Jingwen looked worried. "Then what should I do? Will I have to do my own homework from now on?"
"Today, when I was checking answers with Zhou Yang, I told him I was sick and didn't have time to finish the homework, but he said I didn't look sick."
"If this continues, Zhou Yang will definitely figure out something's wrong."
"Zhou Yang's uncle awakened a Sequence ability a few days ago. His family is sure to benefit. If I can be with Zhou Yang, I could help you all out a lot too!"
Li Jingwen's friend exclaimed, "Zhou Yang's uncle awakened a Sequence ability?! I heard his uncle is a section chief in the education department here. To think he actually…"
Her friend's astonishment gave Li Jingwen a certain satisfaction. She was the first to know about Zhou Yang's uncle awakening his Sequence. It made her firmly believe her relationship with Zhou Yang was already very close.
But the variable introduced by Qin Siyang was frustrating her.
"Never mind that for now. Just looking at the immediate problem: Qin Siyang is a good student. If he doesn't help me with my homework, you won't have anything to copy either."
Hearing this, Li Jingwen's friends became more active in strategizing. If Li Jingwen climbed the social ladder later, they believed they could benefit somewhat by association.
"Jingwen, how about this? After school, you intercept him and tell him…"
When school ended, Qin Siyang left all his textbooks on the desk.
Because his backpack was stuffed with food.
He had been exceptionally shameless in the cafeteria today, taking much more food than usual. The cafeteria lady hadn't scolded him, serving him however much he asked for.
With this, not only did he have two meals a day for the weekend, he had three meals plus midnight snacks covered.
He had already made a plan: these next few days, he would carry his backpack full of food and sleep near a Safe Zone exit.
As soon as a Sequence Ability user squad returned from hunting gods, he would go up and try his luck.
If he was lucky, he could get stronger, then develop slowly, finding a chance to leave this godforsaken place on the Safe Zone's edge!
Just as he was happily heading home, Li Jingwen suddenly appeared, blocking his way.
Qin Siyang frowned at her, his face full of incomprehension.
Li Jingwen put on an adorable expression. "Qin Siyang, I did some more self-reflection today, searched my heart. Actually… there's a place for you in my heart. It's just that we're still young…"
"Piss off."
Before Li Jingwen could finish, Qin Siyang coldly tossed out the words, disdainfully stepping around her as if avoiding a pile of dog crap.
Leaving Li Jingwen utterly bewildered in the (metaphorical) wind.
She had thought her lowering her pride would win Qin Siyang back. She never expected this outcome!
Had Qin Siyang really changed? Then who would she find to do her homework, to get breakfast to curry favor with Zhou Yang?
A belly full of sweet talk now had no one to listen.
Qin Siyang returned home, took a cold shower, and went to bed.
He had originally thought of staking out the Safe Zone exit tonight, but he hadn't rested well the night before and was feeling tired, so he changed his mind.
He would recuperate tonight at home and head out first thing tomorrow morning.
Qin Siyang glanced calmly at the giant black insect crawling on the thick defensive glass outside his window and pulled the curtain shut. He was used to it by now.
Time to sleep!
...
Early morning, an alarm clock woke Qin Siyang.
Saturday had arrived.
He pulled open the curtain. Although it was still pitch black outside, it was indeed 7 a.m.
Qin Siyang hurriedly ate breakfast and prepared to set out.
He glanced at the calendar.
[Blue Star Calendar 2010, January 2]
[Western Calendar, Saturday.]
[Xia Calendar, Year of the Jǐchǒu Ox, 11th Month, 18th Day, «Auspicious for Funerals»]
"«Auspicious for Funerals»? Seems today's Xia Calendar has nothing to do with me."
With no sun, the temperature outside the Safe Zone had dropped continuously, becoming exceptionally cold.
Qin Siyang couldn't afford expensive anti-freeze clothing, so he just wore several layers of thick clothes, bundled up like a bear, and went out the door with his backpack full of food.
There were many Safe Zone exits. The closest one was only a ten-minute walk from Qin Siyang's home.
However, that exit wasn't very large, and there weren't many gods wandering outside it, so usually several days could pass without a single Sequence Ability user squad setting out from there.
Fewer squads meant fewer chances for him.
Qin Siyang decided to go to the largest Safe Zone exit near his residence – Safe Zone Exit 114514.
Inside the Safe Zone, only the larger exits had numbers, making it easier for Sequence Ability users to communicate and locate themselves for team hunting missions.
The smaller the exit number, the more gods wandered outside it, and the more powerful those gods tended to be.
Danger and opportunity coexisted. More gods meant more chances to slay them.
Therefore, more Sequence Ability user squads gathered at those exits.
Safe Zone Exit 114514 seemed to have a rather high sequence number. Its number was in the six digits, clearly indicating it was not a priority in Qin Siyang's Safe Zone.
But Qin Siyang figured even a mosquito's leg is still meat; there would still be some Sequence Ability user teams gathering here.
This knowledge wasn't taught in school or textbooks. Qin Siyang had learned it from an informative post on the «God-Slayer Camp» forum during his half-hour online yesterday.
Thinking that what he learned in half an hour online was more useful than years of schooling, he felt a twinge of resentment. "School really is useless. Better to just go online."
"Ah, but going online is too expensive, and they don't provide meals."
"School is free and provides two meals. If only we could combine the advantages of school and the internet cafe."
After a moment's thought, he chuckled softly. "I should be grateful to the Unified Government's policies just for having a full stomach. What right do I have to complain about school?"
It would take him over two hours to reach Exit 114514, but he was full of energy.
He was full of anticipation for his future. That one Safe Zone exit held the hope of escaping his current fate.
The journey of over two hours was somewhat monotonous.
Walking along the road, he saw dilapidated houses, most of which had collapsed. The road, untended, was covered in gravel and dust.
To get through these collapsed buildings and rubble, he often had to climb up and down, leaving him panting with exhaustion.
Although the journey was long, in those two hours, Qin Siyang saw very few living people. The occasional one or two passers-by also had hurried expressions and didn't seem to be residents here.
Four years ago, for some reason, several sections of the defensive glass here had suddenly shattered. The defensive glass was the barrier keeping the gods out of the Safe Zone. Once it shattered, the residents here lost their only protection.
Many gods took the opportunity to pour in, attacking the Safe Zone.
To prevent the situation from escalating, the Unified Government urgently dispatched a unit of Sequence Ability users who eliminated or drove off all the invading gods, then had engineering teams rush to repair the defensive glass here.
Fortunately, the Unified Government's arrangements were very timely, and no large gods entered the Safe Zone, or the consequences would have been unthinkable.
But the incident still caused significant losses. The original residents had either died in the attack or moved away.
The Unified Government had rushed to repair the Safe Zone's defenses here but had not rebuilt the streets and housing.
Qin Siyang figured it was probably because once a safety incident occurs, people never trust the safety of the place again.
Even if the infrastructure were rebuilt, no one would be willing to move here to live.
The Unified Government simply didn't bother wasting the effort.
The lack of people, however, set Qin Siyang's mind at ease. At least he didn't have to worry about someone stealing the food from his backpack.
Most people graduating from «Jū'ān School» couldn't find work that would keep them fed, which also made public order here relatively poor.
For Qin Siyang, no people was far more reassuring than having people around.
Finally, Qin Siyang saw a blue sign about two people tall, with the words "Safe Zone Exit 114514" painted in white.
"Finally here."
Arriving at Exit 114514, he wanted to go check the situation but found it completely blocked by a large crowd for some reason.
To see what was happening inside, he had to find a slightly higher mound of earth to observe carefully.
His first sight was the exit's protective gate.
This was his first time at a numbered Safe Zone exit, and his first time seeing the gate of a numbered exit.
The gate was seven or eight meters wide and three or four meters high, seemingly made of a special alloy, looking very heavy.
The protective glass on the gate had many layers, so many that he couldn't even see clearly through the glass to the area outside.
In front of the protective gate stood over a dozen people wearing transparent helmets and orange-and-white striped anti-freeze suits.
Anti-freeze suits cost over two silver coins each—an astronomical figure in Qin Siyang's world, something only Sequence Ability users could afford.
Since the establishment of the Unified Government, currency was no longer issued by individual nations but was replaced by the Unified Government's unified copper, silver, and gold coins.
Although called copper, silver, and gold coins, to support large-scale use across all Safe Zones worldwide, these coins weren't pure precious metals; to be accurate, they were various alloys.
Copper coins were the least valuable because they were not only cheap to produce but also mixed with many other impurity metals.
Generally, the price of ten thousand copper coins was equivalent to one silver coin. And the price of one thousand silver coins was equivalent to one gold coin.
However, due to the low production cost of copper coins and the varying proportions of other metals mixed in by different mints, it often took maybe twelve thousand copper coins to exchange for one silver coin.
A silver coin was as distant and unattainable for the current Qin Siyang as assets worth millions were in his previous life.
It seemed these were the Sequence Ability users gathered at this exit.
The people in anti-freeze suits were in the minority. Besides these dozen or so, there were over a thousand ordinary people bundled up tightly like Qin Siyang, surrounding the area.
Qin Siyang was somewhat puzzled. What were all these people doing here?
Weren't only Sequence Ability users supposed to gather at the exits?
Just then, two Sequence Ability users in anti-freeze suits took off their helmets, seemingly having completed a hunting mission and preparing to return.
The hundreds of ordinary people surrounding them immediately swarmed forward.
"Sirs, would you like to rest! We have excellent foot baths!"
"Sirs, I have superb dishes here!"
"I have high-end apartments for the sirs to stay in for free! Just need the sirs to take a few photos with me!"
"Sir, my daughter is unmarried. The moment she saw your heroic bearing, she decided she'd marry no one but you!"
"Sir, do you want a wife? If you already have one, I can be the smaller one, no status needed!"
The crowd surged forward frantically but默契地 (tacitly) maintained a distance of over a meter from the two Sequence Ability users.
The two Sequence Ability users seemed accustomed to this scene. They didn't linger, eventually just picked a high-class restaurant and a comfortable hotel, and left.
The two shopkeepers they chose had faces flushed with excitement.
Watching the crowd's reaction, Qin Siyang was dumbfounded.
He knew Sequence Ability users were revered in this world, but he hadn't imagined it would be like this.
Without a doubt, these were all ordinary people from the Safe Zone's edge. They pinned their hopes on attaching themselves to a Sequence Ability user to escape their miserable current fate and live in a more comfortable place.
Like Qin Siyang, they were all striving to跨越阶级 (cross class boundaries). Unfortunately, none of them had Qin Siyang's luck, and they would likely never escape the Safe Zone's edge.
Thinking this, Qin Siyang felt a surge of gratitude towards fate and once again solidified his resolve.
"Heaven bestowed the «God-Eater» Sequence upon me. I must grow stronger!"
He tried to push through the crowd to get closer to the remaining dozen or so Sequence Ability users, but was immediately shoved back.
"Get to the back of the line, brat! Stop pushing forward!"
Qin Siyang said, "I'm not here for the Sequence Ability users. I won't compete for your business."
He just wanted to see if there were any discarded god remains up front; he had no interest in the Sequence Ability users themselves.
But no one believed him.
Hearing his words, the people around him laughed.
"Who are you trying to fool? Everyone who tries to push forward says that."
Qin Siyang had no choice but to wait on the outermost periphery.
The Safe Zone exit's protective door opened again and again. Sequence Ability users constantly came and went, and the crowd of ordinary people gradually thinned out.
By evening, Qin Siyang finally managed to secure a spot closer to the front.
But unlike the others, whenever a Sequence Ability user returned from outside the Safe Zone, his focus wasn't on the ability users themselves, but on the destination of the god remains they carried.
Unfortunately, these remains were all taken away by the Unified Government inspectors nearby. He didn't manage to pick up a single one.
Just as Qin Siyang was thinking the day had been a complete waste, another team returned from outside the Safe Zone.
One of the Sequence Ability users checked his haul and finally threw an ear covered in squirming worms onto the ground nearby.
"Picked the wrong one. This thing is useless. Wasted space in my pack," he complained.
Qin Siyang's eyes lit up as he looked at the worm-covered ear. He swallowed hard and prepared to pocket it when no one was looking.
However, a cleaner swept the ear into a dustpan and turned to leave.
Qin Siyang was going crazy! Finally, a piece of god remains, and it was taken away!
He abandoned his prime spot among the onlookers and immediately followed the cleaner away from the Safe Zone exit, hoping for a chance to snatch the god's ear.
The cleaner didn't realize someone would be so interested in the trash in his dustpan. He walked to a street corner and directly dumped the ear into a filthy garbage bin, then left. Qin Siyang watched from the shadows until the cleaner was gone.
"Perfect!" Qin Siyang knew his chance had come! Once the cleaner was gone, Qin Siyang approached, intending to retrieve the ear from the bin.
But just as he was about to go over, he saw what seemed to be a uniformed official approach, glance at the god remains in the bin, take out a notebook, and record something.
Qin Siyang frowned. "They record the god remains in the garbage bin? Is this even considered trash?"
But the management bureau personnel didn't pay it much mind. After recording, he walked away.
Once he was gone, Qin Siyang immediately ran over. He opened the lid of the garbage bin, and a strong smell of blood assailed his nostrils.
However, when he saw the scene inside the bin, he froze.
Inside were many god body parts!!
Qin Siyang's eyes widened, his heart pounding.
"This is… a Glutton's Feast?!"
开启新对话