Though he couldn't clearly hear what the sister in the back seat and Chen Luo were saying, looking at Chen Luo staring at his sister's chest in the rearview mirror, Lin Yue let out an unhappy hum:
"Alright! We're here in Dragonheart City!"
Lin Qing, feeling a strange sense of shame, quickly turned her body to face away from Chen Luo, speaking as if to explain or perhaps to cover up, "Mr. Chen, welcome to Dragonheart City! This city is one of the hundred new cities in the Eastern Hua Kingdom."
Chen Luo, having already experienced the power of the Heart Soul, also looked out the car window upon hearing this.
Silver-white.
Looking out the car window, the entire world's dominant tone was a strangely pristine silver-white.
Whether it were tall buildings or walls, they all shimmered with a silver-white glow under the neon lights.
This silver-white was not paint or decoration, but the intrinsic color of the city's building materials.
The city before them was, in fact, a complete city of metal.
As Lin Qing beside him narrated, the origin of this so-called new city was revealed.
After the War of Seven Days, the various countries had effectively abandoned resistance.
And the Nine Dragons Corporation had, in turn, gained true dominion over the entire world.
However, to Chen Luo's puzzlement, the Nine Dragons did not retaliate against the governments of the nations afterward, nor did they interfere much in their internal affairs.
It simply constructed massive metal cities in each country using technology far beyond the era.
The Nine Dragons collectively referred to these cities as "New Cities" and demanded that the populations of each country continuously migrate to these metal metropolises.
At first, the various countries did not understand the Nine Dragons' intentions and adopted a wary attitude towards these special cities that had sprung up from the ground.
But what happened next caused people to rush towards these New Cities.
"You're saying this planet wasn't like this before?"
Lin Qing nodded with a solemn expression:
"I was born twenty years ago, but according to the records of our Lin family, our world was transformed into its current state after undergoing some modifications."
No one knew exactly what had happened, but one day after the New Cities were completed.
All the land on this planet began to tremble incessantly.
The earth cracked open, rivers overflowed, and buildings collapsed.
Even in the plains, huge fissures that appeared from time to time constantly threatened human safety.
It was at this time that people realized the purpose of the New Cities. These New Cities, built with unknown technology, were incredibly sturdy.
No matter how violent the earthquakes were, they were perfectly safe within them.
This terrifying earthquake did not last for just a few minutes, but occurred periodically for two months.
After several days, the original cities were almost razed to the ground.
For their own safety, people had no choice but to migrate to these New Cities.
What was strange was that during this process, the governments of various countries remained silent.
Two months later, when the surviving humans looked at the ground that no longer shook, they even felt as if the past years were a dream.
By this time, fifty percent of the world's population had moved into the New Cities across the globe.
It was also at this time that people quietly discovered that all the continents on the entire world had been connected into one.
Lin Qing understood the silence of the various governments when she read this as a child.
After all, facing the power that could move continents, they were truly powerless beyond their silence.
Subsequently, people gradually settled in different New Cities.
However, the various governments, who had remained silent during the earthquake disaster, completely lost their credibility.
The New Cities gradually began to seek independence.
Initially, this endeavor was extremely difficult.
After all, modern military power was still controlled by the higher authorities.
But gradually, a group of special individuals began to appear in each of the New Cities.
They were originally just ordinary people, but at some point, they suddenly grasped a new kind of power—the power of the Heart Soul.
Yes, besides the Nine Dragons Corporation, new Heart Soul users had emerged.
They themselves did not understand their powers at first, but during the great earthquake, the also silent Nine Dragons spoke out again.
They began to indiscriminately sell weapons to each New City, from the most basic combat exoskeletons and firearms to higher-level missile vehicles,
and even the battle armor that they relied on to traverse the world became products for sale.
In this way, the Heart Soul users, with the support of the Nine Dragons Group, forcefully gained autonomy over the New Cities from the governments of various countries.
And the initial Heart Soul users in these New Cities became the dominant families within each New City.
Chen Luo listened to this and looked at the two sisters with a strange gaze:
"This extraordinary ability has led to a societal regression. These families have power, wealth, and strength, making them modern-day nobles."
"However, that earthquake that unified all the continental plates is likely not unrelated to the Nine Dragons. This power is at least a Tier 1 Abyss."
"Interesting. Did they use other means, or is there a way to break through the world's power limitations?"
As he pondered, the scenery outside the window constantly caught Chen Luo's eye as the vehicle moved.
This world had gained unlimited energy, and the Nine Dragons even provided ample electricity to each New City without limit.
Therefore, even at night, these silver-white metal cities displayed a peculiar and almost morbid vitality under the dazzling neon lights.
Yes, morbid.
Large numbers of citizens, dressed in the same gray-white clothes, emerged from factories with metallic designs, their expressions numb.
Unlimited energy had not brought unlimited prosperity.
After losing the governance of nations, the self-governing New Cities,
under the guidance of the Nine Dragons, transformed into entities of capital.
They no longer paid attention to the demands of ordinary people; they only cared about increasing their own wealth.
Apart from the families established by the Heart Soul users, other ordinary people became the most basic units of production.
They had to expend their lives in various repetitive mechanical labors every day, according to the arrangements of the families and companies within the city.
In this way, they exchanged their lives for wages that could only sustain basic living security.
But the greater value they created was not fed back to them under the unification of the nation.
Instead, it was seized by the families, becoming the wealth of a select few elites.
All possibilities of upward mobility were maximally locked down.
The people walking on the streets had only numbness in their eyes.
Of course, to prevent these numb minds from withering completely, the entertainment industry between the New Cities became extremely developed.
Human thinking ability was thoroughly fragmented by countless pieces of entertainment and information.
Behind a seemingly fulfilling life lay increasingly numb minds and increasingly withered souls.
Their lives were disregarded.
Their value was to have no value.
Here, humans became cold symbols.
Of course, the families also allowed some people to live better.
These were the people who helped them manage the means of production, those who operated various forms of entertainment and served them.
But the ultimate profits could only go to the families within each New City.
And to the supreme Nine Dragons!
In the center of the silver-white city square, on a massive electronic screen, the middle-aged Long Jiu, with a calm expression, extended his hands as if embracing the world:
"Unlimited energy! It is both proof and qualification! Our civilization! Has knocked on the door of immortality!"
"Join the Nine Dragons! Embrace the evolution of civilization!"
The man, like a god, stood in stark contrast to the pedestrians returning home late at night beneath the giant screen.
The man seemed to be in a divine realm, while this was the human world his light could not reach.
Looking at the tired "people," the light and shadow in Chen Luo's eyes flickered:
"Miss Qing, I don't really like your world."
"I don't like this home without a country."