Chapter 170: Chapter 116: Dumbstruck, a Faceful of Bubble Gum!

"Together?" Number 0 grabbed Shen Fei, saying something that took him by surprise.

"Aren’t you... going with them...?"

The city had just been conquered. Although the transfer was complete, there was surely a lot to do. Shen Fei hadn’t expected that at such a critical time, Number 0 would want to go with him.

"A host’s duty! A host’s duty! After all, you’ve come to our Hang City~ I’ll accompany you to the North Suburb!" acting as if they were old friends, Number 0 jumped right onto the back of the Golden Celestial Horse and put her hands on Shen Fei’s waist.

"Er, alright then!"

Although he wasn’t sure what her deal was, Shen Fei didn’t refuse. The small city they had just conquered beneath them, named [Mist City], was very close to his destination. Since Number 0 wanted to tag along, he’d let her. Shen Fei was more than happy to interact a bit more with this big boss of Ethereum Punk.

After all, this was [Ethereum Punk]!

WHOOSH~

Waving to the other lolis, Shen Fei gave a small smile and guided the Golden Celestial Horse into the air.

KZZT!

KZZT!

KZZT!

Watching Shen Fei and Number 0 disappear over the horizon, Numbers I through VI, standing on the city wall, suddenly glitched like a bad TV signal, their forms fizzing for a moment...

「Hang City, Tourism Management Office.」

"It’s over? So fast?! Was it a success??"

The director, along with a group of people, sat in the main hall of the Tourism Management Office, anxiously awaiting some news. When he heard that it was over, the director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office shot to his feet.

A few hours ago, their Hang City Tourism Management Office had, naturally, also organized a team to attack a Neutral City. But in less than three minutes, their forces, who were attacking a medium-sized city in the eastern part of Hang City, had retreated with heavy casualties. They were beaten back before they could even touch the Neutral City’s Shield. The returning members of the Hang City Tourism Management Office were exceptionally dejected as they tended to their wounded.

But what they didn’t expect was that, a few hours ago, someone had discovered a battle for a Neutral City underway in the West Suburb of Hang City. To the shock of everyone at the Hang City Tourism Management Office, the assault on this city had actually successfully cleared the first phase. Although the conquest of this city was very secretive and wasn’t recorded in the Neutral City assault threads on the new Forum, the people at the Hang City Tourism Management Office were still full of anticipation.

After all, they were people from their Hang City!

After discovering this, the director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office immediately sent people to keep an eye on it. He never thought that the second phase would end so quickly. The fact that it ended so fast made the director’s heart skip a beat, and a shadow of doubt crept into his mind...

For the second phase to end so fast... it most likely means they failed! Why didn’t they come to us for help?! I’ve had my men waiting for so long!

Concluding that the defense had failed, the director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office felt immensely regretful.

"Director, it was a success! The Neutral City in the West Suburb has been successfully conquered!"

What the director didn’t expect was that, just as he was agonizing over it, his subordinate reported something that completely surprised him.

"What! A success?! Second place???" Hearing his subordinate’s words, the director shot up in excitement.

"That’s right! Second place! Even though it wasn’t shown in the live stream threads, based on the progress trackers, the city in Hang City’s West Suburb was the second one conquered!" the subordinate replied, ecstatic.

The Neutral City conquest led by the Hang City Tourism Management Office had failed. But who would have thought that just when all hope seemed lost, an unofficial group would actually succeed. Even though it wasn’t led by their Tourism Management Office, it still gave everyone a sense of shared glory and made them exceptionally excited.

More importantly, this was second place! Their Hang City had surpassed the Divine Capital, surpassed Songhai City, and surpassed Yang City. They were the second to complete the conquest of a Neutral City! This was a huge boost to their prestige.

"Report! Director, this is bad! Someone else has started a Neutral City assault in the North Suburb!"

Before the director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office and his people could even finish celebrating, someone else rushed in shouting.

"What!" Hearing this second subordinate’s report, the director was stunned yet again.

There’s another one? The assault in the North Suburb has started? Does Hang City have a God-level player?

He had originally planned to wait for the Divine Capital to successfully conquer their Neutral City. He would then analyze their successful experience and wait two days for two more rounds of game ability inheritance. They would only try again on the third day of the Neutral Cities’ existence. The director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office never imagined that besides the one in the west, another city assault would start in the north.

The Divine Capital and Songhai City had only started assaulting one Neutral City each. What did Hang City do to deserve this? Besides the official Tourism Management Office team, two other assault teams had appeared at the same time. And what’s more, one of them had already succeeded.

"Let’s go! We’ll help them!"

During the assault in the west earlier, he had just waited around, but they never came asking for aid. And in the end, they succeeded with a speed that exceeded everyone’s expectations. Now, hearing that another assault had started in the north, the director decided not to wait. He was going to take the initiative!

The Neutral Cities had been around for half a day, and by now, almost everyone knew how powerful they were. For someone to dare start a Neutral City conquest at a time like this, the director knew they must have some serious skills. He imagined the unparalleled scene of Hang City managing to capture two Neutral Cities. The director didn’t wait any longer. He instantly gathered his team to go provide support.

Even if it meant working for free, he was going to help. All so that their Hang City could conquer two Neutral Cities!

"Report! The first phase of the Neutral City assault in the North Suburb is complete! They’re now in the preparation phase, waiting for the second phase to begin! That small city in the North Suburb is now shrouded in fog!"

What the Hang City director didn’t expect was that, before he could even issue the order to assemble, a new report arrived.

"What!" Hearing the contents of the report, the director froze. A few seconds later, he snapped out of it and grabbed the messenger by the collar. "Is that true?! The first phase is complete?!"

The director found his subordinate’s report hard to believe.

How long has it been? A minute? Half a minute?

"You, come here! When did it start!" still in shock, the director grabbed the first messenger, who was equally stunned.

The first messenger, having been grabbed, stammered out a reply, "I... I... I just... I ran right over as soon as I heard the news from the North Suburb! It took me ten seconds at most to get here..."

Meeting the director’s gaze, the first messenger swallowed hard.

This... This is way too fast!

"Let’s go! Let’s go see!"

Even though his subordinate had said there was fog, the director of the Hang City Tourism Management Office still felt a huge impulse.

If what my men are saying is true... if an Ability User of this caliber really exists in Hang City... then... then... then I’m about to hit the jackpot!

Take Li Yunlong, the director of the Qing City Tourism Management Office. He didn’t even inherit any game abilities. But just because Qing City had an unseen player known as the "Cyan God," Li Yunlong’s authority and rank within the Tourism Management Office were incredibly high. He even got to attend many meetings he otherwise wouldn’t qualify for. This was a point of contention for the Hang City director, who *had* inherited game abilities.

Now, because of this Neutral City business, he had discovered that Hang City also had someone like that, and the director was getting antsy.

If it’s confirmed that this person is the real deal... Then I... am gonna make it big! Cyan God? Is he that strong? Can you complete a Neutral City’s first phase in under thirty seconds? You can’t! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Amidst a great clamor, the director, giddy with excitement, led his people in a charge toward the North Suburb...

「Meanwhile, in the North Suburb of Hang City」

Someone was even more shocked than the director. This person was Number 0 of the [Ethereum Punk] organization—the one with silver hair, who at this moment had a large bubble of gum pop all over her face.

Coming over with Shen Fei, Number 0 had her own selfish reasons. For one, she wanted to get more familiar with him. After all, Shen Fei’s power had far exceeded her expectations. The other reason was that Number 0 also wanted to show off her own strength. The Ethereum Editor technique she possessed, while not great for defending against endless monsters or fighting bosses, its ability to modify reality was very effective at quickly breaking a Neutral City’s Shield. It was also because of this ability that the first phase of her previous conquest of [Mist City] had been so easy.

But what Number 0 never expected was that Shen Fei didn’t give her a chance to speak at all. The man simply rode his Golden Celestial Horse, charged straight into the warning zone, and started the city assault without any hesitation. Then, after just a few chews of her bubble gum, Number 0 watched as the 20 massive Defense Towers summoned by Shen Fei shattered the small city’s Shield in just a few moves.

After the Shield was broken, faced with the city wall’s hundreds of thousands of hit points, Shen Fei didn’t even move, simply pouring an endless stream of attacks into the now-exposed city...

And then, the large bubble Number 0 had been blowing went POP, splattering all over her face. Because, in less than half a minute, she saw the notification that the first phase of the Neutral City assault was complete...

"You... You... You...!"

Terrified, Number 0 pointed a trembling finger at Shen Fei, unable to speak. A moment ago, when Shen Fei had helped defend her city, she thought she already understood his strength. But she never imagined that what she saw before was just the tip of the iceberg. Only now was Shen Fei’s true power on full display.

"You! You! You!" Stammering, Number 0’s tongue felt tied in knots.

Too strong! If he’s always this strong, with Shen Fei around, couldn’t the Xia Country capture hundreds, even thousands of Neutral Cities?! He instantly traveled from Qing City to Hang City. Then, in less than a minute, he conquered a small city. This... this... this... If he teleported around the country to help, wouldn’t every single Neutral City conquest in the Xia Country be a success?!

Realizing this, Number 0 was instantly dumbfounded, her pupils dilating...

"Holy crap! There’s really something here! The Traveling Frog is this amazing?!"

Beside Number 0, Shen Fei was also in shock. However, he wasn’t shocked by the completion of the Neutral City’s first phase. For someone as experienced as him now, conquering a small city was a trivial matter. What shocked him was that he had actually seen a Divine Artifact inside this city!

Just as the Traveling Frog had said, there really was a Divine Artifact here