Chapter 126: The Little King |
"Ah, look who is back. Are you done whispering with your 'friend'?"
The leader used to work in the town office, and the Sheriff recognized his face.
"I truly cannot imagine you being this kind of person. The mere thought that all the children used to attend your school...
"...makes me shudder. Everyone knows what you have done now. After the Management Authority appointed you as the new representative, you gathered those newborn children and turned them into your tools. You brainwashed them and stained their hands with blood!"
A commotion broke out among the teenagers in the Sheriff's Elite Guard. They glared furiously at the speaker on the stage, which only heightened the unease among the other townspeople.
The Sheriff motioned for the children to calm down and launched his counterattack.
"Judging by your tone, do you prefer the days spent in the Containment Room?"
"I long for the days of being a normal person! We are neighbors, friends, and fellow townsfolk, not your tools or killing machines to achieve your goals! For the sake of your rule, you resorted to violence against the other townspeople." The leader pointed at a person near the stage whose head was heavily bandaged in gauze. That person had been beaten bloody by the Sheriff with a rubber truncheon just a few days ago.
"We have already suffered through this inexplicable ordeal and finally managed to find a new way to live. Leaving that prison was your accomplishment, but look at what you have done now!
"You turned them into weapons. You even had your normal human friend take us away from a safe place again. Do you intend to keep using us to help him achieve his goals?
"We should not, and will no longer endure a tyrant. We are human beings, and we need to return to normal days!
"Townspeople, that Shi Rang is—"
While the leader was speaking, the Sheriff slowly paced around him. At this exact moment, he arrived right beside the leader, and just as those words left the man's mouth, he suddenly raised his fist.
"Finally done pretending to be the good guy? Come on, you—"
The Sheriff threw a punch.
With a crisp metallic clack, his entire right arm smashed directly into the pull ring.
This landmark, visible to the entire town, began to tilt and ultimately crashed down into the center of the panic-stricken crowd. The townspeople fled in a desperate rush, while the Tiny Ones who were pinned down scrambled awkwardly out from the gaps between the pull ring and the suitcase lining.
From the scale of the Mini-Humans, this was no different from a mountain-like giant collapsing.
The silence lasted for one second, then two.
Finally, one of the Sheriff's trusted confidants raised his arm and shouted.
"Sheriff!"
All the members of the Elite Guard followed suit, letting out a unified, thunderous roar.
"Sheriff! Sheriff! Sheriff!"
The leader's face turned deathly pale. As if he had only just realized he was shrunk, he looked back and forth between the Sheriff and the fallen pull ring.
The Sheriff ignored his rival. He raised his left hand high and declared in an even louder voice, projecting enough volume to reach every single listener:
"The Management Authority has always been hunting down the Ascension Society, and they will hunt us down too! In their eyes, we are nothing but Containment Objects.
"They have never treated us as human beings!
"As long as the Management Authority stands, we will never have a day of peace. There is no such thing as a new, tranquil life!
"Do you want to just wait for judgment to fall, relying on the help of others while doing absolutely nothing yourselves?
"If we do not rise up, if we do not fight, when the enemy arrives, we will have no power to fight back.
"We will be sucked up by a vacuum cleaner like flies, and our only fate will be imprisonment, containment, and experimentation. There will never be a second chance to break out of prison—is this what you want?"
The children of the Elite Guard raised their right fists high, screaming frantically in voices that nearly drowned out his speech, "No! No!"
The wave of sound echoed above all the listeners, trembling deep within everyone's soul.
Gradually, some of the townspeople also raised their hands, joining in the chant.
This intense emotion, disguised as a sense of collective honor, spread rapidly from the Elite Guard and swept up every mind. Half of the native teenagers were the first to respond, plunging even more people into a hypnotic trance where they could not help but imitate and follow along. Soon, raised right fists stood as thick as a forest, and the shouts rose and fell in waves, loud enough to reach beyond the room.
The leader wanted to speak up, still hoping to salvage the situation, but faced with a single glare from the Sheriff—a gaze dripping with the threat of death—he could not help but shrink back.
He knew that everything was over.
The Sheriff looked around at his cheering citizens, deeply intoxicated by the taste of power.
He took a step forward and delivered his final rallying cry.
"It was I who tricked the Management Authority into stopping the radiation sterilization. It was I who invented the methods to deal with them. It was I who led you out of that prison. And now, it is I who am issuing this call to you! Until the enemy falls, we cannot stop fighting! We must prepare, remain vigilant, strike out, and gain power! We will completely crush those villains who stripped us of our freedom!
"What you need is not some amiable leader, but a King!"
Shi Rang knew absolutely nothing about the formation of the Miniature Kingdom.
As the supporter standing behind the Mini King, he was currently fast asleep.
After days of running around and enduring mental torment, he finally welcomed a peaceful slumber.
He did not have to worry about where he would be hunted down tomorrow, nor fret over food and money. He had released a portion of the heavy burden he had been carrying all alone. He could briefly crouch down, set the weight off his shoulders onto the ground, rub his aching muscles, and mend his own heart.
It was exactly seven o'clock when he woke up. Having slept to his heart's content, he got out of bed to wash up, only to end up getting lost in the Villa once again.
Shi Shixin had too much money and nowhere to spend it. In all likelihood, he had never even lived in this house.
God knows why the designer decided to connect a bathroom that only had a bathtub to a Cloakroom, a Storage Room, and two Bedrooms, complete with several hidden doors and small staircases that looked nice but were completely useless. It was practically designed to trap him inside. After wandering around in circles and finally finding a normal restroom, Shi Rang remembered that he had not brought any toiletries at all.
Fortunately, Jing Zi was a competent follower.
By the time Shi Rang went downstairs, breakfast had already arrived.
Since he was unsure of Shi Rang's tastes, Jing Zi had bought a wide variety of breakfast items.
Steamed cakes, meat buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, sticky rice, rice noodles, spicy pepper soup, sweet, savory, and spicy tofu pudding...
...They completely filled up an entire table.
Shi Rang was not a picky eater. Moreover, after spending so many years in the Tenth District, his craving for "normal" food had reached its absolute peak.
Having eaten flatbreads, loaves, and assorted stews for years, he had almost forgotten what soy sauce and cooking wine tasted like. Even the fried noodles made by his fellow townsman downstairs always had a strange flavor. Seeing the hometown dishes of the Second District right in front of him, Shi Rang's eyes practically glowed green with hunger. He rubbed his hands together and sat at the head of the table. Just as he was about to dig in, he noticed Jing Zi still standing respectfully off to the side.
"Do you want to eat some too? I cannot finish all of this."
"Please go ahead and eat. I am not hungry."
Even though he knew the benefits of power, Shi Rang still did not like playing the role of a superior dominating others. It made him very uncomfortable.
"Then... could you go buy some things for me? I will make a list for you."
When Jing Zi returned at lightning speed, Shi Rang finally managed to use the opportunity to have the other man sit down and eat as well. Relieved of his inner unease, he could finally feast to his heart's content, alternating between a mouthful of soy milk and a bite of soup dumplings. He was so moved by the food he was nearly brought to tears.
Jing Zi ate very little, as usual. After finishing a single fried dough stick, he took out a piece of paper and began to read from it.
"The person you mentioned before—we have found her."
Shi Rang instantly stopped eating. "Where is she?"
"At the Charity Foundation Campus in the Ninth District."
"Oh..." Shi Rang had already mentally prepared himself for this to some extent.
The police, whom he had annoyed to no end, had told him that Ying Shang had already left the Tenth District.
But the Charity Foundation again?
'Did the Management Authority arrange an easily monitored new identity for her to cover up the Memory Wipe, or...' "Is there no phone number?"
"We couldn't find any registered information."
"Are ordinary people forbidden from entering that Campus?"
"Yes. Joining the Charity Foundation requires processing several documents. Going through the proper, piecemeal formal procedures will likely take one or two months. By then, you will be able to go see her openly and officially."
"Mhm."
Shi Rang struggled to suppress his impulses. On the other hand, he also felt some resistance towards immediately confirming whether she had completely forgotten him. Until he saw her with his own eyes, he refused to believe that she had become a completely different person.
He gestured for Jing Zi to continue.
"The Head has dispatched an available Cadre from the Second District to act as your liaison for your upcoming operations. They are online around the clock, awaiting your orders."
"Good."
"Deacon Huo asks if you need a more competent Secretary. There are many capable individuals in the Ascension Society."
"No need, we are already familiar with each other." Shi Rang swallowed a mouthful of steamed bun and thought for a moment. "If you are not familiar with these tasks, you can outsource them to others and then report back to me."
A flash of joy crossed Jing Zi's face, and he hurriedly jotted down the instruction. "Understood."
"How is the Society's influence here in the Second District?"
"It's not very large. The Management Authority and the Alliance have a very strong presence here. We only have Strongholds distributed across a few major cities.
"Firearms control is extremely strict here, making it inconvenient to carry out large-scale operations. However, in order to thwart the Star Child Order from snatching the 'Eye of God,' it is said that hundreds of Military Operations Personnel have already gathered and taken their positions, with even more currently on their way."
Only then did Shi Rang remember the intelligence he owed the Society. He guessed that the name A Piao had intimidated Deacon Huo, preventing the latter from hounding him for this crucial information.
"I will write down the intelligence regarding the 'Eye of God' from memory for you later. Go and get a detailed understanding of the Action Plan, then report back to me."
Jing Zi glanced at the list in his hand again. "Then what are your other arrangements for today...?"
"I'm going out for a walk."