Chapter 776 - Winning over people with virtue

Ren Xiaosu watched as the steam locomotive disappeared into the distance. “He ran off just like that?”

When Ren Xiaosu saw Wang Congyang flee, he lost interest in pursuing him. In order to keep up with Wang Congyang’s speed, he would have to use his own steam locomotive for the pursuit until Wang Congyang was completely exhausted.

Second, Ren Xiaosu felt it was an option to keep the other party alive so he could continue taking the blame. Of course, he could not let others know about this thought of his.

Yang Xiaojin glanced at Ren Xiaosu before conjuring her black sniper rifle. “Should we go after him?”

“Unnecessary.” Ren Xiaosu quickly stopped Yang Xiaojin and said, “Look, my questioning just now has already made him so ashamed that he wants to be a good person. Let’s not keep fighting and killing all day. We have to win people over with virtue.”

Yang Xiaojin wondered, “You? Win over people with virtue?”

Honestly, no matter how much Yang Xiaojin glorified Ren Xiaosu in her mind, she would still find it very difficult to associate him with that saying.

But after pondering for a while, Yang Xiaojin took out a dagger from her boot and carved “virtue” in small letters on the black sniper rifle’s butt.

Then Yang Xiaojin decisively fired at the steam locomotive in the distance. She stood steadily as though she were not affected by the recoil at all.

About a second later, when the bullet hit the train, Wang Congyang nearly spat blood in the carriage. After all, any attacks on the steam locomotive would be transferred back onto the user.

But he did not have time for that. The most important thing now was to quickly get out of this damned place.

Yang Xiaojin put down the black sniper rifle and said to Ren Xiaosu, “Did you mean this way of winning over people with virtue?”

Ren Xiaosu was startled. What was with this girl’s comprehension of things? Her interpretation of “winning over people with virtue” was to carve the word “virtue” in the butt of the rifle and shoot at someone with it?

Using “virtue” to win over someone?

More importantly, she was actually able to carve the word on it. ‘

That’s the fucking black sniper rifle, alright!

‘

Ren Xiaosu picked up Yang Xiaojin’s black sniper rifle and saw “virtue” elegantly inscribed on it. It was like it originally came with the rifle.

Ren Xiaosu was silent for a moment. “Well, if you say so I guess…”

He looked up at the sky and lamented how the girl next to him was so much more resolute than him the majority of the time.

But wasn’t this the reason why he liked her?

…

Stronghold 61 was now in a very orderly state. Residents could leave their doors open at night and no one would take things that were not theirs.

Currently, not only were there surveillance cameras installed in the stronghold, even the town had them as well.

As such, when Ren Xiaosu finally returned to Stronghold 61’s town again, he somehow felt very uncomfortable everywhere he went. This was no longer the town he was familiar with.

The shacks in front of them were still dilapidated and the roads remained muddy. However, brand new surveillance cameras were now installed above their heads.

Ren Xiaosu found it a little ironic. Actually, the Wang Consortium did not lack any money since it was located in one of the richest regions in the Central Plains. However, they would rather fill the town with surveillance cameras than build more brick houses for the refugees to have homes to live in.

It was really a little out of place for these technologically advanced surveillance cameras to appear in the slums.

When Ren Xiaosu led Yang Xiaojin into town, he said to her, “This was where I lived when I first arrived at the Central Plains. At that time, I wanted to look for y’all, but I didn’t know where to start and didn’t dare to expose my identity. After that, I got to know about the Anjing House through the storyteller and had wanted to join them to make use of their resources to search for everyone. But I slowly realized that the Anjing House was not as honest as what they say, so I gradually dropped the idea.”

“Mhm.” Yang Xiaojin nodded. “The Anjing House was actually abandoned as soon as it was established. It was just a disguise for the Saboteurs’ external affairs. My aunt never seemed to have any intention of managing it seriously, but even so, the Anjing House has become the largest assassin organization in the Central Plains.”

In seriousness, both Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin really admired how capable Yang Anjing was. It was just that they did not approve of what she had done.

Ren Xiaosu continued, “The tavern is just up ahead. When I had free time, I would order a bowl of lamb stew, read some books, and listen to stories about me….”

Yang Xiaojin curled her lips. “Listening to stories about yourself is the highlight, right?”

“Hahahaha, no, that’s not it,” Ren Xiaosu said with a laugh.

Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that a surveillance camera above his head seemed to be following him wherever he moved. It made him feel like he was being watched from behind by something that had developed a strong interest in him.

But when Ren Xiaosu looked up, that surveillance camera stopped moving. Then, when Ren Xiaosu tried walking out of the surveillance camera’s field of view, it did not follow him anymore.

“I wonder what the hell this AI thing really is.” Ren Xiaosu lamented, “It seems that the Wang Consortium really trusts this thing that they’ve created. But I get the feeling that the stronghold residents won’t be too happy about being monitored by the surveillance cameras all the time. Or should I say, they won’t dare to feel unhappy….”

Ren Xiaosu had already led Yang Xiaojin into the tavern. He heard the storyteller saying, “But my dear audience, what you don’t realize is that the prominent White Mask is actually only a superpower of some supernatural being. When this fact is made known, the world will be shocked!”

Yang Xiaojin was stunned. Could this tavern be specially catered for Ren Xiaosu? Why did she hear something related to Ren Xiaosu as soon as they stepped into the tavern?

When she turned around, she realized Ren Xiaosu was already listening to the story with relish!

But something unexpected happened at this moment. Yang Xiaojin suddenly saw a girl glare at her. After glaring at her, that girl looked at Ren Xiaosu and nearly burst into tears.

Yang Xiaojin could not help but think about what Ren Xiaosu had done during the time she and Ren Xiaosu were separated. Zhou Yingxue had only just left, but here came another girl throwing herself at him.

Ren Xiaosu did not notice Xiaolu’s expression at all. He just said to the waiter, “I’ll have two sets of lamb stew! Top it up with 20 yuan of meat!”

He would have to be more generous! He was treating Yang Xiaojin to a meal after all!

Realizing that Ren Xiaosu was back, the storyteller drew the story to a natural close and proceeded with setting up the highlights of the next session.

He touched Xiaolu’s face and whispered, “Silly girl! Wasn’t he also here with another girl the previous time?”

Although the storyteller did not want Xiaolu to have anything to do with Ren Xiaosu, his heart would still ache when his granddaughter was sad.

Xiaolu whispered in grief, “It’s different this time. He didn’t like that woman from the last time.”

“What about this time?” The storyteller was amused instead.

“The way he looked at that girl this time is different. He really likes her.” After that, Xiaolu went into the kitchen without even greeting Ren Xiaosu.

The storyteller cursed in his head before walking over slowly to Ren Xiaosu. “You’re lucky to have come back at this time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see us anymore.”

Ren Xiaosu’s expression immediately changed. “Are you serious? You still look quite healthy to me.”

The storyteller spat, “I don’t mean that I’m dying, but it’s just too depressing to be constantly living under the surveillance of that annoying Wang Consortium’s AI.”

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Chapter 777: Therapy

Before meeting the storyteller, Ren Xiaosu’s impression of the artificial intelligence was that even though he did not like it, he felt it might be better at maintaining law and order. However, he was not really bothered since he did not plan on living in the Wang Consortium’s strongholds anyway.

But now, even the storyteller wanted to move away from the Wang Consortium because of it.

Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Is it that serious?”

The storyteller sighed and said, “Initially, I thought that there wouldn’t be any surveillance cameras installed in town. But I didn’t expect that even the town would have them as well. Because of that, the sources for my stories have been cut off since many people no longer dare to provide any material to me.”

Ren Xiaosu was speechless. ‘

Material? Can’t you just say that they are here to relay intel to you?

‘

Some time ago, Ren Xiaosu learned this storyteller was definitely not what he seemed. How else could he come up with those new stories so frequently? Sometimes, he might even be more updated than the intelligence agencies of many organizations. In that case, how could it be ordinary material that he was getting?

Moreover, when Yang Anjing came to town back then, the storyteller immediately had Xiaolu inform Ren Xiaosu about it. It was obvious he knew who she was.

Ren Xiaosu looked at the storyteller and asked, “How long have you lived in this town? Can you move away that easily?”

The storyteller said with another sigh, “I’m really quite reluctant to move away after living here for over a decade. But we don’t have a choice. The Wang Consortium’s control will only get stricter in the future. This place won’t be able to accommodate us anymore.”

“Then have you thought about where to go?” Ren Xiaosu asked again.

The storyteller shook his head. “I haven’t thought of it yet.”

“Then I have a suggestion.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Based on your facial structure—”

“The Prosperous Northwest?” interrupted the storyteller.

“Yes, the Prosperous Northwest.” Ren Xiaosu did not feel any embarrassment about being exposed. So it turned out the storyteller was already aware of the Great Hoodwinker’s tricks?

Yang Xiaojin quietly turned her head and looked at Ren Xiaosu. ‘

This Great Hoodwinker is way too influential. He even managed to infect Ren Xiaosu with his enthusiasm?

‘

Ren Xiaosu asked, “How did you know I was going to bring up the Prosperous Northwest?”

The storyteller snapped, “That Great Hoodwinker has read my fortune more than a dozen times over the years. Every time he does, he talks about the ‘Prosperous Northwest.’ He didn’t even bother coming up with something new. Of course, the Northwest is also within my consideration. But I still have to think about where the safest place is.”

But at this moment, someone pushed open the tavern’s door. The storyteller immediately turned around and headed into the kitchen as though he did not know Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see the other party was a young man. He politely said to Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin, “Hello, my name is Wang Run. I’ve been instructed to pick you up and bring you into the stronghold. Accommodations have already been arranged, and there’ll be a dinner party in the evening.”

Although the young man was very polite, he had a domineering aura about him. He was neither servile nor overbearing as he stood there, giving people a sense of oppression.

Ren Xiaosu carefully sized up the other party. He had a vague feeling the man might be a supernatural being. Wang Run suddenly gave him the impression that he was one of those Imperial Guard commanders as told in the storyteller’s tales.

But he and Yang Xiaojin had not told anyone they were coming to Stronghold 61’s town. When they got here, they also did not encounter anyone from the Wang Consortium. How did the Wang Consortium’s people know they had already arrived? And they even found them at the tavern so quickly?

Wait a minute! This was probably the work of the artificial intelligence, right?

Ren Xiaosu got up. “Let’s go then.”

His motive for coming to Stronghold 61 was so he could fulfill his promises to Yang Anjing. He did not care about anything else.

Ren Xiaosu had also discussed it with Yang Xiaojin. Once the three tasks were completed, they would immediately set off for the Northwest. They would no longer care about what was going on in the Central Plains and would focus on the development of the Northwest.

Previously, Ren Xiaosu was worried Yang Xiaojin might not be willing to go to the Northwest due to the harsh climate. After all, life would really be much tougher there than in the Central Plains.

However, Yang Xiaojin really did not mind it.

The car was already waiting outside of the tavern. After Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin got onto the off-road vehicle, it drove off towards the stronghold.

Currently, the Wang Consortium’s administrative center was being shifted over to Stronghold 61. Meanwhile, Wang Shengzhi had already moved his official residence here.

The last time Ren Xiaosu was in Stronghold 61, it was to resolve the creeper vine crisis. Even now, the entire supernatural world was still unaware of how the creeper vine had died, with the case becoming an unresolved mystery.

Someone said the creeper vine had gained sapience and gained a human form to bring disaster upon the human world. Others also said the creeper vine had been taken care of by the Wang Consortium’s experts. In any case, there were all kinds of speculation…

Only a few people who had personally been through the disaster would know that all of the creeper vines’ energy had been absorbed by Zhou Yingxue.

Even people like Luo Lan would act very politely towards Zhou Yingxue now when they saw her.

After entering the stronghold, the off-road vehicle drove along the long main avenue. Ren Xiaosu saw through the window that the pedestrians would hurriedly lower their heads subconsciously after noticing the off-road vehicle. It seemed as though they were afraid to look directly at it.

Ren Xiaosu asked Wang Run who was sitting in the front passenger seat, “I noticed that the pedestrians all seem to be hurrying somewhere. Where are they going?”

Wang Run replied, “It’s already past noon. They’re probably on their way back to work after lunch.”

Ren Xiaosu asked again, “I heard that everyone here has work to do and food to eat. Is that true?”

Wang Run replied rather proudly, “Yes, no one here suffers from starvation, and everyone is leading a very fulfilling life. We’re already two months into the new year, but there’s only been two cases of crime in the stronghold.”

“Did they choose their own jobs or…” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“The stronghold will assign them their jobs. After their personal details are inputted by the staff into the system, the AI will allocate jobs to them accurately,” Wang Run replied.

“But what if the people don’t like what they were assigned?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.

“This allocation method assigns the most suitable jobs to them in a rational manner.”

“I mean, what if they don’t like the job they were assigned?” Ren Xiaosu asked puzzledly. Just like how some people might really be more suited for a logistics job but prefer doing something more challenging like sales, how should their jobs be chosen?

Moreover, jobs like writers, painters, sculptors, philosophers, and other kinds of artistic work would probably not be allowed to exist anymore in such an environment. Although these jobs seemed a little mismatched with the current world, weren’t these “useless” things also one of the cornerstones of human development?

Although Ren Xiaosu did not really like those people who dabbled in the arts, he also felt it was a little wrong to completely eliminate them.

Therefore, he asked Wang Run what would happen if those people did not like their assigned jobs.

Wang Run thought for a moment before answering, “We have a specialized therapy team in the stronghold. When someone is feeling conflicted about their work, there’ll be a counseling team assigned to help them.”

“Counseling?” Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a moment.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine when he heard those words. However, he was unable to describe why he had this feeling.