Pretending To Be A Boss

Baichuan City, on the outskirts of the East District.

Even after hundreds of years, the chaos of the past is still evident on the outskirts; countless vehicles haphazardly piled up.

Even on the widest main roads, the congestion was severe.

But not a single car had anyone inside.

Why the last of these vehicles were left here, and how people departed, remains unknown.

When Tang Feiji brought Tang Xian here, the sunlight had a hint of summer warmth.

It no longer felt as cold as earlier in the morning or the previous night.

The number of buildings in the suburban areas of the East District was noticeably reduced.

The plants at the periphery of the city grew as if they had been mutated by radiation, more vigorously than those in the mines.

It was hard to imagine that these camphor trees could attain such imposing size, their branches and leaves reaching the sky.

But it was these trees and weeds, along with the congested vehicles around, that formed something akin to a city wall in the eastern outskirts.

On their way here, Tang Xian and Tang Feiji had traveled on foot, which took quite some time, only stopping upon reaching this wall of vegetation.

This place seemed like the dividing line between the city and the countryside.

Tang Xian noticed how intelligently these trees grew wildly along the city's edge but abruptly stopped where buildings densely stood, as if consciously leaving space for humans.

From high above, the city looked like it wore a garland.

Its exterior was a protective web, formed by countless plants.

After hundreds of years, Tang Xian wasn't much interested in the reasons for how these things came to be.

But with some pruning, Baichuan City would be quite suitable as a cradle for the new sprouts of human civilization.

Starting with six or seven people, then slowly establishing a community, evolving into blocks, towns, and cities.

With the framework left by ancestors thousands of years ago, returning to the homeland to open a new civilization would actually progress much faster.

He fired a grappling hook and began to climb the tree wall. He wanted to see what lay beyond this barrier.

Surprisingly, the trunks of the wonky, giant camphor trees also seemed to have undergone changes in their toughness.

"It seems there really have been some biological mutations here," Tang Xian said as he climbed.

Tang Feiji floated in the air with his human form, puzzled as he looked at Tang Xian, and said,

"If you can fly, why climb?"

"Because if you turn into a dragon, the nearby animals will be scared away. And if you don't turn into a dragon—

riding on your back would be more ridiculous and embarrassing than you just now inflating a centuries-old Duracell."

Tang Feiji didn't understand. Wasn't he just playing with a balloon and that enigmatic box? What was there to be ashamed of? Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire

Without elaborating, Tang Xian climbed to a certain height and finally saw beyond the tree wall.

As he suspected, on the city outskirts, the plants grew more extravagantly, but always left enough gaps.

In these vast gaps, numerous small animals scurried about.

It was like all the cages in the zoo had been unlocked, and various creatures had crazily run out overnight.

The outskirts of this city were like a huge natural pasture!

Wild deer, rabbits, monkeys, and even wild boars, sheep, pheasants, and other creatures roamed here.

Further out, some large predators were visible.

Tang Xian looked at the tranquil, leisurely posture of those animals in the distance and felt a sense of quenching his thirst with plum visions.

"Fantastic, this city is terrific! Tang Feiji, we can go back tonight."

"Go back where?"

Tang Feiji wasn't interested in the outer animals, which didn't even qualify as enhanced creatures.

He saw no point in killing creatures that couldn't produce Soul Crystals.

"I'm a frail ordinary person; cleaning up this city is a job for strong people like Qiao Shanshan, Dong Ran, and Li Xiaoyu. They should move in today."

"Frail? You're a pretty cunning young man. I trust your... you're right!"

Under Tang Xian's friendly smile, Tang Feiji realized that Tang Xian was indeed frail.

Though there was much more to explore in this city, the biggest difference between modern cities and ancient ones lies in information and electricity.

Without these two things, this city was but another mine to Tang Xian.

However, resolving these issues was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

Tang Xian did not continue toward the periphery; he simply verified the abundance of wildlife outside and ceased his probing.

These creatures were odd; they stayed out and did not come in.

Initially, Tang Xian's thoughts were dark.

The tree wall was a fence, penning humans inside.

The small animals and humans at the outskirts were food.

Bred by even larger wild beasts further out.

But then Tang Xian realized this was not the case.

To obtain reliable results, he lay in wait atop the tree wall for several hours, observing closely.

From a great distance, he could vaguely make out Bengal tigers, African rhinos, American jaguars, and predators from various places.

Indeed, they would attack and chase after small animals in the shallower periphery.

The earlier scene of many herbivores coexisting peacefully and at ease was incredibly brief.

Before long, the small animals on the outskirts began to be hunted, frantically scattering much faster than Tang Xian had imagined.

And Tang Xian also became certain that the predators were larger than those he read about in ancient texts.

While these observations were worth pondering, what really caught Tang Xian's attention was that the small animals did not run towards the fence!