touchnovel Chapter 1074 A Minor Conflict
Chapter 1074 A Minor Conflict
The power inherent in this city is far more complex than it appears on the surface.
The night watchmen did nothing.
Simply by having these leaders come, any arrogance that shouldn't have existed and any hostility that shouldn't have been there must now dissipate.
When they reveal their ill intentions, they can't help but wonder if they have the ability to oppose such a power, or the power that owns such a city.
The convoy continued deeper along the main road, as if traversing a giant forest forged from steel, will, magic, and futuristic technology.
Finally, the view opened up before us, revealing a vast plaza whose size defies description.
This is the core of the southern part of the city surrounding the tower – the central square.
The square's surface is also as smooth as a mirror, and at its center stands some kind of symbolic giant sculpture or energy obelisk, surrounded by the city's most important building complex.
The powerful geometric structure of the Night's Watch's highest command center, the technology tower shimmering with the light of data streams, and the solemn hall symbolizing the Council of Candlelight...
Like stars surrounding the moon, they cling closely to the massive, mountain-like base of the Tower of Trials, creating an awe-inspiring visual focal point.
The convoy began to disperse in an orderly manner here.
Guided by the Night Watch staff, dressed in silver-gray uniforms and moving with precision and efficiency, the large groups were led to different passages.
The broadcast sounded gently and clearly over the square, guiding the way.
"Imperial delegation, please follow the blue guiding light to Area A of the Diplomatic Residence in the Starry Dome."
"Boundary Council delegation, please follow the green guiding light to Area B of the Starry Dome."
"Orcish Empire delegation, please follow the golden guiding light to..."
"The Commercial City-State Alliance Delegation..."
As the group dispersed, these "big shots" from all over the world were finally able to observe the intricacies of this legendary city in greater detail.
They saw alchemical vehicles of various shapes and sizes moving quietly through the streets.
I saw alchemical creations or enchanted items displayed in the shop windows along the roadside that I had never seen before.
I saw the Night Watch patrol teams, riding on hoverboards, occasionally gliding overhead;
I saw alchemical terminals in the public area, shimmering with a soft light, providing information or services...
Every detail silently speaks of the city's advanced nature, efficiency, and unfathomable cultural heritage.
The southern city of the city surrounding the tower, with its unparalleled scale, timeless scenery, and omnipresent power of order, gave all visitors their first lesson about the Night's Watch, and laid an incredibly weighty foundation for the upcoming World Conference.
The world's leaders, filled with awe and reflection, stepped into the temporary accommodations prepared for them.
……
The southern part of the city surrounding the tower.
This colossal city, forged from steel, will, and divinity, is experiencing its most bustling moment since its construction.
The World Conference acted like a giant magnet, attracting attention from every corner of the world of order.
Leaders of various powers, large delegations, merchants seeking business opportunities, adventurers eager to witness history, learned scholars, and tourists simply out of curiosity...
People of all kinds, like rivers flowing into the sea, surged into this miraculous city.
The Night Watch's proud urban planning and data-driven logistics systems are now undergoing an unprecedented stress test.
It's hard to say whether this spectacle was also in the minds of Popper and Cana.
The more people there are, the more testers there are, and the more testers there are, the more areas can be identified for improvement.
From its inception, the city was designed to accommodate a population of one million, and its magnificent framework is capable of supporting this unprecedented massive influx of people.
However, "sufficient to support" does not mean "abundant".
The wide streets, marked out like a ruler, were now filled with bustling crowds.
In those ingeniously designed public spaces, one can see people stopping to chat and pointing everywhere;
In the sky, besides the air towers and patrol skateboards performing guard duties, there are even more small private vehicles used for sightseeing, buzzing and shuttling between the steel forest.
The word "crowded" was used for the first time to describe this orderly city.
Although the efficient management of the night watchmen ensured that traffic was not paralyzed and supplies were uninterrupted, the almost cold sense of space and order that originally belonged to the city around the tower was replaced by a lively, slightly noisy, and bustling atmosphere.
The officially designated hotels and guesthouses have long been fully booked by diplomatic missions and wealthy businessmen from various countries, making it extremely difficult to find a room.
Sensing the business opportunity, the residents of the southern city turned their unused rooms and even carefully decorated attics into temporary accommodations, with simple wooden signs hanging at the doors that read "Welcome Travelers," contributing a unique touch of everyday life to this grand event.
Walking along main roads or secondary commercial streets, the most striking impression is the ubiquitous "new faces".
The elven nobles demurely surveyed the dwarven-style tavern;
The orc warrior curiously poked at the machine that automatically sold alchemical drinks by the roadside;
Anthropologists from remote continents marveled at the Night Watch announcements scrolling across the giant information screen suspended in the air.
The air was filled with a mix of languages in various accents, excited conversations, curious inquiries, and even minor arguments arising from cultural differences, all blending into a continuous background noise.
"Look, this is what a city worthy of its noble lineage should look like!"
A slightly high-pitched voice rang out from the crowd, carrying an undisguised sense of superiority.
The speaker was a human male nobleman dressed in a gorgeous embroidered velvet coat, his face covered with excessively white powder, and his posture deliberately maintained an effeminate appearance.
He stood beside the wide, clean, and gleaming street, and took an exaggerated deep breath, as if savoring a rare and exquisite wine.
"There was no stench, no filth, and none of those... eyesores, those sweaty, lowly people blocking the way! It's heaven!"
His gaze greedily swept across the city skyline, locking onto an elegantly designed floating tower with flowing blue energy patterns on its surface.
"What a magnificent creation! This is what our family should possess, standing tall above our territory, overlooking all living beings! After the meeting, we must ask the Night's Watch... whether this kind of floating tower is for sale?"
His tone was full of possessiveness that seemed perfectly natural.
The other nobleman who walked silently beside him was equally well-dressed but much more composed.
Upon hearing this, he didn't even lift his eyelids, merely pouring cold water on the situation.
"If you want to sell at least half of the wealth accumulated by your family over generations, you might be able to barely buy a second-hand item that has been in service for ten years and whose energy core is about to break down."
"Wh...what?!" The pampered nobleman nearly jumped up in shock, a few specks of white powder falling from his face. "How could it be so expensive? Don't they say the Night's Watch likes to sell cheap stuff? Those things that commoners use..." The composed nobleman finally turned his head, glancing at him with the look one gives an ignorant child, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible sarcasm.
"You've been shopping all day, from the city center to the secondary markets, how many real 'bargains' have you seen?"
"Those cheap, unlimited supplies of basic food, clothing, and daily necessities are the foundation upon which the Night Watchmen maintain the basic operation of society and forcibly stabilize prices."
"It's for 'everyone,' not a toy for you to show off your 'nobility.' As for the real technological creations, alchemical cores, and strategic facilities..."
These things are irrelevant to ordinary people; instead, those who buy them and have a need for them are the upper class.
The Night's Watchmen are not ambiguous about this.
He paused, his gaze sweeping over a dark gray "Lingguang-III" commuter car that silently glided by. "That's a wealth game in another dimension. The generational gap that the Night Watchers have built with technology and rules has already inflated their overall wealth to a level we can't even imagine."
"Their internal circulation is built on the terrifying productivity brought about by the 'blessing'. Wealth? To them, it is just a huge and stable number, a number that gives us an absolute and overwhelming advantage."
The things the Night's Watch brought had a profound impact on the world.
For those truly elite noble families, we have been studying the Night's Watch diligently, absorbing the knowledge they impart.
Even so, they still couldn't keep up.
Therefore, they were the ones who knew best what made the Night's Watch so terrifying, and they were also the first to defect during the revolution, offering no resistance and even going along with it to provide assistance.
They were also among the first to switch sides, embracing the Night's Watch early on.
The liberation of civilians and the granting of their due rights may not necessarily be harmful to them.
They simply lost certain privileges.
Just then, a small patrol of Night Watchmen, dressed in standard silver-gray light armor and marching in perfect unison, passed by them on their routine route.
One of the team members, who was particularly burly, accidentally brushed the sleeve of the ornate coat of a pampered nobleman with the edge of his broad shoulder armor while dodging a bouncing halfling child.
"Ouch!" the pampered noblewoman cried out dramatically, as if bitten by a venomous snake. She immediately slapped the sleeve that had been touched in disgust, while shrilly and cursing.
"You blind wretch! Watch where you're going! Do you know how much this outfit is worth? Can you afford to pay for it if you damage it?!"
The patrol team stopped abruptly.
The captain, a level 10 warrior with a resolute face and sharp eyes, turned around.
His gaze swept over the glamorous but slightly ostentatious attire of the pampered aristocrat, and a mocking smile, which he made no attempt to hide, curled up at the corner of his mouth.
"Untouchables?" The captain's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the surrounding noise, carrying a cold, amused tone. "Ha! That's a term I haven't heard in a long time. And in the City of the Ring Tower? You country bumpkins from 'outside,' what era are you stuck in?"
He took a step forward, and the invisible pressure made the effeminate aristocracy subconsciously take a half step back.
"I remember that 'serf revolution' that swept across several continents a few years ago, didn't it either hang those arrogant nobles who treated commoners like livestock, or make them kneel on the ground licking the boots of the 'lowly people' and begging for mercy?"
He deliberately dragged out his words, his gaze sweeping across the other person's flushed face like a knife.
A teammate standing nearby, a wiry, eagle-eyed level nine ranger, chuckled and chimed in.
"Captain, you have a good memory. But, there are always some who slip through the net, or... the 'lucky ones' who survive by wagging their tails and begging?"
He looked the pampered aristocrats up and down meaningfully, his disdain undisguised.
"You...you bunch of lowly people..." The pampered nobles trembled with anger, their fingers shaking as they pointed at the captain.
"Enough! Shut your stinking mouth!"
The captain suddenly shouted, his voice booming like thunder, instantly silencing the other person.
His eyes were icy, as if he were looking at a pile of disgusting garbage: "Listen, you ignorant fool! This is the City of the Ring! Under the rules of the Night's Watch, only life is equal!"
"There are no nobles, no commoners, and certainly no 'lowly people' as you call them! Your blood is red, and you'll feel pain and die just like anyone else if you're cut by a knife!"
"So, shut up your utterly corrupt aristocratic airs and keep your head down! If I hear you utter another word like 'commoner,' I'll personally 'invite' you to solitary confinement so you can experience the Night's Watch's 'equality' education!"
"Did you understand? You backward, ignorant, and self-righteous thing!"
After reprimanding them mercilessly, as if even looking at them was too dirty, he turned and left with his squad, leaving the pampered nobles standing there, their faces turning from red to white, and then from white to green, like a rooster being strangled.
The composed nobleman beside him watched the farce with a calm expression throughout.
He didn't speak until the patrol team had gone far away, his voice devoid of emotion.
"That's a standard Night Watch city patrol squad. The 'commoner' you just called a 'lowlife' is a level nine ranger. The captain who insulted you is a level ten warrior."
"Any one of them could make you and your few fancy guards disappear without a trace, like crushing an insect, and you wouldn't even have a chance to react."
He paused, looking at his friend who was about to faint from anger, and added.
"I'm just stating the facts. Remember, we are guests. Put away your outdated arrogance here and keep a low profile."
“You’re not too stupid. I don’t want to have to go to jail or the morgue to claim you in a couple of days.”
After saying that, he ignored his companion and walked straight ahead.
The pampered noblewoman stood there, her chest heaving violently, her fists clenched until they turned white. In the end, she could only squeeze out a suppressed "humph" through her teeth and quickly followed.
Before his anger and humiliation had subsided, a commotion and cheers coming from a street corner not far ahead caught their attention.
On the roadside, a young nobleman, equally dressed in fine clothes and with an arrogant demeanor, was lying on the ground in a sorry state.
A slender and curvy woman wearing a light-colored dress was kicking him in the stomach without any politeness, while cursing under her breath.
"Are you blind?! How dare you lay a hand on me? What kind of aristocrat are you? Do you really think the City of the Tower is your backyard?"
"If you dare to extend your filthy claws again, believe me, I'll twist your head off and use it as a football!"
With that, she lifted the wailing nobleman up like a chick, and with a clean and swift over-the-shoulder throw, slammed him hard to the ground.
He kicked him again, and the young nobleman slid several meters like a broken sack, only stopping when he crashed into a metal bench on the side of the street. He was completely silent, whether he had fainted or was in too much pain, no one knew.
"it is good!"
"Good job!"
"Beat him up! What a piece of trash!"
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause and whistles, clearly delighted with the scene.
Someone even spat in the direction of the unconscious nobleman.
Faintly, one could still hear the young nobleman, before completely losing consciousness, muttering resentfully, "...a...lowly...commoner...". (End of Chapter)