Chapter 301 Bronze Bird Terrace

The Vivian Harbor hypermarket was very busy in the morning, with people crowded together.

Some are foreign tourists who came to see the last swimsuit show in Vivian Harbor, most of whom are people from Kyushu who like to join in the fun. Some are small vendors who drive tricycles to sell various local specialties and handicrafts in the scenic area. Two thousand years ago, they rode donkeys and camels.

A huge billboard of a beautiful woman in a bikini was erected high on the ancient city wall that dated back to the Ottoman rule. A pink curtain was hung high. The central T-stage of the hypermarket had been cleared. Several workers were doing the final check on the sound equipment and various props. However, there were not many more traffic police maintaining order on the streets than usual.

“How strange.” Xia Yubing rolled down the car window and lay on the passenger seat, looking at the noisy crowd and the police officers scattered everywhere outside the window, a little puzzled: “During the Dragon Boat Race last year, tens of thousands of people gathered on both sides of Qinchuan. The local police station dispatched all their police forces to maintain order, and for safety reasons, they also borrowed a group of extra police officers from nearby cities.”

Although the number of people gathered in Vivian Port today is not as large as that time in Qinchuan, the population density is actually higher because the city is smaller.

“With such a large flow of people and population density, there are only a few more police officers on the streets to maintain order than usual.” Xia Yubing looked at the supermarket in the distance and asked, “Isn’t that Fusolus afraid of causing an accident and causing a public security incident? I mean a stampede or something like that.”

“Of course I’m not afraid.” Ning Zhe said in a gentle voice: “The population of Vivian Port is of high quality. There are no homeless people or hooligans. Girls can walk on the street at night without worry.”

“Is that so?” Xia Yubing blinked, somewhat surprised: “Is it really like what those marketing articles in China say, that people don’t pick up things on the road and don’t lock their doors at night?”

Has Europe achieved universal peace under the rule of sages or something?
“That’s not the case.” Ning Zhe shook his head. “The reason there are no homeless people or hooligans is not because foreigners have high moral standards, but because their military, police, and special agents catch people quickly.”

“Why is this?” Xia Yubing was even more confused.

“Because of strange events.” Ning Zhe continued, “Strange events are also updated from time to time in the country, and the solution of the United States of Europe is different from ours.”

“The Jiuzhou government will train a large number of death warriors with high welfare benefits. They will enter the areas where strange events occur to explore the rules. If they successfully crack the rules and quell the events, they will ascend to heaven. If they die in there, I will take care of your family. … However, not everyone can be a death warrior to explore strange events. These people need to go through background checks before they are trained to prevent them from playing tricks and breaking the rules with force after becoming upgraded.”

“In the United States of Europe, the situation is the opposite. Here, no matter if it’s a small-time thug who robs people by car, a street gang that collects protection fees, or even a petty thief, they will be arrested by the police immediately. After being instilled with some knowledge, they will be thrown into strange events as guinea pigs to explore the rules. It’s unlikely that only one out of 100 people will come out alive. Even if they are lucky enough to come out alive, they will be imprisoned and harvested by the nobles who have inherited the title for many years.”

“However, strange incidents have occurred more and more frequently in recent years, and criminals are always in short supply. The police in many cities, such as Vivian Port, have begun to catch homeless people from the streets to meet their performance targets, year after year. Gradually, almost all the homeless people in the city have been caught, but there are still not enough white mice, and the supply cannot meet the demand.”

“Millions of military police and special agents keep an eye on city residents every day, eagerly hoping that someone will commit a crime so that they can go out and brush off their performance. In the past two years, they have begun to kill innocent people to gain credit. Every month, law-abiding citizens are inexplicably ‘committed a crime’. There was even a conflict between two police stations in different cities because one police station robbed a criminal under the jurisdiction of the other police station…”

They were both catching people to fill in the gaps and deal with strange incidents. Jiuzhou always used good family children to fill in the gaps, while Europa caught social scum to fill in the gaps. Ning Zhe didn’t know which method was better, nor did he care. He was driving while slowly telling Xia Yubing about the situation.

“…This is the situation. So now you know why there are so few police officers maintaining order in Vivian Port?”

Xia Yubing opened her mouth into an O shape and let out a long, “Oh…”

Ning Zhe drove through the busy central area, leaving behind the hypermarket that had already started playing music to warm up the crowd, left the city and drove along the breakwater to the seaside, driving all the way to a cylindrical platform that was converted from an old water tower.

This platform was the property of Fusolus Milicato. After buying the water tower, it took him three years to get the reconstruction permit, and five years to transform it into a private entertainment facility that was not open to the public. Usually only he and a few friends would come. Fusolus gave this platform a name that was very much in the style of Wei Wu: Tongquetai.

The noble lords in Europe couldn’t understand what this name meant, but they heard that it was copied from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so it must be very awesome.

After stopping the car, Xia Yubing stared at the three large characters “Tongquetai” on the main entrance of the water tower for a few seconds before she and Ning Zhe followed the receptionist’s instructions and entered the elevator.

“Welcome.” The elevator lady bowed slightly to Van Dyke, played by Ning Zhe, and said softly, “The distinguished guests are already waiting on the top floor. Do you want to go now? Or do you want to go to the 5th floor to get a drink first?”

“The top floor.” Ning Zhe said.

“Okay.” The elevator lady didn’t ask any more questions and reached out to press the button for the top floor.

The elevator of Tongquetai is not enclosed indoors, but an open-air glass silo close to the outer wall of the water tower. Standing inside, you can directly see the long and curved breakwater and the beautiful sea surface with waves as clear as gems.

After getting out of the elevator, the two came to the open-air terrace on top of the water tower. There was no servant here. There was a green lawn under the arched glass dome, and unknown flowers were planted on both sides of the cobblestone path. In the center of the terrace was a lush cinnamon tree. From a distance, there seemed to be several people sitting on the tables and chairs under the cinnamon tree.

Xia Yubing walked behind Ning Zhe and poked his waist quietly with her finger: “The elevator lady looked at you a little strangely just now. Is there something fishy going on here?”

“It’s a good thing to be vigilant, but you’re overthinking it this time.” Ning Zhe said calmly, “That elevator lady was slept with by Van Dyke.”

“Ah, this…” Xia Yubing wanted to say something, but the person sitting under the cinnamon tree had already noticed their arrival and came to greet them from afar.

“Long time no see! Respected Mr. Dyke.” A well-dressed man with long hair came up to the two of them with a warm face. It was Liu Hongwen, whom Xia Yubing had seen in the information before.

Ning Zhe shook hands with him politely and turned his gaze to another man beside him.

He was dressed in a suit and had a big belly, but his face was extremely pale and he looked sick.

“Are you in good health, President Shen?” Ning Zhe said with a smile.

“Thanks to you, it’s not bad.” Shen Changjiang forced a smile and squinted his eyes and said, “It would be even better if we could invite the God of Wealth to Europe as soon as possible… By the way, who is this?”

Shen Changjiang turned his gaze to the tall woman next to Mr. Dyke.

“I haven’t introduced her to you yet.” Ning Zhe remained calm and smiled, “This is Xia Yubing, Miss Xia from Qinzhou. Like you, she was persecuted by the tyranny of Jiuzhou and came to Europe for a wise man who abandoned the dark and joined the light.”

(End of this chapter)