Ninth class citizen

Chapter 310 The So-Called Pure Land

The City of Hope uses an independent internal network and is not connected to the Chaotic Star Network.

"It's mainly to ensure everyone's safety," the shop owner next door explained to Nan Rong. "Over the years, many forces have tried to cause us trouble, and it's only because of this caution that we haven't been able to expose our location."

As he spoke, he helped Nan Rong set up the local communication device—a palm-sized circular communicator with functions such as recording and evaluating residents' work performance, viewing news announcements, receiving and making payments, and internal communication.

Of course, the currency used here is not Chaos Coin, but Hope Coin issued by the City of Hope.

Like all workers, Nan Rong's monthly salary is 1000 Hope Coins.

The first month's salary had already been prepaid into my account, and now half of it has been transferred out to cover the cost of the communication device.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang," Nan Rong said politely.

“Master Nan, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not the owner.” The other party waved his hands repeatedly: “This is Cheng Bang’s communication device specialty store. I’m just the shopkeeper.”

Nan Rong pondered for a moment: "Manager Zhang, are the other shops on this street also under the jurisdiction of the city-state?"

“Most of them are,” the other person replied. “Very few people are like you, Master Nan, who can obtain a license to open a private shop and afford the high rent and taxes.”

Nan Rong's shop opened quickly and was immediately packed with customers, but after looking at the price tags, most of them shook their heads and left.

Two men with stern faces entered the shop at that moment.

They were wearing uniform blue low-profile uniforms and showed Nan Rong their work identification as administrators of Hope City.

"Someone reported you for price gouging and profiteering." The middle-aged man in the lead said, quickly surveying the store, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
"A Tier 1 gene repair fluid costs 10,000 Hope Coins, and a Tier 1 gene optimization agent costs 100,000 Hope Coins? That's far too expensive compared to the average income of the current residents, and it violates the city-state's commercial operation regulations—do you have any explanation for this?"

Before Nan Rong could speak, he added, "Note that you only have this one chance to explain. If you fail to satisfy us, you will be arrested and tried."

“You should know the price of gene serums outside,” Nan Rong said calmly. “The first-level gene repair agents and optimizers I sell are all grade C or above. If it weren’t for taking into account the average income of residents, it would be impossible to set such a low price.”

“But this is the City of Hope,” the middle-aged man said coldly. “Every citizen of this city-state is equal in status and treatment, regardless of their skills. No one can use their skills to make a profit.”

“It was Captain Selena who invited me to join Hope City, and it was also her who gave me permission to sell potions,” Nan Rong argued. “She’s on a mission right now, but you should be able to contact her.”

“Selena?” The middle-aged man shook his head. “She’s from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she has no jurisdiction over the internal affairs of the city-state. If you don’t have a more reasonable explanation, we’ll have to ask you to go back.”

As he spoke, another law enforcement officer next to him took out the energy-disabling handcuffs and winked at Nan Rong.

A flash of inspiration struck Nan Rong.

"I do have a personal reason, but I can only tell the two respected managers separately."

The two exchanged a glance and followed Nan Rong into the warehouse behind the shop.

She quietly added a soundproof shield, then took out two vials of Tier 1 C gene optimizer from the medicine storage cabinet and handed them over with a smile.

"The shop has just opened, and there are many things I don't quite understand—I'll have to trouble you two to give me some pointers. This is just a small token of my appreciation, please don't refuse." The two city-state administrators, whose faces had been tense since they entered, finally relaxed.

Without hesitation, they put away the medicine in the disposable medicine storage box, and a warm smile appeared on their faces.

“It’s normal for Master Nan to be unfamiliar with the relevant regulations since he’s new here,” the middle-aged man said gently. “But since someone has reported it, we have no choice but to make this trip to help you think of a solution.”

"So, according to your opinions, how should this matter be handled?" Nan Rong humbly asked for advice.

"Actually, it's not difficult. The vast majority of residents in the city-state don't need any high-level potions. You just need to put a batch of low-level potions on the shelves and then lower the prices appropriately."

"Thank you both for your guidance." Nan Rong smiled and said, "I will do so immediately. If you need anything else in the future, you can come and find me directly."

After seeing off the two city administrators, the smile on Nan Rong's face immediately disappeared.

It seems that the City of Hope is not a monolithic entity. Judging from the ease with which the two managers solicited bribes, this is certainly not the first time something like this has happened.

They use "equality" as a pretext, but in reality, they use privileges to seek personal gain.

There is no essential difference between them and the officials of the Delin Federation.

Is this the so-called sanctuary that Florent and Selena painstakingly created?

Nan Rong began closing the store for reorganization, removing all high-level potions from the shelves and replacing them with only Tier 1 F-grade potions.

The prices displayed on the labels have naturally been significantly reduced.

First-class F-grade universal gene repair agent, 2000 Hope Coins per vial.

First-order F-level gene optimizer, 2 Hope Coins per vial.

This price is something that ordinary city-state residents can achieve through hard work and savings.

As for the other medicines, she also placed them in the display area without pricing them to avoid giving others cause for criticism.

After these adjustments, more than fifty vials of first-order F-grade universal gene repair agent and more than a dozen vials of first-order F-grade gene optimization agent were sold in just one afternoon.

The commercial area closes at 9 p.m., and there are no pedestrians on the streets long ago.

When the time came, all the external lighting in the entire commercial area was turned off, and the streets became pitch black.

The shop has dim lighting; if you want it brighter, you'll have to pay an extra, rather expensive, energy fee.

Nan Rong naturally wouldn't pay an extra penny for this. She casually flicked out a light ball and was slowly tidying up the shelves when she suddenly saw a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old passing by outside the window.

The boy's head and face were covered in injuries, one eye was bruised and purple, and his legs and feet were injured, causing him to walk with a limp.

Nan Rong spread her mental energy outwards and discovered that the boy's body was covered with all kinds of wounds, new wounds covering old wounds, layer upon layer.