City of Time: Falling into the kill zone at the start

"He actually..."

"It has been 5000 years..."

Half an hour later, on the side of the street.

Watching the black sedan with license plate number 9529 drive away, Lu Chen and Yu sat blankly by the roadside, their expressions utterly bewildered.

——【5000 years】!

The best fixed assets in District 18: farms and ranches; you could buy at least ten!

If you used that money to buy a rope hotel, you could buy an entire street!

Putting everything else aside, just look at the luxury car that passenger number 9529 was riding in. In these 5000 years, you could buy at least 200 of them!

...

What sent chills down Lu Chen and Yu's spines even further was: [Capsule]!

The capsule that Lu Chen once referred to as a "card swiping machine" is not prohibited from being privately owned!

If Number 9529 could casually give Lu Chen and Yu a piece, then he must have one himself!

His "time" may not—or even be entirely contained in the "timer" on his left arm.

He may have another [time] existing within the [capsule]...

"Officer, are you that rich...?"

Startled, Lu Chen murmured softly involuntarily.

Yu, with the same bewildered expression, shook her head absentmindedly.

"Absolutely not."

...

"Occupations numbered 180 and above are labor-intensive occupations."

"Those numbered 180 and above are mostly property owners."

"Property occupations can also be further subdivided."

"-- Rope hotels, bakeries, and sandwich shops are all considered businesses."

"Farmers and ranchers are businessmen."

"And the law enforcement officers belong to the ruling system of the City of Time; you can think of them as civil servants."

"Civil servants receive a natural death allowance of [1 day], a housing allowance of [18 hours], and a food allowance of [3 hours] per day."

"In addition, there are many other miscellaneous benefits under various names."

"In addition to these benefits, civil servants also receive a daily wage of [12 hours per day]."

As she murmured this, Yu slowly raised her head and looked again in the direction where No. 9529 had left.

After a moment, he pursed his lips slightly and nodded heavily.

"He is definitely not a law enforcement officer."

"—At least not a law enforcement officer in the conventional sense."

"Number 154 is likely his temporary number in District 18—because in District 18, the highest job number is only 154."

"His real occupational number is definitely much higher than 154."

After he finished speaking, the two fell into a long silence.

Although the meeting with No. 9529 was brief, the amount of information contained in the conversation had a profound impact on Lu Chen and Yu.

The first to be affected is [capsules].

This was the first time Lu Chen and Yu had seen a privately owned capsule.

In their minds, the scenes where the capsule appeared were basically places where the "public assets" of the City of Time existed.

For example, at the city gate, there is a robotic arm that collects tolls;

For example, bank counters and ATMs that collect and issue deposits/withdrawals at specific times;

Or perhaps it's a channel for distributing wages at the mine.

At most, bakeries and water stores have capsules for receiving payments.

There wasn't even a rope hotel; they could only use a primitive method: having both partners press their left arms together to act as a timer to collect time.

Lu Chen never imagined that the capsule could be privately held or owned.

Yu Geng never imagined that one day she would be able to own her own [capsule].

...

Secondly, there is the remaining time for number 9529.

With nearly 5000 years' worth of savings, he gave it to Lu Chen and Yu for 10 years without batting an eye, as if it were a tip!

Such astonishing wealth not only shocked Lu Chen and Yu, but also made the identity and profession of No. 9529 even more mysterious.

Are all the people in the inner city so wealthy?

Or is it that No. 9529 has an extremely special and prominent identity in the inner city?

...

Finally, there was the answer given by No. 9529 when he was leaving, in response to Yu's question, "Did you come in person to give us something?"

Besides the capsule and the 10-year payment, No. 9529 did indeed give Lu Chen and Yu a third reward...

What do you think?

In the silence, Lu Chen asked a question in a vague tone, but he was unable to call back Yu's 'soul'.

Seeing that Yu did not react, Lu Chen coughed lightly twice to clear his throat.

"Jade?"

"Sister Yu?"

This time, Yu finally came to her senses a little.

She turned her head slightly, still looking at Lu Chen with a bewildered expression.

After a long while, as if waking from a dream, he refocused his unfocused pupils.

But the usual calm and composed demeanor was no longer visible on that snow-white face.

"I have no idea."

"I don't know why he would tell us these things."

"I don't know which of his words are true and which are false."

"We have no idea what District 17 really means to us."

...

My mind is a mess.

As they were talking, Yu, who had just 'awakened,' fell into a daze again.

Beside him, Lu Chen also let out a long sigh, his brows furrowed in frustration.

—Number 9529 came in person because it was something that required his personal attention.

However, it wasn't that there was anything he wanted to personally hand over to Lu Chen and Yu.

It was a message.

Just like before, when Lu Chen sold information to Zhao Jie;

Number 9529 brought Lu Chen and Yu a significant piece of information.

—Information about Ward 17.

To be precise, it concerns Lu Chen and Yu's future entry into District 17, and the matters they need to be aware of...

"17th District..."

...

"More prosperous and comfortable than the 18th ward..."

"The inner city..."

With a soft sigh, Lu Chen placed his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.

High in the sky, swarms of police drones patrolled slowly back and forth in an orderly fashion.

Behind the buildings on the opposite side of the street is an outer city wall that is likely over 500 meters high.

Behind Lu Chen and Yu—2 kilometers away from the outer street—there was another iron wall, equally tall and seemingly endless, separating District 18 from the inner city.

No one knows what the scene is like on the other side of the iron wall.

At least the vast majority of people in District 18 know nothing about the inner city.

Lu Chen and Yu were naturally curious about the inner city.

But when the opportunity to cross the iron wall and set foot in District 17 was right in front of them, Lu Chen and Yu were filled with doubts.

...

"Besides number 9529, who else in District 18 has information about the inner city?"

After another long period of contemplation, Lu Chen finally managed to calm himself down and tentatively asked a question.

But Yu remained oblivious, staring blankly for a long time.

Then, like a wind-up toy, it turned its neck very slowly.

When she looked at Lu Chen, Yu's light blue eyes held only bewilderment at the unknown and a hint of fear.

"North City".

"The farmers and ranchers in the northern part of District 18, as well as the law enforcement officers, may have news from the inner city."

"But we..."

She stopped mid-sentence, her expression turning serious, and her brows furrowed tightly.

After a long while, he looked up at Lu Chen again.

"We don't need to take any risks."

...

"We can only inquire about everything concerning the inner city—we can only rely on hearsay, and we have no way to verify it."

"No information source, including No. 9529, can be guaranteed to be completely reliable regarding the inner city."

"We don't need to take this risk."