Free Web NovelChapter 138: Chapter 138: Celestial Dragon People
Stockholm syndrome, also known as capture-bonding, describes a psychological condition where victims develop feelings for their captors, even going so far as to help them.
These feelings cause the victim to develop a sense of affection for and dependence on their abuser, sometimes even leading them to assist their abuser.
A metal plaque at the base of the statue was clearly inscribed.
Arthur Seldon, Founder and CEO of Azure Sky Technology, the pioneer and popularizer of nanomechanical technology. He is the creator of this great company and is destined to be the creator of a new era.
Clearly, the Gray Tide apocalypse hadn’t yet begun when this statue was erected.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the person responsible for the Nanomechanical Insect Gray Tide, for all of this, was none other than Arthur Seldon.
In other words, this entire Gray Tide apocalypse, this miserable and terrifying world, was all his doing.
’And a piece of work like him was actually being worshipped as the God of the Firmament? By all rights, shouldn’t he be considered a Hellish Evil God, or even Satan himself?’
’If this isn’t mass Stockholm syndrome, then what is?’
For Shen Feng, however, this was actually a good thing.
The clues he was looking for were right here.
Seeing the pious expression on the face of the scar-faced man, Gerard, Shen Feng couldn’t be bothered to say anything. He just nodded at the statue and turned toward the bustling market.
Gerard glanced at Shen Feng and Billy, said a few words to some armed men on patrol nearby, then turned and left.
It was called a market, but it was really just a few dozen stalls lining both sides of a single road.
The stalls sold all sorts of things: cockroaches, fish, dried algae, various plant seeds, knives honed from metal scraps, miscellaneous junk, clothing, and so on.
Judging by these goods, the entire world hadn’t been completely consumed and assimilated by the Gray Tide; some things had slipped through the cracks.
There were even some naked people standing there, their eyes filled with panic. They were either being sold by others or selling themselves. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The clothes these people wore were scant and tattered—mostly the hospital gowns they’d been wearing when they woke from their Hibernation Pods.
Slavery existed in this so-called Holy Sanctuary.
And the ones selecting and buying slaves were all people wearing old Azure Sky Technology uniforms.
Whenever people in the market saw someone in uniform, they immediately became extremely cautious, as if terrified of angering them.
Clearly, they were the absolute privileged class here.
Shen Feng’s tall, imposing frame immediately drew the attention of many in the market.
While they were used to seeing people awakened from hibernation coming here from all over, someone this powerfully built was a rare sight.
But Shen Feng didn’t need anything at the moment, so he didn’t linger. Instead, he strode to the end of the market, to a stall where a metal sphere was displayed.
A middle-aged woman in a tattered black cloak sat there with a solemn expression. On a ragged cloth before her lay a few old, frayed tarot cards.
She wasn’t wearing a Sky Technology Company uniform, which meant she was clearly one of the "old people" awakened from a Hibernation Pod.
Where there are people, there’s superstition, and that was doubly true for a place that had already begun deifying someone.
However, Shen Feng hadn’t sought her out for a fortune-telling, but to gather information.
A fortune teller would inevitably meet people from all walks of life, and would therefore have access to far more information than anyone else.
Shen Feng was already fed up with this godforsaken place. This oppressive, all-metal apocalypse was somehow even more unbearable than the Stone Statue Apocalypse and a nuclear wasteland combined.
Right now, all he wanted was to find his clues, complete his mission, and get out of this damn Gray Tide apocalypse as fast as possible.
Shen Feng walked up to the middle-aged woman and sat down on the ground. Billy cautiously sat down beside him, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings.
The woman looked to be in her fifties. She had a sallow complexion and was slightly bloated, clearly in a constant state of hunger and malnutrition.
Her black cloak was clearly homemade; on closer inspection, it appeared to be a large, black plastic bag.
She wore a yellowed, tattered hibernation suit against her skin, with her name embroidered on the chest.
Daisy.
It was probably her only piece of clothing.
It was much the same for all the "old people" who had awakened from their Hibernation Pods.
"Young man, what is it you wish to know? Go ahead and ask. As long as you can provide sufficient payment," Daisy said with a smile, before Shen Feng could even speak.
Shen Feng couldn’t help but return a faint smile.
She had seen right through him—that he was here for information, not a reading. The woman knew her business.
He suddenly realized he had been underestimating the humans of the Gray Tide apocalypse.
After all, the people who awakened from the Hibernation Pods still had their memories from the old world. It was very likely that many of them had been elites in their respective fields.
This Daisy, for example, clearly had a deep understanding of psychology.
Shen Feng glanced around, then quietly took a small vial labeled "Anti-inflammatory and Painkiller" from his pocket. He shook out a single pill and placed it in front of Daisy.
The moment she saw the pill, Daisy’s breathing quickened. Her hand shot out, snatching the pill and stuffing it into her pocket.
Medicine!
And opioid painkillers, at that!
In this world, the most valuable commodity wasn’t food, or slaves, or even weapons. It was medicine.
Having medicine was like having an extra life, even if it was just a common anti-inflammatory painkiller!
This one even had antibiotics!
Otherwise, a simple case of the flu could be a death sentence.
It was rumored that aside from the Holy Sanctuary People, who still had a hidden stash of medicine, no one else had even seen so much as a pill.
Shen Feng nodded and asked:
"What exactly is the Holy Sanctuary? And who are these Holy Sanctuary People? How did the world end up like this? And how do you control those nanomechanical monsters?"
Hearing his questions, Daisy’s eyes lit up.
"You’ve certainly come to the right person for that," she said. "When Azure Sky Technology was taking the world by storm, I was preparing to go into hibernation, so I happen to know a few things..."
Azure Sky Technology started as a high-tech company researching nanomaterials. After years of research and development, it made a creative breakthrough with its nanomechanical construction technology.
Arthur Seldon was the founder, CEO, and chief scientist of Azure Sky Technology. He was showered with accolades, and his technology was praised across the globe.
After all, you only needed a suitcase-sized cluster of "Mother Insects" to build an entire skyscraper in a single day.
Who wouldn’t fall in love with a technology that was practically Magic?
The advent of nanomechanical technology was even hailed as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a major milestone in the history of human civilization.
By then, Daisy had already entered her Hibernation Pod. The next thing she knew, the pod opened automatically one day, and she woke up to a metallic Hell.
As for the Holy Sanctuary, it was a former Sky Technology Company factory. Apparently, it only survived because the Nanomechanical Insects had an initial directive not to damage company property, which allowed it to become a Holy Land in the midst of the metallic apocalypse.
And those so-called Holy Sanctuary People? They were all descendants of former Sky Technology Company employees.
Apparently, because their ancestors’ DNA was registered as belonging to employees, the mechanical monsters won’t attack the Holy Sanctuary People.
This led them to believe they were uniquely blessed, like god’s chosen few, and that they were entitled to special privileges.
Hearing this, Shen Feng couldn’t help but mutter to himself, ’So they’re a budget version of the Celestial Dragon People, huh...’
"As for controlling the monsters... I’ve heard rumors. They say you have to find a descendant of Arthur Seldon and get their DNA..."
