Am I going to be sacrificed too?

Chapter 29 Fiery Divine System, First-Order Transcendent

"This is the City of Strange Stones."

The towering city walls are a hundred meters high; just standing there and looking up at them makes you feel small.

Outside the city walls, there were separate areas where countless people lived.

This is only outside the city. The outer city is inside the city walls, while important figures live in the inner city, where the access control is truly strict.

Fortunately, they had a suitable stepping stone in their hands.

"The shelter contract?"

The administrator in charge of the outer city residents' qualifications looked at the contract in his hand with surprise, as if trying to find something suspicious in it.

The shelters will abide by the contract, but they don't care who holds the contract.

He glanced at the two people in front of him, but ultimately suppressed his ulterior motives.

The opponent has a second-tier superhuman; it's not worth the risk.

"I'll report it to the authorities, and the shelter's system will do a second verification to confirm the contract's authenticity. The outer city is fine, but the inner city..."

The manager hesitated to speak.

Upon seeing this, Wang An handed over a bag of silver coins.

Feeling the weight of that message, the manager smiled again: "Due to recent events, especially the strange commotion outside the city a couple of days ago, entry into the inner city is now very strict. You need to report a valid reason for every trip. If you want to go in, you'll have to think twice."

Moreover, strictly speaking, inner city status isn't truly permanent. Even if you obtain the status, you still need to pay a residency fee of 50,000 silver coins annually. If you fail to meet this requirement for three consecutive years, you'll be expelled. Frankly, unless absolutely necessary, there's no need for you outsiders to enter the inner city.

If it's just for enjoyment and living, the inner city is undoubtedly a good choice, but if it's for becoming stronger, then it's a different story.

The City of Strange Stones keeps its precious resources firmly in its inner city, but those resources are undoubtedly reserved for its own people. If you don't join the City of Strange Stones, it will be extremely difficult to obtain these resources; at best, you can only scrape some scraps from their fingers.

"However..."

The manager lowered his voice and whispered, "I have a friend in the logistics department. His job is very easy. He is rarely assigned tasks by Qishi City, and he can freely enter and exit the inner city when purchasing supplies."

Wang An understood the other party's implication.

This job allows one to be officially recognized as an official of Qishi City without facing significant restrictions.

The manager held up five fingers.

"Five thousand silver coins?"

On average, each scavenger can obtain about two hundred silver coins worth of supplies per month, so five thousand silver coins would be considered a huge sum of money.

The manager shook his head.

"Fifty thousand silver coins?!"

The manager shook his head again.

He stopped speaking in riddles and pointed to the contract on the table: "Five spots."

He needs five certificates of permanent citizenship for the outer city.

Wang An frowned slightly: "Aren't you just a manager? What do you need these slots for? You should be able to easily get the qualifications."

The administrator chuckled: "See, that's what you think too, isn't it? No, it's precisely because I'm the qualification administrator that I need these spots even more."

People think he's a qualified manager, so many people try to get close to him. Doesn't Qishicheng know about this?

Therefore, he can only issue temporary resident status, not citizenship. The latter is strictly controlled by the higher-ups in the inner city of Strangestone City. Only those who complete tasks or are of high value to them will be granted citizenship, or it will be guaranteed by more powerful forces such as the "Sanctuary".

The two words differ by only one character, but their essence is worlds apart.

The former only had the right to live in the outer city, while the latter were the people who were truly protected by the City of Strange Stones.

Despite the bustling crowds outside Qishi City, with over 200,000 people gathering there year-round, the actual number of citizens in Qishi City is only around 10,000: 2,000 in the inner city and 8,000 in the outer city.

The difference is not noticeable under normal circumstances, but when faced with an insurmountable natural disaster, they will see the value of the city wall. This impregnable fortress will stand in their way like an insurmountable barrier.

Zong Yuanming was simply oblivious to the cost of daily necessities and eager to complete the mission, which is why he dared to offer eleven slots as a reward at once. Under normal circumstances, he would definitely be punished by the shelter upon his return, but unfortunately, he was already dead, and the shelter could only confiscate all his belongings as punishment.

Now that these positions are available, managers can truly be managers, and things they wouldn't have dared to promise before are now within their reach.

Wang An nodded knowingly: "Okay, I agree. Consider it making friends."

Since they were new to the area and unfamiliar with the people, having a local as a friend was very helpful for their development.

"Haha, I love making friends. My name is Qian Mingzhi."

"Wang An".

The two shook hands firmly, which can be considered as reaching some kind of cooperation.

Before leaving, Qian Mingzhi reminded him, "You have no idea how determined those peasants are to enter Qishi City, especially after the cultists massacred people outside the city walls not long ago. Nearly half of the people outside the city walls died. They are now hoping to squeeze in. Don't give away your remaining qualification easily."

Of course, if you don't have any good ideas, you can come back to me, and I'll give you a price that satisfies you.

……

After removing Wang Yu and Wang An's two spots, there are only four spots left. Now that we know how important these spots are, we should make the most of them.

Wang An looked at the area outside the city wall, which was blackened by the battle and was now reclaimed by countless people.

Despite the constant threat of danger, they were determined to gamble on that pitiful chance. Even if they couldn't enter the city, they hoped that if they caught the eye of some chosen one, they might become his subordinate and enjoy Yu Yin's company.

Whether in the inner or outer city, every legal citizen has a certain number of family members and subordinates. For the chosen ones, it is based on rank, while for ordinary people it is based on "contribution".

But when something really happens, these people are definitely not as prioritized as ordinary citizens.

Although Wang An has made no contributions now, he is already a true extraordinary person.

During the past few days on the road, Wang An had already used the Tier 3 Divine Miracle reward that Liu Musen had obtained from opening boxes, which could modify talents, and successfully increased his Fire God system compatibility to about 18%.

Then, some resources were sacrificed to successfully assist him in completing the awakening ceremony, making him a first-tier transcendent being of the 'Fire' pantheon.

Wang An reserved the inner city's quota for himself, as Wang Yu was not suited for such a public persona; this was the best way to maximize his interests.

The original black box was left to Wang Yu for safekeeping, while Wang An himself only took a few replicas of the black box that he had created using his divine wisdom power.

Even though he was already prepared, Wang An was still uneasy when he actually entered the inner city of Qishi City, a place that had long been regarded as a sacred place by the survivors of Qishi Province.