Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 482 - 480: The Outside World (I finished writing it yesterday, but forgot to send it, sorry)
After finishing the meal, Shi Tingyu downed the wine in her glass in one gulp and turned her head to look at Lu Luo with a sharp gaze.
Meanwhile, Lu Luo was casually savoring the wine in his glass, seemingly in no rush at all.
"Why are you unwilling to speak?" Shi Tingyu asked again.
"It’s nothing, just a small matter. I want you to help my older brother find a job, a rather good one at that. He’s currently the captain of a pistol squad. I’d like you to help him find a position slightly higher than that. For example, something like the Secretary-General’s bodyguard, the Secretary-General’s guard, or captain of the Council Guard," Lu Luo said.
"Are you joking? The positions you mentioned carry very important responsibilities. Your brother is named Lu Yang, right? He used to belong to the Church, and with that kind of background, he can’t take up those positions."
"Oh, that won’t work? It looks like I can’t rely on this favor from you after all."
Lu Luo looked somewhat disappointed, but Shi Tingyu didn’t want to let him down. Her own personal desires weren’t limited to just her feelings. Moreover, she didn’t harbor any special feelings towards Lu Luo. Years had passed, and any fondness she might have had had long since faded away. Now, all she held towards Lu Luo was a hint of curiosity and curiosity about the Imperial.
"Don’t be hasty. He definitely can’t take up those important positions. However, I can assign him to a high-paying job that lacks real power," Shi Tingyu said.
At these words, Lu Luo’s eyes lit up.
"Being paid to poop is something I love the most. The kind of position you’re talking about, that should be one where you can be paid to poop, right?"
Shi Tingyu was somewhat speechless. She didn’t understand why Lu Luo always described those enviable positions in such an unappealing way. Paid to poop, when she thought about it, wasn’t actually incorrect.
"That’s more or less the case. If you’re satisfied, I can arrange such a job for your brother to keep him away from the dangerous work of the Wall Guardians. After all, if the Fourth Ring ever launched an attack on the Inner Ring, the Wall Guardians would usually be the first to die."
When it came to the death of the Wall Guardians, Shi Tingyu seemed disheartened. The fate of the Wall Guardians could very well be the fate of the entire Inner Ring. She was well aware of what the future would bring, and such events were nearly irreversible.
"You’ve seen the future, haven’t you?" Lu Luo said thoughtfully.
Shi Tingyu was a clever woman, especially now that she held the position of Secretary-General. She was likely well-informed about the situation between the Inner Ring and the Fourth Ring. It was because she was well-informed that she was uncertain about the future, and it was this uncertainty that made her so intrigued by the Imperial.
"Are you referring to the future where the Inner Ring will be leveled by the Fourth Ring? If it’s something like that, you don’t need to emphasize it to me because everyone in the Inner Ring with a bit of awareness knows this all too well. The Fourth Ring is developing too rapidly, with a population that’s too large and even more resources. With their Dark Energy Level being almost the same, the Fourth Ring’s rate of development would far surpass the Inner Ring’s, by dozens of times even. This means that in about a decade or so, the Fourth Ring will surpass nearly 400 years of the Inner Ring’s accumulation. By then, we’ll all be doomed," said Shi Tingyu with an air of ease, even laughing as she reached the end of her statement.
However, that laughter was filled with bitterness. Lu Luo knew all too well that no one wished to see their homeland, where they had lived for decades, be destroyed and shattered. But in the face of overwhelming trends, they had no other choice. That was the cruelest part of it all.
"I didn’t expect you to be so optimistic, being able to talk about such things with a smile."
"Alright, I’ll keep your brother’s matter in mind. Is there anything else?"
"Well, it seems kind of maybe... there isn’t."
Lu Luo’s way of speaking was somewhat irritating, but Shi Tingyu didn’t get angry because it was rare for someone to talk to her like that during work. Those people were all too serious. Excessive seriousness made the Inner Ring seem somewhat oppressive. The Inner Ring was already oppressive enough; she didn’t want her workplace to become that oppressive as well.
"If you don’t have anything else, could you tell me... what’s the Imperial like? I mean, in more specific terms."
Lu Luo raised his head, seemingly contemplating what there was to say about the Imperial. After a while, he lowered his head to look at Shi Tingyu in front of him.
"The Imperial, it’s probably a rather chaotic and beautiful place, I guess."
"Chaotic and beautiful?" Shi Tingyu felt that what Lu Luo said was somewhat contradictory. What kind of place could be considered both chaotic and beautiful?
"Elaborate."
"Hmm, alright. If we’re talking about the Imperial, we might as well start with the Imperial’s club culture."
"Club culture?"
"Put another way, it should be the martial world, I suppose."
"Martial world?"
"A song of heartbreak resonates; where in this vast world can one find a true friend? Where there are people, there’s the martial world." Lu Luo quoted this with such emotion that his whole demeanor lifted.
Shi Tingyu had never heard such poetry and was immediately in awe.
"Although I don’t know what you’re talking about, it sounds very impressive."
"Hehe, it’s just a means for the higher-ups to control the lower ones."
"Tell me about it, like the life there, the work there."
It was clear that Shi Tingyu was very curious; she started asking for details about the Imperial.
"If you want to know, then I’ll tell you."
Lu Luo began to recount the past of the Imperial in detail. From the daily lives of ordinary people to the work experiences of Transcendents, he explained everything thoroughly to Shi Tingyu. Shi Tingyu listened intently, and Lu Luo found that the areas she was genuinely interested in weren’t those of strength, weaponry, or battle. Instead, it was the Imperial’s culture, geography, and some other aspects of people’s livelihoods.
This must be what she enjoys.
If such a woman lived in the Imperial, perhaps she would become a civil servant?
The conditions for civil servants in the Imperial were very good, and with Shi Tingyu’s abilities, she could certainly be competent.
"That’s more or less how things are in the Imperial," Lu Luo concluded, after giving Shi Tingyu a rough but detailed explanation of the Imperial’s current situation.
This seemingly aimless and insubstantial narrative was actually the greatest mental shock for Shi Tingyu. In Lu Luo’s description, the Imperial seemed very ordinary. But within this ordinariness, there seemed to be some things that were not quite the same.
Huge, especially huge! Especially the impact of the population size; the population of a single region could almost exceed the total population of the Wasteland Alliance.
The problems of Exotic Species wouldn’t exist; all Exotic Species were kept out of the Imperial. This kind of environment was simply a paradise for humans.
"Can I go to such a place too?" Shi Tingyu suddenly asked subconsciously.
However, Lu Luo didn’t respond with a clear yes or no but instead echoed her question, "Yes, such a place, can you go there too?"
Shi Tingyu fell silent. If she were an ordinary woman, perhaps she truly could follow Lu Luo beyond the wall, to that place which sounds so enticing. Unfortunately... she was no ordinary person. She was the heir to the Inner Ring’s Shi Family, the Secretary-General of the Inner Ring Council. She had enjoyed too many resources and benefits from the Inner Ring, so she also had the obligation to work for the Inner Ring. She was not the kind of person who would abandon everything for the sake of personal happiness—a refined egoist. She knew she had things she must do; for instance, the Inner Ring currently could not function without her coordination.
"No, now the Inner Ring is in turmoil; it needs me."
"That’s exactly it; the Inner Ring really needs someone in charge. But have you ever thought, if something happens one day, will you have time to leave?"
Shi Tingyu’s gaze flickered for a moment; a flash of wisdom passed through her eyes as she looked at Lu Luo.
"So, this is your real purpose today, as a lobbyist, Lu Luo. Do you want me to surrender?"
Lu Luo also smiled; that was indeed his purpose for coming today, and it didn’t matter that Shi Tingyu had discovered it. A transformation between the Inner and Outer Rings was bound to come. For the victor of this transformation, he was more optimistic about Lu Xiaotian. Moreover, his own interests lay with the Outer Ring side. So, if losses could be minimized as much as possible, then naturally that would be the best.
"It’s not surrender, but a wise choice. War is always the last resort. If we can achieve our goals without war, then it would greatly reduce the losses for both the people and yourselves."
"Is that your thought? What are the specific execution strategies? Without some concrete measures, I really doubt you can persuade those old fools. Let’s not talk about others, just your father-in-law. He appears very open-minded and mentally agile, but anyone who has actually dealt with him knows the truth: he is the real conservative, or rather, he belongs to the Inner Ring Faction. Luo Xuemin can only accept the Inner Ring; should the outreach you mention happen, his stance would undoubtedly be war."
Shi Tingyu understood what Lu Luo meant and provided her own analysis and judgment. It had to be said; she was a very intelligent woman with outstanding vision. While Lu Luo admired her, he also understood the kind of obstruction she was talking about. Luo Xuemin, indeed just as she said, once he learned of Lu Luo’s intentions, both sides would inevitably clash, leading to the Outburst of war. This was also why Lu Luo hadn’t approached Luo Xuemin.
"You’re right, my father-in-law is indeed very stubborn, or rather, he’s overly obsessed with the rule of the Inner Ring. But such obsession is not unshakeable."
"Unshakeable? What do you want to do?"
"Obsession stems from one’s own strength and perception. If we can break his perception and destroy his strength, then we can shake his convictions. Would you agree with this statement?"
Lu Luo’s words were somewhat vague, and Shi Tingyu didn’t immediately grasp their implication. She quietly thought for a moment, then suddenly, she looked up at Lu Luo with a shocked expression:
"Break perception, destroy strength? Lu Luo, are you planning to make a move?"
Lu Luo neither confirmed nor denied. Taking action was something he would never admit to. Even if he was currently trying to win over Shi Tingyu, he wouldn’t expose his own plans for action.
"I never said that. I’m just expressing that sort of idea."
Lu Luo spoke with an air of nonchalance, but Shi Tingyu beside him was already deeply shocked.
Her heart was in turmoil as she began to speculate who Lu Luo would target next. The Shi Family? That seemed unlikely. If he wanted to move against the Shi Family, there would have been no need for him to come to her. If he were to act quietly, he must have been very confident. Coming to her now, however, seemed more like a move that could alert the prey. But if not the Shi Family, then who? The Luo Family? Luo Xuemin? Was Lu Luo planning to kill his own father-in-law? No, that wasn’t it either. He had just said he wanted to break Luo Xuemin’s perceptions, which clearly wasn’t about killing him. Damn it, who could it be?
"Lu Luo, you can’t do this, it’s against the rules!"
"Shi Tingyu, have you ever heard this saying?"
"Huh? What saying?"
"Rules are made to be broken."
"What... That’s such twisted logic."
"It’s not twisted logic; it’s the truth. The former Judgment Chief did the same thing. Rules are there to constrain those without power. But the powerful will inevitably break the old rules and establish a new order. That’s why I say, change is coming. Shi Tingyu, and the Shi Family too, you’d better get ready for the change! Otherwise, in the torrent of this change, a family can easily be destroyed, die. Of course, it’s also possible to be reborn."
Lu Luo’s tone was somewhat arrogant, and even though Shi Tingyu had a favorable impression of Lu Luo, she didn’t like the way he was talking at all.
"Lu Luo, on what basis do you say such things? Even if such events could happen, it’s not something you should say, right?"
"To say such things, of course, one has to speak from a position of strength. And I possess that strength and standing, understand?"
Shi Tingyu wanted to say something more, but she found herself unable to speak.
"You... Lu Luo!"
Because Lu Luo had already begun to float in front of her, without the aid of any tool, simply levitating into the air. What this implied was self-evident.
The Inner Ring might be small, but its heritage was incredibly strong. In such a small area, nearly twenty Seventh Tier masters had gathered. If not for the curse of the Land of Seals or some mysterious restriction, it stood to reason that out of twenty Seventh Tier combatants, an Eighth Order should have emerged. Unfortunately, the current Inner Ring indeed had no Eighth Order, which was why Lu Luo dared to be so brazen in this place. Without an Eighth Order, nothing could restrict his abilities anymore. He could come and go as he pleased—this was the true embodiment of power.
"Lu Luo, have you reached Seventh Tier already, when..."
"Shi Tingyu, many things won’t evolve as you imagine. Your understanding of me is also very limited. Many things can’t be judged by common sense, like me, like Lu Xiaotian. While you are still embroiled in internal conflict, entanglement, and struggle, we are developing, cultivating, improving with all our might. So, it’s clear whose the future belongs to. Prepare well. The Imperial is indeed a fine place."
