Stone Tablet

Chen Yining clapped his brother on the shoulder, gesturing that it was time to go.

Chen Jing hesitated for a long while, and eventually could not help saying, "Those people…"

"They are just doing things they wouldn't dare otherwise in a lawful society," Chen Yining replied.

"Huh…" Chen Jing breathed a quiet sigh.

"Let's go."

Despite his own words, there was a troubled look on Chen Jing's face.

It had only been less than two days.

There was even a chance that even more horrible things happened where he was not seeing.

***

They finally returned to the neighborhood.

Chen Yining checked on their food storage once he got home.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was not touched.

One must be cautious.

"Brother, should we get a house on the edge of the city?" Chen Jing asked then. "Going there every day like this would waste a lot of time."

Chen Yining thought about it. "What if the monsters from the forest invade the city? The first ones they would attack are the people living there, which makes staying at the edge of the city too dangerous."

"But there's not much difference whether it's at the border or inside the city if that happens—high risks, high rewards," Chen Jing countered.

"If that's the case, the people living at the border would buy time for us," Chen Yining said after some silence, an unspeakable coolness in his tone.

Chen Jing stopped talking at that.

"Would be nice if we had a vehicle, even if it's an electric scooter," he said, pulling a face after a while.

"Any vehicle would need electric or oil, and both are non-renewable resources. Heaven knows if you could find an oil field anywhere here," Chen Yining said, shaking his head. "And aren't you afraid of it getting stolen? The whole city is in Che Guevara mode now."

"You're thinking too badly of people, Brother—there's no way things could get bad that quickly since we are all city folks." Chen Jing groaned, but soon became depressed. "What should we do, then?"

"Staying here is actually quite good since it's around an hour's walk to the edge of the city. That is acceptable considering that those in the center of the city would need up to five hours to go there, and we would have the time to react if something actually happened." Chen Yining consoled his younger brother.

"That's true."

Chen Jing nodded.

They were finally outside their apartment building and had just arrived downstairs when they saw a man with a face mask squatting sneakily at the parking spot for electric bikes. When he saw the brothers, he acted as if he was tidying his own vehicle.

Even so, the toolbox and the half dismantled rechargeable battery beside him exposed him…

He promptly pulled up his hood and left in a rush with the battery, though the brothers could see the two huge words 'Rain Wash' on his back.

When they went upstairs, they could hear the landlord scolding someone from next door.

Being a single dad, the landlord often rambled on about how hard it was for him to raise his daughter. It was fortunate that he had acquired thirteen apartments thanks to his old house being demolished for relocation, two of which he sold over the last few years. Even so, the man would keep moaning about how he was only left with eleven each time the matter was brought up.

At the time, Chen Yining kept a straight face and offered him a toast.

That being said, the landlord was nice to his renters, and it was no trouble if they had some issues and had to pay their rent half a month later.

Even so, he was very strict towards his daughter, prohibiting her from staying the night away from home, going to bars, or even being a relationship… and their arguments could always be heard.

Once he returned to his house, Chen Yining closed the door and summoned the now-taller Green Skin, who exchanged glances with Chen Jing's gnome.

The latter took two steps back, as if doubting that the 1.7-meter hulk before him was the goblin he saw just this morning.

Both of us were supposed to be 1.4 meters tall, and you grew behind our back!

Nonetheless, it closed in, attempting to touch Green Skin's muscles.

Green Skin snorted in disdain and stopped him.

"Touch your own tiny ribs," it said with a tsundere tone.

"You have to be putting on airs!" The gnome then pulled out pliers, a screwdriver, and an awl from a corner.

In response, Green Skin stretched out its index finger and gently shoved the gnome on its forehead, and it stumbled backwards, dropping on its buttocks.

"Kaka." Green Skin could not help laughing out loud at the sight.

The night's dinner was egg pancakes—a layer of oil was added with stirred egg over a flat pan, with chopped onions sprinkled over it.

The aroma was fragrant, but Chen Yining knew that without a freezer or a fridge, they would not be getting such food in half a month.

Meanwhile, at Starlight Square, located at the center of the city, a stone tablet reaching a hundred meters tall had appeared there, seemingly out of thin air and occupying the centermost spot of the city.

Its surface was sparkling clean, and the giant number '364' was on top of it.

The number was 365 yesterday, but it became 364 after one night.

There was no sign of human activity, and it was reality that no human could do it.

Still, many people had sneakily chiseled it, but its material was unique—despite looking like any other rock, it could not be destroyed by any material, and the chisels did not even leave any white scratches on it.

A group arrived at night, setting up a perimeter to protect it and preventing people from touching it.

However, its massive size and it being at Starlight Square meant that there were various office and commerce towers around it, which made the perimeter rather meaningless… there was no hiding the stone tablet, and they could at best only prevent citizens from touching it.

They might meet the requirements for it in times of peace, but with the power out in most of the city now, it was difficult to integrate human and physical resources.

In fact, the local government was slowly losing control over Mountain Water City.

***

Item prices all over the city skyrocketed in less than two days.

With the city cut off from any contact to the outside, the word that circulated throughout was that the city is now surrounded by forests.

At the same time, there were two moons in the night sky and the mysterious Summoner's Grimoire.

Aside from the rare few bright lights from factories and industrial buildings, power and water supply was out for most areas in the city.

The city was utterly dark at night.

Patrol cars filled the streets. The city was now under martial law and a curfew was imposed at night, with all citizens forbidden to move around from one to five in the morning.

However, the patrol cards on the main streets and alleyways had to stop after two hours.

Most surveillance equipment in the city was down following the power outage, and without any source of light, the shadows of the hundred-meter-tall buildings would consume the lower levels of the city.

Therefore, patrolling in that manner was too ineffective and a waste of what resources they had left.

Considering those factors, the local government of Mountain Water City cancelled the patrol curfew.