Chapter 7: Pyrophobia is an illness that needs to be treated.

"Hey."

The boss shook his head with a hint of emotion, "This has almost become a disgrace for Fengtian City. When the supernatural changes first occurred in the world, out of the thousands of cities in the entire federation, 128 were selected to become major cities."

"Each of these 128 major cities has a unique and exclusive city-state effect."

"Take the widely known 'Broken Pot City', for example. This city's fame is quite high within the federation—after all, it has the special profession of 'Person of Leisure'. You don't have to do anything, just lie at home and you can get 6,000 credits a month—who wouldn't love that?"

"Every year, many people head to 'Broken Pot City', planning to stay for three years to meet the prerequisites to activate this profession, then switch to the 'Person of Leisure' occupation and start living a slacker life."

"Among them, there are not a few who bring their parents along and treat the city as a retirement home."

"And the exclusive city-state effect of this city is—"

"'Within this city, any player is immune to damage from other players, and likewise, players within the boundaries of Broken Pot City cannot inflict damage upon other players, including car accidents, stabbing people with knives, or sudden killings.'"

"This also makes the city often stay on the fine line between peace and chaos, not just attracting countless people who long for peace, but also those seeking to escape from being pursued or those who retire from the Jianghu, washing their hands of the old life."

At this point, the boss suddenly looked somewhat wistful and said, "Speaking of which, I also stayed in Broken Pot City for three years, but I didn't switch to the Person of Leisure; instead, I returned to Fengtian City. Over there, life seemed happy on the surface, but living without purpose."

"It's complicated to explain; you'll understand if you have a chance to go there."

"As for Fengtian City's exclusive city-state effect—"

"'The drop rate for Gunman Profession materials, props, Occupation Inheritance Books, and other related items from secret realms or major events in this city is three times higher than for other professions.'"

"Three times the drop rate? That's strong?" Hungry Monkey, standing to the side, was a bit shocked: "No wonder the Gunman Profession used to be so popular in Fengtian City!"

How could it not be popular?

This meant that Gunman players in Fengtian City could get their hands on more profession props or materials than Gunman players in other cities, this advantage isn't just a small step up.

Although he was a local from Fengtian City.

He wasn't really aware of these things. He's just a laborer, an ordinary Lifestyle Occupation. Before meeting Miao, he lived his life in a daze, with no concern for any Supernatural Occupations, let alone what Fengtian's city-state effect was.

He grew up in an orphanage, and unlike in schools, they didn't teach this sort of knowledge.

"You don't know? Aren't you from Fengtian?"

The boss looked at Hungry Monkey standing beside Chen Miao with a puzzled tilt of his head.

"He grew up in an orphanage, he never learned about these things."

Chen Miao explained casually with a composed expression. Based on his life experience, it's always best not to let merchants peg you as a foreigner, otherwise... prices would rise significantly, that's the magic of the out-of-towner buff.

"I see, that's understandable," the boss said.

He sighed deeply and said with a wistful tone, "Back then it was considered strong; indeed, it had a period of glory. At that time, Fengtian City even made it into the top ten of the federation's overall Combat Power rankings."

"But after all, this city-state effect isn't exclusive to citizens of Fengtian. Not only do Gunman professionals from Fengtian benefit from the triple drop rate when entering Fengtian's secret realms, but players from other cities can as well. A large number of Gunman professionals from other cities would come to Fengtian to vie for resources with the local Gunman players, instantly reducing Fengtian's advantage by a significant margin."

"Furthermore, as the Gunman Profession developed further, many drawbacks started to emerge. People realized that the profession's drawbacks increased the further you progressed, with the most basic being the ammunition carrying capacity. Look at those brawlers; they don't worry about such things. As long as they don't die or get seriously injured, they can keep throwing punches, maintaining their Combat Power."

"But once a gunman runs out of bullets, he's just a sitting duck. Later on, with a high rate of fire, bullets would run out in under a minute during a fight—what's the point then?"

"Not to mention bullets are expensive, so after a fight, you're literally losing money."

"The faster you kill, the bigger the loss."

"Plus, the Gunman profession does have an early advantage, but the drawbacks increase as you progress."

"Because of various drawbacks, the Gunman profession gradually got eliminated from the list of Supernatural Occupations available to the common folk. Only some big companies and the Federal Government keep some Gunmen for critical moments of Firepower Coverage. It's not something the average person can afford."

"And speaking of city-state effects, Fengtian's just doesn't cut it. You all know about Jingjiu City, right? The city-state effect there is—any player who stays in Jingjiu for a full year gets their experience required per Level Up reduced by 30%."

"Now that's awesome."

"On the current ranking list of Supernatural player levels across the Federation, 897 of the top 1000 are from Jingjiu City."

"Sigh, just not our fate, right? We weren't born in Jingjiu City."

"Now the house prices in Jingjiu are 200,000 credit points per square meter, while the common price here in Fengtian is just around 10,000 credit points per square meter. If we were born in Jingjiu, when the world went through Transcendentalization and the city-state effects kicked in, we could have turned our lives around instantly. Who could have seen that coming?"

"Before the world's Transcendentalization, Jingjiu's house prices were just over 4k. It was a coal-mining resource city. The mines were depleted, and people had left; it was almost a dead city with hardly any locals left. But after the Transcendentalization, it instantly became overcrowded, with countless capitals waving cash and rushing over to start building the city."

"It's now incredibly prosperous, all shiny new skyscrapers."

"If only we had known to buy a few condos in advance—would have been rich by now."

The boss's eyes were filled with helplessness and unwillingness. Speaking of this, he sighed several times, "Sometimes I even think about taking a gamble and heading over to Gaobei City."

It's understandable, really.

Work hard all your life, gambling your fate, and the money you earn doesn't even compare to the fortunes others gain without lifting a finger—it really does feel unfair.

"Gaobei City?"

"Yeah, just a few dozen miles west of Fengtian. It's not one of the chosen 128 major cities, lacking a unique and sole city-state effect, but it still has a general city-state effect, which three smaller cities share."

"The city-state effect is quite brutal. All players can offer any organ of their body as a sacrifice in exchange for items, materials, or random Supernatural Props."

"It's been less chaotic in recent years, but back in the chaotic times, some gangs would capture homeless drifters and forcibly take them to Gaobei City for sacrifices. There are fewer cases nowadays, but it still happens. It's still quite a messy place."

Chen Miao nodded thoughtfully.

This was all news to him; he always wondered if a lot of stuff had been deleted from the city library, or perhaps it had an expiration date? Otherwise, he hadn't seen any trace of this information.

Listening to the boss, it seems the drawbacks of the Gunman profession are indeed numerous. A career change would be necessary later on.

But it was all he could find next to the trash can, the Occupation Inheritance Book for the Gunman profession.

None of his buddies had ever seen an Occupation Inheritance Book for the "Martial Artist" thrown in a trash can, that's for sure.

And just then—

The Jade Amulet of Safety he'd been carrying close to his chest suddenly began to heat up. Before he could react, he saw the panel popping up in front of him. Chen Miao stood there, stunned for a long while, then suddenly the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

The Gunman profession, it was really a good fit for him.

Fear of firepower is a disease.

One that needs curing.