Before meeting the storyteller, Ren Xiaosu’s impression of the artificial intelligence was that even though he did not like it, he felt it might be better at maintaining law and order. However, he was not really bothered since he did not plan on living in the Wang Consortium’s strongholds anyway.
But now, even the storyteller wanted to move away from the Wang Consortium because of it.
Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Is it that serious?”
The storyteller sighed and said, “Initially, I thought that there wouldn’t be any surveillance cameras installed in town. But I didn’t expect that even the town would have them as well. Because of that, the sources for my stories have been cut off since many people no longer dare to provide any material to me.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. ‘Material? Can’t you just say that they are here to relay intel to you?‘
Some time ago, Ren Xiaosu learned this storyteller was definitely not what he seemed. How else could he come up with those new stories so frequently? Sometimes, he might even be more updated than the intelligence agencies of many organizations. In that case, how could it be ordinary material that he was getting?
Moreover, when Yang Anjing came to town back then, the storyteller immediately had Xiaolu inform Ren Xiaosu about it. It was obvious he knew who she was.
Ren Xiaosu looked at the storyteller and asked, “How long have you lived in this town? Can you move away that easily?”
The storyteller said with another sigh, “I’m really quite reluctant to move away after living here for over a decade. But we don’t have a choice. The Wang Consortium’s control will only get stricter in the future. This place won’t be able to accommodate us anymore.”
“Then have you thought about where to go?” Ren Xiaosu asked again.
The storyteller shook his head. “I haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Then I have a suggestion.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Based on your facial structure—”
“The Prosperous Northwest?” interrupted the storyteller.
“Yes, the Prosperous Northwest.” Ren Xiaosu did not feel any embarrassment about being exposed. So it turned out the storyteller was already aware of the Great Hoodwinker’s tricks?
Yang Xiaojin quietly turned her head and looked at Ren Xiaosu. ‘This Great Hoodwinker is way too influential. He even managed to infect Ren Xiaosu with his enthusiasm?‘
Ren Xiaosu asked, “How did you know I was going to bring up the Prosperous Northwest?”
The storyteller snapped, “That Great Hoodwinker has read my fortune more than a dozen times over the years. Every time he does, he talks about the ‘Prosperous Northwest.’ He didn’t even bother coming up with something new. Of course, the Northwest is also within my consideration. But I still have to think about where the safest place is.”
But at this moment, someone pushed open the tavern’s door. The storyteller immediately turned around and headed into the kitchen as though he did not know Ren Xiaosu.
Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see the other party was a young man. He politely said to Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin, “Hello, my name is Wang Run. I’ve been instructed to pick you up and bring you into the stronghold. Accommodations have already been arranged, and there’ll be a dinner party in the evening.”
Although the young man was very polite, he had a domineering aura about him. He was neither servile nor overbearing as he stood there, giving people a sense of oppression.
Ren Xiaosu carefully sized up the other party. He had a vague feeling the man might be a supernatural being. Wang Run suddenly gave him the impression that he was one of those Imperial Guard commanders as told in the storyteller’s tales.
But he and Yang Xiaojin had not told anyone they were coming to Stronghold 61’s town. When they got here, they also did not encounter anyone from the Wang Consortium. How did the Wang Consortium’s people know they had already arrived? And they even found them at the tavern so quickly?
Wait a minute! This was probably the work of the artificial intelligence, right?
Ren Xiaosu got up. “Let’s go then.”
His motive for coming to Stronghold 61 was so he could fulfill his promises to Yang Anjing. He did not care about anything else.
Ren Xiaosu had also discussed it with Yang Xiaojin. Once the three tasks were completed, they would immediately set off for the Northwest. They would no longer care about what was going on in the Central Plains and would focus on the development of the Northwest.
Previously, Ren Xiaosu was worried Yang Xiaojin might not be willing to go to the Northwest due to the harsh climate. After all, life would really be much tougher there than in the Central Plains.
However, Yang Xiaojin really did not mind it.
The car was already waiting outside of the tavern. After Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin got onto the off-road vehicle, it drove off towards the stronghold.
Currently, the Wang Consortium’s administrative center was being shifted over to Stronghold 61. Meanwhile, Wang Shengzhi had already moved his official residence here.
The last time Ren Xiaosu was in Stronghold 61, it was to resolve the creeper vine crisis. Even now, the entire supernatural world was still unaware of how the creeper vine had died, with the case becoming an unresolved mystery.
Someone said the creeper vine had gained sapience and gained a human form to bring disaster upon the human world. Others also said the creeper vine had been taken care of by the Wang Consortium’s experts. In any case, there were all kinds of speculation…
Only a few people who had personally been through the disaster would know that all of the creeper vines’ energy had been absorbed by Zhou Yingxue.
Even people like Luo Lan would act very politely towards Zhou Yingxue now when they saw her.
After entering the stronghold, the off-road vehicle drove along the long main avenue. Ren Xiaosu saw through the window that the pedestrians would hurriedly lower their heads subconsciously after noticing the off-road vehicle. It seemed as though they were afraid to look directly at it.
Ren Xiaosu asked Wang Run who was sitting in the front passenger seat, “I noticed that the pedestrians all seem to be hurrying somewhere. Where are they going?”
Wang Run replied, “It’s already past noon. They’re probably on their way back to work after lunch.”
Ren Xiaosu asked again, “I heard that everyone here has work to do and food to eat. Is that true?”
Wang Run replied rather proudly, “Yes, no one here suffers from starvation, and everyone is leading a very fulfilling life. We’re already two months into the new year, but there’s only been two cases of crime in the stronghold.”
“Did they choose their own jobs or…” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“The stronghold will assign them their jobs. After their personal details are inputted by the staff into the system, the AI will allocate jobs to them accurately,” Wang Run replied.
“But what if the people don’t like what they were assigned?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.
“This allocation method assigns the most suitable jobs to them in a rational manner.”
“I mean, what if they don’t like the job they were assigned?” Ren Xiaosu asked puzzledly. Just like how some people might really be more suited for a logistics job but prefer doing something more challenging like sales, how should their jobs be chosen?
Moreover, jobs like writers, painters, sculptors, philosophers, and other kinds of artistic work would probably not be allowed to exist anymore in such an environment. Although these jobs seemed a little mismatched with the current world, weren’t these “useless” things also one of the cornerstones of human development?
Although Ren Xiaosu did not really like those people who dabbled in the arts, he also felt it was a little wrong to completely eliminate them.
Therefore, he asked Wang Run what would happen if those people did not like their assigned jobs.
Wang Run thought for a moment before answering, “We have a specialized therapy team in the stronghold. When someone is feeling conflicted about their work, there’ll be a counseling team assigned to help them.”
“Counseling?” Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a moment.
For some reason, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine when he heard those words. However, he was unable to describe why he had this feeling.
