Chapter 384: Chapter 324: At Least You Can Act Coquettishly to the Substitute

“That’s the way it is,” Hanna said, “You will be under soft confinement in this building for the next few days.”

If this was soft confinement, then what do you call the previous arrangement where they only gave us one floor to move around in… Out of respect for the young miss’s pride, the people in the restaurant refrained from voicing this complaint.

It was unclear whether Hanna had sought Qinna’s comfort with her woes, but their permitted area had indeed expanded from just the bedroom to the entire high-rise.

It was now 8 a.m., and Hanna brought them to the cafeteria to have breakfast while discussing matters, with various races of Senheiser people occasionally passing by. Perhaps they had received notice because they no longer looked at the foreigners like roaches; their gaze had upgraded to the equivalent of looking at clowns.

Breakfast was self-service, with a very rich variety of options; there were eighteen ways to cook Lala fat alone, and it was likely flavored with the local specialty, mermaid scent. Ash nearly bit his tongue with just one bite.

One very interesting point was that in Vatican Mura, the concept of ‘family’ was quite feeble or rather, extensively expanded–like this building being a ‘home’, complete with dedicated floors for exercising, studying, gaming, dining, and even working. The Senheiser people living in this building only owned their bedrooms, and other than for sleeping and resting, they almost never returned to their own rooms. Instead, they moved to specific floors according to their needs; for instance, dining was primarily done in the cafeteria, with no food delivery or self-cooking involved.

Everyone had no home of their own, but the entire building was everyone’s home, even the whole Senheiser area could be considered your home.

Undoubtedly, this kind of zoning for living space greatly conserved resources and efficiently utilized space, leading to significantly bigger bedrooms for everyone. But the cost… seemed nonexistent, at least for someone like Ash, who was immune to marriage’s allure. He could isolate himself when he wanted solitude and find a bunch of friends in the gaming hall when he didn’t, convinced he could have lived there until retirement if such apartments had existed in his past life.

However, for such richly equipped public facilities to exist, there needed to be sufficient customer flow, or else it would just lead to massive wastage and loss. This resembles how personal computers’ proliferation caused internet cafes to close down or switch businesses. It means that the designer must ensure that the residents use these public facilities as much as possible, which is nearly impossible since personal will often conflicts with collective living, and the concept of private ownership serves to free people from the bonds of collectivism gradually.

In a clan city like Vatican Mura, a particular social ecosystem could emerge, where the spirit of the townsfolk is directly satisfied by the Beauty Mist, and their wills influenced by the clan’s Rebirth Dreams. Their dissatisfaction with and longing for reality are suppressed to the minimum, naturally leading them to live like robots, following the steps and procedures set by the clan.

In some ways, Vatican Mura might represent one of the upgrade paths for the Gospel society, since the residents of Azura still have immoral desires requiring the Gospel Book for relief. Meanwhile, the clan residents of Vatican Mura, as a result of long-term exposure to Beauty Mist, do not harbor evil thoughts. Everyone is an exemplary citizen, and work efficiency, life pace, social relationships, and social engineering all reach the level of a national role-model city under the influence of the clan, leaving nothing but a lack of ‘dissatisfaction’ in all aspects very satisfying.

However, the visiting tourists weren’t there to conduct surveys. They only cared about whether their current status was that of being under someone’s thumb or being a highly sought-after commodity.

Nonetheless, Hanna didn’t explain any more of her thoughts, only leaving behind the statement, “I will gather you at 6 p.m. You are free to do as you please until then,” and she also gave them 500 Gospel Points.

From that moment on, the Funeral Service Office officially entered into strategic cooperation with the Gospel Book; in case of emergency, they just had to consult the Gospel for guidance.

Ash asked, “Aren’t you afraid we’ll ask how to break the Contract with you?”

Hanna replied, “I’ve asked. Five hundred points aren’t enough.”

Watching the receding figures of Hanna and Banjee, Harvey took out a stick of cat grass smoke, glanced at Liss still struggling with her strawberry ice cream, and muttered unlit, “I’m really worried that mother and daughter might end up selling us out.”

Ash remarked, “Hanna isn’t that kind of person, right? I mean, the young miss is so greedy, after putting so much effort into us, she wouldn’t just hand us over.”

“But you can also see the huge gap between her and her mother’s levels.” The Necromancer spread his hands, “If I were to make an analogy using corpses, the difference between them is like that between a charred corpse and a giant one.”

“To be honest, I don’t think this is an appropriate analogy for mealtime…”

“Really? I think it makes the food taste even better.” Harvey, holding the cat grass smoke, said, “No matter how much Hanna may have appeared to be at odds with her mother in prison, her most significant reliance right now is still her blood relation to her mother. And as for so-called blood relations…” he continued with a smirk, “My view is pretty much in line with Igula’s.”

“All relationships are designed to enable those in the Upper position to better exploit those below.” The Swindler leisurely savored the food, “Harvey is right. Hanna has no capital to compete with Qinna. As for that mother-daughter Contract… heh, even we can’t fully control a Contract, so how can we expect it to bind a Holy Sanctuary Mage?”

“And considering Hanna still remains secretive and not willing to reveal her plans, our current situation is pretty much like that of Lala fat, just waiting to see whether the Chef is named Doran or Senheiser.”