Welcome to Rule City

Mu Ai’s choice seemed to surprise neither the Indigenous People nor the Civilized People. One side was naturally pleased, while the other sighed as if they had expected it.

“You’ll regret it eventually,” the Indigenous leader said quietly, pointing his staff in the direction Mu Ai had come from. “Our tribe is over there. If you change your mind, come to us before the curse reaches its critical point. Our god is forgiving and kind; as long as you sincerely repent and pray, He won’t turn away a lost child.”

After speaking, the Indigenous leader left with his people, leaving the Civilized People to happily surround Mu Ai and Chu Tiankuo.

“Welcome to our group,” the leader extended his hand to them. “It’s definitely a wise choice. Heaven knows what those savages might do to you. It’s better to be with people who share similar values and lifestyles.”

Mu Ai shook his hand, feeling a chill that seemed unnatural, as if the sun above was stingy with its warmth. Simply put, it wasn’t the temperature a living person should have.

“Are there any rules we need to follow?” Mu Ai asked, concealing the oddity of the leader’s temperature. “We’re new here, and it wouldn’t be good to accidentally break any taboos.”

“There aren’t many rules; let’s talk while we walk,” the leader led the way, with others following behind. Some pulled Chu Tiankuo aside, curious about how he had arrived on the island.

Mu Ai glanced over but didn’t intervene, trusting Chu Tiankuo to handle it. Her attention was focused on the leader, listening to him talk about the island.

“We rented a boat for a trip, but unfortunately, we hit a storm. Luckily, the boat sank, but we survived and set up temporary shelters on the island, waiting for rescue.”

Mu Ai asked, “Are you sure there will be a rescue?”

The leader nodded, “Our distress signal was answered before the boat sank, and Sunburn Island was suggested as a refuge. Counting the days, the rescue team should arrive in no more than four days.”

Four days-key information.

Mu Ai noted the number, casually raising her arm to let the leader see the two peculiar tentacles: “We grew these after just one night on the island. Do you know what they are?”

The leader glanced at the wriggling tentacles without surprise: “Everyone on Sunburn Island grows them. The longer you stay, the more you get. But don’t worry, we’ll be leaving in four days. Just follow the rules and don’t look around too much, and it won’t reach that point.”

Avoiding the main issue.

The word flashed in Mu Ai’s mind, steering the conversation back to the rules: “Song-Ge, could you tell us what we need to be careful about?”

Leader Song Yu didn’t dodge the topic this time, nodding as he explained: “At night, don’t look at the sea or even in its direction. Our camp is in a valley, which helps reduce the effect.”

This confirmed Mu Ai’s earlier suspicion: going into the sea was fine, but looking at the sea at night would lead to seeing indescribable things, increasing Mental Pollution.

Glancing at the tentacles entwined on her wrist, Mu Ai considered the Indigenous leader’s mention of a “critical point” as crucial. If her Contamination Value exceeded the threshold, she’d likely become an Abnormal Species and be barred from boarding the ship, as human society doesn’t need monsters.

…Then again, someone might risk smuggling her back to sell to a research institute or a freak circus, Mu Ai thought. But she wasn’t sure if that would count as clearing the Instance; she might end up like those consumed by Guize City, forever trapped in the Instance, living a potentially very long life as a non-human.

Emmm, forget it. Being human is fine, and Mu Ai wasn’t considering changing species just yet.

As they spoke, Song Yu led them back to their temporary camp. The remaining people gathered around, speaking with Song Yu while scrutinizing Mu Ai and Chu Tiankuo, their eyes filled with barely concealed greed and excitement.

“The conditions are basic; we can’t build too many shelters, so everyone is separated by gender,” Song Yu pointed to two larger grass huts. “After all, we’re civilized people. We’ll be home soon, so we should maintain some standards.”

Mu Ai pointed to the small hut between the two larger ones: “What’s that for?”

Song Yu sighed heavily: “It’s for the seriously ill. We hope they can hold on until the ship arrives. Once we leave Sunburn Island, they’ll recover. You should avoid going near there; anyone who looks will deepen their contamination-if you don’t believe me and insist on trying, I won’t stop you, but you’ll bear the consequences.”

Mu Ai and Chu Tiankuo exchanged a glance, nodding in agreement: “Understood, we won’t go near it.”

Song Yu was pleased with their discretion and showed them around the camp, explaining the rules they should follow.

For example, they must wash their hands before eating, go to the downwind side for bathroom breaks, not drink water while eating, even if they choke, and not talk or look around during meals.

They must return to the huts after sunset and stay inside, preferably closing their eyes and sleeping. Except for those on duty, no one should leave the huts at night, no matter what noises they hear outside. If they find the duty personnel missing in the morning, they should pretend not to notice and only inquire after noon.

The rules were simple but detailed, with the most crucial being that if someone grows more than 15 tentacles, they must voluntarily enter the middle hut and refrain from communicating with anyone outside.

Mu Ai glanced at her wrist and asked Song Yu: “If the tentacles grow in places covered by clothing, how do you determine the number?”

Song Yu handed her a cup of murky coconut juice: “We check each other every morning before leaving the huts. It’s for everyone’s safety-after all, we’re the same gender, so privacy can be set aside for now.”

“Oh,” Mu Ai replied nonchalantly, taking the suspicious coconut juice to Chu Tiankuo’s side. Under the watchful eyes of others, she raised the cup and drank it in one go, her throat moving with a “gulp,” faintly hearing satisfied laughter.

Chu Tiankuo was a bit anxious, whispering, “You really drank it?”

“What else?” Mu Ai glanced at him. “We’re here, with so many people watching. You can’t just not eat or drink anything.”

“But you shouldn’t have just drunk it-” Chu Tiankuo was worried. “I feel like they have bad intentions.”

“It’s all the same,” Mu Ai said, playfully examining the glass cup. “Relax, the information isn’t complete yet. It’s not time to break the situation.”

A glass cup in the hands of shipwreck survivors-should this be called an ocean miracle? Mu Ai smirked. With such obvious clues almost in her face, if she didn’t realize there was something wrong with this camp, she’d be a fool!

[Achievement Unlocked: I am a Civilized Person]

After Song Yu arranged the huts, Mu Ai’s Civilized Person achievement was declared complete. Theoretically, she should avoid danger here, keeping her Contamination Value below the critical point-15 tentacles-until the rescue ship arrived, allowing her to board safely.

However, Mu Ai wanted to challenge a higher difficulty. She aimed for the “Return to the Primitive” and “Lone Wolf” achievements from the other camp, raising the difficulty significantly, with a hint of recklessness.

That was the plan, but Mu Ai wasn’t in a hurry to execute it. This wasn’t a game where she could reload or delete her character. She felt she should at least understand the issues here before heading to the other camp.

Moreover, the “Double Agent” achievement wasn’t simply about defecting. She needed to gain the Civilized People’s trust, then, with Song Yu’s permission, take a mission to join the Indigenous People, convincing them she was forced to switch sides rather than spying.

Being a double agent was never easy, requiring a strong heart, sharp mind, and flexible adaptability.

Mu Ai wanted to challenge herself, but only without dragging Chu Tiankuo down.

As they talked, afternoon arrived. Mu Ai spent most of her time with the seven girls, working and chatting about various topics.

In such non-secretive conversations, few people would insist on silence, especially in this strange environment, where the “suspension bridge effect” was easily triggered. As long as the conversation partner wasn’t alarming or unpleasant, goodwill could increase at a speed dozens of times faster than usual.

Before dinner, Mu Ai learned there were 17 people in the camp, all colleagues from the same company and department. Song Yu was the company’s heir and their department head. He funded the yacht trip for team-building.

The middle hut housed three people, two men and one woman, who were timid but loved ghost stories. After arriving on the island, their mental state became unstable, and they repeatedly looked at the sea at night, causing black tentacles to grow wildly and leading to incoherent speech day and night.

This undoubtedly created more panic in the camp. Helplessly, Song Yu built a separate hut, saying it was for their recovery, but essentially confining them, with designated people watching to prevent anyone from approaching. Food and drink were only delivered to the door for them to take inside.

“It’s unavoidable,” said a girl named Xiao Ning, who had recently joined the company and wasn’t as deferential to Song Yu as the others. “They’re really scary. I was curious and looked once, and three tentacles suddenly grew on my arm. I wouldn’t dare go near them again. My parents are waiting for me at home; I can’t become like them.”

Mu Ai comforted the girl briefly, and they went to the center of the camp together. After a silent dinner, everyone retreated to their respective huts. The girls all lay stiffly with their eyes tightly shut, whether asleep or not, clearly unwilling to open their eyes and speak.

Night fell quietly, and the seemingly peaceful Sunburn Island was shrouded in eerie shadows. Theoretically, this location was some distance from the beach, but somehow, Mu Ai could clearly hear the waves “crashing” against the rocks.

And another vague, slow, and unknown sound.

Though she saw nothing, Mu Ai knew something had crawled ashore.