I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan gave Feng Yao a call, mentioning the idea of stringing a power line into the West River and even getting broadband installed—Feng Yao was totally dumbfounded.

"Honestly, I think poor communication is the root of so many problems. If we had easier ways to keep in touch, a lot of stuff could be avoided, seriously. I really think it's necessary, I'm not even joking."

"Oh my god, bro, you're really my big bro, but let's not be so ahead of the times, okay? I'll just assign someone to swap out power banks, would that work? There's really no need to run an actual power line into the West River, it's just not necessary."

Feng Yao quickly shot down Wen Yan's idea. Sure, construction wouldn't be hard, and the risks of running power lines aren't too terrible, either.

But laying a broadband cable? That's considered a top-tier perk; it's not something you can just hand out so easily.

In recent years, electricity and internet have been extended all the way to village-level units—at this stage of infrastructure, humans aren't the only ones benefitting.

Take, for example, those pissed-off netizens ranting online about pollution—you never know, they could be young Demons living in some remote mountain area far from any city.

Demons might not need washing machines or AC, but any Demon vaguely keeping up with the times almost definitely needs a phone, somewhere to charge it, and an internet connection.

Once you've got the combo of mobile phone plus internet, it's a hard addiction to shake off.

When regional planning gets discussed every year, there's a lot of thought behind just how infrastructure gets built.

If a village barely has any humans left, and the local Demons don't know how to play the game, then the humans just get relocated, and the local Demons can go self-destruct for all anybody cares.

Humans have their own discrimination hierarchy, but within the Demons it's way worse and even more blatant.

And nowadays, there's an extra layer added. The stylish Demons? They use smartphones and video calls for everything, and the progressive ones even film clips to post on special sites—they have their own circles.

If you're some Demon who doesn't even know what a phone is, and your power level is trash, there's no way the other Demons are letting you into their group.

If you've got clout and want to cause some trouble, then you have to operate out in the open and use the internet to rally other Demons, or you'll never get any traction.

If you use a broadband line set up by the Scorching Sun Department, and their apps, then don't be surprised when Scorching Sun slaps special surveillance on you.

If Scorching Sun really wants to, they can track stuff like your weird habit of ending every message with a period, down to the last detail.

Demon Kin are pretty well-behaved these days, everyone generally gets along, and now they can even hire lawyers, go to labor arbitration—equal treatment for everyone.

Barely any not-human creature you see now isn't classified as a protected animal, and all these perks and privileges are here for a reason.

Because, a while back, shit actually went down hard, and there were several rounds of heavy crackdowns—so now, most are willing to toe the line.

If you don't want to follow the rules, and you're actually valuable—like the infamous beautiful snake spirits who aren't on the protected list—then your species is basically extinct by now.

Even within the Scorching Sun Department, opinions on Different Races are hardly unanimous—some want to win them over, some prefer the iron fist—but even the moderates think there has to be some kind of leash or restriction on the non-humans.

Infrastructure that ordinary people take for granted? That's absolutely a card to play.

Normally, regular people can get broadband for a few dozen bucks a month, but if there's no pre-existing access point, the provider has to run a whole new cable, set up a splitter or whatever, then run another line into your home. That monthly fee doesn't even cover the electric and maintenance costs.

But your average Demon? No way in hell they qualify for that.

The ones who are qualified—they've been all hooked up for ages already.

Feng Yao could tell Wen Yan didn't understand the intricacies, so he broke it down. What sounded like something you could settle with a bit of cash? Not nearly so simple.

Wen Yan scratched his head in confusion as he listened.

"So you're saying I'm basically out here asking why poor people don't just eat meat porridge?"

"It's not that dramatic, but this definitely isn't up to me. Especially since the West River water system is a mess, it'll have to be slow. Anyway, as long as you get out of the water, I'd say at least 95% of the whole West River area has signal. If you want it, just get out of the river, easy as that, you know what I mean."

"So many tricks, you're starting to sound like Cai Heizi." At this, Wen Yan casually asked, "So, which faction is our Minister Cai in? The moderates or the radicals?"

"He's in neither camp."

"Wow, so he's a fence-sitter? No wonder he pisses off so many people."

"Ahem, don't put it that harshly. Our Minister is a pragmatist—he uses whatever works best, totally flexible and focused on what's useful."

"You're still the best. At most I'd just curse him to his face, but you—you're all about those backhanded barbs."

"Nah, I'm just telling the truth! That's a compliment, alright? Relax, whatever you asked me to do—I'll handle it."

Feng Yao quickly hung up; he didn't even dare say another word.

After hanging up, Feng Yao looked at his phone and sighed; Wen Yan had completely ruined the vibe around here!

Minister Cai clearly has way more clout these days and much tighter control over the Nanwu County Scorching Sun Department—miles ahead of the last minister—but, obviously, no one can stay serious when talking about him in private anymore.

Even Feng Yao finds himself effortlessly roasting the guy now. Sometimes, he thinks there's really nothing wrong with the nickname Cai Heizi after all.

Yeah, this is all Wen Yan stirring up trouble.

Wen Yan felt a bit regretful that he couldn't get broadband hooked up for King Guilong, so he could only leave the Dragon King to kill time watching drama series on his own.