Ruan "Disobedient" "Contrarian” Xing managed to avoid the most heavily polluted areas of the candy factory with the guidance of Fu Gui, the walking radar.

With his hood up, Ruan Xing bypassed the outer corridors and entered the processing workshop—the area where employees actually made candy.

Fu Gui muttered, “Good thing this fairytale world doesn’t have surveillance, or we’d be completely exposed.”

The factory wasn’t completely inactive at night. Ruan Xing personally saw a rabbit pushing a cartload of beets and sugarcane into the preparation area.

Fu Gui: [No wonder the hedgehog ran to slack off—who the hell can survive working 24/7?]

The Mayor said they were rushing to prepare materials to trade with the merchant. Was the “material” just… this candy?

Ruan Xing silently tailed the rabbit, his footsteps so light they barely made a sound. Ever since he unlocked [Haste], stealth like this was easy. What he didn’t notice was that the biscuit walls around him began to shift the moment he moved.

The rabbit entered the materials workshop, sent the beets to be washed and chopped, then juiced them and moved on to the next step. Everything seemed normal—until it pulled out a shiny red oval object.

The rabbit, wearing gloves, gently squeezed it, and the juice that came out flowed straight into the large cooking pot. Then, it picked up the stirring stick and began the long stirring process.

Hiding in the darkness, Ruan Xing finally had a clear view of what the so-called “secret ingredient” was—a human heart.

Beside the pot, in a candy-made box, was a pile of human hearts stacked to the brim.

Ruan Xing quietly backed away and slipped into the marshmallow workshop. Inside a long gray machine, an alpaca was tinkering with a wrench, seemingly repairing a broken part.

When the machine's lid was lifted, a row of human heads was neatly arranged inside. Their skulls had been opened and covered with transparent domes, each connected to a white tube that led to an infusion nozzle.

Once the machine was fixed, the alpaca kicked it, and the nozzle came to life. A massive suction force distorted the brains inside the domes, which crushed them completely. The pulp was sucked up through the narrow tube and infused into the marshmallow as its filling.

Fu Gui turned green.

Over in the chocolate workshop, the dark “raw ingredients” weren’t cocoa beans at all but piles of dismembered human limbs. Fu Gui saw with his own eyes as the parts were fed into a square machine, ground into black liquid chocolate, and then refined into sweet-smelling treats.

Fu Gui remembered licking a few things off the street earlier. In the end, he couldn’t hold it in and vomited.

[So this is what the candy factory really looks like at night? A twisted fairy tale?]

But Ruan Xing was focused on something he’d almost missed during the day.

A small, nearly invisible magical transmutation circle was embedded into one of the machines. The etching looked fresh—clearly added within the last few months.

The rabbit said the merchant helped upgrade their tech. The hedgehog recalled the merchant always came empty-handed, so it was unrealistic to think he carried heavy equipment. Unless he had rare spatial magic, the more reasonable guess was that what the merchant provided was knowledge—or something small and easy to carry.

This magic array was likely one of those “gifts.”

Ruan Xing left the workshop and scanned the surroundings.

The factory was massive—this couldn’t possibly be all there was. He still had no idea where Su Xiaona and the others were being held.

Could they be upstairs or underground?

He spotted the employee passage entrance, where a green exit sign glowed eerily in the quiet corner.

Just as he was about to head that way, he heard footsteps.

The mayor rabbit’s displeased voice echoed: “Guest, please don’t wander at night. You might scare the citizens.”

The rabbit was wearing a long sleeping cap, ears poking beneath it and drooping down the sides of his face. His eyes were still groggy, and his three-lobed mouth twitched as he spoke. “Good thing the factory woke me up in time. If you’d taken the goods and left, I’d have lost everything.”

Ruan Xing realized the surroundings were warping slightly—the floor and walls were moving like living things, monitoring the interior for the Mayor.

No wonder there were no cameras.

Ruan Xing: “I didn’t get enough time to explore earlier. Just wanted to take another look tonight.”

The Mayor gave a small laugh. “The factory has changed a lot. You can look ten more times if you want—but go any farther, and the deal’s off. I won’t let a thief help in expanding my city.”

This rabbit wasn’t as easy to fool as other pollutants. Ruan Xing had no choice but to return to his room.

This time, the Mayor personally locked the door. “I’ll call you first thing in the morning.”

And the Mayor kept his word. At exactly 6 a.m., someone came to wake Ruan Xing.

“Should be all ready now,” said Mama Pig, drawing the curtains. “Once the trade’s done, leave right away.”

Fu Gui, who had been vomiting all night and hadn’t eaten anything, felt his legs go weak. “We’re not gonna die here, right?”

Ruan Xing was not the real merchant. They had nothing to trade. They hadn’t even found Su Xiaona. And now they were about to negotiate with an A-rank pollutant? If they were exposed, would they even survive?

Ruan Xing had a theory but no solid proof.

At the office, Mayor Rabbit had changed back into his three-piece suit, lounging on a small executive desk with a cigarette. The desk barely reached Ruan Xing’s thigh, and the tiny furniture made him look like a giant.

“You’re here?” The Mayor stubbed out his cigarette and pulled a stack of paper from a cabinet behind him.

The parchment had a pale yellow hue and a delicate sheen—familiar parchment used for signing magical contracts.

In the lower right corner of the top sheet, there was a faint violet emblem that triggered something in Ruan Xing’s mind.

A loud buzz rang in Ruan Xing’s head as his thoughts exploded.

It was his contract paper.

Clearly stolen from the Mage Tower.

Where had the rabbit gotten it? Had it seen his home? What was left of the Mage Tower?

The Mayor muttered, “Not many left…. It wasn’t a big stash to begin with. The pages are kinda worn, but the effects are still good…”

He handed Ruan Xing one page and carefully stored away the rest. “Write.”

Ruan Xing ran his fingers over the familiar parchment. The Mayor urged, “Hurry. Or do you expect a rabbit to hold the pen and write it out? I’ll dictate—you write.”

Ruan Xing smirked. “Fair enough.”

The Mayor nodded. “Standard procedure.”

He began reading the contract aloud. Ruan Xing wrote swiftly, his hand not stopping even while the Mayor paused to think.

“What are you doing?” the Mayor asked.

The young man’s pale fingers didn’t stop. “Polishing.”

The Mayor knew his own education was limited, and since this wasn’t his first deal, he just kept talking.

From his words, Ruan Xing finally understood—the “goods” being traded were the captured humans.

The candy merchant provided methods for building the city. In exchange, the Mayor handed over 100 people.

The human part made sense. But what exactly were these construction methods? Tangible items? Ideologies? The contract didn’t specify.

“You’ve caught way more than just 100 humans, haven’t you?”

The Mayor narrowed his eyes. “If you weren’t the only one who could walk into Fairy Tale City unharmed, I’d really doubt you were the merchant.”

Ruan Xing snorted. “100 people for a method is too cheap. Since you’ve captured more, the price should go up.”

The Mayor realized—ah, it turned out that he (RX) felt he was at a disadvantage and was trying to lower the price.

He grumbled. “Fine. I’ll give you 10 more people—but you must upgrade our infrastructure.”

Ruan Xing asked for 150. They haggled further and settled at 130.

Afterward, they pressed their handprints onto the page to seal the deal.

The Mayor scrutinized the contract—everything looked normal, just a few extra ink splotches. Probably mistakes. He shrugged. “Alright, it’s signed. Now give me the construction method.”

Ruan Xing tucked the contract into his coat. Calm and steady: “I need to check the results of the last method first, then I’ll hand over the new one.”

He had a suspicion—but needed confirmation.

The Mayor didn’t think much of it. With a contract signed, what could go wrong? All he cared about was expanding the city. Hearing that the merchant would help check things over made him genuinely happy.

“Alright, I’ll have someone drive us.”

The two got in the car and headed for the city hall, which was marked as the city’s center on the map.

By this world’s logic, city centers shouldn’t be central—they should be near transport hubs to make logistics easier.

This central placement screamed obsessive urban planning, which reminded him of his past life.

Ruan Xing’s heart started to beat faster.

At the hall, maple syrup still flowed through the fountain. The Mayor kicked a protruding part, and the flow stopped, becoming still like a puddle of dead water.

He reached in with his paw. "Found it."

Pulling a hidden ring, the two-tiered fountain split open to reveal a square-meter-sized hatch.

He licked his paw. “Go on, take a look. Let’s see how well our city craftsmen did.”

Ruan Xing peeked inside—then burst out laughing.

The Mayor’s ears twitched. “Your voice…”

“No worries. I just saw the array—I mean, the construction method is working well. I’m just happy for Fairy Tale City’s sake.” His voice returned to a rasp.

As expected, the “construction method” was a magic array. Layers of it were carved into the floor, connecting all the key city points. He recognized the strokes—it was unmistakably his work. Even the pressure and patterns matched.

He was so mad that he could only laugh. Who the hell did this?

He forced his tone to stay steady.

“These runes are a bit crude, but the effect is surprisingly good.”

The Mayor beamed. “Made by my citizens! Looks like they did alright. Okay, now hand over the new method.”

Ruan Xing shook his head. “No. This time, I’m giving you a full upgrade. Your citizens can’t handle it alone.”

“My people are excellent,” the Mayor huffed.

“Still not enough. Professionals should handle professional work.”

“You’re not trying to scam me, are you?”

Ruan Xing spoke righteously. “Of course not. Want proof?”

They entered a regular candy house.

“Give me a magic crystal,” Ruan Xing requested.

"Are you talking about amethyst?"

The Mayor handed him a purple crystal, raw and unprocessed but visibly natural and not synthetic.

The best kind. One of Ruan Xing’s favorite materials.

He held back the urge to crush it on the spot.

Inside the house, they found a blank wall. Ruan Xing melted the stone’s shell with magic, revealing the pure violet core, and began drawing complex patterns.

The Mayor wasn’t surprised—the symbols were the same as in the cellar, totally incomprehensible to him.

The geometric shapes wove together on the wall, precise and steady—far beyond amateur skill.

The Mayor was shocked. The last time the merchant had delivered this stuff, it was pre-drawn on parchment and just copied into place. He assumed the merchant didn’t know the actual workings.

But now, seeing it drawn live, he realized the merchant’s expertise ran deep.

The moment the array was completed, it glowed faintly—then faded into invisibility.

“All done,” Ruan Xing said politely. “Fairy Tale City is lovely, but it’s too vulnerable to outside threats. Most of what I gave you before was about expansion. This one is for defense.”

A city with defenses like that—if the merchant wasn’t bluffing—was insane. Not even A-rank pollutants could do that.

The Mayor was skeptical. His eyes widened, and suddenly, he shot off as if he had just downed five energy drinks at once. In a flash, Ruan Xing only felt his hair flutter slightly before a deafening crash rang out.

A transparent shield of blue light shimmered over the house. When the Mayor slammed into it, the shield trembled before shattering like glass.

His pants ripped, exposing his tiny white tail.

The Mayor jumped down lightly and shook its beard: “Not bad. The defense is decent.”

It can block 80% of the power of an A-level pollutant. Truly admirable.

"It seems that you, a profiteer, still have some self-awareness. After scamming me multiple times, you have finally come to your senses, haven't you?"

The Mayor changed into a fresh pair of suit pants. “Go ahead and start, but don’t try anything funny. Our contract has more power than yours—if you mess up, your soul will be erased.”

Ruan Xing smirked under his hood. “I’ll carve with the utmost care.”

The Mayor left after providing him with a batch of magic crystals to work with.

These natural, mana-rich minerals were top-tier materials—ideal for drawing arrays, brewing potions, and more. But this was Ruan Xing’s first time seeing them in this world.

It wasn’t a big batch—just barely enough to draw all the arrays he needed.

Wearing his hood in the sunlight and laboring under a rabbit's order, Ruan Xing resembled a weary civil engineering intern.

He gazed at the crystals. “Alright, time to work.”

Fu Gui noticed that Ruan Xing's emotional state was not right. “You… you’re seriously gonna help a pollutant build a city? Why do I find it hard to believe?”

Ruan Xing: “Hey, don’t talk nonsense. I believe in contract integrity. If I said I’d build, then I’ll build.”

Fu Gui didn’t expect that even mages were bound by the contract laws. He clicked his beak skeptically.

But what Ruan Xing said next almost knocked it over.

“Building, then destroying it—that’s not against the contract.”

Fu Gui’s beak dropped open. Yep. That’s the mage he knew—crafty as hell.

Ruan Xing: You stole from me to build your little city? (smile.jpg)