Void Jigsaw Puzzle

After talking with Tan Ping, Guo Ling was somewhat shocked by the complexity of the whole matter.

The city he had teleported from Kunlun City on Xumi Star was Houkun City, located on the core planet P1 in the Andromeda Galaxy, home to the Tan Clan. It was considered the capital of the entire Tan Clan territory. Next to Houkun City was a small city called Fengyao City, created by Tan Guan, the Tan Clan leader, after accidentally capturing a digital signal from distant Earth. Due to Fengyao City's small size, and because the reconstructed and re-embodied people of Fengyao City were significantly more attractive than those of the Tan Clan—even from the Tan Clan's aesthetic point of view—Tan Guan positioned it as an entertainment city. Despite its small size, Fengyao City was incredibly prosperous, and the entertainment industry alone attracted frequent Tan Clan members. Tan Ping, originally a native of Fengyao City, was chosen by Tan Guan, who appointed her Governor of Fengyao City, adhering to the principle of "local governance," to govern this small but beautiful city.

Initially grateful, Tan Ping diligently adhered to the Tan Clan's well-established and comprehensive regulations. However, she soon discovered that some were attempting to override the law. The most notable example was Tan Jia, who had just interrogated her next door. Tan Jia, a young Tan Clan boss, had risen through the ranks thanks to his father's connections and his previous direct service to the Tan Guan Clan leader, becoming the dominant force in the Tan Clan's entertainment industry. He controlled the four major entertainment venues in the P1 system: Douqiong, Funiu, Luohu, and Pingyi. Each had its own unique characteristics, yet all offered a variety of ways to satisfy the most greedy and base desires of human nature. These four entertainment venues had previously thrived outside of Fengyao City, facing virtually no competition. However, Tan Jia hoped to bring all of them to Fengyao, making this Tan Clan's entertainment capital his exclusive domain.

However, due to the good looks and image of the local people of Fengyao City, both men and women, many people are unwilling to be employed by the four major entertainment venues, which restrict them from various rules and regulations and take commissions. Instead, they choose to be their own bosses. They are both men and women, and although their number is small, they have attracted many customers that the four major entertainment venues originally wanted to recruit, and they are often high-end customers with strong spending power and high demands.

To punish these people, Tan Jia resorted to widespread lynching, torturing and even harming them. Tan Ping, naturally unable to tolerate this, took countermeasures and reported the matter to Tan Guan. Although Tan Guan knew Tan Jia had gone too far, he was unwilling to bring him to justice, instead adopting a conciliatory approach. Later, in an effort to distract Tan Ping, Tan Jia instigated Tan Guan to promote him to the position of mayor of Houkun City.

From a purely career perspective, this was a meteoric rise for Tan Ping. However, her sense of fairness and justice was at odds. After arriving in Houkun City, as mayor, she gained even greater authority and power to oversee Tan Jia and his four entertainment venues. Unsurprisingly, she uncovered even more violations. Consequently, she continued to crack down on Tan Jia. Instead of easing, their feud intensified.

Recently, Tan Ping discovered that members of the Hydrogen and Helium Tribes had arrived in Houkun City and held a highly secretive meeting with Tan Guan and other Tan Clan officials. Although she didn't know the details, she later discovered that Tan Guan appeared to be using Tan Clan members, her fellow Tan Clan members, as test subjects for their products—stimulants and sedatives. This decision had not been approved by the normal Tan Clan legislative process. Therefore, amidst the public protests, Tan Ping expressed her concerns to Tan Guan. At this point, she discovered that Tan Jia was also involved, further fueling her suspicions of a conspiracy.

Unable to bear it any longer, Tan Guan secretly instructs Tan Jia to imprison Tan Ping, hoping she will change her mind. The reason for this cautious move is that, on the one hand, Tan Ping knows a lot about their dark history, and on the other hand, some of their next actions will also rely on Tan Ping's authority as the mayor of Houkun City.

At this time, Guo Ling was also thrown into an underground prison.

After carefully thinking about all this, Guo Ling finally understood why Tan Ping had said that those who were imprisoned here couldn't be bad people. Because all the bad people were in cahoots with the bad guys up there.

However, he noticed one detail.

"It seems that Fengyao City, like Kunlun City, is the same origin of our Wuming City... and Tan Ping said she is a native of Fengyao City, which means she is my compatriot. Moreover, she is probably not bad looking..."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Listening to Tan Ping's voice, he still felt regretful in his heart: How unfortunate it would be if such a pleasant voice came from an ugly face.

It seems there is no need to worry now.

"What am I thinking about...Shouldn't I discuss the future plans with her?" He immediately realized that his focus seemed a little off.

Tan Ping didn't get any feedback from Guo Ling in the darkness, and thought he was still digesting what she had just said. She said, "Maybe I gave you too much information. Don't worry, take your time. We can discuss any questions you have. Also, don't worry, as I said just now, they will only monitor our images, not eavesdrop on our voices, so if you have any ideas, feel free to speak up."

Guo Ling pulled his thoughts back on track, thought for a moment, and asked, "You just said that the reason they didn't take ruthless action against you was because their subsequent actions still depended on your authority as mayor. But, you're not the mayor anymore, are you?"

"Yes, administratively, they can declare me no longer mayor and appoint a new mayor. However, some powers are vested in me, and I need to hand them over to this successor to complete the transfer of mayoral authority."

"It's really interesting. Under this system, what happens if the former mayor doesn't want to step down?"

"This is the beauty of the system that I'm willing to protect with my life," Tan Ping said in a serious voice. "First, it encourages a smooth transfer of power. That is, the predecessor willingly gives way to the successor and transfers all authority to him or her. Second, even if the predecessor is greedy for power and unwilling to give up the position, or is treated abnormally like me, the authority that can only be transferred with the predecessor's permission does not affect the successor's normal administrative duties. These powers are only needed in special circumstances, and generally, when they are used, it is often when the situation is quite serious."

"But what if the predecessor uses this special authority as a threat? Wouldn't this system be counterproductive?"

"No, the opposite is true. No system can cover every eventuality. We can only formulate plans for problems with a high probability of occurrence, while overlooking low-probability events. This is a practical and cost-effective approach. The powers granted in special circumstances I just mentioned are actually low-probability events. When I was mayor of Houkun City, I reviewed historical records and found that such a situation had not occurred in the past hundred years. Therefore, if the previous mayor deliberately refuses to transfer such powers due to resentment, it will not affect the successor's exercise of power. Over time, the predecessor will lose interest and will instead take the initiative to transfer these powers, earning a reputation as a 'prodigal son who returns to power'."

Guo Ling sensed that Tan Ping's tone was gradually changing from serious to sad, so he asked, "So, this time, your authority has reached a point where they need to use it? That's why they don't dare to touch you?"

"Yes, I am sad, but that is the truth."

"Can I ask what the situation is? Is it so special that it only happens once in a hundred years?" Guo Ling felt his heart beating faster.