Chapter 135: The “Lingxi Remains” and Ling Ling, The Truth of the Wasteland Accident
The girl known as “Little Doctor” just looked down at her clothes, a clear look of dejection on her young face.
Seeing this, the man didn’t say anything more and gestured for the person beside him to push his wheelchair, leaving the laboratory.
After leaving the lab, the man looked back at the girl, his eyes narrowing slightly, the gentle smile on his lips turning cold.
Then, the laboratory door slowly closed, leaving only the busy machinery and the girl’s lonely figure.
“Master Qualcomm… her adaptability to the ‘Lingxi Remains’ is indeed the best, but her cooperation is the worst. At this rate… the development of the new potion will be difficult.” The person beside him said in a low voice.
“Then find a way to improve her cooperation,” the man known as “Qualcomm” said indifferently. “She just wants some peers to accompany her. We have plenty of test subjects. Let a few of them play with her.”
“Why not let Ms. Liu Sisi…”
The subordinate hinted with his eyes. The Liu Sisi he was referring to was a member of Suspended High Tower 132’s Special Operations Team, her ability being precognition, allowing her to control others’ nervous systems.
In other words, once hit by her ability, they would temporarily become her puppets, controlled by her.
“If we do that, her adaptability to the ‘Lingxi Remains’ will be at its lowest… We only have one ‘Lingxi Remains.’ If it’s damaged, can you get me another one?”
Qualcomm’s sharp gaze fell on his subordinate, and although his tone was indifferent, the subordinate still broke out in a cold sweat.
“Yes… it was my mistake, Master Qualcomm.”
“Lingxi… since you don’t want to cooperate, don’t blame me for using your daughter.” Qualcomm gently tapped the armrest of his wheelchair, a thoughtful expression on his face. “By the way, what about Night Owl?”
“We haven’t found him yet.”
The subordinate shook his head.
“It’s been two years. Suspended High Tower 132 is so small, two years is enough to turn it upside down.” Qualcomm said slowly.
“But… is it possible, Master Qualcomm, that he has already left the Suspended High Tower…” the subordinate hesitated and asked.
“How? Spatial jump? Or fly out?”
Qualcomm sneered. “All aircraft are under control, none have moved in two years. I even specifically applied to the Federation to postpone the ground docking, just to find this traitor.”
“The thirteenth Eternal Day is about to arrive. Any further delay, and the entire Suspended High Tower will be in danger. We must dock with the ground within a month! Therefore… find Night Owl within a month. This is a death order!”
“…As you command, Master Qualcomm.”
The subordinate pushed Qualcomm’s wheelchair, agreeing verbally, but sighing inwardly.
Although the Suspended High Tower wasn’t large, it wasn’t small either. Moreover, Night Owl was an assassin, skilled in disguise and concealment. Even face to face, it would be difficult to recognize him.
Unless they used mental cleansing on every citizen, it was impossible to identify Night Owl.
The problem was… not to mention the citizens’ resistance to mental cleansing, with millions of citizens in the High Tower, how could they possibly check everyone?
Moreover, many within the tower city now believed that Night Owl had already escaped Suspended High Tower 132.
It was better to rely on the Federation’s wanted notice than to hope to find Night Owl within the tower.
“If you know… why aren’t you doing it?” Qualcomm glanced at his subordinate. “Is pushing my wheelchair that fun?”
The subordinate immediately let go of the wheelchair and bowed.
“Yes, sir.”
Then he hurriedly left.
Qualcomm sat alone near the laboratory, coldly watching the lab begin its operations.
He didn’t speak, and the few researchers around him carefully avoided him, afraid of disturbing the mayor.
Qualcomm slowly closed his eyes, as if he could still hear his old friend’s voice.
“Look, Qualcomm, we succeeded! This is the awakening potion, the key for ordinary people to become ability users!”
“With this, soon… human civilization will enter a new era, restarting the technology of the previous civilization will no longer be a dream, and the opportunity to explore deep space is right before our eyes!”
“Qualcomm… stability is our current goal, not mass production. You’re too impatient, this is a mistake.”
“What are you doing?! Qualcomm, you’re harming people! The awakening potion isn’t stable yet, why did you hide it from me and start mass production!”
“It’s gone, all gone… a complete failure…”
“I’m sorry, Qualcomm, my brother, I can’t continue with you. I’ve been suffering these days. Every time I close my eyes, I see countless crazed souls wailing at me…”
Qualcomm slowly opened his eyes, and the laboratory before him seemed to be engulfed in flames.
A middle-aged man with a stern expression looked at him with despair from within the flames, his eyes seemingly saying—
“Look at this, what have you done?”
His brother, Dr. Lingxi, had died in this fire.
Along with all the research data on the awakening potion, all turned to ashes.
All that remained was a charred corpse and scattered ashes.
Dr. Lingxi’s death almost closed the most important door for the current human civilization and set back research on ability users by several day-night cycles.
From then on, only the Lingxi Potion, known as “Devil’s Blood,” remained, circulating in the black market, a remnant of that era.
The decision to mass-produce the Lingxi Potion was Qualcomm’s, because at that time, Suspended High Tower 132 no longer had the funds to support his research, and the preliminary research results had to generate returns.
The appearance of Devil’s Blood brought a lot of wealth to Suspended High Tower 132, but before Qualcomm could invest this wealth into further research and development, the hidden dangers of the unstable potion erupted.
Countless people went mad due to the potion’s side effects, and countless more lost their lives because of these crazed and mutated awakened ones.
In the end, filled with guilt, Lingxi chose to die in the fire with his life’s work, sending his only daughter away before his death, not letting her stay in Suspended High Tower 132.
Perhaps… at that time, Lingxi had already foreseen what would happen today.
Just then, the laboratory door opened, and Ling Ling walked out.
Seeing Qualcomm outside, she seemed startled and was about to retreat back into the lab.
“Little Doctor, are you done?” Qualcomm called out, a gentle smile on his face. “Are you… going to eat?”
“Yes, Uncle.” Ling Ling still kept her head lowered.
“I’ll go with you,” Qualcomm pushed the wheels of his wheelchair, turning around with some difficulty. “Coincidentally, I’m also hungry.”
“Okay.”
Ling Ling responded and silently stood behind Qualcomm, skillfully pushing his wheelchair.
“Are you used to living here?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good… I was a bit worried you wouldn’t adapt. How’s work, are you tired?”
“…It’s okay.”
“These are all things your father left behind. Only you can inherit everything he had. Of course… if you don’t like them, you can also refuse. I won’t force you.”
“…”
Along the way, Qualcomm and Ling Ling chatted casually, mostly Qualcomm making small talk, and Ling Ling’s replies never exceeded two words.
After entering the cafeteria on the eighth floor of the tower, Ling Ling finally mustered her courage, stopped, and asked,
“Uncle, haven’t you found Sister Xue’er yet?”
“No, it’s such a pity.” Qualcomm shook his head and sighed softly. “The wasteland is too dangerous, and she’s so young. Once she’s lost… it’s hard to find her again.”
“I’ve sent many ability users to search for her. We didn’t find her body… or any traces, in the nearby rock piles. You saw it yourself, it’s truly… a hopeless situation.”
Before bringing Ling Ling back, she had stubbornly refused to leave, wanting to find the missing Luo Xue.
But after searching for several days, they couldn’t find anything, not even a trace.
There were only some signs of fighting in the forest, but it was clearly from Luo Xue’s hunting the night before.
“Oh.”
Ling Ling’s disappointment was evident.
Qualcomm frowned slightly, seeing this.
The reason he wanted to get rid of the other Wastelander children in the camp was that he was worried they would be a burden to Ling Ling.
Ling Ling was Lingxi’s biological daughter, and this blood relation made her the most compatible vessel for the “Lingxi Remains.”
The “Lingxi Remains” naturally didn’t refer to Lingxi’s corpse, but a technological creation.
After Lingxi’s suicide, and the destruction of all his research data, the research on ability users and awakening potions was completely interrupted. All of Qualcomm’s previous investments and his vision of a deep space era were gone.
But Qualcomm wasn’t willing to give up. He ordered them to rescue Lingxi from the fire, but in the end, they could only retrieve his charred corpse.
However, Lingxi’s brain wasn’t completely destroyed. Qualcomm extracted it, restored it through technological means, and uploaded the entire brain into a terminal, calling it the “Lingxi Remains.”
The “Lingxi Remains” was the last remaining data on the awakening potion.
However… the human brain was incredibly complex. Even with the abilities of ability users and the technology of the previous civilization, they could only preserve it, not read it.
To access the information within the brain, they needed a vessel.
Unfortunately, whether it was top researchers or psychic ability users, none could synchronize with the “Lingxi Remains.” There would be severe rejection.
After many experiments, they accidentally discovered that a researcher distantly related to Lingxi showed astonishing adaptability.
Previously, they could only read 0.1% at most, but this distantly related researcher could reach 2%.
This finally made Qualcomm realize that they had to start with Lingxi’s blood relatives to use the “Lingxi Remains.”
However, 2% was still far from enough. Qualcomm suddenly remembered that Lingxi had a daughter, born shortly before his suicide.
If the compatibility with the “Lingxi Remains” increased with closer blood relation, then Ling Ling was undoubtedly the most suitable person in the world.
However, Lingxi had foreseen this. He knew that his daughter was probably the only way to revive this forbidden technology.
But… Lingxi couldn’t bring himself to kill his daughter and instead sent her to a Wastelander settlement, hoping to hide her from Qualcomm.
Qualcomm spent a lot of effort to find Ling Ling, and by then, she had already settled in the settlement. Forcibly taking her away wasn’t realistic.
The “Lingxi Remains” didn’t turn Ling Ling into Lingxi, but allowed her to have Lingxi’s thoughts and all his knowledge, including the research on the awakening potion.
It had to be Ling Ling’s own will to continue the research. It was difficult to force her.
Therefore… the entire Wastelander settlement was a burden to Ling Ling.
After the “Lingxi Laboratory” incident, the Federation had explicitly banned research on awakening potions. The fewer people knew about this, the better.
Bringing an entire Wastelander settlement back to the Suspended High Tower would attract too much attention and cause unnecessary complications.
If any of these Wastelanders were clever and caused trouble, delaying the research, it would be a great loss.
Qualcomm didn’t like accidents.
More importantly…
Wastelanders weren’t considered people.
To the Suspended High Towers, the Wastelanders on the ground weren’t part of human civilization. Killing them wouldn’t cause public outrage, at most a few organizations would issue some meaningless condemnations.
Moreover… Qualcomm wasn’t sentimental. As the dictator of a Suspended High Tower, after the death of his only brother, Lingxi, his humanity had been completely eroded.
Using an “accident” to kill everyone in the Wastelander settlement was already Qualcomm’s last act of mercy towards Ling Ling.
Anyway, the “Lingxi Remains” still needed some time to be adjusted, to remove some unnecessary memories, so the assassination was carried out slowly and discreetly.
But unexpectedly…
The last survivor of the wasteland settlement, Luo Xue, hadn’t been found after the “accident.”
Night Owl, who was responsible for the assassination, had said that she was crushed under the rocks, with no chance of survival.
But after searching through the entire rock pile, they couldn’t even find a trace of blood.
Because of this, Ling Ling, who had witnessed everything, still held onto a sliver of false hope, believing that her Sister Xue’er was still alive, and begged Qualcomm to help find her.
While Qualcomm and Ling Ling were waiting for their food in the cafeteria, a subordinate suddenly rushed over and whispered something in Qualcomm’s ear.
Qualcomm listened calmly, then nodded at his subordinate, signaling him to leave.
Then, he turned to the timid Ling Ling beside him and said gently,
“Little Doctor, let’s stop the research for a few days.”
“Huh?”
Ling Ling looked up blankly.
“A few people from above are coming for a visit. We need to make some preparations in the laboratory.” Qualcomm said with a smile. “You go home and rest for a few days. Uncle will introduce you to some new friends to play with.”
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