Chapter 132: The Lingxi Potion and Ability Users
During the docking of the Suspended High Towers, Wastelanders often tried to sneak into the tower cities, evading detection.
For Wastelanders, even a precarious existence within the tower cities was better than struggling to survive in the endless wasteland.
Therefore, to prevent this, the Suspended High Towers were equipped with well-armed guards and specialized equipment to intercept Wastelanders during docking.
In this resource-scarce world, the Suspended High Towers couldn’t support more Wastelanders, and most Tower People weren’t willing to lower their living standards to help unrelated Wastelanders.
When Luo Xue entered the docking area, the detection equipment issued a warning, and the guards, thinking another Wastelander was trying to sneak in, immediately came to investigate.
But seeing Luo Xue, the two guards immediately dismissed their suspicions, instead asking if she had lost something.
No Wastelander could possess such beauty, and Luo Xue’s every move exuded a faint air of arrogance.
—Having learned from Li Guijiao for a while, Luo Xue’s Thousand Faces Cultivation Art had reached 30% of Li Guijiao’s skill in imitating temperament.
“I lost…”
Luo Xue lowered her head slightly. She immediately realized that the tower city must have some kind of detection mechanism, and she hadn’t passed.
Several wary gazes were directed at her, but seeing Luo Xue’s appearance, they quickly retracted.
“I seem to have lost a small bag in the wasteland.” Luo Xue looked up and replied with a smile.
“I see… It seems you might have lost your access pass.”
The guard’s expression turned apologetic. “In that case, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait here for a while, and let the Archives Bureau personnel verify your identity before you can enter the tower city.”
Hearing this, Luo Xue knew she couldn’t sneak in. She frowned slightly, feigning a troubled expression.
“But my mother is waiting for me to go back for dinner…”
“Oh… Miss, we’re truly sorry, but these are the rules. Unless the mayor intervenes, it’s difficult for us to make an exception.”
The two guards seemed genuinely concerned for Luo Xue, not questioning her identity.
After all, she looked so beautiful and well-behaved, nothing like the vicious Wastelanders in their impression.
“So…”
Luo Xue hesitated, considering whether to force her way into the tower city.
Honestly, she didn’t want to.
Although her Foundation Establishment cultivation was quite good, the tower city probably had many ways to suppress her.
Luo Xue estimated that it would take at least a Nascent Soul cultivator, or even stronger, to create such an artifact as this 103rd Suspended High Tower.
“It will be very quick, Miss, we assure you.”
The guards’ expressions softened, seeing Luo Xue’s troubled look, seemingly also worried for this young girl.
“I’ll inform Officer Ceres immediately. She will definitely process your file as soon as possible so you can have dinner with your family.”
If this Officer Ceres really came, she would find that something wasn’t right…
But now… it seemed this was the only option.
“In that case… take me to where I need to wait.” Luo Xue nodded and said faintly.
“This way, Miss.”
One of the guards led Luo Xue towards an office area within the docking facility.
“We apologize again for the inconvenience—”
Before he could finish apologizing, another guard, clearly a captain, approached hurriedly, frowning and shouting,
“Hey! Wilson, what are you still doing here? Those damn Wastelanders are about to break into the tower! Go and help stop them! Do we really need to use the gamma-ray cannon for a few Wastelanders?”
“Captain, I’m…”
Wilson looked at Luo Xue, his expression helpless.
He whispered in the captain’s ear, explaining Luo Xue’s situation.
The captain’s expression immediately changed, and he looked at Luo Xue with a flattering smile.
“Sorry, sorry, Miss Citizen, we apologize for the disturbance. Let Wilson take you over there. Officer Ceres will be here soon.”
Luo Xue didn’t say anything, just nodded slightly, not even glancing at the guards.
For some reason, these guards didn’t even dare to neglect ordinary tower citizens, afraid of offending them.
Coupled with their distinct temperament…
Luo Xue had a guess.
These guards… were probably also Wastelanders before, but they had received the grace of the High Tower and became guards of the docking facility.
In that case, the more arrogant Luo Xue acted, the less suspicion she would arouse.
The captain quickly left, leaving only Wilson to lead Luo Xue to the office area.
Luo Xue didn’t say a word along the way, and Wilson didn’t dare to speak to her either. After bringing her to the work area, he left hurriedly.
The office area was structured like a honeycomb, divided into small rooms, and Luo Xue was in the most comfortable one.
There was a sofa, a coffee table, and even a television—although the picture quality was terrible, so bad that Luo Xue could barely see the images, only hear the sound.
The television seemed to be broadcasting news about the Suspended High Tower, a calm, indifferent female voice reporting,
“Recently, as the twelfth Eternal Night draws to a close, the Federation is actively preparing for the arrival of the thirteenth Eternal Day. More than half of the tower cities have successfully entered their designated orbits, avoiding the paths of natural disasters.”
“The civilian scientific research organization ‘Starry Sky’ has issued a statement, claiming to have created an aircraft capable of exceeding sixty units of altitude, bringing the possibility of deep space exploration one step closer. The Federation has sent experts to ‘Starry Sky’ to verify the feasibility.”
“The ‘Voice of the Federation’ has reiterated that the awakening of ability users must be in accordance with the law. The private manufacturing, transportation, sale, and use of awakening potions are strictly prohibited. The ‘Lingxi Laboratory’ incident nine years ago remains a stark reminder of the dangers of awakening potions.”
“The Federal Investigation Bureau has announced that the ‘Suspended High Tower 132 Bombing Case’ has been solved. The case resulted in the loss of most of the data in the Archives Bureau of Suspended High Tower 132. A wanted notice has been issued for the fugitive, Night Owl. We ask all citizens to report any sightings to the local Investigation Bureau.”
“…”
There was a lot of information in the news report, all things Luo Xue hadn’t encountered before.
This news, readily available to Tower People in their daily lives, was inaccessible to Wastelanders.
Through this, Luo Xue finally had a rough understanding of the post-apocalyptic world.
Firstly, this was a partially developed human civilization. The technology used by the Suspended High Towers was something Luo Xue had never seen before in any of her lives. To have an entire city, housing millions of people, float and travel in the sky was simply unheard of.
But on the other hand, even the most ordinary televisions were so crude, their picture quality so blurry.
Even though the wanted notice had just shown a portrait on the television, Luo Xue couldn’t see the suspect’s face clearly, only that he was a tall, thin man.
Luo Xue resisted the urge to slap the television. She knew it wouldn’t help.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Luo Xue instinctively tried to sense the person outside, but found that she couldn’t sense anything.
…What was going on?
“Miss Citizen, may I come in?” A soft and gentle voice rang out. “I am Ceres, Deputy Director of the Ground Operations Department of the High Tower Archives Bureau. I’m here to talk about your lost access pass.”
“Yes, please come in.”
Luo Xue said softly, but she tensed up.
If the discussion didn’t go well, she could only force her way in.
Only by entering the Suspended High Tower could she have the chance to contact other Suspended High Towers.
The routes between the Suspended High Towers overlapped, and during these overlaps, they would briefly dock, allowing people to travel between them.
The docking time depended on the length of the overlapping routes, ranging from a few days to several weeks. This was the main method of travel between the Suspended High Towers.
“Creak…”
The door opened slightly, and a woman with blond hair and blue eyes entered, her smart business attire giving off a sharp aura, but her light makeup softened her appearance.
The only flaw was her height, just slightly taller than Luo Xue.
Ceres held a half-opened file, looked at Luo Xue sitting inside, pushed up her glasses, and her expression showed a hint of surprise.
“You…”
Luo Xue glanced at her.
“You’re not a Tower Person, are you?” Ceres closed the file, perhaps deeming it unnecessary. “A Wastelander? Hmm… but you don’t seem like one either. You’re… strange.”
She was seen through just like that?
Luo Xue didn’t bother to deny it. After all, her identity definitely wasn’t in the archives. It didn’t matter whether she was recognized sooner or later. She was just surprised by how quickly she was identified, almost instantly.
“How did you tell?”
Luo Xue asked curiously.
The other party hadn’t immediately notified the guards, which meant she had something to say, so Luo Xue wasn’t in a hurry.
“Your eyes, Miss. A person’s eyes can speak.” Ceres said with a smile. “You’re curious about everything around you. This is something a pampered young lady from the High Tower would never have. What I find more strange is your age…”
“You’re right.” Luo Xue nodded. “I’m indeed not a Tower Person. I suppose I’m what you call a Wastelander.”
“There’s no need for hostility. To us, there’s not much difference between Tower People and Wastelanders—You’re also an ability user, right?” Ceres pondered for a moment, then recalled carefully and said, “Is it a detection-type ability? When I was outside, I felt like I was being… ‘watched’… You were watching me, weren’t you?”
“…You can even sense that?”
Luo Xue was surprised. What she used wasn’t an ability, but spiritual sense from the Immortal Martial World.
Besides body cultivators, all cultivators at Foundation Establishment and above possessed spiritual sense, which allowed them to sense their surroundings.
“Let me introduce myself again. I’m Ceres, Deputy Director of the Ground Operations Department of Suspended High Tower 103’s Archives Bureau, and also a part-time member of Group 6 of the Federal Investigation Bureau.” Ceres said. “In other words, I’m also an ability user, a Level 7 Seer.”
“…Oh.”
Luo Xue didn’t know how to respond. Her understanding of the Suspended High Tower’s internal structure was limited to what she had just heard on the news.
The Federal Investigation Bureau should be the department in charge of ability users, but as for the classification and levels of ability users… she had only met one in her previous life: that assassin.
“Heh… it seems you’re not very familiar with the High Tower, but that’s not a problem.” Ceres shrugged and said, “Do you want to enter the Suspended High Tower? Actually, ability users above Level 2 don’t need an access pass. You just need to register with the Federal Investigation Bureau and you can enter any Suspended High Tower.”
“Ability users are very valuable to the Suspended High Towers, after all, the natural awakening rate is only about three or four in ten thousand, and many jobs in the Suspended High Towers can only be done by ability users.”
Having said that, Luo Xue naturally admitted it.
“If I enter the Suspended High Tower as an ability user, what procedures are required?”
“Just come with me. I’m the personnel from the Federal Investigation Bureau responsible for managing ability users.” Ceres stood up and extended her hand. “I haven’t asked for your name yet, Miss.”
Luo Xue hesitated for a moment, then shook Ceres’ hand.
“My name is… Li Guijiao.”
Since she was currently using Senior Sister Li’s appearance, using her name shouldn’t be a problem, right?
After all, no one in the post-apocalyptic world would know Li Guijiao, and she was unlikely to come to this world.
Come to think of it, it was Li Guijiao who gave Luo Xue this inspiration…
After all, Li Guijiao’s antics with the appearances and names of the Peerless Summit Sect’s higher-ups and disciples had left a deep impression on Luo Xue.
“Li Guijiao… quite a classical name, rare these days. Well, Miss Guijiao, there’s one more thing I need to confirm, it’s very important.”
Ceres’ expression turned serious.
“You didn’t awaken your abilities using the ‘Lingxi Potion,’ did you?”
“‘Lingxi Potion’?” Luo Xue paused. She seemed to have heard this name on the news.
“It’s commonly known as the awakening potion, but in official records, it’s called the ‘Lingxi Potion’.” Ceres said. “Ability users who awaken using the ‘Lingxi Potion’ are very dangerous. The Federal Investigation Bureau has been strictly investigating this matter to prevent unnecessary accidents.”
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