Category: A Girl Dies Every Day in Her Dream Life

Chapter 136: Conjectures About Other Worlds, World Bubbles and String Vibrations 

Second level of Suspended High Tower 132.

The rumbling of machinery echoed endlessly, and the pungent smell of oil filled the air.

The murky air was thick with dust particles, barely visible to the naked eye, illuminated by the dim light.

A silent man wearing white gloves carried a cloth bag, its contents unknown.

“Morning, Mr. Ye Xiao, want to try the new Number Six Vegetarian Paste from the cultivation base? I heard it tastes almost like the vegetables the big shots on the upper levels eat.”

A young vendor enthusiastically tried to sell his wares to the man. His stall was filled with colorful pastes, all packaged in cheap plastic.

The man stopped, looked at the pastes, and nodded slightly.

“Yes, give me some.”

The vendor was clearly familiar with this Mr. Ye Xiao. As Ye Xiao chose his pastes, the vendor chatted with him about everyday matters.

He complained about the recent increase in taxes in the Suspended High Tower, the deteriorating environment due to the overuse of the tower’s core, and the frequent searches, with another one supposedly coming soon.

Ye Xiao just listened, not commenting.

The residents of the lower three levels were all maintenance personnel and their families, whose job was to ensure the smooth operation of the Suspended High Tower. They rarely left their work areas.

Ye Xiao had been working here for two years and was familiar with the people here.

“That’s all.”

Ye Xiao chose three vegetarian pastes, put them in his bag, then wiped his slightly stained white gloves on his clothes.

“Six credits total—oh right, Mr. Ye Xiao, do you have any fabric rations left?” The vendor scratched his head sheepishly. “My girlfriend wants a new dress… but I’ve used up all my rations.”

“I have quite a bit left, take them.” Ye Xiao nodded. “I don’t use much anyway.”

“You’re a technician, with free food and accommodation, and the work uniform provided by the tower.” The vendor’s eyes showed a hint of envy. “Sigh, I wish I could be like you…”

“There are other troubles.” Ye Xiao said casually, swiping his hand on the vendor’s payment device. “Six credits, and the rations, I’ve transferred them to you.”

“Eh, Mr. Ye Xiao, that’s not what I meant. I was hoping you could use the fabric rations instead of credits…” The vendor quickly said.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s the same. I don’t use these rations anyway, consider it a gift.” Ye Xiao shook his head and, before the vendor could refuse, picked up his bag and left.

The vendor looked at his receding figure and sighed. “Mr. Ye Xiao… is such a good person.”

Ye Xiao walked silently until there were few people around.

He discreetly turned into a less noticeable area, his figure gradually disappearing into the shadows.

If anyone looked at Ye Xiao at this moment, their gaze would involuntarily shift, unable to see him.

Ye Xiao put down his bag, took off his white gloves, revealing his calloused hands, the prosthetics on his ring and index fingers particularly noticeable.

He took out the vegetarian pastes from his bag, peeled one open, and stuffed it into his mouth, then took out some mechanical tools, opened a panel on the floor of the tower, and planted some mechanical components among the dense wiring.

Finally, he restored the floor panel and cleaned up all traces.

After finishing all this, Ye Xiao stood up and sighed.

His figure gradually reappeared, returning to his ordinary technician appearance.

“Master Qualcomm… with the current state of Suspended High Tower 132, you can only delay for another month at most. Once we dock with the ground, I can escape…”

For two years, Night Owl, using the alias Ye Xiao, had been active on the lower levels, tampering with the docking facility.

Once they docked, there would definitely be problems, and then he could take advantage of the chaos to escape with the Wastelanders.

Even with Qualcomm’s great abilities, it would be impossible to find an assassin skilled in concealment in the vast wasteland.

“Knowing things you shouldn’t know is always troublesome.”

Ye Xiao’s eyes flickered, and he picked up his bag and walked back.

“Hopefully… it’s not too late.”

…

“Suspended High Tower 132 was part of the second batch of Suspended High Towers, built during the long fourth Eternal Day, along with Suspended High Tower 103.”

On the small aircraft, Ceres explained the general situation of the Suspended High Towers to Luo Xue.

Because Luo Xue wasn’t familiar with many things about the Suspended High Towers, Ceres had to act as a lecturer.

“Compared to the first batch, the second batch is more stable and also the most advanced. The third batch, numbers 200 to 300, are downgraded versions, and those above 300 are mobile war fortresses… actually, even worse than the third batch.”

“Why?”

Luo Xue was curious. The second batch was better than the first, why did the quality decline later?

“Because the tower engine cores left behind by the previous civilization were almost used up by the second batch. The third and fourth batches used damaged engine cores from the inventory, modified, their capacity only one-tenth and six percent, respectively.”

Ceres shrugged.

“After all the engine cores, even the damaged ones, were used up, we couldn’t even build inferior Suspended High Towers anymore… The Federation has been researching this, but the data accumulated over thousands of years by the previous civilization has been lost, and we have to start from scratch.”

The only achievement in current natural disaster engine research was the small aircraft they were currently on. It could only use the energy converted from natural disasters, and the key conversion process hadn’t been cracked yet.

“But those war fortresses above number 300… what are they for?” Luo Xue scratched the back of her head. “They can’t be for wars between the Suspended High Towers, can they? Or…”

“Don’t think too much. The first law of the Federation is that no High Tower wars are allowed under any circumstances. Any actions that damage the tower’s core are considered crimes against humanity, unforgivable.” Ceres’s tone turned serious. “The enemy of the Suspended High Towers… is something else.”

She pointed to the sky and said faintly,

“Deep space behemoths, the only beings that can threaten the Suspended High Towers. Of the seven destroyed Suspended High Towers in the current civilization, five were directly destroyed by deep space behemoths. Those were earth-shattering battles.”

Luo Xue looked up at the deep space beyond the sky, but Ceres raised her hand and covered Luo Xue’s eyes.

“Don’t look,” Ceres shook her head. “Looking for too long will cause deep space phobia.”

“Everything in deep space… for the current human civilization, is still a terrifying unknown.”

Hearing Ceres’s words, Luo Xue suddenly recalled the news report she saw earlier in the docking facility. Many research organizations were using unmanned aircraft to explore deep space, but there seemed to be no results, not even the origin of the deep space behemoths had been discovered.

“Oh… Miss Ceres, do you think… there might be another world out there in deep space?” Luo Xue lowered her gaze, resting her chin on her hand.

Could the Immortal Martial World in her dreams actually be another world in deep space?

Or rather, were these different worlds connected in some way?

“The World Bubble theory?” Ceres was slightly taken aback. “Miss Guijiao, you actually support that theory?”

“Huh?”

Luo Xue looked up at Ceres, confused.

“Ah, sorry, it seems it’s just your own imagination.”

Ceres suddenly realized that the girl before her was only twelve years old, the age of boundless imagination. “But… what you said, many people have proposed similar theories.”

“Every world is enveloped by a bubble, and deep space is the gap between these bubbles, filled with strange creatures from outside the world bubbles—of course, this is just one of many theories.”

“According to you… besides this theory, are there other explanations?” Luo Xue’s interest was piqued. She really wanted to know if there was any connection between the Immortal Martial World and this world, which was related to her dreams and reality.

“Actually, the mainstream theory considered closest to the truth is string theory, which states that the entire world is made up of ‘vibrating strings.’ Different things are constructed from different ‘string vibrations,’ and things within the same world share the same frequency of ‘string vibrations’.”

Ceres seemed to know quite a bit about these theories, excitedly explaining to Luo Xue,

“In other words, there might be other worlds existing in the same location as us, but because of the different frequencies of ‘string vibrations,’ we can’t see or touch them, and we can’t interact with each other.”

“Perhaps by changing the frequency of our own ‘string vibrations,’ we can travel to other worlds.”

“What about deep space in string theory?” Luo Xue asked. “And the deep space behemoths?”

“Deep space is where there are no ‘string vibrations,’ and those incredible deep space behemoths are disrupted ‘string vibrations,’ like… noise.”

Ceres pushed up her glasses, seemingly excited to finally find someone willing to listen to her talk about these things.

“So, isn’t this theory much more complete? But it’s still just a theory. And also…”

“Hold on, hold on, let’s stop here, we can talk about this later.”

Seeing that Ceres was about to go on and on, Luo Xue coughed lightly, reminding her of their current mission.

“We’re here to investigate the issue of Suspended High Tower 132 restarting the laboratory project, right? Don’t you need to prepare?”

“Prepare what… There’s nothing to prepare. Their mayor, Qualcomm, is not someone to be trifled with. He’s a cunning and ruthless old fox.”

Ceres pouted, her expression showing her lack of interest.

“He must have already made arrangements. Besides, the Federation is turning a blind eye to this. I guess many people in the council also support restarting the laboratory.”

Luo Xue had already learned about the laboratory, including the past incident and its aftermath.

However, when she saw the photo of Lingxi, the former head of the laboratory, she felt a sense of familiarity.

This couldn’t be an illusion. For the current Luo Xue to have an impression but not be able to recall it, it could only be a memory from deep within her subconscious, from when she was very young, when the nerves responsible for memory weren’t fully developed yet.

Because of this, Luo Xue paid attention to this, hoping to get some information from Ceres.

But… compared to the mission, Ceres was more interested in discussing, or rather, sharing, these theories about the nature of the world.

Although Luo Xue was also interested, she was more concerned about Ling Ling.

Luo Xue knew that if her death was related to Ling Ling, it was probably connected to Suspended High Tower 132, perhaps even related to the laboratory incident.

Ceres seemed to notice Luo Xue’s lack of interest and slightly suppressed her excitement.

She looked at the route map on the aircraft, then pointed to a location.

“Look, Suspended High Tower 132 is right there, we’ll be there soon. It just so happens that their route is close to the docking location of Suspended High Tower 103. Otherwise, we might have to transfer to another tower.”

The small aircraft couldn’t store much energy from natural disasters. Although they had minimized its weight and size, making it usually only able to accommodate two people crammed together, its range was usually less than three days.

Traveling to Suspended High Towers beyond this three-day range was troublesome. Even if the straight-line distance only required five days of travel, due to the limited range, they had to take detours to other Suspended High Towers to dock and replenish energy.

And since all Suspended High Towers were constantly moving, they wouldn’t change their routes for the aircraft, so a five-day journey could be extended to a month.

This time, Luo Xue and Ceres only needed to spend two days crammed in the small aircraft to reach Suspended High Tower 132.

“…”

Luo Xue looked up in the direction Ceres pointed.

On the distant horizon, a shadowy tower slowly approached them, brilliant blue exhaust plumes erupting from its base, supporting the entire city as it floated five thousand meters above the ground.

Even from such a distance, seeing a Suspended High Tower in motion for the first time still filled Luo Xue with awe.

“This is…”

“A Suspended High Tower,” Ceres said softly, “the greatest legacy of the previous civilization, and a miracle that sustains human civilization.”

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.”

Chapter 134: The “Lingxi Laboratory” Incident, The Little Doctor and Her Father

“Two years ago…”

Luo Xue flipped through the file, which contained some information about Night Owl, but not much.

After all, Night Owl was an assassin of Suspended High Tower 132. Even as a wanted criminal, most of his information wouldn’t be publicly available.

But from the information, she could tell that he hadn’t fled when he received the mission to kill her.

Luo Xue also finally knew how much time had passed since her last death.

“Two years…”

Luo Xue closed the file, handed it back to Ceres, and asked,

“Miss Ceres, is there a way to reach Suspended High Tower 132, as soon as possible?”

“In such a hurry?” Ceres seemed surprised, discreetly putting away the recruitment form for Luo Xue. “It’s difficult to go to Suspended High Tower 132 through the High Tower routes. Suspended High Tower 103 needs to be docked for at least five months for maintenance. Once it departs, it will travel continuously for thirty years.”

“Isn’t there any other way?” Luo Xue pondered for a moment, then asked, “For example… going to Suspended High Tower 132 directly through the wasteland?”

“It would be difficult with just your strength. Even if you could travel through the wasteland, you wouldn’t be able to reach the Suspended High Tower.” Ceres shook her head and said faintly,

“The Suspended High Towers don’t land during their travels. They maintain an altitude of about five thousand meters—Can you reach that height?”

Only at that altitude could the Suspended High Towers avoid the various natural disasters on the surface, and they could even absorb energy from these disasters to power the towers and sustain the lives of the Tower People.

The reason the Suspended High Towers were always in motion was to gather energy from different locations and prevent their engines from shutting down.

The Suspended High Towers weren’t perpetual motion machines. Their engine technology came from the glorious previous civilization, capable of exploring deep space.

Unfortunately, the current human civilization could only build a little over three hundred tower engines, and no more, so there were only a little over three hundred Suspended High Towers, unable to accommodate more Tower People.

For this land, plagued by frequent natural disasters, the energy absorbed by the three hundred plus tower engines was less than a thousandth of the total energy released by the disasters.

“…”

Luo Xue was silent for a moment, rubbed her temples, and sighed.

“I… can’t do that yet.”

Although she was at Foundation Establishment, she didn’t know many divine abilities, and she didn’t know the Peerless Summit Sect’s signature sword-riding technique either.

Besides, ordinary sword-riding techniques could only reach a few hundred meters. Flying five kilometers on a sword would probably require a Nascent Soul cultivator.

“Actually, there is another way.”

Ceres smiled faintly, took out a business card, and placed it on Luo Xue’s table. “Join the Federal Investigation Bureau, and you’ll have the authority to carry out special federal missions, allowing you to travel freely between the Suspended High Towers.”

“Without docking… how?”

Luo Xue hesitantly took the business card, which had Ceres’s name and title on it, the blonde woman’s smile warm and gentle.

“Aircrafts, equipped with small tower engines. However, they don’t have the function of directly converting natural disasters into energy like the real tower engines, they can only store the converted energy.”

Ceres explained like a salesperson, then took out a brick-like device with a pixelated image of an aircraft on it.

“The aircraft can fly at an altitude of five thousand meters, but the pilot needs to be physically fit, as the protection on manned aircraft isn’t very good.”

“A phone?”

Luo Xue looked at the device in Ceres’ hand curiously. She hadn’t expected it to be even larger than the brick phones of her previous life.

“What do you mean by ‘phone’? Are you referring to this?”

Ceres patted the “brick” and said, “This is a miniaturized digital terminal. Heh… impressive, isn’t it? Only our Suspended High Tower 103 can manufacture it. It hasn’t entered mass production yet.”

“Impressive, impressive…”

Luo Xue continued to flatter her perfunctorily.

She had already seen the mosaic television in the docking facility. A brick phone wasn’t that surprising.

It had to be said that the post-apocalyptic world hadn’t developed any technology related to everyday life or entertainment. Their technology focused almost entirely on energy and materials, far surpassing her previous life in these aspects.

Oh, and also biology, after all, ability users were unique to this world.

“So, what do you think?” Ceres blinked, a playful glint in her eyes. “Normally, I should invite you to join Suspended High Tower 103 first, but you don’t seem interested, and asking would probably be a waste of time.”

As soon as she got the file, Luo Xue had asked about ways to reach Suspended High Tower 132, showing no intention of staying. Ceres wasn’t so clueless as to not understand.

“Indeed, if you can help me get to 132, I can join the Federal Investigation Bureau.”

Luo Xue nodded. “But let me tell you… I only have physical strength, and perhaps some instinctive perception… I don’t have any special abilities.”

Luo Xue knew that these ability users far surpassed cultivators of the same level in certain aspects, possessing many incredible abilities, even wielding the power of laws at low levels.

Although their usage was crude, it was still enough to crush many cultivators of the same level.

“A pure combatant? Oh… the Federal Investigation Bureau doesn’t lack ability users of that type, but don’t worry, I’ll try to negotiate a good price… a good salary for you.” Ceres coughed awkwardly.

“…I’m still a minor. Employing minors is illegal!” Luo Xue twitched her lips.

“A minor? My goodness, you’re not even twelve yet?” Ceres exclaimed. “If you’re not twelve, you’re considered child labor! The federal law states that we can’t…”

“Wait, in that case, I… I’m already an adult.” Luo Xue quickly corrected herself. “I’m twelve this year… or thirteen.”

She hadn’t expected adulthood here to be twelve, not eighteen…

It made sense. The post-apocalyptic world had a small population and a shortage of labor. Naturally, they would lower the age of adulthood.

“Phew, that scared me. Not being twelve would be troublesome. Suspended High Tower 132 was just punished by the Federation for employing a nine-year-old ability user.”

Ceres patted her chest, then curiously pinched Luo Xue’s arm.

“But I didn’t expect, Miss Guijiao, that you, looking so delicate and small, would be a strength-type ability user. In my impression, ability users of this type are all muscular…”

After confirming that Luo Xue intended to join the Federal Investigation Bureau, Ceres’s tone became more relaxed, a hint of friendliness replacing her earlier formality.

“Like a body cultivator… oh, no, not all body cultivators are like that.”

Luo Xue scratched her cheek, thinking of Nangong Mengxiang. Although she was a top-tier body cultivator, her figure was still slender and graceful, without much muscle, exactly the kind of figure Luo Xue dreamed of having when she grew up.

However… judging by Luo Xue’s current development, it seemed unlikely.

“Hmm? Body cultivator… what do you mean?” Ceres was puzzled by Luo Xue’s muttering, but quickly dismissed it. “By the way, since you’re interested in Suspended High Tower 132, I happen to know a bit about it, so I’ll tell you.”

“I’m all ears.”

Luo Xue’s expression turned serious.

Since the assassin was from Suspended High Tower 132, the order to kill her must have also come from within the tower.

Ceres’s information would be very helpful for Luo Xue to find Ling Ling.

“The infamous ‘Lingxi Potion’ originated from the laboratory in Suspended High Tower 132. It was an accidental byproduct of a research project proposed and implemented by Dr. Lingxi, and after many experiments, a stable version was developed, leading to mass production.”

“Suspended High Tower 132 monopolized the production of the ‘Lingxi Potion.’ All Tower People within the Federation, and even some Wastelanders, wanted to obtain the Lingxi Potion, awaken their abilities, and embark on a different life.”

“For the Federation, the mass production of ability users was also a welcome development. Many facilities within the High Towers are powered by ability users. Without the corresponding ability users, they are just useless devices… After all, a large part of the previous civilization’s technology has been lost, and we can only use such clumsy methods to compensate.”

“However… not long after, something went wrong with the Lingxi Potion.”

“The ‘Lingxi Laboratory’ incident. Three months after the Lingxi Potion entered mass production, the first batch of mutated ability users appeared. Then, all ability users who awakened using the Lingxi Potion, without exception, died from berserk states and mutations. There were no survivors.”

Ceres retrieved information about Lingxi from her digital terminal and showed it to Luo Xue.

It was a photo of a middle-aged man with a stern expression, looking more like a government official than a researcher.

“Dr. Lingxi committed suicide and completely burned down his laboratory, including all his data and test subjects. The further development of the Lingxi Potion was stopped, and only the flawed versions are circulating on the market.” Ceres sighed and continued,

“It’s said that Dr. Lingxi had already developed a stable version and, to prove its feasibility, injected it into his newborn daughter. Unfortunately, this is just a rumor. No one has ever seen the legendary daughter of Lingxi.”

After Ceres finished the story, Luo Xue also sighed deeply.

Like cultivators, ability users also required a certain aptitude. Without it, trying to obtain abilities through other means came at a heavy price.

At least the Lingxi Potion could give ordinary people temporary abilities, while for ordinary people to cultivate immortality… it was almost impossible.

Even if they practiced martial arts their entire lives, they could only reach the Innate Realm, equivalent to a Level 2 or 3 ability user, and it would take decades of hard work to achieve that.

“Stories that end in tragedy are always memorable.” Luo Xue said softly. “When can we depart for Suspended High Tower 132?”

“Don’t be so hasty, let me find a mission first,” Ceres smiled faintly and started searching on her digital terminal. “Let me see… oh, Suspended High Tower 132 has actually rebuilt the laboratory? And they’re recruiting ability users.”

“Should I apply?” Luo Xue blinked.

“How could you? You’re a member of the Federal Investigation Bureau now, how can you work elsewhere? The Federal Investigation Bureau doesn’t allow part-time jobs.”

Ceres said, tapping on her digital terminal without looking up.

“However, Suspended High Tower 132’s plan to restart the laboratory project is a violation. The Federal Investigation Bureau needs to investigate—it’s just a formality, those old foxes must have already prepared for the investigation.”

Ceres had no doubt that Luo Xue could join the Federal Investigation Bureau.

Who would refuse a twelve-year-old genius ability user?

Although she was a common strength-type, a high-level one was still very useful. At least, firearms had little effect on ability users above Level 5.

“What are you doing?”

Luo Xue leaned closer to look.

“Applying for this mission to the Federal Investigation Bureau headquarters. I’ll take you there.” Ceres quickly entered all the information and looked up with a smile. “Miss Guijiao, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course…”

Luo Xue nodded.

Ceres seemed like a knowledgeable older sister, the type who could chat with you casually while taking care of everything.

“Don’t be so formal, it’s just a minor mission. The higher-ups don’t care much about it. Just consider it a trip.”

Ceres squatted down slightly and pinched Luo Xue’s cheek.

“Don’t always have such a serious face. You’re so young, yet you seem older than me.”

Luo Xue forced a smile, but she was worried, and her smile looked a bit strained.

“After I’ve finished processing your paperwork, we’ll go to Suspended High Tower 132 to carry out the mission.”

“Okay, then… I’ll have to trouble Miss Ceres.”

…

“Little Doctor, how’s the progress?”

The man in the wheelchair asked kindly.

“The third type of potion… 80% complete…”

A young girl in an oversized lab coat lowered her head and said softly.

“Don’t be so formal. It’s been over two years.” The man chuckled, looking at the research report on the potion and nodding approvingly. “Not bad, Little Doctor, you’re almost as good as your father.”

“It seems… heh, the things he left you are indeed quite useful.”