Chapter 54: Overestimating Themselves
Lin Zizhen led Xu Zhi deep into the building, turning several corners and passing through its inner sections before arriving at a large open area in the back.
The field held various pieces of equipment, most of which Xu Zhi couldn’t quite identify. Lin Zizhen continued leading her into another building situated behind the main one.
“The main building is primarily used by the logistics department. The other departments are inside this one,” Lin Zizhen explained.
Xu Zhi noticed that most of the buildings around here were painted white or light gray—except for one. That building was completely black and only about four stories tall. Its stark difference in both color and height made it stand out dramatically.
“What’s that place?” Xu Zhi asked, pointing toward the black building.
Lin Zizhen looked over and answered in a neutral tone, “That’s where the Regulatory Department is located. It’s used to store dangerous materials. Its structure was specially designed with its function in mind.”
“Dangerous materials?” Xu Zhi pursued the question.
Lin Zizhen’s expression remained calm. “Yes. For example, captured aberration are kept there.”
Oh?
“Are there aberration inside right now?”
Lin Zizhen nodded. “Would you like to see them?”
According to their assumptions, Cloud City should be crawling with aberration. Why was Xu Zhi acting so intrigued by something so commonplace? Was she curious about what research the outside world had conducted on aberration?
Lin Zizhen thought it was likely. After all, Cloud City didn’t have the rich experimental resources or personnel that the outside world did. Even if they managed to capture aberration, they probably wouldn’t be able to study them properly.
What’s more, given the environment in Cloud City, aberration were likely to proliferate in large numbers. Xu Zhi being curious about aberration experiments was entirely understandable.
No one on the outside could have imagined that the aberration in Cloud City had all gathered in the city center for some unknown reason, leaving the rest of the city relatively unscathed. Naturally, no one considered this possibility.
In fact, based on their current intel, they assumed that very few humans or Awakened still lived in Cloud City—and it wasn’t out of the question that the remaining survivors might soon be wiped out.
Before that happened, they wanted to extract as much intel from Xu Zhi as possible.
After all, who knew when she might suddenly die in Cloud City?
Of course, none of this could be said to her directly.
“If Miss Xu is interested, we can exchange abnormal research data for some intelligence from you,” Lin Zizhen offered.
Xu Zhi smiled but didn’t reply immediately.
“This is where the Operations Department is located,” Lin Zizhen said, leading her into a gray building.
Compared to the main building, this place was far quieter. The few people who passed by looked exhausted and walked in a hurry. Quite a few gave surprised looks upon seeing Lin Zizhen—as if his presence here was unexpected.
Just then, a rush of footsteps echoed from the entrance. Xu Zhi turned to see a military-looking man leading a team of four into the building. Judging by the visible injuries on each of them, they had likely just returned from a mission.
The military man frowned as soon as he spotted Lin Zizhen. “Lin Zizhen? What are you doing here?”
There was no attempt to hide the hostility in his voice. Lin Zizhen remained composed. “Captain Wan, no need to get so worked up.”
It looked like the two were about to start arguing. Xu Zhi, meanwhile, was quite content to watch the show unfold. She quietly activated her [Eye of Secrets] and examined the group.
So weak.
After getting a clear look, she couldn’t help but mock them inwardly.
Not even comparing them to Zhong Lingfan or Shen Jinwen—just against the ordinary Awakened she’d seen in the Nanshan Villa using her Eye of Secrets—their inner “flames” were dim and dull.
Even this “Captain” guy barely matched the level of average Awakened. He was still far inferior to Zhong Lingfan and Shen Jinwen.
So the Awakened out here were even weaker than she’d thought.
No wonder they were so desperate to get into Cloud City—probably because they’d realized the power of the black fog.
But then, one of the team members seemed to notice something strange about Xu Zhi. A teenage boy, maybe seventeen or eighteen, stared at her and asked, “What were you just doing?”
His question caught the attention of both Captain Wan and Lin Zizhen. Xu Zhi had already deactivated her Eye of Secrets and looked completely normal, but the boy pressed further. “Did you just use some kind of ability on us?”
“So perceptive,” Xu Zhi replied casually. “Yes, I used it briefly.”
Then she turned to Lin Zizhen. “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go check out that black building.”
Lin Zizhen nodded slightly and began to lead her away, but Captain Wan stepped in front of them.
“Wait. Who are you? Why did you use an ability on my team?”
“What exactly did you do?”
“Wan Luo, Miss Xu didn’t do anything. She just looked at you. Don’t you have more important things to do? You should go handle those first,” Lin Zizhen interrupted before Xu Zhi could speak.
Surprisingly, Wan Luo didn’t persist as Xu Zhi had expected. He glanced at Lin Zizhen and backed off, letting them leave without further protest.
Xu Zhi, who had mostly learned about interpersonal conflict from television, felt a bit let down. She’d been hoping for a scene.
Once outside the Operations Department, Xu Zhi deliberately asked in an innocent tone, “I saw their Awakened levels, and I’m really curious.”
“Why are the Awakened outside the city so weak?”
Even though Lin Zizhen had prepared himself mentally before this meeting, hearing such a direct question—paired with her casual declaration that she could see Awakened levels—still shook him a little.
He didn’t answer immediately, trying to think of a proper response, but Xu Zhi spoke again.
“Oh, so that’s why you all want to get in—most of the black fog is inside Cloud City. You can’t get a share of it. Like standing outside a treasure trove with no way to enter. No wonder you’re anxious.”
Lin Zizhen paused mid-step. Xu Zhi, walking a few steps ahead, turned back to look at him with a smile.
“Am I wrong?”
How does Miss Xu know— something like this should be impossible for those in Cloud City to realize.
Even if she had left the city twice, there was no way she should’ve figured this out so quickly. Most people wouldn’t be able to make the leap from “black fog = disaster” to “black fog = treasure.”
And in the current situation within Cloud City, people should be too busy just trying to survive. Even if most of the people she met were Awakened, they’d likely assume it was a survivor bias and that all the normal folks had died.
“Is it that strange?” Xu Zhi asked.
“It’s not, right? Anything could be happening inside the city now—how could any of you outsiders possibly predict that?”
As she said this, her gaze drifted toward the direction of the city. Lin Zizhen couldn’t read the emotion in her eyes. But the next second, she looked back at him.
“I just hope you understand—inside and outside the city are two completely different worlds now. What you consider valuable outside wouldn’t even be picked up if it were dropped inside.”
“So don’t try to act clever and haggle with me. Whatever I ask for, just give it to me.”
