Chapter 108: “Seems Convenient to Me”
“Could it be because of that ritual?” the man asked.
The Omniscient One nodded. “Very likely.”
“At the very least, her current condition proves that in that ritual, survival wasn’t limited to the chosen one. As long as the body remains intact—or even if the body is destroyed but the soul survives—there’s still a lot of room for maneuver.”
“Then is there still any need for us to keep trading with her?”
The Federation was clearly more concerned about this: “She’s relatively trustworthy under normal circumstances. But if she falls and becomes a believer, we can’t trust her at all.”
Uncertainty appeared between the Omniscient One’s brows. “If possible, I truly wish I could meet her in person.”
“She’s corrupted, yes, but she hasn’t fully fallen. I even have a vague sense that she’s still hesitating… lingering on the edge.”
“Hesitating?” The man’s tone was confused, even incredulous.
“Those who are corrupted usually fall immediately into fanaticism. Even powerful precognitives…” He trailed off, skipping over that topic. “Is it even possible to resist the corruption of the [Cup]?”
That had never happened before.
“It might be,” the Omniscient One replied. “Maybe none of us have reached the level needed to resist that kind of temptation. Or maybe… she’s just special.”
Either explanation was hard to accept.
The first would mean that not a single extraordinary in the entire Federation was stronger than Xu Zhi—otherwise, why could she resist the Cup’s corruption while they couldn’t? The second option… was even more unacceptable.
“Either way, please remain in the Capital until she shows up again.”
“If she reappears and has already fallen completely, we’ll eliminate her immediately, no matter how many times it takes—and forbid anyone from contacting her. But if not…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
If she hasn’t fallen, her value will need to be reevaluated. And they’ll need to investigate: how is she resisting the Cup’s corruption? Could that method be extended to others?
Moreover, they still didn’t know Xu Zhi’s true strength inside Cloud City.
Is she just one of the many surviving extraordinaries there, simply fortunate to have the ability to enter and leave freely? Or—even in Cloud City—is she one of the strongest?
The Federation suspected the latter. If it were the former… that would mean Cloud City’s strength far surpassed their estimations.
If they ever find a way into Cloud City, how will the Federation’s extraordinaries suppress those already inside?
That was not something the Federation wanted to deal with.
“In any case, next time she appears, everyone must be on alert.”
—
After returning from the outside world, Xu Zhi still found it hard to muster interest in anything. But she forced herself to inventory the attribute cores, fed her followers, packed the supplies into storage, and prepared to head out with Yu Shenwei.
The moment Yu Shenwei saw her, her expression turned odd. Her red eyes filled with confusion—why did Xu Zhi suddenly carry a scent so familiar to her?
As if… she were the same kind as her?
No, that couldn’t be. Xu Zhi was still a Transcendents.
Before leaving, Xu Zhi made a point to visit Shen Jinwen and handed over five high-grade [Winter] attribute cores as payment. But contrary to what the Federation expected, she didn’t hand the information over to Zhong Lingfan. Xu Zhi wasn’t yet ready to let anyone in the city know she could leave.
According to her plan, it would still be a while. She’d wait until the residential areas grew in size, the city’s extraordinaries became stronger, and the structure was fully stabilized—then she would inform Zhong Lingfan.
As for this trip to the second ring, Xu Zhi had already mapped out the route. Although Cloud City wasn’t a top-tier Federation city, its geographical location was deep inland, and it hosted a unique institution: the Fourth Branch of the Federation Biological Research Institute, or simply, the Fourth Institute.
Naturally, the equipment Zhong Lingfan needed was there.
Xu Zhi planned to head there first, retrieve the equipment shown to her in photos, and then pick up any survivors along the way.
The journey to the Fourth Institute went smoothly—though the closer she got, the more bizarre the mutated animals along the road became.
If she had to describe it, it was a kind of artificial feel—something no naturally-mutating beast would have.
They looked like they had been stitched together in labs, grafted with limbs from other creatures or injected with strange chemicals—like mutant lab rats.
“Don’t tell me someone’s still in there conducting weird experiments?”
Xu Zhi muttered as she approached the institute’s gates, eyeing the red-glowing surveillance cameras on the walls.
Even without power, the cameras still worked. That meant someone inside had a generator—or had figured out how to use cores as a power source.
In any case, someone was definitely still in there.
Not knowing whether they were friend or foe, Xu Zhi waved at the camera with Yu Shenwei beside her. “Hello? Anyone in there?”
Yu Shenwei gave her an indescribable look. She didn’t understand why Xu Zhi was being so polite to whoever was behind the camera.
Couldn’t she just break in, grab someone, and interrogate them?
The people inside were clearly cautious. Even after Xu Zhi made the first friendly move, no one showed themselves. A voice finally came from the intercom at the gate, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Xu Zhi felt the familiar irritation start to rise—an agitation that came with the [Cup]—but she held it down and responded, “I’m here on behalf of Professor Zhong Lingfan. She asked me to pick up some equipment. Could you open the door?”
There was a long silence. Likely because they recognized Zhong Lingfan’s name. But still, the voice refused.
“Sorry, that’s not possible. If Professor Zhong needs anything, she can come use it here herself. Nothing can be taken out.”
“I see,” Xu Zhi nodded with a calm expression—and then walked straight toward the gate.
Before she even said a word, Gouzi leapt forward and smashed the sturdy gate to the ground with a paw.
From the intercom came a furious shout: “What are you doing?!”
Xu Zhi turned slightly toward the camera and said, “Sorry, my brain’s not working so well lately. I tend to lose my temper when I hear things I don’t like. But I’ll try to hold back. Best if you don’t say anything else unpleasant.”
“Like saying it’s ‘not convenient.’ I mean, your gate wasn’t even closed properly—seems pretty convenient to me.”
She lied without blinking, staring at the broken gate without a hint of shame.
“You’re completely unreasonable!” came the panicked voice from inside.
Xu Zhi paused. It had been a long time since she’d heard that phrase.
After all, this was the apocalypse. No one played by the rules anymore. People only talked with their fists now.
Seems like the folks in the Fourth Institute hadn’t left much in the past few months, huh?
They hadn’t seen the suffering outside.
Well, they were about to.
Not only was Xu Zhi going to take the research equipment—she was planning to round up everyone in the institute and hand-deliver them to Zhong Lingfan.
And for once, curiosity stirred in her chest.
Just what had these people been researching all this time, hiding away in here?
