Chapter 244: The Decision to Join
“Does that girl have anything unusual about her?”
Suddenly, the councilor spoke.
Such a major incident had occurred—any anomaly was reason enough for suspicion, let alone a living person who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Not at the moment.”
Someone shook his head.
The young man representing the Fixed Star Consortium suddenly spoke up. “She seemed somewhat familiar with Yi City’s emblem. I placed the emblems of most cities together, and she noticed Yavi at a glance. Her expression didn’t look completely unfamiliar.”
This was clearly something only he knew, yet he chose to reveal it here.
“Yi City? That place is ten thousand miles away from us. Why would she find Yi City’s emblem familiar?”
“Who knows? Maybe she was pretending?”
“Didn’t we confirm she truly doesn’t remember anything? Her expression didn’t look fake to me,” the man said lazily.
“Connected to Yi City?”
“Who knows. Maybe Yi City should be investigated as well.”
“That won’t be easy.”
“If she used to belong to Yi City, how did she end up here? And injured so severely?”
“No idea. But since she’s on our turf now, she’s ours. There will always be a way to find out.”
The discussion about Xu Zhi lasted only a few more sentences before it stopped. After all, she had not yet made her choice, and the people present were unwilling to say too much to one another.
“Prepare yourselves. Clean up his traces. Before dawn tomorrow, we leave.”
In the end, the councilor made the final decision.
After the others dispersed, he returned to a private room. After confirming that the surroundings were “quiet,” he activated the communicator on his wrist and dialed a number.
“…”
“Yes, it’s confirmed. It is indeed the trace of the Cup!”
“As you anticipated, Chairman, they examined the corpse before the council did.”
“Shouldn’t we control that Lamp-attribute girl first within the council?”
“I understand. I will not interfere.”
“The corpse has already been sent to the Upper District at top speed. I will remain in the Lower District to handle the aftermath. Rest assured—the information will not leak. Everyone who came has had their identities verified.”
“Of course. I understand. The trace of the Cup must absolutely not first appear in our city!”
As he said this, a sharp glint flashed through the eyes of the man dressed in white-and-gold uniform.
“I will follow your orders.”
After he finished speaking, the call was disconnected.
He stood in place for a while, then lifted his head to look in the direction of Xu Zhi’s tent.
The Chairman intended to use the Lamp-attribute girl as bait to fish out the big players hidden within other forces. The corpse, too, would be used to ensure that the Cup’s first appearance occurred in another city. Until then, all information had to remain completely sealed.
Fortunately, “Tiyet” belonged to their city. With her present, things should proceed smoothly.
Time passed quickly. That afternoon, Xu Zhi went to the clinic again. When she arrived, the doctor first examined her body and then remarked with some surprise at her recovery speed.
“You can actually begin some simple rehabilitation exercises now. At this rate, in a little while your body should recover almost completely.”
After the examination, the conversation finally turned to the key issue.
“Doctor, the others have already offered me clear terms. May I ask what your conditions are?”
Xu Zhi didn’t want to exchange riddles, so she asked directly.
The doctor looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. “How straightforward.”
“Though I don’t know what the others have promised you, I can roughly guess. Since you’ve come to ask me, I assume you haven’t made your decision yet.”
“We are different from the others. Our demands are simple, and what we can offer you isn’t much. But comparatively speaking, agreeing to us will give you the most freedom.”
“The organization behind me is called Gods’ Heavy Industry. Other forces may each have their own founding purposes, but ours is only one: creation.”
“We are proficient in all methods of creation. We attempt to construct all things in the world, pursue deeper and more powerful secrets, and build a ladder that reaches the sun.”
When she said this, her expression and tone carried a firm, almost religious conviction.
“We can provide you with channels and resources to reach the Upper District. Though not as abundant as others—after all, compared to them, we are the poorest. But what we ask for is very little.”
“You only need to provide your supernatural circuit. Draw it completely and hand it to us.”
“In return, we will give you a fixed sum of funds, full medical resources, take you to the Upper District, and allow you to enroll in whatever academy you wish. We will place no restrictions on your personal freedom.”
Supernatural circuit?!
Why did they want that?
Seeing Xu Zhi’s confusion, the doctor explained, “I forgot—you remember nothing.”
“In this world, every person’s supernatural circuit is unique, just like no two leaves are identical. Even though supernatural circuits often follow patterns and share similarities, in the finer details there are always distinct differences.”
“We are collecting supernatural circuits, attempting to analyze the meaning behind these differences. Your identity is very special. Perhaps your circuit also holds something unique.”
That was the doctor’s reasoning.
Xu Zhi didn’t understand much about this world’s common knowledge, but she understood that a supernatural circuit was likely extremely private. Moreover, she herself knew there was something deeply wrong with her circuit. How could she possibly draw it out and hand it to others?
Almost without thinking, she gave up on this option. Though it sounded like the most “free” choice, it was just as deadly as the Celestial Heart Association.
Though she had already decided inwardly, she still outwardly said she needed time to think.
Not long after leaving the clinic and returning to her tent, she had made her final decision.
She would join the Light Academy.
But she couldn’t simply say so directly. She needed to disguise it.
After thinking it through in her mind, Xu Zhi found the person in charge of the Light Academy here and made her demand.
“I can join the Light Academy—but I want the academy to grant me a qualification to enter the Lost Lands!”
Yes. She intended to ask for an outrageous condition.
The Lost Lands!
Without question, even those in the Upper District cared deeply about that place. Once she made this demand, everyone’s attention would shift toward it. Whether they thought her greedy or overestimating herself didn’t matter—that was precisely the effect she wanted.
By not choosing the Celestial Heart Association, some would inevitably assume she feared undergoing their examination. That couldn’t be avoided.
If she rejected the Celestial Heart Association, refused the Light Academy, declined Gods’ Heavy Industry, and instead chose the “free” consortium, it would practically announce that she had something to hide. Besides, entering the consortium might mean being thoroughly exploited. In that case, it was better to choose the seemingly least free option—the Light Academy—and then release the Lost Lands as a smokescreen.
As for the Light Academy’s implicit “lifetime system,” it wasn’t necessarily entirely bad. Precisely because she would become one of “their own,” many matters would leave room for maneuver.
