Searching

At the southeast corner of the Wuyi Xuan Palace Building sat a sky garden covered by a glass dome. Lush greenery flourished all around. Two inactive conscious entities monitored soil moisture and plant requirements around the clock, regulating the water supply. The combination of virtual projection and physical reality allowed the weather and light here to be adjusted at any time, creating scenes representing different climates, seasons, and regions. Right now, it displayed a desert oasis. A man dressed in an imported plaid suit stood at the edge of the oasis, looking out at the sky-obscuring dust storm rising in the distance. Outwardly, he appeared to be in his forties, with a neatly trimmed beard, a robust and upright frame, tasteful attire, and lightly frosted temples, radiating the charm of a mature man. However, his eyes carried a hint of aggression. Facing the yellow sand bridging earth and sky, he harbored an eager, challenging urge. His hair and clothes whipped in the wind. Just as he braced himself to confront the tempest, everything vanished in an instant. A lush, verdant courtyard appeared before him, the clear chirping of birds and the babbling of running water replacing the wildly howling gale. He raised a brow. "Hongfu?" Hongfu's voice sounded by his ear. "Assistant Ling, excuse the interruption. You mentioned that once Student Chen Chuan underwent his entrance evaluation, his information should be delivered to you right away. His data assessment is out." "Oh?" Assistant Ling immediately said. "Send it over. Let me take a look." He was very interested in this student, who had earned an unlimited defense license during his first year and was a rare commoner. Perhaps this person could make advancing that plan much easier. The interface quickly displayed Chen Chuan's score, but the potential assessment category was missing. It was unclear whether Hongfu had omitted it or if it had been left out for some reason. "Seventy-two points..." After looking at it, Assistant Ling frowned, slightly disappointed. Within the academy, this score was actually decent. After all, the students at the Main Academy were elites gathered from all regions, starting at the second limit upon entry. Those capable of earning high scores at the Main Academy were the cream of the crop. Yet this score was still far below his expectations and requirements. He considered it for a moment, then asked, "Hongfu, I recall he defeated Tan Wang, didn't he?" "Based on data analysis, said student likely consumed a special drug when facing Tan Wang. Since Tan Wang is detained by government departments and his confession has not been disclosed publicly, it remains unclear whether the student utilized outside assistance during the encounter." Assistant Ling hummed thoughtfully. That explanation was indeed plausible. Tan Wang hadn't been that strong to begin with. Moreover, when he returned, his implants were completely wrecked. That incident had drawn some attention at the time; after all, it was rare for a fighter hailing from Center City to end up in such a wretched state on the outside, and he had heard about it too. If Chen Chuan had taken drugs back then, coupled with some luck or someone else's help, it was entirely possible. He pondered a moment and said slowly, "Regardless, daring to clash with a third limit fighter shows courage and determination worthy of praise. If he can take drugs at critical junctures, he can still serve as combat strength. Place him on the backup plan for now, then." "Understood." Assistant Ling slipped his hands into his pockets and walked to the edge of the courtyard. He closed the boundary credential and looked out through the glass wall, entwined with slender, delicate branches, toward the towering skyscrapers outside. He said, "The recommendation quotas for Wuyi Academies across the regions are mostly monopolized by the powerful families below. This isn't just an issue in our Jibei Circuit; other regions face the exact same problem. Most students at the Main Academy are recommended students. They serve the interests of their own families and corporations, with zero regard for the academy's interests. The world's resonance is intensifying. Before that, the academy urgently needs a revolution—a... grand revolution." Hongfu said nothing, though she seemed to be listening. *** In his dormitory, after completing his afternoon martial arts training in the training room, Chen Chuan ate a few sticks of nutritional paste and returned to the living room. Walking up to the window, he glanced at the dazzling neon lights that had already flared to life outside, drew the curtains, sat back on the couch, and began browsing through the news and matters he was tracking. He primarily paid attention to locations with abnormal occurrences. However, he discovered that some news items he had found yesterday were suddenly gone today; he searched several times but couldn't find them anywhere. He pondered. Had they been scrubbed? Yet even though what he had seen yesterday had vanished, commissions involving suspicious situations hadn't disappeared; several new ones had even popped up. He reviewed them one by one and made notes, intending to investigate them in person later to confirm whether these situations were caused by urban legends. The drugs he had received from the Special Operations Team would last until February, after which he would have to purchase them with money. He had to figure out a solution early to avoid running short of medicine when the time came, so this matter couldn't be delayed for long. He decided to begin tomorrow. After browsing through these, he suddenly remembered something that had puzzled him for a while, so he searched the keywords "Maka people, world's resonance." Results for the Maka people came up quickly, even indexing the incident in Yangzhi City where Maka traitors snatched the holy leaf. Hmm, even Center City knew about this and had logged it as an incident entry. Director Liu would probably be quite gratified to know that. Searching for "world's resonance," however, wasn't so smooth. He tried several times, swapping in similar phrasing, but no results appeared. Yet the more this was the case, the more it indicated the matter's importance. It was definitely worth keeping an eye on going forward. He trained for a bit longer that evening, then washed up and went to sleep when the time came. He woke on schedule the next day, washed up, and first carried out his routine training. Past nine o'clock, he changed clothes. Just as he was preparing to head out, someone sent by the school delivered the Main Academy student uniforms—two sets in total, divided into spring and autumn attire, complete with matching shoes, socks, gloves, and scarves. Cloud patterns woven from engraved gold and silver threads did not stand out ostentatiously; instead, they were blended into the base color without being unnoticeable, possessing a subtle, restrained elegance. The clothing was woven from an unknown biological silk. Once put on, snug and loose areas would automatically adjust. He asked Hongfu about it, and she explained that this type of clothing had excellent damage resistance, sufficient to keep the academy's students' attire intact during combat. Even if damaged, it would self-repair under sunlight and help students filter toxic fumes effectively. Those patterned threads weren't purely decorative either; they emitted a faint luminescence at night to help students distinguish objects and enabled a better link with Hongfu even when outside. However, these clothes were too conspicuous. He was going out today to investigate, and he didn't want to draw too much attention, so after folding them neatly, he put them in the wardrobe. Carrying the case containing the Xuejun Saber, he stepped out of the dormitory. Since it was the holiday period, hardly any other students were in sight aside from security personnel, though occasionally maintenance and repair workers walked past. Stepping out of the Xuan Palace Building, he saw an urban light rail tram station right across the plaza. A tall information screen stood erected there. Through the boundary credential, he could look up his current location, the tram arrival timetable, and promotional advertisements for surrounding shops, restaurants, and businesses. Though the streets were wide, the towering skyscrapers in the distance dominated most of the field of view, where colossal billboard screens produced a clamor of sound. The people waiting at the station paid no attention to one another. All stared straight ahead or made gentle swiping motions with their hands, clearly immersed in the worlds displayed by their own boundary credentials. The flow of traffic and pedestrians on the road was heavy. With a glance, he saw that the vast majority of people possessed implants, whether conspicuous or concealed. Viewed through the boundary credential, their clothing each exhibited its own unique visual overlay, though it wasn't overly exaggerated and was generally quite pleasing to the eye. According to the boundary credential, an eccentric style had seemed popular for a period before, but that trend had now passed, giving way to a more restrained aesthetic. He also noticed that whenever he observed someone who didn't possess citizen status, the boundary credential would display a prompt and show whether they had a criminal record. After waiting for only a brief while, the tram pulled into the station. He boarded along with the flow of people. On the projection screen above, a news host named Luo Qi was decrying the inaction of city patrol security in an exaggerated tone and mocking the inefficiency of government departments. The tram soon started moving. Chen Chuan looked at the scenery outside, observing the city. He hadn't been able to see much that night, but now he could take a proper look. Setting aside the dazzling light-and-shadow effects, most of the architectural style was fairly heavy and solid, giving an initial impression of sturdiness and durability. Distinctively, almost every building featured abundant greenery on its rooftop and intermediate levels. Even without the ornate digital embellishments, it was pleasant to behold. Roughly ten minutes later, the light dimmed abruptly as the tram passed straight through a skyscraper. During the brief transit, a fleeting glance revealed displays of various men's and women's clothing. At that moment, an overlay timely appeared on the boundary credential: this was the Kuahang Building, a property belonging to the Mingren Clothing Company, followed by a list of the company's products. He casually swiped it away. As the tram exited the building, the car brightened again beneath the sunlight outside. With the tram's rapid transit, sunlight and shadow constantly shifted and intertwined within the interior. He transferred stations midway. A quarter of an hour later, he exited the station, walked another ten minutes, and arrived near today's target. On the left, two connected towers stood out prominently, bearing a red bird insignia. Verdant greenery cascaded all the way down from their rooftops to the ground. Sunlight filtered through the gap between the buildings, erasing a stretch of dark tones from the pavement and walls. Cross-referencing his boundary credential, he looked to the right. The location mentioned in the suspicious commission was two kilometers ahead of the buildings. He crossed the street and walked in that direction. Yet at this moment, several dozen meters behind him, a few figures appeared. Watching Chen Chuan's departing back, they didn't follow closely but halted, malicious intent gleaming in their eyes. One of them said, "Boss, that kid's clothes don't have any bloom effects, and he came by tram. Dead giveaway he just got to Center City." The man addressed as boss had hair dyed a frosty silver. A cigarette dangled from his mouth. Flicking open a lighter, he sparked it with a snap, took a drag, and slowly exhaled. Through the drifting smoke, his face turned toward the direction where Chen Chuan had disappeared. He instructed the man beside him, "Round up the boys. We've got a job."