Chapter 1 Mission at Sangzhou Cave

The source energy艇 (tǐng, a type of boat) from the Northern Continent ultimately rescued over six thousand transcendents from the Sangzhou Cave mission.

This rescue operation could be considered beyond expectations, or only half successful.

Because the number of surviving transcendents in Sangzhou Cave was probably over twenty thousand... Even with neutrals spreading the word and organizing, only this many ultimately made it to the assembly point.

The beast tide raged, the Tan Yao erupted, and the [Tide] propelled everything forward.

Those who survived were lucky.

As for those who failed to reach S12 District... they were already submerged in flames and seawater.

However, the existence of these people has proven that the awakening experiment can work!

Such a large number of transcendents, placed in the tribal system built by human society today, can completely change the existing world structure!

Although these people's transcendent realms are still very low, as long as they are given certain resources, some will always be able to advance...

Survival of the fittest.

It's just a matter of probability.

After the results of the Sangzhou Cave experiment came out, the second proposal for the full opening of the "Awakening Experiment" has been submitted. This time, it was proactively submitted to the council by Zhongzhou Upper City. According to the old rules, this proposal will go through layers of review, and finally the World Council will submit internal discussion opinions to the highest seat for the Seven Gods to adjudicate.

If the highest seat's deliberation result is disagreement.

Then the proposal will be discarded.

But no one knows... what the outcome of this second proposal will be.

The camps among the Seven Gods have already vaguely formed.

Upper City's initiation of the second proposal means that the Sky God Throne is about to unveil the transcendent era of "full connection." The Western Continent's Guang Ming Bi Lei has expressed its support to the World Council. After the alliance between the Northern Continent and Nagano, Guang Ming Bi Lei has moved away from its original allies and chose to change camps again. This statement is the best proof.

As for the Southern Continent.

The Storm God Throne's attitude is not difficult to guess. He is even willing to give up the Sangzhou Cave in his territory to support this test experiment.

But this is not important.

Because among the five continents today, only the Southern Continent is not qualified to be on the stage.

Before the Storm's true body returns, the balance of the highest seat will not be broken, and this second proposal is destined to fall into a state of anxiety.

Because the Eastern and Northern Continents are gradually merging, the Queen and Bai Shu must be opponents of the "Second Awakening Proposal." The conflict between the highest seats has long been formed, which is obvious to everyone. The councilors of the World Council are therefore nervous. They do not want to see this last home break down due to infighting.

No matter when, war is the worst option.

Several source energy艇 (tǐng, a type of boat) from the Northern Continent are still parked in the northern wilderness of Dadu District. The members of the temporary rescue conscription team are also arranged to settle down in Dadu temporarily to be responsible for the follow-up resettlement work.

Twenty-four source energy艇 (tǐng, a type of boat) took away a total of six thousand seven hundred and twelve transcendents from Sangzhou Cave.

The Northern Continent took half.

The remaining half was left to the Eastern Continent.

This was what Lin Lin and Gu Shen had agreed upon in advance... There are many of these transcendents left to the Eastern Continent. The Eastern Continent is different from the Northern Continent, which is not a strict regimented management system. It requires Nagano's intervention to dispatch more than three thousand transcendents. This is the meaning of the existence of these temporary conscription team members from the Northern Continent at this moment.

After they finish these trivial matters, they will leave Dadu with the source energy艇 (tǐng, a type of boat) and return to the frontier.

"I heard that Nagano has established an investigation team."

"This is to investigate the cause of Mr. Gu's death..."

"It's a pity that such a talented S-level genius has fallen..."

The temporary conscription team's camp was set up in the barren mountains in the northern part of Dadu. It is convenient for the source energy艇 (tǐng, a type of boat) to dock here. Several team members were chatting leisurely. A figure silently carried a large box of supplies from the back of the camp. Zhao Qi's face didn't change much as he listened to these people's words, but his eyes became strangely complicated.

After Zhao Qi finished his work, he found the team leader and said that he wanted to ask for half a day off.

The task of the conscription team was not so heavy after leaving Sang Island.

This leave was quickly approved.

After serving in the Northern Continent Legion for half a year, Zhao Qi had become accustomed to the ice and snow of the frontier fortress.

Now returning to Dadu, he felt unfamiliar with his hometown where he had lived for half his life... Because of the merger, Dadu District has already produced cost-effective commercial airships. The two major consortiums of Nan Wan and Hua Zhi are pulling banners in the sky above the buildings. The changes in this city are getting bigger year by year.

Zhao Qi looked at the glamorous passers-by coming and going on the street, and he tugged at his Northern Continent military coat.

No one here noticed him.

Even if someone noticed... it is likely that they would not recognize him as the former young master of the Zhao family.

Zhao Qi came to the Hua Zhi Building, looking at this familiar tall building, he felt a burst of trance.

Just as he was about to step in, he was stopped by a baton in front of him.

The security guard on duty at the front desk politely stopped the thin man with a shabby temperament outside the building, "Sir, I'm sorry... Entering Hua Zhi requires an ID card or an appointment. Do you have an appointment?"

Zhao Qi opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopped.

People without identity are not eligible to enter this building.

He can reveal his identity. When the Zhao family transferred the financial power of Hua Zhi to Lu Nanzhi, they still retained a portion of the shares... Strictly speaking, even if Zhao Qi withdrew from the stage of Dadu, he is still a major shareholder of the Hua Zhi board of directors. This is a fact that will not change no matter how shabby or poor he dresses.

But Zhao Qi didn't do that.

He looked at the camera on the upper side of the building and said peacefully: "I don't have an appointment. I want to see Lu Nanzhi, or Cui Zhongcheng."

For Zhao Qi, Lu Nanzhi and Cui Zhongcheng are just ordinary names, and he said them subconsciously.

But the security guard at the door frowned suddenly and said coldly: "I'm sorry, we don't welcome crazy people here! Also, please pay attention to your words!"

The Madam is now a symbol of free will in Dadu District, and has been the highest-ranking member of the Jiangnan region for several consecutive sessions.

She has won the respect of the entire Dadu.

How dare this down-and-out man call her name directly?

Zhao Qi was stunned. He realized that his words were inappropriate. Just as he was about to change his words, he saw the security guard's expression suddenly become complicated and strange.

"Shasha..."

He heard a slight voice coming from the security guard's headset.

Obviously, the above gave the order to release him.

The baton blocking the door was lowered. The security guard still frowned and said unhappily: "No matter what your identity is, please respect Madam when you mention her in the future!"

...

...

After Zhao Qi came to the top floor, he saw an empty office with huge floor-to-ceiling windows with the curtains drawn open.

Standing here, you can overlook the entire Dadu District.

Another extremely tall building that can be seen from a distance is the Nan Wan Building.

After he sat down, the secretary brought tea and told him softly that the Madam was not finished with her work and needed to wait a moment—even the secretary did not recognize that the man in front of her was the former young master of the Zhao family.

Hua Zhi is still the same Hua Zhi, but this building has become unfamiliar to Zhao Qi.

It can be seen that Lu Nanzhi carried out drastic reforms after taking over the group.

Just as Zhao Qi was staring blankly at the teacup, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Before you left, Hua Zhi should have given you an ID card."

The Madam in a white shirt returned to the top floor alone. After she took Chu Ling to the tenth floor below ground to introduce her to Qi Mo, the current stage of the task was considered complete... The rest was the [Source Code] leading this neutral core team to plan the division of labor. She really couldn't get involved in technical research.

"I lost it a long time ago..."

Zhao Qi laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "I remember the building used to have facial recognition."

"You can't put all your security on [Deep Sea]." Lu Nanzhi sat down and said calmly: "Compared to machines, I would rather trust humans... But in some things, [Deep Sea] is indeed more sensitive than humans."

She looked at the strange face in front of her that had been weathered and battered.

The security guards didn't recognize him, the secretary didn't recognize him, and even she... didn't recognize that the person in front of her was the former Zhao Qi.

But this face was recognized by [Deep Sea].

After [Deep Sea] performed facial recognition, it reminded Lu Nanzhi, telling her that the interception happening at the door might be an error.

"Many of the fortress gates in the Northern Continent are fully controlled by [Deep Sea] recognition."

Zhao Qi thought for a long time, but couldn't find a common topic, so he could only squeeze out a sentence to continue the conversation.

"..."

The space where the two were alone was silent.

"The Northern Continent dispatched a temporary conscription team to rescue Sangzhou Cave. The stop is Dadu District in the Eastern Continent. Basically, no one wants to participate in such conscription... You are one of the few volunteers to sign up."

Lu Nanzhi said the background story of this temporary conscription, which was kept secret to the outside world. She sighed softly: "If you went to great lengths to take the time to come to Dadu just to chat with me here, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. I have a meeting next."

"Okay..."

Zhao Qi sat upright with his hands clenched together, "I want to confirm the part of the property that belongs to me."

Lu Nanzhi raised her eyebrows.

Zhao Qi said sincerely: "The Zhao family left me one percent of the shares."

"These are kept by Cui Zhongcheng on your behalf." Lu Nanzhi said indifferently: "The old man's will before he left was very clear. You cannot withdraw or use it, you can only receive regular payments every year, and the price is..."

"The price is for me to enter the Northern Continent fortress."

Zhao Qi took over these words.

He said slowly: "Currently, I am serving in the northwest frontier, affiliated to Luoyin City, temporary logistics team of Xinyang Fortress, without any evaluation... But I have been officially incorporated into the fortress legion for three years."

"Don't worry, I'm not here to get money, I just want to confirm whether the part of the property that belongs to me is still there."

Zhao Qi said seriously: "Also, I will not leave the Northern Continent. This meeting is because I asked for half a day off. After the meeting, I will go back soon."

Lu Nanzhi was a little confused.

"You must be wondering, since I'm not here to get money, what am I here to do?"

Zhao Qi grinned and said ramblingly: "I heard that the Northern Continent and the Eastern Continent are merging... Xinyang Fortress recently needs a sum of money to purchase mechanical prostheses, and is raising donations locally. You also know that the Northern Continent is very poor. Many people have emptied their pockets, but there is not much money. I want to pay for this money myself."

Lu Nanzhi silently looked at the man.

Compared to this face that has been smoothed by wind and snow.

What made her feel even more unfamiliar... were the words that came out of Zhao Qi's mouth at this moment.

She listened to Zhao Qi tell stories about the Northern Continent for more than ten minutes for the first time.

This good-for-nothing was initially thrown into Luoyin City, but no one knew his so-called identity as the young master of the Zhao family, so the simple people of the Northern Continent stepped on this lump of mud. Of course, the mud would not think about supporting itself after being stepped on... It would only think about continuing to rot, so for a long time, Zhao Qi was in a state of decadence and self-abandonment.

In fact, he also met kind people.

For example, a young man who also came from the Eastern Continent gave him a cigar on a very bad day and asked him to cheer up and at least make a name for himself.

This cigar moved Zhao Qi for several days.

But if a few words could make the mud cheer up, then the mud would not be considered mud.

So later he was thrown to Xinyang Fortress, which was affiliated to Luoyin City.

That was a small fortress, an inconspicuous green bean in the vast northwest frontier, mainly responsible for material storage. Those who were sent to this place to serve were basically the bottom of the Northern Continent Legion.

And in Xinyang Fortress, he was the bottom of the bottom.

What really changed Zhao Qi was those days in Xinyang Fortress.

There were many disabled soldiers stationed in Xinyang Fortress. They lost their hands and feet in the Cutting Red War and didn't want to leave the legion, so they came to a small place like Xinyang Fortress. They relied on source armor and mechanical prostheses to continue their legion life... Those who chose to spend the rest of their lives like this were basically veterans who lost their families in the turbulent years of the Northern Continent.

These veterans were not bad to Zhao Qi.

Luoyin City, a first-line troop, has strict training and attaches great importance to performance review, so Zhao Qi, a drag, was repeatedly trampled on in the legion.

But Xinyang Fortress had quite lenient requirements. The old guys were surprised that a young man with hands and feet and all four limbs intact could be demoted to this ghost place because of his poor performance.

So these old guys became very interested in Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi's days in Xinyang Fortress were hard. These old soldiers forced him to participate in daily training. He wanted to give up, but looking around, there were middle-aged and elderly people who had removed their mechanical prostheses and were missing limbs... Seeing this scene, he could only grit his teeth and persevere.

One day, one week, one month, one year...

The days passed like this.

Of course, Zhao Qi's spirit and energy could only be said to be slightly better than before. In a large fortress, he was still at the bottom.

"The people there are very good to me. Their mechanical prostheses are generally aging, and the legion has very little funding. If they want to replace them, they need to raise donations."

"This time, the difficulties they encountered can be solved with money... So, I want to take out some of the money that belongs to me to help them."

After Zhao Qi finished speaking, he said sincerely: "The total amount of donations for Xinyang Fortress is 500,000. I want to ask how much is the available balance in my card?"

This number was not much. His consumption in a bar in Dadu in one night might be this number.

But after going to the Northern Continent, he didn't have a penny.

"..."

After listening, Lu Nanzhi was silent.

She didn't expect that Zhao Qi came this time for this matter.

"According to your father's will, Hua Zhi will deposit 60 million into your card every year."

The Madam took out a black card from the drawer, pushed it in front of Zhao Qi, and said with a complicated expression: "Check how much is inside yourself... This money is all your property, and you can dispose of it yourself. But you don't need to give it to Xinyang Fortress. Currently, the two continents are in the process of merging. I have a meeting with the high-level officials of Central City next. I will ask Zhu Xue to send someone to solve the problems encountered by Xinyang Fortress."

Zhao Qi looked at the black card in front of him.

He was silent for a moment, did not take it, but returned it.

"Keep that money in the card... For me, these numbers have lost their meaning."

Zhao Qi stood up and smiled, "If you are willing to solve the trouble of Xinyang Fortress, then my trip here is considered to have achieved its purpose."
Hu Die Lan