Chapter 2

Jiang Fei first crossed out all the crooked answers that the man had written in the answer box. The handwriting was so ugly that it would definitely result in a score loss in the exam.

Then her brain quickly sorted out the answer. For a liberal arts student like Jiang Fei, even though she had not been exposed to this part of knowledge for a long time, the memory was still there. She even relied on muscle memory to write "Answer:" in the upper left corner of the answer box when she held the black gel pen.

"The relationship between matter and consciousness is dialectical." She wrote this sentence first.

Generally speaking, answers to questions are answered in a general-specific-general structure, starting with a general sentence and then discussing the specific points. This question is very simple and only needs to be divided into two parts, namely "matter determines consciousness" and "consciousness has active reaction."

Then expand on these two aspects in detail, and finally summarize them in one sentence for a perfect ending.

Jiang Fei wrote very quickly. She waved the pen tip as if waving a sword in her hand. She put a lot of force into the pen, so the sound of writing was heard, which was particularly obvious in the quiet environment.

The other three people present also changed from their initial suspicion and vigilance to surprise. They looked up at the clock, and then looked at Jiang Fei who was writing furiously at the desk. In just a few minutes, she almost filled in the entire answer box, and her handwriting was neat, well-organized, and her arguments were divided into points.

How is it possible... could anyone really do that? The man with the buzz cut whispered, "Am I hallucinating?"

But the captain signaled him with his eyes to shut up and not disturb others answering questions.

In addition, the other fair-skinned man also had a look of surprise on his face. They came to this tower called "Gain" this time because they were desperate. The supplies in the base were running out, and winter was coming. If they didn't want to wait for death, they had to fight.

Their goal was not high. As long as they could pass the first level of the tower and get some supplies, they and the people in the entire base would be able to survive this cold winter.

But they didn't expect the questions to be so difficult, and they didn't expect other people to show up.

The clock above the stone slab has entered the countdown to the final minute, and Jiang Fei has also entered the final stage.

"Therefore, from these two aspects, we can conclude that the relationship between matter and consciousness is dialectical." She could feel that she had not written with a pen for a long time, and after writing so quickly all of a sudden, the joints of her fingers began to ache.

She was no stranger to this feeling of soreness, as it had lasted almost throughout her entire student years, and she could endure it as before.

There are ten seconds left.

Ten, nine, eight, seven...

Jiang Fei picked up the answer sheet and checked whether she had missed any small knowledge points, scanning it from the beginning to the end.

Three, two, one—

As the shrill and long bell rang at the end of the exam, Jiang Fei immediately dropped the black gel pen in her hand. She watched with her own eyes as the light pink answer sheet was scanned by a green laser right under her nose.

"The papers are being graded..."

Such a prompt sound came from the air, and Jiang Fei stood up. She shook her sore right hand and let out a long breath. It seemed that she was still as good as ever.

"How did you do that?" the man with the buzz cut was the most impatient. He asked anxiously, "I just saw you fill in the entire answer box. Do you really know the answer?"

What's so good about this? Jiang Fei frowned, "Of course I know the answer."

"You didn't come from the 'Sky Castle', did you?!"

"What is that?" What is Sky City? The 996 system had never told her about it.

The captain patted the crew cut's head to quiet him down. She took a few steps forward, and Jiang Fei noticed a scar on her left cheek, running from her temple to the end of her eyebrow. "Thank you very much for your help. Which base are you from?"

Unlike the guy with the shaved head who was simply surprised, the captain considered more things. For example, how did Jiang Fei come to the tower alone? You know, the ground has long been unsuitable for human survival. Not only is the climate harsh, but the elusive pollutants also make it difficult for humans to move.

The remaining survivors usually travel in groups. She was very sure that she and her teammates did not see any other transport vehicles before entering the tower. This meant that Jiang Fei was either already in the tower before they arrived, or he appeared out of thin air. The latter guess was unlikely.

So she was more inclined to believe that Jiang Fei had already been here. Was he waiting for them? There were indeed examples of people waiting in the tower to wait for the exploration team that came to answer questions and then seize their resources.

but……

She squinted her eyes and looked at Jiang Fei from head to toe. She was so weak that she could barely even tie a chicken. This was exactly what she meant when she said that Jiang Fei was weak, not to mention her eyes, which were pure and clear. In this world, not even a five-year-old child would have eyes like hers.

A harsh environment will deprive children of their right to innocence, so Jiang Fei's origin and purpose are even more intriguing.

Jiang Fei had no idea what base this was. She only knew a rough idea, like that the underground human activity area was divided into four zones: east, south, west, and north. So she made up an excuse and said, "It's not convenient to disclose this. Anyway, I'm looking for a new place to stay."

"Were you expelled from the previous base?" The woman's eyes suddenly became alert. It was not her fault, because those who were expelled were often prisoners who seriously violated the base rules.

As soon as she finished speaking, the other two men also became alert, especially the one with a crew cut. His hand was on the gun at his waist. He was probably going to shoot if Jiang Fei made the slightest move.

How to explain it? Jiang Fei was brainstorming for a perfect explanation when a voice broke the silence.

"Loading final grades—"

"The final score is 97 points. Congratulations on passing the first level. Please claim your reward."

The atmosphere suddenly changed again. The captain thought Jiang Fei was just pretending, but when they saw the final results, the three of them, including her, were stunned, and their voices rang out at the same time.

"The first level has been passed."

"97 points? Is that a score a human can achieve?!"

"Be quiet."

The captain's attitude towards Jiang Fei also changed. She asked the crew cut to put down the gun, and then extended her hand to Jiang Fei, "My name is Anna, and I'm the captain of this exploration team."

"His name is Gru." She pointed at the man with the buzz cut, then changed her hand. "His name is Lucian."

The attitude finally became a little friendlier. Jiang Fei held Anna's hand and said, "Hello, my name is Jiang Fei."

The prompt sound kept urging them to claim their rewards.

"Although I don't know why you were expelled and ended up here alone, I'm very grateful that you could help us answer the questions. This reward is very important to us." Anna looked at Jiang Fei. "Not only us, but also the elderly, children, women and children in the base all need this batch of supplies."

If Jiang Fei still didn't understand after talking to this point, then all the losses she suffered in the workplace would be in vain. She said: "I can give you most of the supplies, but there is a condition."

When it came to conditions, Anna pursed her lips. Behind her, she needed to protect not only the two team members, but also the elderly and children. She nodded and said, "You tell me."

In fact, as long as they wanted, three people would be more than enough to deal with one person, not to mention that Jiang Fei was a complete loser in combat. Maybe Anna could subdue her with one hand.

So even when she had the advantage in force, she did not directly steal the supplies, but spoke about it openly, which means that at least she is not a bad person at heart, and she is even very responsible.

This was also the reason why Jiang Fei was willing to negotiate with them. She said, "I hope to be able to settle down in your base first. Can you take me in?"

The place where she landed was really unfortunate, but luckily she met a team that came to answer questions, otherwise she might not be able to get out of the tower.

"Do you want to join our base?" Anna repeated.

Her expression was complicated, and the outspoken Gru spoke her mind, "Shouldn't someone like you go to Sky City?"

This is the second time that Sky City has been mentioned. What exactly is that place?

Jiang Fei didn't ask directly. There were already enough suspicious points about her. If she asked more questions, people might find out that she was from another world.

"Because I have my own things to do, and my joining your base will benefit you more than it will harm you." She looked at the slate. "At least I was able to answer the question just now, which fully proves my usefulness."

She was well aware that in this chaotic apocalypse, if she wanted to cooperate with others, she had to demonstrate her abilities.

Anna thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I promise you will join our base."

Huh, Jiang Fei breathed a sigh of relief. She was a little worried about being rejected just now. Now that the problem of finding a place to stay has been solved, she said, "I can still answer a few more questions."

Anna said firmly: "No, we should go."

"Why? Don't you want more supplies?" Didn't you just say there was a shortage of supplies?

"There's no time left. The storm is about to reach here, and I have a feeling that pollutants will appear along with it." Anna directed Gru and Lucian to move supplies.

After the results came out, a door appeared in the center of the first floor. When it was opened, it was filled with supplies, from drinking water to food, from medicine to daily necessities. It was like a medium-sized shelter.

Gru and Lucian methodically carried the supplies to the transport vehicle outside the tower. Jiang Fei felt embarrassed to just stand there, so she was responsible for carrying the lighter daily necessities.

As for the transport vehicle, it was actually more like a large truck with reinforced front and rear ends. Although it was only carrying supplies on the first floor, the entire cargo compartment was still filled after it was emptied.

Outside the tower, all you could see was endless yellow sand, and the air was terribly dry. Even though Jiang Fei was wearing the exploration team's spare protective clothing and a helmet, she still felt her throat was so dry it was about to smoke.

Just as Anna said, the storm was coming. She saw a small brown dot at the junction of the ground and the sky in the distance. The storm was moving very fast, and its size was getting bigger and bigger as it got closer.

Anna pulled Jiang Fei to the passenger seat and said, "Fasten your seat belts, we're about to leave."

Jiang Fei came back to her senses and quickly fastened her seat belt. Almost the second she had fastened her seat belt, Anna stepped on the accelerator and pressed it all the way to the bottom. The push on her back made Jiang Fei's body stick to the back of the chair.

Anna turned the steering wheel and turned the car around. Jiang Fei saw in the rearview mirror that the storm was getting closer and closer.

What's worse is that she heard a sound of footsteps that shook the sky. It sounded like the sound of a four-legged animal running. Jiang Fei saw that the animal was completely black, and its tail alone could overturn the transport truck.

Anna yelled to Gru and Lucian in the back car: "The pollutant has appeared, shoot quickly!!"

What followed was a continuous sound of gunfire, occasionally accompanied by the sound of a few bombs exploding. Jiang Fei felt his whole head was buzzing.

However, this attack has no killing power on the pollutants, it only causes some minor injuries.

"Damn it!" Anna cursed inwardly. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to shake off the pollutant. She said to Jiang Fei, "Close the window quickly!!"

However, Jiang Fei did not do as she said. Instead, she reached out of the car and caught something.

"What are you doing!? Do you want to die!?"

Jiang Fei just caught a glimpse of something flying outside the window. It was not yellow sand, but white. It was not until one of the pieces happened to fly into the car that she realized that it was a piece of paper with words printed on it, like a torn page of a book.

She read the words written on the fragment: "And the black cat just stared at me."

She showed Anna more fragments of pages in her hand, "Do you see it?"

Anna was puzzled and said, "I only saw you reaching out to catch the blood dropped by the pollutant. That could very well infect you! Don't you understand this?!"

The fragments of book pages in Jiang Fei's eyes looked like bright red blood to Anna. She really thought Jiang Fei was a lunatic.

Jiang Fei turned a deaf ear to Anna's questions. She carefully observed the fragments and tried to piece together a sentence. In fact, she succeeded.

The fragments came together to form a familiar opening: "The story I am about to tell is extremely absurd, yet extremely ordinary. I do not ask you to believe it. Even in my heart I do not believe in these things I have personally experienced. If I expect others to believe it, wouldn’t I be crazy?" [1]

She almost blurted out, "Isn't this Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat'?!" She saw the huge, dark animal in the rearview mirror, which really looked like a cat.

She suddenly realized that it wasn't a pollutant, exactly.

That is - a complete literary monster!