Chapter 23 Ultimate Summit Climb

Going upstairs was easy for someone with a gun. Rong Yi reached the nineteenth floor in one morning, stopping along the way to ask questions about the Jingtian Tower and the creatures outside in the early morning.

People on the upper floors know more about things than those on the lower floors, but they are equally unaware of what's happening outside in the early morning.

Rong Yi didn't ask for nothing; he would reward people with food every time he got an answer. Even though the people on the 10th floor were treated much better than those on the first floor, there was still not much good food.

“The 20th floor and above are completely different from our floors of ten or so. Some of them have guns. They don’t have many bullets, but they are very intimidating. You have to be careful when you go up there.”

The woman who had just received three packs of vacuum-packed dried meat from Rong Yi kindly reminded her that Rong Yi was quite generous, as he had given her another pack of sausages.

From the moment she was able to conjure things out of thin air, the eyes of those who answered her questions changed, from wariness and fear to utter awe. Rong Yi learned of the existence of the space-folding ring from Shao Yuting. This thing was very rare, and those who possessed it had extremely high social status.

The entrance door on the 20th floor is a different color from the ones below. The doors on floors one through nineteen are all black and look very light, like ordinary wooden doors.

The metallic texture of the door in front of us reflects the sunlight streaming down from the top of the stairwell.

The door handle felt cold and metallic. With a "click," the latch opened, and Rong Yi used a little force to pull it open, moving along with the door to avoid appearing directly in the doorway.

The familiar sound of a gun being cocked rang out, but it wasn't her doing it.

The guards on the twentieth floor were armed, which was a little more troublesome than she had expected.

But she doesn't plan to go any further today. The twentieth floor is a dividing line between the two floors. She wants to stay here for the night, which will require enough time to snag a small room and find someone willing to answer her questions.

"I'm sure the people downstairs have already told you that no one is allowed to come upstairs; that's an ironclad rule." The speaker was a man with a deep, resonant voice.

Rong Yi stood behind the door, glancing down to check the number of bullets. After refilling the magazine, he put it back in the magazine holder. "I don't recognize Tie Xun, and I have to stay here for the night."

"Then there's nothing more to say." After saying that, the man approached the door very quietly.

Rong Yi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and listened carefully to the man's footsteps. Based on the man's general walking posture, subtle breathing, and the sound of his shoes hitting the ground, he judged the man's height and weight.

Having made up her mind, Rong Yi looked ahead, threw a stone, which instantly attracted the man's attention. Gunshots rang out, and she extended her gun-wielding hand to fire a single shot into the doorway before immediately withdrawing it.

"Ugh!" The man groaned, clearly having been hit.

Upon receiving this signal, Rong Yi slammed the door shut, startling the man into taking a few steps back. She then opened the door again and appeared in front of it, calmly firing a few shots. The man was hit twice in the shoulder and forearm, and due to the intense pain, he dropped the gun.

Before the man could pick up the gun, Rong Yi appeared in his face, raising his knee and smashing it into his abdomen, a heavy blow that rendered him unable to stand upright.

With a casual touch, the gloved hand picked up the gun, quickly pulled out the magazine, found there were only two bullets left, removed the barrel and examined it from side to side, then gave a suggestion, "It needs maintenance, otherwise it will jam."

You can tell it's an old item just by looking at the wear and tear on the parts.

The gunshot attracted the attention of the other people on the floor, but none of them were armed, so they could only stare helplessly at her, who was armed.

Soon, someone with authority arrived, but instead of drawing his sword, he tucked his gun behind his waist. Upon seeing the injured man, he gritted his teeth and admitted his mistake, saying, "Your subordinate is useless."

The visitor didn't say much, just gestured to take him away, and then looked at Rong Yi.

Rong Yi put the disassembled gun back together and tossed it to the other person, saying, "I'm going to stay here for the night and want to learn more about things."

The man who arrived was tall and slender with a small bun at the back of his head. He was quite handsome. "Iron training must be maintained, but it is not suitable for strong people."

The higher floors don't want people coming to compete for resources, but if someone comes up with real skills and can pass the test, they don't want to waste too many resources.

"You can stay, but whether you survive is up to you." After he finished speaking, he raised his head, and a burly woman with bronze skin stepped forward to take over from the injured man and continue guarding the door.

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The overall condition of the 20th floor is not bad; at least the people here don't have any parts of their bodies that can't be covered up, and there is clearly a strong organization.

Rong Yi used what was available and started talking to the woman who had taken over guarding the gate.

"Do you people on this floor know what creatures roam outside after midnight?"

The woman glanced at her. "Shouldn't you know better than us, you high-ranking people?"

Judging from Rong Yi's clothes and demeanor, she knew he had been thrown in from the upper echelons. As for the reason, it was none of her business.

A bag of dried meat appeared out of thin air in Rong Yi's palm. "Answer what I want to know, and I can give you five bags of this food."

Seeing the thing appear out of thin air, the woman's pupils contracted, and she looked at her with a probing gaze. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "If you're talking about those monsters, we don't know either. Bullets are precious, and the number of monsters is uncertain. We don't want to waste resources seeking this answer."

Rong Yi smiled and stuffed the bag of dried meat into her hand. "This answer is fine too. Tell me everything you know about the Jingtian Tower."

The woman wasn't sure if she genuinely didn't know anything about the tower or was doing it on purpose, but for the sake of the food, she still shared some information.

The woman was quite perceptive, immediately starting with how the Jingtian Tower was built, and spoke eloquently, fully supplementing Rong Yi's knowledge of the tower.

In this world, due to the monopoly of 99% of resources by powerful families, the lower classes face severe hardship, leading to a continuous rise in crime rates.

As the number of prisoners increased, the powerful families proposed building towering towers to force the criminals to consume each other through a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. For ordinary people, it was the best and most resource-efficient way for prisoners to fight each other to the death.

Of course, this is the perception of people on lower floors; those on higher floors do not think so.

"What self-destruction? The tower has been built for so long, and most people have died at the hands of those monsters after midnight. Those aristocratic families in the Alliance... are just conducting some kind of experiment. In this world, is there anyone more suitable than a prisoner?"

After the woman finished speaking, she secretly observed Rong Yi's expression. She suspected that Rong Yi might be from a rival family that had established the Tower Family and wanted to gather information to overthrow his opponent.

But then I thought it was unlikely. Experimenting with prisoners would be extremely profitable and would be accepted by all the noble families.

Rong Yi didn't react much, but was quite interested in the experimental speculation. "What kind of experiment are you talking about?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "How would I know? I just heard the boss and the people upstairs making this guess, and I thought something was going on inside the tower. People of your rank would know more."

Rong Yi didn't say much, but took out five more bags of dried meat for her. Next, they should find a place to eat.

(End of this chapter)