Openly wielding firearms (8)
In the bustling and extravagant Lingtian District, every street is brightly lit, never dark. The elevated highways of the main city flow through it like a magnificent river, bustling and lively everywhere, making the whole city seem like an inextinguishable flame.
After the explosion, the section of the viaduct that suddenly broke apart was like a light scratch on the skin; it healed and disappeared without a trace.
However, the closer one gets to the center of Pines, the more solemn it becomes; the viaduct extends to the very end of the center, ending in front of a massive building.
This object has a disc-like shape and a smooth, streamlined appearance. It is surrounded by a ring-like structure made of metal pipes and an unknown component, and it rotates slowly.
The central building of Pinheis—the National Union Building—often gives one the feeling of being in another dimension, with the metal walls of the disc-shaped building coldly emitting a faint blue light.
The top floor of the Union Building is a huge transparent dome, from which one can see almost the entire city of Pines.
Looking from the outside in, all that can be seen is the intricate structure of the mezzanine and the crisscrossing passageways, with several drones shuttling through it. Their cameras emit red beams of light, providing the monitoring room with real-time environmental data. No object without an registered ID can escape the sensors' scans.
Passing through the transparent dome, the top floor is the rest area for the users. As a rest area for top-tier superhumans, there aren't many technological products here; everything is extremely refined and exquisite.
At the far end of the long sandalwood table in the center, a young man sat diagonally with his elbows on the table and his head propped up by his hand.
He wore an exquisite light blue robe, with gold embroidery adorning the cuffs and collar, and a silver belt around his waist, with several gemstones inlaid on the embossed silver ornaments.
Even his casual movements appeared elegant when he performed them. If this weren't the lounge for the operatives, judging by his appearance alone, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a noble salon.
The young man propped his head up with one hand and held a beautifully bound book in the other. He read aloud the poems in the book in a soft and clear voice, which was surprisingly deep and pleasant to listen to.
"I have cursed my stars."
From the entrance directly opposite the long table, came the sound of a sensor door opening and closing.
"It makes my love so noble, and my love so lowly." [1]
He put down the book in his hand and slowly placed his hand on his chest. On each of his slender fingers, there were one or two gold and silver rings inlaid with gemstones.
Such a pile of jewelry and gemstones might seem vulgar on others, but he still manages to maintain an air of nobility and elegance thanks to the jewels, without looking out of place.
“Darkness is the path, light is the destination.” He picked up the wine glass in front of him, stood up gracefully, bowed slightly to the person who came, and continued to read: “...the true meaning is the heaven that has never come and will never come.” [2]
The person who walked in was unmoved by his emotional recitation. He brushed the stray hairs from his forehead, looked at the headache, walked straight past the long table, ignored the exquisite dishes laid out on it, opened the resource cabinet, took out a nutrient solution, and drank it down: "What are you muttering about?"
The young man leaned against the wall, lowered his eyes to look at the red wine in his hand, and took a small sip: "You wouldn't understand even if I told you. People without romance are truly pathetic—even if there were only one drop of water left in the world, I wouldn't drink nutrient solution."
The National Research Center’s specially made war supplies can quickly replenish physical strength and the nutrients needed for the day. They are convenient and quick, but perhaps the only downside is that they taste like muddy wood pulp.
Shu Changyan ignored him and sat on the sofa in the lounge. His features were handsome and tall, with slightly deep brow bones and eye sockets. Under the warm light, there were unfathomable shadows floating between his brows.
The young man walked over, holding a wine glass, and swirled the liquid slightly: "Why have you been looking like a stray dog lately? Prometheus is no different from a rat digging holes everywhere. It's impossible to catch them all at once. There were nine people who blew up Pandora's Spring TA-130, and DNA fragments that can confirm the identities of eight of them have already been found under the overpass. Great hero, aren't you satisfied?"
The young man sitting on the sofa suddenly opened his eyes, his blue eyes calm: "It's not because of that."
After saying that, he shut his mouth and said nothing more.
The moment he saw Shu Ningmiao's message after leaving the overpass, he felt like his nerves were about to snap.
The scene that he had no recollection of before suddenly came rushing back to him after he learned that Shu Ningmiao was there: falling rocks, steel bars, collapsing and turbulent ground, the ignited Pandora, and the raging fire burning the severed limbs.
What was once a common scene became a nightmare that broke through Shu Changyan's last line of defense.
Shu Ningmiao almost lost her life in this disaster, and he may have missed her body, knew nothing about it, and didn't even receive her call for help.
Shu Ningmiao usually takes her anger out on everyone when things don't go her way, but she wasn't angry at all when this happened. After hanging up the phone, she only sent him a text message, calmly explaining the situation.
Shu Changyan would rather she throw a tantrum.
He waited outside Shu Ningmiao's ward for several days, but did not enter the ward until he was forcibly sent back to the military region. He simply could not face his sister, whom he had not protected.
The young man tried to glean something from his expression, but Shu Changyan leaned back on the sofa and gently covered his face with his hand: "In any case, we can't let the Lord continue to be threatened."
"That's something the police should worry about. If they weren't so useless, those rats wouldn't have been able to get onto the overpass at all," the young man said. "By the way, did you know that the research center's latest combat simulation system is about to be put into use?"
Shu Changyan frowned: "Who will use the funds?"
Real-world simulations naturally require real-world data, and the pilots, as the first echelon of combat forces, provided the National Research Center with most of the real-world data.
In general, ordinary people make up a larger proportion of the military, and Shu Changyan does not believe that this thing can be used by the military on a large scale. As for the users, this thing is based on the combat data they have collected, and there is no difficulty in using it. It can only be used as a pastime.
"String Light Academy." The young man took out his military terminal, which had a small number on the bottom, named 01.
Shu Changyan's code is 03, which is the internal code for the operator.
The young man glanced at the terminal before speaking, "Since this is the first time it's been put into use, the council requires the operator to send someone to ensure the site is secure. Why don't you go?"
"Why aren't you saying anything?" The young man smiled. "Aren't you always thinking about your sister? Why aren't you being enthusiastic this time? I'll go then."
"Anyway, things have been peaceful during the recent truce." He sat down elegantly next to Shu Changyan. "The combat system is nearing completion. Even if Weston leaves the research center, the completion shouldn't be a problem. It's especially easy for freshmen, so you can rest assured."
"newborn?"
"It's simple. We don't need to test the upper limit. What they need is the lower limit data. The new students are already the weakest ability users the research center can apply for. This will make it easier to deploy them in large numbers to the military later."
The young man sneered: "The bill passed by the Joint Parliament a few days ago has further increased the number of conscripts, they..."
——
Shu Ningmiao hadn't forgotten about Su Ni giving her the pendant. She had originally planned to question him as soon as she was discharged from the hospital, but she suddenly changed her mind after unlocking the plot.
Su Ni is an important character in the plot. The pendant, the mysterious organization, and he must be connected in some way, but if she asks directly, it will inevitably change the plot.
The time between her first and second supernatural ability trials wasn't long; it wouldn't be too late to ask after she survived the death-ending situation. Several times, Shu Ningmiao saw Su Ni appear in her field of vision, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, but she ignored her as if nothing had happened.
Worried that the pendant was too conspicuous and might cause trouble if others saw it, since even an ordinary student like Chris could recognize it, Shu Ning cleverly put the pendant in a sealed bag and placed it in the safe.
She saw Wei Shengqianheng again on the day of the supernatural ability practice class. Their esteemed future holy son had not come to the academy for several days since he greeted her that day, supposedly as a privilege granted by the principal.
It is said that believers in the Church of Praise have to do a lot of voluntary work every day, so he has a legitimate reason to ask for leave.
Shu Ningmiao maliciously speculated in her heart that with his frequency of attending classes, it wouldn't be surprising if he was illiterate. It was a pity that he wasn't in Class A, so that Weston could experience what a truly privileged student was like.
When Wei Shengqianheng walked with her, he was like a moving light source, pure and dignified. It was the first time Shu Ningmiao had ever spoken to someone and didn't want to politely look them in the eye.
Shi Yu was somewhat surprised when she saw their new teammates, but she quickly regained her usual gentle expression.
He didn't ask about Wei Shengqianheng's special ability, as if he didn't care at all whether he could win or not.
It wasn't just "seems"; Shu Ningmiao knew he genuinely had absolutely no interest in these things, whether it was superpowers, grades, or competitions. His attitude was completely at the opposite extreme from Shu Ningmiao's.
Shi Yu maintained an unusual indifference to everything, while Shu Ningmiao mutually benefited him, helping him to behave more like a normal person, nothing more.
All the freshmen from Class A to Class F were gathered in the training field. Each person was given a half-mask helmet, which was half metal and half transparent. There were many raised contacts inside the helmet, which were probably for connecting nerves.
After being renovated by the National Research Center, the training ground now has many signal receiver-like devices above the metal walls.
The school leaders and teachers were all on a high platform in the training field, and there seemed to be many officials in suits and ties. They were all talking over each other, making Shu Ningmiao's head almost explode with noise.
She covered her ears and looked up to see Weston sitting leisurely on the platform with his legs crossed, holding a megaphone. So he was the one who was going to announce the rules. She had thought it would be someone from the National Research Center who would introduce it, since they would be staff members of the research center and would know more about this combat system.
As she looked up, Weston also looked down, their eyes meeting, and he gave her a cold, warning look.
Shu Ningmiao didn't even say a word, but after being inexplicably glared at by him, she naturally glared back without backing down.
Among the officials, a man in a suit walked up to Weston, bowed slightly, and then suddenly addressed the noisy students below: "Quiet."
This person didn't use a megaphone and spoke softly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the entire room went completely silent, as if a pause button had been pressed.
Hundreds of people fell silent at the same time. Shu Ningmiao opened her mouth in surprise amidst the silence, only to find that she couldn't make a sound either.
It's that person's superpower!
So this kind of supernatural ability exists in the world? Is it the power of words? Or is it simply the control of sound?
Weston spoke slowly, "I'm glad you've kept quiet. Alright, Yulu, you can untie it now."
"Here are the precautions for this ability practice." He didn't take out the manuscript, his gaze sweeping over them rather impolitely, and he stated simply in a flat tone: "Put on the helmets you're holding. You will enter a combat simulation system. The simulated scenarios within the system are randomly combined from real models, and the contents are also randomly generated from combat data, but—"
Amid the groans of the students below, he changed the subject, raising an eyebrow as if to mockery: "This is only the lowest difficulty level of T6. Ordinary people who haven't awakened their powers won't be in any danger. But if anyone is scared, they can give up their score on this ability practice now."
There were some scattered dissents from the audience, but no one gave up on the results.
“Your grades will be determined by your overall performance in the simulation. Every scene will be broadcast live, so don’t do anything unrelated to the exam.” Weston paused for a moment before continuing, “If you die in the simulation, you will be immediately disconnected from the system, but try to avoid dying. A sudden disconnection will cause some minor damage, which is probably not what you want to see.”
“Yes, yes.” After Weston finished speaking, Principal Arno Beria took the megaphone and said in a magnificent tone, “Cooperation and mutual assistance are the hallmarks of our school.”
"So this system is PVE? I thought it would be PVP." Shu Ningmiao heard a somewhat familiar voice in her ear, turned her head, and saw that the speaker was You An, who often led in physical training.
He seems to be the easiest of the five male leads to win over; his affection level with the female lead is already 48.
Because he exercises frequently, he always wears less clothing than others. Shu Ningmiao can clearly see his firm muscles. Unlike Ye Luqi's purely bulky build, his muscles appear thin, making him look very agile.
He must be quite agile.
Shu Ning thought to herself.
You An noticed her turn her head and gave her a silly smile: "Have you ever played games? PVE is when players fight against the environment and NPCs in the game, while PVP is when players fight against each other. I used to think that we teamed up to duel with other teams and the one who wins the last place gets the highest score."
Shu Ningmiao had only ever played dating games, and that was to learn about "Secret Love": "Those are the rules of the underground arena, right?"
With so many officials present, it's rather unseemly to have students fight each other like animals in an arena.
Yu An's eyes lit up: "Pine has such a place?"
Shu Ningmiao regretted answering his question.
Weston gestured for them to shut up and put on their helmets. Shu Ningmiao also put on her helmet. Although it looked like it was made of metal, it was actually very light. The goggles were now transparent, and Shu Ningmiao could see the area in front of her through them.
She saw Weston standing in the shadow of the platform, his gaze always fixed on her, as if he was worried that she and Weisheng Qianheng wouldn't get first place.
Before she could guess anything more, the transparent goggles suddenly went dark, and Shu Ningmiao, who had been holding her helmet with both hands, suddenly found herself touching nothing.
The helmet vanished into thin air.
She felt as if she had suddenly fallen into a dark little box, where she was all alone.
Shu Ningmiao calmed herself down and began to try to move around. There was nothing around her, so she could move freely. She reached out and touched the edge of the darkness around her, and walked along the edge. Suddenly, in a certain place, the edge she was touching sank a little.
She looked up in that direction and saw that her entire arm was submerged in the darkness, with a faint glimmer of light shining through the area where her arm passed.
Shu Ningmiao took a step forward, and suddenly a pop-up window appeared in front of her.
Environment has been loaded.
Shu Ningmiao took a step back, staring at the pop-up window in disbelief. Her lips twitched. This pop-up window looked completely different from the pop-up window of the mysterious game on her phone, but it still startled her.
Games in the world are all similar, so it's not surprising that the National Research Center may have referenced some game frameworks when developing this system.
She stepped out of the darkness, and the bright daylight outside made her feel almost disoriented. However, the clear sunlight failed to outline any familiar scenery. Beneath her feet lay a barren land, the black and dry earth exuding an abnormal aura. For miles around, not a single blade of grass or moss could be seen sprouting from the soil.
This place was a desolate wasteland, deserted and devoid of any living creatures. Shu Ningmiao walked for a while, not knowing what she could do. Even if it was a PvE game, she should at least have a monster to fight. Was this a test of her wilderness survival skills?
She really doesn't seem to know how to do that.
Moreover, it's strange that she wasn't with Shi Yu and Wei Shengqianheng even though they were supposed to be a group of three.
After wandering aimlessly for about seven or eight minutes, Shu Ningmiao saw something different at the edge of the boundless wasteland: a white wave was being repeatedly pushed up on the black earth.
It was actually ocean waves.
Shu Ningmiao deduced that this should be a deserted island by the sea. Useful information should generally be concentrated in the center of the island. She was currently at the very edge of the island, almost out of the area, so there was definitely no one there.
As she was about to turn around and head towards the island, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the edge of the waves, seemingly slowly stepping into the water.
Shu Ningmiao had already looked away, not wanting to meddle, but suddenly turned her head back in shock.
She ran towards the direction of the waves. Thanks to Yeluqi for making them run every class, her physical fitness was much better than before, and her speed had also improved a lot. She had already reached the shoreline before the person in the sea completely disappeared into the water.
The man's lower body was already submerged in the waves, his body sinking deeper and deeper, the rushing water like a hand pulling him down.
Shu Ningmiao's pupils constricted, and her voice rose slightly: "Wei Sheng Qian Heng!"
In a flash, Shu Ningmiao's mind raced with thoughts. She wondered if there was some deep-seated hatred between her and Wei Shengqianheng that made him commit suicide and quit the game, causing her to lose.
But in that instant, she had already stepped into the sea and reached out to accurately grab Wei Shengqianheng's wrist.
Wei Shengqianheng stood with his back to her, his long black hair, soaked with water, cascading down his body, unmoved.
Shu Ningmiao then realized that the seawater beneath her was not the normal azure blue; beneath the turbid waves, the water had a faint red tinge, as if blood were spreading within it.
At first glance, the fog rolled across the boundless sea, which was an eerie color of dark red tinged with yellowish-brown.
A gentle breeze swept across the sea, and the waves rolled up to Shu Ningmiao's waist. She suddenly shivered, and the eerie scene before her sent a chill down her spine, which quickly spread throughout her body.
Wei Shengqianheng turned around, his long hair, soaked by the blood-red seawater, clung to his face, and his white robe was stained with a terrifying color. But even in such a disheveled state, his appearance was still astonishingly holy, with a kind of eerie quality that made people afraid to look directly at him.
Shu Ningmiao frowned uncomfortably, but then returned to normal, still not letting go of his hand.
"Go up." Her clothes were soaked with seawater, and whether it was psychological or something else, she felt increasingly cold. She could only force herself to say to Wei Shengqianheng, "No matter what you want to do, you can't die now."
Wei Shengqianheng stared at her with his dark pupils, then suddenly smiled, his radiance becoming even more captivating: "I didn't want to die. Don't you think this sea is strange?"
"You think it's strange that you came down? What if the water is poisonous?"
Shu Ningmiao felt itchy all over. After being soaked in this seawater, she felt like she might grow four legs or two heads at any moment. Her clothes were already filthy as soon as she entered the combat training, and she didn't know if she would have a chance to change them. She wouldn't be surprised if Shi Yu, that germaphobe, saw her and betrayed her on the spot.
She was too lazy to argue with him anymore; she was probably already in a state of "anger." With a gentle tug, she pulled him ashore.
Wei Shengqianheng did not resist and obediently let her stagger up. Spots of red seawater stained his beautiful face, making him look terrifying like a water ghost that had just climbed up.
Shu Ningmiao looked down at him with a gruff tone, about to get angry, when she suddenly saw a dark shadow emerge from the water behind him.
The seawater was a translucent red, not a deep color. The outline of that dark shadow clearly indicated that something was underwater, and Shu Ningmiao's alarm bells immediately went off.
Not knowing what that thing was or how strong it was, Shu Ningmiao had no intention of hunting it right now. She grabbed Wei Shengqianheng's hand and ran towards the shore until they could barely see the coastline before they stopped.
She immediately shook off his hand, but Wei Shengqianheng raised his hand and grasped her wrist, gently rubbing it with a soft expression, showing no displeasure whatsoever.
Shu Ningmiao watched him warily and gestured for him to walk ahead: "Let's go to the center of the island; the others are probably gathered there."
Wei Sheng Qian Heng was surprisingly obedient to orders. They walked for about ten minutes, one after the other, without seeing any trace of biological or human activity. The island was probably very large.
They walked for an unknown amount of time before they finally saw something other than dry, black soil.
The charred wooden beams on the ground had almost blended into the earth, leaving only the massive framework, which could be vaguely discerned as the ruins of a building or similar structure.
The land was also filled with many large and small pieces of rubble. Shu Ningmiao picked up a piece and felt it was very unfamiliar. There were almost no places in Phineas where people used these primitive rubble to build houses anymore.
Pandora is extremely flammable, and wooden beams have poor fire resistance and are outdated building materials. Where exactly is this place? Will the research center's large model randomly show landforms from hundreds of years ago?
Shu Ningmiao knelt among the ruins, trying to find some clues about the exam. Could it really be a test on how to survive on a deserted island without any vegetation or life?
She should go back to the coastline and see if she can catch the mysterious creature that was underwater. If she's going to survive in the wilderness, she can't just stew and eat the microscopic creature.
No matter how much time passed, the daylight overhead seemed unchanged; in fact, the light became even stronger. Shu Ningmiao looked up but couldn't find the sun.
Didn't the simulated combat system include a sun? Why? The surrounding environment is already so realistic.
As the light changed, the surrounding temperature seemed to rise, and even just standing still, a gust of hot wind rushed towards you.
"Ah! It's you." A surprised shout came on the hot wind. Shu Ningmiao looked warily in the direction of the sound. A person walked out of the shadows behind the collapsed low wall. Because of his dark skin, Shu Ningmiao did not notice him at all while he was standing in the shadows.
You An ran towards her, completely naked. Shu Ningmiao's hair stood on end, and she tensed up, adopting a defensive stance.
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