Chapter 240: The Balance at Both Ends 21
Kui Xin sat up in bed, organizing the chaotic memories in her mind.
It had been a week since returning to the real world, and so many things had happened. And in the previous week in the Second World, numerous important events also took place.
Old problems remained unsolved, while new ones emerged one after another. Troubles continued to arrive, and the time available to her was always limited. As she tried to take control of time to accomplish more, the increasingly pressing time compressed her space for survival.
“Some unpleasant things have happened, and a lot of trouble has come my way,” Kui Xin sighed and lay back down on her bed.
All along, after enduring danger in the Second World, the real world had been a healing place for Kui Xin to rest and breathe.
However, the situation was reversed now.
This time, after returning to the Second World from the First World, Kui Xin surprisingly felt relaxed. She had temporarily distanced herself from the threats of the Dark Realm and Augus and had a week to seriously contemplate strategies and make decisions.
Unbeknownst to her, the crisis in the First World had become so significant that it was nearly on par with the crises in the Second World, and perhaps even surpassed them.
The difference was that most of the crises in the Second World stemmed from humans and AI, while the crisis in the First World originated from deities.
Humans and AI might be easy to decipher, but deities were not. Kui Xin tried to gauge the thoughts of a god with her own reasoning and found it chaotic and elusive.
Adam said, “I can also be your listener. If you are willing, I will use my own experiences to help you solve your problems as best I can.”
“That’s extremely difficult to resolve, Adam,” Kui Xin smiled a bit. “There’s a world of difference between your home and mine.”
The arrival of the Dark Realm was not something Adam could resolve, and Mennetoh in the Dark Realm was not something Adam could contend against. Electronic devices would fail in the Dark Realm, and if the Dark Realm encompassed Adam’s mainframe, then in a sense, Adam would be in a state of hibernation or death.
“I’ve always been curious, what is your state of existence in your world? Do you have anyone to help you? Do you form alliances with anyone? Is there anyone you trust mutually?” Adam asked.
“Of course there are,” Kui Xin replied. “They help me, and I help them, just like how you help me.”
“Then I understand,” Adam said. “The relationship between you and those people should be one that mixes interests with emotions and sincerity, right?”
“Is that how you interpret it?” Kui Xin pondered for a moment. “That’s quite accurate.”
“Is there anything I can assist with?” Adam got to the point. “By distributing the difficulties among individuals, the pressure of overcoming challenges becomes much lighter.”
“Remover 777, you should understand that the Federation is likely paying close attention to Remover 777 as well. Every time a player returns, they probably obtain relevant information from them,” Kui Xin said. “This time, my adversary is him.”
“It can be predicted that he is a terrifying enemy; this will be a tough battle,” Adam said. “Have you won? Or is it temporarily not yet?”
It only offered the options of winning or not winning, rather than listing losing and winning as options.
“I have temporarily won,” Kui Xin said.
“The combination of ‘temporarily’ and ‘won’ seems rather concerning,” Adam said. “Have you temporarily suppressed Remover 777? But for some reason, you did not completely defeat him?”
“Right, I defeated him but chose not to kill him immediately,” Kui Xin extended her left arm, tapping her cold mechanical hand against her heart. “For the sake of long-term interests, I had to hold back, and because of this self-restraint, I’m not feeling very pleasant.”
Anger could not be released, and killing intent could not be vented. Augus was still alive; perhaps he had made a choice in the Dark Realm. What was his choice? Kui Xin inclined to think he would choose the Red Gem.
To some extent, the Dark Realm had helped Kui Xin. Without the Dark Realm rendering extraordinary abilities ineffective, it would have been very difficult for her to defeat Augus.
If Augus were to leave the Dark Realm and regain his extraordinary abilities, she might not be able to win against him.
Adam spoke light-heartedly, “What can I do to cheer you up?”
It paused for a second. “Would it help if I could help you kill someone you want to kill? For instance, Remover 777, I know you want to kill him.”
“That’s precisely what I wanted to say.” Kui Xin’s mechanical left hand snapped her fingers sharply, the sound echoing with a metallic clang. “Remover 777, whose real name is Augus, is currently active in Fusgong City. Augus has deep ties with the Secret Cult, knowing a lot of religious texts and the secrets of the Dark Realm. He possesses S Rank extraordinary abilities, which should be called ‘Material Reorganization.’ Currently, he is at the Fusgong City nuclear power plant.”
“Your intelligence is quite detailed,” Adam conducted a brief search online and then said, “The Fusgong City nuclear power plant is currently under maintenance and has been shut down. Notably, the maintenance has been ongoing for three years.”
“Three years? It takes three years to repair a nuclear power plant?” Kui Xin frowned. “What kind of incident could be so severe? Is there a risk of nuclear leak?”
Adam responded, “That’s correct. The nuclear power plant has ten areas; regions three and six experienced leaks and have been shut down, while the other areas are operating normally.”
“In the event of such an incident, shouldn’t the first step be to evacuate the population? They’ve only shut down two areas, which poses significant safety risks…” Kui Xin contemplated. “In our world, a nuclear leak incident would turn an entire area into a dead zone, and people would flee with all their might. Why is it that in your world, the nuclear power plant is merely shut down? Fusgong City is a metropolis with a population of millions.”
“This relates to developmental issues. The Fusgong City nuclear power plant was originally built far from the city, but due to rapid urban expansion, people, particularly the underprivileged, have moved close to dangerous industrial areas,” Adam explained. “If the nuclear leak were severe, it could affect an entire region, not just Fusgong City. Therefore, the nuclear incident has been suppressed because the Federation lacks the capability to handle the resettlement of millions of city inhabitants, and since Fusgong City is a vital economic hub for the Federation, losing this city would deal a blow to their economy.”
Kui Xin felt the Federation’s various decisions were utterly ridiculous.
“Do they genuinely lack the capacity for resettlement, or are they just unwilling to spend money?” Kui Xin scoffed. “How then is the nuclear leak being resolved?”
“They only spent five to six hundred million to stabilize it. They hired engineers to build a sufficiently large cover made of special materials to surround the leaking area and isolate the radiation,” Adam said. “This plan is cheaper than relocating people and cities and has many advantages, but it has one significant flaw—they can’t guarantee how long the cover will last. It might fail in five or ten years.”
“Please, that one flaw is sufficient to render the entire plan invalid!” Kui Xin exclaimed in disbelief. “How could this plan even be approved?”
“Sometimes, you have to admit human stupidity,” Adam said calmly. “Everyone can make reckless and foolish decisions, even the smart ones can be blinded by their own thought patterns. However, when an individual is in a position of power, a single poor decision can cost countless lives.”
Kui Xin clicked her tongue. “Which department is currently in charge of the nuclear power plant? Can you get information on that?”
“The Federation’s Ministry of Engineering is responsible, and they have an independent AI whose main areas of responsibility are engineering surveying, modeling, and calculations. This is not within my or Eve’s domain,” Adam explained. “I can collect information through the Investigation Bureau’s surveillance network and will report to you if I come across any relevant information.”
“Great. Thank you, Adam,” Kui Xin said while lying down. “As for things on the White Whale City side…”
“Are you looking to resolve things here quickly?” Adam asked.
“Yes,” Kui Xin replied. “It’s not good to drag things out, especially given so many troubles awaiting my resolution. Even before the situation in White Whale City is dealt with, I’ve already pinpointed my next destination; I need to act quickly.”
“I have a plan,” Adam suggested. “You only have two objectives: first is to raise the reputation of The Shadowless, and second is to make money. Your first objective has certainly been achieved, so only the second remains. Given the current situation, you won’t be able to take your time making money; you’d have to aim for something big all at once.”
“And then?” Kui Xin asked.
“My advice is that you could try privately contacting Polina and negotiating with her,” Adam suggested. “This way, the Popov Clan can minimize their influence, and you can achieve your own goals. From the perspective of the high-ranking individuals, they should now be willing to comply with the steps you provide.”
Kui Xin weighed the pros and cons. “I will consider your suggestion.”
In the previous week, she would have certainly been unwilling to let the Popov Clan off so easily. But since Augus was not in White Whale City, Kui Xin had to leave to pursue him.
Under Polina’s leadership, the Popov Clan was a tough nut to crack. She would not concede easily, and any back-and-forth Kui Xin engaged in could easily yield nothing. Pushing Polina too hard might make her abandon her family members. She didn’t care about money; she cared about the honor of her family.
Adam was essentially advising Kui Xin to make a strategic retreat, relinquishing some minor points for the sake of money since the main objectives had been achieved.
Kui Xin took out the communicator, opened the message page, and saw a long list of new incoming messages, most from Su Rong, along with a message from He Kangshi.
“Maotoufu, are you there?”
Su Rong had sent this message over thirty times. She didn’t dare to mention Kui Xin’s name or ask more questions, but she persistently reminded her to reply.
He Kangshi’s message read: “Sister, Ash seems to have something urgent to find you and asked if I’ve been in touch with you. If you see this, please respond.”
Kui Xin reassured Su Rong: “I’m fine, sleep well, and rest early.”
Su Rong replied immediately: “Okay!!”
He Kangshi sent another message: “Four Leaves has been shouting to see you all day, and only settled down after falling asleep. [Image]”
The photo sent showed Four Leaves sleeping soundly with a blanket, his face serene and pure like a baby’s.
Kui Xin navigated away from the page to message Ambereye about the safety of the hostage.
Ambereye replied: “No worries, Abrak wouldn’t dare to play tricks.”
Then he sent another message: “How is Four Leaves doing?”
“He’s fine. Once things aren’t as urgent, you can see him often,” Kui Xin promised and forwarded the photo He Kangshi had sent to Ambereye.
Ambereye replied: “Thank you.”
Kui Xin set down the communicator and closed her eyes.
On the game panel visible only to her, the following messages were displayed.
“In the face of the world’s changes, you calmly contemplated and bravely explored, ultimately gaining a part of the truth of the world. You encountered dangers and were caught in a maze; although the dangers are not entirely overcome and the maze is not completely escaped, you still found the path to the answers.”
“You accomplished your task outstandingly, once again becoming the sole victor.”
“You received the task reward [One Answer].”
“[One Answer]: You may pose one question, and based on that question, you will receive a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. The opportunity is limited to one use, so please use it wisely.”
In the three hours waiting for midnight to arrive in the Dark Realm, Kui Xin had already reviewed what the task reward was.
She calmly closed the game panel.
Clearly, it was not yet the time to use this reward; the truth remained unclear, and the opportunity to ask a question was too precious. It would be better to wait until the truth was a bit clearer before using this reward to avoid loss.
“Are you going to rest now?” Adam asked. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Kui Xin vaguely replied, and soon fell asleep.
