The Main City sincerely hopes that you can officially join the Spire

“So, don’t arrogantly​​​‌‌​​‌‌⁠​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠‍‌​⁠​⁠​ cut open a weak rabbit. For no one knows who is gazing the sky behind those eyes as delicate as dewdrops.”

As the last chime of the church bell echoed, the man behind the lectern closed his poetry book and smiled peacefully.

“This is the last poem for today. Tomorrow night, there will be a vigil for District 53. Please come with a peaceful heart. Good night, Main City.”

People rose from the uneven wooden pews, holding their poetry books, and nodded in thanks to him.

A little girl ran up the stage, “Eye! Why are rabbits so powerful?”

“That’s just a metaphor.” He smiled and picked her up, pointing to a slender goldfish in a glass tank. “It would be the same if you replaced the rabbit with it. Huge beings like to hide behind small gazes because they never need to show their existence.”

The little girl thought for a moment. “Goldfish are indeed weak. My mom said that goldfish aberrants rarely infect humans, and even if they do, they’re not much of a threat.” She brushed aside his silver-gray hair and kissed his forehead. “Poet, why are you called Eye? Do you also want to be the eye of the huge being who watches the world?”

A woman in a long dress walked over, took the girl into her arms, and scolded, “Don’t be rude.”

The woman turned and bowed reverently to Eye, “Poet, see you tomorrow night.”

Eye smiled gently, “Good night, madam.”

After the crowd dispersed, he rolled up his shirt sleeves, blew out the scattered candles one by one, and walked up the spiraling stairs to the top of the tower. He stood by the window, looking up. The moonlight was exceptionally faint in the sky.

“The first braking gear is spinning more and more smoothly.”

In his dark gray eyes, there seemed to flow a star-like nebula, quiet yet brilliant.

He murmured, “It’s been seven days already…”

An Yu slept until the evening of the eighth day.

Honestly, this was much shorter than he expected, and he was a bit anxious when he heard about it, worried that sleeping too little would shorten his lifespan.

If it weren’t for the guy who claimed to be one of the High Peaks sitting opposite him and staring at him, he would have wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Joseph, about thirty, was chubby, spoke softly, liked to fake smiles, and thought he was covering it up well.

—This was An Yu’s assessment after ten minutes with him.

Such a person claiming to be the High Peak was too bizarre, just like the laboratory they were in.

The Brain experiment room was temporarily transformed. The walls were covered with green wallpaper that was supposed to be relaxing. All its corners were filled with plush rabbits of all sizes, and a screen was silently looping episodes of “Super Aberrant Kindergarten”.

According to Joseph, all this was to make An Yu feel loved by the Main City even in his dreams.

An Yu suspected these insidious Main City people were trying a new form of interrogation.

Especially since the table in front of him was full of bread—long, round, puffy, flat, embedded with fruit, drizzled with cream, dusted with sugar. The room’s rich sweetness was dizzying, and Joseph passionately described each one, but An Yu remained expressionless because this scene resembled the last meal before execution that Ling Qiu had told him about.

“Are you dissatisfied with anything?” Joseph cautiously observed his expression.

High Peak called his mysterious state the “advent state.” After it ended, he seemed completely back to normal.

Only An Yu could feel the difference—he had lost his sense of awe forever. After the advent state, his temper did soften, but it was more like he chose to retract into the polite shell Ling Qiu had taught him, maintaining a friendly but distant relationship with the outside world.

An Yu lowered his gaze and thought for a moment. “Where is the Commander?”

“Law is fulfilling some work duties and he’ll be back soon,” Joseph replied with a broad smile that lifted up his face’s flesh. “Are you eager to see him?”

“Well…”

Although he wasn’t exactly afraid, these human organizations, which controlled resources, still made him uneasy. After all, humans weren’t aberrants; they had a hundred different simple ways to kill him.

Only Qin Zhilu could protect him in front of humans; this is what Qin Zhilu promised him.

Joseph immediately lowered his head and began writing rapidly. Since the moment An Yu had entered the room, every time he spoke or shifted his gaze, it triggered this kind of shorthand behavior.

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Joseph’s round face turned slightly green, and he muttered quietly, “Only a bit…”

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Joseph’s knees trembled. “We won’t! On behalf of the Black Tower, I offer you our highest respect. We won’t harm you again, please believe that!”

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That seemed more believable.

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Joseph jotted down a few more notes and said, “Please stay relaxed as you are now. I’d like to speak with you on behalf of the Black Tower.”

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Each word he said was carefully chosen. “You can choose to leave, but we sincerely hope you’ll officially join the Spire. If you stay, the most immediate benefit is that you won’t have to worry about food and clothing — the Spire has top-tier restaurants and plenty of entertainment facilities. Additionally, the battle points you earn during missions can be exchanged for real-world currency, covering all your material desires.”

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Joseph offered a slightly stiff smile. “Yes, we’ve already understood your outlook on life and fully respect it.”

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No missions, living under the protection of the Main City’s dome, with food and lodging provided, and unlimited meals. Ling Qiu despised his shameless behavior of taking advantage of the minimum living allowance resources for free. If he knew he could even freeload off the Spire, who knows what he would think.

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Joseph continued, “You don’t have to rush your decision. You can take your time to rest in the Main City and think about it.”

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At the end of the conversation, Joseph became serious. “We have one more request. Your space ability is unique, and only the high-level members of the Black Tower, the Brain, and the Spire are aware of them. We hope you can keep this information confidential from ordinary Protectors below the 190th floor.”

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“But they don’t truly understand what happened,” Joseph smiled. “There are many rumors circulating within the Spire now, so please remain silent and mysterious. Additionally, we hope you will live happily and seek help when troubled. Please don’t try to harm yourself.”

An Yu was a bit confused, “Not harm myself?”

“Can you do that?” Joseph’s tone was almost pleading.

What a strange request.

An Yu could only nod, confused, and pick up another piece of bread, breaking it into small pieces that were easy to carry as he frowned in thought.

Joseph wrote down in his notes—

“Asking An Yu to control his self-harm behavior inevitably caused him psychological stress.”

“Currently known things that relieve An Yu’s psychological stress include: bread (first choice), Law (second), housing and money (third).”

Soon, High Peak arranged for someone to take An Yu back to the Spire. This time, there was no hood over his head, and the self-driving car only had one other person besides him.

“Yan Xi.”

“It’s an honor that you remember my name.” Yan Xi’s blind eyes stared into the air, smiling. “After the explosion in District 53, it snowed all over the world. The snow suddenly stopped last night, and I wondered if you would wake up. If you slept any longer, you would have missed the night vigil in memory of District 53.”

The night vigil…

Ling Qiu had mentioned it before. The human gene grading system had separated too many families, and most people in the Main City had close relatives or friends scattered in various Bait Cities. Therefore, whenever a Bait City suffered a disaster, the seemingly calm Main City was actually overflowing with tears. People would gather at the central cathedral to hold a prayer service for their fallen compatriots.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up District 53 so soon…” Yan Xi’s voice lowered. “I’m very sorry about your neighbor.”

An Yu turned his head to look out the car window.

There was no snowstorm in the Main City. The clean and majestic buildings were staggering in height, and the streets glowed with lights in the night, full of bustle and laughter.

It was a scene never seen in the Bait City. Ling Qiu had said that decades ago, this was the peace that humans took for granted.

An Yu asked softly, “Do you have other family here?”

Yan Xi smiled. “No, I don’t. I only found out later that my father was attacked by aberrants not long ago, and my mother and sister were on that shuttle bus.”

An Yu looked back at him. “What about the future?”

“Life must go on. Fortunately, I still have something I enjoy doing. The Brain has already developed mechanical eyes for me, and the surgery is scheduled for tonight after the night vigil. I will soon be able to resume my research.” Yan Xi smiled. “I heard that I’ll be your assistant. Oh, please don’t feel pressured. If you choose to leave the Spire, you can also consider me as a friend in the Main City and contact me anytime you think of me.”

He paused, then smiled in An Yu’s direction. “I’ll be happy to wait for you. There are still so many people alive in this world, but only you saw them in their final moments.”

An Yu couldn’t say anything for a moment when facing those vacant eyes.

It seems he was still not good at comforting people, except for the Commander.

Yan Xi said softly, “Actually, I returned to District 53 last year. At that time, High Peak was determining the location of the energy core, and I was responsible for the technical investigation. I drove past my home building, and from a distance, I saw my sister. It was raining that day, and she was holding a piece of soybean bread, sitting at the building entrance and drawing. Unfortunately, the energy core was highly classified information, so I didn’t stop the car.”

“I guess they came to celebrate my birthday this time. Maybe my mom even made soybean bread…” Yan Xi sighed softly and chuckled. “I really do miss that taste.”

An Yu said instinctively, “The taste of soybean bread is indeed…”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, sorry.” Yan Xi wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and those empty eyes looked out the window. “Anyway, the disaster is over, and the pain will eventually fade. An Yu, I don’t know if you have something you enjoy doing, but that will help you get through the days of loss.”

He handed the terminal back to An Yu.

The screen displayed his survival value—100%.

This was the first time An Yu had seen such a beautiful number, and an overwhelming sense of security enveloped him.

Yan Xi smiled in his direction. “An Yu, welcome to the Main City.”