My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 116 Some Secrets Concerning Nuclear Facilities
"Alright, continue." Chu Zhu tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair. "How are resources plundered from within? What is the process of creating Radiation Water and Radiation Stone? What is their essence?"

"...What's the point of telling you? Do you think you can get the key?" Lin Youcai retorted. "Even if you have connections..."

"I've emphasized this several times already!" Chu Zhu's voice turned cold, and she uttered a single word succinctly, "Speak!"

After a brief pause, Chu Zhu said, "This is my last warning to you! Don't change the subject again."

"I understand!" Lin Youcai pursed his lips, finally lowered his head, and said with a hint of dejection, "After entering, it'll be about three turns away..."

"Don't say anything, just draw the map!" Chu Zhu took out paper and pen and pushed them in front of Lin Youcai.

"..." After a brief silence, Lin Youcai picked up his pen and wrote, explaining in a slightly hoarse voice, "Follow the route I've drawn, and you'll be able to reach the bottom!"

"And at the very bottom, there are some... that can filter the most primordial polluted liquid and polluted stones—water and stones that have been filtered several times are radiated water and radiated stones!"

"As for their nature and birth process... I don't know much about them!" Lin Youcai hesitated for a moment. "I'll share a little-known fact, and this isn't me changing the subject... Well, it's said that the First Forbidden Zone is a strange place created by ancient gods, leading directly into the underworld."

"These radiating waters and stones are the supreme foundation forcibly plundered from the core of the underworld... Our cultivation is to use the heavenly secrets seized from the underworld to break free from its shackles, gradually gain longevity, and ultimately achieve freedom and liberation!"

Lin Youcai glanced at Chu Zhu cautiously, "Although it's just a rumor, I personally feel it's quite credible! Even if it's not entirely true, I'd guess it's about 60-70% true."

Chu Zhu automatically filtered out the useless information and muttered to herself, "So, the nuclear facility is actually still operating, continuously digging from deep underground? Is it the earth's crust? Or even deeper? Anyway, it's just constantly being excavated..."

"Hmm, no wonder the nuclear materials haven't run out even after a thousand years; it turns out there's been some income... But if it can still operate now? Could it be artificial intelligence?"

Chu Zhu's heart was suddenly stirred. Could it be that there is still unrestricted artificial intelligence?
Moreover, judging from its appearance, it clearly still retains a considerable level of power!

It's important to understand that engineering projects will always be intertwined with danger and violence in the future.

For example, mining requires bombs; ancient coal miners were natural-born soldiers; and excavators, with a little modification, can become tanks!
If you can blast through ore, you can blast down a building!
If it can dig through the soil, it can crush the fragile human body.

If we could control it... then this power would be enough to put up a fight even against powerful superhumans—at least against those in the third realm, right?

Chu Zhu's heart pounded uncontrollably, but he quickly calmed himself thanks to his extraordinary self-control. He still didn't know what was going on! Besides, even if it really was artificial intelligence, he might not have the authority to control it.

There's no point in thinking about it now! We still need to do an on-site investigation eventually.

"That's all I know." Finally, Lin Youcai pushed the notebook toward Chu Zhu.

"You probably wouldn't do anything else to get me killed, would you?" Chu Zhu stroked her chin, staring at Lin Youcai with a hint of suspicion.

"How could I dare?" Lin Youcai gritted his teeth, finally unable to hold back and revealing a hint of resentment. "What if you've laid some traps! Once you're dead, and the deputy governor finds out it's because of me... wouldn't I definitely be taken away with you?"

Lin Youcai naturally hated Chu Zhu, but he would still cooperate with Chu Zhu obediently... precisely because he was all too clear about the current situation.

"You have a bright future! I admire you." Chu Zhu nodded with a hint of satisfaction. He liked people who were pragmatic and not short-sighted.

He casually asked, "By the way, are you a cultivator?"

"……Yes."

"Then let me ask you!" Chu Zhu suddenly became interested. "If I had a cultivation technique and obtained a Radiation Stone, how should I cultivate and enter the first realm? Do you have any advice or insights to share?"

"???" Lin Youcai almost doubted his ears. He stared at Chu Zhu in disbelief, his body trembling, and he let out a sharp bang, "You're not a cultivator of the first realm?"

"What? Are body cultivators really that discriminated against?" Chu Zhu crossed her arms.

No, that's not the problem! The problem is, how come your body is perfectly normal? And also...

"Are you crazy?!" Lin Youcai lost control of his emotions. "What kind of cultivator breaks through to the next level in the wild?"

"Do you think that having enough resources guarantees there won't be any problems? You absolutely need the support of elder cultivators! Furthermore, the Commandery, if they make sufficient contributions... has methods to mitigate the risks of breaking through to become cultivators!"

"Given your status and position, there's absolutely no problem... Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Speak!" Chu Zhu said, her meaning clear: don't say anything meaningless.

"I can't say!" Lin Youcai gritted his teeth at this moment, shook his head firmly, and met Chu Zhu's cold gaze. "If you really die in there, then I will inevitably die as well... You don't have to deny it, isn't this what you said before?"

Oh no, I got hit by a boomerang!

"...Alright! Actually, I wasn't planning on doing anything high-risk." Chu Zhu paused briefly, then softened his tone. He regained his languid demeanor. "Like you said, with my status and position, I can just wait. As long as the time comes, I'll naturally be able to break through safely and peacefully... How precious is my life? I'm just... simply a little curious!"

However, as Chu Zhu spoke, a thousand thoughts stirred within her. Indeed, the Commandery, or more accurately, the Great Qian Dynasty, also possessed methods similar to the God-Worshipping Cult for mitigating the risks of breakthroughs—

However, it's a reduction, not a direct promise of survival like the God Worshippers do.

Was it that the Daqian government was no match for the God Worshipping Society, or was it simply that Lin Youcai's status and position limited his access to information? Chu Zhu leaned towards the latter.

"Alright." Although still somewhat uneasy, Lin Youcai thought about it and felt that Chu Zhu really didn't need to do anything reckless, so he immediately said, "Experience is! No experience."

"?"

Seeing Chu Zhu's gaze sharpen, Lin Youcai quickly spoke up, "I'm really not lying to you or trying to fool you! It really is just that you absorb it..."

"All the key points are recorded in the cultivation method! If you can withstand the backlash on your body, you can become a cultivator! If you can't, you'll die... That's why I said that protecting that thing is very important."

Chu Zhu frowned deeply. "So how did you break through? Or did you receive official protection back then?"

"How could that be? As for why... it was luck!" After a brief silence, Lin Youcai said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Back then, they made us choose a cultivation method, trying to lure us into choosing immortality cultivation... Heh, out of my batch, only two survived!"

Lin Youcai's eyes were filled with a deep gloom and a trace of uncontrollable sorrow.

"..." Chu Zhu wisely chose not to ask how many people were in that session.

"So, you're going to go into seclusion now!" Chu Zhu pondered for a moment. "Then can I assume that once you break through to the first realm, your subsequent cultivation will be much less threatening?"

"...Do you believe me?" Lin Youcai asked rhetorically.

Chu Zhu shook her head.

"You know that too!" Lin Youcai spread his hands, resigned to his fate, "Anyway, I only have this one worthless life, and I've already embarked on this path! It's clear that my future will either be madness or death as a waste product for the Great Qian Dynasty..."

"Since that's the case, I naturally want to become stronger! I want to keep climbing higher! For this... I will pay any price."

A look of madness and ferocity appeared on Lin Youcai's face. "If I really die, then it just means my life ends here! Isn't that right?"

"So, every breakthrough is just as dangerous as the first one?" Chu Zhu fell silent at this moment.

"It's not that bad!" Lin Youcai took a deep breath, calming himself down a bit, and said, "If my own pollution level is low enough, then... the risk of the next breakthrough will be manageable."

"Conversely, if the pollution level is extremely high, then even if it were possible to break through, it would be impossible... that would be tantamount to suicide."

"!" Chu Zhu suddenly straightened up, his expression turning serious, because he had just thought of something.

Li Kang...Pollution: Extremely High!

This is the monitoring and evaluation data from Nuwa 17.

Is it possible that Li Kang could have already broken through to the third realm, but due to the ranking system, it was almost impossible for him to pass this time! So, he has been stuck at the second realm?

If that's the case, then many of the previous doubts can be explained...

"What methods are there to reduce pollution?" Chu Zhu suddenly asked. "I don't mean prevent pollution, but rather reduce pollution levels when they are high!"

"I don't know," Lin Youcai said calmly. "Maybe not! Maybe yes, but guys like us with worthless lives aren't qualified to enjoy it... So, only those big shots know about it and have it all to themselves!"

"Okay." Chu Zhu lowered her eyes slightly, reviewed the information she had already obtained in her mind, and nodded after confirming that it was almost complete. She then put away her notebook.

"Then thank you for your cooperation and support, Director Lin! See you again sometime."

"Fate brings us together! Goodbye." Lin Youcai watched Chu Zhu leave without showing any emotion. After a while, he gritted his teeth and sat back down in the seat Chu Zhu had previously occupied, cursing under his breath.

"I want to see you... but I hope I never see you again!"

Damn it, with Mr. Zhu's undisguised second-generation attitude, what good things might happen next time we meet?
Lin Youcai knew these damned second-generation rich kids all too well… These spoiled brats were best at saying, “If you don’t help me, you’ve offended me; if you do help me, it’s what you should do!” He could be polite with a few words, but if you really took it seriously and came knocking on his door—ah? I was just saying!
He was actually walked like a dog before!
As for the claim that Chu Zhu isn't the kind of spoiled rich kid... impossible, absolutely impossible!

Lin Youcai felt he could smell the arrogance Chu Zhu had displayed from two miles away!
(End of this chapter)