My setting is above yours!

Chapter 126 Idrila, who had long since died, and the unopened [Access Key] (6k)

Some of the decor was familiar, and the figures were extremely familiar.

Although it wasn't the familiar white robe with gold thread that belonged to nuns.

But even the white robes belonging to scholars, even these minor differences in details, cannot change the person's true appearance...

That serene appearance, the pearl earrings exactly as I remembered, and the soft blonde hair...

Even though Idrila had untied her braids and let her hair fall loose, giving her an elegant and intellectual air, making her look more like a scholar than a nun, and even the scars on her pale arms had completely disappeared—

But based on Ron's familiarity with Idrila, he could tell from her face that this was definitely the righteous nun he knew!

So... what's going on here?
Looking at everything in front of him, Ron was quite confused and his mind was full of bewilderment.

He had considered what he would face inside the tower—

A phantom of a god? A former Lv.5? An ancient superhuman who, relying on his status as a founding father of the Ideal City, still speaks harshly and makes things difficult for all those who come after him, even in his shadow form?
Ron had considered all these troubles.

But he never imagined... that he would reunite with Idrila in the pure silver mirror, in the pure white data tower.

He could understand why Idrila became a high-ranking extraordinary being... after all, Idrila had experienced a war at a young age and had become a Sequence Seven "Overseer"—

Ron has resolved the crisis that threatened to destroy her. If Idrila's life goes on smoothly without any further troubles, even if she ascends to godhood, Ron will only marvel at her good luck and skillful methods, without having any other thoughts...

But now, having actually met Idrila in the Ideal City, who was clearly a high-ranking superhuman and had lived for countless years, Ron was at a loss for words.

In the blink of an eye, Idrila has become a powerhouse of this level, while Ron is still only at the Sequence Seven level. If he were to expose his trans-era power and his weak strength in front of Idrila, how would he be treated?
...How should he treat Idrila? How should he get along with a friend who has been through thick and thin with him...a friend with whom he has shared countless years of life and death experiences?
For a moment, Ron couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

But after only a moment's thought, Ron's expression turned serious, and he made what he now considered the wisest choice—

'...How about I ask Idrila to be my sugar daddy and give me a Lv.5 [Prometheus] supervisor level to play with? Subordinate level would also be fine...'

'No, wait... What are you thinking, Ron? You're from Ideal City!'

'First, get Idrisla to give me an A-district residency permit! The hierarchy in our old Ideal City is incredibly complex; I have to show everyone that I, Ron, am also a high-ranking member of A-district, and I have powerful backers too!'

Countless thoughts raced through Ron's mind. He clicked his tongue, having already decided how, after gaining Idrila's support, he would bring back the Dragon King, make [Tian Ting Media] apologize for its previous actions, and make Wang Yi bleed money again.

Oh, you're asking why Ron doesn't seem to have any hesitation about how to deal with Idrila?
What a joke! If you hadn't seen your kind-hearted, life-and-death brother, your true family member, for many years, and found that he had become a high-ranking CEO, would your first thought be to suspect that he wanted to harm you?
If you don't ask the other side for a few million in pocket money, it means the relationship has faded!

Ron is now facing this situation—he knows that with Idrila's personality, her strong sense of justice, her willingness to repay kindness, it is obviously impossible for her to forget Ron's kindness.

So here's the question... How could Idrila possibly harm Ron, who had shown her such great kindness during the "Potion Era" and saved her from a deadly situation?

The only ending is one thing—

Idrila tries her best to make amends to Ron, only to find that she can never repay his kindness!
'I never imagined that the wonderful rewards for my helpfulness in the [Potion Era] would fall upon me so quickly…'

Ron thought to himself lightly as he walked easily to the table. Suddenly, a semi-transparent light screen appeared, seemingly trying to stop him—

But the light screen rippled and then blurred as if it had passed some kind of identity verification. Ron passed through it easily, as if he had passed through a gentle and unobstructed water curtain.

He didn't notice the fleeting, semi-transparent light curtain, but instead approached Idrila, who was fast asleep. Looking at her peaceful sleeping posture, Ron waited a moment, and after confirming there was no sign of her waking, gently nudged Idrila's shoulder and said:

"Alright, wake up first..."

But Ron's actions received no response whatsoever.

Idrisla remained lying there, her face serene and silent, as if she were still asleep.

Upon seeing this scene, Ron's expression stiffened slightly, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.

He nudged Idrila again, but this time the movement was much larger than before—

Let alone a high-ranking superhuman, even an ordinary person who had been asleep for three days and three nights would have opened their eyes and mumbled something after being pushed around like that...

But Idrisla still did not respond at all.

She was serene and silent, as if in a deep sleep...

But perhaps this state shouldn't be called a slumber.

Ron released his grip, his expression slightly somber, savoring the cool touch he had just felt. He reached out and paused briefly on Idrila's nose.

All I could feel was coldness; there was not a trace of warm breath.

Perhaps this is just a data space, where everything is just a cold data simulation, devoid of breath, warmth, and vitality—which is to be expected.

But Ron tugged at his cheek, feeling the burning pain and swelling from the pinch, and the uneven breathing in his chest. Ron simply couldn't deceive himself—

Even in places like this, people are still alive.

Therefore, Idrila, who had lost all vital signs, was clearly already dead.

The serene girl now slumped over the table... is nothing more than a cold corpse.

After all, when he first arrived at the Mirror Tower, 404 had told him that the shadows in the mirrors were very likely the life forms that had entered them.

The shadow of that deity's activity is also reflected in the mirror, and is clearly alive, proving that the state of these people in the mirror must be linked to their own state—

Idris's icy and silent demeanor...

Most likely, they have already passed away.

why?
Ron frowned, his expression grim.

The deity reflected in the square mirror atop the Tower of Mirrors is still alive, though not in good condition. He is clearly an old monster who survived the "Potion Era" to reach the Ideal City...

Why didn't Idrila, who was also such an old monster, truly survive?
Was it because Idrila did not become a god, or was it for some other reason?
What rank did she actually advance to? If she's already dead, why is her body still intact...? Her extraordinary abilities should have been released long ago, destroying the body!

Looking at Idrila, who had died peacefully many years ago and looked as serene as if she had just fallen asleep, Ron had many thoughts, but in the end, he could not find an answer to any of them.

His face was grim, and he could only tentatively deduce a not-so-good possibility—

The cause of Idrila's death is unclear, but her body may be quite important to Ideal City after her passing.

Just as 404 said—within the Tower of Mirrors, the shadows reflected in the mirrors are the processing units of the Central Intelligence…

The departed Idrila is testing the holders of supervisory authority within the [Prometheus] sector, perhaps precisely because she is the core computing unit of [Prometheus] itself...

There's a reason why the extraordinary characteristics weren't extracted—after all, how could a broken corpse that has extracted extraordinary characteristics be qualified to become the core computing unit of the AI ​​sector?
'Even the remains have become part of the AI...'

Ron felt a heavy weight in his heart. He looked at the huge desk in front of him and carefully examined the draft papers filled with dense mathematical symbols.

Soon, he noticed that the words on the draft paper had changed.

The densely packed, disordered symbols were arranged into sentences. Although Ron couldn't understand the meaning of these symbols at all, a concept of understanding inexplicably arose in his mind—

"【Application Form for Knowledge-Seeking Experiment [FTL Technology]】...?"

Ron frowned, picked up the papers and looked at them briefly. He found that most of the papers were blank at the bottom, with only a few having names written in Common Tongue in the bottom corner.

Ron didn't recognize most of them, but one name he was quite familiar with... it was Duncan.

'So, the Knowledge-Seeking Experiment requires you to write your name on this to apply…'

Ron picked up a pen from the table, the nib touching a blank application form, ready to write his name.

But after hesitating for a moment, he put down his pen for the time being.

The anticipated obstacles and disapproval did not materialize at all; Ron was able to accept the [Experiment of Knowledge] simply by writing his name—but he did not want to do so for the time being.

After all, he wasn't sure if he would be able to access other sectors after accepting the [Knowledge Experiment]... He wanted to check the administrator databases of other sectors now!
Currently, the ideal city doesn't just have one empty spot for Prometheus; there are also two vacant spots for Zeus and Hermes...

He had to check the master databases of those two sectors to see what was going on there!
Is Idrisla's condition... unique and special?

'Are they... in the same situation as Idrisla right now?'

Ron pondered for a moment, then walked out without hesitation. Soon his consciousness returned to his body, and he left the main database of [Prometheus].

"You're out? Wait, you don't have the necessary permissions... You couldn't accept Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge?"

Looking at Ron, 404 frowned slightly:

"That database manager disapproves of you so much? What did you do to offend him like this?"

“No…it was my own fault for not accepting the [Experiment of Knowledge].” Ron hesitated, but couldn’t help asking:

"But Principal... there's only one corpse in the [Prometheus]'s database. How can there be a distinction between recognized and unrecognized corpses?"

Upon hearing this, 404 shrugged, as if he had expected it:

“I knew you were curious about the corpses in the supervisor’s database… I used to be the same way.”

"But I must tell you that even though the entity in the supervisory database is long dead, it still left behind remnants of knowledge to filter out newcomers."

"The moment you are able to apply for the [Knowledge Experiment] from the supervisor's database in various ways, you have already passed His test..."

At this point, 404 seems a bit curious:

"If I remember correctly, Prometheus's 'Experiment of Knowledge Application Form' was a draft paper, right?"

"I heard that all the superpowered individuals who applied for the 'Experiment of Knowledge' in 'Prometheus' felt immense pressure just trying to get close to that table with the draft paper, let alone write their names on that draft paper..."

"If it's not approved, there won't even be any paper or pen on that table. When Deng applied for the [Knowledge Experiment], it's said that he bit his finger and wrote on a piece of paper with his blood..."

"Didn't you feel any obstacles?"

Obstacle?

The table was covered with application forms, and a pen was placed right in front of me. I could write my name on any application form whenever I wanted... What obstacles were there?
Ron shook his head and said:

"There are no obstacles..."

Upon hearing this, 404 couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion in his voice:
"Then it seems He really approves of you..."

'Does one retain recognition after death...?'

Ron felt a heavy weight on his heart, his thoughts somewhat complicated.

But he quickly came to his senses, remembering what he was supposed to do, and mentally prepared a draft before asking:
"Hmm... I wonder if I could access the supervisor database for other sectors?"

"Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge is still a bit too difficult upon closer inspection... If possible, I'd like to learn about the Experiments of Knowledge in other sectors."

Hearing Ron's casual lie, 404 nodded in relief and casually summoned another silver-white round mirror.

The difficulty of Prometheus's experiment is well known, and it's truly incomprehensible that Ron persisted in it so relentlessly.

It's not too late for them to realize their mistakes and turn back now...

Thinking this to himself, 404 pointed to the newly acquired small silver mirror and said:
"This is the main database of [Zeus] - apart from [Zeus] and [Prometheus], ​​the main databases of the other ten AI sectors are inaccessible."

'None of them are accessible? That's not right... Didn't they say that besides Zeus and Prometheus, there was also a Hermes sector that didn't have a Lv.5 level?'

Ron frowned slightly, a hint of doubt in his mind.

Seemingly sensing Ron's question, 404 smiled and said:
"Is it true that there's no such thing as a Level 5 Hermes anymore? Don't doubt it... Although Hermes doesn't have a Level 5, its supervisory authority is very special, and it doesn't need to complete the 'Exploration Experiment'."

"After all...theoretically speaking, Hermes's experiment in seeking knowledge was already completely completed the moment the Ideal City was first built..."

"Its supervisory authority is only qualified to be exercised by the head of the think tank."

'Such a thing actually happens... Perhaps this is one of the secrets of Ideal City...'

Ron pondered this matter, carefully noting it down. Then, without hesitation, he accessed the new silver-white mirror and connected to Zeus's main database—

The next moment, he saw the surging waves.

Unlike the tranquil and gentle Prometheus, Zeus's master database was filled with raging winds and torrential rain, with a fierce storm surging forth, seemingly intent on engulfing Ron.

He was standing on a very rugged path at the edge of a cliff. At the end of the path was a huge cross, and a slender figure was bound to it.

Ron braved the storm and walked forward. As he got closer, he finally saw what was going on.

The gilded cross shone brightly, transforming into thorny chains that tightly bound a witch with a pointed hat and a slightly chubby appearance.

Even though she was bound and pierced by thorns and was clearly uncomfortable, she still showed a peaceful sleeping face similar to Idrisla's.

Clearly... she was also a high-ranking superhuman, long dead, but for some reason trapped in the mirror, becoming the computing unit of the [Zeus] sector.

Ron looked at the witch before him and saw several soaked spellbooks scattered beneath the cross that bound her. One of them was slightly ajar in the pouring rain, revealing writing that Ron couldn't understand but could comprehend—

[Application Form for the Knowledge-Seeking Experiment [Historical Cycle]]

But Ron had barely seen his name on the application form when he could no longer withstand the onslaught of the storm and was swept off the cliff, plunging into the sea—

The next moment, he snapped back to reality as if waking up, realizing that his consciousness had returned to his body, and understood:
'So this is what it feels like to be rejected…'

'But why doesn't that witch approve of me? What did I do that caused her to reject me?'

After pondering for a moment, Ron finally gave up on the idea.

After all, whether or not he would be recognized by the beings within Zeus was not important to him; he never intended to accept the experiment of seeking knowledge within Zeus.

He just wanted to know if the status of the processing units in the other supervisory databases was consistent with Idrila's...

And now, the witch bound to the cross proves that this state of death is actually their normal condition.

'After that, I need to find a way to change the course of events in the [Potion Era], so that Idrila doesn't die because she became such a high-ranking being...'

Thinking this, Ron couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Meanwhile, seeing Ron's pale face, 404 also sighed:

"It seems that the being within [Zeus] doesn't quite approve of you..."

She shook her head, returned the silver mirror of Zeus to its place, and then pushed the silver mirror of Prometheus in front of Ron:
"Now, you only have the Prometheus Experiment for Knowledge left to choose from."

Ron nodded and entered the main database of [Prometheus] once again.

'I don't know what happened that led Idrila to this end...'

Ron looked deeply at Idrila, who was slumped over the table, and with a complicated expression, picked up a piece of draft paper and wrote his name in a flamboyant style with a fountain pen that had somehow been opened on the table.

The next moment, a sudden gust of wind arose, swirling countless draft papers into the vortex, tearing and transforming them...

The pearl earring that Idrila wore on her earlobe inexplicably fell off and was also caught in the whirlwind.

"This is……?"

Ron frowned, watching as everything within the whirlwind became murky, then suddenly became clear and shimmering...

Finally, a small, silvery-white mirror fell from it and gently floated into Ron's hand.

Ron glanced instinctively at the silver mirror, which reflected the pure white tower and Idrila sleeping within it, her face reflected in the tower's windows.

But all of this was locked away by illusory chains, making the reflection in the mirror appear hazy.

'What...is this?'

Why is there such a silver mirror reflecting this white pagoda...? Will other applicants for the "Knowledge Experiment" also receive this mirror?

Ron frowned, took the silver mirror with a puzzled look, and left the supervisor's database.

He came to his senses and found that a silver mirror was also reflected in his hand. It quickly transformed from an illusion into reality, becoming the image in the database, and fell into Ron's hands.

Upon seeing the silver mirror and the white tower reflected in it, 404 froze, his eyes widening in astonishment—a look Ron had never seen before.

"【Access Key】?! You just applied and already completed the 【Knowledge Experiment】? Are you kidding me?!"

But soon, upon seeing the chains on the silver mirror, 404 breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression calmed down considerably.

However, as she looked at Ron, her expression was complex, tinged with a hint of envy:

"Even though the [Knowledge Experiment] isn't finished yet, I've already obtained an unopened [Access Key]—"

"Just how much does that being within Prometheus truly favor you?!"

(End of this chapter)