This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 224 Questions and Exchanges

The underground city of Pingdu is not dark or cramped.

Nie Weiyang spent half a month traversing its relatively superficial area, and what he saw was more like a modular honeycomb shrouded by a huge dome.

Built by combining natural caves with man-made excavations, it is completely different from the former Pingdu and fully demonstrates the radical talents of some young designers.

The sunlight was plentiful, and the air circulation system, imbued with wind magic, operated continuously, bringing fresh air. The main passage was wide enough to allow large vehicles to pass side by side, and the overhead rock walls were smoothly cut to ensure that no rock would suddenly fall down.

The streets are lined with dense residential units and official shops with various functions.

The residential units are mostly built using standardized modules, resulting in a neat and uniform appearance. They often have nameplates and some personalized decorations hanging at the entrance.

The shops are diverse, ranging from convenience stores selling synthetic foods, daily necessities, and simple weapons to clinics with quaint signs and the aroma of herbs, and even workshops that assemble strange devices from discarded parts, where craftsmen work and sparks fly everywhere.

The crowds were dense.

Workers in uniforms hurried by, housewives haggled over prices with baskets in hand, and professionals with distinct occupational characteristics and faint energy fluctuations moved among them; many children chased and played on the sidewalk, their laughter sounding particularly loud in the relatively enclosed space, as if the apocalypse had never come.

Everything here appears orderly and even has a strange sense of prosperity.

But Nie Weiyang could clearly sense the tension beneath.

The patrolling squads moved frequently, their sharp eyes scanning everyone who passed by. Checkpoints were set up at key intersections and facility entrances, requiring identification or rapid energy checks. Slogans emphasizing discipline, contribution, and vigilance were displayed throughout the walls.

Resource management is reflected in the details: drinking water needs to be obtained according to quotas, and the same goes for food; fresh fruits and vegetables are rare luxuries and are expensive.

People's lives seem to have completely changed, yet it also seems that nothing has changed.

Nie Weiyang, like a silent ghost, wandered outside the crowd.

His exceptional charm prevented him from being off-putting, but his inhumanly red eyes made most people instinctively hesitant to approach and strike up a conversation, instead just curiously glancing at this unfamiliar face.

He saw generator sets utilizing geothermal energy and magical reactions, a pipeline system drawing water from the lower levels, a waste processing plant, and an ecological experimental zone where researchers were studying how to use fluorescent moss and special crystals for lighting to reduce energy consumption.

The city above ground and the city below ground are like a giant beehive, embodying the wisdom and resilience of humanity in the face of adversity, and tenaciously maintaining the survival and development of millions of people.

His observations over the past two weeks have given him a more direct understanding of the current situation in Pingdu.

The information and technology he brought made this place even better.

In the initial stages of his observation, he was standing on a relatively open circular platform, looking down at the bustling crowds several levels below. A well-dressed and capable government official approached him and respectfully handed him a document.

"Mr. Nie, this is a list of rare items compiled for you. Your superiors have instructed that you can ask for anything you need directly."

Nie Weiyang took the not-too-thick list and quickly scanned it. It listed some items with strange names and unknown effects, most of which were excavated from various dungeons or ruins.

His finger lightly tapped across the list, eventually stopping at one of the pages.

"This will do," he said calmly. "I don't need anything else, thank you."

The government official noted down the number and said without hesitation, "Okay, we'll arrange it for you right away."

Soon, a box containing a strange object was handed to him. His lack of material desires was both reassuring and perplexing.

What does he want?
For the past two weeks, no one has asked him this question.

Nie Weiyang lived an unusually peaceful life. He never stepped out of this giant city, as if the mind-reading abilities he possessed had no effect on him. This state was like that of a machine, causing those secretly observing him to speculate and have many complex emotions—was he human? Or some kind of more mysterious being?
It wasn't that no one suggested using other mind readers to probe his true intentions, but this suggestion was firmly rejected by the higher-ups.

The reason is simple yet cruel: within the current known scope, there is no mind reader whose mental strength surpasses his. Any attempt would be tantamount to actively handing over information to his own side, and could very likely trigger unpredictable reactions.

However, Nie Weiyang was not idle during these two weeks. He gradually and selectively submitted and supplemented a large amount of information to Pingdu, some of which is now known to people.

The internal structure and true beliefs of some cult organizations, the specific coordinates and activation methods of the pre-civilization server buried underground in Zhongzhou, and even the geographical coordinates he obtained from his heart... and so on.

When the scholars heard the coordinates, they immediately realized that it pointed to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.

A collective gasp filled the conference room as the scholars exchanged bewildered glances.

They have always had doubts about this planet's landscape, which is remarkably similar to Earth's. And now, they have raised that question.

"Because the planet's environment has been systematically modified," Nie Weiyang explained.

This is the first time he has entrusted this deeply hidden secret to a large and capable group.

“There is a vast system that manages and maintains the environment of this planet… Many of you have seen a part of it: [Dream Eater].

The meeting room erupted in chaos, the clamor almost lifting the roof off. But soon, the scholars grasped the key point.

"How can it maintain its operation over such a long timescale without the terrain being completely destroyed?" an elderly professor with gray hair asked astutely, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.

Nie Wei met his gaze and uttered two words that were enough to overturn ordinary people's understanding:

"Rewind."

Dead silence.

What followed was an even more intense intellectual storm. The scholars realized almost instantly the terrifying implications behind those two words and the countless conjectures that urgently needed to be verified.

"Rollback? There must be an execution standard for it."

Another, younger scholar suddenly stood up, his voice trembling slightly: "Dream Eater appeared during the Blood Moon Ascent event. If Dream Eater is part of the planetary management system, then... the identity, stance, and true purpose of the Blood Moon Ascent event may be completely different from our previous speculations! Mr. Nie, Dream Eater is a creation of a pre-civilization, isn't it?"

“Yes,” Nie Weiyang affirmed, “but I don’t know which civilization it is a remnant of.”

He did not hide this fact. Scholars had also learned from other sources—such as information from copies of the Chaos Sanctuary—that this planet had been home to more than one civilization.

“Comrade Nie,” the old professor adjusted his glasses, his tone becoming extremely serious, “how did you obtain this crucial information? What is its source?”

All eyes were once again focused on Nie Weiyang.

Nie Weiyang remained expressionless, his tone confident and even calm, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"From Administrator Number Two".

This isn't a lie. Much of the information here was indeed obtained by him as the second administrator.

The scholars fell into deep thought, exchanging opinions in hushed tones: "It was said before that Administrator Number Two attempted to link to the Vault node... and the Vault and the Dream Eater are both creations of the previous civilization, or rather, both are closely related to the previous civilization... Could they belong to the same large system? A massive 'planet management and defense system'?"
"Hmm... So, the identity of Administrator Number Two is... the administrator of the Vault Network? Or... a higher-level... planetary administrator?"

Nie Weiyang listened to their speculations, blinked, and neither admitted nor refuted them.

Scholars' speculations have come very close to part of the truth, but they lack the crucial piece of the puzzle, the 'Homo sapiens mind,' so they cannot know the whole picture.

Knowing the full truth at this moment would be of no benefit to them, and he did not intend to reveal it all now—it's better not to take a leap into the mind and spirit, otherwise it will explode.

The discussion paused for a moment, and a staff member poured him a cup of hot tea. Amidst the fragrant aroma, the elderly professor, on behalf of everyone, asked the question that had been lingering for so long:
“Comrade Nie Weiyang,” he said earnestly, “we have another question. How exactly did you and ‘Administrator Number Two’ meet? What kind of relationship do you have?”

Nie Weiyang raised his eyes through the hot mist.

This question has finally come to light.

(End of this chapter)