128: Chapter 128 Memories

The spirit mutton melted in their mouths, and the rich spiritual energy turned into a warm current that flowed down their esophagi, instantly coursing through their limbs and bones, bringing their taut nerves an unprecedented sense of relief.

"It's so delicious..."

Hila licked her lips, still craving more. A faint blush appeared on her originally pale cheeks. She felt a bit embarrassed, realizing her eating manners seemed somewhat unrefined, but she truly couldn't help it.

After eating and drinking their fill, led by a navigation robot, the two of them arrived at the laboratory on the first floor of the fortress.

The moment they entered, the smell of disinfectant rushed to meet them.

The laboratory was very spacious. Everywhere they looked, there were holographic screens flashing with data, rows upon rows of petri dishes, and several large pieces of equipment. Hila and Ivy had never seen such instruments before; the medical department of their Winged Tribe had no use for such high-end gear.

Luo Ning was wearing a lab coat, with holographic goggles perched on the bridge of her nose. She held a transparent vacuum blood collection tube and was looking at them with great interest.

"Are you full? Then let's begin."

Luo Ning patted the metal examination bed next to her and said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. The first step is very simple: draw some blood and do a full-body skeletal and meridian scan. Who wants to go first?"

Looking at the thick blood collection tube, Hila instinctively shrank back.

"I'll go first."

Ivy took a deep breath, blocked Hila behind her, and walked forward without hesitation to lie down on the cold metal bed.

She extended her fair arm, closed her eyes, and wore an expression of resolute resignation, as if she were waiting to be slaughtered.

"As long as it satisfies your research, I hope you will keep your promise and not harm Hila."

"Rest assured, we are legitimate scientific researchers. We believe in sustainable development and wouldn't do anything as shortsighted as draining the pond to catch the fish. Just put your heart at ease."

Luo Ning skillfully inserted the needle into Ivy's vein. Watching the bright red blood with specks of golden light flow into the collection tube, she couldn't help but lick her pink lips.

Hila, watching from the side, was terrified, thinking Luo Ning had a peculiar fetish for blood. Shen Xingyue noticed Hila's unease and comforted her softly, "Don't worry. Luo Ning is a bit crazy when she's experimenting, mainly because her SAN value is a bit low. She'll be fine once the experiment is done."

Hila nodded stiffly. As for why the SAN value was low, she didn't dare to ask.

...

In the central hall on the top floor of the fortress, Zhou An was sprawled ungracefully on a large leather sofa in a classic, lazy, slumped-over posture. He held a plate of potato chips freshly fried by Old Zhang, eating them with a loud "crunch, crunch."

On the massive holographic projection screen directly in front of him, a well-produced modern urban TV series was playing.

This was some entertainment he had bought with a few hundred units of basic supplies in the public chat system when he was bored.

And the producer of this show was none other than the current largest human faction—[Sky City].

Watching the actors on screen in neat, modern clothing, performing tales of love and hate against a city backdrop filled with steel and neon lights, Zhou An stuffed a potato chip into his mouth and couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

"City Lord Zhao Tianyu, that guy, he really has some tricks up his sleeve."

It had only been a year since entering the game. While most people were still struggling desperately for supplies, City Lord Zhao Tianyu had already used his iron fist and strength to build a small, modern city of considerable scale in the sky.

Zhou An would occasionally glance at the public channel. According to the humans who were attached to the Tianqing Guild, life inside Sky City was actually quite good.

City Lord Zhao Tianyu had not adopted that extremely stupid, bottomless exploitation model.

In Sky City, a strict rationing system and military control were implemented. As long as ordinary people were willing to work hard—tightening screws in factories or farming in the fields—their daily food and clothing were guaranteed. On their days off, they could even enjoy electricity, the internet, and mass-produced entertainment programs like this one.

In this doomsday world where human lives were as cheap as grass, having a steady meal to eat and a safe bed to sleep in was enough to make countless people feel grateful.

This stable order had even attracted many marginalized alien races who wanted to pay large sums of money to join Sky City and seek refuge. However, City Lord Zhao Tianyu was an absolute "human supremacist." To this day, he had not opened any channels for alien races to join, and the entire city maintained a pure human lineage.

Zhou An completely agreed with this point; he even found it hard to accept differences in skin color.

"If only I hadn't caused so much trouble back in District 997..."

Zhou An looked at the scenes of people living and working in peace on the screen, his eyes slightly unfocused.

If nothing had happened back then, he would probably be in Sky City right now, holding a high-level management position—even if not as Vice President, at least as something like a Department Head of Resources.

...

Two hours later.

"Click—" The automatic door of the hall slid open.

Shen Xingyue had taken off her iconic white lab coat and changed into loose, comfortable loungewear. She walked in, rubbing her sore neck.

"Are the data for the two little birds finished?" Zhou An asked without turning his head.

"Luo Ning is still extracting their feather fibers. The cell section part I was responsible for has already been fed into the analyzer; the rest is just waiting for the results."

Shen Xingyue walked over to the armchair next to Zhou An and sat down, letting out a long sigh.

She then pressed something on the armrest of the sofa. Accompanied by a slight mechanical whirring sound, two delicate mechanical arms extended from both sides of the sofa backrest.

The tips of the mechanical arms were wrapped in soft biomimetic silicone, precisely pressing on the acupoints of Shen Xingyue's shoulders and neck, beginning to knead at an incredibly comfortable frequency.

"Hoo..." Shen Xingyue narrowed her eyes in comfort, her entire body relaxing. With work set aside, she looked like a lazy little kitten, a faint smile hanging on the corners of her lips.

Then, she suddenly thought of something.

She turned her head to look at Zhou An, who was still eating potato chips, and pointed to the sofa he was sitting on: "Boss, don't just eat. These are the massage mechanical arms I just finished setting up with Luo Ning yesterday. I installed a set on the sofa in the hall while I was at it; I forgot to tell you. These mechanical arms can automatically adjust their pressure based on the tightness of muscle fibers. Want to try it?"

Zhou An raised an eyebrow, reached out to grope along the armrest of the sofa, and pressed the hidden start button.

"Hum—" Several specially modified mechanical arms extended silently, precisely locating the muscle groups on Zhou An's back and shoulders, and began a professional-grade massage. The pressure was just right, instantly dispelling the muscle soreness brought on by high-intensity strength training.

"You and Luo Ning really are a good match; you complement each other in many ways. You should research more instruments like this in the future so everyone can enjoy them."

Zhou An leaned back on the sofa comfortably and let out a long breath of stale air. The two of them lay there quietly on the sofa, enjoying the mechanical massage, with only the dialogue from the TV series on the holographic screen echoing in the spacious hall.

"Speaking of which..." Zhou An looked at the ceiling, casually finding a topic. "I've been back for a while now, and I've never heard you mention anything about your previous district."

Hearing Zhou An's question, Shen Xingyue slightly opened her closed eyes. A flash of complex emotion crossed her eyes, and her originally relaxed body couldn't help but tense up slightly.

"There's nothing worth mentioning; they're all just dead people." Shen Xingyue pushed up her glasses, her voice still calm, but it carried an unmistakable sense of desolation.

"I'm from the original District 995. When the one hundred districts merged, our district... only a few thousand people survived, I think."

"A few thousand?" Zhou An turned his head, somewhat surprised. "Was the difficulty of your district that high?" A survival rate of a few thousand was comparable to a cataclysm, only slightly better than those districts that were completely wiped out.

Shen Xingyue shook her head, a bitter, cold smile curling at the corners of her lips. "If it had just been a normal natural disaster, it would have been easier to handle. The biggest reason for our district's destruction wasn't a natural disaster, nor was it unknown creatures..."

"It was human-caused."

Shen Xingyue's thoughts drifted back to those memories of a few months ago, which were like purgatory.