A Girl Dies Every Day in Her Dream Life 254

Chapter 254: Mysterious Records

Stepping through the hatch, Luo Xue was momentarily disoriented by what she saw.

In her memory, the battle of the Suspended High Tower was only a few months ago, but the tower before her now bore the marks of time.

Levels one, two, and three were the residences of the tower workers. Although also called “Tower People,” their lives weren’t much different from the Wastelanders, just a bit safer.

Besides not having to worry about natural disasters, the lives of the lower-level Tower People were similar to those of the Wastelanders, at least in the era Luo Xue remembered.

Therefore, after the Suspended High Tower crashed, the facilities on the first three levels were the first to be abandoned, filled with rusting metal and damp, reddish stains on the walls and floors.

These weren’t bloodstains, just the result of time and decay.

To avoid damaging the floor, Luo Xue and Su Yiyao flew, carefully exploring.

They didn’t stay on the lower levels and quickly reached the center of the tower ruins, where the gravity elevator was located.

Perhaps for the sake of the exhibition, the elevator had been renovated, practically reinstalled, so it was still operational.

After a moment of hesitation, Luo Xue pressed the button for the eighth level, where the Lingxi Laboratory was located.

Even if Ling Ling was still alive, she probably wouldn’t be in this tower, but there should be something she left behind in the laboratory.

Su Yiyao noticed Luo Xue’s preoccupation and realized that Ah Chou was thinking about someone from her past.

Although this thought brought some inexplicable emotions, Su Yiyao remained silent, following Luo Xue.

At the same time, the hatch of the High Tower ruins opened again, and a sneaky figure slipped in.

“Cough… damn, why would they choose this place… Forget it, just follow their orders, it should be fine.”

Thinking about the promise of joining the Tower Society, he felt energized. He could finally leave the lifeless Ancient Ruins Association.

The current Federation was very different from thirty cycles ago. Back then, the Federation represented the alliance of the Suspended High Towers, its power derived from their consensus.

If the towers disagreed, the Federation was just an empty shell.

But now, the Federation was a separate entity above the Suspended High Towers, with the authority to command them, the Federal Council holding the highest power.

This change was related to the great disaster years ago, brought about by the Sage.

Below the Federal Council were various departments, and below the departments were associations, then the lowest level: the Federal agents.

The Ancient Ruins Association belonged to the Department of History, responsible for managing historical ruins.

But since most ruins were worthless, it was a rather unimportant department.

Although nominally Federal agents, they were mostly just ticket sellers and tour guides… other places were fine, but Ground-Based Tower City 1 was a relic from three thousand years ago, no one wanted to visit it.

Joining the Ancient Ruins Association was practically exile, and being assigned to this place was no different from imprisonment. All the agents here wanted to escape.

The Tower Society was his chance.

It was a recently formed civilian organization, but its higher-ups were all powerful figures from the various Suspended High Towers.

Their goal wasn’t just to suppress the Ground-Based Tower Project, but also to expand the scale of the Suspended High Towers, increasing their influence.

Therefore, the Tower Society strongly advocated for the construction of more disaster engines, often clashing with the opposing Abandoned Tower Society, which claimed that the current number of Suspended High Towers had reached the limit, and further expansion would deplete the energy from natural disasters.

Of course, both societies’ main goal was to increase their influence within the Federation, so they both opposed the Great Sage’s Ground-Based Tower Project.

These two supposedly civilian organizations were both supported by the powerful figures of the Suspended High Towers, their benefits considerable… so many wanted to join them.

“Just secretly place this document in that laboratory, without anyone knowing, and you can join the Tower Society…”

The sneaky figure held a deliberately aged document. He didn’t recognize the words on it, and the Tower Society hadn’t told him its purpose.

But just following orders was enough, who could understand the thoughts of those big shots?

Thinking of this, he stealthily moved towards the gravity elevator, carefully avoiding the corroded floor, which took some time.

Tourists rarely came here, so only a portion of the floor had been repaired.

When he finally reached the elevator, he found the doors open.

“Strange…”

He entered and felt some residual warmth, as if it had been used recently.

“Could someone be here?”

He frowned slightly, then thought, besides the staff, who else could navigate this dangerous floor?

The floor had decayed to the point where it could collapse at any moment. There had been several accidents before, so most areas were sealed off.

Tourists weren’t allowed here, not because it wasn’t open to the public, but because it was too dangerous.

“It must be that A’Long sneaking around again…”

He gritted his teeth. Could A’Long also have a mission from the Tower Society or the Abandoned Tower Society?

Forget it, he would complete his mission first.

He pressed the button for the eighth level, where the Lingxi Laboratory was located.

The elevator slowly ascended, passing by three-thousand-year-old ruins, the dim silence like a descent into an abyss.

…

“Ding!”

The elevator arrived, and Luo Xue and Su Yiyao stepped out.

To Luo Xue, her time on the eighth level was just a few months ago, but the place looked completely different now.

Besides the marks of time, the entire eighth level had been renovated.

Previously, only a small part of it had been used as a laboratory, but now, every “honeycomb” room was filled with equipment and devices.

Luo Xue vaguely recognized a few rooms used for replicating the disaster engine, but she didn’t know the purpose of the others.

Luo Xue and Su Yiyao walked around, but couldn’t find the place Luo Xue had stayed before, so after a few circles, they returned to the elevator.

There were too many rooms here, filled with unfamiliar things. Even with her Divine Sense, Luo Xue couldn’t find any trace of Ling Ling.

Just as Luo Xue was feeling awkward, the gravity elevator activated again.

Su Yiyao instantly became alert.

“Ah Chou, someone’s coming!”

“Relax, this is a tourist attraction.” Luo Xue smiled wryly, then realized something. “Wait, didn’t the ticket seller say we couldn’t come to the Lingxi Laboratory?”

“Did he?” Su Yiyao tilted her head, not understanding the language here.

Luo Xue used her Divine Sense and saw that although the person in the elevator wasn’t the same ticket seller, he wore the same uniform.

It was too late to leave now, so Luo Xue pulled Su Yiyao aside, using a technique to conceal their presence.

Su Yiyao didn’t mind being pulled into Luo Xue’s embrace, listening to her heartbeat. Hiding wasn’t so bad…

“Ding!”

The elevator doors opened, and a sneaky figure emerged.

He looked around cautiously, making Luo Xue suspicious. Wasn’t he a staff member? Could it be that… he wasn’t here for them?

Seeing that no one was around, the sneaky figure seemed relieved, but he still moved quickly, heading towards a room that looked no different from the others.

Only a Federal agent from the Ancient Ruins Association could remember this complex layout and find Ling Ling’s office, which even Luo Xue couldn’t find.

Otherwise, how could the Tower Society entrust such a mission to a non-core member?

Luo Xue watched curiously as the figure took out a worn-out file and carefully placed it in a hidden compartment beside an abandoned lab table.

Then, he quickly left, returning to the elevator and disappearing.

After he left, Luo Xue undid the concealment technique, released Su Yiyao, and frowned slightly, looking in the direction he had gone.

“…Wasn’t he here for us?”

Su Yiyao leaned against Luo Xue, slightly disappointed that he left so quickly.

“I don’t think so…”

Luo Xue, puzzled, walked to the room, took out the file from the hidden compartment, then noticed a small mark on the lab table, her pupils constricting. She put down the file and looked at the mark.

Su Yiyao, drawn by Luo Xue’s reaction, saw that it was just a small, insignificant mark.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s Ling Ling’s…”

Luo Xue’s fingertips traced the bell-shaped mark, imagining little Ling Ling, standing on her tiptoes, clumsily carving this mark on the table.

Back in the settlement, everything was always piled together, and to distinguish their belongings, all the children would leave their own marks.

Luo Xue’s mark was a snowflake, and Ling Ling’s was a bell.

“Ling Ling…”

Su Yiyao felt a strong sense of unease.

Ah Chou seemed to be very close to this Ling Ling…

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Luo Xue wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and whispered, “Let’s see what this guy hid in Ling Ling’s lab…”

Ling Ling… wasn’t necessarily dead, perhaps she was just old, or retired, that’s all.

An Innate Realm expert could live for three hundred years. Perhaps only a hundred years had passed, and Ling Ling was still young, still small…

“Ah Chou, you seem… to be crying.”

Su Yiyao looked up at Luo Xue with concern.

Although she instinctively felt that Ling Ling was a threat, seeing Ah Chou’s heartache… Su Yiyao suddenly wanted Ling Ling to appear, to be with Ah Chou.

At least, Ah Chou wouldn’t be sad.

“It’s nothing.”

Luo Xue said softly and calmly opened the file.

She read its contents, her expression turning increasingly serious, then closed it.

“What does it say?” Su Yiyao asked worriedly, unable to read the language. “Is it about… Ling Ling?”

“Yes.” Luo Xue nodded slightly. “It’s her experiment record, but… it might not be real.”

In the record, Ling Ling, in a cold tone, documented the changes in an ordinary person after using an ability user potion, calling these changes “evolution.”

And what was even more terrifying was that at the end of the record, Ling Ling stated that her goal was to mass-produce controllable ability users.

This wasn’t something Ling Ling would do, at least not the Ling Ling Luo Xue knew. This was more like something Qualcomm would do.

Could Ling Ling have been influenced by Qualcomm? Had she taken the same path as him?

Luo Xue’s mind was in turmoil, her grip on the experiment record tightening.

After hearing Luo Xue’s recounting of the record, Su Yiyao pondered for a moment, then said,

“Ah Chou, this experiment record… must be fake.”