Chapter 150: In Return for Your Favor

"Excuse me, could you please tell me where the decontamination and incineration department is located?" Cao Fusheng asked with a smile, looking at the receptionist at the service desk.

On every floor of the service department, the offices were typically managed by four staff members—two men and two women—working in shifts.

A young woman wearing a blue uniform with the service department's ID badge pinned to her chest wrinkled her cute, upturned nose and asked, "What do you need the incineration department for? Unauthorized personnel are not allowed over there."

Consequently, Cao Fusheng trotted out his prepared explanation, but the girl seemed unimpressed. She explained, "No, we have strict regulations here, and I cannot break them. Why don't you leave the items here, and I'll ask someone from the incineration department to burn them later?"

That naturally would not do; if someone else did it, it would lose all meaning.

Gao Yi was the first to show his dissatisfaction. "If your loved one passed away, would you ask a complete stranger to burn offerings for them? What kind of sense does that make?"

"But... I don't have any family."

"I..."

That single sentence left Gao Yi completely speechless. He stared with wide eyes, having no idea how to rebut.

"Could you please make an exception? I know that laws and regulations are extremely strict within Sky Pillar. For safety reasons, carrying fire sources is prohibited, and destroying items privately is strictly forbidden. However, the significance of this matter is truly important to us. To put it bluntly, he was a hero of Sky Pillar; it was precisely because of his sacrifice that a glimmer of survival was carved out for Sky Pillar." Cao Fusheng spoke earnestly, showing not a trace of impatience.

After all, these people were just doing their jobs by the book. If you shouted and argued with them, you would only lose your dignity and come across as unreasonable.

Sure enough, the girl hesitated. Looking rather conflicted, she said, "Team Leader Cao, I recognize you. I watched the live broadcast outside yesterday, and I know who that brother you mentioned is. His heroic feat shocked us all... and we deeply regret his sacrifice... But I'm just a lowly clerk, and I really don't have the authority to do this. How about you ask our department head for approval? The incineration department happens to directly report to our department. If the head gives personal permission, there shouldn't be any problem."

Cao Fusheng fell silent. What she said made sense, and he couldn't generate any ill will toward a girl who was gentle, naive, polite, and law-abiding.

If she hadn't maintained this attitude and had been even slightly arrogant or callous, Cao Fusheng wouldn't have found it so difficult; he would have simply given her a piece of his mind.

Originally, Cao Fusheng considered this matter to be as trivial as a sesame seed, completely unnecessary to disturb Ruan Luoluo or other high-ranking officials. But he had overlooked where they were.

In an ordinary settlement, a residential area from the old era, or even some alleyway, if you wanted to burn something, you just burned it. Who would care if you had a fire source on you?

But inside Sky Pillar, that simply would not fly.

***

"Is something the matter?"

Just as Cao Fusheng was contemplating contacting Ruan Luoluo, a robust, full-voiced male came from nearby. He looked up and saw Bian Qiu approaching.

Bian Qiu was drenched in sweat and wore a tight singlet, exposing his powerful, well-built muscles without reservation—his masculine aura was enough to mesmerize certain women.

Although Bian Qiu's scars were ghastly, and a head injury had left certain patches devoid of hair, overall he cut the figure of a thoroughly charismatic and rugged middle-aged man.

"Department Head Bian!"

The receptionist turned pale with panic, hurriedly offering a greeting before instantly dropping her gaze, not daring to meet Bian Qiu's eyes.

"Ah, hello to you too. What brings Team Leader Cao to the 389th floor? To try out our gym? Or just strolling around and shopping?" Bian Qiu's attention was entirely focused on Cao Fusheng, occasionally using a towel to wipe the sweat from his face and neck.

The receptionist hastily explained the situation.

"Oh, is that so? Let them go ahead. Do you have a fire source on you? If not, provide them with one," Bian Qiu said with a sudden realization, looking at Cao Fusheng with a slightly different expression.

Cao Fusheng naturally had fire sources on him, but to avoid suspicion, he put on a show of accepting one from the service personnel and prepared to leave under her guidance.

"Team Leader Cao Fusheng, what kind of things are you going to burn? Could you tell me specifically?" Bian Qiu asked.

Although he was the commander-in-chief of the combat forces and had nothing to do with the service department, no one in Sky Pillar dared to mess with Big Boss Qiu; his authority was obvious to all.

A single word from him, and even the people in the service department had to obey.

Cao Fusheng lifted a large black bag from Gao Yi's grip, gently placed it on the floor, and gave Bian Qiu a meaningful look.

Before Bian Qiu could move, the female receptionist nearby proactively stepped forward and opened the bag. When she clearly saw the items inside, she instantly covered her small mouth in shock.

"This... these are all electronic products! Tablets, laptops, and smartphones from the old era! Good lord! I haven't used things like these in ages!"

The young woman's face flushed with excitement and regret, while also turning somewhat pale.

***

Such items were considered valuables within Sky Pillar, the kind that had to be confiscated, and exchanging for them required a hefty amount of contribution points.

Given her status as an upper citizen and clerk, she still hadn't saved up enough points to exchange for electronic products.

Mainly because her monthly expenses were spent on daily living, cosmetics, and entertainment, leaving her with virtually nothing.

That was already considered luxurious for an upper citizen and clerk. Did lower citizens even dream of buying cosmetics and entertainment? Maintaining three meals a day was a struggle, and even then, they could only guarantee eating meat twice a month.

Therefore, when she saw this large bag full of electronic products, she was dumbfounded, looking back and forth between Cao Fusheng and Bian Qiu, truly not knowing what to say.

Hiding items instead of turning them in and privately destroying valuables—any one of these actions was a major taboo.

Bian Qiu cracked a smile, a somewhat eerie grin, and said, "Do you know that in Sky Pillar, concealing items and destroying them are both punishable offenses? Furthermore, a large bag of stuff like this is enough to get you sentenced to exile or death."

Cao Fusheng was well aware of this. When Gao Yi had introduced Sky Pillar to him initially, he mentioned that confiscated items were classified as either mandatory or voluntary surrenders based on importance.

However, ever since reading that handbook, Cao Fusheng knew there was no such thing as voluntary; everything had to be handed over.

When Bian Qiu asked to inspect the items, he couldn't refuse because Bian Qiu would have looked anyway, and refusing would have been useless, only serving to escalate conflict.

After all, this concerned the safety of many people. What if someone was going to burn a homemade bomb?

These were things Bian Qiu had to consider.

Cao Fusheng did not refute him, merely saying softly, "My brother, Shen Dong, loved these gadgets more than anything else when he was alive. We journeyed against the current all the way to Sky Pillar, and he collected these along the way. He was always thinking that once we entered Sky Pillar, these things might actually come in handy. We previously guessed there would be signals inside Sky Pillar, and that guess turned out to be true—the signal is here, but he is gone."

"This is the regret he failed to fulfill, and it's the only thing we can do for him now. So no matter what, since you, Department Head Bian, gave the nod today, I will accept this favor."

Bian Qiu remained silent for a long time, then waved his hand with a sense of listlessness and turned to leave, his retreating figure appearing slightly lonely.