Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Exchange

"You don't seem surprised that an alien creature is traveling with me," Cao Fusheng said softly.

Chu Wei smiled. "I don't know how you manage to live with it, but that isn't really a major issue in Sky Pillar. There are a very small number of controlled aliens there as well, though they are restrained with drugs to suppress their ferocity, and only a few can actually be brought under control. Not every alien creature can be mastered."

"The cost we paid to capture those creatures was also terribly high. But aliens are not without their limits. Even against a tide of a million corpses, there is still nothing to be done. Before communications were cut off, we received word that every means available to Headquarters had already been used."

"Whether it was a human-led breakout and sweep, or a joint sweep using aliens, gravity units, and the like, all of it failed. There was simply no way to carve a path out, so everyone retreated inward and barely survived by relying on the ever-dwindling holy light."

Cao Fusheng spread his hands helplessly. It seemed he had underestimated the level of technology inside Sky Pillar after all.

"Earlier, I saw on your badge that your bloodline was rated Class A. What does that mean?"

Chu Wei hesitated for a long time without answering. She looked at Cao Fusheng, her lips moving several times before she stopped herself.

"All right, if you truly can't say it, I won't force you." Cao Fusheng curved his lips and looked at her. Not saying it? That would not do.

But threats of that sort could not be spoken plainly; they had to be turned inside out. From Chu Wei's manner, he could tell she was not the kind of woman who would submit just because she was threatened.

For example, in the Waste Era, if you were to pick some woman at random and force yourself on her, some would probably just endure it. After all, no one knew how long they had left to live in the Waste Era; one stab of misery would hardly matter, and they might as well treat it as pleasure.

But there were also women with firm principles and boundaries. If you really threatened and coerced them, they would fight you to the death.

Even if Chu Wei was truly the second kind, Cao Fusheng had more than enough ways to get what he wanted from her mouth.

Chu Wei suddenly froze. Her bright eyes met Cao Fusheng's, and after a moment she said with a teasing smile, "For the sake of my personal safety, I think it's better to tell you. Besides, it's not some great secret. At least in Sky Pillar, everyone knows it."

"According to genetic research, every person's blood contains a certain degree of antibodies, drug resistance, and strengthening properties. For example, the higher the bloodline rank, the stronger the antibodies against viruses. Of course, strong antibodies don't mean you won't be infected; it only means the time before mutation will be longer."

"That's only one of the traits. The most important are drug resistance and strengthening. Sky Pillar has developed many medicines meant to enhance the human body. Ordinary people would die after using them, because their blood resistance is too low. That also means their physical abilities and life span are lower than those of people with higher bloodline ranks."

"For example, someone with an A-class bloodline like me, through specialized enhancement training, can punch through a wall and also operate a gravity unit. But people with lower bloodlines can't do that work. And the development of the brain is also closely related to bloodline, genes, and heredity."

Cao Fusheng cut in, "By your logic, survivors with low bloodlines are trash. Their brain development can't compare with those of high bloodlines, their physical development can't either, their mutation time is shorter, they can't even take the new drugs developed in the Waste Era, and they can't operate gravity units. The way you say it, they sound exactly like trash."

Chu Wei, however, nodded seriously. "Which is also why people with low bloodlines can only live in the lower tier, and why they can't intermarry with people from the upper tier. It's to preserve the purity of the bloodline."

Intermarry?

Really, what a civilized word.

"Let me ask you this: your A-class bloodline is considered high, right? I saw on your badge that you're from the upper tier."

Chu Wei said with visible pride, "Yes. B-class bloodlines are the threshold for living in the upper tier, and they also have the chance to enter it as officials or participate in certain matters. The highest is S-class bloodline. The currently known one is the Boss, but no one has ever seen him. At least I haven't. Maybe my rank isn't high enough."

Cao Fusheng sneered. "Since you say that person is the Boss, then what bloodline he has can be made up however he likes. Everyone still has to listen to her anyway. Pure nonsense."

Unexpectedly, Chu Wei did not refute him.

Cao Fusheng stood up and said flatly, "I'm sorry, but I can't agree to your request. I've changed my mind. Why should we go to such a dangerous place? And I still haven't figured out what you two are trying to do by going back to Z City when you know full well it's a death sentence."

Chu Wei shot to her feet, her face dark with anger. "You clearly agreed just now! Is going back on your word really that casual to you?"

Cao Fusheng laughed coldly. "I only said it wasn't impossible. I never said it was guaranteed. Miss Chu, can you not understand plain speech?"

"You!"

Zhao Cong exploded with anger and stepped sharply between Cao Fusheng and Chu Wei, roaring, "You're playing us for fools!"

"Both of you, you are the fish on the block, and I am the knife in the butcher's hand. At a time like this, you'd best stay calm, or I can't guarantee this friend of yours won't get hurt." Cao Fusheng looked down on Zhao Cong with utter contempt, not placing him in the least.

He bypassed Zhao Cong and leaned close to Chu Wei's ear. "If you want me to take you to Z City, that's fine, but..."

"Xiaowei! You can't agree to him!" Zhao Cong shouted.

Chu Wei's face flushed red, though not from embarrassment but from anger. "We don't want the gun anymore. We'll give it to you. Right now, I only ask that you let us leave here!"

"Have the two of you misunderstood something? I'm not so desperate that I'll jump on any woman I see. And you, to be honest, you're not bad-looking, but I don't think much of you. Let me make this clear: if you want me to take you to Z City, then stop beating around the bush."

"Tell me, what is your purpose in going to Z City? You know there are tigers in the mountain, and yet you still head straight for the mountain. Only a fool would do that, unless she had a reason she couldn't avoid."

Chu Wei clenched her fist and glared at Cao Fusheng, but did not speak a single word.

It seemed that compared with the matter of bloodlines, this question was even harder for her to answer.

"All right, then let me ask it this way: what do I get? What benefit do I gain by sending you to Z City? In these times, a free ride isn't so easy to come by." Cao Fusheng leaned back on the sofa, crossed one leg over the other, and looked lazily at Chu Wei.

She was the only one who could actually speak. As for Zhao Cong, he was entirely dependent on Chu Wei's expression.

"If... if there's a chance, I can introduce you to life inside Sky Pillar..." Chu Wei said through gritted teeth.

"Heh, did I hear that right? Are you teasing me? That Sky Pillar that's about to fall? I'm afraid even if you begged people to move in now, no one would go. What, not dying fast enough already?" Cao Fusheng scoffed at what he considered a grand joke, mocking this so-called benefit.

Han Shuqing's cool voice rang out. "You have to understand us. These days, who would work without a benefit? In the old era, people said there is no free lunch in this world. In the Waste Era, it's even more true. And you came to ask us for help without being forthright. At the very least, you should have the proper attitude when asking a favor."

After struggling for a while, Chu Wei finally made up her mind. "What if I exchange a secret with you? Right now, I really don't have anything of value on me."

Han Shuqing pinched Chu Wei's cheek and smiled. "No, you do. The most valuable thing a woman has is nothing more than her body."

"That one thing is absolutely not allowed! Under the survival laws of Sky Pillar, no one may engage in random pairings, much less have sex with anyone from outside Sky Pillar... otherwise I would be severely punished, and I would find it hard to continue living in Sky Pillar afterward."

It seemed the captain of this mobile strike group was highly averse to the idea of sleeping with someone.

"Fine, then tell me. What secret?" Cao Fusheng waved a hand, cutting off Han Shuqing, who was about to continue.