Bunker and Three Towers

A look of profound respect crossed the staff member's face as he immediately said:

"As expected of someone Officer Liu personally looks after—you truly think of the people at every moment."

Wen Xishu could tell that Officer Liu held no low rank within the Bunker.

A sudden doubt struck him:

"You do know who I am, right?"

The staff member's tone remained gentle as he replied:

"Although this is information with a certain level of confidentiality, I do know—you are the brother of the most heinous criminal in the Bunker's history."

"But what does that matter? There are no villains in this world. Villains are merely the byproducts of failed power struggles among those at the top."

"Perhaps your elder brother's crimes are monstrous, but since even Officer Liu Jinsen has stepped forward... I wouldn't be surprised if you became a hero someday."

Villains are merely the byproducts of failed power struggles among those in power.

This insight was so clear-eyed that it earned Wen Xishu's newfound respect.

From the man's demeanor, he was clearly a natural-born player in the political arena.

If this were his original world, this guy would definitely be a fellow from Shandong.

"What's your name?"

"Sha Ruijing."

"Good name. If this were Handong Province, someone would build a basketball court for you. Keep it up—you might even surpass Liu Jinsen's official luck."

"Haha, I wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare."

Sha Ruijing waved his hand with a laugh, unconcerned about where Handong Province was.

After all, the Second Young Master Wen was known for spouting plenty of crazy nonsense.

He quickly got down to business:

"Actually, climbing the tower is easy. The paperwork's already done, so you can go up anytime. You've never climbed a tower before, have you?"

As he spoke, Sha Ruijing pulled out a strangely designed watch.

A black leather strap, dotted with many tiny "holes," and a dial pattern that looked very much like the double helix structure of DNA, mostly black in color.

Wen Xishu noticed that on the dial of his own watch, there was also a black number: zero.

"This thing is called a Login Device—the tool for climbing the tower. It's managed by the Bunker's Birth Affairs Office and bound to your identity code."

"A Black Watch is for the Strange Tower, a Red Watch for the Slaughter Tower, and a White Watch for the Desire Tower."

Wen Xishu realized that these three colors matched the three dice in his mind.

His ability to accept things was strong, so he wasn't too surprised. He just asked:

"Through a teleporter? I thought... it would be some kind of lift, leaving the Bunker, and then entering one of the three massive towers?"

Sha Ruijing laughed:

"Hahaha... you're funny. The Bunker has no exit. We can't leave the Bunker at all."

This statement made Wen Xishu even more surprised:

"You mean the Bunker's exit is sealed off?"

"No, the Bunker simply has no exit."

Given the Second Young Master Wen's past symptoms, Sha Ruijing felt it was normal for him to ask any absurd or common-sense questions.

"The Bunker is completely sealed. There's a saying that the Bunker is alive."

"At first, the Bunker only had two layers: the Function Layer and the Residential Layer."

"But as humans kept exploring the Three Towers, the Bunker grew larger, with more Function Layers and more Residential Layers."

Wen Xishu fell silent. This world was even more unhinged than his own mind.

If the Bunker couldn't be left, then Wen Chaohua's words—"We will meet again outside the Bunker"—

took on a rather eerie quality.

He pressed on:

"Since you can't leave the Bunker, how did humans get inside it in the first place?"

Sha Ruijing shook his head:

"Who knows? Maybe you'll find the answer in the Three Towers Game."

"Some speculate that the essence of exploring the Three Towers is to move them—that the Bunker will keep growing larger and taller until... it reaches the surface."

Wen Xishu mulled over this idea. It seemed to have some logic.

He asked again:

"So you've never seen the sky? Are there plants and animals in the Bunker?"

Sha Ruijing's smile remained warm:

"Animals and plants are all in the Function Layer—the bunker even has a zoo."

"As for the sky and the sea, you can see both inside the Three Towers."

Wen Xishu recalled that Officer Liu had mentioned exploring the Three Towers could yield not just material rewards, but also technology or facility rewards.

So a zoo counted as some kind of facility?

He suddenly grew curious—could he bring back a Foot Bath Shop?

If he really could, and get foot bath services covered by Medical Insurance, he might even be able to run for Bunker Chief.

Wen Xishu's desire to ascend the tower surged. The foot bath part didn't matter—what mattered was contributing to the people.

Sha Ruijing steered the conversation back on track:

"Press the button next to that dial, and you'll enter the Three Towers World."

Wen Xishu nodded, then asked:

"Does that mean I'm not qualified to use a login device of another color?"

Sha Ruijing nodded, speaking quite gently:

"You're still under restricted status. You can only use the Black Login Device to go to the Strange Tower."

"Even for normal bunker citizens applying to switch towers, there's a minimum six-month interval."

"The total number of the three types of login devices combined equals the adult population of the bunker."

"But everyone wants to go to the Desire Tower, so the requirements to enter it keep getting stricter."

"Before, a vocational degree was enough. Now, even a bachelor's degree requires competing on physical fitness. Without a Big Handle, you're headed to the Tower of Slaughter."

Wen Xishu understood.

Among the Three Towers, the Desire Tower had the lowest survival difficulty.

And very likely, the process of challenging the Desire Tower wasn't painful at all—it was enjoyable.

That was why everyone wanted to become a Tower Ascender of the Desire Tower.

It was roughly equivalent to becoming... those people in his past life who had easy jobs but made good money.

Like that Qi Peijia who played games all day and never updated his novel.

Sha Ruijing added:

"Of course, as we discussed earlier, this world also has people with natural talent suited for the Desire Tower..."

"For those individuals, we can relax the requirements appropriately and let them enter the Desire Tower."

"To prevent people suited for the Desire Tower from dying in the Tower of Slaughter, or people suited for the Tower of Slaughter from indulging in the Desire Tower—"

"The bunker has established many institutions."

"The Three Towers Academy, the Three Towers Research Bureau, the Three Towers Game Allocation Office..."

"These institutions are all designed to systematically and objectively assign each person to the tower system that fits them."

"To prevent everyone from flocking to the Desire Tower."

Wen Xishu nodded. This system was very scientific:

"But the Strange Tower is an exception?"

Sha Ruijing said helplessly:

"To be honest, the monsters in the Strange Tower aren't actually stronger than those in the Tower of Slaughter."

"But the Strange Tower's specialty is being unreasonable. A lot of people who go in die for no clear reason."

"And high-level veterans from the Tower of Slaughter or the Desire Tower have to start from scratch if they enter the Strange Tower."

"So the higher-ups believe it's better to send newcomers to explore the Strange Tower, rather than reassigning veterans from the other two towers."

Wen Xishu fully agreed.

Losing rookies was certainly better than losing experts.

"In fact, exploring only the Tower of Slaughter and the Desire Tower could still meet the bunker's current survival needs."

"That's also why no one has ever explored the Strange Tower."

"But not long ago, the Three Towers Joint Exploration Conjecture was preliminarily confirmed, and all sorts of policy benefits for exploring the Strange Tower came rolling in."

Sha Ruijing stood up and patted Wen Xishu on the shoulder:

"Kid, keep it up! Seize this opportunity and come back alive!"

After completing the tower ascension procedures, Wen Xishu returned to the prison.

His identity was special—even in prison, he had a solitary cell.

The other inmates had no chance of contacting Wen Xishu.

Having asked everything he needed, Wen Xishu wasted no time and activated the Login Device directly.

The black wristband instantly tightened, his wrist feeling as though it were firmly gripped by something.

From the dense "holes" on the band, something extended and pierced into Wen Xishu's skin.

The double-helix pattern on the watch face began to spin, faster and faster.

Everything in Wen Xishu's vision grew blurry, accompanied by a certain trembling sensation.

He suddenly saw the vast world shattering—both spatially and temporally, the world was being cut into countless fragments.

Pieces from various points in time piled up layer upon layer, eventually stacking into three enormous towers.

Some of those fragmented scenes even felt... familiar to Wen Xishu, bearing a resemblance to his own world.

Then, information about ascending the towers appeared in Wen Xishu's mind.

[Welcome to the Three Towers Game.]

[Current maximum accessible floor: Floor Seven.]

[Account not yet registered. Please register with the Guide after completing your first task.]

Normally, at this point, the task introduction would follow, and he would be teleported to the Three Towers area.

But Wen Xishu had an extra step—

[Special item detected: "Madman's Dice."]

[Madman's Dice: A miraculous die that subverts the rules of the Three Towers. Once possessed, it exempts the holder from certain Three Towers restrictions, and depending on the combination of rolled points, it can unlock even more subversive privileges.]

[Roll?]

Finally, the familiar rhythm began. Yesterday, when I released the book, I hadn't planned on telling anyone—I thought I'd wait until today to change the contract status before letting you all know. But the readers still found out. Hahaha, awkward.