Gravity Manipulation

"But common sense tells me that biological humans are a bunch of defective man-made products, fit at best to be toys for the rich. If they really had the same minds and bodies as ordinary people, the Biology Institute would have started preparing to monopolize the entire underground's cheap labor force long ago!"

The deputy police chief stared intently into Bai Qiulin's eyes. Bai Qiulin merely answered unhurriedly.

"That is indeed common sense. But the Biology Institute has been researching how to create humans for over a hundred years. The occasional surprising exception is bound to appear."

"I looked through the company's internal records. This biological human, codenamed Liang Xincheng, was a gift the first chairman once brought to this city from the Central District. If he were just an ordinary biological human, I can't imagine why the first chairman brought him here, or why the company spent resources researching him for nearly twenty years."

As he spoke, he turned to meet the deputy police chief's gaze and asked with an almost-smile.

"Have you visited the scene of the deaths at the mine, Officer?"

The deputy police chief didn't answer directly.

"There was nothing unusual about the cause of death for those two foremen. They were both killed with a single strike from a cafeteria knife."

"The cause of death was certainly unremarkable, but before they died, those two foremen had been planning to kill someone."

Bai Qiulin shook his head indifferently at the deputy police chief's answer. It was obvious he hadn't personally visited the mine.

"Two adults armed with weapons, who regularly did physical labor. Whether they were in good health or not, they must have been strong. Yet a biological human killed them both with a cafeteria knife, taking each down with a single strike. Doesn't that tell you something?"

The deputy police chief fell into thought. He looked at Foreman Xie's corpse, its eyes still open, and the dried blood on the ground, marked with obvious drag trails. Now, he too sensed that there was something unusual about the killer.

By then, Bai Qiulin seemed to have lost interest in staying. He headed toward the door, looking bored.

"I suggest you report this to your superior as soon as you see him. Have him revise the Police Department's assessment of that biological human. Otherwise... who knows if he'll become more and more troublesome?"

His last words were somewhat cryptic, but before the deputy police chief could turn and ask what he meant, Bai Qiulin had already left the foreman's office.

The Coal Mine Field remained shrouded in dust, with machines roaring and laborers shouting without pause.

Even with unusual figures involved in the two murders, capital wouldn't stop pursuing profit.

Bai Qiulin climbed into the company's SUV, which had been assigned to him for his use. After settling into the back seat, he closed his eyes to rest and spoke to the driver up front.

"Send today's report straight to the manager. Also, apply to the manager for another sum of money, to be donated in my name to the Twilight Church's itinerant priest, in gratitude for last night's explanation of the doctrine."

The driver seemed hesitant.

"Going over the department head's head like that, isn't—"

Bai Qiulin opened his eyes and looked at him with a smile.

"If you don't do as I say, I'll report you to the manager. Of course, once you've done as I say, you can report me to the department head. It's your choice—which one do you want?"

Afterglow District, Labor District 2.

At a shabby barbershop, two generous customers pulled out their wallets and paid to rent the entire shop for the night, just as the owner was about to close up and go home.

The owner's eyes went wide. After accepting the thick stack of cash, he immediately handed the keys to the young man with the utmost respect and promised that he could use anything in the shop. Even if the place had nothing left but a door when the owner came back the next day, he wouldn't complain!

After locking the shop door and drawing all the curtains, Feng Zi sat in a chair, idly spinning around as she watched Li Wei bustle about, seemingly mixing different shades of hair dye.

"Isn't my hair already dyed green? Why go to all this trouble?"

Li Wei mixed the dye with practiced skill. Back in college, he'd spent some time doing odd jobs at a relative's barbershop in his hometown, so he had a bit of experience.

"The cops have definitely already investigated what happened at the Coal Mine Field. Your half-white, half-green hair must be on their list for close inspection. You need to change not just the color but the style, too. When I rented the shop, I found out the owner has some shady side businesses. He should have some useful stuff stashed here. It might help us out."

As he spoke, Li Wei pinned down Feng Zi, who was still spinning around in her chair, and smeared the bowl of mixed dye all over her hair.

Frowning at her reflection in the mirror, Feng Zi kicked the table leg repeatedly, trying not to think about the harmful chemicals in the dye.

"I also saw you asking other people about things on the way here. You even paid them!"

She put particular emphasis on the word "paid."

"We need a plausible identity to get into the Church. Those traditional forged identities won't work, so I asked around and found some other reliable channels. By tomorrow, we can become the son and daughter of a widow in Community No. 9. We'll have identity cards and genuine life records, and all the laborers on the next street in that community will be our old neighbors who watched us grow up!"

Feng Zi's eyes widened. Her attention was no longer on her hair, which was steadily turning black.

"How did you find a channel like that?"

Li Wei smiled faintly.

"With money, anything can be done, and anything can be found out. Besides, people in this community need money even more."

Feng Zi couldn't help pouting. It wasn't that she doubted Li Wei's words. She was just a little jealous that she didn't even have as much money as he did.

But she knew where Li Wei's money came from. He'd earned it.

So no matter how short of money she was, or how stingy and thrifty she had to be, she had never thought of taking any of his.

"From now on, I'll teach you physics, 626!"

As if she wanted to regain the upper hand in some other way, Feng Zi stared at Li Wei's devastatingly handsome face in the mirror.

Li Wei carefully spread the dye over Feng Zi's hair as he replied.

"Why don't you start by telling me a little?"

Feng Zi looked serious.

"When studying natural science, you need to maintain a solemn, serious attitude. This isn't story time!"

"And even though you've already been given the Key and have the basic physics formulas in your mind, that doesn't mean you can easily master the subject. To truly become part of the foundations of nature, even the most talented person has to study hard!"

"And, and that makes me your mentor, too! As your teacher, I hope you'll show a little more respect while you're learning!"

Hearing that, Li Wei put aside his casual expression. Holding the bowl of dye, he looked solemnly into Feng Zi's eyes in the mirror and nodded.

"Okay. I'll study hard!"

Feng Zi nodded in satisfaction. But before she could nod twice, Li Wei fixed her head in place again with an exasperated look and went back to smearing dye on her hair.

"First, you need to understand what gravity is. There's a little story passed down about the first great scientist who realized gravity existed. It teaches us to think: when an apple falls from a tree, why does it fall to the ground instead of flying up into the sky?"

Li Wei listened patiently as Feng Zi told him the familiar story of Newton and the apple tree. Just then, an unexpected message popped up on the player panel in his mind!

[Quest Reward Received—Physics Class Skill: Gravity Manipulation (Beginner)]

Seeing Li Wei freeze in place, his hands stopping mid-motion, Feng Zi wrinkled her pretty nose.

"Pay attention! You have to listen carefully, 626! Otherwise, how are you going to learn physics?"

Li Wei didn't answer. He merely blinked and gently reached out with the dye-covered hand toward a comb on the table.

The next second, one of nature's laws seemed to have been released. The comb quietly broke free from the force holding it down and floated into the air!

Feng Zi's mouth fell open as she stared at the scene in stunned disbelief.