Kunlun Guest

"Cloud Flow Towers are in the cities, but what if you need to leave the city?" Qing Chen asked about something else.

"Normally, leaving the city is rather troublesome. You can go out, but you need a visa to pass customs," Jiang Xue answered. "Apparently, smuggling became too rampant, so the tax collection authorities set up customs checkpoints. The Inner World's tax authorities are extremely powerful, a state apparatus comparable to the corporations' armies."

"The tax authorities are that powerful?" Qing Chen paused in surprise.

"Yes. They not only have formidable enforcement divisions, but even their own intelligence departments. It's completely different from the Outer World," Jiang Xue replied.

"And if you pass customs and really go outside the city?" Qing Chen asked.

"I heard there are also scattered Cloud Flow Towers along both sides of the roads in the wilderness," Jiang Xue explained. "Some mechanical limbs can store more energy, just like how we buy phones in the Outer World with 64G, 128G, or 256G storage. The longer-lasting ones cost more. Usually, people don't worry about endurance, so they choose the cheaper ones."

"Oh, it's meant to encourage consumer choices," Qing Chen nodded.

"In the Inner World, many young people pursue mechanical limbs the way some kids in the Outer World pursue sneakers and new phones," Jiang Xue explained. "Not only that, many people decorate their mechanical limbs too, such as embedding elegant gold lines, gold trim, gemstones, or diamonds."

Qing Chen sighed. "I get it. They're basically game skins..."

Jiang Xue thought for a moment. "That's not exactly wrong..."

Suddenly, Qing Chen recalled the prisoners in Prison No. 18.

Quite a few of them seemed to have gold decorations on their mechanical limbs. Gemstones and diamonds were rare, but gold was quite common. Lu Guangyi, for example!

Qing Chen probed, "Those embedded gold wires and gold bars... are they real gold?"

"They are," Jiang Xue nodded.

"Then... is gold in the Inner World the same as gold in the Outer World?" Qing Chen asked again.

"It should be," Jiang Xue said. "The five major corporate banks in the Inner World issue currency based on their gold reserves."

Now, Qing Chen finally knew how he could make money from the Inner World!

He even clearly remembered who had how much gold on them!

Other things might be difficult to cash out and could easily expose his identity, but gold had no such problem.

At that moment, Lu Guangyi probably had no idea what awaited him.

Qing Chen asked, "What kind of transportation is used in the wilderness? Electric cars too?"

"The military uses vehicles with diesel engines," Jiang Xue answered.

Diesel engines had tremendous explosive power, low RPM, and high torque, making them better suited for military use and off-road hauling.

Moreover, diesel engines basically had no electrical circuitry. They could be started entirely by hand-cranking or pushing, making them more suitable for harsh environments and climates.

Qing Chen had not expected the Inner World to still use diesel engines...

Jiang Xue added, "Of course, the military also has more powerful aircraft. They use liquid oxygen and meth... meth something. I forgot. Rich people in the cities also use hovercars for transportation, fueled by the same thing."

"Liquid oxygen methane?" Qing Chen asked.

"Yes, that's it." Jiang Xue's eyes lit up.

"Rocket fuel," Qing Chen remarked again. "SpaceX rockets, the company founded by Elon Musk, use that stuff now."

Jiang Xue said to Li Tongyun, "Xiaoyun, you have to study hard like your Brother Qing Chen. Look, I only said half a name, and he could guess what I was trying to say."

Even Jiang Xue had gradually begun to sense Qing Chen's qualities as a top student.

Whether it was his explanation of wireless charging earlier or how he instantly understood that she meant liquid oxygen methane, neither would have been possible without a vast store of knowledge.

It was a very unique feeling, as though there was nothing this young man did not know.

As for Qing Chen, the appearance of these two travelers, Jiang Xue and Li Tongyun, had filled in some gaps in his understanding.

In Prison No. 18, he could not ask too many questions for fear of exposing his identity as a traveler.

After returning to the Outer World, the flood of noisy information had been difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Now that he was hearing about the real "Inner World" from Jiang Xue, he could not help feeling excited.

All kinds of people came through Jiang Xue's mechanical-limb clinic. It was a good place to gather information.

As if remembering something, Qing Chen suddenly asked, "Then... Xiaoyun, when you called me over, what did you need my help with?"

Li Tongyun said, "My mom can't lift her arms. Could I trouble you to take care of her for a day?"

At that moment, Jiang Xue's arms hung limply at her sides. Qing Chen could tell that she had not even washed her face that morning; there was still sleep crust in the corners of her eyes. Her hair was not tied into its usual ponytail, and she had not prepared breakfast for Li Tongyun either. She looked utterly disheveled.

Losing power in mechanical limbs was truly troublesome. In the Inner World, they could recharge anytime and anywhere, but in the Outer World, they had to conserve power.

Qing Chen also remembered that there had been another traveler in Luo City before, someone who had leaped directly onto a rooftop several meters high to shake off pursuers. He wondered what had happened to that guy afterward. Would he end up paralyzed on the ground...

Still, that was good in a way. At least people with modified mechanical limbs would have some reservations in the Outer World.

He looked at Li Tongyun's expectant eyes, then at Jiang Xue's apologetic expression, and sighed. "But I don't know how to take care of people."

There was no school that Sunday, so he had plenty of time. But Qing Chen only knew how to take care of himself; he had never taken care of anyone else.

Jiang Xue hurriedly said, "No, no, you don't need to take care of me. I just can't make food for Xiaoyun today. Could you help look after her?"

It was clear that Jiang Xue felt truly guilty.

Li Tongyun said pitifully from the side, "Brother Qing Chen, make us something to eat. I'm hungry."

Qing Chen smiled. "Cooking won't be a problem."

Just as he finished speaking, a knock sounded from outside. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

Qing Chen had been standing in the living room. He glanced through the window and immediately saw the mysterious organization's SUV.

"Xiaoyun, go open the door for the guests. I'll go to the kitchen and make you something to eat." After saying that, Qing Chen slipped into the kitchen and even tied on an apron, leaving only his back visible to those outside.

Xiaoyun opened the door, and two young men in black suits entered. One of them said to Jiang Xue, "Hello, I'm Lu Yuan. We've met before. I'm with Kunlun."

Kunlun? Qing Chen froze in the kitchen. So that was the name of their organization.

Jiang Xue said, "Please, have a seat. Xiaoyun, hurry and pour some water for our guests."

The Kunlun member asked in confusion, "What happened to your arms?"

"My mechanical limbs ran out of energy," Jiang Xue explained.

"Make a note of that," the young man told his companion. He asked Jiang Xue about the mechanical limbs, and it seemed they had not known that mechanical limbs could run out of energy.

Listening in from the kitchen, Qing Chen guessed that they truly might have been recently formed, just as Jiang Xue had said, so they did not know much about the Inner World either.

Jiang Xue asked, "What brings you two here?"

"Oh, we wanted to ask about something," the Kunlun member said. "Last night, there were two criminals. After one of them fled your residence, someone ambushed him in the residential complex and broke his tibia. Do you know who did it? Don't worry, we're not here to pursue legal responsibility. We just want to understand what happened."

Qing Chen's heart immediately tightened.