Small-Minded

Wang Wen took the paper back without expression. He ignored Luo Shan, who had just come to and leaned over to look at it, asking, "Is it because metal can block the poison gas? Then why only pants, and not a mask or protective suit?" Instead, he reached into another pocket and handed over a second sheet.

Tong Xiaolei gave him a thoughtful look, then began reading the contents.

This time, there were no questions. The route began with the Five-Finger Map, passed through Ten-Step Mountains and Rivers, Broken Lock, Chain Silk, and a series of other complex mechanisms, then ended at Three Arrows.

The instructions were very detailed. They included specific solutions for every mechanism, as well as clear ways to deal with the few possible variations.

As Central Group Leader, Tong Xiaolei knew far more than the average person. She was also an experienced and capable Tower Climber in her own right.

By the time she had read through the entire route, she was already about ninety percent convinced.

Following this route, they could probably clear the mechanisms in about four minutes, barring any surprises.

It seemed the other party's claim of five minutes had actually been conservative!

He had calculated it purely on the basis of a novice Tower Climber.

What outrageous confidence!

Tong Xiaolei looked up and rolled her eyes at Wang Wen.

He had no idea why.

After rolling her eyes at him, Tong Xiaolei lowered her head and looked at the route on the paper again.

A sudden, incongruous pang of sorrow welled up inside her.

Judging by its contents, this could practically be called a fully developed plan.

It wasn't some stroke of luck or a sudden flash of inspiration.

It was the result of real people testing it with their lives.

When she saw that the instructions for one mechanism specified timings down to the millisecond, her eyes even began to grow hot.

She could easily imagine how many fearless people had gritted their teeth and braved the corrosive poison gas, risking their lives to fight their way through, every millisecond at a time.

Setting aside all the tangled interests behind it,

these people were pioneers worthy of admiration.

Tong Xiaolei suddenly wondered if the other party's reluctance to enter the Tower had something to do with this information.

Had one of his friends or brothers died while testing the mechanisms?

Or perhaps a family member?

As she thought about it, her gaze softened when she looked at Wang Wen.

She meticulously entered the information from the paper into the Light Shadow Notebook, then said to one of her subordinates, "Hand it over to the Upper Group as soon as possible so they can arrange testing."

Next, she used the personal code on the paper to transfer the deposit.

After finishing all that, Tong Xiaolei handed the slip back to Wang Wen and asked pointedly, "Your people tested this route, didn't they?"

"My people?" Wang Wen took the slip, recalling the First Consortium's testing personnel from twenty years in the future.

He had once been part of the organization himself, so he supposed they counted as his people.

So he nodded.

Tong Xiaolei's gaze softened even more. Sighing, she comforted him, "The dead are gone. All we can do is make better use of this plan and ensure their sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Wang Wen gave her a puzzled look and saw that she seemed on the verge of tears. Startled and alarmed, he hurriedly nodded, mumbled a few replies, and took off.

The First Consortium of this era was in a sorry state!

It was only a hundred thousand points!

Could that really be enough to make a department leader cry?

How petty!

Before he could finish venting in his mind,

Tong Xiaolei's voice came faintly from behind him: "Don't worry. Once we finish testing it, we'll transfer every last bit of the remaining payment to your account!"

Startled, he quickened his pace and slid headfirst through the portal back to the Academy.

Watching Wang Wen flee as if for his life, Luo Shan asked Tong Xiaolei in confusion, "Leader Tong, weren't you a little too nice to that kid? Is this information really worth that much?"

Tong Xiaolei turned to look at him. "If he hadn't negotiated with us privately and had instead put it up for public auction, he could probably have gotten even more."

"Seriously?" Luo Shan's mouth fell open. "It's just information about the sixty-ninth floor! Is it really that outrageous? More expensive than information about floors two or three hundred?"

"A towering skyscraper rises from the ground." Tong Xiaolei shook her head. Thinking of the information she had compiled over the years, she said with a sigh, "It's precisely because this is a low floor that it's even more deadly..."

Seeing Luo Shan still looking as conflicted as if he were constipated,

Tong Xiaolei thought that since she would be waiting here for the Upper Group's testers anyway, she might as well patiently explain it to him, point by point:

"Anyone hoping to push higher up the Tower has to face this Toxic Gas Chamber, which causes the greatest losses within the first hundred floors. There's a world of difference between making it through half-dead and making it through unscathed."

"Four minutes! Any expert who's made it to a somewhat higher floor can clear the mechanisms in one breath and move on to the next floor."

"If this information checks out, our organization alone—not to mention the rest of the world—could gain at least a hundred thousand more experts capable of clearing the first hundred floors. It could even greatly improve their chances of reaching the two-hundredth floor!"

"Think about it. Before, only experts who had reached at least the three-hundredth floor could safely get through Life Reaper 69. What about now?"

"All you need to do is hold your breath for four minutes. Even I can do that!"

Luo Shan listened in a daze, then finally understood. "Oh, right! So before, you had to reach at least the three-hundredth floor to get through without injury, but now the bar for getting through the first hundred floors unscathed has been lowered to within the first hundred!"

Tong Xiaolei gave him a look that said, "You finally get it."

"No wonder you Central Group people are so sharp!" Luo Shan chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Then he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "He only told me the last of those three prices. What were the first two? Why was mine only a hundred thousand, while yours was a million?"

"Phew..."

At that question,

the smile vanished from Tong Xiaolei's face.

She gave Luo Shan a complicated look. Seeing the question marks all over his face, she thought that perhaps being simple-minded was a blessing.

"Your price was a hundred thousand because you didn't understand the value of this information. Since he was willing to sell something like this, he must be in desperate need of money. He couldn't be bothered to haggle with you."

"As for my million..."

At this, she sighed deeply and looked in the direction where Wang Wen had disappeared.

"The reason for my million is in his third price."

"Looks like my probing annoyed him."

"What a small-minded man."

Luo Shan stared in stunned silence, his mouth agape, as the Central Group Leader wore a petulant, girlish expression he had never seen before. He felt as if he had just learned something he really shouldn't have.

When they got back to the Academy, dusk had fallen.

The cafeteria's regular dinner service had surely ended by then.

But.

Was that something Wang Wen needed to worry about now???

Was that something a man with a hundred thousand points in his personal account needed to worry about??????????

He dragged along the bewildered, skinny little boy.

Wang Wen started ordering dishes right there in the cafeteria!

The fish had to be grilled! At least two pounds!

Braised tofu, dried tofu sheets, eggs, beef, and pig's trotters—bring out full plates of everything!

Stir-fried seasonal vegetables! Fresh vegetables, not dried ones that had been soaked to rehydrate! And they had to add minced garlic!

And what was that bottle of liquor called again! Staff, you don't need to explain—can you just swipe my card?

Wang Wen wiped away his drool.

He reined in the fantasy of himself having the time of his life.

He obediently ordered potato stir-fried with potatoes from the stone-faced employee, got himself a free bowl of soup, scooped up a bowl of cold rice, and wolfed it down at the table.

Every so often, he even urged the skinny little boy, "You should eat too. Come on, eat."

There was no helping it. The remaining payment hadn't come through yet, and the only points he had on hand were a hundred thousand. There were too many things he wanted to buy, like a Synchronous Translator—something he'd need if he wanted to make a fortune selling information in the future. He couldn't keep leeching off his old employer alone...