A Splendid Performance

[The Lamp]

[Absolute reason, compassion, and the qualities of a leader. If you encounter confusion or danger, you may seek help from someone who possesses this attribute.]

"Such high praise."

It seemed that possessing the [Lamp] attribute was highly valued in the outside world. Still, this assessment was probably incomplete.

Based on the fact that known individual attributes did not tend to contradict one another, people with the [Lamp] attribute could almost certainly be considered part of the good-aligned camp.

"The qualities of a leader..."

Were there any Transcendents with the [Lamp] attribute in Cloud City?

For some reason, Xu Zhi suddenly thought of the Transcendent whom the father and daughter in Nanshan Villa District had trusted so deeply.

She seemed very much like someone with the [Lamp] attribute. In a short time, she had gathered a small group with decent cohesion and pointed them toward a way to survive in the apocalypse.

Xu Zhi grew curious about that person once more.

After reading about the attributes, the girl continued flipping through the handbook and soon saw the words [Cloud City].

Xu Zhi's gaze flickered slightly as she began reading the handbook's description of Cloud City.

It briefly recounted the events from the descent of the Black Fog to Cloud City's emergency evacuation. It also made no attempt to hide the fact that some Federation citizens had been left behind in the city. The Federation was actively organizing rescue teams, but because Cloud City's situation remained unclear and no entrance to the city could be found, the rescue effort had temporarily reached a stalemate.

[But we will not abandon the rescue of Cloud City. If you wish to join the rescue team, please fill out an application form on the official website.]

That was what the handbook said.

Xu Zhi blinked, finding it somewhat strange. She turned to Orange and asked, "Is this real?"

Orange lowered her head to look. Upon realizing it was about the rescue team, she nodded. "The Council cares a lot about the victims in Cloud City. The rescue team is the highest priority. The people who can join it are all very powerful Transcendents!"

"And those Transcendents are willing to go? Cloud City is dangerous, right? There must be lots of Aberrations, and it's full of Black Fog. Maybe you'd go mad after taking only a few steps inside!" Xu Zhi pressed, feigning curiosity.

Orange scratched her head. "I don't know either, but I heard quite a few powerful Transcendents volunteered to join the rescue team, looking for a way into Cloud City and rescuing the trapped civilians. Though maybe, since no one can even get into Cloud City right now, they're just putting on a show to build a reputation?"

That was even stranger.

A city fraught with danger, and merely to rescue a small number of trapped civilians, the Federation was willing to invest vast manpower and resources, even sending its strongest Transcendents into such extreme danger?

Xu Zhi's thinking was simple. If it were her, she would never do that. From what she had seen and heard today, the outside world was hardly peaceful either. New Transcendents were constantly appearing, and even a slight lapse in management could cause huge trouble. At a time like this, they still had the time and energy to concern themselves with Cloud City?

Unless there was profit to be made!

And it had to be an absolute benefit that could not be ignored, something so great that the Federation would slow its progress elsewhere just to find a way into Cloud City first!

Xu Zhi's eyes lit up. That meant that those currently in Cloud City were surrounded by danger, yet also within arm's reach of treasure!

It only depended on whether they had the lives to claim that treasure and survive.

"Before the Federation enters Cloud City, I'll find what they want to find inside first."

Xu Zhi silently made up her mind.

"Young lady, it's your turn." While she was thinking, the woman who gave Xu Zhi a feeling somewhat similar to a head nurse approached her.

"Oh, okay."

Xu Zhi smiled and set the handbook on the stool without taking it with her. She followed the head nurse toward a room.

Orange stood up even before she did and naturally failed to notice her action.

There were only eight minutes left before her Spirit Vessel dissipated.

When she entered the room, it appeared to be an ordinary office. The walls were pure white, and behind a brown wooden desk sat a man who looked like a doctor. However, he was not wearing a white coat, but a black uniform.

Orange was stopped outside the door, while Xu Zhi entered alone. When the man saw her, he politely pointed to the stool in front of the desk. "Sit."

Only after Xu Zhi sat down did he speak. "You still don't know what your attribute is, correct?"

Xu Zhi nodded.

He continued, "The process of determining your attribute isn't troublesome, but you need to relax a little."

As he spoke, he revealed a reassuring smile. "My Transcendent ability allows me to vaguely sense which attribute the Transcendent before me has the greatest affinity with, but you need to lower your guard around me."

So weak. It's not even on the same level as the [Peering Eye], yet he still has his own office in the Special Investigations Office?

Xu Zhi grumbled internally, but her expression did not change. She even cooperatively relaxed a little.

The man activated his ability and stared at Xu Zhi for a long while. Then, his brows furrowed, and a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.

Xu Zhi knew why. A Transcendent could only awaken one attribute, but there were currently three kinds of attribute energy within her body. This was actually a major problem, but Xu Zhi was not afraid of him seeing through it. If anything, she feared that he would see nothing at all.

The man seemed somewhat hesitant. "Wait a moment. I'll make a call."

This appeared to be important. He directly picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number. "Hello, where are you right now? Can you come down for a moment? Come to my office."

"There's something going on. Hurry over."

After saying that, the other person seemed to agree, and he hung up.

"Please wait a moment. My colleague will be here shortly. Your situation is a little unusual, and I need him to help take a look."

He did not even say much to reassure Xu Zhi. Perhaps that was because no confusion or panic showed on her face. Instead, she waited quite leisurely.

After around two minutes, the person from the other end of the call arrived at the office.

She was a woman in a sleek black combat uniform. Her right wrist was wrapped in bandages, and there were several small cuts on her cheek. The moment she entered, she asked directly, "Tell me. What happened?"

There was a trace of bewilderment in the man's eyes, but he spoke cautiously. "I can't tell which attribute she has the greatest affinity with."

"She feels very complicated to me, as though several attributes are mixed together. It's chaotic, but I can't even distinguish which attributes they are."

Almost instinctively, Xu Zhi thought of this Spirit Vessel's trait: [Chaos].

The woman showed no emotional reaction upon hearing that. Instead, she turned to Xu Zhi. "Do you know your own situation?"

Xu Zhi did not answer directly. Instead, she suddenly asked, "Big sister, you're injured. Was it because you fought Aberrations?"

The woman raised a brow slightly, not understanding why Xu Zhi had suddenly asked that. She replied, "Yes."

"I answered one of your questions. You should answer mine too."

The woman's gaze was sharp and calm. Compared with Shen Jinwen, she was more mature and more imposing.

Xu Zhi gave her a sweet smile. "My situation? Of course I know."

The moment her words fell, Xu Zhi could feel the room's atmosphere instantly turn grave. Even the woman's expression and posture shifted into guarded vigilance.

"What is your purpose in coming here?" The other woman swiftly drew her gun and aimed it at Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi felt that this was more like it!

Everyone ought to be wary of one another. How could everyone be like Orange?

Still, this big sister really did turn on her quickly—no, that was not right. They had never been familiar to begin with, and Xu Zhi's behavior was indeed suspicious.

Xu Zhi sighed. "Big sister, I'd like to talk with you a little longer too, but there's no time."

After she said that, the woman's brows furrowed even deeper. Confusion and gravity filled her eyes, but before she could question Xu Zhi again, the girl before her suddenly collapsed as though she had lost consciousness.

"Hey!"

The moment she spoke, Xu Zhi's fallen "corpse" turned to ash and scattered through the air, like flakes of gray snow melting into the earth.

In the final moments before her consciousness returned, Xu Zhi saw the woman's surprised expression and hurried steps forward, the man's terrified and incredulous face, and Orange outside the door asking idly, "Why isn't it done yet?"

She thought her first appearance had been rather good, and this exit ought to leave a deep impression as well.

Though why did it feel a little less than righteous?

"Forget it. This is pretty good too."

Either way, she had done it deliberately. It had even been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Of course, it absolutely was not retaliation for that remark about her unstable mental state!

She wondered whether the Federation could find information about her real self through this Spirit Vessel that only resembled her by twenty or thirty percent.

They had better not waste the performance she had put on.

A quick review:

[Moth: Wild and perilous, it is the principle of chaos and yearning.]

[Moth is the principle of change, whimsy, irrationality, intuition, seeking, chaos, yearning, passion, nature, and woodlands. It is connected to forgetting and discarding unnecessary things. Its defining trait is secretive, unstable behavior.]

That was exactly what the female lead was like!

She would not be the sort of person who calculated everything flawlessly, who was intelligent and rational to the extreme. Rather, she was deeply self-centered, unstable in her actions and conduct, and someone who followed her feelings.