Fan Cang stopped in his tracks.
Mu Qing said, "She's in Liu Family Village. Take her back to the Fortress."
Fan Cang turned to look at him. "What, is she your illegitimate daughter?"
Mu Qing: "..."
He rubbed his temples, saying wearily, "She's an ' Engineer,' very talented. Don't let her... falter here!"
Chapter 61
Qiu Shuyu can't use the Awakening Stone, and Song Xiaozhu doesn't have a suitable candidate for the time being. Right now, the shop still has the Old Chen and Chen Quanquan, especially Chen Quanquan, who has been helping out a lot these past few days...
Song Xiaozhu thought about it and decided to go back and discuss it further.
She doesn't understand the awakening process yet, so she needs to ask Bai Jing.
Logically, Liu Xuangang, Xiao Yunjie, and even Xiao Tong should know, but Song Xiaozhu didn't feel comfortable asking them.
As fellow Awakened, how could we not know the process of awakening?
Fortunately, there was Bai Jing. He knew that Song Xiaozhu was implanted with Awakening Stone at birth—let's just assume that's the misunderstanding—and that Song Xiaozhu had amnesia, so it was normal that she wouldn't know.
Song Xiaozhu told Qiu Shuyu to go back first, and then she went to find Bai Jing.
Bai Jing glanced at the Awakening Stone, his dry lips curled into a cold laugh.
Song Xiaozhu was well prepared, and if Bai Jing asked, she would tell him everything.
There was nothing to hide. She and Xiao Yunjie hadn't done anything wrong. Faced with this dead end, they could only struggle to survive.
To everyone's surprise, Bai Jing didn't ask anything. He only glanced at the Awakening Stone before slowly shifting his gaze and saying, "You're going to give them to Tian Man and Luo Liuzi?"
Song Xiaozhu nodded emphatically.
Bai Jing said expressionlessly, "Do you know what awakening means?"
Song Xiaozhu said earnestly, "Please enlighten me, sir."
Her attitude was upright and her expression serious, which undoubtedly made Bai Jing feel slightly better, and she spoke more meticulously, " Awakening Stone is also a kind of pollution, but after hundreds of years of evolution, it has become absorbable by the human body, thus coexisting with humans."
Symbiosis?
"Yes, symbiosis."
"They're alive?" Song Xiaozhu asked, unable to hide her surprise.
Bai Jing countered, "Life forms aren't limited to carbon-based organisms; in a sense, rocks are also 'alive.'"
Song Xiaozhu was taken aback; she really hadn't thought about these things.
This world has Awakening Stone, Awakened, and all sorts of professions after awakening...
This is nothing new; Song Xiaozhu had often seen similar settings in novels she had read and games she had played before.
Most novels and games do not explain the origin of these settings.
Of course, Song Xiaozhu knew that they were all fantasies rooted in reality.
Because of this fixed mindset, Song Xiaozhu didn't delve into the nature of this world.
What exactly is an awakening stone?
She listened more attentively, waiting for Bai Jing to clarify her doubts.
Bai Jing continued, "They originated from the Dark Age, but their large-scale spread occurred during the Dawn Age. Initially, they were controlled by a few top conglomerates, but due to a conflict, those conglomerates fell apart, and the Awakening Stone they stored also 'escaped'."
Song Xiaozhu couldn't help but ask, "Escape?"
Bai Jing nodded. "Yes, they're like a swarm of fireflies, released from their cage, flying all over the world... Of course, there are no natural Awakening Stone at the Garbage Mountain; they were all searched out long ago and stockpiled in the Fortress. But after so many years, even the Fortress..."
He paused, not continuing, but instead steered the conversation back on track. "The number of Awakening Stone is constant, and they suffer severe depletion. Basically, after passing through three hosts, they disappear into thin air."
Upon hearing the word "host," Song Xiaozhu felt somewhat uncomfortable.
To be fair, wasn't she essentially the host of the Synthesizer?
Could this guy also be a living Awakening Stone?
The thought of a living being living inside her body gave Song Xiaozhu goosebumps.
"The reason I'm telling you all this is to tell you..." Bai Jing looked at her and said, "Awakening is risky. Just because you get Awakening Stone doesn't mean you can become Awakened. You might just become a stone yourself."
Song Xiaozhu straightened her back.
Bai Jing continued, "Besides, even if you awaken, it might not be a good thing. Every Awakened has a fixed 'profession.' All-Purpose Category like you is one in a million. Do you know what a fixed 'profession' means?"
Song Xiaozhu shook her head.
A Bai Jing mist swirled in his fair palms, and the wrinkles of time had faded from his aged face, revealing a cool, youthful countenance. His dark eyelashes drooped as he looked at his fingers, still used to make syringes, and he said slowly:
"It means monotony, it means that whether you like it or not, whether you're interested or not, whether you're willing to take on challenges or not, you can only do this one thing for your entire life..."
He looked at Song Xiaozhu and said firmly, "Like a soulless tool."
Song Xiaozhu frowned, roughly understanding what Bai Jing meant.
Awakened have many "professions," such as "warrior," " Physician," " Purifier," " Logger," " Planter," and " Digger "...
In Song Xiaozhu's eyes, these "professions" were not distinguished by high or low status, but simply by different divisions of labor, just like people in modern society who all have their own jobs and fulfill their respective obligations.
They pieced together the great jigsaw puzzle of human society.
However, the "professions" in this world are clearly more rigid, inflexible, and unchangeable.
Once you awaken to the truth and decide on your "profession," it will never change.
Take Bai Jing as an example. Whether he likes being a " Physician " or not, he can only be a " Physician." This is the decision made for him by the Awakening Stone within him, and he can only fulfill it.
Song Xiaozhu couldn't help but ask, "What would happen if you didn't do anything 'professionally' related?"
Bai Jing shook her head. "You can't resist it."
This "it" refers to the Awakening Stone.
Bai Jing sighed softly, "You're All-Purpose Category, so you probably don't have this problem. Ordinary Awakened can't resist it; it's like their instinct, like eating, drinking, and breathing... If they don't do it, they'll lose their self-worth and meaning, their emotions will be extremely bad, and they'll slowly drift towards emptiness, and people can't stand emptiness."