Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spire City.

Sixth Level.

This level, along with the seventh, is a major industrial zone of Spire City, where the transient workers sustain numerous cheap eateries around them.

The food might not be the best, but it's certainly plentiful and affordable. If one is patient enough to search, delicious meals can be found too.

For instance, the stall called "Beer Sister Main Meal Sales" that Lin’s superior brought him to. It was merely a table set up outside a beer hall, equipped with two electric hot plates, and run by a busy red-tailed squirrel woman. The snacks she made turned out to be more popular than the signature beer.

Though the so-called signature beer was just a flavored drink made from synthetic alcohol and sugar.

Lin and his superior arrived at a time when neither day nor night shift workers were changing shifts. It was almost nine o'clock, and the day shift workers had finished their twelve-hour workday, having eaten hastily before heading home to rest for the next day. Meanwhile, the night shift workers were still busy in the factories. This was usually the quietest time for these cheap eateries, yet there were still six or seven people queuing at this stall.

"The cream mushrooms they use here are picked fresh every day at three or four in the morning from the Mushroom Forest. The picker is skilled at selecting the best ones—large but not old, with the richest flavor. With this skill, their mushroom wraps need little seasoning and still taste great... Perhaps they honed this technique to use less seasoning?"

As he stood at the end of the queue with Lin, his superior spoke, expecting Lin to make his usual sharp comments. But surprisingly, the young man remained silent.

It wasn’t like Lin to say nothing.

Hui Cui recalled that Lin seemed distracted even on the elevator earlier.

What could he be thinking about?

Hui Cui felt curious but did not call out to Lin, instead choosing to remain silent to avoid interrupting his thoughts.

People in the queue recognized Hui Cui and greeted him warmly. He responded quietly as they moved forward slowly.

The squirrel woman running the stall worked quickly; restaurants on this street wouldn't sell slow-prepared food. After waiting for about five minutes, it was Hui Cui's turn.

"Judge!" The plump squirrel woman exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. "I thought your promise to return was just a polite gesture! Two mushroom wraps with eggs, right? Still want two?"

As she spoke, her hand scooped a ladle of batter onto the sizzling hot plate coated with a thin layer of oil.

The oil sizzled, and without any further action, a perfect circle formed.

Hui Cui glanced back at Lin, who was still lost in thought, estimated the young man's appetite, and added the takeaway quantity. "Nine, please. Thank you."

"You have quite an appetite today!" the squirrel woman said, giving Hui Cui a thumbs-up as she deftly flipped the pancake.

Five minutes later, Lin found himself seated at a table inside the beer hall, with two steaming mushroom wraps placed in front of him.

His superior, sitting across from him, handed him a clean knife and fork, jokingly asking, "You’re awake again?"

Lin’s lack of response reminded Hui Cui of how Lin had slept on the subway earlier.

He must be tired, Hui Cui thought. Compared to true professionals, ritualists, who maintain rituals free from magical interference, are ordinary people without magic.

Ritualists are officially considered professionals, but in reality, they are not.

Therefore, they are extremely vulnerable in combat, often targeted by enemies, leading to high casualty rates, even when they serve in support roles.

However, the young man before him had published a groundbreaking paper titled "Miniaturization and Ultra-Miniaturization of Medium Ritual Arrays," embedding lethal ritual arrays directly into his skin.

Having witnessed Lin’s combat skills firsthand, Hui Cui believed that Lin’s enemies were the ones who were truly fragile.

After his joke, to avoid making Lin uncomfortable, he changed the subject. "Was there anything problematic about the case involving the wife who killed her cultist husband in self-defense?"

It sounded like a casual question, but Lin knew his superior was already in work mode.

And if there were problems, they were significant.

If the case was the one from Lin’s dream, the murderer acted under his guidance, using methods he taught.

But Lin had no intention of being dragged into the Cathedral of the Dragon of Light for purification. Instead, he asked, "I think the Cult of Aberration has been acting too frequently recently. Two days ago, there were simultaneous beastification rituals on the fourth and thirteenth levels. One failed, but the other escaped into the Mushroom Forest. Do you think the escapee might have been part of today’s subway attack?"

"Is the Cult of Aberration increasing its combat forces?" Hui Cui mused, knowing that Lin implied the cult likely knew about his secret mission days in advance and prepared accordingly for the ambush.

But if even Lin, an insider at the Spire City Court, didn’t know about the secret mission, how did the cult find out?

However, catching spies was not Lin’s concern. He cut a piece of the wrap and put it in his mouth.

Mmm, the pancake was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, while the sautéed mushrooms had a rich, creamy aroma. Not bad.

Lin chewed twice, about to swallow, when his superior added, "But I feel like what you were thinking about earlier wasn’t this."

"..." Lin swallowed the mushroom wrap without pausing, then said, "Yes, I was contemplating an important decision."

"Take your time and think carefully," his superior said, politely refraining from pressing further.

Relieved, Lin took another bite of the mushroom wrap.

He had never felt so tense around his superior before. After hearing the description of the Tieliu City case, he feared his superior would turn on him.

As a dual avatar of the God of Destruction and Protection, his superior had likely killed more cultists and monsters than most civilians had ever seen in their lifetimes.

And Lin had no intention of becoming one of those casualties.

Calm down, he thought. Apart from the Pomeranian, no one knew about his involvement in the case. Even if the Pomeranian betrayed him, the Tieliu City Court would find it hard to trace him.

Moreover, he had instructed the Pomeranian to kill the cultist and report it to the court, which was clearly a good deed!

Lin reassured himself, though he knew that once exposed, no amount of good deeds could save him from judgment and purification.

Because...

"Any power not derived from the Six Pillar Gods comes from evil."

Monday's Source Blood Mother, Tuesday's Light Dragon, Wednesday's Golden Hammer, Thursday's Contradictory Twins, Friday's Glue Maker, Saturday's Bell-Ringing Frost Crow, and Sunday is the day of rest for all gods.

Fifty-two weeks in a year, counting only by weeks, with no months or seasons. The Six Pillar Gods permeate every aspect of society, forming a cultural consensus that any power outside their domains is evil.

Lin remembered that dream clearly, and even more clearly what he had done.

He separated the fear from that Pomeranian's heart. In the realms of the Six Gods, no magic or supernatural ability could accomplish such a feat.

"What's wrong?" his superior asked, "Suddenly reciting the aphorism on the first page of *Theology*?"

"Thinking about that abusive cultist. Perhaps because he is evil, someone who inflicts violence on those close to him, he would embrace the Silver Moon Maiden," Lin replied without hesitation.

"Maybe so?" his superior pondered for a moment and actually agreed with Lin's fabricated explanation, "Evil gods and cultists attract pain and disaster. To ensure everyone's safety, they must be eradicated."

Lin's dining knife accidentally scraped against the porcelain plate.

For the first time since crossing over, he had no appetite even though someone else was treating him.

But Lin forced himself to finish the remaining mushroom pie. His superior paid the eighty cents for the four pies they ate, while Lin took out money to pack away the remaining five pies.

They left the beer hall and walked along the street to the elevator.

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

His superior stepped into an elevator and, as the doors were closing, looked at Lin with concern.

Lin could feel his gaze filled with worry.

How perceptive. He never realized before how much pressure this perceptiveness could bring.

"See you tomorrow," Lin said.

He couldn't give up this hard-earned job.

Pushing his cart, he entered another elevator. The few passengers already inside had to make room for Lin, who was carrying too many things. A goat person grumbled in dissatisfaction.

They scrutinized Lin, puzzled by the absence of any racial characteristics.

Lin was used to these stares. After standing still, the elevator doors closed, and it ascended.

A pleasant female voice announced, "Fifth floor, Spire City's First Air Assurance Center, Amber Middle School, Rabbit Foot Elementary School..."

The elevator paused, the doors opened, people came in and went out.

The doors closed again, and the elevator ascended once more.

"Fourth floor, No. 1 Meat Worm Farm, No. 3 Meat Chicken Farm, Holy Mother Lily Avenue..."

The elevator walls were transparent, allowing a view of the vast elevator shaft.

Around the circular shaft, at least thirty to forty elevators moved up and down on steel cables, carrying passengers of various sizes and animal features.

These elevators could reach the highest level of the city, which is the subway station; and descend five kilometers underground, where the geothermal power plant provides energy for the entire city.

Below that, it is a scorching wasteland.

Above, there is nothing above.

In everyone's perception in this world, the highest level is shrouded in fog, impenetrable like a membrane, marking the edge of the entire world.

Lin knew this was an underground city, but the people living in it lacked this concept.

They did not understand what "above ground" meant.

"Sorry."

Lin whispered softly.

This was Lin's third year after crossing over. He wasn't soul-traveled but body-traveled.

Without any animal features, he felt out of place in this world. Before crossing over, at fifteen, he lived comfortably, cared for by his parents, only needing to focus on his high school entrance exams. After crossing over, he knew nothing, became illiterate, and nearly died several times.

But he survived. He now had a prestigious, respected, and well-paid job, allowing him to continue living.

He could stop using the power outside the Six Gods' domains, avoiding being discovered and captured by the Inquisition one day.

But...

"Where exactly am I?"

If this is another world or planet, why are there so many familiar things, almost identical to Earth?

"Is there still civilization above ground?"

The names of the evil gods are almost all related to the unseen sky underground. What does this signify?

"Why did I come here?"

Can he...

return?

Lin gazed at his reflection in the glass. His eyes were covered by bandages, but this did not hinder his vision.

Now, he possessed a secret power unknown to others.

Even though its origin was unknown and dangerous, it might, perhaps, answer all his questions.