*Swish*
Xia Fei quickly retracted his arm and saw that there was a small red welt on his wrist as if a bug had truly bitten him.
This was when that strange door suddenly flew open, revealing a strange space within.
“A virtual space?!” Radix was startled.
The top of the pagoda originally looked like it covered no more than a hundred square meters, but what had appeared right in front of Xia Fei’s eyes was a vast botanical garden, which stretched for well over ten thousand square meters. Many strange plants, which Xia Fei knew not the names of, grew in abundance here. An artificial sun bore down from above, allowing photosynthesis to take place here.
Evidently, this place had been altered with the Law of Space.
…
“It’s out. Xia Fei’s DNA analysis report,” Fuchen, who had stayed behind onboard the Silver Specter, anxiously blurted out.
A long message began to be transmitted into Fuchen’s terminal, and all sorts of characters, as well as data, unceasingly appeared on the screen.
“If Xia Fei were to learn of you looking into his DNA information, he’d very likely turn on you,” Fuchen’s personal soul servant said from the sidelines.
It turned out that everything had been prepared in advance. Xia Fei already knew that in order to reach Pagoda Central, his DNA would need to be extracted. As for why an analysis report of that would be sent straight to Fuchen, that was for this old man to know.
Fuchen shrugged. “It can’t be helped. That rascal’s far too curious. If I don’t make sense of how he came to be the person he is today, I’ll have trouble sleeping.”
The DNA report was fairly complex, with well over several million words. Fuchen began reading from the very beginning the moment he received it as he sipped on a cup of tea in his hand. He was reading the data as if it were a very interesting novel.
…
Inside the pagoda, Xia Fei stepped on to a path that led him deeper into the botanical garden. Square areas of flat land could be seen on both sides, nothing covering too large an area, with plenty of plants growing on them. Everything around made it apparent that this was someone’s botanical laboratory.
“Fuchen let you come here?” A voice suddenly sounded from somewhere in this place.
Xia Fei lifted his head to look, only to find a short old man seated on a circular floating disk. This person quickly drifted over to him.
The old man had greyish-white skin and was no taller than half a meter; all in all, he looked like a child that had stopped growing after reaching puberty. Nothing but sparse hair grew on his head, and wrinkles filled his face.
“Yes, Fuchen sent me over to retrieve something for him. May I ask who you are?” Xia Fei asked courteously.
“Call me Ulan. Come with me.” The old man stared at Xia Fei before leading him deeper into the garden.
“Something seems to have pricked me when I was coming in,” Xia Fei said, puzzled.
Ulan smiled and said, “Don’t pay it any mind. That’s just retrieving data of your DNA. If there’s anything special about your DNA, then I’ll use it to cultivate more plants, and if we’re lucky, a new plant variety can emerge from it.”
Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “Using human DNA to cultivate plants, is that even possible?”
“What are you so surprised about?” Ulan countered breezily. “Every life has always been intertwined, nothing is more nobler than the other. Don’t think that humans are smarter than plants; many plants out there are far more intelligent than humans.”
Xia Fei was startled. This was a very refreshing take, which contained a kernel of truth. Take Peacock Blue as an example; it was just a plant, yet it had its own mind and powerful combat strength. Most warriors were definitely no match for it.
“What we, Spiritualists of Botany, study is precisely how plants can replace traditional soul weapons. As long as they’re properly cultivated, plants can possess all the traits inherent to Dark Energy and be capable of destroy souls. It’s just too bad that botany is an unpopular trade in the Spiritualist circle, so not many know that we exist.” Ulan sighed.
Xia Fei chuckled. “I won’t lie to you; this was actually the first time I’ve heard of the Spiritualists of Botany’s existence.”
Ulan waved off his hands carelessly. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about such annoying things. Look, this is the sunflower that Fuchen wanted.”
Xia Fei followed Ulan’s gaze and saw a small dirt mound, where over a dozen sunflowers grew. These sunflowers looked exactly like that image on the card.
“What a strange type of plant. To think that they’ll be golden sunflowers,” Xia Fei muttered, somewhat surprised.
Ulan, who felt a little pleased with himself, gushed, “The Spiritualist Association has four major bases; the one we’re at is where all the miscellaneous experts of the association have gathered. That pass card Fuchen gave you has a sunflower image on it, right?”
Xia Fei nodded.
“That’s because we, Spiritualists of Botany, are the most successful in the fourth base. It was us who developed the golden sunflowers, and so that very same image of the plant is printed on every pass card in the fourth base. The other Spiritualists don’t have such an honor,” Ulan said with a big grin.
Xia Fei chatted with Ulan for a while. It turned out that the Spiritualist Association had four big bases aside from its headquarters, and Xia Fei was currently at the fourth base. On top of being Spiritualists, many niche sects and lineages existed within the circle.
The pagodas here all belonged to the Spiritualists of Botany, and including Ulan’s, a total of three could be found across the Alpha Universe. Though it looked like these pagodas were all plentiful, most were actually empty.
‘There are only three Spiritualists of Botany in the entire Alpha Universe?’ Xia Fei could not help but feel that these Spiritualists of unpopular offshoots were very precious.
Ulan led Xia Fei to his room. Since this entire pagoda only had him to manage it, Ulan had decided to just live here; in fact, his office and bedroom were next to each other.
Acting all mysterious, the old man retrieved a palm-sized box and opened it in front of Xia Fei.
Inside was a type of sunflower seed that glowed with a strange golden color as if it was made entirely of gold.
“Bring this to Fuchen. Back then, I lost a bet with him, and this was the wager. Every harvest, I need to give him a hundred of these precious seeds to satisfy his appetite. Just the sight of these emphasizes the huge losses I’ve made over the years!” Ulan said through gritted teeth.
“Satisfy his appetite?” Xia Fei was speechless. After everything, Fuchen had actually sent him here to retrieve some food?!
Being all secretive like that and even letting Ulan retrieve some of his DNA, all of it was just so that Fuchen could get himself something good to eat! How ridiculous was this?
“Actually, considering the relationship I share with Fuchen, It’s not really a big deal even if I give it to him, but losing to him in such a manner just fills me with great dissatisfaction!” Ulan lamented.
Xia Fei stored the golden sunflower seeds away and was about to leave when he spotted a holographic simulation system inside Ulan’s study.
“Master Ulan, is this holographic simulation system connected to the Spiritualist Association’s intranet?” Xia Fei asked.
“Yeah. That’s the Spiritualist Association’s holonet. You can give it a try if you want. This device is pretty much gathering mold here. Since you have Fuchen’s card, you might as well use it,” Ulan pouted. “Fuchen, that old man, is so unorthodox you’re sure to get hold of something strange or weird.”
With that said, Ulan left his office and went about his own business. It was almost as if he had not even been the least bit on guard against Xia Fei.
Xia Fei thought for a moment and then took a seat in front of the simulation system. Since his original plan for coming here was to browse the Association’s database, rather than forcing his way into a private space, he could just fulfill his purpose from the safety of Ulan’s pagoda. Since he was a friend of Fuchen’s, it was unlikely that he would betray the old man.
Pulling out Fuchen’s card from his spatial ring, Xia Fei’s eyes suddenly sparkled.
This card was originally golden in color, but after using it several times, Xia Fei noticed that its surface had peeled off, and a very thin layer of mold was covering the card.
Xia Fei frowned and took out a toolkit from his spatial ring. Having studied machinery in the past, he always carried an omni tool with him wherever he went.
Several seconds later, Xia Fei had succeeded in very carefully removing that thin layer from the card to reveal a completely different card!
“Black without any sunflower insignia? Just what kind of ID is this?” Radix asked curiously.
Xia Fei shook his head. “I don’t know, but it isn’t an ID from the Spiritualist Association’s fourth base. Ulan said it clearly: All the cards being used in the fourth base have the sunflower insignia; even Tong Jinliang’s card has it.”
“Well, that’s strange. Why would Fuchen want to disguise this ID card? Does it perhaps contain a secret that he has no wish for you to learn?” Radix asked, scratching his head.
Xia Fei pulled out a cigarette and began smoking it.
“No matter what, we’ll know once we give it a try. Perhaps there might even be points in it,” Xia Fei said with a laugh.
He proceeded to place the simulation helmet on and inserted the card into the card reader.
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei entered into the Spiritualist Association’s holonet.
It was completely different from his earlier entry. This time, Xia Fei had truly entered the association’s network; several portals headed to different parts of the simulated surroundings, with each of which having a description on top.
“Archives, Confidential Archives, Auction House, Training Hall… We have access to all these locations. This card Fuchen has is practically omnipotent, giving one access to any part of the holonet!” Xia Fei was shocked.
This was an absolutely shocking discovery! Every single portal had different functions. Some needed a level 2 clearance, while others needed level 3. The highest was level 5; Fuchen actually had the highest permission in the Spiritualist Association!
“Oh, heavens! Fuchen must’ve had quite an important role in the association before, or else why would he have such a high level of clearance? Still, there’s something I find to be very strange. Since he already left the association, why can he still carry this card with him?” Radix was absolutely baffled.
“That’s definitely questionable. The holonet is controlled by an AI computer, so even if they couldn’t retrieve Fuchen’s ID, they should be able to cancel his privileges. From a technological perspective, that’s not something difficult to do at all.
“Plus, there’s something even more questionable. An ID card like this is bound by DNA; how come I can use Fuchen’s card?” Xia Fei’s mind raced.
“Unless this is a card that circumvents the system… It’s just like when I gave you special permissions in Fig Corporation all those years back!” Radix blurted out.
This only further highlighted the irregularities. Radix had been able to give Xia Fei full permission only because he was Fig Corporation’s mainframe. Was Fuchen once the Spiritualist Association’s mainframe or had Fuchen somehow managed to hijack the entire organization?!
Chuckling, Xia Fei said, “No point in thinking about all that. Regardless, I’ve been presented with a rare opportunity, and I need to seize it well!”
