Chapter 22: Metal Manipulation

The Hive.

Zhu Ning stood before the mirror, examining the scars on her body. High-potency healing agents could not erase scar tissue; for that, one would need to purchase cosmetic-grade pharmaceuticals. Consequently, the wounds carved into her by the guillotine remained. Zhu Ning traced the shape of the scar on her right shoulder.

She wasn't entirely sure if she had been contaminated. Her protective suit had been breached for roughly thirty seconds before she managed to patch it, but it was possible that pollutants had already infiltrated her system. Should she get checked? Apply for a physical at the Cleaning Center tomorrow? But what if the test came back positive for contamination? Would she spend the rest of her life on the run?

Zhu Ning looked down at the scar on her lower abdomen. This one was even more gruesome—a ridge of raised tissue about ten centimeters long, a souvenir from some weapon that had once pierced her. To this day, she still hadn't figured out the origin of that wound. This mission had provided her with a wealth of information, yet it had only left her more bewildered.

For instance, how long had this ragtag team, linked together by the "Grave Posts," actually existed, and what was the purpose of their existence? What exactly was Prometheus trying to achieve? And what was Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals?

Zhu Ning searched for Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals online. The results appeared instantly: it was a massive biotech conglomerate that controlled more than half of the Federation's pharmaceutical industry. The medicine consumed by ordinary people, including the high-potency healing agents she used, were all their products. There was a popular saying online: if you are a citizen of the Federation, you have definitely sent money to Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals. Unless, of course, you had never been sick a day in your life.

Information about this company on the web was impeccably clean—suspiciously so. The entire network was saturated with their promotional videos. "Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals: Changing your genes, creating your future." Zhu Ning had watched enough of them that she could recite their slogan by heart.

The reason it was "clean" was that there wasn't a single negative post about them anywhere. Everything that came up was nothing but praise; not one person claimed their medicine had side effects. If Zhu Ning hadn't walked out of that hotpot restaurant herself and witnessed the side effects of the medicine the owner had taken, she might have actually believed it.

After the mission ended, the system prompted her that she had found a "key clue." That clue was undoubtedly Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals. Was the person the original owner of her body had intended to meet in the waste storage room someone from the company? Had the original owner tried to buy medicine to alter her defective genes? Had she participated in some experimental project, just like the hotpot restaurant owner?

However, there wasn't a single item related to the company in Zhu Ning’s home. It was as if her place had already been "cleaned." And what was the meaning behind that message about the impending apocalypse? Why did the words of the Fish-Man appear where she died? Had her very first mission been orchestrated by someone?

She felt as though she were trapped in a vast, invisible web. The more she struggled, the tighter the net pulled, yet she didn't even know how many parties were pulling the strings behind it.

*Ding, ding, ding—*

Her secondary brain device chimed. It was Liu Niannian. They had added each other before parting ways; Zhu Ning had told her to reach out if she had work in the future. Zhu Ning had initially thought Liu Niannian might not be interested, but to her surprise, she seemed quite eager. Zhu Ning had left as soon as the job was done, leaving Liu Niannian alone at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant to wait for her family.

"Zhu Ning!" As soon as she opened the chat, she saw a cat-face emoji Liu Niannian had sent.

Zhu Ning: "..." This person seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Li Nianchuan.

Zhu Ning had searched for Liu Niannian’s identity, but none of the major Federation plutocratic families had a "Liu" among them. She had likely given a fake name, and since she didn't want to disclose the truth, Zhu Ning hadn't pushed.

"Did you get home?" Zhu Ning asked.

Liu Niannian: "Yes, safe and sound! Though I did get scolded by my family." She sent another cat-crying emoji.

Zhu Ning pondered this. A young heiress running off like that must have caused a massive headache for everyone involved. If she were her younger sister, she might have been strung up and whipped.

Back in her luxury mansion, Liu Niannian, now changed into princess-style pajamas, was lying on her massive bed. She was intensely interested in Zhu Ning. She didn't have many friends; those around her were mostly sycophants, and she had never encountered someone like Zhu Ning before.

Entering a contaminated zone alone, managing to purify the entire area, and even doing the janitorial work—Zhu Ning was her idol!

Liu Niannian was still drafting a reply to her idol when her secondary brain glowed.

Her idol... had transferred her one million New Credits?

The transfer note read: "Your salary."

Liu Niannian, who was accustomed to being the one who paid others, replied with: "?"

It was only one million. The new dress she had bought last week cost five million New Credits. But this felt like the first money she had ever earned—her own hard-earned cash.

Liu Niannian thought for a moment: "Thank you, Boss?"

Zhu Ning: "We can cooperate again if the opportunity arises." Very professional.

Although it pained Zhu Ning to part with the money, a deal was a deal. Liu Niannian had contributed half the effort in containing the contamination spores. She planned to have a long-term cooperation with her. If they were to consider themselves a company, Liu Niannian could even be considered her partner. Besides, Liu Niannian’s family was extremely wealthy; perhaps that could be leveraged. To do big things, one had to be willing to spend enough money.

Noticing that Zhu Ning had no intention of making small talk, Liu Niannian asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhu Ning replied while absentmindedly continuing her search: "Looking at information on Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals."

There was a silence from Liu Niannian’s end before she asked: "Because of the hotpot restaurant?"

Zhu Ning: "Yes."

Zhu Ning had also checked the "Good Luck Hotpot Restaurant," but there was no information online, and not a single report of medical malpractice regarding Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals. The owner had existed as a victim of the company, but not a trace of him remained. The entire network was devoid of his records; Zhu Ning didn't even know his name.

Zhu Ning: "I want to see if there are other victims." This certainly wasn't a singular medical accident; there had to be others.

On the other side of the screen, Liu Niannian fell into deep thought. Zhu Ning hadn't paid much attention to whether Liu Niannian had replied, but after a while, Liu Niannian slowly sent a message: "Perhaps... I can help you."

Zhu Ning: "?"

Before Zhu Ning could type, the other party added: "I own shares in that company."

Zhu Ning: "You—own—shares—in—that—company?"

Liu Niannian: "Yes, it was my coming-of-age gift from my father."

Zhu Ning: "..."

As expected of a plutocrat. A coming-of-age gift that Zhu Ning wouldn't be able to earn in a lifetime. Eternal Life Pharmaceuticals’ annual profits were staggering, with annual turnovers in the hundreds of billions. Liu Niannian should have been set for life; it was a mystery why she would risk her life entering a contaminated zone. Her family must have been deeply intertwined with the company; after all, for a firm of that size, shares weren't something just anyone could purchase.

She understood now. Prometheus had likely pushed this mission to her because of Liu Niannian. The hotpot restaurant was secondary; saving Liu Niannian was the true priority. She needed to make Liu Niannian owe her a favor.

Zhu Ning felt a sense of manipulation. Prometheus had used her, and she, in turn, was using Liu Niannian—who seemed completely oblivious to it.

Liu Niannian: "What kind of data do you need?"

Zhu Ning: "Anything. The more detailed, the better."

Liu Niannian paused, then said: "But you'll have to wait a while. You know, I don't really understand the internal workings of the company."

Zhu Ning: "..." I get it. A pampered, unlearned rich kid.

Zhu Ning searched for the company's partners and their equity structure. She had to admit, the privacy standards in the Wasteland were excellent, especially for the wealthy. Information was so transparent for the common folk that their privacy was non-existent, yet the secrets of the plutocrats were shielded tightly. Zhu Ning searched everywhere and couldn't find a single record matching Liu Niannian.

Truly a plutocrat.

...

Zhu Ning shut down her secondary brain, preparing to study her newly acquired purification points and talents.

She now had a total of 3,214 purification points. Without hesitation, she converted them all into Health Points.

[Health Point conversion successful. Current Health Points: 45]

Not bad. Higher than before, but still not particularly long-lived compared to the average person, and many items and skills required Health Points to activate.

Zhu Ning opened her menu to study her items. The Pig-Man’s Guillotine: Once within 24 hours, it could be used for a single, guaranteed kill on a target, with 100% accuracy. Looking closely at the description—"100% accuracy"—it didn't explicitly say it would kill anything. It might be 100% effective against C-class pollutants or below, but its effect on anything higher was uncertain. Furthermore, it had a cooldown; it could only be used once a day. Money had to be spent on the blade, so she would save it for a critical moment.

There was also a Master Key, which could open any door. This description was much more straightforward: it meant that if it was a door, there was no door Zhu Ning couldn't open. A master thief’s skill.

The other primary talent was interesting: Metal Manipulation. Magneto, is that you?

Zhu Ning sat cross-legged on her bed, her hair still damp. Impatient to test this talent, she stared intently at a coin resting in her palm.

Thirty seconds passed. Nothing. One minute. Not a stir. Two minutes. Still as a corpse.

It was useless.

What should she do now? Find a master to apprentice under? Ask for help online: "How do I get started with Metal Manipulation?"

Zhu Ning thought she'd head out to dry her hair; she didn't want to catch a cold with a head of wet hair. As she let go, just before she could reach for the hair dryer, she froze.

The coin was hovering silently in mid-air.

Zhu Ning moved her fingers, and the coin shifted a centimeter to the left, following her fingertips. She moved it to the right, and the coin followed, like a jellyfish she was keeping as a pet, floating in sync with her hand.

Zhu Ning could feel the difference. She had forged some kind of link with the coin—indescribable, something difficult to explain to others. She had never practiced "immortality cultivation," but she suspected this was what it felt like to have an epiphany. She carefully manipulated the coin, its speed increasing with her intent.

What if she pushed it further?

*Clatter.* The coin fell to the floor.

The limit was indeed one meter. Once it went beyond a meter, the link snapped. One meter was the limit, and the coin was small and easy to control. But what about something larger?

The Hive where Zhu Ning lived was a slum; the building levels were constructed of metal. Directly behind her bed was an entire wall made of metal.

Zhu Ning knelt on the bed and placed her palm gently against the metal wall.

This wall was a piece of "black technology" from the Wasteland, primarily made of metal and highly cost-effective. The wall was thick, a solid slab of metal. It was said that this material emitted a certain kind of metallic radiation, which was why it had been abandoned by the wealthy districts and was no longer used by ordinary people, eventually being widely dumped into the slums.

With her hand pressed against the wall, Zhu Ning closed her eyes to focus. This wall was quite large—large enough that if it collapsed, it could crush someone—so she was only testing the waters.

Managing to deform even a tiny piece of metal under her palm would be a significant achievement. Zhu Ning took a deep breath, focusing all her mental energy into her palm.