??Chapter 258: Chapter 257: A Day’s Work
Chapter 258: Chapter 257: A Day’s Work
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Mr. Xue.”
While stifling a yawn, Xue Quan greeted the other colleagues in the Comprehensive Security Control Center.
Compared to the days when he was hustling abroad, his current work environnt was a world apart. He lived in the employee dormitory of the Security Center, with only a couple of hundred ters to walk to his workplace, no need to worry about bullets flying at him from any corner, or helicopter-friendly fire overhead.
Sotis, he couldn’t help but wonder if such a job, if done for too long, might dull his judgnt and vigilance.
But thoughts aside, if given the chance to do it all over again, he would still accept the nation’s dispatch without hesitation.
After all, the experience this job offers is truly unique.
It’s the kind that wouldn’t be believed if written on a resu.
Turning left upon entering the lobby and walking straight for fifty ters, he arrived at the confidential area of the Security Center. There was a strict set of protocols for entry, its caution on par with entering the reactor area of a nuclear power plant.
After placing his personal phone into a storage box, Xue Quan picked up a quantum communication phone prepared by the turnstile for the Security Center—upon entering this area, all electromagnetic signals would be blocked, and external network connections could only be maintained by a dedicated data line.
Then, he positioned his face in front of the scanner.
“Beep… Identity confird, Pioneer Group’s Xue Quan, permission to enter.”
The automatic doors slid open to both sides.
In the vestibule beyond the door, he had to change his coat, put on a head cover, gloves, and fasten a life-signs monitor before moving on to the next room.
And this room was nad “Pioneer Hall.”
The exploration of the new world all started from here.
Upon entering the room, Xue Quan was imdiately presented with a pristine and orderly scene—a hundred or so ergonomically designed reclining chairs neatly arranged in rows, with fifty “Pioneers” laying on them wearing VR glasses, including so big shots from the Science Academy. Twenty-four hours a day, these fifty slots were always filled, and even though there were no strict regulations on minimum work hours, most people stayed for ten to twelve during their shifts. One had to admit, just looking at this scene was enough to give a taste of the future world.
If a photo of the hall were posted to the external network, it would certainly stir up rumors that DongDa was secretly training a vast army of hackers.
However, Xue Quan felt that the managent departnt was making things a little too formal.
In the past, he and Zhang Zhiyuan could kick back on the sofa and still make their way to Paradise.
Arriving at his designated spot, a nurse quickly ca over to help him connect to the monitor, “Mr. Xue, have you had breakfast?”
“I have, I have, could I possibly starve myself to death?”
“It’s hard to say,” the young nurse said with a giggle, covering her mouth, “Soone from Group Two stayed over there too long and ended up with symptoms of hypoglycemia. They nearly fainted on the spot. You’re all elites, so we have to make sure each of you can co back in one piece.”
“Quite the sweet talker,” Xue Quan chuckled, shaking his head as he lay back in his seat, “Alright, hand
the glasses.”
“You got it!”
Once he put on the VR headset, a series of prompts quickly appeared on the screen: “Boot program initiating. Would you like to enter Paradise?”
There was a significant change from the previous login thod—before, one had to schedule a ga ti with Paradise, and only when that ti ca could one be pulled into the other world. Now, however, it seed that the officials at Paradise had made the interface detect automatically, allowing those with login privileges to choose to enter or exit at any ti.
“Xue Quan, enter,” he responded with his mind.
As reality warped around him, a flash of white light passed, and Xue Quan found himself standing in a gray hall. Paradise referred to it as the transit station. Literally, it was supposed to be a conduit between two worlds. Whether the channel existed only in the consciousness or there was a physical structure in reality, Xue Quan still hadn’t figured out.
Sitting on the throne in the center of the hall was a dark silhouette. Zhang Zhiyuan once ntioned that this shadow represented the will of Paradise. Its words could be taken as the final decision of Paradise, but most of the ti, it was just an object set there, speechless and motionless, there only for visitors to switch their bodies.
Xue Quan approached the throne and touched the shadow; a powerful suction imdiately pulled his whole being into it—when he opened his eyes again, he was in the underground base of the sanctuary, his body replaced with a brand-new version of himself.
Coming up to the surface of the sanctuary, the sll of disinfectant in the air made him sneeze involuntarily. Even though the newly established inpatient departnt had started receiving patients, Miss Jenny had not turned the main hall into a front for entertaining guests like Yeni did. Instead, she took advantage of its proximity to the main entrance and transford it into an ergency departnt. During busy tis, it still seed quite chaotic.
Since the nuns could not be considered professional doctors, and there were very few capable of diagnosing patients, it seed that the registration and consultation system might not be implented for a considerable length of ti.
Fortunately, that wasn’t an issue he needed to worry about.
As long as Paradise made a request, the Control Center could always find professionals to devise a comprehensive plan.
Watching the bustling nuns and the two material warehouses under construction in the large courtyard, Xue Quan sensed a new change in the ti difference between the two worlds.
In the past, either he ca to Paradise to find that the date had barely changed or that he returned to Earth to see that the clock had only ticked a few hours. But this ti, the flow of ti seed continuous; after sleeping, he would return to his work, and here, a long night had just ended, with the sun having risen from the east not long ago.
This continuity might well be reflected in the rapid developnt of the seaport city.
Xue Quan mounted his motorcycle and sped toward the experintal fields on the northern outskirts—if he rembered correctly, today was the day when the brand-new agricultural machinery was to be put into official use.
Along the way, he felt the envious gazes of countless residents, as if he wasn’t riding a classic motorcycle but a magical treasure. On Earth, even a luxury sports car worth millions wouldn’t attract this much attention.
The local people now understood that most of the strange things appearing in Magnificent Castle lately had sothing to do with the Paradise Foundation. Positions released by companies under the na of Paradise were quickly filled with eager applicants. For Xue Quan, one of the clients, feeling a sense of achievent was inevitable.
After leaving the city area, the northern suburbs had beco a vast construction site. On the left was a machinery trial run base including an airport, on the right were farm areas and the forr ore slting factory. Further east were the re-acquired assembly plant and Huiqiu Mine. Even though these new areas were built on the existing industrial and agricultural foundation of Magnificent Castle, the planned scene already exceeded the size of the main urban area by three tis.
In the sowhat desolate fields, Xue Quan imdiately spotted the star of the day—a colossal machine fifteen ters long and four ters high. Its chassis, similar to a tank, made up of caterpillar tracks, looked standard; the upper part, however, was a mishmash of chanical arms, and it even resembled an elongated potted plant monster.
It was the combined land reclamation machine nad “Pioneer No.1” by the Control Center.
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