Capítulo 6: Chapter 6: Prayle's Eye
Fifteen minutes later, Liu Mu arrived in a hurry, clearly eager to help.
Bai Wu took the thin booklet from his hand and quickly skimmed through the Talent Sequence.
"You seem to lack some common knowledge about the High Tower...?"
Considering what the head of the seventh squad's interrogation group had said earlier, Liu Mu spoke up.
"I've lost my memory."
"Based on the impression you gave me before, you could've come up with a better lie to deceive me."
"So it's best you believe it. The ones who captured me might have forcibly erased my memory for convenience in cleaning up afterwards."
Before, he had asked Yun Shu and Xue Ci, and the fourth layer had quite a few means to erase memories. A common one was a plant extract called Anai.
While speaking, his gaze moved to the sequences within the top one hundred.
Liu Mu also noticed that Bai Wu had flipped to the first three pages and laughed:
"In the entire lower three layers, the one with the foremost sequence is Wu Jiu, sequence 256: Extreme Shadow. Those even further ahead haven't been seen in a very, very long time."
"What about the top hundred? Have they ever appeared in history?" Bai Wu asked casually.
The Sequence is different from Innate Force; Innate Force is granted upon leaving the tower, while only a very few people awaken a Sequence.
According to current statistics, most awakeners, no matter how long they stay outside the tower, are ranked after seven hundred.
The top hundred... In Liu Mu's eyes, that was the realm of gods. But, indeed, there have been such cases in history, and this history isn't too distant.
"There was one, but it can't be verified, no different from folklore."
"Let's hear it."
"Look at Talent Sequence 75: Absolute Dissolution. More than twenty years ago, a miner from the bottom layer was said to have awakened this sequence. That's more outrageous than winning the lottery—it's like ascending to heaven in one step, in the real sense."
"It seems that person didn't end up with a good fate," Bai Wu stated the conclusion directly.
Liu Mu opened his mouth but suddenly found it boring to talk to this person.
Still, he nodded:
"He disappeared, just vanished. The incident was quickly suppressed, and after so many years, there's no way to investigate. The highest commander of the Garrison Corps in Gao Ta Town at that time did not actively investigate the case, but instead made every effort to erase information about the person."
"So he was taken away by an organization higher than the Garrison Corps."
"That's right, but no one knows where he went. It's very likely the fifth layer, the ruler's level. Or maybe... the sixth layer."
Bai Wu already knew about the six known layers of the High Tower.
"By the way, does this world enforce a check on one's Talent Sequence? Does it register every person's Talent Sequence information?"
"That won't happen. Talent Sequences are privately owned. It's like within the Investigation Corps, many people keep their sequences a secret and never reveal them."
Bai Wu nodded, finding this to be good news.
This meant that after that incident, there might still be people within the top one hundred sequences who had learned their lesson. They didn't know what they would face if they went to the fifth layer.
So hiding their own talents could be a reality. In that case, I also need to be careful.
Bai Wu's gaze casually swept over the second line of the first page.
Talent Sequence 24: Prayle's Eye.
[Able to see annotations that fit with one's hidden aspect of character at the focus of one's sight. Advancement: Unknown.]
The further back the sequence number, the more detailed the explanation. By the top fifty, there's basically just a simple definition.
But Bai Wu was sure his ability was this one, yet this message led to even more questions.
"Why does this body have such an advanced sequence? Has it been outside the tower before?"
"No, that's not right. My Innate Force is so weak; it shows this body is indeed outside the tower for the first time. Yet, it could awaken such an advanced sequence Is this logical? This isn't logical."
"This question is currently impossible to find clues for, at least until I figure out the past of this body then through process of elimination..."
Intuition told Bai Wu that the source of Prayle's Eye must be related to some extremely important information, but his current self, just starting out in Beginner's Village, was not yet capable of investigating it.
"Annotations that fit with my hidden character aspect? Is my hidden side that cheap?"
Thinking of those playful annotations, Bai Wu internally denied it thrice: I am not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.
Liu Mu spoke up:
"You should be leaving the tower for the first time. Talent Sequence, that kind of thing, don't think about it for now."
"Sure. One question, Talent Sequence, can a person only have one kind?"
"A person can only awaken one kind, but according to the saying passed down from the sixth layer, it's also possible to gain additional sequences by killing certain extremely powerful Evil Fallen. But such Evil Fallen... Even if they really exist, it's best to pray not to encounter them."
Bai Wu understood, kill to loot, this made sense. Passed down from the sixth layer...
Meaning, Wu Jiu and Liu Mu, they are considered the openly strong in the High Tower.
But there could also be some hidden masters with rare, advanced sequences, and maybe even multiple sequences...
Prayle's Eye isn't suitable for battle, although it also mentions advancement, but the advanced ability probably isn't applicable to combat either.
I need to find a way out of the tower and acquire some other talents.
"Ahem."
Liu Mu suddenly coughed, ready to discuss serious matters.
Bai Wu immediately understood his intention:
"I'm sorry, Brother Liu, you're a good person, but I choose the seventh squad."
???
Before Liu Mu could even start speaking, he was rejected.
"Why?"
"During the three hours of questioning earlier, I learned that the seventh squad leaves the tower most frequently out of the sixteen squads."
"Isn't that a reason to dissuade someone?"
Even those from the Investigation Corps outside the tower would prefer to stay inside. Bai Wu's words seemed to indicate a strong desire to leave the tower.
"If you really want to leave the tower, then I'll transfer you to the Vanguard Group of my Squad Thirteen. If you don't want to leave, go to the interrogation group. Any requests you have, just let me know."
After a conversation with Bai Wu, Liu Mu confirmed that Bai Wu was a good candidate.
Bai Wu shook his head:
"You're still single, aren't you?"
"I, the respectable leader of Squad Thirteen... alright, I am."
"Remember, always choose someone who has a natural liking for you. If you're interested in someone, never fight on their turf. You'll lose because of being late, and suffer from having a preconceived disadvantage. I have a better impression of the seventh squad from the start, and besides, thirteen is an unlucky number."
"Damn it!"
Liu Mu huffed away.
About two minutes after Liu Mu left, Yun Shu, Xue Ci, the head of the interrogation team Jiang Tong, and the captain of the seventh division of the Investigation Corps, Wu Jiu, entered the interrogation room.
Bai Wu sized up Wu Jiu.
When calm, this person looked lazy and seldom spoke or laughed, with slightly drooping eyelids, and a gaze like a blade ready to unsheathe.
With experience from his previous life, Bai Wu instinctively felt, this type of character was often a top-notch expert.
The note quickly provided an explanation.
[You know, just like in many Japanese RPGs, you often come across a powerful endgame NPC in the Beginner's Village. This Little Dwarf probably has that kind of role. Plus, he's hiding a secret that even those on the Sixth Layer are very interested in.]
"My name is Gu Qingyu. You can call me Captain Gu."
"Okay, Wu Jiu."
"..."
Wu Jiu's face turned an ashen blue and glanced back at Yun Shu and Xue Ci.
At that moment, the two turned their heads away, pretending to admire the scenery.
Fortunately, having been called by his nickname so often, Wu Jiu didn't take it to heart:
"I want to invite you to join the Investigation Corps. A fingerprint search showed that you don't have an identity, but this isn't surprising. Indeed, there's a portion of people at the bottom who are like this, with no citizen ID or identity. After you join the Investigation Corps, I can get you one."
"I want to make a request."
Wu Jiu nodded, "If you don't want to go outside the tower, you can also join the interrogation team; we've accumulated quite a few cases recently."
"I want to leave the tower tomorrow."
The trio of Yun Shu, Xue Ci, and Jiang Tong were stunned, doubting they had heard correctly.
Wu Jiu frowned, assessing Bai Wu.
"Your Innate Force has been tested; because it developed in the blue zone, it grew to the first tier, third stage in less than two hours. But even at the first tier, facing even a mildly deformed Evil Fallen..."
"If you're about to remind me that it's dangerous outside the tower and that I'm not ready to go out, then duck that."
Bai Wu interrupted Wu Jiu's warning.
"Just let me follow the veterans' team; I won't hold anyone back. I'm not seeking death, and I don't think you actually want me to stay inside the tower."
What an odd person...
Having barely escaped death from outside the High Tower, yet he was so eager to go back? Xue Ci and Yun Shu couldn't quite understand Bai Wu.
But Wu Jiu wasn't a typical superior either; he actually agreed:
"Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. I will join four others from group one, and with you, we will form a six-person squad and head to the white zone."
Bai Wu already knew about the color divisions of the areas, and he timidly asked:
"What's above the blue zone?"
Wu Jiu automatically skipped this naive question; Bai Wu wasn't being foolish, just genuinely curious.
"Now, I will arrange for someone to take your fingerprint and process your joining the Investigation Corps. From now on, you are a bottom-level citizen."
Wasn't I always?
Bai Wu didn't yet know that, although bottom-dwellers were the same, those with and without a citizen number led two different kinds of lives.
...
...
Wu Jiu was extremely efficient in his work; normally, in his previous life, such paperwork would not be completed in less than a week.
But under Wu Jiu's pressure, the various procedures were quickly completed. Soon Bai Wu had his own citizen number—560205278—and was assigned to the bottom level.
Nine hundred meters separated the bottom level from the second.
Each level was the same, with mega elevators between them that could accommodate nearly a thousand people at once.
Looking at this elevator, Bai Wu realized the scale of the High Tower was truly spectacular.
Under Wu Jiu's arrangements, he had a humble dwelling on the bottom level, but he had to pay 400 Tower Currency a month.
From Wu Jiu, Bai Wu quickly learned that one Tower Currency was equivalent to the purchasing power of one yuan from his own world in the year 2020.
Pretty cheap...
Inside the High Tower, there was no concept of prime real estate or first-tier cities. The bottom level was always crowded, and if not for the status with the Investigation Corps, it would have been impossible to rent a house at this price.
Of course, if one was with the Gao Ta Town Garrison Corps, they'd start with a house on the second level...
Considering that he didn't even have the most basic resources for survival, Bai Wu cheekily asked Wu Jiu for a loan.
Wu Jiu grimly loaned him the money. Although he looked fierce, he was generous to his subordinates.
In the following few hours, Bai Wu began to familiarize himself with the environment around his home—the south-west corner of the High Tower's bottom level.
To the people of the third and fourth levels, the entire bottom level was inhabited by doomed outlaws: it was the poorest and most degraded place in the world. For a reasonable amount of Tower Currency, these barbarians would do anything.
The place where Bai Wu currently was, was called the Opportune Harbour.
Without rivers or seas, the High Tower obviously had no harbors; it was simply a place name.
The name Opportune was straightforward: this place was filled with various goods, all touted as coming from outside the tower, meaning Spirit Possession items.
The Opportune Harbour was rudimentary, just a main road about six meters wide. And on both sides of the road, there were various stall-like shops.
No set prices and no robbery, because there were unspoken underground rules here. The port was mostly filled with fakes, and while genuine Spirit Possession items were sold, they were very rare.
Getting a real item could be slightly profitable, but buying a fake meant shrugging it off as bad luck, a form of unconventional gambling.
How to distinguish the real from the fake was beyond the scope of eye power, as the scammers had silently agreed on one point: never reveal the item's function.
They would only say the items were from outside the tower and would make various assumptions about their capabilities, but they never committed to any specifics.
Seeing someone with a urine pot, boasting it as Aladdin's lamp, was a common sight here.
Yet ironically, many were willing to believe the traders' tall tales, even after being deceived time and again.
Because life needed hope.
Everyone hoped to buy a treasure that could brighten their dull and cruel bottom-level existence just a bit.
Bai Wu walked into the Opportune Harbour.
He had yet to wear the blue uniform of the Investigation Corps, but the bag of Tower Currency coins given by Wu Jiu was tucked into his bag.
The bulging purse was like a scent emitted by females in estrus, and the merchants on both sides of the road, like males in heat, began to shout frantically.
In the eyes of the scammers, this young man was surely a walking ATM. How much discernment could an eighteen or nineteen-year-old have?
Of course, they had no idea that such a shoddy marketplace would encounter a bargain hunter with "Prayle's Eye."
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