The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician
Chapter 337 - 208: Liu Tingruo at Forty_2

Chapter 337: Chapter 208: Liu Tingruo at Forty_2

Coupled with the anti-intellectual tendencies brought about by "entertainment to death," it has become even harder for these people to access the resources and channels to ascend the social ladder, solidifying the class stratification in Lonely City.

If the daily production ability of these people is 10, while selling spiritual power is 200, then under such huge profits, everyone with a daily production ability less than 200 would be "cut off uniformly," used as energy sources, because that is more in line with the development of productive forces.

But such an era...

It was even worse than now.

"Wait, Liu Tingruo," Jiang Shu rarely called out her full name, his face looking somewhat unpleasant.

"Hm? What’s wrong?" Liu Tingruo also noticed something off with Jiang Shu, and almost instantly, his expression grew much more somber.

"Wait..." Jiang Shu closed his eyes, and at the same time, he opened them again.

It was a strange way to describe it, but it was the truth—while he shut his eyes, he had opened another pair.

And what was revealed before him was a completely different scene.

A strange white ceiling.

So pristine it seemed false.

The light from the energy-saving bulb was bright, slightly glaring, so Jiang Shu squinted, feeling a slight sting in his eyes.

But soon, he no longer felt such discomfort and opened his eyes once more.

The room was about the size of a standard classroom, with dozens of light-structured white beds scattered about, and atop them, laid men who appeared aged with weathered faces.

Above their heads, they wore semi-transparent blue helmets that fit snugly against the old men’s heads, with strange things resembling data cables connected to them. Midway, these cables transformed into soft plastic tubes, and at the end of the tubes was a needle, half of which was inserted into the veins of the old men’s arms.

This was...

Jiang Shu frowned slightly. Where was this?

Then his view uncontrollably shifted, and in front of him appeared his own shriveled arm, as another hand suddenly pulled out the needle.

The hand removed the needle, carelessly tossing it into a garbage bin beside the bed.

Huh? What’s happening? Myself...

This body was not his own.

Jiang Shu realized that he was just a spectator in this body.

In effect, it was similar to the ability he gained from performing the card trick via telephone, the Thought Link.

But the place where this body was located now, Jiang Shu had no recollection of it at all.

A room, some old men lying down, old men wearing such helmets...

What were they all doing?

And why was he linked to the thoughts of an elder here?

Could it be...

This old man had once come to watch his Magic Performance?

"Sawada Kazu, are you done already?" At this moment, an old man nearby seemed to notice something. He took off his helmet, looking towards the man Jiang Shu was inhabiting and asked, "We’ve only been here... for about four hours, right?"

"About that, but I’ve almost got enough Contribution Points for the week. I don’t want to lie here and watch these boring things anymore." Sawada Kazu just said this, then he slowly moved his body and got off the bed.

Through Jiang Shu’s perspective, he couldn’t see what this Sawada Kazu looked like, nor could he see the man’s expressions or demeanor when he spoke. But in that moment, he remembered who this person actually was.

It was the man he had invited on stage to complete the telephone card trick.

However, if he remembered correctly, Sawada Kazu was the name of that young son, yet now, this Sawada Kazu appeared so aged...

What was going on?

Was Sawada Kazu actually this aged, or had he suddenly aged for some reason?

Or was it...

This place was in a future time?

Had he, for some unknown reason, established a Thought Link with the future Sawada Kazu?

Jiang Shu observed everything in the room through the eyes of Sawada Kazu. The minimalist style of the room didn’t offer many clues, the only distinctive items being those beds and helmets.

And yet, in the half year he had lived in Lonely City, he had never seen these things. Combined with the words of the two elderly people he had just overheard, Jiang Shu made some guesses in his mind.

This must be the future.

"Lying here isn’t too bad either, just lying down watching videos, playing little games to make money—is certainly better than staying at home dealing with all those troublesome matters," the old man muttered again, then put the helmet back on and lay down.

"Maybe so, but I don’t like this kind of life," Sawada Kazu continued to grumble to himself, then slowly shuffled towards the room’s door.

During this time, Jiang Shu also noticed that Sawada Kazu’s wrist was missing the watch that had been there before.

When Sawada Kazu reached the door, a metallic sphere that had been following him flew to the doorknob, fitting into a recess there, then the door swiftly slid open to both sides.

The corridor outside the room was neatly lined with a row of small personal transportation vehicles, resembling electric unicycles, that could smoothly move as soon as one stood on them.

These vehicles all followed the same specifications, with a simple white appearance and an extremely simple structure—devoid of any superfluous features.

Sawada Kazu stopped in front of one of them, waiting for something.

The little sphere intelligently flew up, unlocking the vehicle, after which Sawada Kazu pulled open a small drawer on the side of the vehicle and retrieved a bar from inside.

The area symbolizing the charge glowed green.

Sawada Kazu tossed the bar lightly, it automatically hovered half a person’s height above the transportation vehicle, then he stepped onto the foot pedals at either end of the vehicle, and grabbed the floating bar.

The bar acted like handlebars, used to get a grip and stabilize one’s body.

The personal vehicle started slowly, and Jiang Shu’s viewpoint also followed the old man, moving forward slowly.

The corridor was very long; Jiang Shu kept track of the number of rooms, and by the time he came to a completely transparent elevator chamber, he had counted up to seventeen.

Yet, the corridor still didn’t end.

There were about twenty elderly people in each room, meaning there were nearly four to five hundred people along this corridor.

However, he wasn’t certain if every room was full of elderly people.

Stepping into the transparent chamber of the elevator, the old man extended his hand and touched the Simulated Light Screen on the elevator console.

Fifth floor.

Fifth floor?

Why not the first floor?

Does each floor of this building serve a different purpose?

But soon, he stopped pondering this question. Standing inside the transparent elevator, he could see the outside scene of the building through the glass.

A pitch-black, custom dome loomed high in the sky, exuding a chill, sinister aura. A row of orderly buildings stood tall on the land, with giant Light Balls suspended between the towering structures, replacing the sun’s role, shining light sufficient for illumination.

The higher levels of the buildings were connected by semi-transparent, completely enclosed walkways; some were pedestrian paths, while others were routes for floating trains. These intricate walkways, yet as orderly as a spider’s web, revealed a symmetric beauty.

Below, in the congested streets near the ground, stores were jampacked, with neon lights and flashing shop signs setting the theme.

The people coming and going moved hurriedly, with little interaction between them.

What was clearly different was that the use of Prosthetic Bodies by the people on the ground far exceeded that in the old Lonely City. Still, the majority had standardized prosthetics, and the uniquely eccentric types were rare.

Moreover, a large number of intelligent robots populated the streets, exhibiting an extremely high degree of human-likeness, with quite a few robots dressed in suits, even more tasteful than ordinary humans.

At this point, quad-wheeled vehicles had completely vanished, replaced by the type of unicycle transporters that Jiang Shu had just seen, though occasionally a motorbike, flashing with dynamic lights, could be seen roaring past.

But obviously, these motorbikes had become a luxury, not something anyone could have.

Faraway on top of a building, a giant billboard lit up, showing the upper body of a middle-aged woman.

Time had left its marks upon her face; the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes could no longer be concealed, but she was still radiant, her beauty still breathtaking.

"Liu Tingruo?" Jiang Shu exclaimed involuntarily upon seeing that face.

Although she had aged considerably, he could still recognize her in an instant—that was Liu Tingruo.

But how come, while Sawada Kazu had aged beyond recognition, Liu Tingruo still appeared to be in her forties?

"Hmm? What?" Sawada Kazu suddenly acted as if he had heard something, turned around, and looked around.

He was the only person in this elevator.

Then who had spoken those words?