Dongfang Qiqing fell silent.
It was honestly the first time someone had flexed wealth in front of her like this…
Even the Interastral Peace Corporation, when storing those so-called "cheap" mass-produced three-star Light Cones, used large display cabinets spaced apart.
They even filled the storage with memoria and handled each Light Cone carefully to avoid even the slightest possibility of damage.
Zhuxing noticed what Dongfang Qiqing was thinking and explained:
"At first, Light Cones really were stored in specialized display cases."
"One cabinet for each Light Cone."
She shrugged.
"But obviously, the number of Light Cones kept increasing."
"If we continued storing them that way, it would take up an enormous amount of space in the city."
"That would waste a ridiculous amount of land."
Dongfang Qiqing looked at the countless Light Cones embedded everywhere and nodded.
Honestly… that did make sense.
If they were stored normally, the required space would be massive.
Thinking about it that way—
It seemed reasonable.
…Actually no.
It was still completely unreasonable.
Zhuxing continued.
"Especially after the expedition to the Garden of Recollection."
"We brought back quite a lot of Light Cones."
"After that trip, the teacher started building this special corridor."
"It's meant to store the various Light Cones in his collection."
She joked:
"Some people say that if someone managed to steal everything in this corridor and sell it…"
"They'd instantly become one of the richest people in the universe."
Well… obviously.
With this many rare Light Cones, if converted into money it would easily reach an astronomical value.
Even Dongfang Qiqing felt it was a little extravagant to leave so many Light Cones simply displayed here.
Zhuxing led her to one of them.
She reached out and gently touched the Light Cone.
Her hand passed straight through the smooth, jade-like surface.
Then she pulled out a five-star Light Cone positioned near the center of the corridor.
Zhuxing explained proudly:
"Most of the Light Cones here are three-star."
"A smaller portion are four-star."
"There are exactly 394 five-star Light Cones."
"Which just happens to match the corridor's length."
"And none of them are duplicates."
"Every Light Cone here is unique."
Dongfang Qiqing was even more shocked.
"This many Light Cones… and none of them repeat?"
"How many memories must be stored here?!"
"No wonder Mr. Lin Yi isn't worried about someone stealing them."
When there's a single banknote on the road, someone will quietly pick it up.
When there are many scattered banknotes, people will rush forward and fight over them.
But if there's a mountain of cash stacked taller than a wall, weighing several tons—
No one dares approach it.
The logic was the same.
Zhuxing held up the Light Cone she had taken out.
Inside the image—
Was a young Zhuxing, about seven or eight years old.
Running around in a panic.
The art style even turned slightly cartoonish from how chaotic she looked.
In the distant background were several geniuses arguing intensely.
"Shared Assistant of the Geniuses"
Dizzy and Overwhelmed
That year, several geniuses gathered together to research a universal medicine capable of healing all life.
Herta shouted:
"Screwllum, what's wrong with you?!"
"Can you stop using that mechanical brain of yours to speculate about organic biology?!"
Lin Yi snapped:
"Ruan Mei!"
"We're researching a universal medicine right now—not conducting one of your crazy biological experiments!"
"If you want to play with that stuff, do it privately!"
"Don't waste everyone's time!"
Screwllum replied calmly:
"Conclusion: Herta, you are being excessively reckless."
"Your actions have caused the last 27 system hours of work to be completely wasted."
Ruan Mei said coldly:
"Sometimes I really wonder whether you deserve the title of genius."
"How could you make such a mistake, Lin Yi?"
Yu Qingtu sighed in frustration.
"Do you think arguing will produce results?"
"The real problem is obvious—this path simply doesn't work!"
"Sometimes I think joining this project was a mistake!"
…
Then suddenly—
A voice burst out excitedly.
Aha:
"Fight! Fight!"
"Aha wants to see blood flowing like rivers! (๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶"
"Shut up." ×5
Lin Yi snapped:
"Stop that damn emotional interference."
Herta raised a hammer.
"Enough talking. Take this!"
…
This chaotic daily scene was the childhood memory of the girl named Zhuxing.
Surrounded by geniuses, outsiders couldn't approach them.
So the young Zhuxing naturally took on all the miscellaneous work.
Serving water.
Passing coffee.
Delivering food.
Carrying documents.
Stumbling while bringing materials.
Helping with simple experiments.
Recording data—often full of mistakes.
Somehow she ended up gaining the title of "student."
A student for exactly 27 days.
Among those geniuses constantly clashing during research—
The young Zhuxing naturally became the lubricant that kept everything running smoothly.
Those 27 days left an indelible mark on her life.
And shaped the path she would follow.
Participated in the Panacea Project
Participated in Harmony Type-II Optimization
Independently completed the Second Miracle – Hunter Beacon
Independently developed the Tianhong Pulse Beam – Prototype
Participated in Lin Yi's Light Cone Fusion Experiments
First-generation tester of the Simulated Universe
Participated in Ancient Beast domestication
Independently built and maintained the Space City internal network
…
Behind that dazzling list of achievements—
Was a face still far too young.
Where would her path lead next?
This was clearly an extremely rich and layered Light Cone.
Even more interesting—
The image inside the Light Cone continued changing over time.
Zhuxing excitedly showed it off.
After all, the main perspective of the Light Cone was her.
A five-star Light Cone.
That alone proved the weight of her life.
"Pretty amazing, right?"
"This is a composite Light Cone."
"Even the Garden of Recollection doesn't have this technology."
"It was created by merging several four-star Light Cones with extremely similar properties."
"All those four-star Light Cones were born during those same 27 days."
"And every single one had me as the main perspective."
Zhuxing explained excitedly:
"The teacher suddenly had an idea."
"If these Light Cones are so similar and overlapping…"
"Why can't we combine them?"
Dongfang Qiqing smiled.
"And so this was born?"
Zhuxing nodded.
"Yep."
She suddenly thought of something.
"Qiqing-jie, wait a moment."
Then she began rummaging along the wall.
"Found it."
"They move positions every time—it's such a hassle."
Behind one Light Cone, she uncovered a small hidden knob.
She grabbed it and gently turned it.
A mechanical sound echoed.
The wall split open.
A one-meter-wide hidden door appeared.
The secret-room vibe was extremely strong.
But…
Putting the entrance of a secret room in a crowded public corridor…
Was that really okay?
Dongfang Qiqing could only think:
I do not understand.
Zhuxing waved excitedly.
"Qiqing-jie, come on!"
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