Stronger with Crimson Modifier

The task required her to consume at least ten thousand calories.

However, ten thousand calories—even if it were all beef—amounted to eight or nine pounds of food.

It was impossible for an ordinary person to eat that much food in such a short time.

But since the task demanded it, she had no other choice.

She ordered several high-calorie meat and vegetable dishes.

While waiting for her food to arrive, a news broadcast playing on the wall caught Zhao Ying’s attention.

"...In recent days, a large number of violent refugees from the underground Dark Realm have infiltrated the Lower City District. All residents are advised to be cautious when going out..."

As the report played, an image appeared on the screen.

It was a stretch of ruins.

Next to some flames, there were several blurry, dark human figures.

The footage was clearly taken in secret by someone hiding nearby.

Zhao Ying was, of course, familiar with the Dark Realm refugees.

They were a bunch of lunatics who lived in the darkness underground.

Having lived for so long in absolute darkness, some of them had developed physical mutations.

An unstable band of violent thugs.

Every time they appeared, they caused massive casualties among the residents of the Lower City District.

...

Hu Qi, inside the Copper Cross Medal, quietly watched all of this.

The reason he had issued the task for Zhao Ying to come to this restaurant—to replenish her body’s energy—was merely a superficial one.

More importantly, he wanted to use this opportunity to invade the restaurant’s network system.

Right now, his perception was like an invisible web, silently infiltrating every data node in the restaurant.

Countless pieces of information flowed in his "eyes," like shimmering rivers.

Through this data, Hu Qi’s understanding of this world was rapidly becoming more complete.

After a while, he withdrew his perception.

"I see."

Hu Qi murmured to himself, a hint of understanding in his voice.

This place was called Rock Iron Star, a planet named for its rich iron ore resources.

Its social structure was strictly divided into three tiers: the lowest tier was the underground world, also known as the "Dark Realm," a habitat for refugees, criminals, and outcasts, filled with chaos and danger.

The middle tier was the surface-dwelling Lower City District, the living area for ordinary civilians. Although dilapidated, it was relatively orderly.

As for the top tier, it was the Upper City District, floating above the clouds. It was the residence of the true elites and powerful, a place ordinary people could never hope to reach.

There were eleven other planets similar to Rock Iron Star in this world.

Each of them had different resources and social structures.

Furthermore, on the surface, this world had no Extraordinary Power.

There were only Mecha Masters, Modified People, and Mechanical Source Masters.

Mecha Masters, as the name implies, could pilot Mecha, capable of incredible feats of mobility and flight, wielding immense destructive power.

As for Modified People, they replaced their original limbs with various mechanical prosthetics. In terms of true combat power, they were no match for Mecha Masters.

Only a fully converted Modified Person could possibly stand a chance against an ordinary Mecha.

But due to various rejection issues, the more heavily a Modified Person was altered, the shorter their lifespan became.

Finally, the Mechanical Source Master was not a combat profession.

Instead, it was a title for personnel skilled in various mechanical technologies.

For example, modifying prosthetics, developing Mecha, and so on.

However, this wasn’t what concerned Hu Qi.

It was something else.

For instance, there was no such thing as a sun in this world.

Or rather, the sun had died out an unknown number of years ago.

In the world where Rock Iron Star was located, the other eleven known planets were all shrouded in eternal darkness.

Without sunlight, the surfaces of the planets were perpetually covered by dark clouds and cold, forcing civilization to rely on artificial energy to survive.

However, even though the sun had gone out, humanity had not given up hope.

Hu Qi learned from fragmented information that there was once an organization called the "Holy Cross Church" that attempted to reignite the sun.

It seems, however, that they were unsuccessful.

The Holy Cross Church.

Hu Qi was familiar with that name.

According to the information he’d obtained earlier, the Copper Cross Medal he currently resided in had come from the Holy Cross Church.

However, Hu Qi had no way of learning more detailed information about the Holy Cross Church or its plan to reignite the sun.

The networks of the Lower City District and the Upper City District were completely segregated, so he couldn’t directly spy on the core data of the Upper City District.

He had dug up these fragments of information from an old device discarded from the Upper City District.

The device had once belonged to some distinguished individual from the Upper City District, but was now discarded in a corner of the Lower City District, where it had been picked up by a Scavenger and taken home.

The residual data on the device became Hu Qi’s breakthrough, but the information was incomplete and severely fragmented.

’A dead sun... the Holy Cross Church... Mecha Masters...’

’It seems this world is more complex than I imagined.’

Hu Qi fell into deep thought.

’If I want to find out more, I’ll have to guide Zhao Ying to the Upper City District using system tasks.’

An extremely active energy permeated the air.

’Extraordinary Power must exist here. I just don’t fully understand what form this power takes yet. Based on the memories I got from the Mirage Dragon, I speculate that the Extraordinary Power is very likely connected to this world’s Dao Rhyme.’

...

Before long, a server brought the food.

A perfectly seared synthetic steak, fried chicken nuggets drizzled with rich sauce, baked vegetables piled high with cheese...

The aromas of the various foods assailed her senses.

However, what Zhao Ying hadn’t expected was...

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