Dual Worlds: I Have a Doomsday World

Lin Qi hardly needed to detour. He simply made a brief stop along his route and used his materialized Spiritual Tentacles to place the over-spec A-Class Potion for the trade at the designated location.

As for the opening created by the flying vehicle lowering its altitude and speed?

Guang Ling would take care of it.

Of course, Lin Qi had to spend a modest sum of Credit Points for the service.

...

The flying vehicle came to a smooth stop in front of the villa at 8 Fortress Road.

Liu Xuan’s genuine Mische was still in its parking bay; it wasn’t time for her to go to work yet.

After parking his flying vehicle, Lin Qi stood before the bay, looking at the two seemingly identical vehicles. His mind, however, was on the matter of the mother-sample Bearer.

Ning Hao, who went in and out of United Pharmaceutical daily, had likely become a mother-sample Bearer. He was now quite possibly a special kind of Tier Four Extraordinary.

According to King Arthur, the minds of these Bearers were not sound.

Which meant... danger!

Lin Qi couldn’t even be sure how many people at United Pharmaceutical, like Brother Green Hair, had a Crimson Crystal Stone brewing inside their heads.

United Pharmaceutical had now become the single most high-risk location in all of Red Fruit City.

Lin Qi pulled his gaze away from the two flying vehicles and walked straight into the villa.

Normally, Lin Qi would head straight to his own room upon entering the villa.

But today, his path diverged. He walked past the hallway to his room and turned right, into the open-plan reception area.

The villa was spacious, with a single floor spanning about six hundred square meters. The area Lin Qi usually holed up in occupied less than an eighth of that space.

Surrounding the reception area were various other functional zones.

One section was set up with Prosthetic Engineering equipment, while another held holographic imaging devices for remote conferences...

Lin Qi simply sat on the sofa in the reception area, accessed his personal Intelligent Brain, found Liu Xuan’s contact information, and placed the call.

One second, two seconds...

In less than three seconds, the call connected, and Liu Xuan’s face appeared on the screen.

Liu Xuan was clearly lying in bed, her hair fanned out across the pillow.

The surrounding light was dim, making the faint blue glow from her left prosthetic eye stand out, immediately drawing one’s attention.

"It’s six-twelve. Why are you sitting on the couch downstairs calling me?"

Liu Xuan’s voice was devoid of emotion. This was her normal state; Lin Qi could rarely sense any feelings from her. He couldn’t tell if it was just her personality or if she was intentionally suppressing her emotions.

"I have something important to discuss with you. Can you come downstairs to talk?"

What Lin Qi wanted to discuss involved a Tier Four Extraordinary, and by extension, Ninghang Technology, the Round Table Conference, and even the European Big Business Alliance.

Network communications weren’t secure, not even as reliable as the email system.

But even email wasn’t safe. Given Liu Xuan’s status within a major corporation, her communications couldn’t stand up to an investigation by someone with Big Business Alliance-level clearance.

Some things had to be discussed in person, in an environment completely disconnected from any network.

’And in this villa, there was definitely a place like that.’

Liu Xuan heard the gravity in Lin Qi’s tone. "Give me a few minutes," she said.

With that, she ended the call.

It wouldn’t even take a minute to get down here from upstairs.

But Lin Qi had just woken her up, after all. She would at least need to tidy herself up a bit.

Lin Qi was polite enough not to even think of using his Spiritual Vision, simply sitting quietly on the sofa to wait.

Liu Xuan didn’t keep Lin Qi waiting long. In less than five minutes, she appeared in the reception area, stopping in front of him.

Liu Xuan pointed with her left hand toward a Door not far away. "That’s a network-free secure room. Do you want to move the conversation there?"

Liu Xuan had already guessed at what was coming. Lin Qi was about to say something extraordinary.

Lin Qi, of course, nodded in agreement.

He stood and followed Liu Xuan toward the secure room.

Liu Xuan reached the Door first, entered a password, and verified her biometrics.

Immediately, the entire Door split and retracted vertically, revealing a passageway.

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow. The Door was a full meter thick and appeared to be made of A-Class Alloy.

’The name "secure room" was certainly fitting.’

’Hiding in here, you could probably hold off even an S-Class Implanter for a while if one broke into the villa.’

Liu Xuan went in first, with Lin Qi right behind her.

After they were both inside, the entire Door closed automatically, once again looking inconspicuous.

...

The interior of the secure room resembled a strategic conference room, complete with several screens and a special terminal.

Upon entering, Lin Qi’s Intelligent Brain could no longer receive a network signal.

The only way to communicate with the outside world was through the conference room’s terminal.

’Of course,’ Lin Qi had no doubt, ’even in this environment, an email to Guang Ling would probably still get through with zero latency.’

His brief survey of the surroundings complete, Lin Qi refocused his attention on Liu Xuan.

Dressed in a simple set of pajamas, Liu Xuan showed no trace of her usual corporate elite demeanor.

She took a seat at the head of the conference table and got straight to the point. "It’s perfectly secure in here. You can speak freely."

Liu Xuan stared intently at Lin Qi, her tone still devoid of any discernible emotion.

Lin Qi had already prepared what he was going to say. "Do you remember the joint project between United Pharmaceutical and Ninghang Technology?"

Liu Xuan nodded. "That’s the project Liu’s Heavy Industries pushed for. The intent was to diversify risk, but the board of directors has recently shown interest in reassigning its ownership."