Dual Worlds: I Have a Doomsday World

Lin Qi glanced at the latest email from the Alliance and spoke to Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan shook her head. "You need the protection of an S-Class Implanter more than I do. My conference venue is very close to where Fourth Uncle is, and I have other bodyguards. Brother Green Hair should just stay with you."

Liu Xuan was very stubborn. She had spent the past few days pouring all her effort into a breakthrough in temporary S-Class prosthetic implantation technology, all for Lin Qi.

She was absolutely certain that Lin Qi needed protection far more than she did.

At least she wouldn't be running around recklessly in World City and attracting unnecessary danger.

Seeing the blue light flash in Liu Xuan's left eye, Lin Qi promptly relented.

'Anyway, the two sub-conference buildings are only two kilometers apart, well within the range of my enhanced Spiritual Vision. If Liu Xuan runs into trouble, I'll be able to get to her immediately.'

At the side, Liu Xinglu stepped forward at an inopportune moment and asked, "Xiaoxuan, did you arrange for a bodyguard for your Fourth Uncle? Your Fourth Uncle is feeling very unsafe! Cyber hackers make enemies easily, and I've offended plenty of people here in World City..."

Liu Xuan turned her head, blinked at Liu Xinglu, but said nothing.

Lin Qi also glanced at Liu Xinglu with a strange expression.

'Could it be? On the surface, is there anyone in the Liu Clan stronger than you, Liu Xinglu, aside from Liu Xingyuan?'

Liu Xinglu looked a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head, then retreated to the side and fell silent.

Lin Qi and Liu Xuan chatted for a little while longer before parting ways for the time being.

After arriving in World City, even people from major corporations had to follow the arrangements of the Big Business Alliance. Attendees from different fields would take separate vehicles to their designated locations.

As for Liu Xuan, an anomaly who was participating in multiple sub-conferences by herself, she was headed to an exclusive residential area.

When the sub-conferences convened, Liu Xuan wouldn't have to be physically present at the venues; she could attend remotely using special equipment.

Furthermore, if the conferences overlapped, Liu Xuan would have to multitask, participating in several sub-conferences simultaneously.

This would be a tremendous challenge for Liu Xuan. However, if she managed to gain Weight in sub-conferences across multiple fields, the final Weight she contributed would be astonishingly high.

She might even be able to leverage it to secure a seat among the top 100 delegates at the main conference for the Asian Administrative Region.

Lin Qi watched Liu Xuan leave, then boarded a new Floating Vehicle with Brother Green Hair.

The large Floating Vehicle was completely empty. It seemed to have been sent specifically for Lin Qi.

"Chairman Lin, how come it's just the two of us? Could this be a trap?"

Brother Green Hair had already switched into bodyguard mode and was on high alert.

Lin Qi thought for a moment before putting the pieces together. "In the Asian Administrative Region's pharmaceutical sector," he said, "only United Pharmaceutical and Nanyun Potion are qualified to attend the conference. The number of S-Class Pharmaceutical Researchers is low, incomparable to other industries."

The Pharmacy Domain is a completely different beast from other fields.

Sub-conferences in other fields might easily have thousands of attendees, and the number of S-Class individuals across various industries is considerable.

Especially in the Prosthetic Engineering domain, what major corporation that produces Prosthetic Bodies doesn't have a few S-Class researchers on staff?

Take a behemoth like Liu's Heavy Industries, for example. If it weren't for the recent crisis in Red Fruit City, the number of their researchers qualified to attend this conference would have at least doubled.

Globally, there were no fewer than fifteen corporations in the prosthetics field on par with Liu's Heavy Industries, and hundreds of other major corporations in the same field that were weaker.

One could only imagine how fierce the competition facing Liu Xuan would be.

Lin Qi couldn't help Liu Xuan when it came to the conferences, but he believed that for a genius like her, breezing through the sub-conferences shouldn't be too difficult.

'Instead of worrying about Liu Xuan, I should think about the Pharmacy sub-conference I'm about to attend.'

'If this is just a Potion-making competition, I'm confident I won't lose to anyone.'

'But I don't know the conference procedures yet. Neither the Big Business Alliance nor the Eastern Alliance has given me any intel on it.'

Lin Qi instinctively opened his Intelligent Brain, wondering if he should ask someone for information.

Xu Qinghe, Baili Xueyuan, even Guang Ling...

'They might have some information.'

After some consideration, Lin Qi abandoned the thought.

'I'll just play it by ear. In any case, the impact of this peace conference on United Pharmaceutical's interests won't be that significant.'

'The Pharmacy Domain is heavily regulated in the Asian Administrative Region.'

'United Pharmaceutical is a unicorn enterprise, with almost no rivals to compete against.'

'Even if the Alliance provides resources and support, it would only affect the sales of low-end Potions.'

'Does United Pharmaceutical even need those resources?'

'Probably not!'

In the low-end Potion sales market, United Pharmaceutical had an "iron army"—the multitude of small pharmaceutical companies spread across the Asian Administrative Region that could spearhead its efforts and open up every channel.

This was how United Pharmaceutical had earned such a high score at the previous Pharmacy Domain summit in the Asian Administrative Region.

Lin Qi relaxed considerably.

'No need to get too hung up on this so-called "Weight." My own safety is the most important thing.'

'Assuming the Eastern Alliance doesn't put any pressure on me...'

Lin Qi thought of Xu Qinghe again.

The Eastern Alliance seemed to be taking the Weight from this peace conference very seriously—so seriously that they'd sent Xu Qinghe to help him quickly achieve S-Class status.

Sitting inside the Floating Vehicle, Lin Qi contemplated quietly.

Through the window, Lin Qi gazed down at the immense Cyber City.

The polar night lent the Cyber City a dreamlike quality.

Woven from money and power, this city, so steeped in politics, exuded a unique charm all its own.

...

World City S-Class Pharmacy Society Mansion.

This was the place where the Pharmacy sub-conference would be held, and also the place where top Pharmaceutical Researchers from around the world would temporarily reside.

Lin Qi had just stepped into the mansion when he spotted an acquaintance near the ground-floor entrance.

Xu Qinghe was standing in the middle of a group of middle-aged people.

In front of them was a huge screen.

It wasn't a projection, but a massive, almost antique-looking LED screen.

It was over ten meters tall, with streams of code scrolling across its surface, as if performing some kind of calculation.

Lin Qi's arrival drew the attention of a few people.

One of the middle-aged men surrounding Xu Qinghe suddenly spoke. "Miss Xu, that must be the new S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher from your Asian Administrative Region, yes? A very lucky young man."

He spoke in the unintelligible dialect of some unknown city from an unknown region. Lin Qi couldn't understand a word, but thankfully, his Intelligent Brain provided a real-time translation.

Seeing Xu Qinghe, Lin Qi naturally walked closer and addressed the man who was looking at him. "I'm Lin Qi, from United Pharmaceutical."

Xu Qinghe's face lit up when she saw Lin Qi.

For some reason, Lin Qi felt that the look on Xu Qinghe's face wasn't one of a person seeing an old friend, but rather of someone seeing... Credit Points.

Beside Xu Qinghe, a "young" researcher with blond hair and green eyes spoke up. "Lin, we've heard Miss Xu mention you. She speaks very highly of you."

Lin Qi found the man's tone odd, but remembering his recent decision to keep a low profile, he replied, "Just luck. I never expected my certification as an S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher to go so smoothly."

Lin Qi was echoing the previous man's comment about his "good luck."

'After all, creating an S-Class Potion with only 150 materials was pure, unadulterated luck.'

Just as Lin Qi was wondering what the man's angle was, an email suddenly appeared in his inbox.

The sender was Xu Qinghe!

She was holding an external terminal and had just tapped it lightly. It looked like the email had been prepared in advance!

Lin Qi immediately read the content of the email.

[An S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher from the European Administrative Region was involved in your certification review. He revealed that you only used 150 materials to create the S-Class Potion during your assessment. According to unreliable rumors, he questioned it on the spot and even wanted to block your certification.]

[But the other two researchers in charge of the certification "just so happened" to be S-Class Pharmaceutical Researchers from our Nanyun Potion.]

[The certification went through in the end, but this person started spreading a "luck theory" and a "cheating theory." I just happened to arrive a few days before you, did a little prodding, and set up a bet...]