Dual Worlds: I Have a Doomsday World

Who could resist zooming in on a vector image to see if there are any hidden Easter eggs?

Lin Qi, at any rate, did just that.

Zoom in!

Zoom in!

Zoom in another hundred times!

Finally, against the pure white background, Lin Qi saw the tiny text.

[Lin Changshou, you old bastard, you don’t have a single Prosthetic Body on you from head to toe. Who’d believe a sly old fox like you isn’t an Extraordinary Professional? You must be a Wizard! You have to be!]

[Xu Chun, you’re no good either! Every time I drink with you, I’m a total lightweight and end up under the table. How could a dignified Tier Four Extraordinary like me be so fragile? You must have drugged me, you old coot! You’re definitely a Shaman!]

[And you! Li Miaomiao, I suspect you have X-ray Vision! Every time I get a new Prosthetic Body, you stare right through my clothes! What’s up with that? Is my Golden Ox that good-looking?]

There really was an Easter egg, and it hid the author’s fury. The feeling of being backstabbed by his friends left him with no outlet, so he could only hide his sorrowful insults within a formal document for posterity to discover.

Lin Qi glanced at the author’s name, Nan Tianming, and committed it to memory. He wondered if the author was still alive today.

Lin Qi figured he was probably long gone.

After all, his friends were all "old-timers" from the first corporate war. Although the Cyber World’s technology was advanced, even featuring Extraordinary Professions, it had never overcome the problem of mortality.

After finishing the document, Lin Qi paused his reading and began to think.

’I’m probably not the first to find this Easter egg. And the original author of this paper, he was also an S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher. The faction or family he belonged to most likely knows about these conclusions.’

’All those who can become S-Class Pharmaceutical Researchers are either Talented as Shamans or Priests, Talented as Wizards or Blood Robes, or they are Native Extraordinaries.’

’Based on the abilities I demonstrated at the summit, it could be deduced that I have the potential to be an S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher. The fact that I possess an Extraordinary Ability might have already been exposed to those who are paying attention.’

Thinking of this, Lin Qi knew he had to come up with a contingency plan.

The Witch Hunt was escalating, and with Aishwarya pushing it, there was even a growing trend of it sparking a corporate war.

If Lin Qi didn’t want to get dragged into it, he had to hide his identity well.

Since those three seniors managed to hide themselves, there was no reason Lin Qi couldn’t.

’X-ray Vision? That’s a good Ability, and easy to hide, too.’

’But there’s no guarantee there aren’t real X-ray Vision Ability Users in the Cyber World. Take the Li Miaomiao mentioned by the author, for instance. What if she’s not dead?’

The Exoskeleton Lin Qi had personally modified used special materials and coatings, making it difficult for instruments to detect what was inside.

But that couldn’t stop the prying of Extraordinary Power. If he wanted a perfect disguise, there was only one way.

The Shaman Profession would be hard to fake, but posing as a Native Extraordinary wasn’t difficult, especially with a non-combat Ability like X-ray Vision.

Lin Qi made up his mind. He would complete his further disguise work after he got back, and he would need to intentionally reveal some flaws on certain occasions.

For example, the kind mentioned by the author about Li Miaomiao...

Having finished his thoughts, Lin Qi continued reading the other documents.

Next was the main event: a massive amount of professional literature awaited Lin Qi’s study.

Although S-Class Pharmacy required a certain threshold of Talent, there was still much to learn before one could even begin.

For example, how should one proportion the hundreds of Extraordinary Materials?

Just mess around and go by feeling?

He was afraid that before his Talent kicked in and a Spiritual Light flashed, all his materials would be wasted.

For example, how to increase the probability of a Spiritual Light flashing during the Potion-making process.

This involved creating the right environment, selecting the right Extraordinary Materials, and so on.

Furthermore, after browsing a new document, Lin Qi finally understood why life was becoming increasingly bleak for Wizard Professionals.

To increase the success rate of making an S-Class Potion, one could even use Extraordinary Items as ingredients, using them directly to complete the final step!

Oftentimes, having a few Extraordinary Items on hand meant that when a Spiritual Light flashed, you could just simply toss one in, and all your problems would be solved.

It could even be said that over eighty percent of the S-Class Potions on the market were made at the cost of one Extraordinary Item.

’It seems Wizards aren’t the source of the scarcity of Extraordinary Items—S-Class Pharmaceutical Researchers are!’

With this realization, Lin Qi suddenly felt that the Wizards targeted by the Witch Hunt had been somewhat wronged.

Most low-level Wizards speculated that the root of the Witch Hunt lay in the Wizards’ method of advancement.

Now, it seemed that the Extraordinary Items consumed by Wizards were likely just a small fraction.

The vast majority of Extraordinary Items were being squandered on S-Class Potions, supplied to Tier Four Extraordinaries and S-Class Prosthetic Implanters.

...

Lin Qi read in the server room on the 17th floor for a long time.

By the time it was almost the end of the workday, Lin Qi had read less than one percent of the total documents.

’These S-Class Pharmaceutical Researchers sure can write. They have to write a paper for everything. Do they get a bonus for publishing papers at their companies?’

Lin Qi rubbed his head and couldn’t help but grumble.

All the documents were created by fewer than a hundred people, and the history of S-Class Pharmacy was only a few decades old, yet they had somehow managed to produce this massive volume of papers.

But although Lin Qi grumbled, he had to admit that these papers had real substance.

After reading documents all day, Lin Qi had benefited greatly.

Lin Qi was even eager to try his hand at making an S-Class Potion.

To be honest, Lin Qi felt he could probably create an S-Class Potion right now, without needing much time for study or practice.

’The principle behind making an S-Class Potion isn’t that complicated. After determining the potion’s effect through the ratio of materials, you incorporate a large number of different types of Extraordinary Materials. As long as you don’t make a mistake, if a hundred types aren’t enough, use two hundred. If two hundred aren’t enough, use three hundred!’

’Once you reach a certain point, you wait for the so-called ’Inspiration Talent’ to take effect.’

’The sign that an S-Class Potion is complete is that it contains the Willpower of a Tier Four Extraordinary, and it’s a special Willpower born from nothing but the interactions between the Extraordinary Materials.’

’For me, the difficulty doesn’t seem that high.’

’At the summit, I was even on the verge of actually creating an S-Class Potion. If it weren’t for the limited number of materials, and if I had prepared some Extraordinary Items on the side, I might have succeeded right then and there.’

Perhaps that was why Lin Qi was seen as someone destined to become an S-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher.

People without Talent found it difficult to overcome the hurdle of the material base.

To reach this stage relying only on experience and knowledge, one would need at least twenty to thirty years of work experience in A-Class Pharmacy.

Lin Qi clearly hadn’t achieved it through experience.

After some deliberation, Lin Qi decided he should still keep a low profile for a while.

He would read documents for at least three more days.

And before he began any experimental work, Lin Qi was determined to complete his further disguise.

First, he would package himself as a Native Extraordinary!

Rubbing his head, Lin Qi walked out of the server room.

Brother Green Hair hadn’t gotten off work yet; he was still standing guard outside the server room.

The security staff worked longer hours than the researchers, and they worked in two shifts.

Nodding at Brother Green Hair, Lin Qi stepped into the elevator, heading for the docking bay on the company’s top floor.

It was about time to get off work. The cyber worker’s private life was about to begin.

Lin Qi hadn’t forgotten his appointment with his old man. He had to make a trip to the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic tonight first.

Besides picking up that A-Class Suppressor, Lin Qi also needed to get some tools to carry out his new disguise plan.

The elevator ascended slowly, arriving at the top floor of the company.

The elevator doors opened, and the doors of the opposing elevator opened in near-perfect synchronization.

Liu Xuan stepped out of her elevator and nodded slightly at Lin Qi. "What a coincidence."

Lin Qi smiled in response. "It is, isn’t it?"

Another tedious and monotonous day in the life of a cyber worker had repeated itself.

Lin Qi and Liu Xuan each boarded their own flying vehicles and headed in different directions.

Sitting in her flying vehicle, Liu Xuan watched the direction in which Lin Qi had departed.

The blue light flickering in her left eye grew a little brighter, but not noticeably so.

After a moment of thought, Liu Xuan made a call.

"Welcome to the Mische Vehicle Company’s order hotline. Hello, our valued Black Gold member, how may I help you?"