The new era had long since eliminated national boundaries.

  People formed different organizations, factions, and alliances based on their regions.

  This created the current situation of four powers dividing the world.

  The Sects, whose fundamental inheritance was ancient martial arts and cultivation methods.

  The Clans, a resurgence of family-based power structures.

  The Corporate Alliance, believers in profit above all, with no shortage of dirty deeds.

  And the light of the old era—the Democratic Government.

  The four major powers cooperated and competed with each other, maintaining surface harmony. Each city had involvement from all four powers—it just depended on who held the dominant position.

  "Sis Ke, speaking of which, who holds power in the Linguang District?"

  Xia Li thought about the differences between the four powers and was inclined to choose city districts controlled by the Democratic Government. That would be much safer.

  The Linguang District was the safe zone centered on Linguang City.

  "The Democratic Government."

  "Which side does our organization belong to?"

  "On the surface, we do work for everyone and remain neutral. But in reality, we're a force supported by the Democratic Government."

  "I knew it..."

  Xia Li had known the Hidden Wing organization's origins weren't simple. So they were backed by the Democratic Government.

  That was fine.

  He really couldn't bring himself to like the other three powers. Whether Sects or Clans, both were elitist. And corporations were all about profit.

  The Democratic Government's foundation was putting the people first. This had more in common with the era and country Xia Li had grown up in, giving him a greater sense of belonging.

  "What, you don't like it?"

  "No, I'm quite inclined toward the Democratic Government. Sis Ke, you know what era I grew up in."

  "True..."

  Ke Xiao nodded. Xia Li had grown up in the era when democracy was at its strongest. The people being masters of their own fate was the keynote of that time.

  Though there were many imperfections, it was still better than the present.

  "Let's go. We should finish investigating the remaining areas and head back."

  After putting away the Source Chip, Xia Li urged Ke Xiao to get to work. Staying here too long wasn't safe at all.

  Afterward...

  The two continued investigating the research institute. Upon reaching the cryogenic storage, they discovered new anomalies.

  The security personnel patrolling and stationed outside the cryogenic storage had multiplied many times over. This wasn't good news for Xia Li and Ke Xiao.

  The two hid in a dark corner, secretly observing the storage. The defenses inside were definitely extraordinarily tight—they could probably detect down to how many atoms were present.

  〖Xia Li, I have a way to get you inside to infiltrate, but you'll face some risk. Are you willing?〗

  Ke Xiao communicated silently with Xia Li through their Heaven Chips. After hesitating for a while, Xia Li nodded.

  〖Good. I'm applying for a temporary upgrade to your investigation clearance, unlocking access to the Advanced Chapter of Divine Sense Hacking. Use Quantum Eyes to observe.〗

  〖But remember one thing—never lose yourself in the Dirac Sea.〗

  〖Mm...〗

  After Xia Li agreed, Ke Xiao quickly operated her systems. Soon, she transmitted a temporary technique that could only be used once.

  That technique was called Quantum Eyes.

  After a moment's hesitation, once the Heaven Chip finished parsing and preparations were complete...

  Xia Li closed his physical eyes.

  But another pair of eyes opened in a higher dimension that no one noticed.

  The world became countless dancing points of light. Atoms, molecules, neutrons, photons—various particles invisible to the naked eye composed a dazzling, colorful world.

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  There were also many things he couldn't name, couldn't even observe, could only vaguely sense the existence of—empty spaces that seemed to contain something, stirring with activity.

  He felt he could merge with them.

  Could become one of those dancing, swirling particles, constantly combining and separating.

  He wanted to become them.

  To break free from all constraints, to achieve supreme freedom...

  Until...

  Until intense pain awakened Xia Li from his observation. He nearly cried out—his head hurt so much it felt like it would explode.

  〖Done?〗

  〖Done... I can't hold on anymore. Let's go...〗

  After saying this, though Xia Li's consciousness was fading, he still struggled with all his might to maintain the anti-detection field.

  Ke Xiao wasted no time and immediately took Xia Li away.

  He didn't know how much time passed. When Xia Li regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a modification pod. The surrounding environment appeared to be the secret room beneath Ke Xiao's shop.

  "Awake?"

  Ke Xiao received the modification pod's alert and immediately came to Xia Li, looking at him with concerned eyes.

  "What happened to me?"

  "Some of your cerebral cortex burned out. Moderate cerebral hemorrhage. Quite a few brain neurons died too. In the past, you'd have been a hopeless vegetable. But in modern times, it's just a matter of lying down for a few extra days."

  "How long was I out?"

  "Ten days."

  When Ke Xiao said the number, Xia Li was startled for no reason. What had happened before he passed out felt like just a second ago.

  "The strain Quantum Eyes puts on the body is really too much. It's practically life-threatening to use."

  "Tell me about it. But it's the only observation method that can avoid most existing detection methods. Anyway, let's not talk about this. Process the data you observed with your Heaven Chip and generate an image."

  "Okay."

  Xia Li nodded. What he'd observed before couldn't be interpreted by the human brain—it was an extremely abstract conceptual world. It had to be processed by the Heaven Chip into patterns the human brain could recognize to have any meaning.

  However...

  The Heaven Chip indicated that complete parsing would take nearly half a month.

  "Sis Ke, my processing power is too low. It'll take over half a month to parse. What do we do?"

  "Come with me."

  Ke Xiao led Xia Li to a dark room. The room was deathly silent, but he could sense countless particles churning and leaping within.

  Ke Xiao walked straight in and pulled a cable from the wall.

  "Connect this. I'll hook you up to a quantum computer to boost your processing power."

  "You can boost it like that?"

  "Of course."

  "Is there a portable quantum computer?"

  Xia Li immediately thought of an effective way to increase processing power. If he carried a quantum computer with him and connected to a quantum brain when needed, he wouldn't burn out his brain like before!

  "Unfortunately, no. Quantum computers can only be set up in special environments, and they can't operate in phase space."

  "Tch... too bad."

  "Nothing to regret. Hurry up and connect to parse the data."

  "Where do I connect? I don't have a port on me! Unless you're going to open one in my skull?"

  "No need. Your right arm prosthetic has an integrated port. If you didn't have a prosthetic, then we'd consider the back of your skull."

  "Alright..."

  Xia Li extended his right prosthetic arm. Ke Xiao searched around the wrist area, then pressed somewhere. A small opening immediately appeared at the wrist.

  Prosthetics generally had realistic exterior processing. Seeing the opening appear was quite surprising to Xia Li—it gave him the feeling of becoming a robot.