He has been in Jade City for a month now.

Shu Zi originally thought that he might have a hard time adapting to life here.

Because everything about this place was so unfamiliar.

He was just an orphan living in the woods. Because he always hid in the trees, other children mocked him and gave him the name "Shu Zi," meaning he was the son of a tree.

Shu Zi did not know his real name, who his parents were, nor could he remember why it was like that. He had an innate skill for climbing trees, and no tree was too high for him to climb steadily.

The trees made him feel safe, allowing him to avoid the Guangna Species on the ground and the raiders who trafficked people.

His life was all about climbing different trees and avoiding the same dangers.

But upon arriving in Jade City, he quickly learned how to use the Flame Cup to start fires and cook, use a refrigeration box to keep the indoors cool, take transportation at stations, and watch the still-updating animation "Samurai Crab Adventure" in Building No. 8...

All of these were much simpler than he had thought.

Even without anyone teaching him, just watching twice was enough to understand how things worked.

He also went to study at Mushroom Forest Primary School.

His master only said, "Observe carefully and experience with your heart."

Shu Zi had never been to school before, but he was very curious about all the things in school.

Physical education teacher Mr. Tuo taught a variety of interesting sports and competitions, which the boys particularly adored, practicing their skills on the playground every day.

Chemistry teacher Mr. Liang would perform magic-like demonstrations of various chemical reactions, assisted by his electric cat assistant, who was also very friendly to people. The assistant often showed students electric arc eruptions like fireworks or flying spherical lightning.

Shu Zi also made two friends.

One was Wang Tao, about the same age as himself.

Wang Tao was 7 years old and skilled at handicrafts. He could mold various objects out of clay - Mushroom Houses, cars, bridges, airships, electric cats - all looking vividly realistic.

He said, "I want to become the strongest engineer. What about you?"

Shu Zi thought for a long while, "I want world peace."

"That's not a profession, right?"

"But that's what I want to do."

"You sure think big," said Wang Tao with a competitive spirit. "That sounds somewhat classier than mine... No, I also need a great idea that's not too shabby, let me think."

After pondering deeply he said, "I've got it!"

"I want to build an iron giant capable of combating the Dead Sea! They could sweep away the Dead Sea like garbage, providing us with lots of land and we'll no longer have to fear the attacks from the Dead Sea!"

The young boy laughed heartily.

Shu Zi later learned that Wang Tao's father was the inventor Wang Jun, who developed the second generation refrigeration box.

Because their home was in Steel Refining City, it was inconvenient for Wang Tao to travel, so he was living with a family in Jade City, attending the local primary school. His parents would come to visit him every weekend.

The second friend was Bei Ta.

Bei Ta was 11 years old. He had excellent grades in medicine and languages and was an assisting programmer in the Program Department, involved in many practical cutting-edge development projects, a well-known genius at Mushroom Forest Primary School.

Yet this young boy with a prosthetic right arm always said, "What are you talking about? I can't compare to those other two guys; they are the real geniuses, and I'm just making up the numbers. I could barely keep up with them in the past, but now they are way out of my league."

He was referring to two other students.

A one called Bai Shier, is a White Smoke Mushroom, who serves as an assistant in Teacher Sun Chonglai's Mushroom Laboratory.

The second generation Mushroom House was developed by Bai Shier.

The first generation Mushroom House was modified from giant mushrooms, with growth hard to control, with some being tall, some short, some fat, and some skinny, all left to chance.

The second generation Mushroom House resulted from a hybrid of giant mushrooms and a type of fungus, crafted through extensive spore collection, single-spore isolation, and mating experiments.

The formal name of the new giant mushroom is "Yellow Giant Mushroom," its cap is brownish-yellow, different from the past red-capped giant mushrooms.

It has two main advantages.

The first is customizable size and scale. By controlling the pairing of the mycelium, the final growth size can be determined; it could be a large mushroom house shaped like a fortress or a two-story single-person dwelling, with a more spacious and suitable internal environment.

The second is its resistance to insect pests. The first generation Mushroom House, having lost its toxin part, encountered issues with insects nibbling over time, similar to wooden houses. The Yellow Giant Mushroom retains a trace amount of toxins, which is lethal to ordinary insects, but not harmful to the inhabitants.

Shu Zi lives in a second-generation Mushroom House.

Having heard Bei Ta's explanation, he secretly sliced off a piece of mushroom one day, cooked it, and ate it; indeed, he was fine.

Besides Bai Shier, there is another famous person, Chen Ji.

Chen Ji upgraded ordinary Level D Floating Hearts to Level C and developed floating creature breeding technology, which is now widely promoted internally.

Compared to these two, Bei Ta indeed seems rather ordinary.

Even though his academic performance is excellent, he's still categorized as a student.

Bei Ta is a conversationalist, able to get along with anyone quickly.

"Shu Zi, what exactly is the Mechanical Monk? They need the Light Seeds too, right? I heard that their earliest thoughts and knowledge formed the Wisdom Cloud of Snow County. What is that place like?"

He was curious about the monks.

Shu Zi felt somewhat embarrassed because he too knew nothing.

He hid in a tree to avoid the slave merchants catching children below, and after meeting the passing Master Hui Mao, who rescued him, he then set off on the road with the master.

"So it is… The company is also promoting everyone to go out and see the world. My age is also suitable, just not sure if I can be chosen this year."

Bei Ta touched his prosthetic arm: "Snow County is one of the largest Mechanical Cities, definitely having much to learn from. I want to visit and bring back the good practices there to our Jade City."

"Shu Zi, is there anywhere you want to go?"

This question got to him.

Shu Zi thought for a while: "I want to go to heaven."

"Heaven? You mean the legendary place where everything exists and no one dies?"

"Yes."

"Does heaven really exist?"

Shu Zi said, "I don't know, it might, but it would be hard to find."

The master had said, finding heaven requires arduous exploration.

"Why not make our own heaven!"

Wang Tao said energetically, "Just like the chairman did, who knew about Sand Port before? But Wasteland Company built it, created Jade City, then gliders, electric cats, and we even created land in the Dead Sea [Moon Landing Area], now all has completely changed here!"

"All of these, in the past, were unthinkable."

Previously, Shu Zi wanted to stay in a tree for his entire life.

In the tree, he could enjoy the wind, sunbathe, and it was safe most of the time.

That place may be the closest spot to paradise.

Yet, Jade City provided another answer; perhaps this place is close too.

Shu Zi enjoyed attending school where everyone seriously studied knowledge. Teachers taught with commitment and concentration, inspiring and encouraging each student to have their own ideas.

Students could get three free meals a day, including pancakes, meat, fruits, even refrigerated milk sent from the distant Songbei Region.

Shu Zi felt that this was a completely different world from where he had lived before.

There, children roamed everywhere picking up dung, branches, and hay just to exchange for mushrooms to eat. If luck was not on their side, they could only gnaw on tree bark and roots, or be captured and sold as slaves.

Here, peers could sit worry-free in clean and bright classrooms, absorbing knowledge and experience, thinking daily about assisting in the laboratory using enhanced controllers to communicate with electric cats, or heading to the restaurant after school to feast on food rewarded by school scholarships...

Yet just a few years ago, it was no different from his own hometown.

Shu Zi didn't understand.

Why was there such a radical difference?

Was it because of that capable chairman?

Or was it dependent on those huge and lofty alien forms?

Or, as Wang Tao said, there is no paradise, we create paradise? The miracles completed by this fearless attitude?

Shu Zi couldn't think of an answer.

Thinking was not an easy task for him.

But he was clear about one thing.

Everyone who truly came to Jade City would quickly fall in love with it and hardly say anything bad about it.

A multitude of people migrated here, and even if they couldn't find work temporarily, they would do whatever it took to stay and wait. Once they were employed by the company, they no longer had to worry about food or clothing, and just needed to work earnestly.

There was only one thing Shu Zi feared here.

Electric cats.

Those elusive electric lives, dangerous and mysterious.

They would occasionally appear in the streets, taking on the form of electric arc cat heads for patrols, which was also one of the duties of electric cats. Most students would go up and greet them, although during work, touching electric cats was forbidden, but they still chased around to watch.

But Shu Zi was very afraid.

Whenever he saw an electric cat, he felt a chill down his spine, a fear from deep within.

One day, Shu Zi climbed a tree, looking out into the distance—there were 8 mysterious Pan Trees, all growing in the Dead Sea, a highly confidential species of the company, not to be approached.

Suddenly, he heard a soft crackling noise.

Shu Zi's entire body suddenly became paralyzed, unable to control his movements, and he fell from the tree.

Lying on the ground, he noticed that there was an electric cat in the tree.

A robust woman ran over: "Oh dear, are you alright? I didn't notice you were in the tree. I was testing the working electric cat in... I didn't expect it to be too close to you, where did it hurt?"

"I'm Aqi, from the manufacturing department, are those clothes... from Mushroom Forest Primary School? Don't move, I'll carry you to the hospital!"

Saying so, she was about to lift Shu Zi.

Shu Zi hurriedly waved his hands and stamped his foot to show he was unharmed.

"I'm fine, really fine, I'm heading back now."

Having said that, he turned and ran towards the school.

From behind, the woman's voice called out: "Be careful, don't climb so high... The physical condition of kids these days is really good, falling from over ten meters high and still fine like nothing happened..."

Shu Zi hadn't run far when he bumped into Bei Ta face to face.

He was a bit surprised: "What are you doing here?"

"The manufacturing department and the Program Department are testing electric cats here, I'm an assistant programmer here working."

Bei Ta whispered: "Quickly fix your ankle so it's not seen."

Shu Zi looked down.

His right lower leg was severely twisted, and his foot was extensively shifted to the left; no wonder he was running awkwardly. He hurriedly bent down to tighten the bones inside and adjusted the position and angle.

"And your hand."

Bei Ta pointed to the back of Shu Zi's right hand.

The skin was scraped off, revealing the metallic skeleton and some cables inside.

It was summer, and the summer school uniforms were short-sleeved, completely unable to cover it up.

Bei Ta pulled out a roll of bandage from his pocket and wrapped up the exposed area.

"Okay, now it won't be noticeable from the outside. No one will know you're a mechanical life."

"...Thank you."

Shu Zi asked: "Did you know this from the beginning?"

"No, I just found out."

Bei Ta flicked his finger: "No wonder you are so afraid of electric cats."

"Although I don't know why you're disguising as a human, it's best to avoid getting hurt, otherwise, you'll be exposed quickly."

"Why are you helping me?"

"It's a small matter, we are friends after all. I have to get back to work, I'm off."

Then, Bei Ta ran off with his bag slung over his shoulder.

…

A month passed.

The Master said, "Time's up, wake up."

Instantly, Shu Zi felt a surge of electricity in his head, as if suddenly filled with many things.

After a long time.

Shu Zi slowly opened his eyes.

He regained his memory.

Hui Mao respectfully said, "Master, how do you feel about this incarnation?"

Shu Zi was silent for a moment: "Jade City is a fascinating place. Zhou Yi treats all racial groups equally, which is remarkable, and I've learned a lot."

"These people he nurtures have developed courage."

"In this world, repeatedly resisting suppression, this is the most precious character trait."

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