Working Records in a Weird World - 98

 

| WRIAWW | The Second Person to Enter the Courtroom | 98

"Come to think of it, does our Guiyi City actually have something like a city pass?"

"Yes, boss, we do," Old Wang replied. "These permits were specifically established for outsiders. Anyone from outside the city that wants to do business or anything else in our city needs to hold this permit to be considered legal. Otherwise, it counts as illegal entry. If they are reported to the Central Court and unable to prove they pose no threat to Guiyi City, they'll be exiled."

Zong Le fell into deep thought once more.

Ultimately, the Central Court had made such a grand spectacle of this high-profile ?-level mission precisely to determine whether the survivors were dangerous.

"Are there other outsiders in Guiyi City?"

"There have been in the past, but not many. It wasn't until about thirty years ago, after Guiyi City announced its complete lockdown, that the concept of 'outsiders' emerged. Before that, when normal travel was possible, such a term didn't exist."

Old Wang is worthy of being an old man, he knew many secrets.

These hidden events from the past weren't common knowledge among Guiyi City's citizens, yet he remembered them clearly.

"Wait, so there are other cities outside Guiyi City?"

For Zong Le, who had never encountered this concept or any related information before, it was nothing short of astonishing.

"Of course, although I doubt they exist anymore, they're probably all gone. The reason Guiyi City sealed itself off in the first place was due to a catastrophic disaster, it was rumored to be a highly lethal plague. As a last resort, the city destroyed all mountain roads, bridges leading out, and shut every port and passageway. That's how the citizens of Guiyi City survived."

Seeing the eager glint in his boss's eyes, Old Wang hurriedly added, "Please don't take any risks. The only thing I can confirm is that the outside is extremely dangerous, it's overrun with mutated plants and animals. The news reports from back then are still fresh in my mind. If not for this, Guiyi City would never have chosen to isolate itself."

Hearing this, Zong Le abandoned the idea.

He had more pressing matters at hand, the peaceful future of Guiyi City is still waiting for him to create.

If he could implement his own ideas in Guiyi City one day in the future, he can consider going out to see.

"Alright, I'm heading out then."

"Ah, boss, stay safe!"

He didn't ask further. Instead, he went home, changed clothes, and drove out.

Judging by the forum discussions, the survivors' predicament was glaringly obvious.

The Central Court's excessively harsh requirements had left most survivors returning empty-handed and utterly helpless.

It has been four days, and Joshua is the only one who has successfully walked all the steps and entered the courtroom after half of the original seven-day deadline.

If the survivors failed to obtain the city pass, they'd be expelled. A scenario Zong Le absolutely couldn't accept. Although he is a native of Guiyi City, he strongly identified with his survivor status and deeply wished to help these lost survivors return home.

Of course, part of his concern also stemmed from worries about Joshua's safety.

With practiced ease, he started the engine, placed his phone on the dashboard mount for navigation, and drove off slowly.

His destination was clear: straight to the Central Court.

About twenty minutes later, the navigation announced his arrival.

Following the instructions, Zong Le parked the ambulance in the lot and walked toward the main entrance.

As he approached the central court, he noticed intermittent beams of white light descending near the doorway. It was clear these were transmissions marking the arrival of survivors at the entrance of the ?-level mission.

But with the distance he had walked now, the survivors would notice something was off if he rushed over now, so he had no choice but to take a detour.

Fortunately, the Central Court had more than one entrance, there was also a side door.

This side entrance was deserted and inconspicuous, with no survivors.

"Impressive. Such a massive courthouse, yet there are no guards..."

As he walked, Zong Le found the sight oddly fascinating.

Stepping inside, the sight before him made him pause. The vast hall stretched endlessly upward, bathed in bright white light. There were no intricate decorations or lavish furnishings, every line exuded a sacred, geometric beauty, ethereal and solemn.

Guiyi City is notorious for pick pocketers and thieves, the absence of security spoke volumes about its fearsome reputation.

Most importantly, the moment he stepped inside, Zong Le sensed an overwhelming presence emanating from above the Central Courthouse. Unlike any of the major weird he'd encountered in Guiyi City, the aura here wasn’t sinister, it was radiant.

Even the oppressive effect of the weird’s domain felt strangely mild, despite supposedly suppressing abilities...

"Huh? Wait, my abilities don't seem to be suppressed?"

At first, he couldn’t believe it. Only after pulling a coin from his pocket and effortlessly bending it did he fall into deep thought.

Somehow, the weird’s domain, which restricted all survivors, including Joshua, seemed to have no effect on him???

But soon, he shrugged it off.

After all, he wasn’t here to fight. Whether his combat abilities remained intact didn’t matter much.

Before he could take more than a few steps, he spotted the white stone staircase ahead.

It was already crowded with survivors. Since Joshua had entered the courtroom and lost contact, with the time stretching longer, more and more survivors had come to challenge the mission.

Some who had already attempted it once were even returning for a second try, pushing past their psychological barriers.

Although Joshua had a dedicated faction of haters on the forums, no one dared to stir up trouble when their survival stakes were this high.

Hiding in the shadows, Zong Le seized a moment when no survivors were ascending and swiftly slipped forward.

From forum, he knew the next step was climbing the stairs.

Honestly, when he first stepped onto them, he felt nervous. Survivors had flooded the forums with complaints about the difficulty of the "Heart-Trial Steps," claiming each one took ten minutes to pass.

They even shared techniques for clearing their minds and entering a flow state, which only amplified his anxiety, he mentally prepared himself to "read carefully" and "answer meticulously."

But ten steps in, he moved neither fast nor slow...

Then, before he could even process the "question," his body reacted instinctively to an ambiguous question, and he found himself ascending without hesitation.

Most importantly, unlike what other survivors described, he felt no resistance, and no "air wall" blocking his path.

"...Huh?"

Zong Le was dumbfounded.

To test his theory, he deliberately didn't read the question again and stepped up.

Sure enough, there was no invisible barrier.

Watching himself ascend another step without any hindrance, Zong Le fell silent for a long moment.

Under normal circumstances, he would have pondered the reason carefully. But right now, Joshua was still missing, rescuing him took priority. So Zong Le simply abandoned this thought.

After all, if there was a simpler and more efficient method, why not use it?

Thus, Zong Le cheerfully tossed aside his brain, while the other survivors were left utterly bewildered.

One survivor, who happened to be struggling psychologically on their own stair, glanced up in exhaustion and immediately gaped in shock.

Amid the crowd of survivors inching forward at a snail’s pace, they barely managed to climb one stair after agonizing effort, the figure strolling upward effortlessly stood out.

Gradually, as Zong Le climbed higher, more and more people began noticing his miraculous ascent speed.

"Wait, who is that guy? How is he moving so fast?!"

"Holy crap! We’ve got a hidden genius among us? His speed’s almost on par with Lord Joshua’s!"

"He just glances at the question on each stair and goes straight up, am I hallucinating?"

"You’re not wrong... That’s exactly what I’m seeing too."

Finally, one survivor spotted a clue: "Hold on, his silhouette... doesn’t he look like the talented newcomer?"

"Now that you mention it... I can see it..."

The commotion on the stairs grew louder. Many survivors who had already cleared a stair turned back in confusion, unsure what was causing the disturbance.

Normally, silence during trials was an unspoken rule, breaking it meant something extraordinary was happening.

Sure enough, a survivor about to finish their trial turned around and caught sight of Zong Le.

The next second, they were teleported back to the infinite space as their time ran out.

Staring at the shimmering sea of light, the survivor suddenly came to his senses.

"It's not that he looks like the talented newcomer, that is the talented newcomer!"

Without delay, they whipped out their phone and furiously typed, determined to be the first to spread the news.

After all, the survivors had been grinding these trials repeatedly for one reason: to produce another candidate capable of entering the courtroom. Now that such a person had appeared, excitement spread like wildfire.

[Breaking News! There is hope for someone who can save Joshua! The second person to enter the courtroom will soon appear!]

At that moment, Zong Le had no idea he’d once again set the forums ablaze.

And to certain long-watchful eyes, this development carried a far deeper meaning.

To avoid being too conspicuous, Zong Le deliberately paused occasionally on the stairs, pretending to "read and consider" the questions. Even so, his speed remained alarmingly fast.

Zong Le wasn't deaf to the whispers around him. Normally, someone as accustomed to keeping a low profile and blending in would have slowed his pace to match the turtle-like speed of the other survivors.

But with lives at stake and the mission hanging in the balance, he abandoned his usual restraint and pressed forward despite the murmurs.

Slowly but surely, he climbed higher, inadvertently leaving everyone behind.

With the sensation of countless eyes boring into his back, Zong Le continued his ascent. Five minutes later, he finally stood before the gates of the courtroom.

Strangely, upon reaching the summit, the "voice of authority" that survivors had described on forums was absent from the dome of the Central Court. Even the massive central doors showed no signs of opening.

The top of the staircase was silent.

Puzzled, Zong Le scratched his head and glanced back at the survivors below.

After witnessing the whole process of the talented newcomer climbing to the top, the survivors had stopped their own ascent entirely, waving their arms wildly. When the dark-haired young man turned, some even jumped excitedly, shouting:

"Incredible, Boss Zong Le!"

"Don't mind us, boss, go on in!"

"Yeah, Joshua's still inside! More people means more support!"

"Exactly, who knows what tricks that weird might have up its sleeve..."

Listening to the encouragement from his colleagues, Zong Le flashed an OK sign and approached the imposing doors.

The moment his hand touched them, he was struck by their icy coldness.

Although the door was locked and immensely heavy, these doors posed no challenge to Zong Le, who retained his full strength even in this weird domain. 

With just a slight exertion, the ten-meter-tall doors opened with a crisp "click" as their internal mechanisms snapped like twigs.

CRASH—

Realizing he'd broken the lock in his haste, Zong Le blinked awkwardly. Trying to minimize the damage, he gently placed the door open just enough to slip through before carefully closing it behind him, leaving it seemingly undisturbed.

Only then did he turn to survey his surroundings.

To his surprise, the courtroom was not as grim as he had imagined.

Instead, the courtroom exuded a breathtaking solemnity. The pure white rotunda could have been plucked straight from Rome's Pantheon, its towering dome studded with countless delicate crystals that scattered starlike radiance.

Hundreds of torches lined the curved walls, their cold flames illuminating the space with unnatural brightness. Though the fire danced, it produced no warmth.

Instead, they made the air even colder, reflecting the rows of empty audience seats, and incomparably solemn.

But the true centerpiece was the massive silver scale dominating the hall's center.

And there, suspended above one of its pans, floated the unmistakable figure of the missing Joshua.

Zong Le clearly saw the flames, which were completely different from those on the wall, were bright red and slightly golden, burning from the tray of the scale, enveloping the silver-haired man in the air. 

Strangely, the flames did not seem to be real, as the man’s pristine white robe remained untouched, without a single scorch mark or trace of burning.

What was even more alarming was Joshua’s condition.

The silver-haired man’s eyes were tightly shut, his lashes trembling violently like butterfly wings. His usually smiling lips were now pressed into a pale, bloodless line, and beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead, glistening like drops of blood under the firelight.

His slender fingers clenched the authority ring on his knuckle with bone-white intensity, veins bulging along the back of his hand. Even a stranger could tell at a glance that he was enduring inhuman pain.

In Zong Le’s memory, this man had always been a smiling tiger, wearing a smile while keeping his real emotions well-hidden behind his mask.

This was the first time he had ever seen Joshua display such raw, unmistakable pain.

Zong Le realized instantly: the flames weren’t burning his body, they were burning something far deeper.

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