Chapter 2: Memory Master

After getting off the autonomous car, Lin Qing quickly walked into the Junyuan Community, heading toward his own home.

All the way, he remained vigilant, observing his surroundings inconspicuously.

This was not only a habit left over from surviving the apocalypse, but crucially because the 【Current Order Level】 was only 0.3.

He also found it incomprehensible.

In this life, his circle of life was clearly in a social environment with laws and order, yet the 'Order Level' was actually only 0.3?

The Order Level item is entirely based on whether his life is stable and peaceful.

After the apocalypse broke out in his past life, it had long remained around 0.2, since there were dangers both overt and covert everywhere, and his life could not possibly be peaceful and stable.

And now, it was actually no better than the apocalypse?

With the Order Level so low, a large stone seemed to hang in his heart constantly, making him dare not relax his vigilance at all.

But he had no way to move to a safer place, so he could only be as careful as possible.

After arriving home, Lin Qing habitually entered the house in the dark; once he walked into the bedroom, the phone screen instantly lit up and began charging automatically.

The bedroom was half-lit and half-dark, with half the light coming from outside the window.

He instinctively looked up, unable to help but be slightly stunned, his gaze drawn by the scenery outside the window.

That was a city that never slept.

The distant skyline was composed of skyscrapers piercing the clouds and massive streamlined buildings; those brilliant, colorful advertising screens and light shows flickered high above the city, and even from this edge area outside the city, they could be seen clearly.

Even though the night had swallowed half the planet, it could not overflow the embankment built of that cityscape.

This was the most dazzling 'Metropolitan Circle' of Binhai in the year 2120.

Lin Qing had been in this era for a month, so naturally this was not the first time he had seen this scene.

What attracted him was the highest point in the center of the Metropolitan Circle, where a massive holographic projection was playing.

That was a white-haired man dressed in magnificent robes; his appearance closely resembled an Earthling, but a half-open vertical eye was visible between his eyebrows, and within its pupil, electric sparks seemed to flicker faintly, giving him an indescribable mysterious aura; supported by thousands of lights, he sat above the city like a giant god, enjoying the gaze of countless people looking up at him.

Merely sitting there and speaking calmly was enough to make people hold their breath.

Although he was outside the Metropolitan Circle and Lin Qing could not hear what this white-haired, three-eyed man was saying, rows of brilliant holographic subtitles constantly appeared beneath the massive projection.

"... My Wisdom Star Group has always been very optimistic about Earth's future, which is why we developed the Metropolitan Circle; this time, adding more investment is also to hope that more elite talents like the founders of Morning Sun Martial Arts Halls will emerge on Earth..."

Lin Qing opened his phone's camera, magnified those rows of projected subtitles to three times their size, and slowly read them aloud.

Then, he put down his phone, somewhat lost in thought.

"Earth has indeed connected with extraterrestrial civilizations..."

"After experiencing the apocalypse, has the new civilization developed so quickly?"

He murmured, then lowered his head slightly, looking at this dim and dilapidated district below the window.

It was also the year 2120.

Most of the buildings here maintained the appearance of the last century; the walls were mottled, the paint was peeling, and after suffering the ravages of time and the apocalypse, only the confusion of being abandoned by the era remained.

The surviving neon lights flickered with a faint glow, lighting up and extinguishing from time to time, as if telling of their once glorious past.

This district was like a child abandoned by time, forgotten by the rapidly developing city.

Lin Qing knew very well that the dazzling Metropolitan Circle was merely an unreachable mirage, while this dilapidated district before his eyes was the reality of his life.

As for connecting with the starry sky, the Starry Sky Mutual Aid Association, gene optimization technology, high-tech intelligent living...

Did they have any connection with him at all?

Compared to the superior and developed environment of the Metropolitan Circle, places outside the Metropolitan Circle were actually just like slums.

Not only was the intensity of security management weaker, but the transient population was also very mixed, so nighttime robberies and burglaries were not new here; gangs were entrenched everywhere, and the situation was quite chaotic.

Moreover, with an Order Level of only 0.3, it certainly wasn't just this surface-level chaos.

There must be some more serious underlying dangers.

"There is definitely something wrong with this era..."

Lin Qing felt an unease as if walking on thin ice: "I cannot wait for danger to find me before thinking about how to respond... I must acquire self-defense capabilities as soon as possible..."

He was accustomed to thinking of danger while in safety and responding to potential crises in advance.

Others might see this as persecution paranoia, but without such a mindset, he could not have survived in the apocalypse for so many years.

"Ding."

Suddenly, Lin Qing's phone emitted a soft sound.

It was a WeChat message.

【Cousin: There is a temporary operation in the team tonight with a high danger level, so you shouldn't come; I have already requested leave for you.】

Lin Qing thought for a moment and replied with a single character: "Okay."

Immediately, he put down his phone and shook his head slightly: "As soon as there is a dangerous operation, she directly requests leave for me."

His cousin, Chen Yanan, was the captain of the patrol team of the Inspection Branch of the Xiaoshan District.

Since his parents died in the line of duty, his cousin's family had always taken good care of him; his cousin was more like a real sister.

Since he turned eighteen and could no longer receive the monthly thousand in relief funds, his cousin used her authority to get him into the patrol team as an external temporary patrol officer. In this era, the government had specifically separated the 'Patrol' system from the security system.

Its main function, besides cooperating with the police in security matters, lay crucially in searching for 'suspicious anomalies'.

However, the work of the patrol team was mostly very relaxed.

Lin Qing only needed to muddle along, and he could receive a monthly salary of two thousand six hundred.

Although there was no five social insurances and one housing fund, such a relaxed job that paid money was still not bad.

Moreover, as soon as there was a dangerous operation, his cousin would firmly not let him participate, and she would request leave for him before he even went on duty.

Regarding this, his predecessor often felt embarrassed.

Lin Qing, however, thought it was very good.

He was a Gao San student, and one who had slipped into the patrol team at that; with no establishment status and no benefits, why should he risk his life for a monthly two thousand six hundred...

"But once you're permanently appointed, you can't do this anymore," Lin Qing sighed slightly.

The best path he could currently think of was becoming a patrol officer.

!.

Not only does it have the World Government as a powerful backer, but it also offers many benefits—such as free access to learning Morning Sun Martial Arts, and even the chance to learn the "Combat Method."

For ordinary people whose talent is insufficient to be accepted by the "Morning Sun Martial Arts Dojo," this is the best way to quickly enhance their strength.

Most importantly—

The role of patrol officer aligns well with his talent, "Entropy Reverser."

He could currently only pre-allocate one skill, which was truly inadequate—it was because his Order Rank was too low; if it were higher, even one additional pre-allocated skill would make a huge difference.

Moreover, his cousin Chen Yanan was the team leader of the Xiao Shan District Patrol Division, so he did have a bit of background.

"First get permanently appointed, then advance to the Patrol Bureau, and only after getting firearm authorization."

Lin Qing had already planned this—it was a goal he could realistically achieve in the near future.

As long as he mastered the "Morning Sun Training Method (4-6 Version)," getting permanently appointed and promoted to the Patrol Bureau wouldn't be difficult.

"Read."

Lin Qing opened the patrol professional textbook he had already prepared on his phone and flipped through it rapidly.

The promotion exam to Patrol Bureau includes a written test, and it's quite troublesome.

His cousin had studied for over a year and still failed; she barely passed only after earning bonus points for meritorious service.

But this kind of exam wasn't difficult for him.

Before the apocalypse, his past life had been just a high school student; after his "Entropy Reverser" talent awakened, he carefully considered his options and first pre-allocated the "Master of Memory," the fully developed system of memory training.

Though he didn't achieve perfect recall, he could still become an academic top scorer in liberal arts.

Normally, it would take over a decade of training to reach Master of Memory from scratch; he himself spent two years just completing the process to attain it.

Unfortunately, Lin Qing never had the chance to shine in the college entrance exam before the apocalypse arrived.

The skills pre-allocated by the Entropy Reverser seemed never to vanish—even in this life, he hadn't lost the Master of Memory ability.

With this learning capacity, he was confident he could pass the patrol professional exam within one or two months.

Time passed second by second.

"Buzz—"

Suddenly, his phone vibrated—the caller ID showed "Cousin."

At this late hour, why would his cousin call suddenly?

Lin Qing felt puzzled and immediately answered.

"Hello, Cousin?"

"What? How could Sister...?"

"Xiao Shan District People's Hospital? Got it, I'm on my way now."

After ending the call, Lin Qing frowned slightly.

"Tonight's emergency operation... Sister Chen suffered heavy damage and was rushed into emergency care?"

Though it was already one in the morning, he couldn't stay home after such a major incident involving his cousin.

Walking to the coat rack, he paused, then didn't take the black temporary patrol uniform—instead, he picked up the old coat beside it.

This neighborhood grew unstable at night, when darkness ran rampant.

Though the patrol team had official backing, as a temporary patrol officer, he had no official status or law enforcement authority—not even a single star on his shoulder—and the thugs and criminals didn't fear his uniform.

Alone, he'd be even more vulnerable to harassment—it was better not to wear it at all.

After putting on the coat, hiding his face with the collar, and donning a hat, he took a cleaver from the kitchen and secretly slipped a fruit knife into his pocket.

Habitually armed, Lin Qing finally stepped out.

(End of Chapter)