Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 42 - 41: Main Quest: Save the World, Again!

Chapter 42: Chapter 41: Main Quest: Save the World, Again!

Ten minutes later, the girl’s emotions finally calmed down.

"Feeling better?" Chen Xuan rubbed his shoulder... Despite her slender arms, her strength was surprisingly strong. If it hadn’t been for the support of the Celestial Mist Skill, she might have broken his ribs with her hug.

"Sorry, I was too happy, and couldn’t control my strength," Lin Qing said apologetically.

Chen Xuan believed her on this point.

Before the conversation, he had replaced the Thousand Thoughts Sword with the Voice of Trust to gauge the new guest’s attitude. From the start till now, the feedback from the ability was of goodwill or above, indicating that her actions were genuinely sincere.

"I want to ask, what exactly happened back then? On the Space City?"

Chen Xuan had been curious about this for a long time. In retrospect, there were many puzzling aspects, like the opponent calling him a "survivor" upon first meeting. N43 was indeed empty, not a soul in sight except him. But to say it had suffered major destruction, it hadn’t, at least not until the Armed Mecha broke through the partition and entered the hall. It was all fine, even the cleaning was well done, the floor shiny enough to reflect faces.

"Our enemies attempted to destroy us, the Crystal Palace is their weapon." Lin Qing glanced at his neck for a moment, "It seems you haven’t installed an individual interconnect protocol, so I’ll have to explain verbally. Manager, you saw the hexapod mecha chasing me, right?"

Chen Xuan nodded, recalling the scene of the mecha breaking through the wall was quite overwhelming.

"It was the enemy, or a part of the enemy."

He noticed her phrasing—part of the enemy, not the enemy’s mecha, "Could it be that the AI rebelled?"

"It’s not AI, it’s alive, with a certain degree of self-awareness, more like a lifeform made of micro machinery. We call it a nano-living body," she explained.

"You mean, it’s actually assembled from many nano units?"

Lin Qing shook her head, "That’s not quite an accurate explanation, but it helps you understand. It originates from nanobot technology, and nanobots are indeed very small. These tiny entities have led to many technological changes. But when they gather together, they can form a certain degree of self-awareness, just like how a bundle of nerves can form a brain. This awareness can’t be randomly divided, so each large nano-living body has a unique consciousness... Do you understand this?"

"More or less, please continue."

"Back then, nanobot technology was used everywhere because they could be large or small, very flexible in use. So by the time we noticed some large living bodies showing intelligent emotions, it was already too late. There were riots in some cities, like washing machines used yesterday swallowed their owners and turned them into meat paste today; or traffic lights turned into demons, directing a bunch of self-driving cars off a cliff." At this point, Lin Qing couldn’t help but hold her forehead, "These so-called ’signs of rebellion’ were all decoys. From the beginning, their target was clear, which was the Crystal Palace."

"Why?" Chen Xuan knew the main point was coming.

"Because the Crystal Palace’s energy comes from a cold fusion core, or rather, an annihilation reaction core. If it could fall intact to Earth, it would be a super meteorite, with destructive power ten times stronger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs! According to experts’ estimates, by then the entire biosphere on the crust would reboot, and Earth’s surface would return to a molten state."

Annihilation reaction core? Capable of directly destroying Earth’s ecosystem?

Chen Xuan didn’t believe his hometown would develop this level of technology in just a century.

Moreover, isn’t doing this a self-destructive approach? But on second thought, since the current biosphere is dominated by carbon-based life, for nano-bot lifeforms, it’s not digging their own grave to turn the tables on the carbon-based organisms, but rather clearing out all potential competitors at once.

"I see, the fall of the Crystal Palace was intentional on their part, and you are trying to stop all of this from happening."

"Not just me, there were twenty people on the spaceship at the time, but all my companions sacrificed themselves along the way..." Lin Qing said sorrowfully, "The Crystal Palace was too large, and it had its own defense system, making it hard for ground-based missile attacks to break through its defense circle. Our team was humanity’s only hope. You know what happened after... We failed, there was no chance at all. If you hadn’t appeared there, everything would have been over."

Chen Xuan understood why she considered him a survivor and why the shop showed up there.

Perhaps she hadn’t realized that when she saw the mission becoming impossible while trapped, she must have sent out the most desperate prayer from her heart.

However, this situation was completely different from what Liu Shuyue was facing.

The Crystal Palace had already fallen, even if Earth wasn’t shattered, it would regress back to the Primordial Age. To expect the abilities in his inventory to reverse the situation was overestimating him too much.

Of course, on the surface, he wouldn’t dismiss her gratitude, "In any case, it’s good that you survived. This world might be a little dull, but it’s at least safe—"

"No, the things that will happen in the future are bound to replay, if we do nothing!" Lin Qing grabbed his hand again, "Our enemies still exist in this era!" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

From a psychological suggestion perspective, this is a fear of him leaving.

Could this child have suffered such a shock, becoming slightly deranged?

"Do you have evidence?"

"I connected to your internet here, all the information I found matches up perfectly with the data in my memory bank!" She insisted, "You said you are the manager of an Ability Store, right? Although there’s no detailed record, there was a period when abilities indeed held a dominant position, especially in battles against Otherworld invasions... You must have heard of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism."

Otherworld... invasion? This word made Chen Xuan’s heart skip a beat.

He couldn’t help but recall the red sky cleaved open by Liu Shuyue’s sword and the gun-wielding witch insisting Joan go to her doom.

"Regrettably, I haven’t."

"Ah?" The girl was stunned for a moment, and then slapped her forehead, "I misunderstood. You definitely weren’t caught by the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, otherwise, there would be a record. Sorry, I didn’t personally experience that period, so all the information is based on comparisons. Have you ever been attacked or chased by any mysterious individuals?"

Chen Xuan frowned, was she referring to the crazy Thursday-type people? "Why do you ask?"

"The full name of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism is the World Stablization and Ability Non-Proliferation Mechanism. This organization has been dedicated to secretly overseeing people who gain abilities, preventing them from abusing those abilities for personal gain," Lin Qing’s response surprised him greatly, "If you are not part of the mechanism, you’ll eventually be targeted by them. According to declassified intelligence, in 2025, the mechanism still operated underwater, without public activities in society. Wild Ability Users are often controlled without even realizing it."

She looked around, "Of course... being controlled would leave a mark, so I guess you haven’t been exposed yet, but that doesn’t mean your situation is entirely safe."

Seriously?

Should he complain about the matter itself or the irreverent name?

Chen Xuan looked outside the window, the neighborhood was still as peaceful as ever, birds chirping on trees, occasionally a few old men basking in the sun on the bench by the leafy path. In his twenty-plus years of life, he had never felt anything was off with this world.

Or was it that things were wrong from the moment he dreamt?

"I’m curious about how you know all these things," Chen Xuan said after a moment of silence, "Even if it’s no longer a secret in the future, I doubt this mechanism would advertise their dirty deeds to the world."

"Because I am a member of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism!" Lin Qing introduced herself, pressing a hand to her chest.

Chen Xuan’s gaze at her immediately became strange.

The girl, as if realizing something, quickly corrected herself, "Don’t get me wrong, I won’t catch you. Thirty years later, unstable abilities were replaced by various prosthetics. Besides, I don’t think this capture theory is right... No, " she paused, and her tone became more resolute, "this theory must be wrong, because in the end, the Dimensional Limit Mechanism also failed to prevent the catastrophe from descending, flattening the whole world. It’s different now, thanks to you, I returned to a century ago. This time we have enough time to stop the Dimensional Limit Mechanism and change the fate of humanity!"

Chen Xuan frowned, we?

She extended her hand, "With all the intelligence I possess and your strong abilities, together we won’t fail!"

Chen Xuan pushed her hand back, "Go get a job. The shop is so damaged, you’re responsible for half of it. Once the expenses are settled, you’ll be free."

Lin Qing showed an incredulous expression, "This world is headed for destruction!"

He shrugged, unconcerned, "So what? Even if there are similarities between the two worlds, I run an Ability Store, not a world-saving association. Who can worry about things a century from now?"