Chapter Ten: San Francisco

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Early summer in San Francisco was bright with sunshine. A beautiful pyramid shimmered upon the sea, while the cool wind of the thirty-seventh parallel swept toward him.

Beautiful—the season was beautiful, and everything was beautiful...

“Tch. Beautiful my ass. Humanity is no longer the only intelligent life on Earth. Isn’t that right, Miss Apollonia? The good days of human civilization are probably coming to an end.”

Putting the music box into his pocket, Shang Luo locked the door and headed toward the nearby Acropolis.

【Your good days will not end. At least, that is what I believe. A civilization without humanity would be meaningless; it would be nothing more than a sandbox. But you should know that human civilization is more fragile than you expect.】

“I had already guessed as much.”

As he walked through the streets, San Francisco’s sunlight remained as gentle as ever. Yet an inescapable chill lingered at the back of his mind. His very existence was proof of this world’s “fragility”—unless, of course, the Lethe broth here had not been particularly fresh.

But compared with transmigration or the Lethe broth, the question he cared about more was this:

“The Foundation Establishment Pill. I’m not the only one who has asked about it, am I? Has anyone inquired about anything similar before?”

【That is also why I was surprised that we found it so quickly. Someone had asked about it before. The formula was already on the bookshelf. Since our search iterations are so precise, I simply retrieved it while I was at it.】

“What about Foundation Establishment cultivators? Since they completely fit my description, they should have been everywhere long ago, shouldn’t they?”

【For the same reason, I am treating this “Foundation Establishment Pill” with caution. I believe there must be some explanation for it... Of course, I am asking something of you now, and this information was retrieved with your assistance. The Akashic Records accept access only from human beings. I merely helped enter the query. Therefore, the results belong to you personally, and I will not provide them to anyone else.】

“What if I give the Foundation Establishment Pills I refine to other people?”

【Think carefully. A Foundation Establishment Pill is not a boiled egg. Judging from the formula, it is not difficult to refine. I advise you to treat the pills you make with caution as well—though naturally, you may give them to others if you wish. That is your decision.】

“I won’t hand them out recklessly.”

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Although he had yet to verify it, Shang Luo could already be almost certain that this was true. He merely wanted one final safeguard.

The Acropolis was not far from the clock shop. He intended to cover the distance on foot.

What if consuming the Foundation Establishment Pill allowed him to break free of Earth’s gravity and fly through the air? If that happened, this heavy-footed walk might well be his last. He wanted to savor the experience a little longer.

The early-summer sun was bright, and the weather was fine. San Francisco looked much as it always had. Layer upon layer of signs and banners hung from the shops lining the streets: Jiangning Bank, Eternal Peace Pharmacy, Orchid Heart Cinema, and branches of Six Must Reside Pickles, which could be found everywhere.

Although it lay in the outer city, San Francisco had developed far more extensively than the wilderness. Streets spread outward from the Acropolis in concentric rings, and the roads continued beyond the outer walls, stretching into endless fields of wheat before finally vanishing at the horizon.

San Francisco was the standard model for a territorial garrison city. The ancient Great Righteous War had left countless fortresses like it throughout the world, each one a sturdy stronghold built amid rolling seas of wheat.

There were also things not so easily seen elsewhere, such as escort agencies. Triangular pennants hung in dense layers overhead, serving as the agencies’ signboards. As usual, armed escort guards stood at the entrances, all dressed in black long coats roomy enough to conceal submachine guns. Most wore the badges of civic guardians at their waists as well. But the weather was too warm, and even the guards by the roadside merely leaned against the walls with their guns in their arms.

Seeing escort guards meant that the Acropolis gates were near. The guards took assignments at the city gates, transporting supplies to other regions. Many escort agencies displayed signs advertising direct routes to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas lay east of San Francisco, not far away, in the desert. It had been built upon barren wasteland that nobody wanted—a neutral zone governed by neither the Ming nor Rome.

【Oh, right. Since you mentioned Las Vegas, it is actually an excellent place to make money. If you are short of cash, take a trip there, just like those foolish Britons. Wealth, companions, teachings, and a suitable place—the first of those is the most important.】

“Wait. They took you to Las Vegas?”

【Please. You cannot honestly think those Englishmen obtained a miraculous divination device and then did nothing with it, can you? Naturally, they went to Las Vegas and made a fortune first. That energy-saving closed-loop tarot-testing system was improvised during that trip. I was so annoyed that I finally made it for them. They used the tarot cards to divine an answer, and the Akashic Records gave them a symbolic response. If they guessed wrong, they blamed their own inadequate interpretation instead of me. As for what happened before that, do not ask. That falls under personal privacy.】

“So that’s how it was...”

Shang Luo was still puzzled about where such a group had come from. San Francisco’s public order could not be called good, and it was no match for the metropolitan heartland. But he had never heard of any cluster of terrorists abducting civilians in the city. After all, this was the seat of the Yangzhou Governor’s Office. Airships and battleships were moored in Golden Gate Harbor, while tanks and armored vehicles stood ready within the Acropolis.

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Anyone who came here looking for trouble was plainly tired of living. The people rooted out and purged last night were proof enough: heavy weapons could reach their homes in less than half a day.

“So their operating funds all came from gambling winnings?”

【Of course. Otherwise, where do you think they got the money to renovate their “cave abode”? And how else could they have hired genuine Englishmen from their old homeland in Britain? Unfortunately, every one of them has now been rooted out and purged. It was quite a sum of money. I remember seeing a great heap of Roman banknotes.】

“What if I went to Las Vegas and made a fortune too? Would that count as after-sales service?”

【It would, but I do not recommend it. I do not guarantee a win. Their overall success was due to the size of their initial capital. Your small stake could easily be wiped out by a minor fluctuation. Besides, cheating is wrong. I cannot say whether rigging a game counts as fighting poison with poison, but cheating and fraud accumulate karmic consequences. You would not want people hunting you down, would you?】

“Fine. If the Foundation Establishment Pill really exists, I won’t care much about the little money in Las Vegas anyway.”

【You intend to sell the Foundation Establishment Pill?】

“Wealth, companions, teachings, and a suitable place—I need to get a good price for it. The formula can be used repeatedly, so using it only once would be a waste. If I can sell it for enough, perhaps it will carry me straight to the Golden Core stage, or even higher. I haven’t decided whom to sell it to yet. The imperial court would be a good choice. If I sold it to the court, I would not necessarily need to demand payment in cash. Exchanging it for merit would be worthwhile too. The court is generous. If something requires money, they will pay exactly what it is worth.”

【Good heavens. I cannot imagine what would happen if a Roman senator obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill. He would probably be hunted down and exterminated by the others. Your way of thinking really is entirely different from Rome’s.】

“Then you are about to see the crystallization of the ‘ideal state.’ The San Francisco Acropolis is just around the next bend.”

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