Upper Zone, base layer:
Shi Feng enjoyed the scenery of the base layer as he strolled around the residential area he lived in. Contrary to his expectations, he did not see any of the paradisiacal sceneries depicted in the rumors spread in the outside world. Instead, what he saw were only high-rise buildings; the areas not occupied by high-rise buildings held facilities such as restaurants, training halls, and gyms.
Moreover, compared to the outside world, almost all of the people gave the impression that they were incredibly busy, and they all had tense expressions on their faces.
This could be considered natural. After all, the Upper Zone wasn’t some kind of paradise. Instead, it was a place with far more intense competition than the outside world.
From what Shi Feng understood, Yuantian City’s Upper Zone had a population of less than 300,000, nearly a quarter of which were employees of the Green God Company. As for the remaining inhabitants, the majority of them belonged to the various major corporations, and only a small portion were people who had entered the Upper Zone through special selections or reserved slots.
Meanwhile, unlike what the general public thought, one wouldn’t live a carefree life after entering the Upper Zone. On the contrary, one would face even greater pressure than when they lived in the outside world. The reason for this was the Upper Zone’s ridiculously high cost of living. Just the matter of food already gave Shi Feng a headache.
Even the most basic meal cost 30 points, equivalent to 300,000 Credits. Nobody would pay such an absurd price for food in the outside world. Yet, in the Upper Zone, this amount of money would buy only the most basic meal.
This was still only a small problem in the Upper Zone. The truly troublesome aspect was the various training resources available here. Just living in the Upper Zone wouldn’t be enough for a person to achieve longevity. One still needed to include various exercises and medicines into the equation, all of which cost a lot of points. Without sufficient wealth and resources, one couldn’t live in the Upper Zone at all.
Those born in the Upper Zone were allowed to live freely until the age of 12. Afterward, they had to undergo a series of tests until they reached 15. If they failed the tests, they would be banished from the Upper Zone.
Moreover, passing the Green God Company’s basic assessment would only qualify one to work at the lowest level of the Green God Company. Only if one conquered the Mental Path before the age of 20 or made a great contribution to the Green God Company would one gain authority and be considered an ordinary person in the Upper Zone.
If one wished to live longer and better in the Upper Zone, and perhaps even gain influence and become someone respected by the major corporations, one would have to head to the middle layer. Otherwise, one would only be an ant living in the base layer.
After all, the base layer’s average lifespan might be 150 years, but that didn’t mean every individual would live up to 150 years old. Moreover, there was also the matter of retaining one’s youth and physical vitality.
For residents living in the base layer, even if they could live a fulfilling life and constantly supplement themselves with the various resources available in the base layer, they could retain their youth until the age of 50, at most. Afterward, their physical fitness would decline. By the time they reached 100 years old, they would have entered old age.
However, in the case of people living in the middle layer, they would still retain their youthful vitality even at the age of 80. Appearance-wise, they would look like they were just entering their 30s. In other words, the middle layer’s residents got to retain their youth for nearly twice as long as the base layer’s residents. And even at the age of 120, they would only be middle-aged and look like they were just entering their 40s. Who wouldn’t go crazy at such a temptation? After strolling about for a while, Shi Feng rode one of the Upper Zone’s free levitating smart cars and arrived at the Green God Tower roughly 20 minutes later.
At the end of the journey, he had to admit that the Upper Zone was truly amazing. The various transportation facilities here were completely free, and the cars were even equipped with fully intelligent navigation systems. He could travel anywhere he wished with just a word.
Shi Feng made his way to the Green God Tower’s seventh floor, which was where all resource exchanges took place in the base layer. Everyone seeking to convert Credits into trade points, exchange rare resources for trade points and contribution points, or exchange points for the various medicines the Green God Company offered would come here.
Upon arriving on the seventh floor, he found that the hall, which was the size of eight basketball courts, was crowded with thousands of people. Compared to the registration room he visited previously, this place was many times livelier.
Most of the gathered people were wealthy children seeking to exchange for trade points using Credits. As to why they were doing so, the reason was simple.
Most, if not all, of the major corporations operating in the Upper Zone had existed for over a century already. After operating for such a long time, the shareholder families running these corporations had grown significantly in size. At this point, with how large the shareholder families’ population had become, these families would be fortunate to put their children into the Upper Zone.
In addition, the resources the Green God Company sought were all incredibly rare and valuable. For the sake of their own future in the Upper Zone, the various corporations wouldn’t let the children of their shareholder families casually exchange resources for points at all.
Hence, aside from the designated heir or heiress of their respective families, the other children who had entered the Upper Zone would have to rely on themselves to secure resources in the Upper Zone.
However, as most of these children were not particularly talented, they naturally didn’t have the means to get the necessary resources or achievements to earn themselves a lot of trade points and contribution points. They could only visit the exchange center every day to exchange for trade points using Credits.
As a result, despite the Green God Tower’s exchange center being open 24/7, there would almost always be people lining up before the credit area’s exchange counters. If news of such a scene were to reach the outside world, jaws would definitely drop.
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After all, every one of the wealthy children lining up in the exchange center was a prince or princess of a major corporation. Normally, they would have numerous people at their beck and call.
Yet, in the exchange center, they had no choice but to behave like normal people and stand in line themselves. And even more surprisingly, none of these wealthy children in the queue was making a fuss.
Unlike the credit area, there was only one exchange counter in the contribution area. Usually, almost nobody stood before this exchange counter, and anybody wishing to use its services could do so without having to wait.
However, when Shi Feng approached the contribution area, two people were already standing before the exchange counter there. Moreover, he actually recognized both of them.
One of them was none other than Han Yifeng, the heir of the Five States Corporation. Out of all the corporation heirs Shi Feng had met before, Han Yifeng had the most exaggerated physical fitness. Han Yifeng also did not behave like the typical princeling of a major corporation. The person standing behind Han Yifeng was the butler Zhuo Linqiu.
“Young Master, now that we’ve completed the Green God Company’s assignment, I believe your total contribution points will reach 60,000 once the evaluation is complete and enter the top ten rankings. If we factor in the corporation’s decision to support you fully this time, I’m certain you’ll be able to enter the top three in the contribution competition this time,” Zhuo Linqiu said excitedly.
The contribution competition was held once every three months. The top three of the competition would gain the right to stay in the middle layer. Although the duration of the stay was only three short months, this was also one of the few ways the various corporations could gain access to the middle layer. Meanwhile, so long as Han Yifeng entered the middle layer, he could acquire resources that were far superior to what was available in the base layer. At that time, his status in the Upper Zone would immediately skyrocket. However, Han Yifeng remained indifferent to Zhuo Linqiu’s words. Shaking his head, he said, “While I am confident of getting into the top five, my chances of getting into the top three are still slim. The people currently ranked among the top three have held those positions for the past two years.
“According to rumors, those three people are close to gaining High Grade authority. They will definitely do everything they can to retain their positions, so it won’t be easy to surpass them in contributions. In fact, despite not having put in any real effort, they have already accumulated over 100,000 contribution points. If we show signs of trying to compete for the top three, it wouldn’t be strange if their points suddenly doubled or tripled.”
At Han Yifeng’s words, Zhuo Linqiu fell silent, acknowledging that the top three rankers were indeed a cut above everyone else. After all, those three people had already monopolized the top three positions of the contribution competition for the past two years. Trying to surpass them in contributions definitely wouldn’t be an easy task. While Han Yifeng and Zhuo Linqiu were conversing, the staff member manning the exchange counter finished calculating Han Yifeng’s contribution. “Sir, after including the assignment you completed this time, you now have 62,425 contribution points accumulated. You are currently ranked seventh in the contribution competition.” “Seventh?”
Han Yifeng did not feel particularly happy to hear that he was ranked seventh in the competition, taking the result in stride. After giving the staff member a nod, he promptly turned around to leave.
The instant Han Yifeng and Zhuo Linqiu turned around, they noticed Shi Feng making his way to the counter. “Why is he here?” Zhuo Linqiu rubbed his eyes in doubt when he saw Shi Feng, who was dressed in white casuals.
The Upper Zone was a place that countless people sought to enter but couldn’t. The Guild Leaders of many superpowers didn’t have the qualifications to enter the Upper Zone even now. Yet, Shi Feng, who was merely the Guild Leader of a pseudo-superpower, had actually entered it. This was simply incredible.
At this time, let alone Zhuo Linqiu, even Han Yifeng revealed a rare look of surprise on his face.
When Han Yifeng last met Shi Feng, in Fenglin City’s Redstone Restaurant, the latter was merely an insignificant minor character in his eyes. After all, Shi Feng and his subordinates simply weren’t capable of reaching the playing field Han Yifeng fought on. At best, he could only use Zero Wing as a pawn to hinder his opponents. Even when Zero Wing developed rapidly and became enemies with many superpowers, he still thought nothing of the Guild. After all, what the various major corporations were truly competing for wasn’t God’s Domain, but the Upper Zone’s resources.
Yet, now, a minor character like Shi Feng had actually set foot into the Upper Zone. This situation was as unbelievable as a fairy tale.
“Did the Boulder Corporation give him a reserved slot?” Han Yifeng muttered in speculation.
“That should be the case. Otherwise, there’s no way someone like him, with no background, can enter the Upper Zone,” Zhuo Linqiu said, nodding in agreement.
In the recent struggle for the reserve seats of God’s Domain’s Twelve Great Guilds, Frost Heaven had surpassed everyone’s expectations and secured itself a seat, instantly becoming a true titan in God’s Domain. The biggest contributor to Frost Heaven’s victory was undoubtedly Zero Wing. Hence, it wouldn’t be strange for Frost Heaven to grant Zero Wing a few of the Upper Zone’s reserved slots in gratitude.
After thinking up to this point, Han Yifeng and Zhuo Linqiu calmed down.
Meanwhile, as Shi Feng walked over, he merely glanced at Han Yifeng and Zhuo Linqiu before continuing on his way. He did not take the initiative to say hello. After all, he wasn’t exactly familiar with the two. He was also in a hurry right now.
Zhuo Linqiu’s expression turned ugly at Shi Feng’s response. He never imagined that Shi Feng would actually show so little respect to Han Yifeng. The man didn’t even bother saying hello and merely walked away like a stranger. Shi Feng simply didn’t place the Five States Corporation in his eyes.
However, before Zhuo Linqiu could vent his anger, he was stunned to see Shi Feng stop before the contribution area’s exchange counter.
“What is he trying to do?” Han Yifeng was confused when he saw Shi Feng conversing with the staff member at the counter. “That’s the exchange counter for the contribution area. Did he come here to exchange for trade points because there was no line here?”
“Sure enough, he is a minor character. He only knows how to head to places where he can gain advantages. He thinks he can save time by coming here, yet he is wholly ignorant of the rules,” Zhuo Linqiu sneered as he looked at Shi Feng, who was still conversing with the staff, in contempt.
However, no sooner had Zhuo Linqiu finished speaking than the nearby staff member suddenly exclaimed in a loud and excited tone, “Congratulations, Mr. Shi! You have gained a total of 50,000 contribution points and 5,000,000 trade points this time! You are currently ranked tenth in the contribution competition!”