Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 346 - 226: Classified Structures

Qu Jianlei heard Youyou’s answer and couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

"Escaping the base, where do you plan to go? What about your family and relatives?"

Upon hearing this, Youyou let out a soft sigh, "You’ve indeed lost a lot of memories..."

Then she asked aloud, "Do you know where the people in the base come from?"

Qu Jianlei pondered for a moment and replied, "It seems like someone from the Gorge can enter the base, and if Wei Wushuang advances to Supreme, he can enter too."

Then he shook his head, "Other than that, I don’t know... Are there no natives born and raised in the base?"

Youyou thought for a moment and shook her head, "No, some children might be born in the base, but they won’t grow up there."

Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but ask again, "Are some then sent to the Gorge?"

Youyou continued to nod, "Yes, there are indeed some. Your use of ’some’ is very precise."

After a pause, she said something quite shocking, "Most children are taken to alien worlds for better education."

Qu Jianlei was stunned for a few seconds, then laughed, and his smile was as bitter as it could be.

After a long while, he murmured in a low voice, "Is my luck really that bad?"

After she said the shocking sentence, Youyou kept staring at him.

Seeing that he quickly accepted reality, she was somewhat surprised, "Did you remember your origins?"

"No," Qu Jianlei shook his head expressionlessly, having already adjusted his mindset, "So you’re from outer space too?"

"Yes," Youyou nodded straightforwardly, "Originally, my military service here was supposed to be twenty years, but now... sigh."

Qu Jianlei fell silent; he even took out a cigarette and lit it—say what you want, I won’t ask anymore.

He wanted to complain about his luck: Clearly, there are planets with advanced civilizations, so why did I end up in the Wasteland when I crossed over?

Youyou didn’t intend to tease Qu Jianlei; she just wanted to see how this guy would react in such a situation.

Seeing him calmly smoking, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: This psychological resilience is unmatched!

After thinking for a bit, she spoke, "Most people in the base are from alien worlds."

"You and Xiao Moshan killed someone who was from the same planet as me..."

Turns out they were from the same place... Qu Jianlei understood why Youyou’s emotions were a bit intense that day.

Until she learned that it was that person who framed Xiao Moshan, she stopped caring.

Without a doubt, no matter how good a fellow villager is, they can’t surpass the bond of comrades fighting together.

Qu Jianlei felt it deeply but didn’t respond to her words. Firstly, he didn’t want to ask, and secondly, he didn’t know what or how to ask.

However, Youyou no longer held back, revealing she had made a minor mistake and requested to serve here for twenty years voluntarily.

When she arrived, Xiao Moshan had already defected; the two had never met—so Xiao Moshan didn’t know her at first.

Youyou felt quite frustrated; she initially wanted to earn some merits on this backward planet but ended up being a fugitive!

But she was truly framed, "Do you know why I’m being hunted?"

Qu Jianlei glanced at her and shook his head slowly—sorry, I don’t want to say a word.

Youyou’s face tensed as she solemnly spoke, "I accidentally discovered someone in the base maintaining contact with the Rebel Army."

"Can you imagine my shock? Keeping in touch with the Fallen who eat people, how crazed must one be?"

Qu Jianlei smirked indifferently, showing no intention to respond.

Youyou saw this and became even more agitated, "Jianlei, can you judge this matter fairly? Is there such a logic?"

Being called out? Qu Jianlei didn’t mind sharing his thoughts and lazily replied, "Raising bandits for self-interest, is it that strange?"

He always felt that the Rebel Army couldn’t be wiped out completely, something was definitely wrong somewhere, and he understood upon hearing this revelation.

"Raising bandits...for self-interest?" Youyou mulled it over, feeling that the summary was quite insightful.

But she was still upset, "The base’s annual expenses are astonishing, and yet some still find it insufficient, don’t you think it’s too excessive?"

What does this have to do with me? Qu Jianlei couldn’t empathize with her on this matter.

He expressed his thoughts, "People from the base probably view us like animals in a zoo, don’t they?"

The resentment in these words was unmistakably clear to anyone.

"How could it be?" Youyou bluntly denied it, though her explanation was somewhat peculiar.

"This place is an evolution observation point; the base tries not to interfere with the locals to discover new evolutionary paths."

Qu Jianlei sneered, "Using fellow humans for testing, you really have the heart for it...is this fair to us?"

"It’s unrelated to you," Youyou stated with certainty, "You’re not a native here."

Is that the focus? Qu Jianlei laughed in indignation, "What did the natives do wrong here?"

"Also, are there really natives here? It’s just bringing some people over to establish a lab for human experiments..."

"There really are indigenous people here," Youyou interrupted his complaints, "how do you think those post-apocalyptic scenes came about?"

"This place used to be highly developed, but some people insisted on rebelling, which led to this!"

"It’s a bunch of ambitious folks who dragged everyone else down. If you can’t even figure that out, I’ll be a bit disappointed."

Qu Jianlei listened, dumbfounded, and it took him a while before he incredulously asked, "Are you saying this was once a habitable star?"

"Of course," Youyou replied without hesitation, "it’s just that things have gotten a lot worse now."

"Alright," Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but believe it. Whether it’s the Celestial District, Central City, the Gorge, or the base, they are all quite habitable.

The Gathering Areas that are not habitable probably each have their own issues.

He wanted to complain, but in this situation, he couldn’t be sure if his complaints were justified.

After thinking it over, he finally said, "How about this, introduce the structure and relationships between the base, the Gorge, and Central City first."

Youyou explained it very clearly: without a doubt, the base holds the highest level.

The base is the Imperial outpost on this star, and its members all have formal Imperial status.

However, the base itself does not possess very strong functions; it mainly acts as a bridge, a linking role.

Therefore, there aren’t many people in the base, and they rarely venture outside.

The Gorge is the real authority on this star, overseeing various affairs, and is the top management layer of the planet.

However, over ninety-nine percent of the Gorge’s members are also descendants of the Imperial family, though they carry various charges.

So when they come here, it’s not like being dispatched; it’s more akin to frontier defense, and once here, there’s no going back.

Unless they achieve extraordinary accomplishments, they cannot return to the Empire, and if the achievements are especially great, they might take their entire family back.

Like Youyou, who simply made a minor mistake, she came here to redeem her faults and ensure a smooth life path in the future.

Her minor mistake wasn’t serious enough to be a border defender, so her process involved being dispatched to the base.

The Gorge consists of frontier defenders and their descendants; they are not suitable to directly manage the star.

Thus, Central City exists, inhabited by those rejected by the Gorge and the elite of the star.

Central City is where the true managers of the star reside, while the Gorge is lofty, mainly controlling Central City.

This is typical hierarchical control, with each link performing its duties.

The step of the Gorge seems redundant, but in fact, it’s not the case.

Firstly, the Gorge members are more inclined towards the Empire by blood, naturally leaning towards it.

In their eyes, even the residents of Central City are merely indigenous, carrying a natural sense of superiority, with loyalty hardly questioned.

Secondly, they bear the duty of information blockage.

The base only issues orders to the Gorge and does not contact Central City, with this middle information barrier effectively preventing leaks.

In fact, just by observing Xiao Moshan and Youyou’s actions, one can see how much the base values secrecy.

The two became wanted criminals one after another, and despite collaborating with Qu Jianlei for so long and experiencing battles together, they still did not disclose any secrets.

Central City also imposes information lockdown on the lower Gathering Areas, stemming from their status and sense of superiority.

As for the Gathering Areas, ranked one worse than the other... there’s nothing much to say.

Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but lament his bad luck, not only crossing into the Wasteland but also ending up in the worst Hong District—thankfully, the Desert District is abolished.

So... am I really attracting trouble?

Actually, Youyou’s account was quite succinct, many related causes and effects were naturally filled in by Qu Jianlei.

After she finished speaking, she asked, "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Qu Jianlei indeed had a lot he wanted to know, but his greatest curiosity was, "Why is Xiao Moshan’s cultivation level low, yet his confidentiality level higher than yours?"

That guy, when defecting, not only took a lot of wealth but also... at that time, he had the highest authority in the base!

Youyou thought for a moment before answering, "He wasn’t assigned a stationed task; he probably had responsibilities like investigations, I didn’t ask much."

Qu Jianlei’s expression turned a bit strange upon hearing this, "He was entrusted with investigation duties yet got labeled as a defector?"

"And he’s been wanted for so many years without any related information being communicated, do his superiors not inquire?"

Youyou, however, shook her head indifferently, "In confidential departments, anything strange is normal."

Then she spoke seriously, "Didn’t you say you don’t understand those underlying rules? A piece of advice from me..."

"For matters involving confidential departments, try not to ask questions. It not only embarrasses the opposite party, but most importantly, you’ll end up in trouble yourself!"

Confidential... Qu Jianlei pouted, thinking that if he knew it was like this, he surely wouldn’t be curious.

During his time on Blue Star, he had encountered similar departments and was well aware of the potential troubles involved.

However, the base’s indifference towards the survivors still left him with unresolved thoughts.

"The garbage heaps in Hong District... are they also from outer space?"