Chapter 605 - 602: 0122

Chapter 605: Chapter 602: 0122

In the end, Li Luo still couldn’t find any information on "0122." She could only follow the directions provided by the staff member and head toward the residential area inside the Pipe Fortress.

She left the break room, then followed a pipe leading down from the far end of the dock and into an even larger one.

The pipe here was nearly the size of a tunnel, and the echo of scraping sounds occasionally reverberated through its massive interior.

Li Luo walked along the bottom of the pipe. The space above was pitch-black, the ceiling almost invisible, save for a dense network of smaller pipes lining the top.

Li Luo had no idea what those pipes were for, or if they contained things like electrical wires.

But judging by the lighting in the Pipe Fortress, it didn’t seem to need electricity.

Hanging from the top of this massive pipe were smaller pipes, the ends of which glowed with a faint luminescence. Together, these lights illuminated the entire conduit.

Strange scraping sounds echoed from the distance. Li Luo saw a few figures along the way, but the people of the Pipe Fortress were all very strange. If you didn’t interact with them, they seemed completely aloof.

They came and went in a hurry, either with their heads down or staring at the electronic screens in their hands, seemingly unconcerned with the outside world.

Among these people, Li Luo also spotted some Guards in standard-issue military uniforms. Their clothes were immaculate. They carried huge backpacks, their contents unknown, and most peculiar of all, several writhing pipes extended from their uniforms to help support the packs.

When these Guards stepped on the pipe, they produced a dull thud. As they moved, a strange hissing sound could be heard. It was only when they got closer that she noticed a pipe running down their uniform trousers, extending from waist to foot.

Every time these Guards took a step, this pipe would compress gas to support their legs. When they pushed off, the gas would be expelled, giving them a forward propulsion boost.

Li Luo stood still, watching the strange pneumatic contraption with curiosity.

It was clearly used by humans, yet it didn’t look like human technology.

The Guards didn’t seem to mind being stared at. They appeared accustomed to such curious gazes, simply hurrying to the other end of the pipe with their massive backpacks and disappearing into the dim passage.

’Is that some kind of pneumatic exoskeleton? Made using the pipes from the Pipe Fortress?’

It seemed those pipes had more uses than she had imagined.

’But how did humans discover this way of using them?’

’Could humans have already entered the Thirsters’ library and obtained their knowledge?’

Li Luo shook her head, telling herself to stop overthinking.

After swaying on the airship for so long, she was now exhausted. Her whole body ached, and she had forced herself to stay alert while reporting the information. Now, she was starting to feel dizzy.

’Once I find the residential area, I need to get some proper rest before thinking about what to do next...’

The map seemed to be constantly guiding Li Luo downward.

After navigating through many winding pipes, Li Luo finally found the location of the residential area. The Pipe Fortress seemed to have many such areas, and this one was specifically for outsiders.

Li Luo quickly located her room and ducked into the pipe.

"Thirteenth Residential Zone, Second Pipe Row, Fifth Level, Room Three."

After verifying her identity and pushing open a large, circular door, Li Luo entered her room.

The room appeared to be a converted section of pipe. A larger pipe had been cut, sealed at both ends, and its floor leveled with smaller pipes, then furnished with furniture and appliances to create the room as it was now.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t as cramped as she had expected. The cylindrical space felt unexpectedly spacious. The furniture and appliances were all there, and the ventilation was excellent, with fresh air constantly blowing in from a small pipe above.

Aside from the poor lighting, it had no other drawbacks.

Li Luo put down her backpack and went directly to the sofa on the side of the room, lying down.

She was just too tired...

...

The Block floated to one side.

Meanwhile, Mo Ling, who was inside it, had already extended his field of vision to study the strange structure of the room.

Though called a residential area, it was really just rows upon rows of pipes.

Some pipes served as rooms, others as corridors.

The pipes used as rooms were partitioned into various sizes, while the pipes used as corridors had openings cut into them and were placed snugly alongside the room-pipes.

’Second Pipe Row means the second row of pipes.’

’Fifth Level means the fifth pipe stacked on the second row.’

’Room Three means the third room partitioned out of this pipe from end to end.’

Li Luo might not have been able to see it clearly, but Mo Ling looked very carefully. On the doorframe in the corridor outside, in a hidden spot untouched by the glowing light, a string of numbers was carved:

"13253."

And on the doors of the two adjacent rooms, similar numbers were carved.

"13252, 13254."

Mo Ling’s vision slowly extended, moving to the level below.

"13243."

Looking at these numbers, Mo Ling instantly understood that they represented room numbers.

’13 is for the Thirteenth Residential Zone.’

’2 is for the Second Pipe Row.’

’5 for the Fifth Level, 3 for Room Three.’

’But wouldn’t these room numbers cause confusion?’

’For example, 13213 could mean Thirteenth Residential Zone, Second Pipe Row, First Level, Room Three.’

’Or it could mean First Residential Zone, Third Pipe Row, Second Level, Room Thirteen.’

Mo Ling discovered that this residential area was huge, with many rooms.

His vision stretched to its limit, yet he still couldn’t see the edge of the residential area. This meant very large room numbers could exist, which would lead to even more ambiguity.

’To prevent mix-ups, were the room numbers canceled? Did they switch to a descriptive format?’

The staff member who had told Li Luo her specific housing location had also used a descriptive format.

Mo Ling guessed that the Pipe Fortress likely used room numbers during its initial construction phase. Later, to prevent ambiguity, they must have switched to descriptive addresses so people wouldn’t go to the wrong room.

As for the carved number markings, perhaps they were kept out of habit from when the rooms were partitioned, serving as a reference.

At this thought, Mo Ling recalled the string of numbers from the Pain Transfer Pills’ data.

’"0122..."’

’Could it be a room number? A room number for the donor, recorded back when the Pipe Fortress was first built and still used numerical addresses?’

’But... interpreting this string of numbers as a room number seems a bit of a stretch...’

’Zeroth Residential Zone? First Pipe Row? Second Level, Room Two?’

’Zero?’