The "charging stations" on floors 61 and 62 are the dining areas designated by the Transcendence Temple, and no delivery service is available. Ash and the others have no choice but to eat at the charging station.

Even after two days here, Ash still found it hard to accept the dining environment—the uniform sounds of eating, with no stray noise in the air. Sitting among them, Ash felt like a loafer who walked into an internet café hoping for an all-night gaming session, only to find that his fellow patrons are all office workers from nearby companies forced to work overnight due to a power outage.

The atmosphere was so solemn and serious that for the past two days, Ash dared not even touch Igula's food.

Besides, what Ash found particularly hard to accept was: they were actually charging.

It's necessary to describe the appearance of the Transcend followers—unlike the ascetic demeanor of the tribulation followers, the Transcend followers had a very futuristic look, with silver-white Mecha attached to their necks, ears, spine, elbows—numerous parts of their body. These Mecha also had breathing lights with flowing luminescence. Together with their uniform blue and white suits and thunder-patterned skin, they resembled warriors from a post-apocalyptic future.

These Mecha, while useful, also consumed power, so mealtime for followers was also charging time. There were many charging cables under the tables, and upon sitting down, charging commenced automatically, currents running through their bodies—this was even more important than eating.

For someone like Ash who only ate and didn't charge, it was like going to an internet café to eat instant noodles without using a computer.

Compared to Ash's fidgety behavior, Igula and Harvey seemed much more at ease.

The Swindler, needless to say, could stay cheerful even if tossed into Hell, so such a minor situation was not worth mentioning. And Harvey, needless to mention, as someone who could sleep and eat among corpses, Ash really couldn't imagine any scene in this world that could affect the Necromancer's appetite.

As they were eating, a middle-aged woman suddenly said, "Dear travelers, you have 29 hours and 43 minutes left in your residency period. Please leave promptly within the timeframe, or you will be forcibly expelled. If you wish to join the Transcendence Temple, please register at the novitiate office on floor 32 before 17:00."

Ash and the others were no longer surprised at the fact that any believer could act as an authority; Igula asked, "Can we first take a tour of the interior and achievements of the Transcendence Temple before deciding whether to officially follow the Great Skill?"

The middle-aged woman immediately shook her head, remaining silent for a moment before saying, "No. If you want the protection of the Transcendence Temple, you must attend the evening service and complete the following ritual, striving together for Transcend Consciousness. Otherwise, you will still be treated as foreign visitors."

"Understood," said the Swindler. "We will consider it seriously within the remaining time. By the way, do you have any needs? If we continue as travel merchants, we might be able to bring you the supplies you want."

At that moment, the middle-aged woman seemed not to hear them, bowing her head to continue eating.

A few dozen seconds later, a man entered the dining hall, handed Igula a file full of detailed supply requests, and left swiftly without looking back.

Igula browsed through it, finding a list with pictures and descriptions of needed supplies, including common resources, Technique Spirits, artifacts, machinery parts, and even population of different races. He raised an eyebrow; just from this list alone, he could figure out what high-value items there were in the Senluo Wasteland.

"I'm done eating," Harvey declared, picking up his plate. "I'll go for a smoke before heading back."

Igula replied, "There are smoke detectors everywhere here; you couldn't even smoke in the bathroom, could you?"

"I found a place without detectors, and it's got sunlight that connects to the landmarks," the Necromancer said, speaking out of character. "I'm taking Alice out for some sun; we're both a bit calcium deficient."

"I'll go too!" Ash quickly swallowed the rest of his food in a few gulps.

"Going for a smoke too?" Igula asked, frowning at Ash.

"I want some sunlight too!" Ash exclaimed. "Leave the task of bringing Tamasi his meal to you!"

"It's always me, last time and the time before. You just don't want to deliver the meal…"

Tamasi didn't want to come to the dining hall to eat, not because he couldn't stand the atmosphere here, but for religious reasons—he said Ya Sha Jin followers can't dine with others.

He didn't elaborate further, but Ash and the others had already conjured up various reasons: 'Refusing to interact with heretics strengthens the cohesion within the sect,' 'One might reveal weaknesses while eating,' 'The original Ya Sha Jin Great Skill was a social phobia sufferer'... Anyway, it was nothing unbearable, and Ash and his companions were willing to respect Tamasi's religious beliefs.

However, since the charging station didn't offer delivery, they had to bring a food box themselves. Ash always refused to deliver food, not only because he was lazy, but also because he wanted to see the Swindler meticulously arrange the meal in the food box, neatly and beautifully.

For some reason, this scene always seemed humorous to Ash. He actually wanted Igula to bring the meal, but the Swindler clearly wouldn't indulge the Cult Leader's slight caprice.

Ash and Harvey left the dining hall and took the elevator, catching one just in time, which was filled with uniformed believers. They stepped in silently, and Harvey pressed the button for the 95th floor.

A few minutes later, when Ash stepped out of the elevator, he immediately leaned against the wall, gasping for air. Harvey looked at him strangely and asked, "Did someone fart in there just now?"

"No, I wasn't holding my breath," Ash waved off the suggestion. "But don't you find it oppressive? Staying in that cramped elevator with them... If it were just for a few seconds, I could handle it, but it was several minutes this time. I just couldn't take it."

"Repressed?" Harvey walked ahead, signaling for him to follow. "What's there to repress? Just think of them as a bunch of corpses, right?"

"If they were corpses, I'd have no issue," Ash sighed. "But the problem is, they're people, it's just..."

"It's just that they no longer wish to be human." Harvey, impatient, pulled out a stick of cat grass smoke and put it in his mouth, speaking with a matter-of-fact tone.

Because of the Four Pillars God Sect, Ya Sha Jin, and tribulation, these religions, although somewhat inhumane, were still somewhat understandable, Ash quickly integrated into the Land of Senluo. It wasn't until he encountered the Transcendence Temple that he realized he would always be an outsider.

As the main sect of the Qinri Alliance, the Transcendence Temple was considered a force of great order and benevolence. Its reputation was evident from its specific regulations for receiving travel merchants, and it earned the trust of many forces—not to mention that the Fire of Tribulation Temple used to belong to the evil alignment, specializing in robbing travel merchants, with nobody willing to trade with them.

Yet, this widely accepted law-abiding force, the Transcendence Temple, held an extremely radical ideology: Transcend Consciousness.

What does that mean? The Transcendence Method posits that intelligence and consciousness are not linked. Consciousness is actually a constraint on intelligent beings. If they wish to evolve into a more advanced species, they must transcend consciousness, shedding their sense of self.

At first listen, it sounds nonsensical, but they have a consistent logical system: Mages learn any skill, although relying on conscious effort to learn and digest, but once the skill is mastered, one must abandon consciousness to better execute the skill. In the realm of the arts, a musician doesn't think about what note to play next; they perform solely based on feeling. In combat, a Sword Master doesn't think about where to strike next; in the split second of a make-or-break exchange, the thought process concludes before consciousness can catch up.

The Transcend Sect believes that consciousness is like a tutorial in a game, a baby walker, a user manual. It's a phase that intelligent beings must go through, but it's only that—a phase.

Consciousness can lead to intelligence, but intelligence doesn't need consciousness. After intelligence has been initially nurtured, consciousness becomes a burden. Those stray thoughts, desires, cravings, emotions—all prevent intelligent beings from further elevating themselves.

The ideal of the Transcend Sect is for everyone to shed their sense of self, to transcend consciousness, and evolve into a more intelligent existence.

Although the ideals of this sect are far-fetched, there are plenty of far-fetched ideals that have emerged in the Land of Senluo; it doesn't owe them one.

Logically, such a futuristic ideal would quickly be submerged in the competitive Wasteland. However, the Transcend Sect found their perfect utopia—the intact skyscraper from the Gray Fox Era.

Inside this building, there still exists an intelligent central system. Once consciousness is connected to the system, people no longer need to communicate through speech, but can convey their thoughts directly and accurately to one another; and whatever problems you encounter, the central system immediately provides solutions.

Ash and the others speculated that this building was probably once part of the service industry, likely a hotel or an apartment complex, and the intelligent central system was probably a Housekeeper system. But in the Wasteland era, the intelligent central system became a grand vessel for transcending consciousness.

The thoughts of the Transcend Sect are not complicated: they let all Believers connect to the intelligent central system, gradually reducing the influence of self-consciousness, letting the central system take charge of all actions until the self completely dissolves. Even without connecting to the system, they could transcend the constraints of consciousness and elevate their intelligence to a new level.

To achieve this goal, they implanted mecha appendages, inscribed with lightning tattoos, to allow the central system to take more complete control—logically, the central system is not allowed to control living people, but they are not 'legal citizens', and this disadvantage inadvertently became their loophole to bypass security restrictions.

So Ash felt the cafeteria and the elevator were so oppressive because, although the Transcend Believers looked like people, felt like people, and were indeed people on the inside, they were gradually becoming something else.

Because of this, all Transcend Believers could be regarded as one entity. Anyone they encountered could become a spokesperson for the sect, and the cafeteria lady had the authority to discuss major deals worth thousands of Gold Coins with them. The Believers were merely vessels for the intelligent central system, which made all important decisions.

However, the intelligent central system also became the shackle of the Transcendence Temple, after all, all Believers had to stay inside the building to be connected to the system. They could not leave the building, and thus the sect was inadvertently locked inside the skyscraper. Unless the first Evolver truly emerged, the Transcend Sect was nothing more than a Frenzy sustained for several generations.

Suddenly, Ash narrowed his eyes, realizing he had entered an indoor grassland with a blazing... sun overhead?

"The sun is fake," Harvey lit the cat grass smoke, pulling a Coffin out from a Space Card and calling for Alice to wake up. "But the sunlight is real. It seems to be reflected in from the surface, or it could be the Miracle of Light Magic... I don't understand too well."

Ash took a deep breath of the refreshing air, looked at the lush green grass in front of him, felt the gentle sunlight kiss his face, and excitedly said, "I'm going down to get Igula and Tamasi to come over!"

"Why?"

"Why?... If there's such a nice place, you should have told us sooner. You thought you could hog it all to yourself without letting us know?"

"I think what's good, you might not. What they think is good, you might not think so either," Harvey sat in the shade of a tree, with Alice holding up her dress as she sat next to him.

Ash blinked, "Beating around the bush isn't your style. Have you started learning bad habits from Igula?"

"Do I need to learn from him?" Harvey exhaled a ring of smoke. "Rather, it's you. Have you learned bad habits from him?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Do you trust Igula?" the Necromancer asked seriously. "To you, who is he exactly?"

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