Chapter 2

When the old clock in the activity center, which could stop at any moment, had its second hand creaking and turning for three and a half rounds, lines of text finally appeared on the LCD screen.

Meng Xia and the others quickly searched for their names and then heaved sighs of relief one after another.

Most of them were not particularly satisfied or excited, but they were not unhappy either. For them, this was no different from taking an exam as usual; as long as the result wasn't too bad, it was fine. After all, their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents had all gone through this.

The rest were more puzzled because they did not know who their marriage partners were, which floor they came from, or which department their parents belonged to—despite entering university and receiving higher education, the people they knew were still mostly concentrated among classmates in the same department and "neighbors" on the same floor.

Long Yuehong carefully read through the list several times and couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"Why isn't my name on it?"

"Because your name isn't good enough," Shang Jianyao, standing beside him, said without any change in expression.

"..." Long Yuehong wanted to argue but sadly found himself somewhat agreeing with the other's conclusion.

This time, thousands of people met the criteria and were forced to participate in the unified marriage, with only two more males than females. If it wasn't for bad luck, a bad name, or bad fortune, how could he be one of the two unlucky ones?

Long Yuehong paused and said with a mix of sorrow and anger:

"Your name isn't on it either!"

He hadn't seen Shang Jianyao paired with any female.

Shang Jianyao raised his right eyebrow slightly and said:

"Didn't I already tell you? I've applied to opt out of this unified marriage."

"This, this, really? How could the company agree..." Long Yuehong was both stunned and confused, feeling as if his worldview had been overturned.

He had lived for 21 years and had indeed heard of some people who met the criteria but didn't participate in the unified marriage, but they all had valid reasons: either they were on their deathbed or had joined the Security Department's external operations and might not return.

No one who was healthy and within the company dared to violate the rules.

This was one of the core obligations of being a company employee.

Long Yuehong's sadness was dispelled by this matter, and he looked at Shang Jianyao:

"Are you prepared to accept a reduction in your energy allocation?

"This is still manageable; the worst part is the deduction of contribution points. You won't even have enough to eat! We are only D1 level, with 1800 points per month, and can only eat meat once a week. Losing a third of that is a big deal."

"The company agreed, no deduction needed," Shang Jianyao said with a slight smile.

"No, that's impossible, impossible..." Long Yuehong muttered, suddenly thinking of something.

If Shang Jianyao had indeed applied to opt out of the unified marriage, it meant that the number of males participating in the marriage was only one more than the number of females.

Just one more...

I, I am the only unlucky one... Long Yuehong's mouth half-opened, and a strong sense of sorrow welled up inside him.

At this moment, the screen began to flip pages, briefly introducing the basic information of those who had been successfully paired with residents of this floor, so they could find each other and register their marriage at the "Order Supervision Bureau" under the "Order Supervision Department."

"Meng Xia, your husband is an outsider!" The women's side burst into exclamations after a while.

Meng Xia's expression was slightly solemn, her eyes flickering as she read aloud:

"Zhang Lei; male; born: a wanderer from the wilderness; age: 25; joined the company 3 years ago, has always performed well; no health issues; residence: 622nd floor, A area, No. 192; employee level: D4; electronic card number: 04311029189..."

"An outsider, really..." Long Yuehong was also drawn into the conversation, turning his head to discuss with his companions.

They all knew that the company regularly absorbed wanderers from the wilderness to replenish the population and improve the gene pool, but since no one in their floor had ever worked with an outsider or married one, they mostly treated it as a curiosity.

"Meng Xia, it's actually not bad. Although he was once a wanderer, he is now a D4 level employee, and he's only 25, which is impressive!" A girl in a green top and blue pants comforted her friend.

D4 meant transitioning from a regular employee to a senior or advanced employee, capable of serving as a deputy in small research projects, a team leader in factory production lines, a deputy squad leader in the Security Department, or an order supervisor in a specific area of a floor, with a 2000-point increase in benefits compared to D1.

"But the effects of genetic improvement after adulthood are not as good..." A young man on the other side of Long Yuehong muttered.

At this moment, he saw the information of his marriage partner:

"Zhou Qi; female; born: internal employee; age: 30; had one husband who died 5 years ago, currently raising a child; voluntarily applied to participate in this unified marriage; no health issues; residence: 569th floor, B area, No. 27; employee level: D4; electronic card number: 01609052558..."

"Yang Zhenyuan, your wife is 10 years older than you..." Long Yuehong also saw this entry.

Yang Zhenyuan, like most of the company's peers, had a clean face, a solid build, and a good appearance, but he looked somewhat introverted.

Hearing Long Yuehong's words, Yang Zhenyuan's face turned red, and he wanted to say something but couldn't.

After a while, everyone finally memorized the relevant information and left the activity center one by one, either to find their spouse or to wait at home for them to come.

At this moment, with only five or six people left in the hall, a voice suddenly rang out:

"Who is Yang Zhenyuan?"

"Me, what's up?" Yang Zhenyuan, who was chatting with Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao, instinctively turned to look at the door.

A woman entered the activity center, mature and alluring in appearance, her simple and plain clothes unable to conceal her impressive figure.

"I am Zhou Qi," the woman glanced at Yang Zhenyuan, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Shall we go to your place and chat?"

Yang Zhenyuan was initially surprised but then nodded frequently:

"Sure, sure."

"Shall we go now?" Zhou Qi said with a radiant smile.

"Sure, sure." Yang Zhenyuan said as he walked over quickly.

Long Yuehong watched the pair leave the activity center and couldn't help but sigh:

"What should I do next?"

Shang Jianyao turned his head and looked at him seriously:

"A great cause awaits you."

"..." Long Yuehong's facial muscles twitched, "Speak in plain language!"

Shang Jianyao smiled and said:

"Wait for next year's unified marriage."

"That's true." Long Yuehong sighed, "Ah, I don't want to think about this anymore. I hope I get a good job assignment tomorrow. Also, Shang Jianyao, I feel like you're becoming more and more abnormal, I mean, in your head."

As he spoke, he pointed to his temple.

Their next most important task was to wait for job assignments, which would directly determine their future lives—except for those with special skills who were pre-assigned to corresponding departments, the rest of the higher education graduates had to wait for assignments.

Before Shang Jianyao could respond, Long Yuehong saw the activity center supervisor, Chen Xianyu, turn off the screen, holding an old-world relic, a cylindrical metal cup, and slowly walk over. He asked somewhat nervously:

"Grandpa Chen, what department do you think we will be assigned to?"

Chen Xianyu coughed and said:

"From what I know, those who have just married and are about to start having children will be assigned to safer internal positions, while those who haven't been assigned a partner and don't need to have children yet may get more dangerous positions."

Long Yuehong's expression immediately fell:

"I, I need to go tell my parents the marriage results."

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao's response, he walked out of the activity center with a gloomy face.

"Your parents haven't finished work yet..." Shang Jianyao muttered and followed, coming to the outside corridor.

This was the 495th floor of the underground building, with no sky, only a 4-meter-high ceiling, and long tube lights uniformly embedded, casting a relatively bright light.

For internal company employees, the streetlights being on meant daytime, and the streetlights being off meant nighttime.

Shang Jianyao looked at the streetlights ahead and turned toward another area in the C zone.

On both sides of the road, rooms were tightly packed, each only about two meters wide, like a honeycomb spread out on a flat surface.

Compared to them, the activity center seemed spacious like a square.

After walking down two "streets," Shang Jianyao came to a relatively open area with twelve elevators.

These were the elevators that went directly to the "Research Zone."

In this underground building from the old world, to prevent congestion and accidents, the elevators connecting the "Living Zone" to the "Factory Zone," "Research Zone," and the narrow "Internal Ecological Zone" were separate, located in different areas of the floor.

The "Management Zone" and "Energy Zone" were combined with the "Research Zone," but required swiping an electronic card to confirm access.

Shang Jianyao waited for a while, entered the middle elevator, and pressed the number "21."

Since it was during working hours, the elevator did not stop and continued to descend smoothly.

During this process, Shang Jianyao suddenly took out his electronic card and swiped it in the corresponding area.

Then, he pressed the button for the 3rd floor.

The elevator continued to descend and stopped after a while.

Shang Jianyao got out of the elevator, turned left, and saw a large, closed metal door, guarded by four armed security personnel in bionic armor, resembling upright lizards.

Shang Jianyao did not try to approach the metal door but walked along the corridor to the right.

At the end of the corridor were several rooms, but none had nameplates.

Under the light of the ceiling lamps, Shang Jianyao knocked on the door at the far end.

"Please come in." A gentle female voice came from inside.

Shang Jianyao turned the handle, pushed the door open, and saw a lady in a white coat.

The lady, who appeared to be in her thirties, sat behind a wooden table, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

Her hair was neatly tied up, with only a few strands falling down.

"It's you." The lady glanced at Shang Jianyao, smiled, and pointed to the armchair opposite the table, "Sit down."

Shang Jianyao sat down and smiled as if he were at home:

"Good afternoon, Doctor Lin."

"Good afternoon, Xiao Shang." Doctor Lin lifted a strand of hair and picked up a file, spreading it out in front of her.

Then, she played with a black fountain pen and asked casually:

"How have you been feeling recently?"

"My appetite has increased a bit, my sleep is normal, and my body is healthy." Shang Jianyao said while flexing his bicep.

Doctor Lin nodded:

"I've already applied for you to opt out of the unified marriage. You saw the results, right?"

"Yes, thank you." Shang Jianyao smiled and said, "Can I sing a song to thank you?"

"No need." Doctor Lin shook her head without hesitation.

She then tapped the pen:

"Actually, I'm curious. Why do you insist on opting out of the unified marriage? Your condition isn't severe."

Shang Jianyao's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice:

"To save all of humanity."

"..." Doctor Lin picked up the pen and drew a heavy circle on a certain part of the file in front of her.

Inside the circle was written:

"Moderate mental abnormality (suspected delusional disorder, to be observed)."

PS: The new book is out, please give me your recommendations. This is free, everyone can vote for me.

PS2: Thank you to Tian Ze Law, Ren in the Wutong, Baiyin Alliance, and all the old friends like Lu Ren Chacha and Xie Lini for your support.