Tower of Overturn

After the physical examination, Russell lay on the treatment bed to start receiving treatment.

After the wound on his back was carefully cleaned, its true shape finally became apparent.

It was only then that Russell found out that his injury was quite severe—the largest wound was as thick as two and a half fingers and nearly as long as a palm. Besides that, there were five or six smaller wounds on his back...but even these smaller ones were about the extent of being lightly slashed by a sharp knife.

"It's reached the muscle,"

the Bullhead Doctor intoned in a low voice, warning Russell, "A centimeter more, and it would have hit your spine!"

He first sprayed a thin layer of medicinal mist on Russell's wounds, then applied a pale yellow, cool ointment to them.

Except for the initial moment when the medicine was sprayed...after that, Russell didn't feel the slightest irritation.

Even cutting a finger and applying alcohol to the wound would have been more painful than this.

It must have been some kind of painkiller, or an anesthetic for the wound.

Russell thought to himself.

This stuff isn't bad…I could get some.

After these ointments had been fully applied, those in white coats took out a milky, creamy substance attached to a transparent film, applying it gently layer by layer over the ointment, then peeled off the film.

…The skilled technique reminded Russell of the craftsmen who applied screen protectors on phones in night markets in his past life.

Each time they applied a layer, they shone an ultraviolet light for an instant, and then applied another layer.

This whole process lasted less than five minutes.

After the three men stepped back, they signaled for Russell to feel the wound on his back.

Apart from feeling a bit of heat from the wound, what he touched was as smooth as his own skin.

Russell couldn't feel any pain at all, and he couldn't even detect the presence of the wound.

"This isn't an immediate fix for your wound, it's just a high-end bandage. It can temporarily replace your missing skin tissue and accelerate the healing...when your wound is almost healed, it will directly form the base of your new tissue, no need to remove it,"

another person in a white coat explained, "You can also bathe normally, get wet, stand in the rain without worrying about the wound getting infected and inflamed. An injury of this level should heal in forty-eight hours. But if your back sustains another severe blow during the next two days, bleeding could contaminate the coagulant material. If that happens, remember to come here to change the dressing, otherwise, it could cause spinal inflammation."

After Russell nodded in acknowledgment, the three men bid farewell to Amirus.

After that, Amirus took Russell away.

What Russell didn't expect was...on Happiness Island, Amirus didn't really have a home.

He didn't have a house of his own. Therefore, he directly took Russell to the most luxurious hotel on Happiness Island—named after Peach Blossom Trading Company, the "Peach Blossom Spring" hot spring hotel.

This was a hotel built far from the center of Happiness Island, atop a mountain range covered with snow and ice.

With its forty-nine stories, the hotel resembled more a spire or an obelisk than a regular hotel. The entrance wasn't on the first floor but on the forty-ninth floor—to come and go, one had to take a floating car. To gain entry, one needed to make a reservation well in advance...or, as a more esteemed guest, one could simply register their vehicle number there.

Because the reservation time didn't necessarily have to be long and during this period you had to have a floating car at your disposal. This meant that owning at least one floating car was the basic requirement for entering this hot spring hotel.

Amirus brought Russell into the hotel.

They took an elevator directly down to the lowest level—it surprised Russell to find that they were actually under the sea.

They were within walls of very high transparency, and the lighting was quite dim. Outside these walls were the deep black seawater, where he could see various deep-sea fish, peculiar in shape, swimming by...

However, in theory, he couldn't have reached the deep sea.

The hotel, even at its lowest point, would never touch the seabed, much less the sea surface. In terms of depth, it hadn't even reached the Lower City District.

Since the gravity in the Lower City District was inverted, it was quite easy to tell.

Simply jumping down the various deep wells would after a certain height, bring one to the "Shadow City" on the other side of Floating Island.

Russell had heard from his mentor... many years ago, when the Lower City District was first constructed, it was to allow organizations like the "Automatic Production Institution," the "Regeneration Judgment Institution" responsible for resource recycling and waste destruction, and the "Water Source Management Agency" managing seawater purification and sewage discharge, not to occupy the living space on the surface of Floating Island. It was only in recent decades that it had become a place for mercenaries, criminal organizations, and illegal Spiritual Energy Users, these "Codeless," active in Shadow City.

Even the Lower City District was very far from the ocean. For them, the ocean was like the sky, and above the "sky," there was no sun.

So, this black seawater encased by a transparent dome outside was actually an "artificial seabed" created by technological means.

It not only mimicked the unique color of lightless sea bottoms but also allowed creatures captured from the seabed to live peacefully—capturing sea creatures was already unbelievably difficult. Food items like fish, shrimp, and shellfish in this world were 95% freshwater delicacies as the cost of harvesting from the sea was indeed too substantial, not to mention from the deep sea. Even the best universities on Chongguang Island had never taught what deep-sea creatures or deep-sea environments were…even intentionally searching online wouldn't yield such information.

Russell could barely recognize that these were deep-sea creatures and this was a deep-sea environment, thanks also to the knowledge from his past life.

"This here simulates a deep-sea environment below five hundred meters, where the temperature is almost constant,"

Amirus explained with a light laugh at his side, "By the way, the second floor of the hotel is a shallow sea environment, much more beautiful than this side, like being embedded in azure amber. I brought you here because this kind of experience is quite rare."

Indeed.

Russell couldn't help but nod.

Even in his past life, he had never dined in a "deep-sea restaurant."

This truly was a uniquely rare experience.

Russell even couldn't resist taking a few photos—though he didn't have a prosthetic eye, thus he couldn't capture ultra-high-definition photos or adjust filters and contrasts, but at least he could manage ordinary clarity in photography.

As for the taste of the food, that naturally goes without saying.

The quality of the cuisine has always been closely related to technology. In this era, with the enhancement of technology, the top, upscale restaurants are certainly not inferior.

The space here is exceptionally spacious, one could even play soccer in the restaurant.

But there weren't many guests inside... or rather, they were not all dining on the first floor.

After all, this deep-sea restaurant is too dim. It's fine to come once or twice out of curiosity, but coming too often wouldn't bring pleasure, instead it might invoke fear.

The guests dining here included only Amirus, an elf. The other humans were all the type with a visible preference for darkness.

For example, a Lizardman, warmhearted in asking Russell if he could take a photo with him. His head bore no difference from a lizard's. Most of his body's skin was covered with scales;

There was also a middle-aged man with a stern square face and slight owl-like features, who came over to flatter Amirus in a low voice and also treated Russell very nicely.

Though Russell's coat was still stained with blood, had a bit of an odd smell, and was hardly clean or sanitary,

yet these upper-class individuals who could afford to dine at "Peach Blossom Spring" each greeted the ragged and dirty Russell with sincere smiles.

Their smiles were indeed very genuine—absolutely as genuine as possible.

But with Russell's sensitivity, he could still discern... hidden beneath their smiles were complex emotions such as fatigue, alertness, disgust, and fear.

It was a wariness of the "Hero."

Only then did Russell truly realize what the overly romanticized name of "Hero" really meant...

Why so many people were enchanted by it, worshipped it—

In this world without codified laws, as long as it was justified... even killing could be forgiven.

Corporations control the media, the media manipulates public opinion. And public opinion continually shapes the Hero.

But "Heroes" had the capability and possibility to overturn the table, hence they were feared.

He might be able to act justifiably only once. If he were to misuse the favor people held for him, there would come a day he would capsize... all it took was one small mistake, at the right moment, and he would become the target of public attack.

Unearthing the past, quoting out of context... under the many forms of assaults by public opinion, the name of the hero would quickly crumble.

Therefore, some attempted to trade off this title's worth for benefits, much like a star hastening to sell naming rights to shoddy products while still popular... while others chose not to deplete it but instead exchanged it for power and influence.

Like a Damocles Sword hanging high.

When the hanging sword finally descends, it becomes nothing to fear. It becomes no different from falling rocks or falling icicles, having lost all magic power that could intimidate hearts.

If one merely lifts the sword up, it wouldn't differ from a thug, and it truly just becomes an ordinary... sword that can be parried, that can be knocked down.

If however it remains quietly elevated, it can make the high-placed usurper anxious all day long.

—Heroes must maintain silence.

Russell looked up, gazing at Amirus who smiled back at him.

He felt somewhat hesitant.

...Had Lord Amirus taken him here specifically to demonstrate the "Hero's" power of intimidation...?

But what good would that do for Amirus?