CH 13

Chpater 013: Ascenders' Rights

The next day, Tianyang walked out of his bedroom, ready to apologize, but found his mother had left; leaving a simple breakfast on the table - a nutritious cereal in a thermos and a fresh egg.

There was a poultry farm inside the fortress, but eggs were a luxury item in the lower city.

This egg might have cost his mother a whole day worth of salary.

Looking at it, Tianyang felt idiotic.

He drank the cereal but couldn't bear to eat the egg. He carefully opened the egg white, took out the yolk, and when his mother returned, he could steam it lightly and serve it to her.

Tianyang ate a few mouthfuls of egg whites and looked around. The ground had accumulated some dust, his mother probably did not have time to clean recently. So, he searched for a broom and started cleaning.

He went into his mother's room. Nanfei's bedroom was very tidy, with even a small potted plant on the window sill and a photo frame on the shelf next to her bed.

Inside was a photo of her and Tianyang, but in the photo, the now ascender was a baby held in Nanfei's arms. The photo was clearly cropped, and from the photo, there seemed to be another person standing next to Nanfei.

Could it be his father?

Why was he cut off?

Tianyang picked up the photo frame, lost in thought.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and Tianyang assumed his mother had returned. Hurriedly putting the photo frame back, he accidentally dropped it, and it fell apart.

"Excuse me, does Mr. Tianyang live here?" A man's voice came from outside the door.

Tianyang glanced at the broken photo frame on the floor and was relieved, his mother hadn't returned. He quickly left the bedroom.

Opening the door, he saw a tall and thin man outside. The man's gray hair was neatly combed, and his uniform looked somewhat ill-fitting. He tried to be serious, but he looked a ridiculous.

"Who are you?" Tianyang didn't recognize the man at all.

The man smiled and said, 

"I'm from the registration office of the upper city district. Congratulations, Mr. Tianyang. Your registration in the upper city district has been processed. As per to the rules of the fortress, you can add two more people under your registration, but only for immediate relatives. The office has sent me to assist you with the registration."

"In addition, according to the procedure, I will read out the rights and obligations of the upper citizens to you, although you may already know them."

Tianyang invited him in; the man complied and after looking around, the man cleared his throat and began to read: 

"According to the fortress's rules and regulations, uppers, especially Ascenders with upper citizenship, have the following rights."

"Firstly, the right to reside in the upper city district, where you can enjoy all the convenience services provided by the fortress."

"Secondly, the right to choose a spouse. Please note that this should not be confused with the rights enjoyed by all citizens. The spouse rights are only for Ascenders. This right allows you to marry any woman you like, and the woman cannot refuse. Unless she is willing to leave the Sky Tower. No exception even if she comes from an upper-class family. However, I doubt that anyone would refuse such a good opportunity, haha."

"Of course, you can only choose one spouse, as the fortress's marriage law strongly insists on monogamy."

Tianyang chuckled, 

"I don't have any plans to get married yet."

"In addition, each Ascender also has the right to a companion, and there is no limit on the number. Even if you already have a family, this right can still be maintained. This is due to genetic optimization, as you know, there is a high chance that the offspring of Ascenders will also become Ascenders."

"If you have accumulated more than 100,000 contribution points, you will also have the right to establish a clan. You can choose a surname for yourself, and your descendants shall inherit it. The first three generations of this family can inherit your surname, as well as the status, property, and rights of the higher-class citizens, and so on..."

The man read out all the details for about ten minutes, and Tianyang almost fell asleep. Just as the boy was thinking of shooing him away, the man finally finished.

He then placed an electronic key on the table.

"This is ...?" Tianyang looked at the key.

"This is the vehicle assigned to you, an electromagnetic unicycle. It's parked outside, and has been unlocked access for most areas, I hope you'll like it."

The registration officer finally left, and Tianyang went outside to see the unicycle, very excited. He couldn't help but let out a cheer.

This unicycle used an electromagnetic engine and could be charged on the electromagnetic charging panels available generously on the city streets.

The vehicle used a gyroscope balancing system, which even beginners could easily operate. Although its maximum speed was only 60 kilometers per hour, it was sufficient for use within the fortress.

After the biological module was written into the system, Tianyang's was registered as the vehicle owner. Although he wanted to take it for a joyride, he returned to Nanfei's bedroom.

The fallen picture frame still needed to be repaired. His mother treasured the frame, and if she came back to find it broken, it would likely result in another storm.

Tianyang picked up the pieces and planned to find some glue to fix the frame. Suddenly, he noticed a piece of paper.

It was placed behind the photo, and he probably wouldn't be noticed unless the frame was broken.

He opened it, and it was a receipt from the Sky Tower Storage for the Upper City District. The receipt indicated that someone had anonymously stored something in the storage facility.

It had been stored for 50 years, and the fees had already been paid in advance.

Looking at the date on the receipt, it was issued 17 years ago!

"17 years ago, wasn't that when I was born? Who went to the storage, was it mom?"

"What was stored? Why hasn't it been retrieved yet?"

Looking at the invoice, Tianyang suddenly had a bold idea.

Could it be that what was stored had to do with his father?

Once this idea arose, he couldn't be stopped.

Tianyang quickly fixed the photo frame and put it back, then took the invoice and left.

The electric motorcycle's system had a built-in navigation system, and even though Tianyang had never been to the upper city, he was able to find the storage quite easily.

Entering the storage house's gate, a woman in simple clothes, with a professional smile plastered on her face, stared at Tianyang with surprise and disdain.

The surprise was at Tianyang's look, which didn't look like that of an upper city resident but rather that of a lower-class citizen. It was indeed surprising that a lower-class citizen could come here.

The disdain was also due to his lower-class status. After all, this storage was mainly open to the upper class. Speaking of which, could a lower-class citizen even afford storage fees?

Although she was only a commoner, her status was higher than these lower-class citizens.

A sense of superiority rose up within her.

"Good afternoon, sir. May I ask what you need?" Despite her sense of superiority, the woman was obviously still here to serve customers and wouldn't drive Tianyang away foolishly.

Tianyang took out an invoice and said, 

"I'm here to retrieve something."

The woman took the invoice and looked at it leisurely. 

"Can you show me your personal identity card?"

Tianyang nodded and took out the new identity card that Lin Yang had issued him.

The woman took it and lightly placed it on an electronic scanner on her wrist. Through the chip on the identity card, she could read the information of most people in the city.

When the words "Ascender" appeared on the instrument screen under Tianyang's name, the woman almost dropped the card.

To common populace, Ascenders were almost unattainable big shots.

What the woman couldn't understand was, why would such big shots need come to things on his own?

Moreover, this Ascenders seemed very young, and his clothes were too... well, too plain!

Fortunately, she hadn't said anything wrong just now. Otherwise, she might be dead.

The woman's attitude changed drastically, warmly taking Tianyang's arm she said, "This way, Mr. Tianyang, we need to verify and inspect the item you want to retrieve, which may take some time. Please follow me to the waiting room. If you need anything, just let me know."

The mature woman pressed her chest against Tianyang's arm, making him uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being so close to females; he quickly withdrew his arm, finally able to breathe normally.

15 minutes later, a password-protected box was placed in front of him. Opening it, there was only one thing inside.

A diary!
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