Level One Silence 81.1

A small ore pressed against Pei Ran’s palm, and she tucked it into her pocket.

After crawling out of the fissure and returning to the daylight, a few armed soldiers went back to the Black Well, while Pei Ran and Team Leader Li continued handling the array of instruments on the ground.

As she collected the instrument parts, Pei Ran resumed her interrupted experiment with Green Light No. 3.

Right before her was a ready-made superhuman—Team Leader Li. Pei Ran really wanted to test whether Green Light No. 3, which could control others’ abilities, would work on her.

It had succeeded before on Inaya, who had hypnosis powers, but she wasn’t sure if it would work on Team Leader Li.

She still didn’t know what Li Yin’s ability was—there was a chance she might notice.

Pei Ran felt a little nervous, but she still fixed her gaze on her, just as she had with Inaya, and summoned Green Light No. 3 into her eyes.

Green Light No. 3 obediently came, but unfortunately, nothing happened. Team Leader Li showed no reaction and continued diligently collecting the instruments.

The experiment was a failure. She would have to study Green Light No. 3’s functions slowly when she got another chance.

Pei Ran dismissed No. 3 and called upon Green Light No. 2, the one that could draw.

On the way to the Black Well, Pei Ran hadn’t had time to study Green Light No. 2’s functions in detail—there were still many aspects she hadn’t figured out.

In a dormant state, it couldn’t write. When using Green Light No. 2 to draw, there were many restrictions, but it also had a major advantage—

It didn’t seem very sensitive to suppression. Even under suppression, it remained active, and it responded immediately when summoned, much more diligent than Green Light No. 1.

At the quarantine center, Pei Ran had spent every day from morning till night practicing drawing, and now she finally had a chance to test it out.

She glanced at Team Leader Li, then quietly pulled out Shige Ye’s black notebook and comic pen from her pocket.

Shige Ye used drawings to kill people, and his methods were limited to just a few—car engines overheating, people’s bodies going weak and stiff, or forcing them to speak.

Pei Ran had thought carefully—he had also drawn other things that took effect, like falling.

The little girl’s scarf had come loose, and the tape stuck to Pei Ran’s mouth had peeled off.

Weakness and stiffness were hard to draw when writing wasn’t possible, but Pei Ran could draw falling.

She casually gathered some red soil from the ground, piling it into a small, pointed mound, and placed a pebble on its tip. Then, shielding it with her body, she summoned Green Light No. 2.

The green light flowed to the tip of the pen, and Pei Ran quickly outlined a square frame in the notebook. Inside it, she drew the small mound and the pebble balanced on top.

The mound and pebble were simple shapes, very easy to draw. After spending so much time practicing, it was no problem for her.

Once she finished, she added another square below it. Inside this one, the pebble was no longer on top of the mound—it had fallen.

Pei Ran glanced at Team Leader Li’s direction and twirled the pen in her fingers.

The green light circled once.

The small pebble balanced atop the dirt mound, as if nudged by an invisible hand, suddenly tumbled down.

Success.

But this wasn’t the true purpose of Pei Ran’s experiment.

She withdrew the green light, casually picked up the pebble, and continued collecting instruments. After a while, she crouched down again, pretending to gather scattered parts.

She piled up another small mound, placed the pebble on top, and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen from her pocket.

The paper was ordinary kraft paper, torn from the bag of pre-made meal packs Ren had given her. The pen was a plain ballpoint, taken from the daily supplies kit in her dorm.

Pei Ran summoned Green Light No. 2.

The green light, unbothered by the humble plastic pen, flowed quietly to the tip and settled there.

Pei Ran quickly sketched the same two-panel comic on the kraft paper, then twirled the pen.

The green light flickered—and the pebble rolled off.

Perfect.

Pei Ran was relieved. Green Light No. 2 didn’t depend on Shige Ye’s black notebook or pen.

Carrying that notebook around had always been inconvenient, and she’d long wanted to ditch it.

After working for a while longer, she resumed her experiments.

This time, after rebuilding the dirt mound, she channeled the green light directly to the tip of her index finger.

Her fingertip glowed faintly as she shielded it with a small black case from the ground. Then, she used her finger to draw the same two-panel comic in the red soil.

But fingers couldn’t be twirled like a pen. She simply traced a circle in the air with her glowing fingertip.

Nothing happened.

Was it because finger-drawing on dirt wasn’t precise enough? Or was the motion of “twirling” essential?

Pei Ran pondered, then had an idea. She rummaged through her large backpack and pulled out a long screw.

She channeled the green light to the screw’s tip and used it to sketch the comic in the dirt.

Then, mimicking the motion of twirling a pen, she spun the screw between her fingers.

The pebble obediently rolled off the mound.

Now she understood.

The drawing medium didn’t matter—what was crucial was the final pen-twirling motion.

On a whim, she tried one last variation.

She drew the comic again with the screw, but this time, after finishing, she set the screw aside, picked up the plastic pen, and let the green light flow to its tip.

Then—she twirled it.

The pebble fell.

The pebble obediently rolled off.

It worked.

Even though she had drawn with the screw and twirled the plastic pen, the effect still triggered.

It seemed Green Light No. 2 had an odd fixation—it had to be “twirled” to activate. It didn’t matter if she used a different pen or even another object, as long as she performed that spinning motion. What a strange quirk. Probably a habit inherited from its original owner.

W’s voice sounded in her ear: “Pei Ran, everything alright over there?”

“Yeah,” Pei Ran replied. “All normal.”

W: “Good. You’ve been quiet—I was getting worried.”

Pei Ran: “Oh. I was just really focused on picking up trash.”

W: “…”

There were still many specific conditions for making the comic effects work—things she’d have to experiment with to uncover one by one.

So while collecting instruments, Pei Ran kept seizing chances to test further.

She soon discovered that distance mattered.

The dirt mound with the pebble (the target of the comic), the paper with the drawing, and the spot where she twirled the pen—all three had to be close. If they were too far apart, the effect wouldn’t trigger.

She also found that if she used the green light to draw on two separate pages, then twirled the pen, only the last page drawn would activate.

Would these limitations improve as Green Light No. 2 leveled up? She’d have to wait and see.

By noon, Team Leader Li called Pei Ran over, and the two returned to the small truck to eat the boxed lunches Li had brought.

Work resumed in the afternoon and continued until dusk.

The dim sun gradually sank over the red earth as they finally finished setting up the sprawling instrument array. Packing up, they climbed back into the truck and headed home.

The truck rumbled all the way back to Black Well.

Past the quarantine gate, soldiers scanned their irises and reattached the suppression bracelets to their wrists.

The moment the bracelets locked on, the green lights inside her body stilled into silence.

Team Leader Li exhaled. “Finally off duty.”

She turned to Pei Ran. “Where’s your dorm? We’ll drop these parts at the Blue Zone factory for recycling first, then take you back.”

Black Well was as vast as a city—walking would be exhausting. Pei Ran gave her address.

The truck sped off, making a detour to the recycling factory in Blue Zone.

Blue Zone was an industrial district, visibly different from the Yellow Zone where Pei Ran lived. Alongside apartment blocks stood rows of factories.

Team Leader Li pulled into a loading dock, where workers immediately swarmed the truck. They unloaded the salvaged parts and instruments from the cargo bed, then refilled it with new equipment.

Li Yin leaned against the truck bed, unscrewing her thermos to take a sip of hot water.

She asked Pei Ran, “Those Black Well soldiers in the mine tunnel today—you called them, didn’t you?”

With just the two of them there, if it wasn’t her, it had to be Pei Ran.

Pei Ran had expected this question.

Of course, she couldn’t mention her ongoing mental conversations with W. Just as she was about to explain that she’d obtained a special emergency contact number for Black Well security personnel while escorting the storage device, Team Leader Li suddenly raised a hand to stop her.

Pei Ran: ?

Team Leader Li said solemnly, “No need to explain. Regulations state you’re not required to disclose the specifics of your ability to me.”

Pei Ran: “…”

So she thought Pei Ran had summoned them using her ability.

Clutching her thermos, Li added breezily, “Don’t worry about it. As long as everyone’s abilities get the job done, that’s all that matters.”

She was an exceptionally laid-back team leader.

After unloading, the truck headed straight for Pei Ran’s dorm in Yellow Zone.

In the distance, Pei Ran spotted a van parked at a Third Avenue intersection, its front piled with cardboard boxes. A large crowd—all civilians, their clothes wrinkled and filthy—stood in line.

Team Leader Li explained, “Refugees. Freshly assigned dorms. They’re distributing supplies for the first few days.”

The distributors wore dark gray uniforms. Among them stood a man in his forties—tall, broad-shouldered, half a head taller than the others, his striking presence impossible to miss.

He handed out supplies with a warm smile, occasionally pausing to chat with refugees, sometimes nodding sympathetically, other times listening intently.

Team Leader Li whistled. “Well, look who’s here.”

Pei Ran blinked. “Who?”

Li chuckled. “Clearly you don’t follow federal politics. That’s the current Chief Executive—Basserway.”

Pei Ran was surprised. The highest-ranking federal official was personally distributing supplies?  

“Chief Exec’s elected by popular vote,” Li said, steering one-handed as she sipped from her thermos. “Basserway’s from the Heritage Party. Other big faction’s the Tech Vanguard Party.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter much who gets elected. Might as well pick someone pleasant to look at. Basserway’s handsome enough—at least easier on the eyes than that old fossil from the Tech Vanguard Party. And when he gives speeches, the emotion just pours out. Truly moving. You’ve never heard Basserway speak, have you? Let me tell you, just one listen and you’ll be in tears.”

Pei Ran stayed silent for a moment: So are we electing a Chief Executive or a theater actor?  

Pei Ran asked, “So you voted for him then?”

“Me? Nah.” Team Leader Li shrugged. “I was gonna vote for this tiny party called the Cat & Dog Rights Party, but I forgot to cast my ballot. Got fined over five hundred bucks.”