440: I hope everyone will put the overall situation first.

In the fourth phase area of Space City, a large number of Ability Users were settled. Each cabin was a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom unit. These Ability Users were also confined within their cabins, under strict surveillance.

Beep beep…

The collars on all the Ability Users' necks began to hum, and then, the Ability Users wearing the collars uniformly fainted.

Their consciousness entered a virtual world square. This was similar to an online community, or more accurately, like a brain-computer game.

All the Ability Users were indignant in their hearts. They gathered in the center of the square, extremely angry.

“Although our abilities are no longer useful, we have also contributed to the construction of Space City. Is it fair that we are now treated like criminals?”

“Exactly, we just want fair treatment, why are you treating us like this?” Someone immediately echoed.

“Meng Xian is a dictator. He only cares about power and control. Why does he say we are dangerous elements? Just because he says we are, does that make us so?”

Just then, a huge screen suddenly appeared in the sky of the virtual world, displaying Meng Xian’s figure. He stood in a place similar to a control panel, with rows of data and images behind him.

“Attention, Ability Users, please be quiet and listen to me for a few moments.” Meng Xian’s voice echoed throughout the entire virtual world.

The murmurs among the crowd gradually subsided, and everyone looked up at the screen in the sky.

“Don’t panic, don’t be afraid. To ensure the safety of Space City’s residents, it is necessary to control you all. Ability Users extracting substances from Space City can easily cause a large number of safety hazards. In the areas we investigated, a total of 196,000 hidden dangers were found.”

As Meng Xian spoke, the large screen began to display those hidden dangers. Millimeter-level micro-holes appeared in the Space City’s airlock cabins, and extremely tiny fractures were present in the main structural beams. The pipe wall thickness was uneven in various places, with some areas being extremely thin, where a slight increase in internal pipe pressure could lead to a safety accident.

These hidden dangers were extremely difficult to detect with the naked eye, and surveillance could not identify who was responsible. Only Ability Users could create these imperceptible hidden dangers without anyone knowing, and only Ability Users could extract material elements from these objects remotely.

After this evidence was presented, the voices among the Ability Users' crowd significantly quieted down. Those invisible saboteurs were naturally among these ninety thousand people, and not a small number of them.

“As the Space Administration, you should investigate who did these things, instead of just arresting all of us indiscriminately!” A chorus of boos and protests erupted from the crowd.

“That’s right, there’s a clear culprit. Why should all Ability Users be restricted for the mistakes of a few? We are not criminals, we oppose personal imprisonment.”

Meng Xian looked at the agitated crowd, took a deep breath, and continued, “Currently, Space City does not have the extra capacity to prevent and eliminate these problems. It’s fine for you to wear collars and move within designated areas. Everyone, please consider the bigger picture.”

“Consider what, Meng Xian? You are also a Second-Class Ability User. Even if someone in Space City violated the ban, it wasn’t us.”

“Exactly, who’s to say these so-called hidden dangers aren’t just excuses you fabricated to imprison and control us?”

Someone started to lead the charge, and then, many people joined in the condemnation.

“Where’s General Manager Lu? Call General Manager Lu out to arbitrate! Is what you’re doing, burning bridges after crossing them, right or wrong?”

Meng Xian’s brows furrowed as he faced the increasing condemnation and protests in the virtual world.

“This decision is a resolution from the Space Administration Headquarters. I hope everyone stays within the designated areas. Those who violate the resolution will bear the consequences.”

“Alright, alright, bear the consequences? Meng Xian, if you have the guts, just kill all of us!”

Meng Xian was too lazy to explain anymore, because no matter what he said, there would always be troublemakers picking flaws. As the top leader of the entire Space City, his approach had always been firm. Meng Xian never acted with a soft hand.

Aside from the six elements, Ability Users were all useless. These people, it would be better if they just lived as ordinary people. What was the use of abilities that did not help humanity’s technological advancement?

Except for Tian Ming, all Ability Users would eventually die of old age. And new Ability Users would no longer appear because the Space Administration had stopped producing Super Serum.

Some Ability Users also had families and children, but their children were all ordinary people. However, there was one exception, and that was Xiao Xiao.

When this batch of Ability Users died of old age, it was likely that elemental manipulation abilities would cease to exist. After nanotechnology matured, Five-level Ability User pure physical mutations also became less important.

These low-level Ability Users used for producing and extracting elements were even less efficient than a small refinery, with a hundred people not even matching its output.

When the efficiency brought by abilities could not keep up with automated production, and was even far surpassed, then a small amount of elemental manipulation became meaningless. On the contrary, for Space City, it was a huge hidden danger.

At this moment, a professor pushed open the door to Meng Xian’s office, holding a bottle of potion in his hand.

Meng Xian looked up, a bitter smile on his lips: “Old Qin, you even delivered it yourself.”

Meng Xian looked at Professor Qin in front of him, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He knew what this potion represented; it was the latest development from the Space Administration, a potion that could completely eliminate elemental sensing in Ability Users. This also meant that the value of Ability Users’ existence in Space City had been completely replaced by technology.

“Old Qin, you’ve worked hard.” Meng Xian took the potion and gently placed it on the table.

He looked up at the professor in front of him and said, “Professor, abilities are not a technology tree. They have an upper limit, and humanity has already reached that upper limit. We need to take another path.”

Professor Qin sighed: “Yes, the strength of an individual will only intensify the division of the group. I also hope that the decision made by the Space Administration is correct.”

Meng Xian was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll use it first, in front of those people. If everyone responds to the call, we won’t have to worry about the safety hazards brought by Ability Users anymore.”

As a Second-Class Ability User, Meng Xian himself was not within the scope of elimination. But he was willing to eliminate his ability to set an example for those people.

Once injected, this meant he would lose his special abilities and become an ordinary person.

Meng Xian’s words surprised Professor Qin. He knew that Meng Xian, as the top leader of Space City and also a Second-Class Ability User, possessed powerful abilities.

However, he was willing to give up his ability to contribute to the stability and future development of Space City.

Professor Qin looked at Meng Xian and asked in a deep voice, “Meng Zong, have you thought it through? Once the arrow is shot, there’s no turning back. There’s no medicine for regret in this world.”

Meng Xian nodded slightly and said, “I’ve thought it through!”