Chapter 35: Skillful Review, Advancing Step by Step

The blue sun, slanting low, was on the verge of setting.

Twin moons, one large and one small, were rising slowly into the sky.

High above the wild and barren ravines, a crystal-winged dragonfly dived.

With a calm expression, he stood firm as a mountain—right hand gripping an alloy rod, left hand clutching a neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet.

His shadow stretched long across the plain.

The air was bleak and charged with a sense of impending violence.

With a shriek, the crystal-winged dragonfly drew nearer and nearer.

Its massive jaws and eight slender, glistening legs were etched in chilling clarity; its broad wings shimmered, leaving hazy afterimages as they trembled.

Ren Zhong did not bother to count how many times he had confronted one of these creatures.

But he remembered well his initial helplessness, and how, with hands too weak to even restrain a chicken, he had relied on micro-manipulation to extract every ounce of value from his meager resources, defying fate to snatch victory from certain defeat.

Now, he knew the dragonfly’s greatest weakness. He was thoroughly prepared, and his neural response index had risen to an impressive 34.7.

This time, he would fight like a true warrior.

Though he had long resolved to walk the path of struggle, it was only the moment Belihui’s bullet shattered his body that his thirst for combat truly ignited.

Pure scholarship alone could never save a life; no matter how keen one’s learning, knowledge gleaned from books is always shallow. Only by fighting to the death, by shedding blood, could he hope to transform from a warrior in data alone to one who could seize fate by the throat.

He must cherish every opportunity to fight, every chance won by resurrection!

Even if his stats did not improve, at least he would gain experience and hone his battle instincts.

The wind from the dragonfly’s wings gusted toward him.

The gigantic insect hovered, its eight dagger-like legs stabbing straight out.

Ren Zhong, like a professional boxer, kept his eyes locked on the threat, even as the attack closed in.

On the boxing ring, a blink could mean a knockout.

A mecha warrior stands upon the ring of destiny, just like a boxer.

He stepped in close, took a small step back, then shot his left hand forward like lightning.

The permanent magnet in his palm struck toward the dragonfly’s face!

At a distance of half a meter, the powerful magnetic field was already interfering with the creature’s movements.

Its wingbeats faltered.

With a snap, Ren Zhong’s magnet flew from his hand, crossed the remaining thirty centimeters, attached itself to the insect’s head within twenty centimeters, accelerated, and smacked hard into its forehead, sticking fast.

The dragonfly’s vibrating wings froze. Its eight slender legs stopped trembling, turning stiff as stone.

Deprived of its ability to hover, the massive insect fell at an angle toward Ren Zhong.

He gripped the alloy rod in his right hand, thrusting upward to meet the falling beast.

His gaze locked on the fatal juncture at the base of its skull.

Usually composed, Ren Zhong could not help but murmur under his breath, “Die!”

The alloy rod pierced through!

Under the setting sun, man and beast formed a slanted “A” as they stood locked together.

Ren Zhong stepped slowly back.

The dragonfly crashed to the ground.

He turned to gaze into the distance. There, Zheng Tian’s squad van was speeding toward him.

Zheng Tian, what will you choose this time?

Wen Lei, I have an even greater surprise for you; I hope you can handle it—don’t lose heart.

Chen Hanyu, are you a person or a ghost?

Ou Youning, I hope you’ll keep your chatter to a minimum this time.

Bai Feng, well, do as you please.

...

“Brother Sun, thank you for your business, your cellular vitality booster, the two hundred points, and for saving my life. Farewell.”

Ren Zhong gave a respectful bow to the door of the Healing Hands Clinic, then swaggered away, as nonchalant as a seasoned freeloader.

Indeed, Brother Sun was like Doraemon: as long as you were willing to dig, there was always more potential to unearth.

This time, with a little more shamelessness, he managed to wrangle another vial of the cellular vitality booster—saving himself fifty credits.

A freebie is always a win.

Inside the clinic, Sun Miao’s furious shout rang out, “Get lost! Out! I never want to see you again in my life! Damn it!”

With a “fortune” of 206 contribution points, Ren Zhong whistled his way to the road, humming his favorite Tang Dynasty Band version of “The Internationale.”

The van arrived and stopped.

A brief meeting and transfer with Zheng Tian.

The bone-conduction voice of the temporary wristwatch buzzed in his mind.

“Private transfer: contribution points +0.72. Current balance: 206.72.”

A faint, understated smile crossed Ren Zhong’s face at the pleasing sound.

He had discovered a new secret the moment he first received the temporary wristwatch on the way back to town.

On a whim, he checked his balance and discovered he’d started life with six points of “seed capital.”

Mystery solved.

That extra one contribution point last time hadn’t appeared out of nowhere.

It was the “hard-earned” reward for sleeping, acquired from borrowing a formal wristwatch on his previous resurrection, and cleverly avoiding the 90% rental fee.

The other five points came from five consecutive days of diligent sleep after his last revival.

He didn’t know the reason or the mechanism, but it was clear that contribution points earned from sleep were locked to his person and carried over with his memories.

Bidding Zheng Tian farewell again, Ren Zhong headed straight for the supply co-op.

He achieved the level one formal wristwatch milestone once more.

He crouched by the wall, went online, raided the stock market, compared everything to his memory, and exhaled in relief.

Then it was off to the town hall to meet up with Zheng Tian and the legendary bootlicker, Ma Da Fu.

Everything unfolded as before, with only small changes in the final phase.

“Mayor Ma, I have a favor to ask. Although it’s after hours, could you please take me to the armory? I’d like to buy something.”

Ma Da Fu snapped his fingers. “No problem! The citizens of Spark Town love overtime!”

...

This time, Ren Zhong spent a total of seventy-six points at the armory, leaving a balance of thirty-one point sixty-two.

Unlike last time, he didn’t go into the co-op for tea, choosing instead to crouch outside and save 0.1 point. He didn’t test his baseline neural synchronization, saving five points, and he bought two fewer training armor batteries, saving another four.

A total savings of 9.1 points.

Counting the extra five points of seed capital, Ren Zhong left the armory with fourteen point one more than last time.

Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat—every saving is a gain.

Perfecting the details, taking one step farther each time—that is the instinct of a scientist.

“Brother Ren, why did you buy this electromagnetic storm dust grenade?” Perhaps because of Ren Zhong’s air of confidence, Zheng Tian responded differently this time, voicing her curiosity directly.

“Don’t ask. If you must know, it’s a secret of heaven.”

...

After roaming the Iron Insect Forest for so long, the ferocious and domineering Blade Mantis was dead—killed with not a shred of dignity, reduced to the dirt.

The Blade Mantis never once touched a member of Zheng Tian’s squad.

First, Ren Zhong delivered a more precise burst with his machine gun.

Next, Wen Lei strictly followed his orders, throwing the giant shield 0.5 seconds in advance with an error of less than a centimeter—blocking the mantis’s advance exactly.

What happened next perfectly replicated last time.

The Blade Mantis switched targets and lunged for Bai Feng.

The electromagnetic storm dust grenade detonated.

The mantis was trapped.

Zheng Tian landed the fatal blow.

Three minutes of struggle, and the Blade Mantis died.

After Ren Zhong’s understated “explanation,” the five members of Zheng Tian’s squad once again fell into stunned silence.

Zheng Tian had always prided herself on her intelligence and was well known among the outcasts of Spark Town, but now she felt so inadequate she wanted to kneel and sing “Conquered.”

She had never imagined such a staggering disparity in intelligence could exist between people.

“All right, snap out of it. This is nothing to be so shocked about.” Ren Zhong waved dismissively. “We still have plenty of time, plenty of supplies, and there shouldn’t be another level-three Ruin Beast in the Iron Insect Forest anytime soon. Today, let’s keep pushing—let’s go for a big score!”

As he spoke, he glanced back at the cargo hold of the van.

This time, the beast carcasses in the van were completely different from last time.

With full command of the squad, he had completely changed their route, precisely controlling only their arrival at the Ironclad Beetle’s lair.

Along the way, the number of beasts slain matched the previous attempt, but the details of each fight were worlds apart.

Ren Zhong was now obsessed with making money, determined to dig even deeper into the details.

The species and activity zones of the Ruin Beasts he encountered last time had become his personal intelligence cache, like hazelnuts stored by a squirrel for winter, waiting for his teeth.

At five in the afternoon, the team returned to Spark Town.

They tallied the harvest.

Ren Zhong’s personal wallet enjoyed a veritable feast.

Aside from the Blade Mantis, they’d eliminated eleven level-one Ruin Beasts, each worth thirty-five points after commissions. After deducting nine points for costs, the profit was twenty-six points.

Ren Zhong took six points for himself; Zheng Tian and the other five received four points each.

The Blade Mantis was valued at one hundred and twenty points.

Ren Zhong took one hundred; the other five split the remaining twenty.

Counting his earnings from last night’s sleep, his fortune now stood at one hundred thirty-eight point sixty-two.