Chapter 43: Sid Meier’s Reflections on Armored Warfare

Chen Hanyu was not an ordinary Level One Disassembler.

Ren Zhong had known this for quite some time.

The team had taken down Level Three Ruin Beasts more than once. Yet almost every time, Chen Hanyu managed to extract the chip well above her assigned grade.

If it happened only occasionally, it could be attributed to luck. But when it happened every single time, luck was clearly not the answer.

Obviously, Chen Hanyu possessed a solid foundation in her skills—so much so that her abilities surpassed the limitations of the Level One disassembling gloves.

The reason why Zheng Tian’s squad thrived in town was not just because of Zheng Tian’s leadership. Chen Hanyu was the team’s hidden soul.

They killed the same monsters as others, yet always made more money. Who wouldn’t want to be part of such a team?

In just over three hours of her explanations, Ren Zhong had pieced together a comprehensive understanding of the profession of a Disassembler.

It was partly due to his strong learning ability and the fact that he had already memorized a large framework of knowledge from the Ruin Beasts’ database, but more so because he could cross-reference Chen Hanyu’s meticulous, step-by-step analysis and organize it in his mind.

With a teacher who could teach and a student who could learn, the formation of a knowledge system was rapid.

Good times always pass in a fleeting instant. Before he knew it, it was already half past nine at night. The rest of the team had gone ahead to secure spots in the communal sleeping pods. Rising to her feet, Chen Hanyu said, “Mr. Ren, it’s getting late. Let’s go get some sleep.”

Ren Zhong nodded. “Alright. Thank you for today. I’ve gained a lot.”

“There’s no need to be so formal, Mr. Ren. You really are an exceptional learner. In terms of the number of Ruin Beasts you’re familiar with, you’ve already surpassed me. You may have only scratched the surface before, while I focus on the detailed physiological structures of the few I can observe directly. I’m still expanding my knowledge, but when it comes to memory, I can’t compare to you. Disassembling is a craftsman’s skill—just keep accumulating experience and knowledge, train your hands, and you’ll advance sooner or later. At your pace, surpassing me is just a matter of time. That’s what it means to be a Citizen.”

Ren Zhong chuckled. “Heh.”

As they walked, Chen Hanyu asked him again, “Mr. Ren, I really want to know—when will you be leaving?”

Ren Zhong thought for a moment before replying with a question, “What if I say I don’t plan on leaving?”

“Oh?” Chen Hanyu paused, visibly surprised.

Then she fell silent.

In the moonlight, her cool expression flickered with a trace of emotion, mingled with a hesitation as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

In the end, she said nothing.

...

In the Deep Sleep Space.

By now it was the seventh day—he had already passed the point at which he last died. The stock market information he’d memorized was outdated, and he still hadn’t saved up one thousand points.

But he wasn’t worried. He calmed himself, continued to wander the sea of stocks, hunted for more demon stocks, and committed them firmly to memory as reserves.

He divided the eight hours of sleep into three segments.

Half an hour was spent scanning the market for demon stocks.

Six hours went into the introductory disassembler tutorials in the professional training system, cross-referencing Chen Hanyu’s lectures with structured lessons.

The remaining hour and a half, he used to observe and study publicly available videos on the internet about the field of Mech Warriors.

There was a video section in the Daily Headlines app.

It contained an ocean of privately uploaded videos.

Within the video section, there was a Mech Warrior subcategory.

There, many users shared their insights or battle recordings, all free for people to learn combat techniques.

These techniques weren’t always correct—after all, some malicious types intentionally led viewers astray.

Some people were just plain foolish, thinking they knew everything, when in truth their half-baked understanding was just noise.

But Ren Zhong had his own judgment.

His plan was to learn from all schools, compare and contrast, and only explore what suited him.

He had confidence in his ability to discern.

Time slipped by, and before he knew it, it was six in the morning. Ren Zhong woke up punctually.

He checked his wristwatch—his wealth balance had increased by one point, now at 13.12.

He could almost hear the clink of coins in his wallet.

Ah, how poor he was.

Yesterday, he’d spent forty points on a car, ten on building materials, and three more as labor for the energetic young man—quite the outlay.

Now he had a house, a car, armor, and a team. By rights, he was already living the modestly prosperous life that countless wastelanders in Spark Town could only dream of. He wasn’t poor.

He had thought so himself at first, even wondering if he should take a break and spend some time building a simple Turing machine to test whether he was living in a virtual world.

But now he’d changed his mind.

First, he couldn’t make an infinitely long paper tape, so any calculations would be inconclusive.

Second, his desire for wealth had been reignited.

In the final hour and a half of Deep Sleep, he’d rapidly browsed through a large volume of free Mech Warrior combat footage and instructional videos.

As it turned out, the world’s most expensive things were always the free ones.

It was the same in the 21st century and now.

Free products in the 21st century cost you time and money; now, free tutorials could cost you your life.

Over ninety-nine percent of the videos in the Mech Warrior section were worthless.

Some were low-level warriors who’d gotten lucky, showing off their moment of glory; others were either unskilled or malicious, sharing misleading routines that were not only useless but even harmful.

If a rookie warrior hoped to teach themselves through these, they’d be speeding toward an early grave.

Perhaps the lowest rung of wastelanders could find these videos entertaining, a way to pass the time for all ages, but that was their only value—just killing time.

Ren Zhong was fuming, turning into a professional critic as he watched and cursed.

Fortunately, in the last ten minutes, he found something good—a series of instructional videos.

The series was titled “Sid Meier’s Armor Insights.”

Sid Meier, a genius Mech Warrior active more than a decade ago—Level Four.

Ordinary Level Fours were nothing special; Spark Town’s professional squads had several.

Sid Meier was different.

Throughout his long career, he was renowned as the king of cross-level challenges below Level Four.

He constantly fought above his station—soloing Level Two Ruin Beasts as a Level One, Level Threes as a Level Two, and so on.

Most impressively, as a Level Four, he crossed what was thought to be an insurmountable chasm, single-handedly slaying Level Five Ruin Beasts—not just once, but multiple times.

Sid Meier was now old, but three years ago, he wrote down his life’s experience in “Sid Meier’s Armor Insights” and published it online.

Fine wine fears no deep alley. After three years, “Sid Meier’s Armor Insights” finally broke through the sea of online content and shone with the brilliance it deserved.

Ren Zhong was amazed by the opening episode, which described how Sid had managed to challenge at higher levels.

Ren Zhong himself had defeated Crystal-armored Long-tailed Rats and Shadow Rats just yesterday, but the rest of the team played vital roles in those battles.

Moreover, what Ren Zhong relied on most was his abnormally high neural reaction speed, inherited through death—a personal trait that others couldn’t easily replicate.

But Sid Meier, a true native, relied on deep exploitation of his armor—a skill that could be learned.

“There are no two identical Ruin Beasts in the world, nor are there two identical warriors.”

“Every warrior is a unique individual.”

“We must not imprison our infinite combat potential within the cage of standardized equipment.”

“Study ‘Sid Meier’s Armor Insights’! Use my methods to find the path that suits you best!”

“I’ll teach you how to craft your own perfect fighting style, to develop a personalized approach to equipment and weapon combination, and to build the sharpest setup on top of the basics!”

“Become the strongest version of yourself—the one you’ve always dreamed of!”

“With my teachings, you will, like me, always perform at your absolute best within your level.”

“Human ability has limits, but our ability to harness machines can always improve—without end!”

“I will teach you how to unleash the infinite potential of your limited bioelectric capacity, so that you can survive in this harsh world, my friends!”

At the end of the introduction, the elderly Sid Meier said these words to the camera.

His face was aged, but his presence shone with light.

Ren Zhong couldn’t wait to click on the next episode—only to be greeted by a prompt.

“Sorry, esteemed user, this is a paid tutorial. You need a legitimate subscription to continue. Subscription fee: 688 contribution points. Would you like to subscribe?”

“Yes/No”

So expensive!

Ren Zhong was stunned.

He went back to the tutorial’s info page and saw a mass of data.

“Top-selling paid tutorial of the month; 142,354 copies sold this month; total sales 196,541.”

Incredible earning power.

He checked the comment section.

Rave reviews, flawless reputation.

Time was up, and Ren Zhong woke up quietly, right on schedule.

Ah, I really am so poor.

“Brother Ren, what’s the plan for today? Will you be acting with us again?” Zheng Tian, who had awoken almost simultaneously, came over to ask.

Ren Zhong shot to his feet and answered with conviction.

“Of course!”

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