Chapter 26: Displaying Miracles Before the Crowd, Returning with Full Honors

In truth, Ren Zhong had no interest in showing off. To accelerate his own growth and maximize the returns on his time investment, he had charged headlong into the Bladed Mantis, inevitably revealing some conspicuously abnormal “peculiarities.”

Anyone who had managed to survive to Zheng Tian’s age in this chaotic world, and even become a semi-professional scavenger of middling standing, certainly wasn’t a fool. Each possessed their own philosophy of survival and way of dealing with the world.

Naturally, Zheng Tian and her companions could discern Ren Zhong’s “peculiarities.” Last night, Ren Zhong had inexplicably purchased a magnetic storm dust grenade. The group could easily suspect he already knew what today would bring.

In a sense, one might even say Ren Zhong foresaw the risks, yet adopted a coldly detached attitude, watching as they stepped into a perilous situation where a single misstep meant ruin.

People really could have died.

Ren Zhong owed the group an explanation they could accept. He couldn’t simply say, “It’s my secret, don’t pry.” That would only breed serious distrust, dispersing the group’s cohesion and costing Ren Zhong these new partners.

Fortunately, as with any mathematical proof, it is always simpler to reconstruct the reasoning from the result.

Ren Zhong slowly rose, brushed the mud from his clothes, closed his eyes as if in deep thought, while silently reciting a mantra.

From now on, I am not a doctorate holder, but an actor.

I am not alone.

At this moment, the spirits of Tony Leung, Leung Ka-fai, DiCaprio, Anthony Hopkins, and above all Marlon Brando, possess me!

…

As Zheng Tian and the others watched him, they began to feel as if they were caught in an illusion.

In their eyes, Ren Zhong’s face began to radiate a holy brilliance, a dazzling halo of wisdom forming behind his head.

Ren Zhong slowly raised his index finger to the sky.

The group instinctively glanced upward.

Nothing but a deep blue, cloudless sky, and a vast, blue-tinted blazing sun.

Ou Youning thought silently, “There’s nothing unusual about the sky. Is my observation lacking? Am I missing the key information hidden here? I’m really not clever enough.”

Ren Zhong spoke: “First…”

Ou Youning: Damn, so this finger was pointing to the first point, not the sky!

Ren Zhong continued, “The official wristwatch’s internet features include a function called the Ruin Beast Database, which clearly records that under certain circumstances, the Bladed Mantis may form a symbiotic relationship with the Iron Armored Beetle.”

“The footage Bai Feng brought back showed the Iron Armored Beetle had no obvious injuries, yet its energy intensity was abnormally low. I suspected a Bladed Mantis was symbiotic with the beetle, periodically absorbing its iron, which caused its weakness.”

“You all are experienced scavengers, but without official wristwatches, you must rely mostly on your own accumulated knowledge. I am different.”

“Oh! So that’s how it is!” Zheng Tian, Chen Hanyu, and the others nodded like chicks pecking at rice, looking thoroughly enlightened.

This was the power of knowledge—and the power of spending. Their envy was palpable.

“What about the second point, Ren? How did you know where the Bladed Mantis would appear?” asked Ou Youning.

Ren Zhong pointed to the distance, in the direction the Bladed Mantis had come.

“Second, the Bladed Mantis is a level-three Ruin Beast—powerful. Its resource needs could never be satisfied by a single Iron Armored Beetle. So I believed it must have other…”

Ou Youning interrupted, “Lovers!”

He was getting good at quick answers.

Zheng Tian shot him a glare, “Don’t interrupt.”

Ren Zhong pressed on, “Look over there.”

Everyone turned.

The grass in that spot was pressed down in a neat line.

The direction of the bent grass pointed exactly here.

“Before the Bladed Mantis arrived, the grass was bent away from us. So I deduced if it were to return for reinforcement, that would be the most likely direction. I confirmed its position, and placed Wen Lei—the strongest defender—there ahead of time. As long as Wen Lei could withstand its first strike, and I blocked it with suppressive fire, it would be trapped. From then on, every move it made would be within my grasp.”

At this point, all the details of the fierce battle were more or less explained in the minds of the team.

Ren Zhong made it sound easy, but everyone understood that if any detail had gone awry, it would have ended in disaster for all.

Seeing Ren Zhong’s calm, assured manner, they felt as if the Bladed Mantis’s movements—and their own roles—had all been orchestrated by him.

Both the Bladed Mantis and themselves, mere marionettes on his strings.

With that realization, a sense of dread and admiration filled their hearts.

This survey officer was no ordinary person. He dared, and he truly had the ability!

It also proved he hadn’t merely watched as they risked their lives; he really had absolute confidence.

“But, Ren, why did you buy the magnetic storm dust grenade yesterday? You couldn’t have known we’d come to the Iron Bug Forest today and encounter the Bladed Mantis—those were all my spur-of-the-moment decisions, weren’t they?” Zheng Tian finally spotted the blind spot, asking the most critical question.

She cared about this.

If Ren Zhong could predict even her own thoughts a day in advance, that would be terrifying.

Not someone you could get close to.

This question truly stumped Ren Zhong.

He couldn’t provide a perfect explanation, so he threw out a plausible, ambiguous answer that fit his persona.

“Yesterday, based on your attitude toward me, Zheng Tian, I judged you might invite me to join your team. I hoped for that as well. But as a newcomer, you knew nothing about me.”

“So you would surely choose a relatively safe hunting area. Near Spark Town, the Iron Bug Forest is one of the best options. The forest is dominated by insect Ruin Beasts, and the only real threat to the team—and to me—that’s hard to avoid is the Bladed Mantis. So I made some advance preparations, never expecting they’d actually be needed.”

Zheng Tian, hearing this, relaxed slightly, feigning sudden enlightenment. “I see. Ren, you really are too clever. Compared to you, we’re like…”

Ren Zhong smiled, “No need for formalities. We’re teammates now, equals. Just call me Ren Zhong.”

“Alright, Brother Ren!” Zheng Tian agreed with a smile. “Now, time to divide the loot!”

The intact Bladed Mantis carcass was quite valuable—selling it to the recycling company would fetch 40 contribution points, the first gains.

The greatest prize was the flawless Bladed Mantis chip, which could be sold for 80 contribution points.

Thank heavens, Zheng Tian’s bullet penetrated the skull, but skimmed just 5mm above the chip, leaving it undamaged.

Thanks to Chen Hanyu’s efforts, the higher-level challenge was a success; after four minutes and fifty seconds, she extracted the chip perfectly.

After some discussion, the group decided Ren Zhong, who contributed and invested the most, would take 90 points.

The remaining five would split the other 30 points—six each.

After this harrowing battle, Wen Lei was seriously injured. Though emergency bandaging and basic medicine stopped the bleeding and restored enough mobility, his equipment was damaged, so Zheng Tian decided not to push further and to return to Spark Town at once.

Upon arrival, they headed straight for the submarine building of the Spark Resource Recycling Company to sell their spoils.

Earlier, they’d hunted five level-one Ruin Beasts. After deducting the 20% cut for the professional team, the value was 15 points. Subtracting 3 points for ammo, food, first aid kits, and energy cells, and splitting among six, each person earned 2 points.

Thus, Ren Zhong’s total earnings for the day were 92 points, minus 50 points in costs, for a net profit of 42 points—equal to 42 days of effort for the rest of Zheng Tian’s team, and about 420 days of sleep for the struggling scavengers.

Ren Zhong’s wealth returned to 110.52 points.

He was quite satisfied.

This reckless gamble paid off—a one-day return on investment of 180%.

…