Chapter 85: On the Thirtieth Day, the Lone and Outstanding Warrior Returns to the Fray

Ren Zhong had spent less than six hours training intensively in the secondary virtual reality, and woke up at 4:40 in the morning.

Although he hadn't completed the full training time, he still had to pay the entire 40 points fee.

Yesterday, counting the purchase of a wristwatch, the second acquisition of "Sid Meier's Armored Insights," equipment upgrades, and repaying Sun Miao, he had spent over 23,000 points in total—what were forty more?

Anything was worthwhile if it helped him grow stronger, faster.

At five o'clock the next morning, Ren Zhong waited downstairs by the sleep pod building for Chen Hanyu and Yu Jin, sitting astride his motorcycle.

Their plans had changed again, so the three had to ride together to the parking lot.

Ren Zhong placed Yu Jin behind him, half hanging off the bike, and had Chen Hanyu sit in front, nestled in his arms, half her weight on the seat, the other pressing against the battery compartment.

The surface of the battery compartment was smooth, but fortunately, Ren Zhong's arms on either side protected her from slipping.

There was no tender skin-to-skin embrace, mainly because Ren Zhong's secondary exoskeleton was too bulky. Chen Hanyu felt nothing of a hug, as if she was sitting in the cockpit of a spider-tank.

Yet, this morning, Chen Hanyu and Yu Jin were undoubtedly happy.

During the hour-long morning training, Ren Zhong, equipped with the latest gear, shed his usual steady-yet-bold fighting style for pure audacity—charging and fighting with reckless abandon.

Encountering solitary secondary-level Ruin Beasts, he ignored countermeasures; as long as their energy index was below 100, he charged in blade-first, unhesitating.

He didn't even use amplifiers, relying on sub-70 kW output, the sturdy custom armor, and the sharpened modified arc blade, deploying his increasingly refined skills. Using only minor strategic advantages, he cut down the beasts through sheer force.

When faced with pairs of second-level Ruin Beasts, he had Yu Jin inflict damage with counter ammunition, then fought two at once with his blade.

For third-level Ruin Beasts with energy indices over 300, Ren Zhong employed another tactic, using amplifiers and preset programs to sidestep high latency drawbacks, unleashing a "critical strike" of 600 kW output from just 65.1 kW actual capacity.

In less than an hour of intense hunting, the Night Squad eliminated four third-level Ruin Beasts and five second-level ones.

As for first-level beasts, he no longer bothered.

Even selling as freelancers, the Night Squad recovered 650 points, with Ren Zhong taking 572, Chen Hanyu 65, and Yu Jin 13.

…

At the parking lot, everyone in Zheng Tian’s squad except Chen Hanyu stood stunned before the Thunder Vehicle, exchanging bewildered looks.

Ou Youning asked, "Dude, so you bought this car?"

Bai Feng said nothing.

Zheng Tian gazed at Ren Zhong with a face full of grievance.

She wanted to complain, but couldn't find the words. The car was Ren Zhong's personal purchase; telling others was his choice.

Though the logic was sound, Zheng Tian recalled how Ren Zhong, knowing everything but consoling everyone with empty words about the loss of the Thunder Vehicle not being the end of the world, had played his part.

She truly hadn’t expected that the upright, honest Mr. Ren would have such a mischievous side.

As everyone grew more awkward, Wen Lei stepped forward, saying, "Mr. Ren, you must have your reasons for this arrangement?"

Ren Zhong nodded slightly, neither explaining nor denying.

He felt their relationship was now deep enough; he had already given prior hints. There was no need to spell everything out—it would waste words.

After yesterday’s dinner, Ren Zhong had displayed professional acting skills he'd never experienced in several lifetimes, temporarily easing external pressures. Now, he reverted to his old self—the aloof scholar.

He was tired of acting, and since his latest resurrection, he had cared too much about analyzing everyone's thoughts and feelings.

He wanted to step back and rest, to be himself.

In this strange atmosphere, Chen Hanyu, previously uninvolved in team matters, decided to speak up, sharing her conjecture about Ren Zhong's thoughtful intentions when she first saw the Thunder Vehicle.

Everyone listened and found her reasoning sound.

It turned out, where others couldn't see, he had already arranged everything.

The team members quietly marveled at Ren Zhong’s consideration.

Zheng Tian, moved and somewhat ashamed, said, "Mr. Ren, compared to you, I’ve failed as a captain. These things should’ve been my responsibility. Thank you for your efforts."

Ren Zhong smiled lightly. "It’s nothing. We’re a team; everyone has their role. You have your strengths. From today, route planning for hunts falls to you. Quickly combine my current strength and the Thunder Vehicle to draft a new plan."

Zheng Tian was startled. "Ah? I can’t! How could I compare to you, Mr. Ren?"

Ren Zhong patted her shoulder, speaking earnestly, "No one taught you before, yet you managed to make your team one of the top semi-professional squads in Spark Town. Of course, you’re a good leader. I trust you; you won’t let me down."

Zheng Tian understood.

Mr. Ren was returning command, testing and nurturing her.

He truly regarded her as a reliable, long-term partner.

Her recurring but unspoken worry had always been that Ren Zhong would abandon her.

Now, tasting the meaning of Ren Zhong’s guidance, she felt a strange grit in her eyes, as if sand had entered.

She had been an orphan since childhood.

In Spark Town, if anyone’s status was lower than the bottom-rung wastelanders, it was the orphans among them.

A girl, living in the darkness, she had seen too much ugliness.

She wore the mud, born and merged with darkness, built herself from nothing, and with sharp intelligence and ruthless pragmatism formed at age five, fought her way up.

Her hardships were unimaginable.

No one knew how, when alone, she had countless times longed for an elder or brother to lend a hand, to offer a glimmer of light in the darkness.

Self-taught success looked inspiring, but was also a tragedy.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to learn from others—there simply was no one to teach her.

Since meeting Ren Zhong, she felt her gray world slowly brightened.

Now, that faint light became a blazing sun illuminating the land.

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"Yes! Mr. Ren! Leave it to me!"

She nodded vigorously.

With command smoothly transferred, Ren Zhong quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The truth was—after the morning’s last ultra-efficient hunt, he had exhausted his memory reserves.

The upcoming team hunts rightly belonged to Zheng Tian, a local native born and raised here.

As before, poor Wen Lei had to lie down and serve as a seat.

Shortly after boarding, Wen Lei complained from below, "Ou Youning, could you stop rubbing your butt all over? Are you trying to annoy me? Did you eat something bad yesterday and need the toilet? Don’t drag me down!"

Ou Youning stole a glance at Ren Zhong, embarrassed. "I’m not sick. I just… um, I’m worried about backlash from the curse."

Once the unspeakable curse was mentioned, a strange mood spread through the cabin.

At the wheel, Zheng Tian subconsciously switched to one-handed steering, stiffening her neck, twisting her waist, quietly reaching under her seat.

Zheng Tian peeked at Chen Hanyu in the passenger seat, finding her doing the same.

Bai Feng didn’t stiffen his neck—his arms were long enough.

As for Wen Lei, armored and lying down, he was powerless.

Ren Zhong looked left and right.

Annoyed, feeling infected.

He subconsciously shifted his own seat.

Ou Youning was truly a bad influence.

Enough—he’d kick him out tomorrow.

…

Evening, at the foot of Rat Cliff Mountain.

"Ah… Even though Lin Wang relaxed the restrictions a bit, our gains today are just too much! We’re about to clear out all the stock on Rat Cliff Mountain! Lin Wang’s side will surely notice these numbers and have thoughts."

After counting the income, Zheng Tian scratched her head, a happy worry on her face.

Seven hundred points in total!

She’d never dared imagine such earnings before.

Ren Zhong pondered, "Here’s the plan—I have a contact in Spark Resource Procurement. We’ll wait until nine tonight, after they’re off work, and go to the recovery platform when no one else is around. I’ll ask my contact to work overtime and handle things quietly: half through affiliate accounts, half split among scattered freelancer accounts, paid directly to each person’s private wallet. That should make it foolproof."

"Is that possible? Since when are Spark Resource’s citizen reservists so easy to deal with? Is it reliable? Won’t they inform Lin Wang?"

Ren Zhong glanced at the microwave, which held a cup of luxury pearl milk tea not yet heated, and smiled. "Should be reliable."

Ou Youning caught the crucial detail, "Brother Ren, is your contact male or female?"

Ren Zhong’s mouth twitched. "Female."

Ou Youning: "Oh~~"

Ren Zhong broke into a cold sweat.

Kick! Kick him now!

"Oh, come on! Could you think about something serious for once? That bomb you set off this afternoon did nothing!"

Ou Youning protested, "Boss, it was a defense-specialized third-level Ruin Beast; I could only play wingman!"

…

At nine, Ren Zhong and Chen Hanyu simultaneously activated hypnosis in the communal sleep pods and entered dreamland.

With his memory reserves exhausted and solo night hunting efficiency dropping, and since he no longer urgently needed money and didn’t want to die before spending it, he prioritized improving his strength.

From day seventeen, he lived a disciplined routine: sleeping promptly at nine, spending eight hours each night in virtual reality training, rising at five with Chen Hanyu for morning exercise, then daytime hunting, followed by stock market observation at night, and studying dismantling and armored repair.

Chen Hanyu was relieved.

She felt Mr. Ren was finally willing to rest a little.

But she didn’t know that Ren Zhong, though seemingly dormant, hadn’t rested at all—he had merely optimized his time management.

Quiet days passed quickly, and the evening of the thirtieth day arrived.

Ren Zhong sat in the Miraculous Hands Clinic. "Brother Sun, help me out. Money’s not an issue. My comprehensive physical index is improving too slowly. Any suggestions?"

Sun Miao glanced at him disdainfully. "Shut your damn mouth! Don’t you think you’re being pretentious? You’ve been a mech warrior barely thirty days, and your physical index is already at 110.6! I haven’t seen anyone more beastly than you even in Meng... How can you complain about slow progress? If I didn’t have my own troubles, I’d want to call the cops on you!"

Ren Zhong sighed, admitting, "Yes, my progress is pretty good, but…"

"But what?"

"It’s not enough. Nowhere near enough."

Some things were hard to say.

He feared sounding too outrageous or insane.

But the census was unavoidable.

There was no one else to rely on in Spark Town; all hope rested with him.

He had two choices: either wash his hands of it, or face it head-on.

He chose the latter. His goal was to become a level-five warrior before the census, and defeat a level-five professional during the combat assessment.

To most, that was beyond ridiculous.

By normal logic, Ren Zhong agreed—it was absurd.

The threshold for level five required all three indices to exceed ten thousand; he was still in the hundreds.

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But since he could resurrect, in the accelerated spiral of time, anything was possible. Ren Zhong, long prepared, refused to bow to "impossible."

Moreover, he now stood out as a uniquely exceptional warrior.

Not because his combat ability outstripped everyone in town, but because his brain response index had surpassed all bounds!

By the third round of secondary virtual reality training, Ren Zhong discovered its true value—not only did it greatly enrich combat experience and optimize skill, it was a superb method for training the brain’s response.

In these thirteen days, his brain response index rose an average of 18.12 per day—over triple the five-point daily increase typical of a level-one warrior.

Now, both his load capacity and physical index were 110.6, but his brain response index had reached a staggering 303.3!

On the twenty-eighth day, his brain response index hit the level-two warrior peak of 300; after that, daily gains dropped to just 1.7, otherwise it would be even higher now.

But he wanted to be a noble, equilateral triangle warrior. With no other options, he sought Sun Miao’s help.

"Get lost. I have no solution, at least not now. You ask too much; I can’t give it."

Ren Zhong: "Brother Sun, if you come up with something, I’ll sponsor your project with three thousand points."

Sun Miao hesitated, both frustrated and heartbroken. "Even if you bribe me or threaten me, I just can’t do it."

"Well, all right."

Ren Zhong left the clinic and went to Zheng Tian’s team’s courtyard.

The courtyard was decked out, lively.

The team gathered around, watching a classic fantasy film projected on the latest holographic TV.

The high-tech, all-in-one fridge/table was laden with gourmet organic foods—roast delicacies, braised pork knuckle, steamed big-mouth fish.

Chen Hanyu, for once in a dress, stacked bottles of fruit wine on the table.

The festivities weren’t for New Year, but for the squad’s housewarming.

From today, Zheng Tian’s squad no longer had to squeeze into communal sleep pods with other teams.

The old brick courtyard had been remodeled, now boasting full alloy walls and three small fortresses—a miniature estate.

This was the second-generation Iron Curtain system.

The system, of uncertain age, was originally so worn as to be nearly unusable.

They bought it from itinerant merchant Wang Zhaofu for 2,000 points, then had Ju Qingmeng personally repair it, costing another 1,500 points.

Ren Zhong contributed 2,000 points, the rest pooled together another 1,500.

The second-generation Iron Curtain, though inferior to Lin Wang’s manor, was more than enough against second-level Ruin Beasts.

Combined with alloy sleep pods, overnight safety now surpassed the communal pods guarded only by amateur sentries.

Zheng Tian had hesitated at such luxury, but since they hadn’t passed the level-two certification and needed to keep their military grade discreet, individual gear remained at level one, modified by Ju Qingmeng.

Now, the whole squad had new gear, official wristwatches for everyone. Saving money had no purpose; it was time to plan next steps, and with Wang Zhaofu’s timely arrival, they established their base.

Ren Zhong joked with the team when the doorbell rang.

Ou Youning opened the door, grinning wider, and called, "Brother Ren, Captain Ma is here!"

Everyone inside rose warmly to greet.

Ma Xiaoling ignored the others, pulling Ren Zhong aside. "Ren Zhong, Lin Wang’s squad picked up a big contract—they’ll be out tomorrow as escorts. When they return, Spark Resource will probably show its hand. What’s your plan?"

"What hand?"

"We’ve learned that Spark Resource’s boss is quietly shifting assets—there’s a chance they’ll move out more than a month early."

Ren Zhong frowned. "When will Lin Wang’s team return?"

"Not sure, but it won’t be just a day or two."

"Wait, did your father send you to ask?"

"Uh…"

"Should I discuss it with your father directly?"

…

Second floor, town hall, private meeting room.

Ma Dafu looked at Ren Zhong with displeasure. "Why set up a base in town? Isn’t it pointless? If Spark Resource moves, all scavengers will lose their livelihood at once. The town will descend into chaos. I won’t be able to give the wastelanders a final peace. Time is running out; what you should do is seize the opportunity while Lin Wang’s squad, which monitors and restricts you, is away, and quickly build your reputation among the wastelanders, so you can lead them out before Lin Wang returns."

Confronted by Ma Dafu’s questioning, Ren Zhong didn’t know how to respond.

He wanted to tell old Ma that he truly hoped to preserve the town.

But even if that was Ma’s greatest hope, hearing it from Ren Zhong would sound fantastical, and damage his "Sun Miao’s colleague" persona.

So, Ren Zhong shook his head mysteriously. "We all think the time isn’t right. If I called out now, I could lead one or two thousand people at best. What of the rest? There are still two months until the census. You should trust our strength."

Ma Dafu frowned. "We?"

Ren Zhong nodded firmly. "Yes, we."

Ma’s somewhat clouded eyes brightened once more.

Ren Zhong had created a new persona, giving old Ma fresh hope.

He didn’t want to see Ma give up first.

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