Chapter 33: Great Denominator Merit, Bean Pasted

Drew a tube of blood before bed.

After a night's sleep, Feng Mu didn't know if his hematopoietic stem cells had worked overtime, but to be safe, he drew another tube of blood.

This ensured the morning consumption growth rate wouldn't drop due to blood replenishment.

Ate, went out.

Not spotting anyone tailing him, Feng Mu didn't think much of it, only feeling a slight regret inside; he had originally wanted to use them to test the 【Crane Claw Technique】.

His mind now held ten years of cultivation memories, but they were ultimately just audio and video, lacking real tactile sensation, leaving an itch in his heart, a special urge to grab a living person to try it out.

It was like doing the "Three Years of Mock Exams, Five Years of College Entrance Exams" on repeat for ten years, wearing down his pen tips, just waiting to step into the real exam hall to test his score.

Passing by No. 47 Middle School, the number of hooligans questioning people at the school gate had sharply decreased.

Feng Mu thought: "The list has already narrowed to fifty people; there's indeed no need to cast a wide net for questioning anymore; they've upgraded the whole package to one-on-one tailing."

Nothing happened all morning.

Burned three Evil Corpses.

Luck was normal, no Black Cores exploded.

At lunch, Wang Jian told Feng Mu in high spirits that he had contacted Luo Ji.

As he expected, Luo Ji had gone with the Vanguard Team into an Instance a few days ago — no, wait, he went into a Hidden Gate to pioneer.

The pioneering went poorly; the world behind that Hidden Gate was shrouded in Mist, all tech equipment failed completely, and most terrifying were the unseen dangers lurking in the Mist.

In just one day, the Vanguard Team suffered fifty percent casualties.

Luo Ji was lucky not to die; he retreated with the team. Though he made no discoveries or merits, by Vanguard Team rules, anyone who comes out of a Hidden Gate alive gets the minimum Merit Points.

The Vanguard Team calls this Survivor Merit Points, also Guaranteed Merit Points, worth 1 point.

Wang Jian said excitedly: "Luo Ji has Merit Points now, so envious."

As Blank Citizens, judged by the City System as human metabolic waste garbage, Feng Mu and Wang Jian naturally only had 1 Merit Point.

It's 1 point, not 0, symbolizing the City System's humanity.

The birth of genius requires a massive population base; this is the Merit Point gifted to everyone at birth. Blank Citizens praise this as the great denominator merit.

It's the only Merit Point 99% of Blank Citizens will ever have in their lives; afterward, this Merit account might as well be dead, unmoving.

Unless, like Luo Ji, you stake your life on it.

Wang Jian was genuinely happy for Luo Ji, full of envy: "Just nine more times — oh wait, eight more times — and Luo Ji can scrape together 10 Merit Points, file for record, and upgrade to F-Class Citizen."

Feng Mu finished four bowls of Organic Synthetic Meal and said blandly: "One time, half the people die. Survival probability is 50%. Surviving nine times in a row, probability is roughly two in a thousand."

Two in a thousand, only one-tenth of the College Entrance Exam pass rate.

If Luo Ji has that kind of luck, why risk his life in a Hidden Gate? He might as well slit his throat and reincarnate straight into the Upper City — wouldn't that be fragrant?

Wang Jian's face fell instantly.

Feng Mu put down his chopsticks and rigorously added: "Of course, this probability isn't absolute. If someone gets a fortuitous encounter inside a Hidden Gate, two in a thousand isn't two in a thousand for them."

However naive Wang Jian was, he didn't believe Luo Ji could get a fortuitous encounter; he sighed dejectedly.

Feng Mu took his tray and left; he actually still had one thing unsaid: that even if one truly gets a fortuitous encounter and survives continuously, it might not be a good thing.

After all, getting a fortuitous encounter most likely means concealing it and not reporting it; the people in the Vanguard Team aren't all fools.

Afternoon, burned two more Evil Corpses.

Character exploded — both dropped Black Cores, both went to Feng Mu; Wang Jian booked 200 yuan.

Feng Mu sometimes wondered, how come Evil Corpses are sent for burning every day? How many people are there in the Nine Districts total?

A few a day doesn't seem like much, but it happens nearly every day; accumulated over a year, that's at least over a thousand Evil Corpses.

Compared to a population of millions it might not seem like many, but you have to know, not just anyone turns into an Evil Corpse; the threshold for this thing is supposedly high — they'd have to be at least Third Grade Martial Artists, right?

Thinking carefully like this, this ratio is a bit horrifying.

"Feels like the water behind Evil Corpses runs deep, but for me, the more Evil Corpses the better."

Feng Mu couldn't care less about the harm Evil Corpses pose to human survival; he just needs to eat his fill.

"Perhaps Black Market merchants who specialize in collecting Black Cores know some inside story, but knowing less means living longer; I only want to know how many Black Cores Black Market merchants have hoarded, can they sell them to me in bulk?"

Another workday ended; Feng Mu stole leisure from busyness and did Body Forging Exercises for another four hours.

【Consumption】 rose to 67.7%】

If he grinds some more tonight, Feng Mu is confident he can push Consumption straight to 75%; at this rate, the Tier 1 Iron Eater progress bar will fill in less than two days.

He had to prepare for a rainy day, plan for the next step in advance.

He'll probably upgrade to 【Tier 2 Iron Eater】 soon, right? Whether there are new changes or not, at least he'll get one more new consumption slot.

When the time comes, which iron type to choose?

Continue with Pig Iron, or Ten-Forged Iron, Hundred-Forged Iron, or perhaps... fragments of Yin Sha Nine Nether Evil Resentment Iron?!!

When it comes down to it, it was the 【Pig Iron: Molding Embryo】 trait that stimulated Feng Mu.

He was originally willing to slowly accumulate Black Cores and wait; now he's getting impatient, feels saving day by day is too slow, wants a more convenient method.

It's equivalent to: before absorbing Pig Iron, Feng Mu was a fledgling, didn't know the taste of women, usually felt a bit pent up but could endure.

Absorbing Pig Iron is equivalent to getting a foot wash, losing his virginity.

Can someone who's broken their fast and someone who's vegetarian be the same?

The power of pent-up desire doubles exponentially; he doesn't just want a foot wash anymore, he yearns to go to a high-end club and pick the white moonlight he's longed for.

Fragments of Yin Sha Nine Nether Evil Resentment Iron are Feng Mu's white moonlight.

Off work, left the Incineration Plant, entered the Residential Compound entrance, and again caught sight of two sneaky figures not far downstairs.

One Yellow Hair, one Red Hair; seeing Feng Mu glance over, they didn't avoid it, but glared back with fierce expressions, a cigarette still dangling from the corner of a mouth.

Feng Mu averted his gaze; the two hooligans let out perverse laughter.

Locked his bicycle, Feng Mu went upstairs home.

He stood at the bedroom window, pulled back a section of curtain to peer outside, and saw two hooligans crouching not far from the doorway directly opposite, beside a vendor pushing a food cart.

Eating without paying, they spat on the ground while cursing.

"Not hiding, but openly staking out—what can that find? No, not investigating the murder, but using this method to put psychological pressure on me and the others on the list?"

Feng Mu pondered for a moment but could think of no other explanation.

He closed the curtain and changed his phone card.

Normally during the day Feng Mu used his own phone card, only switching to the one he used to contact Ma Wei after returning home at night.

"Boss, Bin Ge has sent some capable underlings to tail the people on the list."

He indeed received such a text message on his phone.

Feng Mu deleted the text message and did not reply.

He did not feel psychological pressure, only felt queasy, which somewhat affected his appetite.

And the stomach and intestines are the organ most affected by emotion, resulting in Feng Mu's digestion rate slowing down somewhat at night.

Until his set bedtime, 【Edibility】 rose to 73%.

Feng Mu grimaced and grinded for another 2 hours; when he got into bed at 06:00, 【Edibility】 finally rose to 75%.

"Damn it!"

Feng Mu closed his eyes to sleep; he did not know what the others on the list would do in this situation, but he already had a clear answer in his heart.

Red bean paste~

End of Chapter