Chapter 5: First Rank Iron Eater

At breakfast, only Feng Mu and his mother Wang Xiuli were present.

It was only now that he learned that the Patrol Bureau had taken on a major case last night, Feng Ju had not returned home all night, and Feng Yuhuai, due to her excellent bone quality, had already been promoted to boarding student yesterday.

Boarding was a privilege reserved for top students, meaning they were closely watched by the school, could use the Martial Dao classroom 24 hours a day, and would continue to receive lessons from teachers after school at night.

Nothing indecent, don't let your minds wander.

Wang Xiuli was a person of regular habits; she had gone to bed early last night and had no idea how late her son had actually returned.

"Your sister has good bone quality; she will have a future and will be able to help you too."

Looking at her honest, silent son picking at his rice, Wang Xiuli comforted him in a low voice.

Feng Mu swallowed the last mouthful of rice, made a sound of acknowledgment, picked up his schoolbag, and prepared to go out.

Wang Xiuli handed him a Neutralizer, saying somewhat guiltily, "Remember to take it. Also, don't blame your father for being biased; he's doing it for this family."

The Neutralizer looks like a spicy strip but tastes like plastic; it is used to suppress or eliminate nuclear radiation factors in the body. Ordinary people need to take one a month to prevent mutation.

"Mm, I know. I'm just a bit reluctant; I want to stay at school a few more days. I haven't thought about taking the College Entrance Exam anyway—I definitely can't pass. Next week I'll handle the dropout procedures, find a job, and help support the family."

This was absolutely the longest sentence Feng Mu had said to his family in the three years since he transmigrated.

He wasn't really lying, because there really was something at school he couldn't bear to give up for the time being.

Wang Xiuli smiled awkwardly and guiltily gave her son some pocket money.

Feng Mu didn't refuse; he stuffed it into his pocket and went out.

After leaving the Residential Compound, he took the familiar route to the Hardware Store, without a word weighed out one jin of Iron Beads, didn't put them in his schoolbag, but stuffed them into his trouser pocket.

From time to time he would secretly slip two into his mouth, eating them like candy beans, swallowing them whole without chewing.

By the time he rode to school, his pocket was already half empty.

"My stomach feels a bit bloated and painful; I can't eat anymore. Is it because of breakfast? Why do I feel so full?"

Feng Mu frowned and rubbed his stomach; a dialog box abruptly popped up before his eyes.

【Iron Eater: First Rank】

【Edible Iron Type: 1】

【Extractable Metal Property: 1】

【Current Detected Edible Iron Type — Ordinary Pig Iron, Edibility 0.5%.】

【Extracted Property:??】

……

Feng Mu was stunned for a moment.

"Eating iron makes you stronger, so edibility refers to the progress of becoming stronger by eating iron, directly datafied—very intuitive and clear, and fits game characteristics."

"Not only can you become stronger, you can also extract metal properties; feels kind of awesome."

"There's a First Rank, so there must be a Second Stage, or Third Rank, Fourth Rank?"

Feng Mu's heart suddenly burned hot; his only confusion was that he didn't remember skill entries in games being able to increase in rank.

After all, the game focused on faction management and cultivation, so it was understandable that character combat and skill systems were relatively weak.

【Tip: This game has been loaded into reality. To better adapt to the new version, the game has made a comprehensive upgrade patch. Players please explore on their own; do not be alarmed.】

Feng Mu understood.

How to put it?

It's already silver rarity, yet it can still rank up; this skill patch has a bit of pay-to-win element, but I like it.

"If 【Iron Eater】 can continue to rank up, what about the other two golden skills?"

Feng Mu felt it shouldn't be possible; after all, it's already golden, at the top, ranking up again would be overpowered, but it's hard to say; he still needs to find an opportunity to verify it.

While making various calculations in his mind, when he came back to his senses, Feng Mu was already standing at the classroom door.

The classroom, one-third empty, had classmates all looking over at once; apparently no one expected Feng Mu to come to class today.

"Didn't those who stayed in the classroom yesterday all drop out?"

"Right, how did he come again?"

"He's not planning to take the College Entrance Exam, is he?"

"Impossible. With his grades, even if he takes it, he can't pass the cutoff. He's like those who dropped out yesterday; his family doesn't have much money. How could they waste money on him?"

"Then why did he come?"

"Who knows. Maybe he's not giving up and wants to shamelessly beg for a chance. Or maybe he wants to borrow money from teachers and classmates to buy a qualification certificate?"

"Is he crazy? I won't lend him money. Lending money to throw it away—how could I get it back?"

"I'm not short of that money, but we're classmates. Knowing he can't pass and still lending him money, giving him doomed hope, seems crueler. I can't bear it."

"Tsk tsk, class monitor, you're really kind…"

Everyone in the classroom was whispering; the classmates' gazes were the same as yesterday, exuding a sense of superiority looking down on him.

If it were yesterday, Feng Mu would feel suffocating oppression, but after a day, hearing this kind of trash talk again, his heart was no longer affected.

"Just a group of walking blood bags; I have no need to be angry."

Feng Mu turned a deaf ear, walked into the classroom, and sat back in his own seat.

The surrounding classmates, seeing him approach, seemed truly afraid of being pestered by him for money; they hurriedly shifted their gazes away, each avoiding him as much as possible.

Feng Mu curled his lip, sensing the change in his mindset.

"Because I have hope, I have confidence. But precisely because of this, I must keep a low profile and develop; I absolutely cannot swell with pride!!!"

Feng Mu secretly admonished himself in his heart. The reason he came to class first instead of sneaking to the warehouse was also out of this consideration.

"Since I've come to school, I must continue to play the role of a good student. At least, my behavioral trajectory cannot differ too much from the past, to avoid attracting attention."

Feng Mu wasn't guarding against classmates; he was simply preparing for a rainy day. After all, two students had died in the warehouse, and the Patrol Bureau would surely come to the school to investigate sooner or later.

Suppose the two deceased had last contacted their families yesterday morning when they left for school.

And,

Their parents are more vigilant, so right now, the Patrol Bureau might have already received a "Missing Person" report~

Feng Mu listened to the class distractedly, his train of thought having long since drifted to the warehouse.

Cultural Class ended, and there were still two Martial Arts Classes in the morning.

Feng Mu passed through the corridor, his line of sight glancing toward the Playground several times, but he did not see the Patrol Bureau's Blue White Car, and the urgency in his Nei Xin eased a little.

Arriving at the Martial Arts Classroom, the air's Temperature suddenly pitched high; amid the smell permeated with sweat and hormones, rows of students who had changed into martial arts uniforms seemed to transform into upright walking ferocious beasts, madly swinging Muscle, bombarding various Instruments, and then jumping out real-time detection data.

Fist Force 2.9 Grade.

Attack Speed 2.6 Frequency.

Technique 1.4 Stage.

Feng Mu subconsciously looked toward that Instrument in the Center of the field, his Yanyi twitching hard.

The figure standing beside the Instrument had muscles knotted all over; through the clothes soaked with sweat, one could still see tendons wriggling like thick earthworms.

"Zhao Chong, ranked second in the most recent Third Year Martial Arts Mock Exam."

Looking at Zhao Chong, surrounded at the center like stars cupping the moon by his own classmates, Feng Mu silently withdrew his gaze and walked toward the corner at the edge.

Every kind of Martial Arts Apparatus has a different function; the only similarity is that several students surround each piece of Apparatus, and Feng Mu did not go join the bustle.

In the past, it was because of inferiority or being unable to snatch a spot;

Today, he purely couldn't be bothered to move; the strong sensation of food accumulation in his Stomach made him afraid that even a little vigorous exercise would make him vomit.

Vomiting isn't scary, but if he vomited a floor full of Iron Beads, that scene would be too beautiful; Feng Mu dared not imagine it.

"Without borrowing the power of the Sacrificial Ritual, my Digestion is this strenuous, huh? Feeling like I've only digested less than 1/10 so far, my Stomach still feels bloated and unbearable."

Feng Mu frowned slightly, calculating silently in his heart.

"At this speed, I probably still need about 10 hours to finish digesting and conduct the next Eat Iron."

"One full satiety is 0.5% Edibility; about two times a day, meaning a total growth of 1% Edibility per day; then to fully accumulate to 100%, it would need 100 days?"

What happens when Edibility accumulates full, the system gave no definite answer.

Feng Mu speculated there were two possibilities: one is that he would then be able to absorb a characteristic of Pig Iron; the other is that the 【Iron Eater】 skill would rise to Second Stage.

But whichever it is, it should be able to let his strength undergo a metamorphosis once.

"100 days to complete a metamorphosis, theoretically speaking is absolutely not slow, but, is there a way to speed it up a bit?"

(End of Chapter)