Chapter 14: What the hell kind of ability is this?

"I'll climb up first, then pull you up. You hear me? Don't move around blindly while you're in the air, or I'll end up shaking you onto the rebar and skewering you."

"Alright," Li Gang heard it was a girl's voice and felt a bit worried about whether she could save him. He wanted to ask a question, but the person in front of him vanished with a *swish*.

No, she had grabbed the rope and climbed out with a *swish*. Good heavens, was this a monkey sent for rescue?

Liu Mu wasn't surprised by her own speed; this was the result of the system's training program being implemented. Once on the ground, she didn't feel it was strenuous to pull people up with the rope.

If it were before, let alone a man weighing over a hundred jin, she couldn't even carry a fifty-jin bag of rice up a few floors, let alone pull one up, unless it was a free gift.

By the time she got him up, that dog Niu Boyi had actually cleared a spot, "Put him here, woof woof woof, put him here, put the gatekeeper here!"

His intelligence had indeed risen along with his physical strength.

Liu Mu rested the person against a broken wall, unhooked her canteen, inserted the straw under his mask so he could drink slowly, and stuffed a piece of Compressed Biscuits into his hand, "Eat it yourself once you can swallow. I have things to do. If you feel unbearable, have the dog come find me; otherwise, don't disturb me."

Leaving the heavy responsibility of caring for the person to Niu Boyi, Liu Mu continued searching for steel without a shred of guilt. It was the end of the world, after all; if your life isn't tough, how can you survive? Besides, if Xu Xiaofeng hadn't prepared spare masks and heatstroke medicine today, she wouldn't even have brought these.

The large steel ingots in the Steel Rolling Mill were different from the ones outside. After Luo Sanlin came by yesterday, Liu Mu decided they couldn't be left in the yard for the time being, lest someone else come by, see them, and invite unnecessary danger.

Without an ability, her combat power was only slightly higher than an ordinary person's, so she had to be cautious in everything she did. Her life was what mattered.

Speaking of abilities...

Sigh, it wasn't that the Heitao A Xitong was bad, but Liu Mu knew deeply that to gain a foothold in the apocalypse, individual combat power was also a very important condition. If only she could also awaken a powerful combat-type ability.

Later on, there were more and more ability users, and according to combat power and practicality, abilities were gradually divided into four grades: A, B, C, and D. The moment of awakening determined the attribute and combat power; the better they were, the rarer they were, and they were also the targets that major factions fought to recruit.

Liu Mu had spent half her life in logistics, partly because others thought her ability was a space for storing items. If she hadn't been foolish at the start and trusted a man, she might have lived a bit better. Of course, that kind of life of living under someone else's thumb was not what she wanted, no matter how good it was.

Just as she was fantasizing about possessing some Grade A ability, slaughtering her way through the apocalypse, making a fortune with no one daring to provoke her, and then reaching the pinnacle of life to become a hegemon, a system prompt that was almost repetitive suddenly added a different line.

【Detected that steel recycling has broken through the system's level one limit. Rewarding the host with one Yinneng Chouka opportunity. Do you wish to draw?】

"What the hell?" The system's information acted directly on the brain and wasn't a form of existence like sound at all, but Liu Mu still doubted for a moment if she had auditory hallucinations.

The system repeated the words above and 'thoughtfully' added, 【You heard that right. Level up, draw a card. Are you drawing or not?】

Liu Mu hurriedly asked, "Yinneng Chouka? Is this what I think it means? Hehehe, does it mean I can use the ability I draw?"

【It can be used to awaken the host's ability. Draw? If not, continue recycling. Perhaps you can let the system rise from level two to level three, then draw.】

She knew that the storage space of the Heitao A Xitong could be upgraded, especially when a certain single item was recycled in large enough quantities, but she thought she would at least have to recycle everything here first. She hadn't expected the energy provided by steel to be so high.

"Draw! Draw first!"

Liu Mu didn't have the bad habit of saving good things for later enjoyment, especially after having experienced the apocalypse once. The idea of "the person is dead but the money is still there"—she wouldn't do that!

So she drew one immediately.

The drawing method was very simple: a nine-grid option, the image in every box was the same, and then you just drew one at random.

She drew her lucky number, from left to right, from top to bottom, the eighth one!

"Draw an 8, I'm bound to get rich!" Liu Mu said the auspicious words, and like a veteran gambler, she pressed down on the image, only moving her fingers away extremely slowly after the system flipped the card over.

"Hehehe, what kind of good thing will it be?"

On the panel that only she could see, the surrounding cards flipped over one after another. Apart from four 'Thanks for your patronage' cards and the one she was pressing, the remaining four were: Fireman Grade C, Healing Grade D, Strongman Grade B, and Wind-Caller Grade D.

Each ability had a small note below it. Except for 'Strongman', which strengthened the human physique, the others weren't particularly strong.

Liu Mu felt sweat rolling down the back of her hand. Fortunately, her fingers were limited in number, and she finally displayed the card she had drawn in the air.

The card was an elegant ink-blue, with 'Peddler Grade C' written on it in striking red. Below it was a row of tiny words: Congratulations, future tycoon, mover of wealth. I will accompany you in trading and haggling, buying low and selling high. Making money brings us together, mountains of gold and silver are beckoning to us. Love business as you love life!

"Just... just this?"

Liu Mu couldn't grasp the essence of this card, so she thought in a profound direction, hoping it hid some remarkable ability.

【Don't overthink it, host. A peddler is just a peddler.】

Liu Mu was furious, "I can't tear people apart with words, I can't fight wolves with force. I'm the big Boss of a Waste Recycling Station, and you give me a card that awakens me into a Grade C peddler? Do you think I care for this? Get lost!"

Once awakened, it was something that couldn't be changed for a lifetime. A Grade C? Was she the kind of sucker for that?

With a swipe of her finger, she was about to throw this card into the corner of the system space to gather dust; she never wanted to see it again in this life.

【Wait! Host, are you sure you don't want to look at the specific description below? This card is not ordinary. Why don't you take a closer look?】

Heitao A enlarged the card. It turned out there was dense, tiny text below the card description. If one didn't look carefully, one would think it was just decorative patterns.

Pushed right in front of her eyes, Liu Mu scanned it with extreme disdain, and then her eyes froze.

"What the hell? Abilities and related skills can also be upgraded? You kid are trying to fool me, right? How come I've never heard that they can be upgraded?"

Actually, these questions were completely redundant. The data and information provided by the system never went wrong. Although Liu Mu often blathered that it was useless, it was actually very capable!

"Ability: Merchant; Stage: Peddler - Speculator - Profiteer - Wealthy Merchant - Godly Tycoon. Godly Tycoon? The kind of Godly Tycoon who buys half a city with one dollar? No, I mean, is this a proper ability? And it has stages?"

【Host, you can't believe short dramas. Once the value of currency fluctuates beyond the limit, the economic system will inevitably collapse, and currency will have no value. Human research on abilities is not perfect, leading to the erroneous cognition that one cannot continue to advance after awakening an ability. In fact, most abilities can be upgraded, but the conditions required are extremely harsh.】

The system gave an explanation. What surprised Liu Mu was that after her rebirth, the system's information and functions seemed to have changed a lot, such as space upgrades allowing card draws, and the information about abilities...

"Did you know all this before? Why didn't you tell me in my past life?"

Liu Mu reached out and pinched the card. A faint light flashed, and a physical card really appeared in her hand. She was wearing gloves, yet she could still feel a trace of cold metallic touch, which was quite magical.

【Past life? Host, may I ask how long ago that was? The system's information was last iterated and upgraded on March 10, 2024, at 3:00 AM. Are you referring to before that?】

Liu Mu was stumped instead. Just as she was about to say "past life," the words on the tip of her tongue suddenly stopped.

Wait a minute! Could it be that Heitao A didn't know she was reborn?

"Um, Xiao A, how did we meet again?"

The inventory of items from her past life was still in the space. Was this system suffering from memory confusion, or was there some other reason?

【The time Heitao A bound with you was December 21, New Era Year 10. It has iterated and upgraded 2 times since then and is currently in its third version. Host, the system suggests you immediately initiate ability awakening. The skills related to the Merchant Path are the most practical for your career planning, and the upgrade conditions are easy. Take the first step, double your wealth, and help you dominate!】