[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-wasteland-s-only-king":3,"chapter-wasteland-s-only-king-wasteland-s-only-king-chapter-53":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Wasteland's Only King",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1595085,2061,"Chapter 53: Discovery","wasteland-s-only-king-chapter-53",53,"\u003Cp>Old Yu’s Noodle House.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second floor room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crisp sound of ’crack,’ one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Yu Jin’s panel, lines of text popped up—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You used a Tier Three Energy Crystal!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You used a Tier Four Energy Crystal!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You used a Tier Five Energy Crystal!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You used a Tier Six Energy Crystal!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin didn’t hold back—he devoured all the Crystals he’d snagged from the hospital today in one go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hope I can promote to Tier Seven...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin murmured, his consciousness becoming hazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vision before his eyes quickly plunged into darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time slipped by.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blazing sun that had hung overhead was slowly sinking toward the horizon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ring ring—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like the first time he crystal-binged, Yu Jin was woken by the sound of his phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin opened his eyes, his mind clearing from the fog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t rush to answer; instead, he glanced at his panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You’re another step closer to becoming a Tier Seven Evolver!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Too bad.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin sighed softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he didn’t promote straight to Tier Seven, Yu Jin could feel he was just a step away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tier Six Late Stage Peak Limitless Perfection?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin thought of the phrasing from cultivation novels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tonight after I get back to Jiang City, I’ll hit up Jiangcheng Hospital again—should still be able to squeeze a few more Crystals.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin mentally outlined his plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang City wasn’t like Gunzhou. Its hospital size was top-notch even in all of Daxia’s south-central region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant it took in a wider variety of terminal patients—giving Yu Jin more opportunities to farm the loot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ring ring—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The phone kept vibrating; Yu Jin reached out and picked it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the caller ID, Yu Jin instinctively raised his brows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old Cui?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As college dorm buddies, they were familiar, but unless there was an emergency, phone-spamming was rare—Yu Jin’s phone counted nearly a dozen missed calls from Old Cui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beep—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The call connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old Yu!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui’s voice was urgent and tense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you busy right now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If not, hurry back! Yu Fei said he made a major discovery in the Wasteland game!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Both Brother Gang and I grilled him, but he wouldn’t spill—he only wants to tell you when you’re back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crash—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin pulled down Old Yu’s Noodle House’s shutter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood at the door, called a Didi that would drive him straight from Gunzhou to Jiang City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fare wasn’t cheap—over three hundred—but Yu Jin had cash and wasn’t going to scrimp on himself now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin settled in the backseat of the Didi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The driver was speedy, wind howled through the car window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin let the wind blow, remembering Old Cui’s call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Has to wait till I get back, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin was curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Yu Fei wasn’t the blabbermouth type like Brother Gang—he was calm, sharp, quick-thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he said that, then it likely meant his discovery in Wasteland was somehow tied to Yu Jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll know when I get back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin mulled it over for a while, dropped the thought, and unlocked his phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sent you the event plan, president.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a message Yan Yao had sent him earlier in the afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right below, a file: ’Jiang City Full-City Environmental Action Plan.pdf’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin opened it, noticing the document wasn’t stamped yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The citywide environmental action has two parts?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"First, mobilize city residents to get out and pick up trash, clear pollution around residential areas?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Second, led by Yu Jin and Yin Yao, head to Jiangcheng Economic Development Zone to tackle the chemical plant pollution?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin read through the plan thoroughly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He found—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The plan didn’t spell out exactly how to ’tackle the chemical plant’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gotta know:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chemical plant pollution was the ’chief’ of city pollution—fixing it was way tougher than picking up litter or purifying sewage rivers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chemical plant owners weren’t likely to cooperate with any environmental action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Yu Jin, this was about environmentalism—farming points, milking rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the plant owners, though, it was straight-up slicing their profits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Considering Yin Yao’s background, Yu Jin figured these problems weren’t really problems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eat soft rice? Shameful, but honestly—I just keep scarfing it down...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin shook his head, gazed outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Gunzhou’s busy streets, plenty of girls waving ’New Era Youth Corps’ banners were marching in teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their voices rang out together:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"New Era, Youth Corps!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We all love Ma Qiqi!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin shook his head and looked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiangcheng University.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boys’ dorm, Room 615.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Yu Jin pushed open the door, Old Cui, Brother Gang, and Yu Fei were all sitting upright and serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each had their own Wasteland game helmet positioned in front of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their gazes at those helmets carried some kind of vague, complicated emotion—mixed relief, and something like regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old Yu!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Yu Jin walked in, Yu Fei—head down and lost in thought—stood right up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Man, Old Yu, finally! You’re back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother Gang shouted, yanking Yu Jin to sit beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old Yu.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother Gang and I kept pressing Yu Fei for details, and he finally gave up a bit of his discovery just before you got here...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui glanced at Yu Jin, speaking quietly—his expression was a bit complicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What did he find?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin narrowed his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mood among the three was definitely strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hoo—!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui took a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Yu Fei, then Brother Gang; both nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Old Cui speak:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Last time, didn’t Yu Fei say he awakened the ’Knowledge’ attribute in Wasteland?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"These past couple days, he’s started accepting that and exploring the powers and uses of ’Knowledge’...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As a result, Yu Fei realized he acquired fragments of memory from that crazy old guy claiming to be from Alpha Star...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The memories are incomplete, just scattered bits—but once Yu Fei sorted them out, he stumbled onto a suffocating piece of intel!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Jin squinted even harder: \"What intel?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The helmet!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui raised his voice, pointing at the helmet in front of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yu Fei discovered—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If that crazy old man’s words are true—if Wasteland is alien tech and sooner or later we’ll end up in that post-apocalyptic world...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The helmet is the portal!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Anyone who’s touched and worn the helmet will, in the future, definitely be transported into the Wasteland World!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Others, if they don’t touch the helmet, have a chance to be forcibly sent over!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui fell silent for a moment, then added:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course, all this is only true if Wasteland really is an alien product, and the old man from Alpha Star’s so-called ’wasteland arrival’ is real...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the end,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Cui’s voice grew noticeably weaker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over time, and after his own experiences in the Wasteland game,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>deep down Old Cui was actually starting to believe that old man from Alpha Star...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d realized that Wasteland wasn’t just a simple game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arriving in the Wasteland World—maybe it really will happen someday!\u003C\u002Fp>",1170,"2026-06-06T09:25:00.978Z",1,"novelbin.me","29169f13cac66bbf9bfc536b2517b07bd1671810b53d29d95ca18b7138193966","wasteland-s-only-king-chapter-54","wasteland-s-only-king-chapter-52",370,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwasteland-s-only-king-cover.jpg"]