Big Brother Forever

Kang De walked back.

"It really works."

He put on the Sharpshooter's Thumb Ring, pulled out his nail gun, and fired a few shots. He could indeed feel a mysterious force affecting his body. His hand seemed steadier, his mind calmer, and his shots more accurate.

He put down the nail gun and took off the ring to examine it. He could see an Element array in the ring too. Its construction was intricate and detailed, even more complex than Roar of the Crimson Flame, but he wasn't completely at a loss.

"But what Element is this... accuracy?" he muttered. "What should I extract it from? A scope? Damn, that would be way too expensive."

The crossbow he had found in the police station's confiscated-items storeroom did have a scope.

But there was only one, and Kang De couldn't bear to extract it.

Maybe he could extract Wuwukai... damn it, where was he supposed to find him?

"And there's this Cat's Eye Stone Amulet. Seeing in the dark... an infrared imager."

This was even more useful, but... he had no idea where to extract the Night Vision Element, either.

Night Vision Element, Accuracy Element.

"These two Elements... are kind of profound and advanced."

Kang De thought aloud.

Sharpness was sharpness, sturdiness was sturdiness, fire was fire, and ice was ice... These Elements were common and easy to understand, all very basic things.

But night vision and accuracy felt much more complicated.

"Elements like flame feel like elemental substances, while Elements like night vision are like compounds, and compounds with really complicated molecular structures at that..."

Wait.

A flash of inspiration crossed Kang De's mind.

An elemental substance was a pure substance composed of one chemical element.

A compound was a pure substance composed of two or more chemical elements.

In other words...

"Could two simple, basic Elements be combined into a more advanced Element?"

The thought crossed his mind, and Kang De rolled his eyes at himself.

"Damn it, am I going to write a periodic table of Elements in another world?"

But he had to admit, it was a very reasonable line of thought.

"Now let's take another look at this shield... it's pretty heavy."

Kang De held the holy shield up in one hand and examined it, then breathed a sigh of relief. "The elves sure have a lot of fancy tricks. Human products are more straightforward and brutal. Immovable as a Mountain, I recognize this one: the Sturdiness Element. I can extract it from stone and steel. Divine Fire-Warding Radiance is also made of the Flame Element. Huh..."

An intrigued expression appeared on his face.

Roar of the Crimson Flame on the shortsword was also an enchantment made from the Flame Element. It enhanced objects with fire, granting them the power to burn, so they could kill enemies and set targets ablaze.

The Divine Fire-Warding Radiance enchantment on the shield was also made from the Flame Element, but its effect was to suppress fire. Both were made from the Flame Element, but their arrays were different, allowing them to produce completely different effects.

He recalled the Element structure of Roar of the Crimson Flame.

"There are connections between the two, but differences too..." he murmured. "I suppose this is the mystery of magic. It's part of the curriculum that formally trained mages study step by step. They must understand it, but I don't..."

After all, even if he was willing to learn, there was no mage to teach him on this deserted island.

He raised his head and looked toward the distant horizon.

"The continent, huh..."

Forget it, forget it. He'd leave that alone for now and copy what he could use.

Immovable as a Mountain and Divine Fire-Warding Radiance were both useful enchantments he could quickly copy. The former could be placed on shields or even fortifications for defense, and the same was true of the latter. If it could ward off fire, he could set even more exciting fires. Just thinking about it, it was incredibly useful.

As for this necklace that boosted charisma...

"The Charisma Element, huh..."

A pink Element array flowed across the necklace. It wasn't particularly complex.

But where the hell was he supposed to extract the Charisma Element?

"Too bad the extraction process is destructive..." Kang De rubbed his chin. "Otherwise, I could extract it directly from myself... I'd definitely get a lot."

Who gave a damn?

This enchantment was even more fucking useless to him.

Would I, Kang De, a proud successor to socialism, possessor of powerful superpowers, and visitor from another world with the wealth of Earth's civilization in my hands, really stoop to wearing something like this and living off my looks?!

Without hesitation, he put the necklace around his neck.

Then he took out his phone and checked his face.

"...Fuck!"

The unyielding man of Earth let out a curse.

Even swearing... he was so damn handsome!

His face was still the same face, but his eyes seemed more melancholy, and his bearing seemed more captivating. All in all, there was an indescribably mysterious quality that transformed Kang De from an ax-wielding hunk into a pretty boy in an instant.

"I never thought I'd look this handsome in my life..."

He murmured, "I almost want to go on Idol Producer..."

Overwhelming vanity took over his mind, and Kang De even considered just wearing the necklace all the time.

Just then, the parrot flew over and froze when it saw Kang De.

"2333333!"

It let out this inexplicable burst of wild laughter.

Then it squawked, "Why are you wearing Pinru's clothes?! Why are you wearing Pinru's clothes?!"

And it promptly flew away.

Kang De's face darkened as he yanked off the necklace, turning back into a fully armed wilderness-survival tactical hunk carrying an ax, shotgun, Molotov cocktails, and a machete.

But it was already too late.

Kang De couldn't communicate fluently with these animals in words, but the beasts of different species could communicate with one another in ways he couldn't understand. Moments later, dust billowed ahead as the wildly cackling parrot swooped in with a pack of the wretches. Their eyes were all alight with excitement, as though they had come to see an idiot.

"...All of you, get lost!"

More than twenty minutes later, Kang De had cowed the wretches with threats to cut off their booze and snacks, and returned home.

There was still a long time before evening. He wanted to study enchantments and tidy up his things first, making some preparations for tomorrow's search... Today's battle with the Black Beast had exposed some problems.

"I need to upgrade my weapons, especially my ranged attacks."

Enchantments, especially fire enchantments, could directly increase offensive power. Enchanting melee weapons with Roar of the Crimson Flame went without saying, and firearms could be enhanced along the same lines.

His shotgun and handgun ammunition was extremely limited. He was more accustomed to using the nail gun, though he sometimes used the crossbow too. The crossbow's advantage was that its bolts could be reused, but one drawback of enchantment was that once the material's limit was exceeded, the enchanted object would be completely destroyed.

So the nail gun it was.

Relatively speaking, he had a huge supply of ammunition for it.

"There's actually another approach... like adding another barrel to the nail gun's muzzle and enchanting a dozen or so electromagnetic coils onto it. A Gauss gun..."

He muttered, "The handgun and shotgun could be handled similarly. Guns are made of many parts. If I enchanted and enhanced each part accordingly, would they become more powerful?"

Unfortunately, he had too little ammunition and too few guns.

Enchanting them wouldn't make much difference, and there was a risk of destroying them... He couldn't get those things again.

"Why isn't there a militia armory belonging to the People's Armed Forces Department near the residential complex..."

He'd better enchant and enhance the nails first and make a few boxes of incendiary ammunition.

As for the other enchantments... he was completely stumped on accuracy, with no idea where to extract it.

The same went for night vision. Where was he supposed to find an infrared night vision device... wait.

He stroked his chin in thought. "A lot of animals can see in the dark too..."

Cats, for example.

So...

Forget it, forget it. Cats were so cute. How could he extract a kitty?

Kang De pondered. "But I remember cats and animals like them have good night vision, first because of the structure of their eyes, second because they have more rod cells, and third because of their diet. Cats hunt and kill snakes and mice, taking in lots of taurine. Taurine helps with seeing in dim light. Taurine... that sounds a little familiar..."

He suddenly remembered. "Isn't that the stuff in Red Bull?"

An active ingredient in energy drinks.

Kang De got up and took a few cans of Red Bull out of the fridge.

He extracted and decomposed them, producing piles of Elements in different colors, and slowly tested them one by one.

"...Damn, it really is there!"

There wasn't much... but that was fine. He had plenty of Red Bull.

Pleased to have made progress in this area, Kang De cheered up.

Next, he would study those useful, complex enchantments.

The five enchantments on the shortsword and round shield were all extremely useful, and their constituent Elements were easy to extract.

But their structures were rather complex.

He had to analyze them before he could become familiar with them, and draw them before he could commit them to memory.

Kang De thought for a moment, then took out his laptop.

"Fuck."

The Earthling muttered to himself, "I never thought that even after transmigrating to another world, I'd see the day I opened that stupid-ass software CAD again..."

Civil engineering dog, time to draw.

A long time passed, until evening.

Kang De appeared outside the Goth camp. Wearing sunglasses, he strode swiftly through the darkness, a mysterious light flowing across the lenses.

He was pushing a handcart stacked with boxes of all sizes.

"Some food from my homeland, and plenty of drinks, as a welcome for you."

Cleveland took the cart and smiled gently. "You're too kind. The banquet is just about to begin."

The princess came out to greet him too. She had changed into a white, magnificent dress. She looked elegant and graceful, and her noble bearing shone through.

Kang De nodded and smiled at her. "Hello, Tina. You look beautiful tonight."

The princess gracefully lifted her skirt and curtsied.

Together, they walked into the camp, bright with firelight.

Goth People stood in twos and threes beside the tents, all sizing Kang De up. Their gazes held curiosity and caution. Kang De had fought two battles in all, and they already understood the Cathayan's strength.

"I brought a few things. I hope you'll like them."

He handed the ingredients and seasonings from the cart to the head cook and the other kitchen staff.

Kang De had played a little trick. He had emptied small packets of various seasonings into large bottles. The trick worked perfectly. When the cook and his apprentices saw the large bottles and bags of spices, they looked at Kang De as though they were looking at an eastern emperor.

Their attitude had changed from initial curiosity and indifference to solemn respect and attentive listening.

"This is hot pot base..."

"Instant noodles. Just put them in the big pot and boil them. They'll be ready in a moment. Sprinkle in the seasoning. Yes, all of it, it's not much... hey, stop eating that."

Poor thing, licking the instant-noodle seasoning packet. Was he a three-year-old?

And so on.

The banquet got off to an even livelier start.

Because there was alcohol, a great variety of it.

Because there was food, delicious food they had never seen before.

Because there were spices. Those transparent jars, red as fire, contained fearsome, mysterious spice blends. Awe-inspiring eastern runes adorned the bottles, and a dignified woman gazed calmly at everyone.

It was wonderful.

The Goth People were utterly won over by this lavish display.

For sailors like them, wealth deserved respect and strength inspired awe. A man who was both a good fighter and rich naturally deserved a toast.

They toasted Kang De one after another.

Kang De accepted every one.

Ever since the crystals had strengthened his body, it had become difficult for him to get drunk.

He just had to secretly extract the food he put in his mouth first, and do the same with the wine he drank.

To see whether it was poisoned.

Necessary precautions had to be taken.

Amid the exuberant atmosphere, emboldened by drink, he called aside the dozen or so Goth People he had beaten up yesterday... A grudge was still a grudge, after all, and it was better to settle it.

In any case, he hadn't suffered at all yesterday. The Goth People were the ones who had come off worse: some had been shot, some had been shocked into convulsions by a stun baton, and some had been sent flying by an ax. As a civilized, magnanimous Earthling, Kang De naturally had to show his generosity and extend an olive branch-there was no point in pursuing who had been right or wrong anymore.

They went into a large tent, the sleeping quarters for their group.

"I know what you Goth People are like. Your word is worth its weight in gold. If you say you won't hold a grudge, you won't hold one from then on." Kang De took a laptop from his backpack and opened it. "Take a look at this."

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the glowing screen.

To a burst of stirring music, a Japanese man and woman, completely open with each other, began to grapple fiercely.

The unsophisticated bumpkins from another world nearly popped their eyes out.

Kang De's voice seemed to come from far away. "There are three hours in total. Three hours. I'll leave this thing here with you, and we'll call it even for the beating you took yesterday. You can't bring it up again, and you can't hold a grudge either. Whoever secretly bears a grudge against me after this isn't one of the Goth People. How about it?"

Looking at those dozen or so pairs of eyes, Kang De knew that tonight, at this very moment, he had become this bunch of Goth People’s big brother forever.

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PS1: Second update... good night, everyone. This chapter was nearly four thousand Chinese characters again, so I finished writing it very late. Hopefully I can update earlier tomorrow.

PS2: Come to think of it, I haven't paid much attention to the Japanese industry lately. Are there any newcomers worth watching? I mean the wholesome kind, so don't get the wrong idea, and definitely don't post any strange names in the inline comments, understood?