A Small Goal

Zhou Haiyi walked up to Lu Hong and said in a "gentle" voice, "Lu Hong, are you going to confess on your own, or should I find a way to make you talk?"

Lu Hong looked lifeless, his voice hoarse. "Ask whatever you want, Teacher."

Zhou Haiyi shook her head slightly. "Though theft is wrong, your offense only counts as a minor one.

"If you hadn't found it, we wouldn't have known this thing existed.

"You still have a chance to make up for your mistake."

Chu Fei watched silently. Was it really just a minor offense?

But Lu Hong, trapped in despair, seemed to have grabbed hold of a final lifeline. He immediately perked up a little and began explaining everything.

Lu Hong's account was disjointed, but everyone still understood.

At first, Zhao Xiaofeng had approached Li Honggang and Lu Hong on behalf of the Flying Cloud Battle Team, offering to invest in them.

Li Honggang and Lu Hong were merely thirteen-year-old boys, and they happily accepted.

After the first investment, Zhao Xiaofeng bared his fangs and made a demand. He wanted them to "find something" in the teachers' offices: a Storage Card and a map of the Underground World.

It was the same matter Chu Fei had overheard for the first time.

Lu Hong found the Storage Card.

But partly resentful of Zhao Xiaofeng's coercion and partly driven by greed, he contacted a third party—the Golden Dragon Battle Team.

Lu Hong had made contact with that connection back in the village.

His plan was that the Storage Card could be copied. He would make a copy for the Golden Dragon Battle Team, obtain some benefits, then hand the original card over to Zhao Xiaofeng. That led to today's transaction.

Chu Fei's face twitched—what a show!

Zhou Haiyi nodded slightly. "So there was another map that hadn't been found. Why were these things hidden among the books in the office?"

Lu Hong shook his head. "Zhao Xiaofeng didn't tell us."

Zhou Haiyi then asked the boy beside him, "How did you get in touch with the Golden Dragon Battle Team? I don't recall any connection between Dawn Academy and the Golden Dragon Battle Team."

There was no response.

Huang Gang suddenly sprang forward and pried open the boy's mouth, but... he directly tore off the boy's jaw, and murky yellow pus and blood flowed out.

Huang Gang's expression changed. "It's the deadly poison Lunar Eclipse. His nervous system and brain have rotted away. There's no way to extract any useful information."

Chu Fei hurriedly backed away.

Zhou Haiyi remained calm. "Lunar Eclipse is a poison meant for Awakened. Things are getting interesting!"

Afterward, Zhou Haiyi contacted Wu Yong, then announced Lu Hong's punishment—three lashes.

Hearing it was only three lashes, Lu Hong perked up.

But when he saw four elderly men bringing over three-meter-long whips, his face went pale again.

After three lashes, Lu Hong lay on the ground, twitching.

Chu Fei's heart pounded at the sight. The three lashes had cut to the bone, peeling open the muscles across Lu Hong's back.

He could not help thinking of Jiang Shaohu, who had been beaten to death last time. A nameless gloom and wariness rose within Chu Fei:

If I don't become an Awakened, even staying alive will depend on the charity of others!

This time, he had only escaped thanks to reporting it to Huang Gang.

Suddenly, Zhou Haiyi called out, "Chu Fei."

"Here." Chu Fei practically jumped.

"Once Lu Hong catches his breath, take him to the medical room. Then bring Li Honggang here."

"Yes."

Chu Fei crouched beside Lu Hong, watching him twitch as he comforted him. "It's okay, it's okay. Hang in there a little longer. We'll be at the medical room soon."

After about a minute, Lu Hong caught his breath. Chu Fei supported him by the chest and abdomen, his back facing upward, and hurried toward the medical room.

Then he rushed straight to the cafeteria. It was dinner time, and sure enough, he found Li Honggang there.

"What is it?" Li Honggang had a strong dislike for Chu Fei.

Chu Fei snorted. "The teachers want you. They're in a hurry. I haven't even eaten dinner yet."

Li Honggang hesitated for a moment, set down his meal, and followed Chu Fei to the Academic Affairs Office. Cao Liwen had arrived as well. The corpse of the boy who had taken poison and killed himself had also been cleared away.

The moment Cao Liwen saw Li Honggang, he asked, "Did you find the map?"

Li Honggang was struck as if by lightning, utterly dumbfounded.

Huang Gang walked over to Chu Fei and said softly, "Come on. Let's eat."

Chu Fei silently followed Huang Gang away. He did not want to know, nor did he dare to know, what would happen next.

After silently finishing dinner, they walked across the square. Huang Gang took out two bottles of potion. "These are the two potions from earlier. One is a four-times-concentrated Superbrain Potion, and the other is a 10-calorie Supernatural Potion. They've been tested. There's nothing wrong with them."

Chu Fei accepted the potions and finally perked up. "Captain Huang, what does this 'calorie' in Supernatural Potion mean?"

Huang Gang pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever heard the claim that the soul weighs twenty-one grams?"

"Of course!" Chu Fei nodded. "But isn't that supposed to be false? It's mainly error caused by moisture evaporating after death and things like that."

Huang Gang shook his head. "Actually, the human body really does contain twenty-one grams of non-material matter. But it isn't the soul. It's pure energy."

"That can't be right. Twenty-one grams of pure energy? Wouldn't every person be a nuclear bomb?"

Huang Gang explained patiently, "The complexity of the human body is beyond imagination.

"To stay alive, every atom, every molecule, every base pair, every amino acid, every protein, and so on within the body must operate in an orderly manner.

"Not to mention human consciousness, which completely transcends natural evolution.

"To sustain a life-form like this, how much energy do you think is needed?

"Do three thousand calories a day really suffice?"

Chu Fei fell into thought.

Huang Gang continued, "The average Life Energy of a human is twenty-one grams.

"The minimum is eighteen grams, the maximum is twenty-five grams, and occasionally, there are geniuses who can exceed twenty-five grams.

"But that energy is fixed and cannot be mobilized. It forms the foundation of our lives, like bricks and stones.

"Then there is free energy. That is the portion we can use in daily life. It is very little, only at the microgram level.

"The average energy consumed by an ordinary adult in a day is around two micrograms, counted as one calorie."

Chu Fei listened silently. This was knowledge he had not yet encountered.

"Perception of Wind has a minimum energy consumption of 0.2 calories per hour. Does that mean an Awakened can only use it continuously for five hours?"

"Who told you an Awakened only has twenty-one grams of energy in their body?" Huang Gang's tone turned somewhat stern. "True Awakened do not merely have high potential. Their internal energy is also high.

"I heard that the City Lord has over thirty grams of energy in his body. That's practically a walking humanoid nuclear warhead."

Chu Fei disagreed. "Thirty grams of energy isn't that much more than twenty-one grams, is it?"

Huang Gang rolled his eyes. "The energy you can mobilize in a day is only two micrograms. They can mobilize no less than ten grams.

"One gram equals one million micrograms!

"Alright, the Supernatural Potion in your hand only contains ten calories of energy, but it could save your life at a critical moment. It's even a little more valuable than the Superbrain Potion, so don't waste it."

The night breeze drifted softly by. Chu Fei stood before the steps and watched Huang Gang leave.

Only after Huang Gang's figure had completely vanished into the darkness did Chu Fei take a deep breath and mutter to himself, "Today, I finally caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of this apocalypse.

"Here, ordinary people cannot control their own fate.

"I want to control my own fate. I want to become an Awakened!

"First, I'll set myself a small goal:

"Raise my Potential Index to 7.75 and learn the spell Perception of Wind!"