Things Were Different Now

After his initial surprise, Qu Jianlei steadied himself and began to think calmly.

Actually, he had never been particularly interested in things like "systems."

From a standpoint of plausibility, carrying around an old grandpa Remnant Soul made more sense than a system.

If a system truly existed, especially one that could issue quests and the like, what kind of terrifying entity would have to stand behind it?

Qu Jianlei believed he could not casually abandon his intelligence, so he began calculating everything carefully.

Then he silently recited the Nameless Qi Refining Art again, savoring it over and over until he finally sorted out the clues.

This Qi Refining Art truly lived up to the name "Nameless." Though it contained more than four thousand words, many cultivation details were vague and unclear.

It was not that the explanations were unclear; rather, the details were simply missing.

Moreover, where those details were missing, it was not that there was no cultivation approach, but that... there were too many possibilities.

Qu Jianlei slapped his thigh. I finally get it. This Nameless Qi Refining Art was something I deduced myself!

Xiao Hu had most likely crossed over with him. After all, artificial intelligence... could also be regarded as a string of electromagnetic code.

Previously, this body had been too weak to awaken Xiao Hu at all.

This time, he had encountered an unexpected opportunity and consumed a great deal of Nutrient Solution, which activated Xiao Hu.

Xiao Hu had originally been able to communicate with him through brainwaves, so it sensed his need just now.

Thus, the artificial intelligence got to work, cramming at the last minute and hurriedly deducing a cultivation technique...

Was it fantastical? Of course it was, but Qu Jianlei felt it was still more plausible than being possessed by a system.

As proof, many Taoist Sect texts that he had not remembered very clearly could now be recalled word for word.

Well then, he had originally only possessed strong computational ability, but now he had gained a superhuman memory as well.

However, people with hyperthymesia had it even harder than people with supercomputing abilities. Never being able to forget anything they saw was truly frustrating...

Fine, none of that was important. What mattered was that this explained why the Nameless Qi Refining Art contained ambiguities.

How strong could a cultivation technique deduced in a little over an hour possibly be?

Furthermore, the computational power supporting Xiao Hu was not Shenzhou's vast supercomputing network, but one malnourished human brain.

Its power source was no longer an endless supply of massive electricity, but... a mere few tubes of Nutrient Solution.

Though it was said that "the human body itself is an inexhaustible treasure trove," he should already be content with this outcome.

Qu Jianlei calmed himself and rewarded himself with a large gulp of water.

After thinking for nearly another two minutes, he made a decision: go for it!

The Qi Refining Art was incomplete? That did not matter. As long as he could prove that he had developed a sensation of qi in his Lower Dantian, that was enough!

He spent ten minutes conducting eighteen experiments.

For the final experiment, he waited five minutes beforehand to prevent habitual illusions.

Half an hour later, he tried again. It still worked. That settles it!

It truly did not matter that the Qi Refining Art was incomplete. As long as he had sorted out the train of thought, he could slowly deduce it bit by bit.

Although Qu Jianlei possessed an extremely high IQ and his thoughts leaped quickly, he did not have the impatience common to highly intelligent people.

It was perfectly normal for him to spend three to five months on a project, and he greatly enjoyed the process of exploring difficult problems.

Most importantly, from now on, he had a direction to strive toward.

The most frightening things in life were confusion and despair. Once there was hope, one's Essence, Energy, and Spirit would become different.

Then he practiced standing meditation for another ten minutes. After exhausting himself completely, he lay down on the ground and fell asleep.

He probably did not sleep for very long, but the quality of his sleep was excellent. When Qu Jianlei woke up, he was full of energy.

Then he consumed half a tube of Nutrient Solution and returned to his home with yesterday's spoils.

His home was roughly forty kilometers from the shelter, which was also the radius of Qu Jianlei's usual activities.

The farthest he ever ventured was a little over sixty kilometers, and he would never go beyond seventy kilometers. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous.

His dwelling was a semi-underground structure of roughly nine square meters, and that was after he had expanded it.

When Qu Jianlei had first crossed over, this small structure had not been much bigger than the shelter.

There were over a hundred similar buildings around his home. Out in the Wasteland, it could be considered a Settlement.

However, this Settlement had formed spontaneously and had no managers. No one could control anyone else.

The owners of some buildings would suddenly disappear and never show up again, after which newcomers would occupy those buildings.

If Mutated Beasts attacked, the residents could choose to flee or resist. There were no responsibilities or obligations whatsoever.

But in an official Settlement, things were different. Responsibilities and obligations were clearly defined, along with corresponding rewards and punishments.

Therefore, petty theft was unavoidable in such wild Settlements.

Strangely enough, especially serious violent incidents were quite rare instead.

In the end, they were simply Survivors huddling together for warmth. If public safety became too poor, who would still come?

When facing Mutated Beasts, everyone could still choose to run, but when they encountered the Fallen, running was useless. They could only fight to the death.

Qu Jianlei had not been home for a week. When he returned to take a look, thankfully no one had occupied his little nest.

However, the spare Tricycle in the room was gone, along with several Metal Rods and most of his charcoal.

Charcoal was an extremely important resource in the Wasteland. It could not only provide warmth, but also ward off toxic gas and filter polluted water.

Qu Jianlei had not stored much charcoal, only around ten kilograms.

It was not that he did not want to store more, but the more he stored, the faster it disappeared. As a standard pauper, he would not take that risk.

If he normally lost this much charcoal, he would probably curse a couple of times without much feeling—he could not get it back anyway, and not cursing would leave him irritated.

But this time, even his spare Tricycle had been stolen. That was going too far.

So he walked to another semi-underground building and said in a deep voice, "Fat Sister, I want to ask you something."

A plump woman emerged from underground. She was about one meter sixty tall and weighed around eighty kilograms.

She recognized Qu Jianlei's voice and had initially looked impatient.

But when she saw the Gauss Automatic Rifle behind him and caught sight of the Laser Pistol at his waist, a smile immediately spread across her face.

"It's Little Qu. What does Fat Sister owe this visit?"

Qu Jianlei asked expressionlessly, "I want to know who took my spare Tricycle... and my charcoal."

"How would I know?" Fat Sister's face immediately darkened. Her expression changed with astonishing speed.

"I run a general store selling odds and ends, not guard your house. Asking me about this... have you gone stupid again?"

Even in this wild Settlement, there was a general store. Fat Sister also sold meat on the side.

Qu Jianlei's face darkened. "You've bought my Tricycles from outsiders twice before."

Though Fat Sister ran a small business, her operations covered a wide range. Buying stolen goods was perfectly normal for her.

In any case, she had definitely not stolen them herself. She could even tell him who had sold the goods to her.

As far as she was concerned, that was already decent business practice—if she personally stole from him, there was nothing he could do about it anyway.

But upon hearing that, Fat Sister immediately became angry. "You got yourself two guns, and now you think you're something special?"

She dared do business like this because she had people backing her—did having guns make him so impressive?

This was precisely the predicament Qu Jianlei had faced before.

Although Qu Jianlei was weak, if he truly wanted to get a gun or a Vibrating Blade, the difficulty... was not especially great.

He was skilled at setting traps, and fighting and killing were simply too common in the Wasteland.

For example, if two groups got into a conflict, all he had to do was watch from the shadows. He might be able to pick up the leftovers.

Qu Jianlei would not do that, because he understood clearly that even if he got his hands on a gun, he would still be alone.

If more than ten guns surrounded him, all he could do was kneel. Resisting would be meaningless.

Unless he could use his own abilities to build a team and form a force of his own.

However, that was unrealistic. His social skills were abysmal.

Qu Jianlei had only ever sincerely befriended one person. He had once considered doing just that, but that guy had died two days ago.

So even if he managed to get several guns, he would only bring humiliation upon himself in the end and might even lose his life.

When one carried a sharp blade, murderous intent arose naturally. Better not to entertain that thought at all.

Fat Sister understood this very well, so she was not afraid of Qu Jianlei despite his full armament.

Qu Jianlei silently took down the Gauss Automatic Rifle from his back and disengaged the safety. "Say that again?"

"Are you crazy?" Fat Sister's expression changed. To be honest, she truly was a little worried that this fool would lose his mind.

"My younger brother is a Hunter... with the Red Bull Team! My older brother is in the Flying Car Gang!"

That was what she relied on in business. Her younger brother was her actual younger brother, while her older brother was the husband of her co-wife.

How solid those relationships were was hard to say, but she truly did have connections.

"I knew that already." Qu Jianlei smiled faintly and pulled the trigger.

The Gauss Automatic Rifle struck the ground, sending dirt flying and leaving behind a hole the size of a wine cup.

"But since I have two guns, I should at least take a gamble."

Gamble my ass! Fat Sister cursed inwardly. He really is a complete idiot.

But when faced with this kind of stubborn fool, she had no choice. She could not just wait for him to go berserk.

So she answered decisively, "I heard Morrison has been hauling goods with a Tricycle at the Mine lately. I don't know whether it's yours."

Morrison? Qu Jianlei really did know the man, and his expression instantly became much stranger.

"He can endure that kind of hardship?"

"Maybe he just wants to sell the Tricycle," Fat Sister replied resentfully.

She knew Morrison better. That guy might be capable of sneaking around and stealing, but he absolutely could not endure hardship.

Qu Jianlei stared at her for a while, then suddenly asked, "And my charcoal... you bought that too?"

Fat Sister's general store sold charcoal in the first place. This stuff was not produced locally—there were no trees anywhere nearby!

Qu Jianlei's charcoal had been stolen dozens of times, and much of it had often ended up directly in Fat Sister's hands.

After all, charcoal all looked more or less the same, so there was no way to mark it.

Even if he secretly made a mark, one kick would shatter it into several pieces. How could he investigate then?