"Knock, knock, knock."
A sudden knock sounded at the door.
Qin Mu was a little puzzled. Who would come by so late at night?
Though puzzled, his hands moved quickly. He picked up the chunks of meat and the larva in the living room and carried them into the kitchen.
With a thought, he made the larva stop feeding to avoid being discovered.
After tidying everything away, Qin Mu went to the door and looked through the peephole.
Outside stood a one-armed middle-aged man with a square face and an exhausted expression.
"Uncle Qing."
Seeing who it was, Qin Mu quickly opened the door, ushered him inside, and had him sit in the living room.
The man was named Wang Qing. He was a retired soldier and had once been Qin Mu's father's squad leader in the military.
During the Beast Tide eight years ago, the original Qin Mu's father had lost his life, while Wang Qing had lost an arm.
According to him, he had returned alive only because the original Qin Mu's father had saved his life. That was why he had merely lost an arm.
After retiring, he had looked after Qin Mu all these years. Especially after the original Qin Mu's mother passed away as well, the original Qin Mu likely would not have held on without Wang Qing.
"Xiao Mu, have the results come out?"
Concern appeared on Uncle Qing's tired face as he asked.
"They're out. Five hundred and sixty points. I missed it by one point."
Qin Mu's expression was complicated.
"Five hundred and sixty?"
Uncle Qing fell silent. He sighed, pity in his eyes as he looked at Qin Mu. Only after a long while did he speak.
"Are you planning to repeat the year, or go to a junior college?"
He had been the one who cared most about the original Qin Mu over the years. He had handled nearly everything himself and had long treated him like his own nephew.
"I haven't decided yet."
Qin Mu shook his head. He truly had not considered his plans for the future.
He had only just arrived in this world, and his heart was still filled with too many questions.
"You really should think it over carefully.
Call me if anything comes up. No matter what you decide, I'll support you."
After chatting for a while, Uncle Qing carefully watched Qin Mu's expression. Only after confirming that nothing seemed wrong did he finally relax.
He knew the original Qin Mu too well.
Over the years, he had trained desperately to become a martial artist, even at the expense of his own body.
If Uncle Qing had not used his military connections to buy him quite a few high-quality army supplements, the original Qin Mu's body would have given out long ago with how hard he pushed himself.
The reason Uncle Qing had rushed over was that he feared the original Qin Mu might not take it well if he had done poorly on the exam.
After repeatedly telling Qin Mu to come to him if anything happened and confirming once more that he was fine, Uncle Qing finally left in relief.
Uncle Qing also lived in this residential complex. His wife had died of illness years ago, and he had only a son and a daughter. His eldest daughter was fifteen and taking the high school entrance exam this year, while his son was only eleven and still in elementary school.
After retiring, Uncle Qing had been assigned to work at a military factory. He was busy from morning until night every day. The work itself was not strenuous, but the hours were long and exhausting.
Whenever the original Qin Mu had problems, Uncle Qing had helped him deal with them, so the two had a close relationship.
After seeing Uncle Qing out, Qin Mu returned to the living room and let the larva continue feeding.
As the larva continued to eat, Qin Mu felt a faint force circulating through his body, repairing his internal injuries while also improving his physique.
He just did not know how great the improvement was.
"Tomorrow, I'll go to the Limit Martial Arts School and test my strength and speed."
"I hope there's a significant improvement."
Qin Mu silently thought to himself.
The Zerg were powerful, but this was only a larva. Qin Mu had no idea how much it could improve him.
He could only hope that after accumulating enough energy and transforming into a Worker Bug, the strength it fed back would be enough to make him a Pre-warrior.
Though it was nearly eleven o'clock, Qin Mu was not sleepy in the slightest. He simply returned to his computer desk to look through recent news and learn more about this world.
"A martial artist in the wilderness discovered a War God expert from the Limit Martial Arts School battling a Lord Monster. After a fierce struggle, the expert killed it with a single slash."
"The military announced a major breakthrough in the new generation of Laser Cannons, with miniaturization now in sight."
"The HR Alliance has developed a new Gene Potion capable of improving a martial artist's physical fitness."
Qin Mu greedily searched for information online. Combining it with the memories he possessed, he gained a clearer understanding of this world.
It was very late before Qin Mu finally fell into a deep sleep.
At dawn, when the sky was only beginning to brighten, an alarm woke Qin Mu.
Though he had not slept well, Qin Mu felt an unusual lightness in his body.
After sensing himself slightly, Qin Mu realized that the Zerg larva's feeding had restored part of his body, repairing some of the hidden injuries within him.
After getting up, Qin Mu immediately headed into the kitchen.
The Zerg larva had finished all of the more than one hundred jin of meat. After feeding all night, its body had grown from the size of a palm to half the length of an arm.
"A normal Zerg larva is about half an adult's forearm in size. The larva's body has already recovered."
Based on the feedback after the larva fed, it had not only regained its normal size, but the energy stored in its body had also reached one-fifth of what was needed to hatch into a Worker Bug.
Combining the information fed back by the larva, Qin Mu defined the energy needed for the larva to mutate into a Worker Bug as five energy points. Roughly one hundred jin of ordinary pork could provide one point of energy.
Unicorn Wild Boar meat contained about twice as much energy as ordinary pork.
In other words, for the larva to mutate into a Worker Bug, it needed five hundred jin of ordinary pork or two hundred and fifty jin of Unicorn Wild Boar meat.
Last night, the Zerg larva had eaten sixty jin of ordinary pork and fifty jin of Unicorn Wild Boar meat. Part of it had been used to restore its body, while the rest had been stored. It already had one point of energy.
As long as it ate another two hundred jin of Unicorn Wild Boar meat or four hundred jin of ordinary pork, it would complete the accumulation and pupate into a Worker Bug.
With its arm-sized body, even if it ate without stopping, consuming several hundred jin of meat would take one or two days.
One or two days to transform from a larva into a Worker Bug might be astonishing growth speed for other races, but for the Zerg, it was actually very slow.
That was because ordinary Zerg larvae could activate the genes in their bodies and pupate into Worker Bugs as soon as they hatched from the brood nest.
However, this larva had apparently been dormant for an unknown length of time. The energy in its body had long been exhausted, and it had even shriveled its body to prolong its life.
"The energy contained in Unicorn Wild Boar meat is only around twice that of ordinary pork, yet it costs six or seven times more. It's not cost-effective at all."
"Still, even if it isn't cost-effective, it can save more than half the time. Time is what I lack most right now, so I should buy Unicorn Wild Boar meat."
With more than five hundred thousand in hand, he was not short on money for the time being.
It was already the sixteenth. There were only half a month left before next month's assessment. He had to find a way for the Zerg larva to accumulate energy as quickly as possible, hatch into a Worker Bug, improve his strength, and feed that power back to him.
So early that morning, Qin Mu rushed to the market and spent more than thirty thousand to buy three hundred jin of Unicorn Wild Boar meat, allowing the Zerg larva to feast to its heart's content.
Only after finishing all that did Qin Mu head to the Limit Martial Arts School. He needed to test his strength.
It was still early. When Qin Mu entered the Limit Martial Arts School, small groups of people were also heading inside to begin their day of training.
He made his way to the martial arts hall on the third floor of the intermediate teaching building.
There were not many people in the martial arts hall. Qin Mu went to a corner and switched on a Punch Force Testing Machine.
Standing before the Punch Force Testing Machine, Qin Mu recalled the original Qin Mu's method of Force Application.
After taking a deep breath, Qin Mu drove force from his waist and hips. His spine suddenly arched as he mobilized all the strength in his body and slammed a fist into the target.
"Seven hundred and forty kilograms!"
"No, why is it only seven hundred and forty kilograms? That's even less than before. And whenever I apply force, there's a stabbing pain throughout my body. The hidden injuries in my body are affecting my Force Application."
Qin Mu's expression changed.
"Bang."
Qin Mu drove another fist into the target.
"Seven hundred and thirty-eight kilograms."
After several consecutive punches.
"I get it. My Force Application is wrong!"
Qin Mu's gaze sharpened as he understood.
In his previous life, he had only been an ordinary person. He had never undergone any training and could not bring out his body's true strength, which was why this was happening.
Combined with the effects of his injuries, these results were not surprising.
"Phew—"
Qin Mu steadied himself and let out a long breath. Enduring the discomfort in his body whenever he exerted force, he continuously adjusted his method of Force Application.
"Bang—"
"Seven hundred and fifty-two kilograms!"
"Bang—"
"Seven hundred and sixty-seven kilograms!"
"Bang—"
After repeated adjustments, the figures Qin Mu produced indeed continued to rise.