Hope in the Darkness

"Quick, Mithril Cooling Stabilizing Fluid!"

Meng Chao placed the golden crystal core into the stabilizing fluid and screwed the cap tight before finally relaxing a little.

"It really is a Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball! It's incredibly fresh, with at least eighty percent activity—perfect quality!"

The harvesters gathered around the container, staring at it for a long while before crying out in delight.

A Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball was a mutated organ unique to high-level monsters.

It was a crystallized substance formed when an ordinary Nerve Ball was nourished and steeped in Spiritual Energy over the years.

It was often used to prepare advanced nerve growth agents and worked wonders in repairing spinal nerve damage.

It could also be implanted into small war machines to create Thinking Tanks.

This thing was both extremely fragile and highly unstable. Perfectly stripping it from a monster's body was no simple task.

That was why the harvesters' commission for it was higher than for ordinary materials. No matter how stingy Shen Rongfa was, he still had to give them three percent—at least ten thousand, maybe even twenty thousand yuan!

These rough men could no longer find enough praise for Meng Chao, a born harvester.

"So it isn't just because he attended a key high school."

They thought, Could it be because he's a young virgin, so his hands are especially skilled?

Meng Chao was delighted as well. Holding up the translucent container, he examined it closely.

"Be careful. A freshly stripped Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball has very high activity. It can't withstand violent shaking," Meng Yishan reminded him, then smiled.

At some point, his son had grown beyond all imagination. His own worrying had truly become unnecessary.

Meng Chao answered, slowly turning the container as he admired it. Then his expression suddenly changed.

He leaned in for a closer look, greed flashing in his eyes.

"A Chao, you..." Meng Yishan knew his son best. He knew Meng Chao had set his sights on it.

"Right, Meng Ge," a harvester suddenly said. "When Little Chao was injured last year, wasn't the main problem his spinal nerves?"

"That's right!" Another harvester's eyes lit up as he exclaimed excitedly, "Isn't a Golden Ghost's Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball the best possible medicinal ingredient?"

Everyone exchanged glances, then looked around and saw no outsiders nearby. Realizing something, their breathing grew heavy.

"Enough!"

Meng Yishan frowned deeply, snatched away the container, and said with a dark expression, "A Chao, don't even think about it. This is the spoils of someone else's life-and-death battle. We're only harvesting it on their behalf."

Meng Chao wanted to explain. "Dad, I'm not..."

"I know you want to get into the Undergraduate Program, and I know how badly last year's injury hit you. When all is said and done, it's because your dad isn't capable enough."

Meng Yishan's eyes were clouded, but his hoarse voice was firm. "But no matter how poor we are or how desperate things get, we can't take what belongs to someone else."

Meng Chao scratched his head.

His dad had really misunderstood.

There were too many people here right now. He would explain it to his dad later—his injury was almost healed already.

"Don't blame Dad. For the sake of getting you into college, I can think of any method, but this one truly won't do. If you leave a stain on your record, your whole life will be ruined. Even if no one finds out, your conscience will never let you rest, and you'll never be happy."

Meng Yishan said solemnly, "A Chao, your Harvesting Technique is beyond reproach, but the most important thing for a harvester isn't skill. It's... keeping your hands under control.

"This is a profession where you often come across Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Over time, if you nurture crooked thoughts and reach for what you shouldn't, the result will be disgrace and a miserable end. Things like that happen in this circle every day.

"If you truly can't control yourself, then no matter how talented you are, I won't bring you into this line of work. You can go do whatever job you want, as long as you live upright, can hold your head high, and eat your meals happily. You'll always be my good son!"

Faced with his father's righteous lecture, Meng Chao thought it over and decided that later, he would find a corner where father and son could have a proper heart-to-heart.

"Dad, stop talking. I can control myself." He did not look at the container again.

"A Chao, you... take a rest." Meng Yishan could not bear it.

"Little Chao, come over here and eat something." The harvesters all called out to him, deeply regretful.

Harvesting armored monsters was exhausting work.

Meng Chao's awareness was extraordinary, but his body was still only seventeen. He had worked on monsters for two hours in the first half of the night, then another two hours in the latter half. Now that he relaxed, both arms ached and swelled, while all ten fingers throbbed with piercing pain.

He took a sip of steaming self-heating high-energy nutritional food and slowly used the secret method attached to Perfect Level Basic Gunmanship to loosen up his fingers.

Connections, capital, sources of corpses...

He was thinking as well.

Just as he was about to find an excuse to call his dad outside so the two of them could speak their hearts, an unusual sound drifted through the moaning wind.

A fragment of memory from his previous life flashed through Meng Chao's mind.

His ears perked straight up, and his expression was even more delighted than when he had seen the Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball.

Did I hear that right? Could this be...?

Meng Chao sprang to his feet, instantly restored to full vigor.

Maybe this time, he had a way to dig up his first pot of gold!

"Dad, uncles, I suddenly feel exhausted. You keep working—I'll head to the harvester camp and rest first. The camp is at the main entrance of the steelworks, right? It's fine, stay busy. I can go by myself!"

As he spoke, Meng Chao took off running.

"Slow down! Be careful not to trip over a monster corpse and cut your hands or feet!" Meng Yishan could only shout after him.

Watching his son's figure vanish into the heavy night, the middle-aged man clenched his fists.

"Hello, Brother Shen? We just opened up a Golden Ghost..." He called Shen Rongfa.

"What!"

The shriek from the other end was loud enough for every harvester to hear. "Are you crazy? Is a Golden Ghost something you can open? Why didn't you wait for Manager Gu? If you damage the materials, be careful Tiger Lord cripples you!"

Meng Yishan was showered with spit through the phone, yet he did not so much as blink. He continued speaking humbly for several more sentences.

After hanging up, he carefully picked up the container. "Brothers, I'll take the Spirit Transformation Nerve Ball to Brother Shen for processing. This thing is unstable. Even in Mithril Solution, it can easily lose control."

How could his brothers not know what he was thinking? "Meng Ge, you want to buy it from Brother Shen?"

Meng Yishan's gaze flickered. Looking down at his filthy corrosion-resistant work boots, he said quietly, "This is A Chao's only hope."

"Brother Shen isn't easy to talk to."

His brothers shook their heads. "He won't give you the employee price. He might even gouge you hard. Besides, even at the employee price, do you have the money?"

"I've thought it through. I can still work for a few more years. At worst, I'll stop being your captain and sign a long-term contract with Brother Shen directly, advancing several years of my future wages." Meng Yishan said, "Brother Shen has long wanted me to sign a Level Two Contract. He'll agree."

"Are you insane?"

His brothers were shocked. "A Level Two Contract means dealing with extremely dangerous high-level monsters! These beasts contain powerful Spiritual Energy and can easily undergo corpse mutation into undead creatures, or even biochemical bombs. Harvesting such beasts is more dangerous than clearing landmines—you could be smashed to pieces at any moment!"

"It's fine. I know what I'm doing." Meng Yishan's voice was hard as iron. "You continue. I'll be back soon."

Cradling the container as though it held a hope as fragile as crystal, he stepped over the savage, hideous monster corpses and trudged, one foot deep and one foot shallow, into the darkness.

Two streets away, in front of a collapsed building blazing fiercely.

There was only one monster here, resembling a spider enlarged a hundredfold.

Yet it possessed countless wolf-like traits. Its arthropod and mammalian organs were fused together in a grotesque fashion, while a layer of short, stiff golden fur covered its body, emanating a unique aura of kingship.

A fatal wound ripped open its cephalothorax, but it had not quite died. On the spiked shell covering its back, seven scarlet eyes rolled wildly, releasing their final remnants of savagery.

Its abdomen still expanded and contracted, its shrieks like an evil curse.

An old and a young harvester looked at the savage monster as though it were fish laid out on a chopping block.

The elder had white hair and a youthful face. Strange radiance bloomed from his eyes, rings of light embedded around his pupils.

The young girl's face was tender, though a faint pride lingered between her brows. The arms folded across her chest wore a pair of snow-white gloves, neither metal nor iron, thin as cicada wings.

"Xue Shi, you've been doing well with Reverse Lock Seven Solutions lately. Today, I'll let this Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider be your practice." The old man's voice was mellow, his tone casual.

"Eight minutes, Grandpa. I'll finish this battle in eight minutes."

Ning Xueshi dropped to one knee and opened an exquisite silver-white toolbox.

The toolbox was like a delicate pagoda. Once opened, it separated into seven or eight tiers, each filled with an array of strange harvesting tools, ten times more refined than Meng Yishan's adzes, chisels, axes, and saws.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

The girl's fingers tapped lightly, and blades danced like butterflies around her fingertips.

Suddenly, the butterflies vanished. She gave a soft snort and looked to the side in displeasure.

Thud, thud, thud. Someone was stumbling toward them from the other end of the street.

After fighting and harvesting all night, Meng Chao was so exhausted that even his bladder hurt. He was gasping for breath, bracing himself with his hands on his knees.

"Grandpa, someone's here."

Ning Xueshi raised a delicate brow and muttered softly, "Doesn't he know the rules? Is my family's technique something anyone can watch?"

The old man lifted his eyes and saw the "Jiuxin" emblem on Meng Chao's protective suit and the red "Intern" armband around his arm. He could not help smiling.

"Forget it. He's an intern from a small private company, not a real harvester. Naturally, he doesn't understand the rules."

The elder said gently, "These youngsters out in society are actually quite pitiful. They have no inheritance and cannot learn sophisticated techniques. They are easily injured while harvesting monsters, always fighting with their lives on the line.

"Since he has the desire to improve, let him watch for a bit. How much he can learn will depend on his own fortune."

"Grandpa, your heart has been getting softer and softer lately."

Ning Xueshi pouted sweetly, then shot Meng Chao another glare. "Hey, you lucky little fellow. You're interning nearby, yet you ran all the way here to steal techniques? At least you have some eye for talent.

"If you really want to learn, then be smart about it. See that teacup over there? Serve tea and water, and attend to my grandpa properly. This is an opportunity others couldn't snatch even if they fought for it!"