In a little-used steel corridor, a beautiful blonde female officer and a tall young man walked one ahead of the other.
Other than the sound of the officer's tall boots striking the floor, there was no other noticeable noise. The atmosphere was somewhat quiet.
After walking like that for about a minute, Lian Feng could not help glancing back at Wang Ji. "Don't you want to ask about your own armor?"
"No." Wang Ji looked down at her and replied.
"You're not curious?" Lian Feng asked strangely.
"Not curious," Wang Ji replied calmly.
Lian Feng laughed. It was the first time she had met a child like this. It practically made her feel like she had nowhere to apply her strength.
He was so cocky, so aloof, as though he did not care about anything anyone said.
And when she recalled that he sometimes seemed perfectly normal, it felt especially strange.
"Why?" she asked curiously. "I just handed out armor to everyone, except you. Then I kept you behind separately. Don't you want to ask why?"
Wang Ji still had both hands in his pockets. Since he was accommodating her, his pace had slowed slightly. Seeing Lian Feng turn back and look up at him, he glanced at her before looking forward again, utterly composed.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "What's mine will be mine eventually. Even if I ask, I won't get to wear it a few seconds sooner. You'll give it to me eventually.
"If there isn't any, then that's your problem.
"As for curiosity...
"Sorry, but when I first saw you just now, I accidentally saw a set of armor in your data... one that seemed to belong to me."
Lian Feng stopped in her tracks, instantly rendered speechless as she looked at Wang Ji.
"The data also showed that you think the armor meant for me isn't much good, far worse than everyone else's. So I have even less reason to be curious.
"As long as I have something to wear, that's enough. There's nothing to ask." He stopped as well, his expression perfectly calm.
Lian Feng frowned at him for a long while, but Wang Ji's expression never changed. After a while, she frowned with a hint of irritation. "How can you just read other people's data?"
"Oh, I understand." Wang Ji nodded noncommittally. "I'll be more careful next time. I won't read it casually."
Hiss...
Lian Feng took a soft breath and closed her eyes to calm herself.
She had never been this speechless in her life. It felt as though she had raised a huge hammer, ready to swing it at him, only for it to strike a ball of cotton.
Yet she still wanted to smash his head in...
Even with ten thousand years' worth of vocabulary, she could not describe how she felt right then.
It was like seeing some brat steal your private underwear, wear it himself, then run over and ask whether he looked good in it.
The feeling made her want to cough up blood...
You could say he understood things, but he really did not.
You could say he did not understand, but whenever you wanted to lecture him, he admitted his mistake without hesitation.
You could not scold him, and you could not hit him either.
What kind of garbage genes were these...
In the end, Lian Feng could only curse inwardly in helplessness.
His abilities clearly did not seem particularly advanced, nowhere near the Three Great God-Making Projects, yet for some reason they were so strange, and his configuration was still high.
She was confident that her core data could not possibly be read, since it had all undergone multiple layers of encryption.
But even ordinary data should not have been so easily accessible...
"Fine, you're right." In the end, she helplessly continued leading him onward. As they walked, she said, "Your Dark Alloy Armor is indeed different from everyone else's. Its quality is much worse."
Wang Ji did not question it. He simply waited for her explanation.
"For Earth as it is now, synthesizing Dark Alloy Armor is an extremely difficult task. It isn't something we can have as much of as we want," Lian Feng explained unhurriedly. "Armor and weapons like Ge Xiao Lun's had been prepared and manufactured in advance. Their armor is indeed high-quality Dark Alloy.
"But you and Qi Lin are different."
Wang Ji nodded slightly, unsurprised.
Seeing that, Lian Feng said with some relief, "You two were not originally on our system's roster. You were not part of the plan, so there was no time to prepare armor for you in advance.
"Qi Lin's Dark Alloy leather armor is indeed only basic Dark Alloy Armor. Its defensive capabilities are much weaker than the others', as is the Dark Matter Computer processing cloud within it.
"Her leather armor and your armor were both rushed custom jobs made from simplified, half-finished armor. That was the only way we could barely finish in time."
Wang Ji nodded and said nothing.
Lian Feng could not help looking at him again, somewhat amused. "Can't you stop acting like this all the time? Like you don't care about anything... Don't you want to say something?"
"Say what?" he asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Make some demands, for example. Say you feel a little wronged or something." Lian Feng asked tentatively, "At least give me some feedback. If you have any objections while acting like this, nobody will know. What if one day you get upset and run off?"
Wang Ji gave an oh, thought quietly for a moment, then looked sincerely into her eyes. "I want Ge Xiao Lun's greatsword, or Liu Chuang's God-Slaying Axe?"
"..."
Their eyes met. Wang Ji's eyes were full of longing and sincerity.
Lian Feng closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and silently turned to walk forward.
"I rarely ask anyone for anything. What should be mine is mine. If it isn't mine, if it was never meant to be given to me, then I won't ask for it either." Wang Ji followed leisurely behind her as they passed through one iron door after another.
Lian Feng, in her wine-red uniform, really had a certain charm. Her figure was graceful, with the air of an elegant older woman. Her long legs were fair and delicate, her curves exquisite.
Wang Ji occasionally glanced at her, purely in appreciation.
As for anything else, he had never been willing to simply hold out his hand and ask others for things, even if he had rendered some service, even if it seemed he had received less than others.
He would take what was given to him, such as some knowledge of wormholes. What was not given, he would not dwell on.
Relying on others to give him things was not as good as finding a way to obtain them himself.
Of course, that was also because he had something to rely on.
When he had been ordinary, he had relied on the healthy body his parents had left him. Now, he relied on the superpowers he possessed.
He had the capital to get started.
And since he had capital, he was not accustomed to asking others for anything.
Dark Alloy Armor and the like were merely work clothes for his job, not his salary or performance bonus.
If he wanted to pursue more, he would find a way himself. Relying on others to give or distribute things to him would be far too childish.
The atmosphere fell silent. Wang Ji did not quite understand what she was angry about, seeing her puffed-up expression.
Was expecting nothing in return also a mistake...
"Alright, we're here."
After walking all the way to what appeared to be some kind of military warehouse, clearly leaving behind the laboratory- or basement-like areas, Lian Feng led Wang Ji out of an ascending elevator and onto a concrete drill ground.
"First, this is your black armor." Lian Feng waved her hand expressionlessly. Streaks of black light appeared around Wang Ji and fitted themselves against his body.
Two seconds later, a set of dark metal armor appeared on him. It looked fairly similar to Zhao Xin's armor, though it seemed lighter and thinner.
Wang Ji raised his arm to examine it, then nodded lightly.
He had learned a little about Dark Alloy Armor before. It came from the God River Civilization tens of thousands of years ago, though he only began reading its specific data after putting it on.
It looked much worse than the others', but as long as he had something to wear, that was enough.
"Also, I heard Rose say that you need some missile- and bomb-type weapons?"
Before you continue