Memory

Just as David's hand slapped onto the translucent shoulder of the shadow, a strange energy surged from his hand and entered his body.

He felt as if he were soaking in warm water, his entire body involuntarily relaxing, and with the remnants of his shock fading, he slowly drifted into sleep.

David fell asleep right on the floor by the living room door. Fortunately, the only other occupant of the residence was the smart butler Emma, and the smart butler would not interfere with its master's behavior.

David had a dream. In the dream, he had lived with his mother since he was a child, going from elementary school to middle school, and then to high school. In the dream, his personality was somewhat introverted, and he had few friends other than his mother.

His father's figure rarely appeared, until one day when his father and mother separated. Not long after, his mother committed suicide after arranging everything.

In the dream, he had memories of a beautiful life, as well as the sorrow of losing a loved one; he had laughed heartily and wept bitterly.

This was a complete life from birth until the age of seventeen, including every experience and every emotion, all presented one by one in this dream.

David was woken up by hunger. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he felt was the difference in his surroundings.

In his eyes, all colors were extremely vivid, as if he had previously been viewing the world at the resolution of an ordinary television, but was now viewing it at 4K resolution.

He did not know the reason for this, but he knew it was caused by the energy transmitted to him by the translucent shadow.

He looked at his identity bracelet, the watch-like device on his wrist; it was already nine o'clock in the evening, which meant he had slept on the floor for an entire day.

Recalling everything from the dream and comparing it with the memories he had already recovered, he was very clear in his heart that he had regained all the memories of his predecessor.

The original owner of this body was also named David, which made him wonder if this was a choice made by his transmigration, or just a coincidence.

David Kerr, seventeen years old this year, a senior in high school, currently on winter break.

He lived alone in this building, but he was not an orphan; it was just that his biological father had started another family, and he lived alone after inheriting the estate of his biological mother, Kathy.

At this moment, David could not describe the feelings he had for his biological father from those memories; they were a tangle of respect, resentment, and resistance, all intertwined.

His biological father was named Hans Kerr, a hero in this city. And not just in this city, for the title of 'National Scholar' he held gave him an even more special status.

'National Scholar' was the highest-ranking title among all combat heroes, and it was the source of David's respect for Hans.

Hans had paid too much to earn the 'National Scholar' title, including separating from David's mother, which led to her suicide from depression, and the loss of his own left arm and left leg, forcing him to rely on prosthetics to move. Although his body had undergone gene therapy, it remained in a weakened state, not to mention his son David's refusal to forgive him.

David's predecessor had always harbored a grudge over his mother's death, and coupled with Hans remarrying and having another child, these were the reasons he lived apart from Hans. Of course, legally speaking, Hans was still his guardian.

He also learned that the planet he was on was called Panshi Planet, located two small star systems away from the War Star, the battlefield against the Zerg. It was within the Zerg's sphere of influence, yet it was also a war-zone planet where the Zerg's influence was at its weakest.

Even so, Panshi Planet was not safe. Uncontrolled Zerg larvae were scattered everywhere, and from time to time, a Zerg larva would grow into a Level 1 Zerg, or even a hidden Zerg that could grow into a Level 2 Zerg.

Zerg larvae could be dealt with using ordinary thermal weapons, but once a Zerg larva became a Level 1 Zerg, it was no longer something an ordinary person could handle.

To deal with a Level 1 Zerg, the only way was to wear exoskeleton armor and wield a weapon forged from Level 1 metal—a composite of Zerg teeth, claw tips, and several types of metal—to break through the Level 1 Zerg's defenses.

Of course, this was only a relative situation. Given the agility and combat ability of the Zerg, it was generally impossible to defeat a Level 1 Zerg without multiple experts wearing exoskeleton armor and wielding Level 1 weapons.

And to be able to wear exoskeleton armor, the primary condition was to become a certified Armored Warrior.

In the ten thousand years of fighting against the Zerg, the Interstellar Federation had used advanced war machines to counter the Zerg, while also utilizing the Zerg to strengthen their own combat power.

Among these, Zerg corpses were the most important resource. As mentioned earlier, the sharpest bones, such as Zerg teeth and claw tips, became raw materials for manufacturing stronger weapons.

Most Zerg corpses had two long, thin muscles on their backs known as reinforced meat, which was the foundation for the Interstellar Federation's ability to possess powerful warriors.

David also learned why his predecessor had performed the sacrifice; it was because he wanted to get into Na'an University, but his own conditions did not meet the requirements, so he thought of taking a shortcut.

Na'an City, where Na'an University was located, was the largest city on Panshi Planet. It was the economic and cultural center of the planet and had powerful military protection, making the area within a hundred kilometers of Na'an City a zone where humans could live freely.

This was something David's predecessor, who lived in Peilan City, longed for. In Peilan City, stepping outside the city could be dangerous, and sometimes Zerg even appeared inside the city itself.

Although the chance of Zerg appearing inside the city was very small, it still caused David's predecessor to lack a sense of security in Peilan City.

Although Na'an City was good, it was not easy to move there; it required possessing the corresponding authority.

In the Interstellar Federation, one could not travel to other cities at will without reaching a certain level of authority.

David's predecessor was still a minor, let alone having any level of authority.

His guardian was his father, Hans. If Hans took him along, with Hans's status as a 'National Scholar', he could go to any city or any planet at will.

However, David's predecessor was very resistant to Hans and did not want to beg him. He only thought about leaving Peilan City as soon as possible, leaving Hans's side, as Peilan City was filled with the sad memories of his predecessor.

The only way he could think of to leave Hans was to get into a university. He was unwilling to settle for an ordinary university; he did not want to be an ordinary office worker in this city for the rest of his life, where even going out for a trip required applying and waiting for approval. Only Na'an University on Panshi Planet was the school he most hoped to attend.

The students cultivated by Na'an University were talents fought over by all organizations. Once admitted to Na'an University, it was equivalent to having a stable, high-paying job, high social authority, and becoming a resident of Na'an City became inevitable.

Na'an City held a very welcoming attitude toward graduates of Na'an University; almost as long as a graduate applied, their decision to stay in Na'an City would be approved.

The learning ability of David's predecessor could only be considered average, and his cultural grades in the Panshi High School he currently attended were only above average.

With such grades, let alone Na'an University, even second-rate universities were difficult to enter.

Therefore, he had no hope of getting into Na'an University based on his cultural grades; he could only consider entering Na'an University through his combat talent.

Besides cultivating a large number of administrative personnel, Na'an University was also the best Armored Warrior school on Panshi Planet.

With the moderately wealthy living standard of his predecessor, he had reinforced meat from Zerg larvae to supplement his diet every day, so his body was much stronger than students from ordinary families. But the ones competing for Na'an University were all the graduating students on the entire Panshi Planet, and there were far too many among them with better conditions than him.

In fact, with his current strength of six hundred kilograms, he could only rank in the top thirty or so among his peers at Peilan High School.