A Birthday Promise

"Why are you two getting back later than usual today?"

"We stayed in the classroom for a while, so we came back a little late."

At the entrance to Shen Qinghan's home, Lin Zichen explained to Xu Meng, who had opened the door.

Xu Meng nodded without asking further questions, telling him to head home early so his parents would not worry.

Before leaving, Lin Zichen glanced at Shen Qinghan.

Only after seeing that the little girl was doing much better did he turn and head back to his own home in relief.

Regarding what had happened in the alley that day, he had already made an agreement with Shen Qinghan. It was their little secret, and they could not let a third person know.

The Giant Mutant Rat was one thing.

The main issue was that when he had severely injured that ill-intentioned man and woman, the combat power he displayed had been far too exaggerated, completely inconsistent with his age.

If others found out, it would likely bring him a great deal of trouble.

At this stage, Lin Zichen only wanted to maintain his image as a minor genius.

That would allow him to gain certain privileges and preferential educational resources at school, while also making his parents proud.

That was about enough.

Anything more would be inappropriate.

It would greatly disrupt his current rhythm of life and keep him from evolving peacefully.

After returning home.

After dinner.

Lin Zichen did nothing but sit in front of the television and wait for the evening news.

He hoped the Public Security Team would be competent enough to announce what had happened in the alley that very night.

About ten minutes later.

Lin Zichen finally got the news report he had been waiting for. It was about the Giant Mutant Rat that had appeared in the alley that afternoon.

The report was more detailed than he had expected.

It released videos from two different angles.

One was a third-person perspective filmed from above by a drone.

The other was a first-person perspective recorded face-to-face while the Mechanical Cyborg fought the Giant Mutant Rat at close quarters.

Lin Zichen watched the two perspectives together.

At the beginning, the Mechanical Cyborg rarely took the initiative to attack, instead keeping its distance and circling around the Giant Mutant Rat.

It neither entered the Giant Mutant Rat's attack range nor allowed it to leave the purple-blue smoke.

Before long, the Giant Mutant Rat, which had originally been swift and agile, gradually began moving sluggishly, as though it had been anesthetized.

Clearly, that purple-blue smoke could reduce the Giant Mutant Rat's combat power.

Once the Giant Mutant Rat's combat strength had dropped enough, sharp blades extended from the outer sides of the Mechanical Cyborg's arms, and it began actively engaging the Giant Mutant Rat in close combat.

The battle lasted nearly seven minutes.

In the end, the Giant Mutant Rat had its throat slit by a single strike and its heart pierced, collapsing to the ground on its last breath.

"This Mechanical Cyborg's rank probably isn't very high."

After watching the video, Lin Zichen came to that conclusion.

He had previously searched for videos of Mechanical Cyborg battles. Those had involved artillery bombardments flattening entire areas and lasers sweeping the battlefield, with spectacularly fierce destructive power.

But the Mechanical Cyborg on the news had spent half the fight poisoning and wearing down its enemy bit by bit. Its performance seemed much weaker.

While he was thinking about this, his parents, who had just cleared the table and washed the dishes, came into the living room and sat down.

The instant the couple saw the news on television, their faces filled with shock.

"What's going on? Isn't this the kind of Giant Mutant Rat that attacked the Sakura Sea Nation some time ago? Why do we have them in our country too?" Zhang Wanxin looked deeply worried.

Lin Yansheng also frowned and said to Lin Zichen beside him, "Xiao Chen, don't walk to and from school by yourself for the time being. Dad will pick you up and drop you off."

Before he had even finished speaking, Zhang Wanxin said, "There's no need. The school just sent a notice saying classes will be suspended for half a month because a Giant Mutant Rat appeared in the old district."

Classes suspended for half a month?

Hearing this, Lin Zichen frowned slightly.

He realized that the Giant Mutant Rat incident might not be so simple. There were most likely other Giant Mutant Rats in the old district or nearby areas.

Otherwise, classes would not suddenly be suspended for as long as half a month.

Lin Zichen thought back carefully and realized that something had also felt off about what happened in the alley yesterday.

The Mechanical Cyborg had appeared too quickly.

Not long after the Giant Mutant Rat emerged, the Mechanical Cyborg had arrived at the scene to eliminate it.

It was as though it had known beforehand that the Giant Mutant Rat was in the old district, or perhaps it had been tracking the Giant Mutant Rat all along and could rush over the moment it made a move.

Forget it. This wasn't something I needed to worry about.

Ignoring the outside world and focusing on hiding at home to train and evolve was what I should be doing.

Still, I could look into Giant Mutant Rats a little...

With that thought, Lin Zichen left the living room and entered his parents' writing room, searching the computer for information related to Giant Mutant Rats.

He learned that adult Giant Mutant Rats, a type of Exotic Beast, could grow up to three meters long.

Moreover, their average Biological Rank upon reaching adulthood was as high as Ordinary Tier 5.

Ordinary Tier 5?

Good thing my first reaction when I encountered that Giant Mutant Rat in the alley yesterday was to run instead of foolishly fighting it. Otherwise, my head might have been bitten off by now...

A wave of lingering fear rose in Lin Zichen's heart.

"No, I haven't been training hard enough. I need to increase my training intensity..."

He became driven by urgency again. Soon, he left the writing room, ran upstairs to his bedroom, and began high-intensity training.

[You are doing weighted push-ups. Blood Qi +2, arm muscle strength +2, chest muscle strength +2, push-up proficiency +1]

[You are doing weighted squats. Blood Qi +2, leg muscle strength +2, squat proficiency +1]

[You are doing weighted sit-ups. Blood Qi +2, abdominal muscle strength +2, sit-up proficiency +1]

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, the childhood sweethearts, welcomed their ninth birthday together.

More precisely, it was Shen Qinghan's ninth birthday.

Their birthdays were one day apart. So that the two could celebrate together every year, their parents had deliberately agreed to take turns celebrating each other's birthdays.

Last year, they had celebrated Lin Zichen's birthday, so this year it was Shen Qinghan's turn.

That evening.

The two families gathered at Shen Qinghan's home for a birthday dinner.

The two birthday children had both carefully prepared presents for each other.

Knowing that Lin Zichen liked reading, Shen Qinghan bought him a set of books about Mechanical Cyborgs, Gene Fusionists, and Exotic Beasts.

Lin Zichen, meanwhile, gave Shen Qinghan a hair clip he had made by hand.

It was made entirely of wood and polished and carved by hand. Shen Qinghan's name was engraved on it, along with a dandelion she liked. It looked exquisitely crafted.

"Xiao Chen, this hair clip is so pretty! I love it so much!"

Shen Qinghan was extremely surprised. She had not expected to receive a gift personally made by Lin Zichen.

She eagerly put on the hair clip and happily looked at herself in the mirror. The more she looked at the clip in her hair, the more she liked it, to the point that the set of books she had given him seemed a little cheap by comparison.

Compared to gifts bought with money, handmade gifts were more meaningful and valuable.

"Xiao Chen, how about we give each other gifts we made ourselves every birthday from now on?" Shen Qinghan suggested as she looked at Lin Zichen.

Lin Zichen smiled. "Okay."

"Xiao Chen, when did you learn how to make wooden crafts? How come Mom never knew anything about it?"

Looking at the exquisite wooden hair clip on Shen Qinghan's head, Zhang Wanxin felt a little bitter inside.

Lin Zichen explained, "I spend a lot of time making handicrafts whenever I stay in my room and don't come out."

That was a lie. The reason he often stayed in his room was because he was secretly training his body at high intensity.

As for woodworking, he had simply found a video online last week, watched it carefully, and learned it.

That was the power brought by the Heavenly Human Wisdom Root.

"Mom, I actually made a wooden hair clip for you too. After we finish celebrating and get home, I'll give Mom a surprise."

Lin Zichen noticed the bitterness in Zhang Wanxin's heart and whispered that into her ear.

The moment Zhang Wanxin heard it, the bitterness in her heart vanished. A sweet smile appeared on her face. My precious son still knows how to be filial to his mother.

After the celebration ended.

Lin Zichen returned home and lay on his bed in the dark. But rather than immediately going to sleep, he quietly stared at the ceiling in the faint moonlight coming through the window, lost in thought.

He had continued following up on the Giant Mutant Rat incident from last month, wanting to know why a Giant Mutant Rat had appeared in the old district for no apparent reason.

However, the authorities had never provided a clear explanation. Even now, it remained a mystery.

Fortunately, the Giant Mutant Rat had only appeared that one day and had not shown up again afterward, allowing life to return to peace.

"I hope that Giant Mutant Rat's appearance was just an accident, not some kind of conspiracy."

This world was not as peaceful as his previous life. Exotic Beasts eyed humanity from outside, while Heretic Cult Human Traitors stirred up trouble within. It was hard for Lin Zichen not to overthink things.

PS: Holding out my bowl—please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!