When he clicked the "Biology and Species Management" button, the log dialog that had appeared the first time did not show up again. Instead, it shrank into a small, visible icon. Zhang Tie guessed the dialog only appeared the first time he clicked it and would not pop up automatically again unless he chose to check it himself. Now, the following sub-branch function tree for "Biology and Species Management" appeared before him:
--Carbon-based Biology and Species Management (green, activated)
--Silicon-based Biology and Species Management (gray, inactive)
--Sulfur-based Biology and Species Management (gray, inactive)
--Other Biology and Species Management (gray, inactive)
Zhang Tie naturally clicked "Carbon-based Biology and Species Management." The other options, about silicon-based and sulfur-based life forms, seemed too far removed from his life to concern him. Carbon-based life was easy to understand. Teacher Daina had apparently touched on it at school: the classification and understanding of carbon-based life had existed even before the Great Cataclysm. The cells of such organisms contained carbon, and they were made up of organic matter. As far as he knew, every living thing in this world was carbon-based. Plants were, microorganisms were, and even Devil Beasts were no exception. People and ordinary animals went without saying. As for silicon-based and sulfur-based life forms, Zhang Tie had never even heard of them. They seemed like nothing but mythology, so he naturally paid them no mind.
After he clicked "Carbon-based Biology and Species Management," the same three sub-options he had seen last time appeared:
--Microorganism Management
--Plant Management
--Animal Management
The "Animal Management" tab was gray and white, indicating that it was unavailable. He had already looked at microorganisms last time, so Zhang Tie clicked the plant tab.
As soon as he clicked the tab, a line of information appeared before him.
----On the evening of May 13, 889 Black Iron Calendar, the system detected plant seeds carried by the handsome and imposing Fortress Master upon his entry into the Castle of Black Iron. The Castle of Black Iron's plant system has been activated.
Two seconds later, the text vanished, and a new window opened. Inside was just one icon, marked with a three-dimensional potato that kept rotating a full 360 degrees. Zhang Tie casually tapped it. Once the spinning potato icon opened, what he saw was exactly the same as when he had opened the microorganism option last time.
Beside the potato image was that same red X, symbolizing annihilation. Below it were still the same three buttons, which could be slid to the right to allocate Spirit Qi Value, Merit Value, and Basic Energy Reserve.
Looking at the number 3 on his Merit Value icon, Zhang Tie's heart stirred. He gently slid the button to the right. The exact number 2 appeared to its right, while the 3 beneath Merit Value changed to 1.
Zhang Tie pressed "Confirm."
Another line of information appeared:
--Please select the target for resource investment!
Three choices appeared below:
--The entire population of this species within the Castle of Black Iron's space!
--The species within a fixed area or space in the Castle of Black Iron!
--Multiple or individual organisms of this species within the Castle of Black Iron!
Zhang Tie chose the third option. Then a three-dimensional map, much like the one he had just seen, appeared before him. Each potato pit he had planted yesterday was marked with a red number on the map, and every number was blinking. He tapped "Pit One," the one closest to the steel bar he had used as a marker. Its blinking number turned green and stopped flashing. Then Zhang Tie clicked Confirm.
With just two Merit Value to spend, such a tiny investment was best concentrated in one place. Only then would any effect be noticeable. It was hard to say whether investing in just one would do anything, and Zhang Tie had no intention of greedily selecting several.
--On May 14, 889 Black Iron Calendar, the handsome and imposing Fortress Master invested two Merit Value in the mutation and evolution of a potato seed.
--The mutation and evolution is expected to take 56 days to complete. Please wait patiently, handsome and imposing Fortress Master.
The two lines of information remained for two seconds, then disappeared automatically.
Zhang Tie had no idea whether the investment would work, and he did not have high hopes. After all, he had only invested two Merit Value, without putting in any Spirit Qi or Basic Energy Reserve. If it worked, that would be a pleasant surprise. If it did not, he could just treat it as a bit of fun. He was still in the process of learning his way around the Castle of Black Iron, after all.
After closing "Biology and Species Management," Zhang Tie opened the last item in the system's function tree: "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation." This last option was related to the Little Tree. By instinct, Zhang Tie already knew before opening it that whatever was connected to the Little Tree was the core of the Castle of Black Iron. The earlier options, impressive as they were, were merely the "green leaves" beside this last one.
The management menu for "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation" opened.
--Is the universe a friendly place? This is the greatest question and ultimate pursuit facing all living beings. From now on, you can answer loudly: yes!
The abruptly appearing message vanished two seconds later. There was no time for Zhang Tie to ponder its meaning before an image appeared before his eyes. His attention was instantly drawn to it, and he stared blankly at the densely packed explanations on the image.
A minute later, saliva began to trickle unconsciously from the corner of Zhang Tie's mouth...
Two minutes later, his pupils began to widen, and his eyes started to gleam...
Three minutes later, he began to sweat all over...
Four minutes later, his breathing grew labored...
Five minutes later, his face flushed, and both hands began to tremble...
Six minutes later, Zhang Tie felt as if his brain were starved of oxygen...
Seven minutes later, he felt his pounding heart battering painfully against his chest...
Eight minutes later, Zhang Tie rolled his eyes, clutched his chest, and, mouth agape, toppled stiffly to the ground with a thud. He fainted on the spot.
Imagine a beggar who had spent the first fifteen years of his life begging on the streets, sleeping rough and enduring the scorn of others. One day, a large troop of soldiers suddenly seized him and took him to a place so splendid it seemed like heaven, beyond even his wildest dreams. Several buxom beauties with youthful faces bathed him, scrubbed off the grime, and dressed him in fine clothes. Once he had eaten his fill of delicacies fit for emperors, so much that he got the runs three times, they led him into a towering palace and shoved him onto the only golden throne in the place. Then a crowd of people began bowing to him again and again, calling him "Your Majesty." That beggar, who had only just begun to taste the pleasures of life, would surely be scared out of his wits. If he asked what was going on, he would learn that the old emperor had died a few years earlier. His eight hundred heirs, ranked from first to eight hundredth, had all fought one another for the throne and perished, without leaving a single descendant—not even a child in the womb. The royal bloodline had been completely extinguished, leaving the vast empire without a rightful heir and on the verge of collapse. The ministers had been running around in a panic, trying every possible solution, until they finally discovered that when the old emperor was young, he had left the palace in disguise and, in his desperation, raped a little girl who sold matches. Afterward, the old emperor had dusted himself off, bought two boxes of matches, tossed her a copper coin, and left. The little match girl had become pregnant, but died in childbirth ten months later. The child had been born without anyone to teach him, so he never learned his mother's family trade of selling matches. He had no idea his father was that bastard of an emperor, either. But through a twist of fate, the throne was now about to land squarely on the beggar's head, and he had no choice but to accept it. So, after hearing this story, how do you think the beggar would react?
Just look at Zhang Tie, sprawled on the ground, frothing at the mouth, his limbs twitching as he fainted and shuddered now and then. That was all you needed to know—at that moment, Zhang Tie felt just like that beggar.
Could all of this really be true? That was the question Zhang Tie asked himself as he fainted...
Probably... maybe... perhaps... there was a little... truth to it! Zhang Tie told himself, unconvinced.
Then darkness and happiness swept over him together...
A person fainting was actually a form of self-protection. When one's mind or body reached the limit of what it could endure under certain circumstances, this protective mechanism kicked in. Its first effect was to give you the capacity to face everything: the grieving would become strong and brave, the weak would regain their strength and energy, and the joyful would become calm and composed.
As long as you woke up, as long as you found the courage to face it all again, you would discover it was nothing after all!
Half an hour later, Zhang Tie woke up, lying on the ground inside the Castle of Black Iron. He opened his eyes and gazed at the ever-shifting seven-colored clouds in the sky above the castle. Gradually, his heart settled. He just lay there quietly, watching the colors change like paint on an artist's palette as his thoughts grew calm and clear.
He was not that beggar, and there was no throne waiting for him. He was just an ordinary fifteen-year-old from Black Flame City, a callow boy with a crush on Teacher Daina who did not even have the courage to look her in the eye. His life had simply gained more possibilities after he got lucky and picked up an unusual piece of fool's gold on the roadside. Of all the gods and Buddhas busy with their countless affairs, some true deity must have happened to pass by in a good mood, felt sorry for him, patted him on the head, and pointed him toward the right path.
Luck would never automatically turn into strength, nor would it guarantee that every dream of yours came true. The path between luck and strength, the path between luck and dreams, had only one name: hard work, keeping your feet on the ground! Work hard! Then work harder!
Heaven rewards the diligent! For all the little people of the Black Iron Era, this was the one unshakable law. And besides this law, there was one more thing every lucky little person should keep firmly in mind: before you had the ability to protect your good fortune, never let anyone else know that you were the lucky one.