New Goal

After clicking the "Biology and Species Management" button, the log dialog that appeared the first time did not show up. Instead, it shrank into a small, visible icon. Zhang Tie guessed that the dialog box only appeared during the first interaction and would not pop up automatically unless he actively checked it. Now, what appeared before Zhang Tie was the following sub-branch function tree for "Biology and Species Management":

--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 logically clicked on "Carbon-based Biology and Species Management." As for those silicon-based or sulfur-based things, Zhang Tie felt they were too far removed from his life. Carbon-based biology was easy to understand; Teacher Daina seemed to have touched upon it at school. The classification and understanding of so-called carbon-based life existed among humans even before the Great Cataclysm—it meant that the cells of such organisms necessarily contained carbon, and they were life forms based on organic matter. It seemed that all living things in this world were carbon-based: plants, microorganisms, and even Magic Beasts were no exception, not to mention humans and ordinary animals. As for the other silicon-based or sulfur-based things, Zhang Tie had never even heard of them; they were completely mythical, so there was naturally no need to take them to heart.

After clicking "Carbon-based Biology and Species Management," the three branch options seen previously appeared again:

--Microorganism Management

--Plant Management

--Animal Management

The "Animal Management" tab was grayed out, indicating it was unavailable. Zhang Tie had already looked at microorganisms, so this time he clicked the plant tab.

As soon as the tab was clicked, a line of information appeared before Zhang Tie:

----On the evening of May 13th, Black Iron Calendar 889, the system detected plant seeds carried by the handsome and imposing Castle Master when he entered the Castle of Black Iron. The Castle of Black Iron plant system is now activated.

Two seconds later, this text disappeared, and a new window opened. Inside, there was only one icon represented by a three-dimensional potato rotating 360 degrees. Zhang Tie clicked it casually. Once opened, the icon's interface was exactly the same as what he had seen when clicking on microorganisms.

Beside the potato pattern was the same red "X" symbolizing erasure, and below it were the three buttons that could be slid to the right, representing the investment of Spirit Qi Value, Merit Value, and Basic Energy Reserve.

Looking at the number 3 on his Merit Value icon, Zhang Tie felt a stir. He gently slid the button to the right; a precise number 2 appeared on the right side of the slider, while the 3 under Merit Value changed to 1.

Zhang Tie pressed the "Confirm" key.

Another line of information appeared:

--Please select the target for resource infusion!

Below were three selection boxes:

--The entire population of this species within the space of the Castle of Black Iron!

--The species within a specific area or space in the Castle of Black Iron!

--Multiple or individual specimens of this species within the Castle of Black Iron!

Zhang Tie chose the third one. Then, a 3D map similar to the one he had just seen appeared before him. Every potato pit Zhang Tie had planted yesterday was marked on the map with a red number, and each number was flashing. Zhang Tie clicked on "Pit No. 1," which was closest to the steel bar he had used as a marker. The flashing number of the selected "Pit No. 1" turned green and stopped flashing. Zhang Tie then clicked confirm.

With only two Merit Value points, such a negligible investment, concentrating it was the only way to go; that was the only way to see if there was any effect. It was hard to say if investing just one would do anything, and Zhang Tie had no greedy thoughts about choosing several.

--May 14th, Black Iron Calendar 889, the handsome and imposing Castle Master invested two Merit Value points into the mutation and evolution of a potato seed.

--The estimated completion time for this mutation and evolution is 56 days. Please wait patiently, handsome and imposing Castle Master.

The two lines of information appeared for two seconds and then automatically vanished.

He didn't know if this investment would be successful, and Zhang Tie didn't hold much hope for it. After all, it was only an investment of two Merit Value points, and no other Spirit Qi or Basic Energy had been put in. If it succeeded, it would be a pleasant surprise; if not, he would just treat it as a game. After all, he was still in the familiarization stage with this Castle of Black Iron.

Closing "Biology and Species Management," Zhang Tie clicked on the last item of the system function tree: "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation." This last item was related to that small tree. Relying on intuition, before clicking it, Zhang Tie knew that the things related to that small tree were the core of the Castle of Black Iron. The previous items, while remarkable, were merely "green leaves" compared to this final one.

The "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation" management menu opened.

--Is the universe a friendly place? This is the greatest question and the ultimate pursuit that all living beings can face. From now on, you can answer loudly: Yes!

The abruptly appearing message disappeared after two seconds. Before Zhang Tie could even begin to contemplate the content of the message, an image appeared before his eyes. His attention was instantly captured, and he stared blankly at the dense variety of descriptions within that image.

One minute later, saliva began to flow from the corner of Zhang Tie's mouth without him realizing it...

Two minutes later, Zhang Tie's pupils began to dilate, and his eyes began to glow with a sharp light...

Three minutes later, Zhang Tie's whole body began to sweat...

Four minutes later, Zhang Tie's breathing began to grow rapid...

Five minutes later, Zhang Tie's face began to flush with blood, and his hands began to tremble...

Six minutes later, Zhang Tie felt as if his brain were oxygen-deprived...

Seven minutes later, Zhang Tie felt his violent heartbeat bruising his chest cavity...

Eight minutes later, Zhang Tie rolled his eyes back, clutched his chest with his hand, opened his mouth, and with a thud, fell straight to the ground, fainting instantly.

Imagine a beggar who had spent the first fifteen years of his life begging on the streets, sleeping in the open, and suffering the cold shoulders of others. Suddenly, one day, he is caught by a large group of soldiers, taken to a magnificent place as heavenly as any dream, bathed and scrubbed by several beautiful, young-faced, large-breasted women, dressed in new clothes, fed a feast of delicacies and rare treasures until he is so full he has diarrhea three times, and then brought into a towering palace. He is pushed onto the only golden throne in the palace, and a crowd of people begins to kowtow to him, calling him "Your Majesty." That beggar, having just tasted a bit of worldly pleasure, would surely be scared out of his wits. Upon asking the reason, he learns that the old emperor died a few years ago, and a pile of heirs ranked first to eight-hundredth all killed each other fighting for the throne, leaving no descendants—not even those in the womb survived. The imperial bloodline was completely severed, the vast empire had lost its legitimate heir and was on the verge of collapse. The ministers were frantic, searching for solutions, and finally discovered that when the old emperor was young and traveling incognito, he had, in a moment of desperation, raped a little match girl among the common folk. After finishing, the old emperor patted his butt, bought two boxes of matches, dropped a copper coin, and left. The little match girl became pregnant, gave birth to a child ten months later, and died in childbirth. That child grew up with no one to teach him, naturally never learned his mother's family trade of selling matches, and didn't even know his father was that bastard emperor. Yet, through a twist of fate, the current throne was being forced onto the head of that beggar, and he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to. Tell me, after hearing this story and experiencing such a turn of events, how would that beggar behave?

Look at Zhang Tie, who was currently lying on the ground foaming at the mouth, his limbs twitching and trembling even in his faint—Zhang Tie felt exactly like that beggar right now.

Could all of this be real? Zhang Tie asked himself a question as he fainted...

Probably... maybe... perhaps... there might be... a little bit of truth to it! Zhang Tie said to himself, lacking confidence.

Then, darkness and happiness descended together...

Fainting is actually a self-protection mechanism. When a person's mental or physical capacity to bear a certain situation reaches its limit, this protection mechanism activates. The effect of this mechanism is to give you the capacity to face everything: the sad become strong and brave, the weak recover their strength and spirit, and the joyful become calm and composed.

As long as you wake up, as long as you bravely face it again, you will find that everything is just as it is!

Half an hour later, Zhang Tie woke up. Lying on the ground of the Castle of Black Iron, he opened his eyes and looked at the shifting seven-colored clouds in the sky of the Castle of Black Iron. His inner heart gradually calmed down. He lay there quietly, watching the colors in the sky changing like a palette, his mind gradually becoming cool and ethereal.

He was not that beggar, and there was no throne waiting for him. He was just an ordinary 15-year-old in Black Flame City, a miserable, green youth who had a crush on Teacher Daina but lacked the courage to even look her in the eye. Because he had a stroke of good luck and picked up a piece of special Fool's Gold on the side of the road, his life now had more possibilities. Among the busy gods in the sky, he didn't know which passing true god was in a good mood, saw he was pitiful, reached out to touch his head, and then pointed him toward a bright path.

Not all luck will necessarily translate into strength, nor will it necessarily make every dream of yours come true. The road between luck and strength, the road between luck and dreams, has only one name: down-to-earth effort! Effort! And more effort!

Heaven rewards the diligent! For all the little people, this is the golden rule of the Black Iron Era. Besides this rule, for all lucky little people, there is one more thing to keep in mind: before you have the ability to protect this luck of yours, never let anyone else know that you are the lucky one.