"Really?!"
Shen Jianping's face lit up with delight.
"Why would I lie to you? The address is..."
Zhang Quan rattled off a series of place names. Shen Jianping quickly motioned for Chen Liping, who was beside herself with excitement, to hand him the paper and pen she had prepared. He hastily wrote it all down.
After he finished, Shen Jianping thanked him profusely.
"Brother Zhang, I'm really sorry for the trouble. I honestly don't know who else I could turn to for something like this!"
"Hey, it's no big deal. See you at the factory tomorrow."
Zhang Quan laughed heartily.
"Wait!"
Shen Jianping quickly called after him, then lowered his voice.
"Brother Zhang, there's no point calling the police about this, is there?"
"Ha! Your nephew's been missing for so long. You know what those big shots in Lichuan are like. They're good at taking money, but getting things done? Not a chance. And if your nephew's fallen into those people's hands, it won't be easy."
Zhang Quan sighed.
Shen Jianping's brow furrowed tightly. He asked tentatively, "Brother Zhang, do you have... any connections on your end?"
The other end of the line went quiet for a moment before Zhang Quan answered slowly.
"I do. But you know, the harder something is to handle, the more they charge."
Shen Jianping took a deep breath.
"Brother Zhang, name a price."
"I'll ask around. Call me again in five minutes."
Zhang Quan hung up. Five minutes later, Shen Jianping eagerly dialed his number.
"Hello, Brother Zhang?"
"Yeah, I asked. They said forty thousand. They can give it a try."
"Forty thousand?"
After a long silence, Shen Jianping asked quietly, "Will forty thousand guarantee I get to see my nephew?"
"You can't be sure with this kind of thing. But the person I'm putting you in touch with is reliable and knows them well."
Zhang Quan's tone was steady.
Shen Jianping replied decisively, "All right! Forty thousand, then. But I'll need two days to get the money together. Brother Zhang, could you ask them to go first..."
"They always want the money up front. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss."
Zhang Quan cut him off without hesitation.
"But the kid's been kidnapped for so long already... All right, I'll get the money together first. I'll give it to you next Monday."
"Okay. Forty thousand, remember."
Zhang Quan hung up.
Shen Jianping and Chen Liping exchanged a look, both of them delighted.
"Old Shen! They can bring Chong back?"
Chen Liping asked excitedly.
Shen Jianping nodded with conviction.
"Don't worry. Zhang Quan's the best-connected veteran at the factory. He knows all kinds of people, on both sides of the law. Even the factory director has asked him to sort out a few problems. If he's willing to help, he'll definitely bring Chen Chong back."
"That's wonderful! Just wonderful!"
Chen Liping clasped her hands together and shook them repeatedly, so happy that tears welled in her eyes. A moment later, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Remembering something, she lowered her voice and said, "Brother Zhang said it would cost forty thousand? That makes fifty thousand in total. Old Shen, what do we have at home right now..."
"Didn't we put thirty thousand into a fixed-term deposit last year? We'll give up the interest and withdraw it tomorrow. We can scrape together the rest. It should be enough."
Chen Liping did the math and figured they could manage, which put her at ease. They'd be practically emptying their savings, but as long as they could bring their nephew home, it would all be worth it.
The couple discussed things quietly on the sofa for a while. Then Shen Jianping suddenly turned around.
Chen Liping followed his gaze and saw two heads poking out of the bedroom.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Shen Jianping asked with a frown.
Shen Ying, tall and fair-skinned, looked down at her younger brother. Shen Dong, short and chubby as a winter melon, glanced back at his sister and asked cautiously, "When's Cousin coming home?"
"Soon. Don't worry. Go back to bed."
Shen Jianping's voice was low and firm.
"Yay!"
Shen Dong smiled, and both siblings looked noticeably more relaxed.
Chen Liping turned away and wiped her eyes again, then faced them and walked over.
"Go to sleep, both of you! Your cousin will be back in a few days. If you stay up this late, he'll scold you for sure!"
After sending the siblings back to their respective rooms, Chen Liping saw Shen Jianping holding the note and studying a map of Lichuan City hanging in the dining room.
She went over to look with him. At last, Shen Jianping pointed to the old neighborhood in South City and said quietly, "It's the Old Gunpowder Factory. That's Thunder Fire Gang territory now. No one can do anything about it. But at least it's still in the city. Zhang Quan should be able to help."
"Exactly! Oh, I just hope Chong hasn't suffered too much..."
Chen Chong slept until the afternoon before he gradually woke. The moment he came to, he frowned tightly.
His whole body ached unbearably, as if ten masked thugs had beaten him up in his sleep. Even after fighting Li Jun in the ring, he hadn't felt this awful.
This drug... it's toxic.
Guess I hit the jackpot.
Feeling the aftereffects, which were nothing like the description, Chen Chong thought wryly.
But looking at it another way, that was a good thing. At least it meant there was something real in the drug.
According to the fighters' experience, if it had been completely watered down and substituted, there wouldn't have been any reaction at all.
Still, this reaction was a bit much. Even now, Chen Chong felt weak all over, and sweat had soaked the bedsheet beneath him.
But it had all been worth it.
Looking at the "74%" flickering before his eyes, Chen Chong smiled from the bottom of his heart.
One dose, and his progress had jumped by 27%!
He remembered that it had taken him more than ten days to go from zero to 27%.
Although his treatment had improved after that and he'd gotten better nutrition, so his progress had picked up a little, too, going from less than 50% to where he was now would've taken another ten days or half a month just through eating—and maybe even longer. The closer he got to the end, the slower it became.
The Devour Form had improved along with him. He was now even more resistant to his opponents' punches.
The key was that this wasn't even the E-2 nutritional supplement's intended use.
Chen Chong tested it and looked pleased.
Standing in the middle of the dormitory, he exhaled. Hot air streamed more than a foot from his nostrils and lingered around his chest.
For a moment, Chen Chong felt an intense urge to throw a punch.
He could tell his punching power had increased tremendously!
"As expected of a nutritional supplement specifically designed for Bone Tempering. I can almost feel the bottleneck. My bones are just one step away from changing. If I train for a few more days, can I apply for Earth Dragon Meat? Tsk. If I'd known the drug was so effective and progress would be this fast, I would've saved the money... No, it's only because I spent the money that I made this progress."
Chen Chong shook his head. He must still have been groggy from sleep.
Looks like he'd have to fight another two matches to save up some money. The three thousand he had left probably wouldn't be enough for Earth Dragon Meat.
With his Bone Tempering progress making such a leap, Chen Chong's overall strength had improved greatly.
But the level he'd reached through supplements had come on too suddenly, so he spent the next two days digesting the change and gradually adapting to it.
Two days later, when he practiced Combat Technique again, he was surprised to find it much easier to pick up than before. He quickly became proficient!
Combat Technique was an advanced fighting style. It took a certain level of cultivation to master properly.
Now that Chen Chong's cultivation had improved, it made sense that he was picking up the techniques more easily—
Of course, that was only true for him. There were plenty of people who trained in techniques and skills their whole lives without ever understanding them.
One bottle of E-2 nutritional supplement had brought him an enormous improvement.
If he weren't broke, he'd have wanted another bottle.
The side effects of this low-quality drug were dangerous for other people, but Chen Chong had weathered them with his extraordinary resistance and suffered no lasting harm.
And thanks to his exceptional ability to absorb and convert its useful ingredients, he got much more value out of it than an ordinary person. One bottle of low-quality E-2 had almost the same effect as genuine E-3.
Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't have enough money to buy more supplements anytime soon.
Even out in the Wasteland, being poor was a serious problem.
Chen Chong stopped daydreaming and focused on training, waiting for his next assignment.
He hadn't forgotten that he wasn't a free man. Who knew whether his next assignment would be as a simple Warm-up Fighter or pit him against a fighter even stronger than Li Jun?
The spray of blood across the transom window had left an impression on Chen Chong that he would never forget. In this place, all he wanted was to keep getting stronger.
Since he didn't have much money left anyway, Chen Chong used it to order better ingredients from the cafeteria, then devoted himself wholeheartedly to training.
Gradually, the fighters in the dormitory stopped seeing Chen Chong in the cafeteria at breakfast. By the time they went downstairs, they could already hear the noise coming from the Exclusive Training Room on the first floor. And when they left at dusk, the lights in there were still on.
As Chen Chong immersed himself completely in the world of fighting, his temperament grew quieter and more restrained. Even the fighters who'd once harbored other thoughts about him would unconsciously avert their eyes after passing him in the building, treating him more cautiously than they did Zhang Yao or Li Jun.
Chen Chong was a little disappointed. He'd thought these underground fighters would be more rebellious and keep challenging the status of this rocket-like newcomer. But apart from Peng Wei's one attempt, no one else had dared to make trouble for him. Any fighter who survived long in Thunder Dragon, even if he was only an Official Fighter, couldn't be a fool. Fools died early.
But that meant he had fewer chances to test himself in real combat. Without Li Xiaoguang, Wang Li and Liu Hetao couldn't keep up with him at all, while the others weren't kind enough to spar with him. For some reason, the bar hadn't arranged any matches for him in a long time, either. Despite the many days that had passed since his strength had surged, he hadn't had a single chance to practice against someone.
But the longer the quiet lasted, the more uneasy he became. The words he'd heard on his first day here—"Thunder Dragon doesn't keep freeloaders"—kept echoing faintly in his ears. He ate quite a lot every day.
Chen Chong wanted to get his progress to 100% as soon as possible. He figured that would give him more confidence.
But although his talent progress had kept climbing past 90%, it had slowed down more and more. He had no idea how long it would take to activate the Second Form through eating alone.
Then one day, someone finally knocked on the door of Chen Chong's Training Room.
Before you continue