Inside and Outside the City

"Really?!"

Shen Jianping's face instantly lit up with great joy.

"Why would I lie to you? The address is..."

Zhang Quan reeled off a string of locations, and Shen Jianping hurriedly signaled for an excited Chen Liping to hand over the pen and paper he had prepared, scribbling them down with a flurry of strokes.

After finishing, Shen Jianping was practically overflowing with gratitude:

"Brother Zhang, I've really put you to a lot of trouble. Besides you, I truly don't know who else could handle a matter like this!"

"Hey, it's a small problem. See you at the factory tomorrow."

Zhang Quan laughed heartily.

"Wait!"

Shen Jianping hurriedly called out to stop him, then lowered his voice:

"Brother Zhang, regarding this matter, is it true that calling the police is useless?"

"Heh, your nephew has been missing for so long now; you know exactly what those big shots in Lichuan are like. They're experts at taking money, but getting things done? Impossible. Besides, since your nephew fell into the hands of those people, it's not going to be easy."

Zhang Quan sighed.

Shen Jianping's brows furrowed tightly as he probed:

"Then, Brother Zhang, on your end... do you have any channels?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before Zhang Quan said slowly:

"I do. But you know, the harder the matter is to handle, the more expensive their fees become."

Shen Jianping took a deep breath:

"Brother Zhang, name your price."

"Let me ask around. Call me back in five minutes."

Zhang Quan hung up the phone, and five minutes later, Shen Jianping dialed the number impatiently:

"Hello, Brother Zhang?"

"Yeah, I asked. They said four, and they can give it a try."

"Forty thousand?"

Shen Jianping was silent for a long time before asking in a low voice:

"Can forty thousand guarantee that I'll see my nephew?"

"Things like this are never certain. But the people I'm commissioning are quite reliable and are familiar with that side."

Zhang Quan's tone was very steady.

Upon hearing this, Shen Jianping said decisively:

"Fine! Forty thousand it is. But I need two days to prepare the money. Brother Zhang, can you have them start..."

"Their rule has always been money first, otherwise, there's no deal."

Zhang Quan interrupted without hesitation.

"But the child has been held for so long already... Sigh, fine, I'll raise the money and give it to you next Monday."

"Mm, forty thousand, got it."

Zhang Quan hung up the phone.

Shen Jianping and Chen Liping exchanged a look, both wearing expressions of joy.

"Old Shen! Can Chen Chong be saved?"

Chen Liping asked excitedly.

Shen Jianping nodded firmly:

"Rest assured, Zhang Quan is the veteran employee with the widest connections in the factory. He knows a lot of people, both in the light and in the dark; even the factory director has asked him to resolve trouble a few times. As long as he's willing to step in, he'll definitely be able to bring Chen Chong back."

"That's great! That's wonderful!"

Chen Liping clasped her hands together and shook them repeatedly, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. A moment later, she wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, remembered something, and lowered her voice again:

"Brother Zhang just said it would cost forty thousand? That makes fifty thousand in total. Old Shen, the family currently..."

"Didn't we just put a thirty-thousand fixed deposit away last year? We'll forgo the interest and go withdraw it tomorrow. We'll scrape the rest together; it should be just about enough."

Chen Liping calculated for a moment and felt it should be doable, instantly setting her mind at ease. Although it would almost empty their family savings, as long as they could bring their nephew back, it was all worth it.

The couple discussed in low voices on the sofa for a while, then Shen Jianping suddenly turned his head.

Chen Liping followed his gaze and discovered two heads poking out from the bedroom.

"Why aren't you two asleep yet?"

Shen Jianping frowned.

The tall, fair-skinned Shen Ying looked down at her younger brother, while Shen Dong, as short and stout as a winter melon, glanced back at his sister and asked cautiously:

"When is Cousin coming home?"

"Soon. Don't you two worry, go back to sleep now."

Shen Jianping said in a deep voice.

"Yay!"

Shen Dong broke into a smile, and the expressions of both siblings visibly relaxed.

Chen Liping turned her back to wipe her eyes, then turned back around and walked over:

"Go to sleep, go to sleep! Your cousin will be back in a few days. If you don't sleep this late, he'll definitely scold you!"

After shooing the siblings back to their respective rooms, Chen Liping watched as Shen Jianping held that piece of paper, studying the map of Lichuan City hanging in the dining room.

She leaned in to look with him, and finally, seeing Shen Jianping point to the old industrial district in the south of the city, he whispered:

"It's the old gunpowder factory. That's the territory of the Thunder Fire Gang now; no one can touch them there. But as long as he's still in the city, Zhang Quan should have a way."

"That's right! Sigh, I just hope Chen Chong hasn't suffered too much..."

Chen Chong didn't wake up until the afternoon. The moment he regained consciousness, he furrowed his brows tightly.

His entire body ached unbearably, as if he had been beaten to a pulp by ten masked men in his sleep; even after his match against Li Jun, he hadn't felt this miserable.

"This medicine... is toxic."

He must have hit the jackpot.

Feeling the aftereffects that were completely inconsistent with the description, Chen Chong thought with some resignation.

But looking at it from another angle, this was a good thing; at least it meant there was real substance in the medicine.

According to the experience of other fighters, if it had been completely watered down, he wouldn't have felt a thing.

It was just that the reaction was a bit too intense; even now, Chen Chong felt his whole body going limp, and the sheets beneath him were soaked through with cold sweat.

But it was all worth it.

Looking at the "74%" flickering before his eyes, Chen Chong revealed a heartfelt smile.

One vial of serum, a 27% increase in progress!

He still remembered that it had taken him over ten days to go from 0 to 27%.

Although his treatment had improved later on and his nutrition had caught up, making his mid-stage progress faster than before;

But to improve from under 50% to where he was now, relying solely on food, he estimated it would have taken another ten days or half a month—or even longer, since progress slowed down the further one went.

His Devour Form ability had also improved in tandem, and his resistance to an enemy's punches had increased once again.

The key was that this wasn't even the intended purpose of the E-2 nutritional supplement.

Chen Chong sensed his state and beamed with joy.

He stood in the center of the dormitory and exhaled; the hot air spewing from his nose was over a foot long, lingering around his chest.

In this instant, Chen Chong had a strong urge to throw a punch.

He could feel that his punching power had increased significantly!

"As expected of a nutritional supplement specifically targeting Bone Tempering, I can even faintly feel the bottleneck! My bones are just a hair's breadth away from the final change. If I train for a few more days, can I apply for Earth Dragon Meat? Hiss, I didn't know the serum would be so useful and the progress so fast. If I'd known, I would have saved my money... No, it was only because I spent the money that I made this progress."

Chen Chong shook his head; he must have been muddled from sleep.

It seemed he would have to fight a few more matches to save up some money; the remaining three thousand was likely not enough for Earth Dragon Meat.

With his Bone Tempering progress having taken a massive leap, Chen Chong's overall strength had improved greatly.

However, the realm he had vaulted into via supplements was too abrupt, and he spent the next two full days digesting and slowly adapting.

But two days later, when he practiced his Combat Technique again, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much easier to pick up than before, and he had actually mastered it quickly!

Combat Technique was an advanced fighting style that required a certain foundation in one's realm to be properly grasped.

Now that Chen Chong's realm had improved, it was only natural that his mastery of the technique would follow—

Of course, that was only true for him. When it came to such methods and skills, there were plenty of people who could train for a lifetime and never understand them.

A single vial of E-2 nutritional supplement had brought him tremendous improvement.

If he weren't broke, he would have wanted another vial.

In truth, the side effects of this inferior medicine were very dangerous for others, but Chen Chong had relied on his superior resistance to endure them without suffering any lasting damage.

Moreover, the useful components within were utilized by his superb absorption and conversion abilities, making the cost-effectiveness far higher than that of a normal person; one vial of inferior E-2 was almost on par with the effect of a genuine E-3.

It was a pity that he likely wouldn't have the money to buy more nutritional supplements in the short term.

Even in the Wasteland, being poor was a major affliction.

Chen Chong stopped letting his imagination run wild, focused his mind on practicing his punches, and waited for the next arrangement to be made for him.

He hadn't forgotten that he wasn't a free man; who knew if the next assignment would be a simple Warm-up Fighter, or a combatant even more formidable than Li Jun?

The spray of blood against the transom left an indelible mark on Chen Chong; in this place, he only wanted to keep growing stronger.

Since he didn't have much money left anyway, Chen Chong simply used it to pre-order better ingredients at the cafeteria, then focused his heart and soul on practicing his punches.

Gradually, the fighters in the small building rarely saw Chen Chong in the cafeteria at breakfast. By the time they headed down to the first floor, they could already hear the commotion coming from the Exclusive Training Room, and even when they left in the evening, the lights there remained on.

Fully immersed in the world of combat, Chen Chong's temperament became increasingly silent and reserved. Even those fighters who had previously harbored other intentions would instinctively avert their gaze after brushing past him in the building, treating him with even more caution than they showed Zhang Yao and Li Jun.

Chen Chong felt a tinge of regret; he had expected these underground fighters to be more unruly and to come in a steady stream to challenge the status of a newcomer who had risen like a rocket. Yet, aside from that one time with Peng Wei, no one else dared to cause him trouble. Fighters who could survive long at Thunder Dragon, even if they were only an Official Fighter, were certainly not stupid—the stupid ones were already dead.

But this meant his opportunities for real combat had dwindled. Without Li Xiaoguang, Wang Li and Liu Hetao could no longer keep up with his pace, and the others were not kind enough to spar with him. For some reason, the bar had not arranged any matches for a long time. In the many days since his strength had surged, he hadn't had a single chance to test his skills.

The longer the silence lasted, the more uneasy he became. The phrase "Thunder Dragon does not keep idlers," heard on his first day here, echoed faintly in his ears, and he was eating quite a lot every day.

Chen Chong desperately wanted to reach 100% progress as soon as possible; he figured that would give him more confidence.

However, although his talent progress was getting higher and higher, exceeding 90%, it was also slowing down significantly. Relying solely on eating, he didn't know how long it would take to activate his second form.

It wasn't until this day that the door to Chen Chong's training room was finally knocked upon.