A Simple and Unpretentious Life

A Simple and Unadorned Life

Qin Wuzheng looked at Wang Wen with a strange expression: "Do you know what will happen to me after I leave the World Tower this time? To think you'd actually refuse the kindness of Tiansheng Group—you can't possibly not know about Tiansheng Group, right?"

Wang Wen said indifferently: "I know, the second in the world, right?"

A black line hung from Qin Wuzheng's forehead as he insisted with stubborn, vow-like intensity: "Once I take over Tiansheng, it will become the First Consortium!"

"I wish you success." Wang Wen nodded, turned, and walked toward the villa.

"Aren't you coming out of the tower with me?" Qin Wuzheng asked, puzzled.

Wang Wen didn't stop his pace: "Since you're leaving, it would be a waste to leave such a nice villa empty. I'll stay for a few days to get a feel for it."

Qin Wuzheng shrugged dismissively and offered a reminder: "Everything here resets at midnight every weekend. Food is in the fridge, alcohol is in the cellar, the control switch for the perimeter fence is in the study, and the shotgun shells are in the study too. They aren't items, so they can't be taken out of the tower, but they're quite fun to use while inside."

Wang Wen waved his hand behind him without looking back, his pace quickening with a sense of urgency.

If not for that reminder, he truly wouldn't have known this seemingly old villa actually had a cellar and wine!

His pace eventually turned into a light jog.

He rushed into the cellar with a gust of wind and high expectations; the rows of wine racks stretching into the depths and the neatly arranged wooden barrels on the floor made his heart bloom with joy.

By the time Wang Wen had poured his drink and walked out of the villa with a glass in hand, intending to share a toast with the young master of Tiansheng as a farewell, the man had already been out of the tower for quite some time.

Watching the sunset dip below the horizon at the end of the road, Wang Wen licked a pinch of salt from the web of his thumb and downed the liquor in one gulp.

It was several hours later by the time Qin Wuzheng returned to Tiansheng Group.

As the eldest son of Tiansheng Group, his exit from the tower naturally didn't go unnoticed. Even though he had lived safely and comfortably in the villa for half a year, he was still subjected to repeated physical examinations by a team of doctors arranged by his subordinates before they were satisfied.

Upon learning that the group and The Academy were now at daggers drawn, he offered no opinion and silently headed to the executive office on the second-to-last floor of the group's headquarters.

After entering, he walked to the cabinet, took a tea canister from the second shelf from the top, grabbed a handful of tea leaves with his bare hand, dropped them into a plain transparent glass meant for guests, and steeped them with purified water heated to eighty-eight degrees.

Only then did he sit on the sofa with the glass, took a satisfied sip, and sighed, "I've missed this for a long time."

The middle-aged man who had been standing silently by the floor-to-ceiling window in the office turned to look at him: "Home is better, isn't it?"

"I should say, the human world is better." Qin Wuzheng watched the tea leaves dancing as they rose and fell in the glass, his expression relaxed.

The middle-aged man walked to the desk, set down his wine glass, and asked: "What do you think about Xiao Dong sending Mirror to cause chaos at The Academy this time?"

Qin Wuzheng shook his head: "Child's play."

"What do you mean?" The middle-aged man looked at him meaningfully: "There is only a one-year age gap between you two. If he is still a child, does that mean you aren't?"

Qin Wuzheng blew on the tea and took a few sips.

He chewed gently on a tea leaf that had accidentally slipped into his mouth.

After a long while, he said: "None of that matters. I've seen and thought about a lot over the past half year. I believe our top priority must be to launch the Summit Plan as soon as possible! We must pool all our resources to make an all-out dash for the 650th floor and even higher!"

The middle-aged man frowned and said: "I thought you would have changed after half a year of reflection, but I didn't expect you to still be so radical. I've said many times that blindly rushing to the summit will destabilize the group's foundation and easily cause huge losses."

Qin Wuzheng set down his teacup and said earnestly: "Dad, you always think I'm radical and want to build a solid foundation before attacking, but have you ever thought that while we are improving, our opponents are improving too? If we always play it safe, how will Tiansheng ever surpass the First Consortium?"

"There are many ways." The middle-aged man smiled dismissively: "For example, those antics of your brother's."

Qin Wuzheng's expression froze: "Dad, you don't actually think those little tricks can slow down the First Consortium, do you? There is only one way to defeat them, and that is to reach the summit ahead of time! Only by breaking the World Tower record before they do can we truly surpass them!"

The middle-aged man shook his head: "There are only two ways to surpass an opponent: either we speed up, or the opponent slows down. I find the way you suggest speeding up to be too risky. Once the summit attempt fails, we will be severely crippled—let alone being first, we wouldn't even be able to keep our second-place position. That is why I prefer your brother's method: make the opponent slow down!"

He poured a little more wine into his glass, turned back to the floor-to-ceiling window, and said without looking back: "You may leave. From now on, try to get along with your brother; I won't treat you poorly in terms of material needs."

Qin Wuzheng sat on the sofa, stunned for a long time.

He had spent half a year in "seclusion" in the tower, coming up with countless ways to reach the summit.

He had thought that once he left the tower, he could launch the plan and step by step approach, or even surpass, the First Consortium.

Unexpectedly, not a single one of his plans was of any use.

Qin Wuzheng smiled bitterly.

Without his father's approval, his own power was too meager to support the consumption required for the summit attempt.

The Summit Plan had withered away before it could even begin.

He slowly drank the tea until the cup was empty.

He set down the teacup, stood up, and left the executive office.

Life on the tenth floor was simple, unadorned, and dull.

In the morning, Wang Wen woke up naturally, got out of bed, and took a shower.

Afterward, he went out for a morning run along the endless road.

Feeling his body loosen up, he began his strength training.

He worked until he was completely exhausted, then walked back along the straight road.

Seeing the pile of corpses meant he had returned home.

The pile of corpses had already begun to rot, with massive swarms of flies feasting, laying eggs, and throwing a party upon it.

Wang Wen steered clear of the flies' party spot and walked from the opened fence to the front of the villa.

He unslung the shotgun from his back, held it in his hand, and circled the villa to observe that the hidden markers he had placed on the various entrances and exits were all intact.

Only then did he quietly step inside the villa.

He didn't put down his shotgun until he had checked every inch of the place, inside and out, upstairs and down.

He was habitually cautious in unfamiliar places; heaven knows when some unlucky tower climber might "spawn" into this level.

There was no telling what kind of strange monsters might appear when that happened.

Who knows, maybe those Speedster Gang members in the corpse pile might wobble to their feet and come walking toward someone, dragging a swarm of reveling flies with them?

In a large enough forest, you'll find all sorts of birds.

The World Tower didn't earn its reputation for being ever-changing for nothing.

Wang Wen closed the villa's fence.

He walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and took a look; it was all very Western-style ingredients.

He took out some cod, melted butter in a frying pan, and lightly seared the fish.

He toasted two slices of bread and sandwiched the fish between them.

It became a cod sandwich.

Paired with some heated milk, a breakfast that couldn't be called sumptuous was cobbled together.

He sat at the dining table, eating while contemplating his next plan.

There wasn't much point in leaving the tower right now.

He hadn't yet obtained the necessary item from his plan, so even if he left, he would just be waiting idly elsewhere for the World Tower to reset.

This period of time couldn't exactly be called a waste, either.

He had intended to find a relatively safe place to recuperate his body when he entered the tower this time.

He had overtaxed his body by using his mental power repeatedly over the past few days.

Combat is not training.

It has very limited effects on enhancing mental power.

Other tower climbers who hadn't yet reached the master level might need to stimulate their potential and trigger mental power through various battles.

Wang Wen had absolutely no need for that.

Compared to the meaningless attrition of combat, he preferred methodical training.

Because he knew very clearly how to regain his peak state.

Since he didn't have to take any detours in this life, he should be much faster than in his previous one, right?

Sitting at the dining table, Wang Wen finished his breakfast at a leisurely pace.

Then, he walked into the kitchen.

He began to prepare the ingredients for lunch, meticulously and with great care.

And just like that, he happily made his decision!

He would have a good meal for lunch.

Hot pot!