Wang Zhen slept soundly!
It was the safest, most peaceful, and sweetest sleep he'd had in eighteen years!
When he woke, Wang Zhen felt refreshed and full of energy. He even felt tempted to wage another three hundred rounds of pillow combat, but habits formed over eighteen years weren't so easy to break. He still got out of bed promptly, tidied up, then went outside and completed his never-skipped morning exercise routine. Afterward, he was full of energy as he tasted the breakfast Selene had made. The familiar flavor gave him the strange impression that he really had made it himself, except his skills had improved considerably. He had his own memories, so naturally he knew what he liked, but Selene's cooking was more precise than his. The taste hadn't changed, but the food was much more refined and delicate than anything he could make!
Yesterday, although he'd been taken from the real world and thrown into the perilous, brutal Original Infinite Space, Wang Zhen actually preferred this dreaded Infinite Space. Here, he could do whatever he wanted, and even the air itself seemed rich with a sweet, delicious taste that he could breathe in and savor to his heart's content!
After all, Wang Zhen had been adopted by an assassin organization and trained to become a killer. He was the only surviving assassin left from his generation. Yesterday, twelve Dayun Trucks had brought him here.
So Wang Zhen wasn't like the others. He didn't like the real world at all. There, even when he slept, ate, or went to the bathroom, at least three cameras watched him!
"Master, I suggest you come up with a plausible explanation for your Alchemy." Selene frowned as she watched Wang Zhen casually transmute the dirty bowls, plates, and chopsticks into a fist-sized stone, then toss it into the sea nearby.
"Li Xiaoyi, get up already! Then come out for the meeting! We're all waiting for you!" Zhang Jie's gruff voice called from outside.
"Selene, come with me... and meet our future teammates!" Wang Zhen called to Selene, then headed for the door.
In the God Hall outside, Zhang Jie, Zheng Zha, and Zhan Lan had already arrived. The three of them stood in the vast, magnificent hall, looking especially tiny against the enormous, empty space.
Wang Zhen glanced up at the huge ball of light hanging overhead. He knew that this thing, shining with a soft white glow like the sun, was the lofty Main God. Beneath it lay an exceptionally regular, perfectly circular expanse of flat ground, roughly fifty meters in diameter. It looked like ancient bluestone, but it wasn't. It was made of some unknown material. He'd found that out the night before while testing his instant Transmutation Circle. After all, roasting it with fire, freezing it, and pounding it with steel had all failed to leave so much as a mark. It clearly couldn't be bluestone.
"First, let me make one thing clear: I'm not called Li Xiaoyi, and I'm not an ordinary high school student. My name is Wang Zhen. Wang as in 'king,' Zhen as in 'true.' I'm a carefree otaku who's achieved financial freedom and retired early!" Wang Zhen didn't wait for anyone else to speak before revealing his new identity. He didn't care whether it sounded plausible!
You should only tell people a third of what you know; never lay your whole heart bare.
It was an old saying, and as a junior of the ancestors who'd passed it down, following their wisdom seemed perfectly reasonable, didn't it?
Li Xiaoyi hadn't stood out much, so Wang Zhen's change of name and personal details didn't draw much attention. At most, the others thought he was making a bit of a fuss.
Zhang Jie and the others didn't say anything, either. They'd only just met, after all. The fact that Wang Zhen hadn't been honest before was just a sensible precaution, and there was no reason to criticize him for it.
After that, Wang Zhen fell silent and watched Zhang Jie and the others make awkward conversation. One of them talked about Infinite Space and the Main God, mixing in a lot of personal opinions. Another talked about how he'd earned his first fortune in the Resident Evil scenario. The last recounted how dangerous things had been back then, and how Mou Gang had even died because of him.
Wang Zhen found it dull, so he connected to the Main God and started looking for abilities or items that could serve as a cover for his instant Alchemy. After searching for a long time, the cheapest options still required a D-rank side mission. That made his teeth ache. If he couldn't find a similar ability, he'd have to use Alchemy in secret, which would only increase the risk!
"???"
"Mutant Ability: Fire Control, 800 reward points."
Wang Zhen stumbled across a superpower that cost only 800 reward points. That was quite cheap, since every other superpower he'd looked at so far had started at a D-rank side mission.
"From X-Men... the Brotherhood of Mutants... Pyro John..." Wang Zhen furrowed his brow and tried to recall the movies he'd seen. Sure enough, it was from a pretty old superhero film.
He thought through the movie's plot, then compared it with the Main God's description. At last, he understood why the Fire Control superpower was so cheap!
Because it really did nothing but control fire! It couldn't create flames. It could only control them. It couldn't raise or lower their temperature, either. Its limitations were simply too great, so it was no wonder the price was so low!
"Hahaha, this is perfect! It suits me, and it'll explain where I spent my reward points!" Wang Zhen immediately exchanged for a Zippo Lighter, ready to show off with it in a moment!
Sure enough, once Zhang Jie and the others had finished their awkward conversation, Zheng Zha took the chance to show off in front of everyone. He exchanged for the Main God's perfected Vampire Baron bloodline and Intermediate Internal Energy Enhancement! Just like that, Zheng Zha had come up with a combination so outrageous it made your worldview crumble and thunder rumble overhead!
And Zheng Zha looked proud of himself, as if he'd gotten a bargain. Wang Zhen didn't even know what to say.
What kind of vampire didn't need to drink blood?
Even Blade, a half-breed vampire who could walk in daylight and wasn't afraid of sunlight, ultraviolet rays, silver, or garlic, still had bloodlust. He still needed regular injections to suppress it! In fact, the more badly he was injured and the more blood he lost, the stronger the urge became!
In other words, drinking blood was the original sin vampires had to bear, and the mark of their identity!
As the King of the Dark Night Alucard had told Seras Victoria, the fledgling he'd personally turned, in Hellsing, only when Seras Victoria willingly drank blood of her own accord would the turning ritual be complete and she become a true vampire!
Wang Zhen had no idea what Zheng Zha had been thinking when he came up with such a worldview-shattering blend of East and West. According to the novel, this combination would let Zheng Zha develop all sorts of moves that dealt eight hundred points of damage to the enemy at the cost of a thousand to himself, relying entirely on the protagonist's plot armor to defeat his foes and win.
But Wang Zhen thought there were too many things to poke fun at, so he decided to let Zheng Zha enjoy himself for now. If things went wrong later... what did that have to do with him?
"I exchanged for the Mutant Ability Fire Control. It cost 800 reward points!" Wang Zhen said casually.
Wang Zhen also pulled out the Zippo Lighter with a flourish and flicked it alight. Then he raised his hand, and the flame hovered in midair as if held by an invisible hand. At the same time, he curled the four fingers of his left hand into a fist, leaving only his index finger pointing straight up. The flame obediently settled on its tip!
It looked incredibly cool!
The show-off factor was a nine out of ten!
If it weren't for that ridiculous lighter, it would have been a perfect ten!
Zhan Lan and Zheng Zha looked puzzled. Something felt off, but controlling fire really was an impressive superpower. In terms of sheer visual impact, even Zheng Zha's Vampire Baron bloodline paled in comparison!
"Li... Wang Zhen, how many reward points did you spend on that superpower?" Zheng Zha felt threatened, so he went straight to the question of how much it had cost.
"Wait, Wang Zhen, you don't have a side mission. How did you exchange for a superpower? Your Fire Control ability must cost at least a C-rank side mission!" Zhan Lan cut straight to the heart of the issue: the price!
"You've... got it wrong! This Fire Control superpower really does cost only 800 reward points. It doesn't require a side mission!" Veteran Zhang Jie thought it over carefully. He remembered that the Main God offered some rather unusual abilities and items, and then the Fire Control superpower came to mind...
"Got it wrong? It only costs 800 reward points? Fire Control?" Zhan Lan thought it over, then connected directly to the Main God to look up the Fire Control superpower.
"Fire... Control? It can only control fire, not create it?" Zhan Lan read the description and couldn't help feeling dumbfounded. What a misleading superpower!
Then she saw Wang Zhen still showing off, with the lighter in his right hand and a finger raised on his left, holding up a little flame. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she only opened her mouth and didn't get a word out.
After all, they weren't close. Even if the superpower was so limited it seemed practically useless, Wang Zhen had paid for it with his own reward points. As people who'd only just met, they couldn't very well say anything.
Wang Zhen waved his left hand, and the flame on his index finger instantly swelled into a basketball-sized fireball. But the fireball looked empty and flimsy, like an inflated balloon. Then, with a flick of his hand, it flew ten meters and smacked into the ground, scattering a few sparks.
It really did look impressive!
Anyone with less-than-perfect eyesight would be fooled!
"You... spent 800 reward points on that thing!" Zhan Lan, who'd earned only the standard 1,000 reward points in the previous scenario, said in exasperation.
"Then what? It's a superpower. It lets me control fire!" Wang Zhen didn't care what anyone else thought. This was only a cover, not an ability he'd actually exchanged for!
"I can't shoot a gun or fight hand-to-hand, and I don't have many reward points. If I want to be able to fight right away, my only choice is to look for some unconventional superpower or item!"
Before you continue