Do It Yourself and You'll Have Plenty

Zhan Lan was left speechless by Wang Zhen's explanation.

Although the reasoning was incredibly far-fetched, one could not deny that Wang Zhen's desire to grow stronger was commendable. While his chosen path had far too many flaws, as he himself said, it was still a superpower. Even with severe limitations, if utilized correctly, it could become a very useful ability.

Just like Pyro John in X-Men: The Last Stand, the original owner of this "fire control" ability, who modified a lighter into a wrist-mounted device to ignite and manipulate flames at will. During battle, when Magneto tossed a car into mid-air, John only needed to ignite the fuel tank to turn the vehicle into a massive fireball to blast his target. His personal offensive power might have been limited, but with proper coordination, he could effectively become a piece of artillery.

Even if this artillery required others to load the shells, it remained a weapon of immense power.

Therefore, while Wang Zhen's idea was a bit twisted, as he put it, with such a limited amount of reward points, what else could he really expect?

Seeing that no one spoke, effectively defaulting to Wang Zhen's chosen enhancement, Zhang Jie proposed that they train together to prepare for the next plot world. After all, they only had ten days to rest in the God Hall before the God would teleport them into an unfamiliar world to complete a mission.

Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan both agreed with this proposal. Both wanted to form a team and pool their strengths to navigate the plot worlds. After all, according to Zhang Jie, these worlds were bizarre, unpredictable, and filled with crises; no one knew what would happen the next second, so working together was the only logical path.

Zheng Zha was the most supportive of this idea. As a former mid-level manager, organizing a team to tackle a project was second nature to him. He not only supported it but also clearly stated that since he had enhanced himself with the Vampire Baron and Intermediate Internal Energy Enhancement, he was strong enough to act as the team's leader.

Zhang Jie immediately declared that Zheng Zha wasn't just strong—he was the strongest. He claimed that because he had always hidden his way through previous plot worlds, he hadn't earned as many rewards as Zheng Zha did by saving that dark-skinned captain in Resident Evil. Naturally, he lacked any decent enhancements and couldn't compare to the Vampire Baron and Internal Energy combo. Thus, Zheng Zha was the strongest member of the Zhongzhou Team and should be the captain.

Zhan Lan agreed with Zhang Jie's assessment. Whether it was because she had developed a fondness for Zheng Zha or because her own wallet was too thin to afford the upgrades she wanted, clinging to the strongest member was the best choice.

Wang Zhen watched this like he was viewing a 3D hologram, finding it hilarious. He especially enjoyed watching the old fox Zhang Jie push Zheng Zha out as a target, conveniently omitting the fact that every captain in the Infinite Space had to undergo a trial mission to earn their position, rather than carving a "Mandate of Heaven" seal out of a radish and declaring themselves Emperor.

However, Wang Zhen didn't expose him. Although Zhang Jie was a bug—half-human, half-guide—and his strength was heavily restricted, that didn't mean he was weak. If Zhang Jie, with his A-rank telekinesis, hadn't been backed into a corner and softened by Zheng Zha, the odds of Zheng Zha defeating him in the final trial would have been slim.

Therefore, if Wang Zhen exposed Zhang Jie's true colors, even in the God Hall, a desperate Zhang Jie might just kill him. Poking a hornet's nest was too dangerous; he would leave that to the strategist, Chu Xuan.

Wang Zhen stated that he didn't want to train with them; he wanted to figure out the uses of his superpower on his own.

Over the next few days, Wang Zhen and Selene experimented with various instant-cast Transmutation Circles in his private space, combining them and using the space's creation ability to build a 1:1 replica of the spaceship from Alien I to test the effects. Although no one was issuing him assassination missions in the Infinite Space, the habits of many years were ingrained, and he didn't see anything wrong with them, so he tested every possibility over and over.

Following Wang Zhen's instructions, Selene quietly exchanged for a large batch of high-end raw materials from the God. Upon her return, Wang Zhen attempted to analyze them. While progress wasn't rapid, every successful analysis meant he could decompose and reorganize that material at will. A few items might not have mattered, but as these high-tech modern materials were successfully analyzed one by one, he could clap his hands and reorganize them into new, "black-tech" hybrid materials.

Many modern materials had outstanding properties in one or two areas due to technological limitations, but they inevitably came with equally prominent flaws. Take the famous carbon fiber: in terms of raw data, it was absolute black-tech, but when you used it to build things, you encountered an awkward problem—it feared fire.

Carbon fiber itself didn't fear fire, but to build with it, you had to use resin as a binder, and resin was flammable. Thus, the situation arose where if you built a car or tank out of carbon fiber, a single Molotov cocktail would turn it into a pile of useless carbon.

But now, Wang Zhen could solve this. He could decompose and reorganize the carbon fiber directly into any shape he desired, bypassing the need for resin.

Therefore, in the remaining days, Wang Zhen analyzed as many materials as possible, decomposed and reorganized them, and conducted numerous experiments to create some excellent formulas. On the final day, Wang Zhen began making necessary preparations; after all, an alchemist's defense was near zero—worse than a mage's.

Using carbon fiber and other materials, Wang Zhen reorganized a perfect, high-durability material to craft a full set of clothing modeled after Sephiroth's leather trench coat with shoulder pauldrons from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Although the outfit had a distinct cosplay vibe, that didn't mean its stats were poor. On the contrary, this anime-style gear had a defensive rating equivalent to a US Level 6 bulletproof vest—the highest level of protection available.

He also crafted a left-hand glove, identical to the one worn by the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang. Just like Mustang, he could cast fire without a circle, but wearing this glove, inscribed with a Transmutation Circle, made his flames more powerful and easier to control.

Of course, imitating Pyro John from X-Men, he also fashioned a wrist-mounted ignition device for his right hand, allowing him to better mask his true supernatural power—Alchemy—under the guise of "fire control."

When he heard the God's broadcast announcing the imminent teleportation to a new plot world, he straightened his outfit and walked out. Since his reward points were low and his "Good Luck Cheat" didn't provide storage space, he couldn't exactly ruin his image by wearing Sephiroth's battle gear while carrying a massive, human-sized hiking backpack.

He hadn't brought the Masamune, which was already an insult to Sephiroth; he couldn't ruin the image any further.

By now, twenty pillars of light, each two meters in diameter, stood on the platform, each facing a room door. Since the Zhongzhou Team only consisted of Zhang Jie, Zheng Zha, Zhan Lan, and Wang Zhen, only four pillars glowed with a milky white light; the others remained gray.

"Searching for plot world..."

"Plot world anchored!"

"Anchor successful!"

"Zhongzhou Team members, please enter the corresponding teleportation pillar..."

"Failure to enter within thirty seconds will be considered abandoning the mission!"

"Abandoning the mission... erasure!"

"Thirty-second countdown begins..."

Wang Zhen was broke, so he walked straight into the pillar. Zhang Jie and Zheng Zha were still lingering with their female companions, reluctant to part. Zhan Lan hadn't exchanged for a partner, so she didn't need to say goodbye. This woman, who actually had some brains, had used her final moments to exchange for some emergency medical supplies; it seemed her sense of crisis was quite sharp.

Wang Zhen couldn't be bothered to say anything. The main reason he hadn't brought anything was that his alchemy could analyze materials; he could simply transmute whatever he needed using the matter found within the plot world itself.

"Countdown ended!"

"Initiating teleportation... plot world..."

As the countdown ended, all the pillars shone with a milky white light. When the light dimmed, the people inside had vanished.

Wang Zhen woke up clutching the back of his head, grimacing. The God's teleportation was truly simple and brutal, like being struck on the back of the head with a heavy club—a physical knockout before being dumped into the plot world.

After a silent complaint, Wang Zhen had to endure the pain and survey his surroundings to see if it was the Alien I he had guessed. Although he was 80% sure based on the characters, the God was notoriously capricious. What if it decided, "I don't care what you think, I only care what I think," and dumped them into an entirely different world?

Don't doubt it!

The God was perfectly capable of such things.

Fortunately, based on the environment, he confirmed it was indeed Alien I. Wang Zhen checked the God-issued watch on his wrist and finally confirmed the plot world.

"Since the plot world hasn't changed, the personnel shouldn't have either. Does that mean Colonel Chu is about to make his grand entrance?" Wang Zhen scanned the newcomers lying scattered on the floor.

A few of them had irregular breathing patterns. It seemed Chu Xuan, Zero, and Ba Wang were already awake, just keeping their eyes closed and feigning sleep.

"Since you're awake, get up! Being the first to wake up means you are talented individuals with potential; there's no need to play dumb. If you have any questions, think back carefully—the God has already injected the basic information into your memories!"