Wu Heng stood still as a line of information appeared on his Tower Mark:
[Current strength assessment: Mid-tier 1st rank. Upload to personal information?]
Wu Heng selected No, then gathered a little strength and performed a set of Chen-style Unrestricted Combat moves before checking the assessment again:
[Current strength assessment: Mid-tier 1st rank. Upload to personal information?]
The assessment hadn't changed. It seemed to have settled on mid-tier 1st rank as the overall evaluation of his physical abilities.
Wu Heng took out the pistol he'd confiscated from the hoarse-voiced middle-aged man and fired a shot. The assessment still didn't change.
He was about to upload his strength assessment and leave, putting the pistol back in his personal space, when he suddenly noticed the alloy briefcase and Ice Crystal Ball stored there.
The crystal ball still made no difference when he held it, so Wu Heng picked up the briefcase, which had already been punctured by the Lesser Demon.
[Current strength assessment: High-tier 1st rank. Upload to personal information?]
"No."
Wu Heng was surprised that holding the briefcase raised his assessment. After thinking it over, though, it seemed reasonable.
After all, a pistol didn't pose much of a threat to him anymore.
Unless a dozen or more people fired at him at once while he had no blood or cover, they might be able to break his limbs and take him down.
According to the handbook, anyone who reached the first rank had already surpassed the limits of an ordinary human body. A single pistol couldn't pose much of a threat.
But with Wu Heng's physical strength, he could wield the briefcase like an iron hammer, using it to block and strike. With blood to replenish his energy, he'd be an unstoppable human battering ram.
Wu Heng understood the reason. He put the briefcase away, and his assessment dropped back to mid-tier 1st rank.
"Upload."
[Upload successful. Personal information template updated.]
The Tower Mark displayed his personal information:
Tower number: SL914
Identity: Tower Guardian
Strength: Mid-tier 1st rank
Survival points: 7597.
"Return."
The environment around Wu Heng changed, and he returned to his Lighthouse Space. The Testing Room cost survival points for every minute, so he'd made sure to finish within one.
Wu Heng sat on the sofa and looked over his clothes. Not a speck of dust had come back with him.
He then checked the two messages the Tower Mark had just sent.
[Reached the first rank. Lighthouse plot advance notification permission unlocked.] [Next plot world: The Screaming Skull. Countdown: 29 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes. (Refresh available)]
Wu Heng furrowed his brow. He'd spent every day at home watching movies in his previous life, but he'd never seen this one. He couldn't tell whether he'd missed it or whether the movie simply hadn't existed.
If it hadn't existed in his previous life, that would prove things were already developing in an unpredictable direction.
Wu Heng tried tapping the refresh button.
[Spend 500 points to refresh the plot world?]
"Yes."
The information before Wu Heng's eyes changed instantly:
[Refresh successful. Next plot world: Tumbbad. (Refresh available)]
The plot world that appeared this time put Wu Heng at ease. He'd seen the movie, which also confirmed his guess: the plot worlds in the Lighthouse Space were based on horror movies from his previous life, or at least most of them were.
That much was clear from Hellraiser, the Paper Person Tower Master's background music, and the intelligence reports mentioning The First Commandment and Old Corpse of the Mountain Village.
Wu Heng continued exploring the Lighthouse's appraisal function. He took out the alloy briefcase and used his Tower Mark to select Appraise.
[This appraisal will cost 1 survival point. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
[Damaged alloy briefcase. Origin: Hellraiser 1. Made primarily of TA titanium alloy. Weight: 10 kg.]
Wu Heng took out the Ice Crystal Ball and tried it too. The prompt said it would cost 940 survival points. He declined, since he already knew what it was. Appraisal was only useful for trading within the Lighthouse.
After examining the things in the Lighthouse, Wu Heng returned to his room in the real world and took out his phone to photograph a century-old ginseng root.
This phone's camera is too blurry. Looks like I need a new one.
After a lot of effort, he managed to take three pictures that looked decent.
Although he still had the villa owner's million yuan in his personal space, Wu Heng planned to take care of everything when he went out to sell the ginseng.
Wu Heng opened an app called Omniscient Browser. Before he could do anything, the webpage automatically jumped to an art site from his browsing history.
He glanced at it. He wasn't in the mood for that right now, so he closed the page and started looking for forums about ginseng trading. Then he posted the pictures he'd taken, saying the ginseng had been passed down from his grandfather's generation and asking what it was worth.
Now all he had to do was wait for a buyer to take the bait. Wu Heng continued browsing the news in this world.
Deep Blue Star's technology was about the same as that of his previous world, but its history differed in some ways.
The Red Moon Federation, where he lived, had been unified for more than five hundred years and was the most powerful nation in the world.
Wu Heng opened the Moon Ring News Network again:
'Seven renowned physicists from the Red Moon Academy of Sciences have gone mad one after another and been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.'
'Police report on bizarre mass death in Linyu: 47 dead, 0 injured. The perpetrator has mysteriously vanished.'
'A 300-meter tower is being built at the summit of the Sennan Ecological Zone. The internet is calling for its demolition and condemning the destruction of the environment.'
'Heshan District in Baipo City has been sealed off after the suspected discovery of an unknown flu virus.'
'A truck carrying hazardous chemicals leaked in Chongyu City, causing thousands of casualties. Emergency rescue efforts are still underway.'
The news seemed ordinary enough, but the frequency of these incidents and the number of casualties seemed far too high.
Wu Heng sensed that something was wrong. At the very least, he knew there had to be quite a few Tower Guardians in this world. But he wasn't strong enough yet, so he needed to stay hidden, learn more, and decide what to do afterward.
Wu Heng didn't dare search on his phone for anything related to the Lighthouse or Tower Guardians. He'd heard that some search histories were monitored. Who knew whether one search would give him away?
Wu Heng kept browsing the news to learn more about the world. Before he knew it, it was already nine o'clock at night.
The sound of the front door opening came from the living room, interrupting his browsing.
Click! The living room's main light switched on, and white light slipped through the crack beneath the bedroom door.
That must be Mom getting home! The thought came to Wu Heng.
For some reason, he felt a little nervous.
"Hengzi, come out and eat. The factory made us work late today, so I'm a bit late. I bought you some egg fried rice."
His mother, Yang Huifen, called out in a tired voice.
He heard water running outside as she rinsed the chopsticks.
"Okay, Mom."
Wu Heng answered without thinking when he heard her, then froze.
The word "Mom" didn't feel strange or awkward at all. It felt as though it had always been that way.
Wu Heng had been wondering how to face the family he'd suddenly acquired.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming his unsettled heart.
Wu Heng put down his phone, pulled on the windbreaker hanging from the coat rack to hide his muscular build, and opened the door.
A long black table with red trim stood in front of the living room sofa. Two plastic bags of fried rice sat on top.
Wu Heng walked over and looked around, spotting his mother, Yang Huifen, washing dishes in the kitchen.
"Why are you out so early today? Usually—"
Hearing him, his mother, Yang Huifen, turned her head in surprise.
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