Three hours later, Lin Fan sat on the edge of the top floor of an unfinished building beside the construction site, his legs dangling over open air as his heels tapped idly against the concrete ledge.
The wind was strong up there, whipping his cheap camouflage uniform.
He looked down at the empty lot below.
It was all gone.
Every last bit of it.
The lot, which had been crowded with more than a dozen heavy construction machines, was now as clean as a plate licked by a dog.
The bulldozers, excavators, and cranes that weighed dozens or even hundreds of tons... those steel behemoths that had once represented the power of human industry were gone without a single screw left behind.
All that remained on the ground were faint, gray-white outlines of powder.
The evening breeze swept the dust into the air.
"Phew..."
Lin Fan let out a breath and looked down at the black scythe resting across his knees.
Calamity seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
Its blade, once black as ink and lifelessly matte, now shimmered faintly with a dusky purple sheen along the edge.
The light wasn't dazzling, but flickered as if it were alive.
As he watched, blue data streams refreshed across his retinas.
[Total amount of special steel from construction machinery devoured: 920 tons.] [Material rating: Medium.] [Current state: Tier 0 prototype.] [Growth: +8.25%; total progress: 9.17%.] [Current physical weight: 4,800 kilograms.] [Load compatibility: +8.25%.]
"Over nine hundred tons of special steel, and it didn't even grow by ten percent..."
Lin Fan lightly rubbed the cold shaft of Calamity, his brows drawing together. He wasn't particularly satisfied with the result.
Still, although its growth remained slow, Calamity's weight had increased dramatically.
A full 4,800 kilograms.
Nearly five tons!
That was about as much as a small truck carrying a full load.
But with the boost from "Load Compatibility," the five-ton weapon was no longer a burden in his hands.
Instead, its heavy, solid feel gave him a sense of security unlike anything he'd experienced before.
"That should do it."
Lin Fan glanced toward the distant wilderness, where darkness was gradually swallowing the horizon.
Night was falling.
By day, the Wilderness Zone was a hunting ground for human warriors. At night, it became the monsters' playground.
It was time to leave.
"ROAR!!!"
A thunderous, muffled roar rolled in from the distance, making the unfinished building beneath him tremble.
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes. That roar was definitely beyond a Beast Soldier Level monster. It was at least a Beast General, possibly something stronger.
At his current strength, if he greedily stayed the night, he'd probably become an appetizer for some high-level monster—and end up as a pile of shit.
"Don't get greedy. Better to take what's in hand."
Lin Fan shook his head, then flipped his right hand and stored Calamity in his Space Ring.
He stood up, brushed the dust off his backside, put his battered baseball cap back on, and pulled the brim low.
Then, like a ghost, he slipped into the stairwell without hesitation and made his way toward the Base City.
Before night fell, Lin Fan finally made it back to C3 Freight Channel on the northern edge of Yi'an District.
The giant floodlights mounted on the wall lit the checkpoint as brightly as day.
"Get in line! Keep the damn line orderly!"
The soldiers on guard held riot guns and yelled impatiently. "Open your backpacks! Hand over any contraband!"
Lin Fan blended into a crowd of scavengers, all reeking of sweat and looking exhausted. He stood out not at all.
His camouflage uniform was so filthy its color was indistinguishable. He had smeared his face with motor oil and dirt, and his eyes wore the numb, timid look of someone from the bottom of society.
"Next!"
Lin Fan stepped forward and opened his limp canvas bag without being asked.
Inside were only half a bottle of murky water and a few badly crumbled ration biscuits.
And the priceless Space Ring on his finger?
As if. The Base City's scanners weren't advanced enough to detect a Space Ring.
"Go on in."
The soldier waved him through, glancing at the empty backpack with disdain.
Another poor wretch who'd found nothing.
Lin Fan nodded and bowed timidly, grabbed his backpack, and hurried through the thick steel gate.
Only after entering the familiar district, filled with the bustle and noise of everyday life, did Lin Fan silently let out a breath of relief.
He was safe.
After switching trains several times, he finally returned to his "home" in the cheap public housing district.
The motion-sensor light in the stairwell had long since broken. The place was as dark as a ghost's cave.
Lin Fan took out his key by feel, slipped it into the lock, and turned it.
Click.
He pushed the door open. The familiar musty smell of old furniture, damp walls, and cooking fumes from next door washed over him.
It might have stung other people's noses, but to Lin Fan, who had just been through bloody slaughter, the smell was especially comforting.
He closed the door behind him, locked it twice, and put on the security chain before finally relaxing.
The door wasn't much protection, but there was something reassuring about locking it up.
He tossed the empty backpack he'd used as a decoy into the corner. Without even taking off his shoes, he collapsed flat on the somewhat hard wooden bed.
"Phew..."
Only now did his taut nerves dare to loosen a little.
His body had been enhanced, and he didn't feel especially tired. But the strain on his mind—the constant pressure of watching for a shot in the back or claws at his throat—finally eased.
But he didn't go to sleep right away.
He thought back over everything that had happened that day, his expression complicated.
In just one day, he had faced terrifying monsters and killed people.
For Lin Fan, who had been a law-abiding citizen just a day earlier, it was a lot to take in.
"This world really is different now," Lin Fan sighed. "Without strength, even staying alive is hard."
After that brief reflection, Lin Fan began to reconsider the day's battles.
Whether he was facing a Shadow Cat or the group of wild boars that only knew how to charge, he'd relied entirely on his weapon's weight and sharpness to overpower them.
Crude.
Far too crude.
If he ran into a human warrior with agile footwork or a high-level monster with intelligence, his "swing a sledgehammer around" approach would get him into serious trouble.
"True Self."
Lying in the darkness, Lin Fan called out softly in his mind.
Hum.
Deep in his sea of consciousness, the ancient, imposing Bronze Hall lit up once more.
At the center of the hall, the True Self that looked exactly like him stopped moving.
Lin Fan thought for a moment, then issued an instruction in his mind:
"Continue practicing the 36 Basic Martial Arts Forms."
"But focus on breaking down the Force Application Technique for heavy weapons."
Inside the Bronze Hall, the figure of light didn't answer or waste words.
It simply raised a hand and gripped a conjured long-handled scythe identical to Calamity.
It took its stance.
Stepped forward.
Its shoulder blades drew together like a great bird folding its wings; its waist and hips twisted like a millstone grinding.
Every movement was flawless.
It repeated the sequence again and again.
Tirelessly, without complaint.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Lin Fan still lay in the dark room.
He turned onto his side and watched a thin sliver of moonlight seep through the gap in the curtains.
People were arguing outside, and a drunk was shouting somewhere in the distance.
All the noise and commotion had nothing to do with him now. It was like background sound from another world, making Lin Fan, an "outsider," feel even more out of place.
"Maybe that's why I don't want to get involved with Luo Feng."
"In the end, I'm not from this world..."
As he thought, a heavy wave of drowsiness washed over him.
Lin Fan didn't resist. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
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