This Is the Cheat

Moving away from the gas station, Lin Fan did not venture too deep into County 0201, instead slipping into a tilted office building.

The elevators in this building had long since failed, so he had to climb the emergency stairwell to the sixteenth floor.

Lin Fan walked to the window and used his scabbard to flick open a corner of the dust-covered curtain.

The sixteenth floor—this height was just right.

It offered a view of half the county while keeping him in the leeward side, ensuring the scent of blood on him wouldn't drift away.

"This will do."

After confirming there were no flying monsters circling the area, Lin Fan plopped down onto a dusty desk.

"Hoo..."

He let out a long, weary breath, his tensed muscles slowly beginning to relax.

Exhausted.

Damn, he was exhausted.

The battle just now, while a victory—and a crushing one at that—had left him drained.

The feeling of his brain being hollowed out was actually more uncomfortable than the physical fatigue.

"I have to recover as quickly as possible, or I won't be able to fight again."

Lin Fan rubbed his brow and moved his mind.

Clang.

Three combat blades appeared out of thin air on the desk before him, looted from those three unlucky souls of the Vulture Squad.

Lin Fan picked up one of the blades, his fingers tracing the cold, broken edge.

"Grade A alloy..."

"Although it's not the Kro Alloy that only God-level warriors can afford, this thing is worth far more than that piece-of-junk oil tanker from earlier."

"Time to eat."

Lin Fan flipped his palm, and Calamity lay across his knees.

He picked up the three broken blades and pressed them directly against the wide, cold surface of Calamity's blade.

Sizzle!

Calamity's reaction this time was completely different.

The sound of it absorbing the metal was much more delicate, sounding a bit like the sizzle of a steak in a pan.

When it devoured the oil tanker, the sensation Calamity gave him was like a whale gulping down everything in its path—crude and violent.

But facing these refined, forged Grade A alloy blades, it displayed a sense of "elegance," as if it were savoring an exquisite French meal.

The moment the hard alloy touched the blade, it melted like ice, then transformed into a deep, silver-gray stream of light that merged into Calamity's body.

[Devoured A3 Alloy Steel.]
[Impurities minimal, absorption rate 98%.]
[Calamity growth progress: +0.1%, current progress: 0.37%.]
[Current load-bearing compatibility: +0.1%.]
[Weapon density increased, current weight: 3300 kg.]

"Hmm..."

Lin Fan stared at the progress bar that had jumped a notch, his eyelids twitching.

Before, it had taken tens of tons of scrap metal, enough to make him want to vomit, just to gain that little bit.

Now, this bit of alloy, weighing less than ten kilograms, was worth half the effect of that massive tanker.

"Sure enough, eating dirt all day won't make you an immortal."

Lin Fan smiled helplessly.

Once you've tasted the sweetness of high-purity alloy, who would want to gnaw on rusted junk?

"But there's no help for it. Until I have the ability to hunt down War-General level warriors or have enough money to buy expensive Kro Alloy..."

"...'All-you-can-eat' scrap metal remains the most cost-effective choice for me."

After all, scrap metal was everywhere and cost nothing.

He could eat as much as he wanted.

But alloy blades were a warrior's lifeblood; they weren't easy to snatch.

He couldn't just kill everyone he saw.

That would make him a madman, not a warrior.

Lin Fan gripped the long handle of Calamity, his wrist sinking slightly.

Physically, Calamity had become heavier, but Lin Fan didn't feel it becoming harder to wield; instead, the feeling of a blood connection had deepened.

It was like an extension of his own arm, making it even smoother to swing and more responsive to his will.

"Is this the effect of load-bearing compatibility? The higher it goes, the more powerful this effect becomes."

Lin Fan glanced at his watch.

His heart rate had returned to around 60, and most of the previous dizziness had vanished.

"True Self."

Lin Fan whispered in his heart.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank into his sea of consciousness.

Inside that ancient, majestic bronze hall, the silhouette was replaying the battle he had just fought over and over again.

With every swing, the sluggishness faded, leaving behind only clean, efficient ways to exert force.

"Merge."

Boom!

Lin Fan felt his brain go numb, as if pricked by a needle.

The feeling was strange; even though his body was sitting still, his muscles felt as if they had just performed thousands of strikes, a sense of soreness mingled with a profound clarity.

The next second, he snapped his eyes open and instinctively lashed out with a strike.

He didn't need to think; his body had moved the blade to exactly where it needed to be.

Whoosh!

The blade sliced through the air, emitting a short, sharp sonic boom.

No unnecessary wind-up, no incorrect shift in center of gravity.

This strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless.

Moreover, True Self hadn't just reviewed the entire battle for him; it had also slightly improved his comprehension.

The sudden insight into force-exertion techniques left him feeling refreshed.

"This is what a cheat feels like."

Lin Fan commented with a sense of awe.

He stood up and stretched his stiff neck, which let out a series of cracking sounds.

"Since the spoils have been digested, it's time to find some new experience points."

Lin Fan shouldered the empty backpack he used as a cover and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking down from above.

At this height, he could see the shadows of monsters wandering the streets and the collapsed buildings in the distance.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

He locked onto a large construction site two kilometers away.

Lying there in a jumble were a dozen rusted "corpses"—excavators, tower cranes, and heavy bulldozers.

Compared to civilian scrap, these heavy construction machines used high-strength specialty steel.

Although not as good as a warrior's alloy, the density and purity were certainly far superior to the big iron tank at the gas station.

Lin Fan looked at these heavy machines with burning eyes.

To Calamity, these big guys were perfect, free nourishment.

He adjusted his backpack, his figure flickering like a black panther as he moved silently toward the construction site.