Luck and Strategy

"... Abilities?"

At the makeshift dining table, Lü Wenrui picked up a piece of the Calamity Beast and stuffed it into his mouth.

"We have all kinds, it depends on what you want."

"What about the more skilled ones?" Xu Ruiyu asked with some curiosity.

The other soldiers nearby also looked over with some curiosity.

"Hmm... about this," Lü Wenrui pondered, chewing on the meat of the Calamity Beast in his mouth.

"Actually, as long as your ability level and basic rating are high, you're pretty good."

"Otherwise, even if you have good abilities, if your rating isn't high enough, it won't be of much use."

"Just like Chairman Jiang of the Martial Arts Association, if his ability is only a D-Class ability, then even if he can still control lightning, it might only slightly paralyze people."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in slight understanding.

Although they had heard some things from other sources, they were ultimately not as convincing as what they heard from the inspectors.

"What other abilities do you have?" Xu Ruiyu then asked.

Lü Wenrui said, "There are many: combat-type, support-type, reconnaissance-type, and even some that are not very useful, such as cleaning dust..."

Shen Heng ate his dinner quietly to the side.

They've been in the Erosion Zone for several days now, and for the past few days they've been eating dinner with ordinary soldiers, just like they are now.

However, unlike the four of them who ate here regularly, the other soldiers ate on a rotating basis.

This is to maintain continuous vigilance over the Erosion Zone and prevent situations where no one is alerted, dealt with, or responded to when the Calamity Beast appear.

Therefore, ordinary soldiers are divided into several batches, taking turns to eat and perform duties.

As for Shen Heng and the others...

It takes some time for the Calamity Beast to emerge from the Erosion Zone and arrive at the camp.

That's more than enough time for them to finish what they're doing and get there.

"Except for the first day, the Calamity Beast haven't come near us for the past few days." Tang Yuanyang finished eating and put down his bowl.

Shen Heng glanced at it, then nodded slightly, "Mm."

Lü Wenrui, who had been chatting with soldiers at other tables, heard their conversation, turned his gaze back, and grinned:

"I told you this had nothing to do with me, right? I was just unlucky the first day."

"No, this actually suggests that it might be because of you," Shen Heng said.

"Hmm? Why?" Lü Wenrui asked, frowning.

Han Ling also looked over, slightly puzzled.

"Didn't you once say," Shen Heng looked at Lü Wenrui,

"A person's luck usually stays within a certain range. If something good happens now, it means that something bad is likely to happen later, and vice versa."

"In other words, the bad thing that happened last time was very likely caused by your own incompetence."

"However, since the last misfortune, which already triggered another one, the Calamity Beast haven't come over these past few days because they've been trying to make up for it."

"Well, that might not be the case for making up for the same thing!" Lü Wenrui blurted out.

"So, have you made up for it anywhere these past few days?" Shen Heng turned his gaze and asked.

Lü Wenrui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that nothing particularly special had happened in the past few days.

Han Ling glanced sideways at Lü Wenrui's condition, then quickly looked away and turned to Shen Heng.

"If that's the case, then having this ability makes no difference whether he has it or not?"

"As for the other firing positions, in the past few days, the fewest we've encountered haven't been there yet, and the most we've encountered have been two attacks by Calamity Beast."

"It's not entirely useless, but if that compensatory mechanism exists, if good luck and bad luck happen at the same time, it's easy for one ability to fail to function." Shen Heng lowered his eyes slightly.

"The truly useful aspect of this ability is that it allows one to exchange a series of unrelated misfortunes for a single stroke of great good fortune."

"But he can't control his abilities." Han Ling couldn't help but glance at Lü Wenrui again.

Shen Heng nodded slightly. This was the biggest problem with Lü Wenrui's abilities: he couldn't control them.

Lü Wenrui sat to the side, his expression constantly changing, and finally said:

"Actually, the last time the Calamity Beast came, it might not have been related to me. You see, some of the other firing positions haven't encountered them yet, while others have encountered them twice."

Shen Heng glanced at Lü Wenrui, then looked away and nodded slightly.

Whether the last Calamity Beast had anything to do with Lü Wenrui was not something he cared too much about.

It's just that Lü Wenrui's abilities are so extraordinary that anyone who has experienced them will subconsciously associate them with him.

In fact, he wasn't too concerned about whether Lü Wenrui was really involved in that matter.

After all, what's done is done, and there's nothing they can change.

Rather than focusing on whether the previous events were related to Lü Wenrui, they should be more concerned about Lü Wenrui's future luck.

Pay special attention to the times when he experiences a series of good fortunes.

After all, under the mechanism of luck compensation, if Lü Wenrui suddenly starts experiencing a series of good things, it often means that it's not a good thing.

Of course, it's also possible that misfortune will strike first, and then we can see if there's an opportunity for compensation later.

Compared to this, he was more concerned about something else...

Shen Heng lowered his head, deep in thought.

Han Ling watched Shen Heng's expression from the side.

After the meal, just as Shen Heng and Han Ling were about to go to the side to start their duty, his gaze swept over Lü Wenrui, who was still chatting with other soldiers in the tent where they were eating.

"You go ahead first. I need to talk to Lü Wenrui about something. I'll go over later." Shen Heng turned to look at Han Ling.

Han Ling was slightly taken aback. She glanced at Shen Heng, didn't ask any further questions, nodded, and turned to leave.

Shen Heng then went to the tent again and called out to it.

Lü Wenrui looked over, and although he was a little puzzled, he stopped chatting and came over.

"What's wrong?"

"Let's go back to our tent first," Shen Heng said, turning and walking towards it.

"What? Is something wrong and you want me to cover your shift tonight?" Lü Wenrui asked, somewhat puzzled, as he followed beside him.

"No, and besides, what could possibly happen here?" Shen Heng countered.

"Hmm... that seems to be true." Lü Wenrui nodded thoughtfully.

High plateau, campsite, uninhabited area.

These days, all he can do besides cultivate, sleep, and be on duty is chat with the other soldiers.

But because of this, he was even more confused.

"What is it?"

"You wouldn't be chatting with me out of boredom, would you?"