Zheng Zha didn't say much, merely extracting a cigarette and offering it to Luo Gandao. The young man didn't hesitate, accepting the cigarette and the lighter with a smile. After lighting it, he immediately returned the lighter, then took a deep drag. The youth immediately exclaimed in pleasant surprise: "What a fine smoke! Did you exchange this at the 'Main God' point as well? Hahaha, next time in a horror movie, I’ll exchange for a few packs to smoke, though it seems smoking isn't really appropriate in a cockpit..." Zheng Zha didn't mind; he chuckled, "Luo Gandao, you are actually somewhat similar to me... {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} Among all these people, you are the only one who gives me the feeling of possessing an intensely strong will to survive, incredibly intense..." Luo Gandao froze. He had been ready to laugh something off, but upon seeing Zheng Zha's expression, for some unknown reason, he simply sat down quietly beside him.

Zheng Zha took another drag and continued, "Everyone I resurrect—their entire life, their death, their experiences, their innermost thoughts—I can see and know, understand? So I know what happened to you, and I know that absolute obsession in your heart not to die. Therefore... you hate us, right? Did someone die in the last horror movie because of us?" Luo Gandao was silent for a long time. After an unknown duration, he finally let out a faint "En." Zheng Zha looked at him silently; the young man was looking down, quietly smoking, appearing as if he were a completely different person from the cheerful youth just moments ago.

Zheng Zha lightly patted his shoulder: "This is where we are similar, {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} an incomparably intense desire to survive. From the moment I entered the horror movie reincarnation cycle until now, apart from me, you are the only one with such a fierce will to live. I feel as if I hear you constantly roaring out loud, demanding to live, to survive no matter what... Very good. I mean it sincerely, if you can maintain this will under any circumstances, you might become one of the strongest members of our team. Then you could survive anything. But..." As Zheng Zha reached this point, an uncontrollable killing intent burst forth, and he said coldly, "You also have one point completely different from me: you genuinely would do anything to survive, even stabbing your companion in the back... If you ever actually do such a thing, I will never let you go. I swear... Even if you possess the same intense desire to survive as me, I swear, your power will absolutely not surpass mine anytime soon. Do not let me find out you have done anything detrimental to the team, or I won't warn you a second time."

With that, Zheng Zha took out a bar of gold from his spatial bag. He quietly channeled his internal energy into his palm and clenched his fist fiercely. Instantly, the gold bar softened like mud under his grip. When Zheng Zha opened his hand, the gold bar had become a strangely shaped object bearing the contours of his palm. {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} Zheng Zha returned the gold bar to his spatial bag, then slowly walked toward his room. As he walked, he spoke, "Welcome to the Middle Continent Team... This is a team secure enough for you to rest assured, at least... we absolutely will not pull the trigger behind your back..." As he spoke, Zheng Zha had already moved far away.

This conversation was deliberately kept secret by both men. {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} The next day during group training, Luo Gandao was still the same cheerful youth constantly laughing and joking, and Zheng Zha still played the role of the captain, leading the training, offering individual advice to every member, and so on.

Time slowly passed like this, several days later.

Chu Xuan reappeared, sporting thick dark circles under his eyes, holding a large package of oddly shaped objects. The training of everyone stopped simultaneously. Luo Gandao, who was currently practicing rolling maneuvers while being chased by Ba Wang wielding an electric baton, took the opportunity to halt. Chu Xuan’s first action was to walk toward the cartoon bear suit where he was stationed.

Chu Xuan crouched before the two enormous, glittering cartoon bear eyes and said calmly, "Come out. Cooperate with me in modifying this robot..." "Ga?" Luo Gandao blinked, then hastily scrambled out of the cockpit. {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} Looking at his explosion of hair, it was clear he had suffered quite a bit during the rolling exercise. Chu Xuan was direct, immediately asking the surrounding people to help strip off the outer skin of the cartoon bear, and then opened the component housing in the small of the robot’s back.

Luo Gandao nervously babbled from the sidelines, "Is that okay? Are you familiar with robots? Don't fake it if you don't know, this is C-grade secondary mission weaponry, you know..." After several minutes of this nagging, the usually composed Chu Xuan didn't mind, but Ba Wang was the first to lose patience. {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} He dragged Luo Gandao far away, then, using a rope pulled from who-knows-where, forcibly tied Luo Gandao to a tree. At this point, Luo Gandao’s noise pollution finally ceased.

The others then quietly watched Chu Xuan install something onto the robot. Several hours passed until this modification was complete. When everyone reattached the outer skin of the cartoon bear, .nilongdao/ the robot had taken on a different look. It was hard to say if it looked cooler or not; the original design was already quite bizarre, and making changes didn't really distinguish good from bad—it just looked slightly more mechanical.

Two mounds were added to the back of the cartoon bear robot, resembling humps on a camel, one on the left and one on the right. Furthermore, several mirror-like steel panels were affixed to the front and back of the cartoon bear. These steel panels were covered in symbols and inscriptions, suggesting this modification could be considered a fusion of legendary magical items and technological components.

Ba Wang saw the modification was finished and went to untie Luo Gandao. {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} Luo Gandao scurried back to the front of the cartoon bear robot and simply stared blankly at the mutated creature for a long time, speechless.

Chu Xuan rubbed his temples and said, "Sit inside and try it out. I made modifications to three areas of this robot. Based on experimental data, its mobility and combat effectiveness should be significantly improved." Hearing this, Luo Gandao couldn't wait and scrambled into the back of the cartoon bear robot. Chu Xuan continued, "First, I changed the energy system. It's no longer battery-powered. Of course, since you lack internal energy, Zheng Zha will need to input his for you. According to the energy conversion formula I calculated, based on Zheng Zha’s current internal energy reserves, an average of ten percent of his energy can power you continuously for seventeen hours. The robot’s internal storage system can hold about one hundred thirty percent of that energy. In other words, unless in extreme circumstances, fully charging the storage system once with Zheng Zha’s energy should be enough for you to handle one horror movie."

With that, Chu Xuan beckoned to Zheng Zha and pointed to the steel panel on the back of the cartoon bear robot. Zheng Zha didn't hesitate; he walked over, placed one hand on the steel panel, {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} and silently inputted around twenty percent of his internal energy. Simultaneously, the cartoon bear robot finally activated.

Chu Xuan continued, "The second modification strengthened the locomotion system. See that new large red button? Once we move fifty meters away, press that button." Hearing this, everyone followed Chu Xuan and stepped outside the fifty-meter range of the robot. Chu Xuan then shouted loudly, "Okay, give it a press!" Sitting in the cockpit, Luo Gandao took a deep breath and forcefully pressed the button. In everyone’s sight, the protruding metal humps on the back of the cartoon bear split open, and with a roar, two streams of blue electrical light shot out from the compartments. These blue lights only extended about twenty centimeters, but the entire cartoon bear robot instantly shot forward with astonishing speed—{Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} almost two to three times faster than Zheng Zha using only his light body skill. In an instant, Luo Gandao was only two hundred meters away from the steel wall in front of them.

"Jump!" Chu Xuan roared. Luo Gandao, startled into a daze, instinctively controlled the cartoon bear to leap violently. Unexpectedly, the jump reached a height of nearly ten meters. As the robot jumped, the blue electrical light sprayed downward at a slight angle, and Luo Gandao jumped over the steel wall, continuing to rush outward madly. In that brief time, he was already over a thousand meters away from the group.

Chu Xuan said to Zhan Lan beside him, "Tell him to press the red button again." Zhan Lan nodded, activated her Mind Chain, and connected with Luo Gandao’s consciousness. After this message was relayed, Luo Gandao hastily pressed the red button again. Sure enough, the blue electrical light quickly vanished, and the opened metal humps slowly closed once more, {Benevolent one rests easy, benefits flow} as if everything that had happened was merely a dream. Chu Xuan communicated calmly through the Mind Chain: "This is the second modification; it allows the directional control of the electrical thrust within a certain range, generating massive kinetic energy. However, this state consumes energy extremely rapidly, so you must use it cautiously. Furthermore, at your current reaction speed and control level, you cannot handle this state effectively. If you were to unlock the first stage of the Gene Lock... then let's try the third modification: electrical attack..." (To be continued) Jump to