Chapter 3: Whoa! What a Gigantic Skeleton!
Translator: AbyssrulerEditor: Lucas
Wang Zheng did not refute his words. He had indeed never seen a more knowledgeable bookstore owner than this old merchant. Given this old merchant's level of knowledge, even if he couldn't become a university professor, he could easily convince the average person.
"Young lad, as long as humans are alive, there is always a way. If one wishes to pass through the parallel space, even though it seems impossible, it'll depend on luck. When luck arrives, the probability will become 100%! The breathing technique passed down through your family is actually part of mankind's ancient wealth. A genetic score of 28, heh, even if you are useless in this world, in another world you could be a genius!"
"Old Merchant, can you please be more tactful? You really don't know how to comfort someone."
The old man usually built happiness on top of his pain.
"Hehe, just because you cannot see it, you can't say it doesn't exist!" said the old merchant with a mysterious tone.
"...Old Merchant, you don't have a fever, do you?" Although Wang Zheng noticed that the old merchant was acting strangely today, he wasn't the only weird one; student Wang had been pretty unlucky lately too.
"F**k, I drank so much that I feel dizzy. I'm going to close the shop and have a rest. You can go away now!" the Old Merchant said while waving his hands.
Wang Zheng chuckled, picked up the gift, and ran out in an instant. Looking at Wang Zheng's back, the Old Merchant let out a trace of a smile.
"Just 28? How would the people of this world be able to identify a real genius? One day, you will cause this world to tremble!"
When Wang Zheng got home, he proceeded with his routine Eight Stage Breathing Training. If he didn't, his mood would not be at peace. Saying that his results weren't disappointing wasn't true. However, not being depressed made Wang Zheng feel like he himself was magical.
To pursue a life of learning? Just thinking about sitting in an office and writing and drawing for the entire day made Wang Zheng feel dizzy. He had never considered such an idea even though he felt that scientists were the greatest group among human beings.
His gaze fell upon the old merchant's gift, which was on the table.
Wang Zeng jumped up and picked up the gift. The thing was not big, but it was quite heavy.
After he tore open the newspaper wrapping, the box that was revealed was quite unexpected. The silver box was actually made of metal and it even looked to be of high quality. Although he sometimes regretted following the old merchant, Wang Zheng only felt anticipation towards this gift.
When he opened the box, he saw a dark block of iron inside…. It looked a little like those Rubik's Cubes he played with when he was younger, but what was this thing?
After inspecting it carefully, he couldn't find a user manual inside the box. Wang Zheng stared at the iron block and cautiously examined it. It was absolutely solid.
He even tried to bite it, but it was so hard that his teeth almost broke.
What was the use of this thing? Was it some hidden weapon?
If it hit someone on the head, that person might just lose his life!
Could the inside be made of gold? This little fan of wealth immediately rolled up his sleeves to investigate. What if the black outer layer was rubbed off and the insides revealed a piece of dazzling gold?
Wang started to laugh to himself. This was the first gift he had received after coming of age. Why did it have to be a piece of scrap iron? Still, he was very grateful to the old merchant.
Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain. Although the iron block felt very flat and smooth, it suddenly scraped his skin and started sucking his blood like a leech!"
Wang Zheng tried to throw the block away, but it was stuck to his hand! A sudden burst of golden light shot out and Wang Zheng felt like he had gotten into a train crash!
Darn it ..... what happened? I don't want to die before I get laid!
This was Student Wang's last thought
Drip…
The sound of water droplets woke him up. Wang Zheng slowly opened his eyes. His surroundings were pitch black. What kind of place was this? His forehead was tingling with pain. The only good thing was that his body parts were still intact.
When he touched the floor, it was like touching some kind of ice-cold ground. The surroundings were pitch black and nothing could be seen.
"Is there anyone? Can you turn on a light?"
Wang Zheng cautiously asked. In his life, never had he experienced so many strange events like today
Bang~~~
After a moment, there was a flash of white light and Wang Zheng was almost blinded.
When his vision was finally restored, Wang Zheng was absolutely terrified by the things in front of him.
In front of him, barely touching his nose, stood a red…..thing!
It was a skeleton! Ahh~~~~~~~~
A human skeleton! Ahhhhhh!
His scream echoed loudly inside this place. The skeleton nearly caused Wang Zheng to faint.
After howling and realizing that no one was responding to him, he started to feel embarrassed.
He was enclosed within a square room which was pure white all around. Opposite him stood something that looked like a robot of some sort, but he didn't know whom it was designed by. It had a design resembling a skeleton and it was so beautiful that one could die!
"Where the hell am I? If there's anyone alive, please speak out!"
Wang Zheng shouted. Today's events were things he had never experienced in the past fifteen years, and it was was getting more outrageous. How did he get himself into this weird room?
"Genetic testing, commence!" The skeleton robot suddenly extended its hand and a beam of light shrouded Wang Zheng.
Luckily, it didn't hurt; he only felt a slight itch.
Before long, a bunch of information appeared in front of Wang Zheng's eyes.
Wang Zheng, male, the original gene is completely preserved, 15 years and 10 months, number of gene evaluation – 18!
The last number was the most eye-catching.
Wang Zheng truly wanted to scold someone. God d**n it! How could they bully people like this? 28 was already embarrassing enough; how did it drop further in these last few days? At this point, wasn't he no different from a pig?
This had to be a nightmare!
But the skeleton robot suddenly gave a salute. "Congratulations on clearing the evaluation, Wang Zheng. The evaluation shows that you're a genius. You have the potential of a god of war, success rate of a 100%. Should the Super Soldier Program proceed?"
Wang Zheng's face turned red. "Keke, don't mock me. No matter how bad my talent is, it was all given to me by my parents, and I am very grateful to them!"
"There are no errors in this test. Should the Super Soldier program proceed?" the robot asked meticulously.
Even though he was unable to communicate with the skeleton, Wang Zheng quickly understood from the skeleton robot that this was the fallen Rand Empire's super soldier training system which only selected extremely talented people to proceed with training. The inside of the cube was a special training place where time was almost paused. It was also a huge killing device that the Rand Empire used to conquer the universe, … But the truth was that the Milky Way Alliance didn't have this dog s**t Rand Empire. What non-existent time-stopping technology? Was this some kind of fairytale?
"Hey, who is the one causing mischief? Let me out, or I am going to get violent! Believe me or not, I'll sue you until you go bankrupt!"
Although Wang Zheng decided to get a little more serious, three seconds later, he started believing the Skeleton.
The skeleton robot gave him a very carefree electric shock. Sometimes force was the most convincing way.
Looking at the skeleton robot's oppressive eyes along with that handgun flashing with light, Wang Zheng did not hesitate to choose the super soldier plan. Adapting to circumstances was the smart thing. This was another of his family's teachings.
"Super soldier first stage training begins. Matching martial technique!"
Two silver balls of light appeared and constantly swept across Wang Zheng's body. This time it was a little painful. However, Wang Zheng was staring at the silver balls curiously. He thought that everything in front of him was a dream. What exactly was the Old Merchant up to?
"Primordial Regression Technique"
Three ancient words appeared. Words like these were rarely seen these days.
"Congratulations for matching with the unparalleled Primordial Regression Technique. In the Rand Empire's ten thousand year history, only three were able to cultivate this technique. The first step to practicing it is to feel the first tier of primordial energies—Thirty-Two Stage Cultivation Technique!"
32 spots appeared on the skeleton robot. Wang Zheng finally understood the need for this diagram on the Skeleton Robot. What could be clearer than this to show the location of the 32 meridians?
In another parallel space, human development had taken another direction. Technology existed, but what was more important was inner strength. Although genetic evaluation was the same, the direction taken was different. In the end, there was a completely different result.
Simply put, one was technology-based with the body assisting it, while the other one was body-based with technology assisting it. However, Wang Zheng felt that the latter seemed more torturous.
The skeleton robot was very detailed in its explanation. It seemed to feel that this sort of method was very difficult to explain. However, Wang Zheng understood the method quite clearly. This thing seemed to be similar to the Eight Stage Breathing technique that his family passed down, but it was slightly more complicated. Since the age of three, Wang Zheng's father tempted him with lollipops to practice the breathing technique. Who knew that it would be useful here?
"Should the technique to link up the meridians begin?" the skeleton robot asked.
Upon hearing these words which had cruelty hidden beneath the surface, Wang Zheng had a feeling that something was not right. "Haha, can I choose not to?"
"You cannot!" Another glittering silver needle appeared in the robot's hands
F**k, that thing was about 30 centimeters long. What did that skeleton intend to do?
"God d**n you. If I had no choice, why did you even ask?!" Even clay people had a breaking point, and Wang Zheng started to rage.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
His complaints were useless. 32 silver needles were instantly inserted into Wang Zheng's body. At that moment, Student Wang's body felt chills, but surprisingly, it felt okay.
After three seconds, the room was echoing with Wang Zheng's howling. A strand of silver thread was attached behind each silver needle. Strong electrical currents entered Wang Zheng's body.
"Guide the spirit according to the electrical currents flowing through the acupuncture points!"
Wang Zheng was in a semi-conscious state, but he just couldn't faint. Linking up the meridians was complete nonsense. His body couldn't feel any guidance! But right at this moment, the Eight Stage Breathing technique he learnt when he was young started to automatically circulate itself, miraculously guiding the electrical currents through his body. From eight it expanded to 16, and then it expanded again from 16 to 32 stages. Each stage was where he had been shocked. Wang Zheng's pain reduced by a bit, and after a period of time, he gradually began to recover his consciousness and started guiding his thoughts on to the areas where he was shocked.
When all 32 points were finally connected and formed a complete cycle, the electrical current disappeared, followed by a loss of that marvelous feeling of completing a cycle
Wang Zheng once again opened his eyes. The skeleton robot was still standing in front of him.
"Congratulations, Soldier Wang Zheng, you created a new record for the time taken to awaken. The initial cycle was completed in ten days!"
The robot showered him with meticulous praise; it even gave him a standard military salute.
After hearing the praises, Wang Zheng still did not dare to lower his guard because the robot in front of his eyes may have been talking politely, but his actions were too cruel.
"Can I go already?!"
"You have to consolidate this martial technique in this period of time. Meanwhile, you will complete this first set of intense training and some warrior's basic training at the same time."
The robot said. Perhaps to make its expressions as gentle as possible, it even revealed a humane smile, but it was actually very frightening!
Robots obviously did not understand that humans needed to rest. Thus, what immediately followed was the beginning of training
Horse stance!
God d**n it. Wang Zheng felt like dying after squatting for a whole day. In the past, he had done a lot push-ups, long-distance running, and short distance sprinting, but that was all within a normal person's normal limits. On other matters, the robot seemed to be respectful towards him, but once training started, it was just an absolute monster
On the first day, Wang Zheng couldn't take it and asked, "If I keep half-squatting like this, will I be able to become a super soldier?"
"Sorry, your question exceeds the limits of my answers"
Student Wang gave up. Although he could feel that this kind of balancing did have its advantages, was it really worth it?
Once it had started, there would be no stopping. If Wang Zheng's movements were not up to standard, he would receive an electric shock.
What was worse than being in horse stance for a day? Doing it for six months!
Wang Zheng started to wonder if his legs were going to be strained until it changed shape. This exercise was very dull; it was so uninteresting that he was going to be driven mad! After realizing that he would only be frustrated if he kept thinking this way, he realized that practice was the only thing that would pass the time. As time passed, Wang Zheng felt that his own optimism had developed to an extreme level.
After six long months, the robot finally gave him a different assignment.
A pile of cylinders appeared in the area. Wang Zheng's mission was to walk to and fro on top of the cylinders.
Whenever cylinder lit up, it would disappear immediately, but what would happen when he fell?
Actually, nothing much; he would just fall from a six meter height.
Would it hurt if one fell down from that height?
It was absolutely terrible suffering. Wang Zheng felt that it was all just a dream, an extremely painful one. However, the red light of the skeleton could cure him.
The potential of mankind always revealed itself in difficult times. In order to not fall into insanity, Wang Zheng would jump here and jump there every single day like a kangaroo, gradually becoming more skillful led in the thirty-two stage Primordial Regression Technique.
After a month, Wang Zheng very confidently and easily navigated the top of the cylinders. The skeleton said that the cylinders were called "plum piles." However, to Wang Zheng, it was a type of digital and graphical arrangement. After he memorized the entire layout, everything became simple.
"Bonehead, this event isn't challenging anymore. This brother is already invincible."
"Yes!" the robot always replied simply and in a straightforward fashion.
Suddenly, the course changed. Although the cylinders were still cylinders, they had shrunk from a diameter of twenty centimeters to ten centimeters.
The six meter drop was still six meters, only now the floor had changed into numerous densely-packed nails.
God d**n it, this brother here has trypophobia!