Chapter 53 - Authority Guess Promotion Please Follow

Having locked up those stupid donkeys of Patrol Soldiers, Xu Shu finally felt much more at peace.

Half of them are dead, good, it really turns the phrase ‘after extreme happiness comes sadness’ on its head, turning it into ‘after extreme sadness comes joy.’

As expected of Patrol Soldiers, they understood how to manage their emotions.

Joy, tough to clam.

It’s good to lock them up; the enclosed environment should calm them down quickly.

Their sorrowful emotions would soon turn into fear and restlessness.

With that, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Thus, Xu Shu planned not to go out for the entire next day, opting instead to hole up in the prison and wait for the Tai Chu Scroll to refresh the next day.

Although a few small holes had been punched in the wall, it was nothing serious.

Originally, the Patrol Soldiers had suggested heading to a refuge about five kilometers to the west of this place.

On their way here, they received a message that people were trapped here from a small refuge about thirty kilometers to the north.

But an old map showed that there was also a refuge to the west of here.

Given the current situation, naturally, choosing the nearest refuge and getting organized there first would be wise.

But Xu Shu decisively refused.

He didn’t explain his reasons in detail to everyone but gave them the choice.

It’s the same old line—if you want to leave, you can go by yourselves, I won’t stop you, so don’t expect me to follow.

As the only Transcendent present, Xu Shu wielded absolute authority—whatever he said went.

If he said to lock them up, they were locked up; if he said not to leave, then they wouldn’t leave.

Although the Patrol Soldiers didn’t understand, this time, none of them suggested leaving first.

Without a Transcendent to lead the group, they genuinely didn’t dare to wander aimlessly on the Wasteland.

It would be a gamble with their lives on whether the nearby monsters were satiated and lacking appetite.

In comparison, it would be safer to stay locked up here—at least this young man didn’t seem to be a bad person, just a bit quirky.

So, they obediently filed one by one into the cells and settled down.

Of course, these Patrol Soldiers were not criminals.

Xu Shu generously distributed water and food to each of them.

“Ah, sir, is there a toilet?” one of the Patrol Soldiers asked awkwardly.

“Get lost, there isn’t.

Can’t you poop on the ground, pick it up, and throw it out?”

“Ah?” The Patrol Soldier’s face turned green—are you asking me to pick up my poop?

“Figure it out yourself.” Xu Shu couldn’t be bothered with him, but kindly tossed some old newspapers into each cell.

After being rejected, the man’s face stiffened, but he thought it was better to stink than to burst.

Besides, with a bit of endurance, one could pick it up and throw it out of the window, so he let it be.

In fact, Xu Shu did have a portable toilet, but there was only one, and with many people around, it was not practical to share, so it was better not to.

As for the toilet, there was indeed one, in the washroom.

But only one cubicle was working properly; all the others were clogged—flush once, and they’d clog, and if you used them, the mess might overflow, a scene too beautiful to imagine.

Moreover, the only working cubicle was a sit-down toilet—the kind you have to sit on flush with your behind.

So, of course, Xu Shu would not allow any male other than himself to use it.

He was even somewhat reluctant to let Gu Pan use it.

That’s because she only looked pretty and had a good figure, but was all flash and no bang, and her poop smelled particularly foul.

Xu Shu truly detested her.

Not like himself—as it turned out, after becoming a Transcendent, his poop seemed to have no smell at all.

Indeed, this was the difference between Transcendents and ordinary people—the poop of a Transcendent was even fragrant.

On the other side, Gu Pan, taking note of this, couldn’t help but pat her chest, feeling relieved.

Thank goodness she had the wits to use the toilet for a big one when she got back, and now she didn’t have this trouble.

As for peeing…

She quickly looked under the bed and noticed the soup bowl was still there.

“Haha, as expected of me.”

Gu Pan was now thoroughly at ease.

Having shut the cell door and eliminated all uncertainty, Xu Shu immediately returned to the small warehouse.

He also brought back the medical kit.

The truly valuable and expensive few items hadn’t been touched by the Patrol Soldiers.

Especially the resurrection pill, said to be worth starting at a million, which they all returned to Xu Shu.

These were huge sums worth over a million—a temptation to the heart, but they dared not touch it, even though they had formed a “life-and-death friendship” during the battle.

Monetary issues were separate, and they saw this very clearly.

Xu Shu naturally accepted it, as these were rightfully his spoils of war.

Among these spoils of war, what Xu Shu liked most was not the most valuable resurrection pill, but the three ready-made Erosion Crystals.

The resurrection pill was utterly useless to him; it was worth money—that was all.

Turning money into power took a process.

Erosion Crystals, on the other hand, could immediately enhance one’s strength!

Three crystals all at once, and of high level too—two rank 9s and one rank 10.

Xu Shu estimated that with his original pace, it would take at least two or three simulation trials to secure these crystals without fail.

Now it was as if he had directly saved a day’s worth of simulation attempts—he couldn’t be happier.

“I wonder how many more levels I need to rise before I can comprehend a new Ultimate Skill?”

The strong defense of the Ultimate Skill “Jingwei” had whetted Xu Shu’s appetite, making him eager to quickly gain several similar abilities.

After preparing, he took out the Erosion Crystals from his package, stuffing them all into his underwear, allowing his Promotion Drive to absorb them.

Bang~

Feeling the heat from the explosion in his lower abdomen surge throughout his body, it first collapsed inward focusing around the heart, then flowed out, piercing through his limbs and bones.

“Hiss—ah—” Xu Shu howled.

It really hurt.

The pores all over his body rapidly opened, ejecting blood that had been dyed black.

This was not the first time, but the pain of being eroded was still unbearable.

It seemed unlike taking medicine which could lead to tolerance if used too much, using Erosion Crystals did not allow the body to develop so-called ‘erosion resistance’.

“Strange, the feeling of pain is deepening, it’s more painful than the last upgrade.”

“The more I level up, the harder it becomes to improve further, doesn’t it?”

“If it were an ordinary person, they probably would have to stop here.”

“Thankfully, I have a title!”

Sit-ups, activate!

Xu Shu lay on the floor of the washroom, quickly moving into action.

He was in pain and excited at the same time.

As time ticked by, with the power of the Erosion Crystals fully devoured, he felt his body’s strength replenish somewhat.

“Let’s see how many levels I’ve gone up.”

Xu Shu dressed, lay down on the bed, adjusted to a comfortable position, and with a virtual wave of his hand, launched the Promotion Drive.

A screen of light condensed in front of him, unveiling a now familiar interface.

“Yikes, the contribution is still 11 points, just like before.”

“Killing the wanted criminal Lu Bingwei didn’t increase my contribution…”

“It seems that Lu Bingwei was only targeted by the Astronomy Association, not by the entire Promotion Network.”

“Tsk, how pitiful the Astronomy Association’s second-tier authority is!

It doesn’t even have the authority to delete posts or to view the real identity of the others, which is trash.”

“If the authority was a bit higher, they wouldn’t have to let Lu Bingwei fish around on the net using the nickname ‘Overlord Spear,’ only able to sneakily diss him through messages.”

“It looks like the Promotion Network really isn’t biased towards what they call justice, kind of pitiable.

I thought the Astronomy Association would be more impressive, but it turns out it’s nothing in front of the Promotion Network…”

“But it can’t be said like that, the Astronomy Association is the highest-level human organization.

If it weren’t for the Astronomy Association and the Supervision Bureau holding on after the Great Catastrophe, human society would have collapsed back to the Stone Age.”

“It’s just that Lie Zhenzi is too vast and unpredictable, it’s basically Heavenly Dao.”

Xu Shu shook his head and laughed ironically.

Through this incident, he once again confirmed an original speculation.

——The Promotion Network, doesn’t belong to anyone.

As the true ruler of the Promotion Network, Lie Zhenzi might just be like Heavenly Dao, an existence that doesn’t care about the so-called good and evil in the human world, and is very likely to be not a person but a Transcendent level supercomputer, as the Promotion Network really does resemble an online game.

Or, Lie Zhenzi stands on the side of all humanity, only recognizing the killing of monsters as a contribution;

As for the internal battles within humanity, it doesn’t care at all.

Good and evil mean nothing to it.

Whether you commit countless evils or fight for justice, it doesn’t matter to it!

It only acknowledges the broad concept of ‘humankind’.

“Ha, isn’t this what they call, ‘The heavens are heartless, treating all beings as straw dogs.

The sage is unkind, treating the people as straw dogs’?” (Note 1)

It is said that the Promotion Network and Lie Zhenzi appeared in the year of the Great Catastrophe when humanity was on the verge of extinction.

A great sage, all by himself, turned the tide of catastrophe and supported the falling human society, stabilizing the decline of humanity.

Then he left without a trace, his deeds and name concealed.

After that, Lie Zhenzi and the Promotion Network appeared, and the Astronomy Association was born as a result, repeatedly studying the usage of the Promotion Network, ultimately forming the current Human Transcendent Alliance.

In other words, could such a supercomputer or network, like Lie Zhenzi, have been created by that sage’s own hands?

“If he could perform such a feat of exalting the heavens and establishing the earth, this person is only slightly weaker than me, who possesses the Tai Chu Scroll.”

Thinking this, Xu Shu pondered for a moment, then further clicked open his attribute detail page to check the specifics.

Curse Seal click to view details

——First-tier Warrior (Legend)

*Talents: Mastery of Architecture, Spit Silk

*Talents: Thick-skinned, Strong, Resolute, Jingwei (Breakthrough Skill)

“Tsk, only went up by 2 levels?”

Xu Shu was dissatisfied.