In a corner of the living room, dozens of precision parts and tools were laid out on a custom-made iron table.
Zhao Yuanqing, dressed in a black, long-sleeved crewneck, sat to one side. Though he wore protective goggles, his eyes were visibly bloodshot, as if he had been up all night.
"You didn’t sleep last night?"
Lu Chao asked in surprise, but the other man just nodded sullenly without looking up.
"Yeah... Ah Chao, just a little longer..."
Zhao Yuanqing seed to be explaining sothing, but the movents of his hands only grew faster.
After a flurry of activity, he picked up a pair of tweezers with electrodes attached and, with an expression of intense focus, began connecting the tal components to the prosthetic arm.
Sensing that this was a critical mont, Lu Chao stood his ground and didn’t make a sound to disturb him.
Gradually, as Zhao Yuanqing continued his focused work...
One minute, three minutes, five minutes.
CLICK!
A crisp sound echoed from within the prosthetic arm, as if a crucial component had finally slotted into place.
Amidst the sizzle of electricity, a grid of light appeared in the arm’s energy slot, indicating it was charging. At the sa ti, a blue fluorescent glow flashed across the tal surface.
Zhao Yuanqing’s body trembled, his eyes widening.
He froze on the spot for several seconds before he seed to snap out of it and looked up at Lu Chao.
"Heh heh."
Their eyes t, and Lu Chao could see the bewildernt and disbelief in his friend’s expression.
Lu Chao smiled faintly and gave a sincere nod. "Congratulations to our master technician, Zhao! You did it!"
....
WHOOSH!!
Several days later, the tram pulled into the station.
As the doors opened, a cold wind swept in.
Lu Chao, wearing a gray hoodie, jeans, and white sneakers, stepped off the tram and onto the platform.
’That guy Yuanqing... he really did it.’
Lu Chao shook his head with a smile as he walked toward Jinshi Boxing Hall.
That day’s success was no fluke. In the following days, Zhao Yuanqing tried several more tis, succeeding every ti.
He had truly found his footing on the path of prosthetic augntation and was even qualified, to so extent, to work at a Prosthetic Clinic.
’Over half a year of persistence finally paid off.’
’It’s true that every path is full of hardships.’
Smiling faintly, Lu Chao felt genuinely happy for his friend.
He then quickened his pace, passing through the rust-yellow iron gate and entering the boxing hall under nurous reverent gazes.
Although he was now a second-level patrol officer and eligible to train in the Patrol Departnt’s training rooms...
...the place was crowded and full of prying eyes. Besides, at the boxing hall, he could more directly and conveniently ask Master Luo for guidance. So, he was still more accustod to coming here.
"Senior Brother Lu!"
"Morning, Senior Brother Lu!"
Whether it was the ordinary students on the concrete training ground or the other disciples in the training building...
...they all stepped aside and greeted him one after another with faces full of awe upon his arrival.
The events of that day had left a deep impression on everyone. The might of a Professional Grade martial artist was a rare and top-tier sight, even in the boxing hall.
Beyond that...
"I’m telling you, Senior Brother Lu is from the Iron Ring District too, and look! He still broke through to Professional Grade!"
"Exactly! Who’s going to dare say there’s no way out for us now!"
"Train! Keep training! Senior Brother Lu is our role model. One day, I’ll beco a fighter too!"
Similar uplifting discussions frequently broke out within the training building. Perhaps their shared origins resonated with them, and they all saw the future they hoped for in Lu Chao.
For a ti, the thudding sounds of equipnt being used echoed continuously throughout the hall.
Even though they were drenched in sweat, the official disciples gritted their teeth and threw themselves into their training—punching sandbags, lifting round iron balls, painstakingly honing their strength, and tempering their bodies through stance training.
Faintly sensing the change in atmosphere, Lu Chao’s gaze flickered as he glanced around the training areas.
Fang Jingyi and the others weren’t here today. It was hard to say if they were staying away to save face or if they were at ho nursing their wounds.
Shen Tianchen, on the other hand, who was rumored to have left the city to hunt a few days ago, had unexpectedly returned safely.
He was currently in the ring, sparring with Lin Qingxue, who was dressed in a white training uniform.
BAM!!
Soon, amidst the dull thud of a fist eting a palm...
...perhaps sensing his arrival, Shen Tianchen stopped his movents and narrowed his eyes in Lu Chao’s direction.
A mont later.
THUD!
He leaped from the ring and strode over.
"Senior Brother Lu."
Shen Tianchen’s tone was flat as he walked up to Lu Chao.
Seeing this, Lin Qingxue’s eyes flashed from her position in the ring, but she didn’t intervene.
"Junior Brother Shen."
Taking in the scene from the corner of his eye, Lu Chao gave a calm nod.
This was the first ti in a long while that the two of them had faced each other as equals.
"I heard you broke through to Professional Grade."
Shen Tianchen narrowed his eyes, looking him up and down with a provocative expression. "I wonder, are you interested in a little spar?"
"Oh?"
Lu Chao raised an eyebrow. ’Is he trying to get even for Fang Jingyi and the others?’
Just as he was about to speak, he heard footsteps approaching from his side.
The stocky Zheng Wu had noticed sothing was amiss the mont the two t and had hurried over.
He now stood directly between them.
"That’s enough, Junior Brother Shen."
He looked at Shen Tianchen and reminded him in a low voice, "Master instructed that since you just returned from the wilds, you should rest well and recuperate. You are not to fight with anyone for the ti being..."
Zheng Wu spoke with clear intent. Shen Tianchen fell silent for a mont after hearing this.
He then gave Lu Chao a deep look. There seed to be a trace of annoyance in his eyes, but in the end, he let it go, turning around and returning to the ring to continue practicing forms with Lin Qingxue.
Witnessing this, a glint appeared in Lu Chao’s eyes.
Data from his intuition reflected in his mind. At so point, his own Life Energy had caught up to Shen Tianchen’s.
"Junior Brother Lu."
Suddenly, Zheng Wu turned to him and sighed softly. "Please don’t hold this against Junior Brother Shen. He’s always been like this—proud and ambitious."
"On top of that, Guo Yun and his friends are always sucking up to him. When he ca back and heard what happened, it’s only natural he’d feel indignant and be easily swayed... After a few days, he’ll calm down, think things through, and it’ll be fine."
He advised earnestly. As a senior direct disciple, he had always felt that the unity between fellow disciples was more important than anything else.
That was precisely why he didn’t want to see the grudge between the two of them escalate and get out of hand.
"Heh, Senior Brother Zheng..."
Lu Chao smiled, naturally understanding his aning.
He wasn’t angry, because he knew Zheng Wu had always looked out for him.
"Don’t worry. This is just between and Guo Yun’s group. It has nothing to do with Junior Brother Shen."
He shook his head gently, his tone open and honest.
Zheng Wu breathed a sigh of relief at his words, a smile appearing on his face as he clapped Lu Chao on the shoulder.
The two of them then walked over to the training area.
Taking the opportunity to chat, Lu Chao asked so questions about the wilds.
"By the way, Senior Brother Zheng, I heard you went outside the city a few days ago to hunt Mutant Beasts. How did it go?"
"It was pretty dangerous at the start."
Zheng Wu didn’t hide anything. After a mont of consideration, he said in a serious tone, "Normally, there shouldn’t be too many Mutant Beasts within fifty kiloters of the city, but two warlords in the wilds are fighting an all-out war, causing many beast packs to migrate this way."
"Among them are packs of Sabertooth Boars, Horned Pythons, Red Fire Oxen... But the most dangerous of all are the Iron Rain Eagles. Once they reach adulthood, these Mutant Beasts are comparable to a Professional Grade fighter. They can also fly, making them incredibly agile and hard to hit, even with firearms."
As he spoke, a trace of lingering fear appeared on Zheng Wu’s face.
Lu Chao listened and ntally took note.
He had actually read about these Mutant Beast packs in *Basic Biological Theory*. He knew not only their strength but also their habits, the locations of their choicest flesh and essence, and more. What Zheng Wu was saying now perfectly corroborated that information.
"But the most dangerous things out there aren’t actually the Mutant Beasts."
Zheng Wu’s tone shifted. He pulled Lu Chao into a corner and lowered his voice. "The wanderers in the wilds, and so of the roaming minor warlords—they understand human nature better than any beast, and they know our weaknesses far better too."
"We ran into them several tis on this trip. If the City Defense Departnt hadn’t sent several elite squads, and if we weren’t traveling with so corporate security teams, we might have really been wiped out... But even so, a few people still died in the wilds and didn’t make it back."
Seeing the somber look on his face, Lu Chao fell silent.
The wilds were indeed more complex and chaotic than he had imagined.
Professional Grade was certainly not weak, but against several well-trained elite squads ard with guns, it was still hard to guarantee one’s absolute safety.
At this thought, Lu Chao clenched his fists.
’Looks like I still need to keep grinding.’
’At the very least, do I have to reach the Elite Level before I can even think about taking a short break?’
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