Ma Xiaoling: "Uh... does it mean even rich people never think they have enough money?"
"No. You might sympathize with scavengers. But since you never had financial troubles growing up, you lack a concept of money. Let me tell you what a thousand points mean."
"This amount is enough to cover the basic groceries for a family of three for three years. If I don’t spend this money myself and lend it to scavengers, it can change the fate of at least two scavengers, giving them basic productivity, bringing more profit to me, and giving them a chance to move from merely surviving to living. Do you understand what I mean?"
While ’educating’ Ma Xiaoling, Ren Zhong recalled the last moments of the previous encounter; during the battle with the Sutured Giant Beast, Ma Xiaoling first refused Ma Dafu, then refused his request to stay in town, and ultimately fought and died for the scavengers.
He used to secretly disdain this ’internet-addicted girl’ for her reckless spending in games, but now his disdain had long evaporated.
The fault was not in her.
Ma Xiaoling pondered for a long, long time.
The atmosphere was a bit silent.
Ren Zhong almost thought she was going to quit gaming from the next second.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly perked up, "I get it. So after I beat you up later, I’ll slay some Ruined Beasts, earn some money, and give it to the scavengers to spend."
Ren Zhong facepalmed on the spot.
Forget it, there was no point in having high expectations for her brain.
An hour later, Ma Xiaoling lay flat on a boulder atop Bone Valley’s side seam, her face vacant.
She had just boosted her armor power to 12,000 kilowatts, which is the standard parameter for a newly promoted Fifth Level mechanical warrior.
Yet she lost, defeated by Ren Zhong whose armor power was only 5,000 kilowatts.
Both of them almost didn’t use big devices, relying on their true abilities.
Yet she couldn’t handle Ren Zhong, who had a lower power.
Ren Zhong’s power distribution switching speed was mind-bogglingly fast.
One moment he was outputting full power to engine mobility, the next moment the Ice Flame Giant Blade in his hand swung with 5,000 kilowatts of power, cutting down with inertia.
Ren Zhong was like a fish swimming in water, extremely slick, like a lurking venomous snake, extremely cunning.
Besides, he demonstrated a complete Sixth Sense upgrade—Time Intuition.
No matter what kind of tricks or tactics she used, he identified them in advance and easily resolved them with minimal effort.
Eventually, all her armor medium engines and anti-gravity engines were picked apart by Ren Zhong with the tip of his sword, losing power.
Yes, picked apart, not cut off.
She was utterly defeated.
Ren Zhong sat down beside her, "How about it? Any insights?"
He thought to himself, after this battle, Ma Xiaoling was defeated by him fair and square.
With her personality, she couldn’t possibly become self-abased because of this.
She would inevitably be spurred on and become intensely curious about the operational techniques she experienced this time.
Then, he could take the opportunity to teach her the mindset of programming sequences.
Previously, Ren Zhong had tried to teach her, but she was unwilling to think or learn.
Ren Zhong thought, having been surpassed by him, having suffered such a blow, she would certainly have the determination to seek guidance.
Here, Ma Xiaoling sat up straight, turned her head to look at Ren Zhong’s face, "Your skills are akin to artistry, truly breathtaking."
Ren Zhong cupped his hands, "You’re too kind."
"You indeed have mastered consciousness upload."
"Yes, that’s why my power distribution switching is so fast."
"You’ve also mastered Perfect Level Time Intuition."
"That’s only against you, because I know you too well."
Ma Xiaoling: "Is it that you know my body structure too well?"
"I really don’t!"
Ma Xiaoling: "Ren Zhong, you are indeed remarkable. In just three months, you’ve far surpassed me. I still remember when I first met you, you looked like a rookie I could knock over with one finger."
Ren Zhong thought to himself that the opportunity had come.
He laughed heartily, "I could advance so rapidly not only because of my extraordinary talent but also because I’m willing to think. Weren’t you interested in the tactical instruction sets I used to defeat the Cold-blooded Butcher? Once you learn these and master them proficiently, with persistence, you can gradually acquire the ability to be nearly limitless like consciousness upload. How about it? Do you want to learn..."
"No!"
"Alright."
...
Source Star Business Association’s Military Department Professional Management Office.
A group of people were holding an emergency meeting in the hibernation space.
"We just received a notice from the ’Net’; Citizen Ren Zhong indeed achieved consciousness upload ability ahead of time at the Fourth Level. What he said to Citizen Ma Xiaoling was not bragging."
"This is an extremely rare phenomenon. It’s a significant matter, and we have no authority to intervene. Report it up for the higher-ups to decide."