Son Miao’s roar could be heard from inside the room, "Get lost! Quickly, get out of here! I don’t want to see your face ever again! Damn it!"
Ren Zhong, with 206 Contribution Points clutched as "big money," whistling as he strolled towards the intersection, humming his once favorite band Tang Dynasty’s version of "The Internationale."
The van pulls up and stops.
Ren Zhong has a brief meeting with Zheng Tian before making a transaction.
The sound of bone conduction from the temporary wrist watch rings in his mind.
"Private transfer received, Contribution Points 0.72, current balance 206.72."
At the sound of this pleasant notification, a faint smile flits across Ren Zhong’s face.
Long before, on his way back to town, the moment he acquired the temporary wrist watch, he discovered a new secret.
Curious, he checked his balance and found himself with an initial "starting fund" of 6 points from birth.
Case solved.
The extra income of 1 Contribution Point last time wasn’t from nowhere.
That too came from his "hard work" sleeping, earned by renting an official wrist watch during his second-to-last resurrection while tactically avoiding a rental fee as high as 90%.
The subsequent 5 points came from five consecutive days of hard-earned sleep after the previous resurrection.
While not entirely sure what happened, or why, it was clear that the Contribution Points earned through sleep were pinned to his identity and carried back with his memory.
After bidding farewell to Zheng Tian, Ren Zhong headed straight for the supply and marketing cooperative.
First Level formal wrist watch achievement unlocked again.
Squatting in the corner, he went online, swept through the stock market, confirmed against his memory with a sigh of relief.
Then he joined Zheng Tian at the town hall and met the old bootlicker Ma Dafu.
All the plot developments perfectly replayed past events, with slight variations only at the final conclusion.
"Mayor Ma, I have an unreasonable request. Although it’s past working hours, could you please take me to the Military Weapon Store? I want to buy some things."
Ma Dafu snapped his fingers, "No problem! We Citizens of Starfire Town love overtime!"
...
This time, Ren Zhong spent a total of 76 points in the Military Weapon Store, leaving with a balance of 31.62.
Unlike last time, he skipped the supply and marketing cooperative’s pure tea, instead squatting outside, saving 0.1 points, didn’t test the initial Brain-Machine Synchronization Rate, saving 5 points, and didn’t buy two extra Training Armor batteries, saving 4 points.
A total saving of 9.1 points.
Counting the additional 5 points of initial starting capital, Ren Zhong was 14.1 points richer when he walked out of the Military Weapon Store than last time.
Every little bit saved is a small piece of meat, even a mosquito’s leg is a gain.
Perfecting the details each time, advancing further each time, is the instinct of a scientific worker.
"Brother Ren, why did you buy this Magnetic Storm Dust Hand Grenade?"
Ren Zhong’s confidence seemed overwhelming, prompting Zheng Tian to react differently than last time, directly voicing her curiosity.
"Don’t ask; some secrets cannot be revealed."
...
Traversing the Iron Worm Forest for a long time, the savage and domineering Blade Mantis died, losing all dignity of a Third Level Ruined Beast, humbled into the dirt.
The Blade Mantis never touched a single member of Zheng Tian’s team.
First, Ren Zhong peppered it with precisely aimed submachine gun fire.
Then, Wen Lei strictly adhered to Ren Zhong’s command, throwing a huge shield with less than 1 cm deviation, 0.5 seconds in advance, blocking the Blade Mantis’s advance path.
The subsequent developments mirrored the last encounter perfectly.
The Blade Mantis changed its course, redirected towards Bai Feng.
The Magnetic Storm Dust Hand Grenade erupted.
The Blade Mantis was ensnared.
Zheng Tian delivered the finishing blow.
The Blade Mantis struggled for three minutes before its demise.
The five members of Zheng Tian’s team, filled with awe and confusion, fell into deep shock once again after listening to Ren Zhong’s casual "explanation".
Zheng Tian, always considering herself a clever individual, was both somewhat famous amongst the outcasts of Starfire Town, but now she felt an urge to kneel and sing surrender in submission due to her inferiority.
She had never imagined that the intelligence gap between individuals could be so mind-bogglingly wide.
"Alright, stop staring blankly; this is nothing to be surprised by," Ren Zhong waved his hand, "We have plenty of time and sufficient resources. There shouldn’t be a second Third Level Ruined Beast in the Iron Worm Forest any time soon, so let’s strike while the iron is hot and score big today!"
Speaking casually, he glanced subtly back at the cargo of the van.
This time, the carcasses of the Ruined Beasts in the van were completely different from last time.
Having completely taken charge of the squad’s command, he thoroughly changed the route, precisely controlling the timing of their arrival at the Iron Step Beetle’s lair.
As they walked, the number of Ruined Beasts harvested by the team matched last time, but the details of combat were worlds apart.
Ren Zhong was now determined to amass wealth feverishly and continued to deeply explore details.
The species and activity areas of Ruined Beasts encountered last time now became his private intelligence, like chestnuts stored by a squirrel for winter in a tree hollow, waiting to be harvested.
At 5 p.m., the team returned to Starfire Town.
Tallying the loot.
Ren Zhong’s personal wallet enjoyed a lavish feast.
Apart from the Blade Mantis, they destroyed a total of 11 First Level Ruined Beasts, valued at 35 points after deductions. After deducting costs of 9 points, the profit was 26 points.
Ren Zhong took 6 points, Zheng Tian and the other four received 4 points each.
The Blade Mantis was valued at 120 points in total.
Ren Zhong took 100 points, while the remaining five shared 20 points.
With the addition of his sleep earnings last night, his wealth reached 138.62.