mesbooks Chapter 5 One-Month Goals
Chapter 5 One-Month Goals
The bedroom door was closed, separating the two worlds inside from the outside.
Lu Tianhe slumped onto the sofa, casually tucking the trouser leg with the burn hole inside, no longer caring about the damage. Lin Rou, on the other hand, reverted to her role as a battlefield medic, pouring Lu Yuan a glass of warm water and then taking two apples from the refrigerator to peel.
"Tell me, if the government really treated you like a giant panda, could you move our family to a villa with a yard?" Lu Tianhe crossed his legs, his eyes slightly unfocused. "This old building has terrible soundproofing. I can hear the couple next door arguing all night long."
Lu Yuan held his water glass, staring at the crack in the floor cleaved by the military dagger, still reeling from the feeling of being in complete control.
"Dad, what a pathetic thing to do. You're practically making a god out of everything, and you're still thinking about listening to the neighbors arguing?"
"That's the joy of life! You wouldn't understand."
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the bedroom was not as relaxed and comfortable as in the living room.
Su Lie's holographic projector was already set up in the small bedroom. A faint blue light created a circular virtual conference table, with twelve empty seats lighting up in sequence.
This is no ordinary video call; it's a "roundtable meeting" with the highest privileges. Anyone sitting here can make China tremble with a stomp of their foot.
In less than thirty seconds, the first virtual human figure appeared.
He was an old man in a white lab coat, his hair a mess, and he was holding a half-eaten sandwich. He was Qian Sen, the director of the Xinghai Research Institute.
"Su Lie? What are you doing in the middle of the night? My experiment is in full swing, the data from that 'antimatter furnace' is only halfway done!" Qian Sen complained indistinctly, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"It's fine if the data runs halfway through, as long as it doesn't crash," Su Lie replied casually.
Immediately afterwards, the light and shadow flickered.
An elderly man dressed in a Tang suit appeared, holding two jade beads in his hands. He was the current president of the Star Alliance Chamber of Commerce, controlling 60% of the nation's resource circulation.
Then there was a middle-aged woman with a stern face, carrying three gold stars on her shoulders; she was the commander-in-chief in charge of domestic defense.
One by one, the eleven seats were filled. Some of these people had the smoke-filled front-line command post as their background, some had the screens of a data center, and one was even fishing with a shimmering lake in the background.
There is only one empty seat left.
That spot belongs to the "highest combat power" category.
Of course, this only represents the highest combat power; they don't attend these meetings all the time. Their primary purpose is to level up.
"Why hasn't that kid arrived yet?" Su Lie frowned.
"Young people, it's normal for them to have a lively nightlife," the old man in the Tang suit said with a smile. "I heard he went to challenge a level 60 dungeon all by himself last night, and he's probably catching up on sleep now."
As soon as he finished speaking, the last beam of light shone.
A young man who looked to be in his early twenties appeared at the table. He was wearing a flashy Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and holding a glass of juice with a small umbrella stuck in it.
Ye Qingkuang.
If you didn't know him, you would think he was a rich second-generation heir on vacation at the beach.
But in reality, he is one of the strongest publicly known combatants in China, a hidden SSS-level professional, the "Void Walker." Just last month, he single-handedly kited a Lord-level Star Beast attempting to sneak into reality to its death over the Pacific Ocean; his only loss was that his sunglasses fell into the sea.
"Hey, Grandpa Su." Ye Qingkuang pushed up his sunglasses, his voice lazy, "Such a big commotion, did the Abyss explode again? Or did that show-off Canglong get swallowed by a whale?"
"None of those." Su Lie looked at everyone. "I called you all here today because there is a very important matter concerning the fate of our nation."
"National destiny?" Qian Sen rolled his eyes. "The last time you said that was to get that 100 billion yuan in military spending approved to repair your few lousy bases."
Su Lie ignored his complaints and dropped the bombshell.
"I've discovered a blacksmith who can theoretically upgrade equipment indefinitely."
The entire room fell silent for a second.
Then, Ye Qingkuang let out a drawn-out nasal sound: "Tch—infinite? Old man, you can't just use that word carelessly. Upgrading my 'Void Blade' to +15 cost half of our national treasury's rare ores, and the chance of upgrading it further is only 0.01%. Infinite? Dream on!"
Qian Sen frowned as well: "Science is based on logic. Infinite reinforcement means that the law of conservation of energy is broken, which is impossible in a low-dimensional universe."
Su Lie had anticipated this reaction from the group.
Without wasting words, he directly pulled up the data replay of Lu Yuan's slash that split the bionic star beast, as well as the detailed scan of the +2 enchanted military dagger.
The holographic projection unfolded in the center of the round table.
In the scene, the ordinary F-rank blacksmith holds a black military dagger in both hands, maintaining an odd charging posture.
The data bar was jumping wildly beside me.
[Gravity potential energy gathering... Multiplier increase...]
Then, the knife fell.
The image freezes on the moment the puppet cracks open.
"This is what just happened." Su Lie pointed to the puppet that had been split in two. "The user was a level 0 newbie. The weapon was a standard military dagger, which he enchanted twice and had a special enhancement called 'Mount Tai Pressing Down'."
"Level 0?" The defense commander narrowed his eyes. "Old Su, isn't this a huge joke? Level 0 can instantly kill a level 30 defense?"
"Data doesn't lie," Su Lie said coldly. "That military dagger is now in my hands. After testing, although the material is still refined steel, the internal structure has undergone a change at the level of rules. That 'Mount Tai pressing down' effect is not an ordinary magical enchantment, but more like... a causal law."
"Causality?" Qian Sen dropped the sandwich in his hand onto the table. "You mean, he changed the rules?"
"To be precise, it's exploiting some kind of loophole in the rules that we don't understand," Su Lie said in a deep voice. "As long as this child's mental strength is sufficient, he can ignore the success rate and material limitations, forcibly stacking keywords. I've already verified it."
Silence fell over the conference table once again.
This time, no one laughed.
Ye Qingkuang took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of eyes that seemed to hold the starry sky. He put down the juice glass in his hand and leaned forward slightly.
"That's interesting." He licked his lips. "So, if you give him a base artifact and enough resources, he could build something... capable of killing those level 90 monsters?"
"Theoretically, yes." Su Lie nodded.
"Then what are we waiting for?" The old man in the Tang suit slammed the jade disc in his hand on the table. "We'll give you money if you want, and people if you want! If those foreign devils find out about this treasure, won't they go crazy?"
"etc."
A discordant voice rang out.
The speaker was a middle-aged man sitting in the corner; he was the Chief Executive in charge of resource allocation.
"Professor Su, I'm not trying to discourage you," he said, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. "You're going to use ACE-level resources just based on a video recording and your narration? Do you know what that means? It means that the equipment upgrades for at least three divisions on the front lines will be halted, and it means that this quarter's research funding will be cut in half."
"What if..." He paused, his eyes turning sinister, "I mean, what if this is some kind of smokescreen? Or what if this child's ability has huge side effects? Or perhaps, Elder Su, this is just you trying to secure some benefits for your good-for-nothing old subordinate, Lu Tianhe?"
"Bullshit!" Before Su Lie could speak, Ye Qingkuang exploded, "Old Zhao, is your brain filled with abacus beads? When has Grandpa Su ever done such a thing?"
"Let's keep it strictly business." Chief Zhao remained unmoved. "After all, resources are limited. Our connection to the Star Sea World is currently unstable, and every piece of rare ore is obtained at the cost of lives. Giving it to a level 0 F-rank blacksmith... is too risky."
"Then what do you want?" Su Lie stared at him, his eyes eerily calm.
"Since it's called 'creating a god,' then we need to produce a miracle." Chief Zhao tapped the table. "Since it can be infinitely strengthened, a month should be enough time for him to create something decent, right?"
"A month?" Qian Sen exclaimed anxiously, "Don't you understand scientific research? Even with a theory, it still takes time!"
"On the battlefield, there's no process, only results," Chief Zhao said coldly. "A month from now, there will be a small-scale counter-offensive on the northern border. I want to see the weapons Lu Yuan brings out perform like S-class equipment in actual combat. If he does, I'll personally sign off on it, and the national treasury will be open to him. If he doesn't..."
He glanced at Su Lie: "Reduce resource supply by half, and train him according to the standards of an ordinary genius."
Su Lie remained silent.
He knew that although Chief of Staff Zhao's words were harsh, he represented the most pragmatic and massive bureaucratic system. Without solid achievements, it was indeed difficult to leverage the resources of the entire country.
"One month?" Su Lie looked at the young figure in the image. "To create an S-grade weapon in one month?"
"What? You don't dare?" Chief Zhao raised an eyebrow.
"What's there to be afraid of?" Su Lie suddenly laughed, the same smile he wore before charging into battle. "One month it is. But Old Zhao, let's make a bet."
"What are we betting on?"
"If this kid succeeds, I want half of your privately treasured 'Star Essence Gold' mine."
Chief Zhao's lips twitched; that was his lifeline. But seeing Su Lie's resolute gaze, he felt he couldn't lose face.
"Fine! If you can't do it, your retired 'Dragon Slayer Sword' is mine."
"make a deal."
Su Lie cut off the communication.
The holographic projection disappeared, and the bedroom fell into darkness again. Su Lie sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his temples wearily, but the smile on his lips grew wider.
"One month... Kid, you'd better make me proud this time."
……
In the living room, Lu Yuan was idly practicing with a broken puppet part.
"Ding! Decomposition successful, obtained 3 pieces of low-quality scrap iron."
"Ding! Decomposition successful, obtained 1 trace amount of psionic residue."
He was having a great time when the bedroom door opened.
Su Lie came out, his expression even more solemn than when he went in, but the oppressive feeling had lessened considerably.
"You've reached an agreement?" Lu Tianhe quickly stood up, like a primary school student waiting for the teacher to announce the grades.
"Half done." Su Lie walked up to Lu Yuan. "Kid, those guys upstairs who manage the money are really stingy and unwilling to open their wallets easily. They gave us a quota."
"What indicators?" Lu Yuan looked up.
"One month." Su Lie held up one finger. "Within one month, you need to create a weapon that can shut those blind men up. The standard is: S-level performance in actual combat."
Lu Tianhe gasped, "S-rank? Old Chief, are you trying to kill this kid?! An S-rank weapon takes a national-level master craftsman several years to develop!"
"That's an ordinary person." Su Lie looked at Lu Yuan. "You have the 'Blessing of All Things,' you have limitless possibilities. Tell me, what do you need?"
Lu Yuan blinked and threw the scrap metal in his hand back onto the table.
"S-rank, huh..." He stroked his chin. "That depends on how many mana potions you can give me."
"Blue potion?" Su Lie waved his hand generously. "Plenty! As long as you don't drink yourself to death, I'll force it down your throat!"
"Then there's no problem." Lu Yuan smiled. "However, I'm still missing one thing."
"What's missing?"
"I want to go into a dungeon." Lu Yuan pointed out the window. "Forging blacksmiths in this world is boring; the rules are too stable, and the materials aren't good either. I heard the materials in 'Starry Sea' are much wilder?"
Su Lie was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Good! You've got guts! No wonder I, Su Lie, have my eye on you!" He patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder. "If you're going to play, then play big. In a few days, I'll send you 'there.' You won't need to attend school normally anymore."
"There?" Lu Tianhe's expression changed. "You mean... the special training camp?"
"No." Su Lie shook his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. "Come with me to the capital. The Celestial World."
Upon hearing this name, Lu Yuan felt his blood inexplicably heat up.
The Zenith World. Lu Yuan had never even heard of this place before.
"Alright, pack your things." Su Lie glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, right, before that, I still need to complete your enrollment procedures."
"Enrollment?"
"Although it's a special admission, the formalities still need to be followed." Su Lie revealed a sly smile. "Tomorrow happens to be the graduation ceremony at Jianghai No. 1 High School, right? That Canglong guy will be giving a speech too?"
"It seems so." Lu Yuan nodded. He had indeed mentioned it before. The main reason was that the Azure Dragon campaign was very close to the protagonist's city, and he would be visiting many schools.
"Then let's go show our faces." Su Lie straightened his collar. "And while we're at it, bring that military dagger with you. Some people call you a scrap metal maker, right? Let them see who the real scrap metal is."
Looking at Su Lie's childlike demeanor, Lu Yuan suddenly realized that this majestic "Prison King" actually had a mischievous child inside him who loved watching the fun.
"Is this... acting like a government official?" Lu Yuan asked.
"No," Su Lie corrected, "this is called...displaying national power."
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.
"Mr. Su! Is Mr. Su there? I'm Mayor Jianghai. I heard you..."
"Get out!" Su Lie roared without turning his head. "I'm on a top-secret mission. Anyone who dares to come in, I'll shoot them!"
The sounds outside the door stopped abruptly.
Watching this scene, Lu Yuan sighed inwardly: This is power.
He gripped the military dagger tightly in his hand.
One month.
Create an S-class weapon?
easy.