Chapter 46
There are a lot of fresh ingredients among the packages Ji Chuyao had sent.
When Si Chen unpacked it, he took a look at it and found that they had ‘Chaos Manufacturing’ trademark on the box.
A major company under the Chaos Group specializes in genetically modified foods and is currently the biggest producer of most synthetic foods on the market. They also retain primitive edible livestock and plants and it is for sale but you have to queue up on the official website to order.
Because it will expire if not eaten soon, it was impossible to send it back to Ji Chuyao. Si Chen took them to the kitchen.
On the screen of his mobile phone was a recipe he’d bought for 200 credits.
For most people, their culinary skills are limited to boiling hot water for processed foods. People don’t even need oil or salt in their kitchen.
Si Chen rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. He then donned on an apron, his expression serious and somber, as if he were about to conduct a biology experiment in the lab.
He cut the beef into 3cm thick slices and marinated it with seasoning packets. According to the recipe, the next step was to fry on high heat for two minutes on each side.
Si Chen didn’t turn on the stove. Instead, he stared at the steak on the chopping board and slowly raised his hand.
After devouring the Feathered Snake God, he’d gained a new skill — fire control.
But so far, half a month has passed and Si Chen still hasn’t used this feature.
Although he has already gained several skills from devouring High-dimensional Creatures, in fact, he’s never used them even once.
Si Chen didn’t know how to use them.
There was no one to teach him. Si Chen could only figure it out by himself.
Unfortunately, even after holding his hand over the meat for several minutes, no flames appeared, not even sparks.
Si Chen thought for a moment then pulled out the Eternal Life Abyss from the back of his hand.
“Can you breathe fire?” he asked.
Fire control isn’t a skill of the Eternal Life Abyss but what Si Chen has, the Eternal Life Abyss has as well.
The Eternal Life Abyss twisted in the air and a moment later, a lump bulged from the top of its tentacles.
From its mouthparts, it spit out a beam of purple-red fire that almost shot out of the window.
The kitchen alarm system went off and the sprinkler head on the top of the ceiling rotated, spraying streams of water onto Si Chen.
… Si Chen silently wiped the water off his face.
The white shirt, now dripping wet, was stuck to his body, revealing a layer of flesh color.
Because he was the only one at home, Si Chen forwent changing clothes.
He took a deep breath, letting his cheeks puff up and then let it out.
There was a cool breeze in the air.
The Eternal Life Abyss was very puzzled. “Chirp?”
Si Chen suddenly felt very stupid thinking this could actually be useful.
He opened the official website and searched for “how to use skills”. Most of the answers he got could be summed up as — ‘Skills are produced naturally after the first transformation. There is no need for special training’.
Strong is strong, weak is weak. It has something to do with the energy core. It has something to do with the High-dimensional Creature. It has something to do with possessing spirit. However, it has nothing to do with person themselves. We have never heard of someone with a rubber man skill who became a metal man after training.
After reading for a while, Si Chen turned off the phone so as not to affect his mood.
He already had a vague guess in his mind. What he had implanted was the Eternal Life Abyss and the characteristics he possessed were those of the Eternal Life Abyss’; characteristics such as its fighting instinct and physical strength. These new skills he’d obtained by imbibing the Eternal Life Abyss, in essence, didn’t belong to him.
It was like he was the host for the Eternal Life Abyss. He was the vessel and there is no way to become the Eternal Life Abyss itself.
Si Chen practiced again facing the steak in front of him. It didn’t make sense for him not to have what the Eternal Life Abyss has.
He said silently in his heart, “Fire”.
Si Chen has a very good quality and that is his concentration ability.
He thought of the fire in his mind and felt his body begin to grow warm.
His blood turned from red to black, circulating in his body like engine oil.
On his arm, black lines spread out, flowing through his blood vessels.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
From Prometheus to Maui, throughout the ages, myths and legends of different civilizations have told of “stealing fire”.
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Pa kjr ufaalcu vjgx bearlvf. Vl Jtfc bynlberis tjrc’a qgbvemfv jcsatlcu yea tlr obgftfjv kjr cbk vglqqlcu klat mbiv rkfja.
He felt like he was hallucinating; like he was surrounded by thick walls and a vortex above his head. The thick walls were closing in, tighter and tighter, squeezing from all sides and flattening him.
With his eyes closed, he came to the entrance of a maze.
Si Chen has been to this maze.
He knew that at the center of the maze was White Dress, chained, assembling a never-ending puzzle day after day.
Si Chen wanted to find White Dress but got lost among the green walls, walking into one dead end after another.
He realized that he was trapped. Either he gives up or finds an exit.
Si Chen’s memory was so good that he could even walk backwards to where he had entered with his eyes closed.
But he was unwilling to give up.
If he were one to resign to his fate, he would have fallen long ago.
Si Chen even vaguely understood that if he couldn’t find the exit then he would never have another chance to enter this maze in his life.
“Little Abyss?” Si Chen called out the Eternal Life Abyss’ name.
But the Eternal Life Abyss did not respond. No one can accompany him on this road; not the Eternal Life Abyss, not White Dress.
Here, it was like he’d returned to the days before becoming an Evolutionary. Every day that he opens his eyes, he was made aware of his weaknesses.
“Ha.”
Si Chen looked at the road in front of him and couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
He wasn’t happy but rather, nostalgic.
He walked on.
Branch, choose, go down, reach a dead end, back out, start over.
Completely boring and meaningless repetition is enough to kill all patience.
It is said that hallucinations are projections of the human mind.
He walked against into another dead end but this time, he bumped into a very familiar person.
Because of his blurred consciousness, Si Chen thought for a long time before he recognized him. “Ji Chuyao?”
This Ji Chuyao was wearing a suit. His expression was indifferent and when his eyes fell on his face, it didn’t seem like he was even looking at him.
Si Chen felt that this was a very dangerous sign. There was no reason he would be thinking of a friend he didn’t even know well when he was in desperate straits.
It was probably because Ji Chuyao’s image as a male bodhisattva had been too deeply rooted in his heart.
Ji Chuyao looked away. “I remember you. Go back. This place isn’t suitable for creatures of your dimension.”
Si Chen was a little puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
Ji Chuyao gave no answer. His body passed through the wall in front of him and disappeared.
…Damn it. Annoying riddler.
This episode didn’t affect Si Chen too much. He continued to look for the exit.
Si Chen still felt hungry at first but later his body became numb. He grew tired, sleepy, pained but he didn’t die.
He walked for a long, long time; so long that the flowers on the green wall had withered and bloomed again. Si Chen could no longer recall the way back.
Fortunately, he never had any intention of going back.
In the middle of the maze, White Dress was still working on the puzzle.
It held a small piece in its hand and stared blankly at the jigsaw puzzle as vast as the sea, not knowing where to put this piece.
Or maybe it wasn’t thinking anything at all.
It murmured, “So weak, so strong… an ant.”
Some things just can’t be done with hard work. Luck and talent are sometimes more important than hard work.
Si Chen opened his eyes. It was already dark. A cluster of faint fires lit up at his fingertips.
The flames flickered. They could be extinguished with one blow from the wind. Swaying, flickering.
The flames were indeed gone very quickly.
So Si Chen snapped his fingers and this time the flames ignited a little bigger.
The thing inside the third cave opening was spinning very slowly. In the past, this was merely a container for the Feathered Snake God. But now, it was alive. Like the pressure pump of a lighter.
Si Chen pushed it and it turned. There was a flash of fire.
He understood. He’d stolen fire from the heavens.
“Hahahahahaha—”
Staring at the flame in his hand, Si Chen started laughing without any warning until he couldn’t stay straight. He was laughing so hard that he had to support himself against the kitchen counter to prevent myself from falling to the floor.
The Eternal Life Abyss didn’t understand why Si Chen was so happy. But Mom was happy and so was he.
It spit out a round flaming bubble.
Because he was so happy, Si Chen grilled all the steaks with fire.
He used it very carefully. The more he used it, the hungrier he felt. It wasn’t his stomach that was hungry rather his body was using up so much energy that he needed to replenish.
Si Chen took out the gene medicine stored in the freezer and took two gulps. It alleviated the weakness he felt from using his skill.
The purple flames covered the beef and the meat curled up from the high temperature. The fat flowed out from the meat, emitting a burst of burnt aroma. The kids next door were crying.
Si Chen removed the burned lumps and there were still nine steaks left on the plate.
He didn’t eat much so he ate one and was already full.
Of course, the main reason he didn’t continue eating was because, being that it was his first time cooking, the taste wasn’t very good.
However there were still eight pieces of meat left on the plate.
In high-end restaurants outside, one-eighth of such a piece of meat could sell for three or four thousand credits!
Even just thinking about throwing it away hurt. He could reheat it the next day and eat it but Si Chen didn’t want to wrong himself.
Moreover, there were so many dishes in the refrigerator.
Si Chen thought for a moment, then called out, “Little Abyss.”
“Squeak?” Looking puzzled, the Eternal Life Abyss let go of the children’s literacy book.
Si Chen’s tone was gentle. “Come here, Dad will feed you.”
Saying that, he picked up the meat and placed it in front of the Eternal Life Abyss.
The Eternal Life Abyss sniffed then stepped back slightly, “Mom, this one, not smell good.”
Taste was secondary. The main reason was that this thing wasn’t nutritious. It smelled like boiled chicken breast without any salt added.
Si Chen smiled. “How can it not smell good? Mom made this.”
After saying so, the meat hit the Eternal Life Abyss’ face.
The Eternal Life Abyss opened its mouth obediently and swallowed the remaining few catties of meat into his stomach.
“Is it delicious?” Si Chen asked while washing the dishes.
Si Chen didn’t wear gloves and the Eternal Life Abyss followed its mother, washing the chopsticks with his small tentacles. It replied with little conviction. “…delicious.”
Si Chen was very satisfied with this trash can that eat everything.
*
Si Chen practiced his fire control skill at home for a few days and his body gradually adapted, becoming more proficient.
This purple-red flame had a controllable core temperature. But the higher the temperature, the greater the energy needed.
The energy core he’d obtained from the instance last time was successfully sold.
As soon as he got the money, Si Chen got a new prosthetic eye.
He specially set the pupil color to black. This prosthetic eye was much more comfortable to wear and he won’t need to change it anytime soon.
It was the weekend.
Si Chen reckoned that the production department, which was usually empty, must be even emptier now.
He took a car, went to the entrance of the company, swiped his employee card to enter the premises and snuck into the game room.
After being taught by his colleagues, Si Chen now knew what the game is about.
Training is incidental; ranking the Evolutionaries on the different Steps is the main purpose of the game.
As a top student who’s never taken second in exams during his student days, Si Chen was also curious how high he could rank.
The game system popped up with a prompt asking him if he wanted to set a nickname.
Si Chen chose no and opened an anonymous account.
After all, it was just a game and the ranking was just for reference. Si Chen didn’t want to attract too much attention.
Because of the updated information on the official website, Si Chen is now an Evolutionary on the Third Step. All the seas and mountains he had conquered before have now been voided.
He had just advanced and Si Chen was currently ranked 145,912nd. It meant that there were more than 140,000 Evolutionaries on the Third Step ranked higher than him.
Si Chen was logged into the game for 2 hours. After finishing the game, he looked at the ranking — 19th.
This rank deeply hurt his pride as a top student.
You must know that Si Chen had never been ranked so low in the unified ranking for the Alliance’s college entrance examination.
Si Chen thought silently. “It seems I’ll still need to enter an instance to develop.”
In the postgraduate entrance examination, there were Evolutionaries from the First Step to the Fourth Step as well as the very few talented people who managed to reach the Fifth Step before the age of 25.
His current level was definitely enough for a General university and even some prestigious ones. But if he if wanted to get into a top university, there was still a long way to go.
Sweating all over after the extensive exercise, Si Chen went to the company’s shower room to take a shower. When he came out, he saw that he had two more messages on his phone.
Ji Chuyao: Is 19th you?
Ji Chuyao: Which universities did you apply to?
Si Chen had turned on anonymous mode. It stood to reason that no one should know his rank. Even within Eight Directions Technology, there were no more than 10 people with this query authority.
And those big shots didn’t have time to pay attention to the rankings of such low-level Evolutionaries.
Although Ji Chuyao’s mother was the current chairman of Eight Directions Technology, he didn’t have this authority.
The Evolutionary who was originally ranked 19th was Ji Chuyao’s nephew, who was 19 years old this year.
His nephew played rank for a whole day yesterday and managed to get into the top 20. Then he woke up that afternoon and when he logged in to the game, his heart went half cold. He then ranted to his circle of friends.
Ji Chuyao happened to see it.
He recognized Si Chen by instinct.
Si Chen: Yes. I’ve applied to Donglan, Beicheng, Zhoushan and Baidi.
In Si Chen’s heart, Ji Chuyao wasn’t a complete outsider. Naturally, he wouldn’t hide something like this.
Ji Chuyao: …? ? Wait, you applied for Baidi University?
Si Chen thought that Ji Chuyao must be looking down at Baidi University because of its low ranking.
So he typed slowly in the chat box: “Although the ranking of Baidi University is average, the conditions are good and they give a lot of subsidies. There should also have less competition. I’ve read the forums and no one has applied for the graduate program of Baidi University.”
He too had a problem common among children of poverty-stricken areas — he wasn’t proficient at typing on mobile phones and he was slow to send messages.
Ji Chuyao: …
He hesitated to speak.
Ji Chuyao: I’ve been meaning to enter a Space Fold. Would you like to team up with me?
The author has something to say:
Ji Chuyao: Hehe, no matter how far my wife runs, I can successfully coax him back.
Thank you so much for the chapter!!
what is this maze in the end? at first i thought it was something like si chen’s inner world but now it doesn’t seems like it, it’s more similar to another superior dimension?
Kinda felt like spiders on a huge web with talents and instances controllable through it… why is White Dress noticeably chained is my other question…
Untrackable eye—cool! Fire control—wicked! Eternal Abyss baby—trash can…lmao! Instance buddy golden finger—oh, yeah! TY for the update 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣❤️
I might be wrong about what is being referred to but shango is know as one of the Yoruba God of fire.
Does Baidi refer to the White King? If so, it would be… interesting for Si Chen to end up there.
Thank you for the chapter.
Thanks for the chapter!
I love si Chen and the abyss’s dynamics. I want to see others realize that the abyss is on his side and won’t try to kill him.
King Bai: I want to see this child in my place
Si Chen: sorry, I can do it only if I’ll have “+1″Ji Chuyao: U^ｪ^U
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛