Resurrection Empire
Chapter 59 - 42 The Tears of a Youngster, You Know Nothing of Talent

Chapter 59: Chapter 42 The Tears of a Youngster, You Know Nothing of Talent

Time: The seventh day, 6:15 PM.

Location: Slums, northern outer district near the city wall.

This is a relatively desolate alley, with only half of the buildings completed, while the other half are either vacant lots or ruins of old collapsed houses.

The lower-class scavengers who have ended a whole day of dull and tedious life just finished a dinner mainly consisting of cheap synthetic food and are at a time where everything feels pointless and nothing seems to have significance.

Some scavengers sit idly by their own doorsteps, calculating the time to see if it’s time to head to the sleep pods to grab a spot; others gather in small groups, chatting about topics that are neither nourishing nor meaningful.

In front of a shop that deals in repairing home appliances and selling second-hand electronics, a crowd of men and women, old as if in their seventies or eighties, and children as young as eleven or twelve, gathered around.

Everyone craned their necks to look inside, their expressions extremely focused, with their eyes shining brightly.

Ren Zhong saw this scene and couldn’t help but feel curious.

He had stayed in the town for many days and rarely saw such expressions in the eyes of the lower-class scavengers, similar to when he first opened a quantum physics popular science book back in middle school.

He quickened his pace towards the shop.

"Hmm..."

"Oh~~"

"Mmm~~"

The intense and passionate moaning was emitting from a low-quality speaker, like noise pollution.

Ren Zhong’s steps halted abruptly.

When he looked back at the crowd, there was a playful look in his eyes.

No wonder these usually dull-eyed people suddenly became so eager to learn.

Observing life skills together in public regardless of age or gender, truly an open society.

He quietly retreated.

Alas, once again failing to blend in.

Elsewhere, seven or eight ragged children were running around in the street in a panic, like a frantic flock of ducks being chased, followed by several simple-dressed women cursing continuously.

Ren Zhong keenly noticed that these women were dressed loosely and sloppily, almost fully exposed.

These people might as well have "poverty" written on their faces.

Even in the slums, the alley where Miracle Clinic is located and Zheng Tian’s team’s alley appear much more prosperous and affluent than the alley in front of Ren Zhong.

Even workers in special services disdain coming here to solicit customers.

The scavengers living near the city wall are undoubtedly the lowest of the low.

No business to be done here, only freeloading.

...

"Young man. I have a job for you. Help me build a 5-meter by 5-meter temporary house next to your home, and I will give you 3 Contribution Points. Interested?"

Ren Zhong smiled at the young man in front of him and said with a grin.

The naïve young man looked up in confusion at the man in front of him.

There was a young man sitting on a luxury motorcycle in front of him.

The man was wearing a Balanced First Level exoskeleton, looking like a powerful and elite professional scavenger.

At this moment, the man took off his fully enclosed helmet and looked kindly at him from a higher position.

The young man didn’t know what was happening.

He suddenly appeared with a supply and marketing cooperative’s delivery truck in the vacant lot next to his home.

Then, these first-class alloy panel building materials, enough to make one salivate, were unloaded with a thud.

Afterward, the man directly approached him, who was watching the commotion.

He said he wanted help with the work.

That made sense.

Many scavengers with no hunting ability earned extra income by doing odd jobs.

But after hearing the price, the young man was stunned.

Contribution Points! An astronomical price!

Typically, when lower-class scavengers help each other build houses or make things, they would at most receive 0.2 Contribution Points, often just pocket money, usually using food vouchers at the cafeteria as a means of payment.

After all, everyone had empty pockets, with no surplus food at home.

As for those professional scavengers with money, sometimes they would hire lower-class scavengers too.

But these scavengers never were generous enough to offer more than the market price.

How could anyone offer 3 Points at once!

The surprise was too enormous and too sudden; the young man almost believed he was hallucinating.

He wanted to find out who this person was.

After repeatedly looking, he confirmed that he indeed did not know the person, making him even more puzzled.

"Young man, don’t be stunned, just say if you will take the job."

Ren Zhong asked again.

"Bro, are you serious?"

Ren Zhong shrugged, "Of course, why would I joke about such a thing?"

The confusion in the young man’s eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a light of excitement.

He suddenly rushed forward, kneeling with a thud under Ren Zhong’s motorcycle.

He lay prostrate on the ground, suppressing his voice so as not to make too loud a sound, trembling as he spoke with a sobbing voice.

"Bro! Thank you! I’ll take this job! I swear I’ll do it well! I swear! Absolutely!"

Tears uncontrollably gushed from the boy’s eyes.

He wanted to buy a second-hand rapid-fire machine gun that others priced at 10 Contribution Points.

Currently, he and his mother had saved up only 7 Contribution Points together.

Eight days later, he would turn 16.

Only 83 days left until Pu Cha, and he thought it almost impossible to save enough to buy the gun within this time.

He would have to silently say goodbye to his mother before Pu Cha comes, heading into the wilderness empty-handed.

Now, he seemed to see the hope of changing his fate.

To be able to hold a gun of his own in his hand was at least holding onto hope.

Ren Zhong watched the boy, his mind recalling once more the image of the night he first spent in Starfire Town, the boy shouldering the duty of the Night Watchman, armed with a gun rushing towards the battle point, and his determination when they agreed to leave Starfire Town together.

Unexpectedly, the boy, initially harboring a death wish, cried tears of joy for 3 Contribution Points.

Even as a scavenger, Ren Zhong already saw an insurmountable gulf between himself and the boy.

Then how far is the distance between the citizens and scavengers of this world?

Farther than the distance between the sun and Source Star?

"That’s good. I will first stack the materials here. You can start work now. Try to build the first room by 9:30 tonight, then lock the remaining materials inside. Tomorrow night at 9:30, I’ll wait for you at the staircase entry of sleep pod No. 13, just give me the key."

The building materials he purchased are all premium items, entirely modular, constructing buildings doesn’t require plastering walls or pouring concrete, just assembling them like building blocks.

Tonight, the young man would be busy for hours and can spend all day tomorrow finishing up.

"Mm!"

The young man nodded vigorously.

Before Ren Zhong could say goodbye, the young man, delighted, ran to his front door, shouting, "Mom! Mom, come out! I’m going to help this big brother build a house! Mom, come and give me a hand with the tools!"

Before the 38-year-old "old lady" stepped out, Ren Zhong had already disappeared.

He didn’t want too much contact with the "old lady" out of instinct.

Fearing exposure.

Ren Zhong rode his motorcycle through the streets and alleys, returning to Zheng Tian’s team’s residence at 6:30.

After everyone had dinner together, he officially began his apprenticeship.

Hanyu began to explain.

Unlike Mecha Warriors who emphasize practical combat, a Demolition Master requires not only highly dexterous and precise hands but is also a profession that emphasizes knowledge accumulation.

To become a qualified Demolition Master, one needs to memorize a large number of Ruined Beasts’ physiological structures.

Only by becoming as skilled as a master chef can one peel away the varied and richly featured outer shells and covering tissues of Ruined Beasts like peeling an onion within five minutes, to extract the crystal chip intact.

Fortunately, Ren Zhong was a highly regarded little experimental expert by his chemistry and biology teachers ever since middle school, and he personally completed many experiments related to his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate theses.

He has a pair of skillful hands with potential for surgical operations.

Many have said that if he studied medicine, he would certainly be a top hand on the operating table.

As for the other professional requirement of a Demolition Master—extraordinary memory and rich knowledge accumulation, combined with analytical skills for drawing inferences from one instance.

Hanyu asked, "Mr. Ren. My previous suggestion was not without aim. People like you with extraordinary talent as Mechanical Warriors usually find it difficult to calm down and recite these tedious bits of knowledge. There are numerous types of Ruined Beasts, and new variants arise at every moment. Each variant has different nuances in the key points of crystal chip removal, and we need to perfectly combine experience with analytical skills to avoid mistakes. Even a small detail error can damage the crystal chip, and in some cases, it might even pose an explosion risk. Are you really able to do it?"

Ren Zhong rarely smiled, "When I said earlier that my favorite thing was actually reading books, I wasn’t joking. Additionally, you might have misunderstood my talent."

Friend, you know nothing about a 23-year-old who was published in the SCI major journal.

He thought, if it weren’t for survival needs forcing him to gain combat abilities, perhaps being a Demolition Master would have been the most suitable profession for him.

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