章 8: A Visit From a Beauty
Steve had a sad look on his face. How could he afford such a large sum of money? The original golden pill was the common currency of humankind. All his wealth did not even add up to 10,000 original golden pills, which was not enough for him to absorb in a day. As for the F grade subatomic serum, it could speed up the practice, but each bottle sold for more than 10,000 original gold. Level-one magical core could only be obtained by level-one magical beasts. A unit of level-one magical core would cost hundreds of thousands of original gold, an amount he could not afford. Only the fourth method, eating magical beast meat with cell activity 20% above his own, could be considered.
Although the dead blackfrost wolf was 30% cell-activated, it suffered multiple injuries and was fatally wounded. I would not have won the battle if it had not been for this threefold difference in combat power. Steve was not so conceited to think that he could have killed the blackfrost wolf without help. Had he not discovered its fatal wound, he wasn't sure whether he would have won the battle.
"True, but I do not need to hunt down the magical beast on my own. I can team up with others and share a portion of the meat." Magical beasts were huge, more than what one person could consume. Hunting down a magical beast in a group was common.
Ding-dong!
"Soldier 9527, open the door!" The doorbell rang again, and a man with the disposition of a soldier spoke to the monitor with the surveillance video at the door. When Steve opened the door, he did not know the man standing in front of him. But, he said little and placed two boxes in front of Steve, one large and one small, both made of metal.
"Please sign here. The small box is part of the soldier's monthly salary. The big box is the blackfrost wolf you killed, as well as part of your monthly salary."
"Because all of you are new recruits, we personally deliver the first of these to you. In the future, you will go to the warehouse to collect it on your own." Ryan did not say much else and directly transferred the monthly salary to Steve through his smart bracelet. Steve discovered that he had 10,000 more original gold in his bank card.
"10,000 original gold? Isn't a new recruit's first year salary only a thousand?" asked Steve.
"Because you are ranked first in your group, your monthly salary is 10,000. The person in first place also receives three bottles of F grade subatomic serum every month, as well as special privileges in the training room and so on," Ryan said he also owned a few other items. Even though Ryan was a veteran, he himself received only one bottle of the F grade subatomic serum each month, and had a monthly salary of only 3,000 original gold. All sorts of perks Steve received were better than Ryan's! Steve did not expect that there were so many benefits for being first. At that moment, he knew that he could not lose his spot.
After Steve received all the items, Ryan left. Steve eagerly opened the smaller box with three bottles of green chemicals frozen and sealed inside. It was the F grade subatomic serum. Receiving this was even more important than his actual salary of 10,000 original gold! "I was worrying about my financial issues a short while ago, and now all this is delivered right to me."
Steve wanted to have a taste of the subatomic serum and how it worked. But it was not the right time yet. The subatomic serum was best taken before a training session, when it would accelerate the pace of practice while allowing cells to absorb more cosmic force. He had just finished his practice for the day, and so had to wait until the next day to use the serum.
Then, Steve was eager to open the big box. Lying inside was the body of the blackfrost wolf that Steve killed.
"That's enough meat for me to eat for a quite a while. The extra meat can be sold for a small profit." After five days, cell activation in the meat of the magical beast began to decline, and its effect would be greatly compromised. After training, Steve was feeling very hungry. He cut off a large piece of wolf meat and started cooking.
"Culinary skills activated..." Steve had no idea that the Heart of the Universe knew how to cook. Soon, a large piece of the wolf steak gave out an alluring fragrance, which made him start eating straight away.
Ding-dong! Just then, there was another sound outside the door.
"Steve, open the door for me!" Steve was curious as to why so many people were looking for him, as normally people avoided him. He saw a cute girl standing in front of him when he opened the door. The young girl was tall, the top of her head reaching Steve's neck. Steve was over 6'3" and the girl was nearly 5'11''. She was wearing shorts, showing off her slender and fair legs. Her blouse was tight and had a cartoon print. Her ample breasts looked like two ripe fruits. The young girl seemed like she was only fifteen or sixteen years old. She was someone with a young appearance and big breasts. Moreover, her face was delicate and lovely, a great beauty indeed. Her skin was fair and with a tinge of red like an apple, tempting onlookers to take a bite.
"Lucy, what do you need from me?" Steve asked. Though she looked like she was fifteen or sixteen years old, she was actually already eighteen. She was one of the best talents among the new recruits. And because she was cute and had a hot body, she was very popular. Everyone adored her like a little sister.
"You robbed me of a spot in the top ten, what do you think I am here for?!" Lucy was so angry that she gritted her teeth, revealing the cuspid teeth at the side of her mouth. This made her look even more adorable.
"Robbed you of a spot in the top ten?" It then dawned on Steve that Lucy had always been ranked ninth or tenth, and that she would have been one of the top ten if not for him. But during the final assessment, Steve had snatched first place and thus pushed her out of the tenth spot.
"I was first, how could I take your place?" Steve laughed. The benefits received by the top ten were so much better than the average soldier's, so it was no wonder that Lucy was angry.
"It's you..." Before Lucy could finish her sentence, her nose twitched like a cute puppy's. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "That smells good." Then, she walked straight past Steve, looking at the wolf chops on the table. She was salivating.
"You cooked wolf meat–it looks delicious." As a foodie, she had cooked blackfrost wolf meat before, but it was not as appetizing as Steve's fragrant meal. Lucy looked at the wolf chops, picked up the knife and fork, and was about to cut a piece to try.
"Wait, this is my food." Steve immediately reached out and stopped her. Lucy looked at Steve resentfully and said, "Cheapskate, you can't even share with me?" Steve could not help but laugh. This silly girl unexpectedly turned out to be a foodie.
"Why were you looking for me?" Steve asked. Lucy was reminded why she was there, but her eyes were still on the wolf steak, and she could barely keep herself from drooling.
"I heard that you were suddenly placed in the top ten and ousted me from my spot, so you have to compensate me!" Lucy was quite inconsolable.
"Compensate you? Why should I compensate you? I got first place on my own. You can only blame yourself for not being strong enough. Besides, it was the one who got tenth that ousted you from your spot. You should look for him, not me." Steve laughed.
"I... I..." Lucy was at a loss for words. Using a defiant tone she said, "I don't care! Rankings be d*mned, I will definitely participate in the hunt for the monster beast. I want you to bring me along."
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