23: Chapter 23 Promotion! Second Tier - Bronze Level!

"S-Rank Support Type!?"

"Cough, cough!"

Su Ming almost spat out the mouthful of fried rice he had just swallowed.

He hammered his chest violently and widened his eyes.

"Big Brother, if you have a family member with an S-Rank talent, the municipal government's subsidy would be enough to buy a villa. Why are you still here flipping rice in a pan?"

S-Rank talent is rare across the entire Federation.

Who isn't a precious gem held in the palms of major forces?

If this big brother's younger sister were S-Rank, him setting up a stall here would be equivalent to Jack Ma's younger brother applying phone screen protectors under a pedestrian bridge.

Absurd.

"Haha, I'm just used to it."

The "Speedy" big brother slammed the iron wok onto the stove.

"I've liked finding work to do since I was a kid; I feel uncomfortable when I'm idle. My sister is in class at school, so I come out to set up my stall. It's fulfilling!"

Su Ming silently shoveled his rice.

This big brother's mindset is truly a bit ahead of its time.

He curiously asked offhandedly: "What kind of talent is it?"

He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.

Asking about someone's specific talent is similar to asking for their bank card password; it belongs in the minefield of social taboos.

The big brother didn't mind, however.

He chuckled, lowered his voice, and leaned in with the air of sharing a huge secret.

"It's related to luck..."

Su Ming's chewing motion paused.

Related to luck?

A figure instantly flashed in his mind.

Liu Ruyan.

Her talent was related to luck.

But Liu Ruyan's talent level was only A-Rank.

And this big brother's younger sister—S-Rank.

Su Ming couldn't help but gasp.

Luck-type talents are inherently the most mysterious and difficult systems to deal with.

Any ability related to the word "fate," in the known sequences of the Federation, is a presence that makes people's scalps tingle.

He stuffed the last mouthful of rice into his mouth and asked vaguely: "Big brother, what's your sister's name?"

"Lin Wan'er!"

When the big brother said this name, the pride on his face couldn't be hidden; his expression was three points brighter than when he was talking about his own talent.

Su Ming silently noted the name in his heart.

After scanning the code to pay, he stood up and patted his pants.

"I'm off, big brother."

"Alright! I'll treat you to fried rice in the Imperial Capital when the time comes!"

The big brother waved at him while flipping the iron wok, the scent of the food and smoke drifting far away.

Su Ming turned and walked toward the low-rent housing.

There was still serious business to do tonight.

...

Back in the low-rent housing, he locked the door behind him.

Su Ming couldn't wait to sit cross-legged on the mattress and summon the system panel.

[Host: Su Ming]

[Realm: Tier 1 Black Iron]

[Life Form: First Life Form (Carbon-based mortal body)]

[True Mass: 844.5 kg (+)]

[mass points: 32.7]

[Promotion Progress: 84.45%]

He still needed 155.5 kg to promote to Tier 2 Bronze.

Su Ming looked down at his spatial storage bracelet.

Inside lay a robot worth eight million Federation coins.

It weighed 2.4 tons.

A top-tier piece made of high-density military alloy.

If converted into mass points...

Su Ming swallowed his saliva.

To be honest, he had already made up his mind the moment he stuffed the robot into the spatial bracelet.

Forget about keeping it as a souvenir, sending it back for repairs, or selling it second-hand.

He wasn't a collector.

This thing was meant for leveling up.

With a thought, the remains of the robot emerged from the spatial bracelet.

"Boom—!"

The two-and-a-half-ton steel beast crashed onto the concrete floor, causing the entire low-rent apartment to shake three times.

Sigh, the people downstairs would probably start cursing again.

Su Ming stood up, walked to the robot, and pressed his left palm firmly onto the cold chest armor.

It was the exact spot where he had smashed a dent with his head.

"Devour."

A black hole-like suction force exploded from his palm.

The feeling this time was completely different from before.

Devouring scrap metal, screws, and alloy fragments felt like chewing crackers—crunchy, with no texture.

But the robot felt like biting into a whole steak.

Substantial, dense, and full of satisfaction.

The dark silver armor disintegrated from the point of contact with his palm at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It didn't weather into powder, nor was there any harsh friction sound.

It was more like a silent collapse.

The high-density alloy skeleton was swallowed first, causing the structure to lose support.

The hydraulic transmission system followed, collapsing, disintegrating, and disappearing.

The core energy module, precision chips, every rivet and weld... all were peeled off layer by layer, compressed, and surged into his palm.

All structures had no resistance against the micro black hole.

One minute later.

The floor in front of Su Ming was completely empty.

No debris.

No residue.

Not even a speck of dust remained.

[Ding! Devoured high-density alloy robot remains. mass points: + 2400.]

Su Ming stared at the jumping numbers on the panel.

His heart pounded against his chest.

Two thousand four hundred points!

This was a huge windfall!

Boss Shen, sorry about that.

I won't waste a single bit of your eight million.

mass points balance: 2432.7.

Only 155.5 points were needed to promote to Bronze-rank.

Su Ming didn't even think.

"Add points! Promote to Tier 2 first!"

155.5 mass points poured in.

True Mass broke through the 1000kg mark.

The balance still had 2277.2 points left; he would save it for now, no need to rush and spend it all at once.

[Ding! Promotion Progress: 100.00%]

[Detected that the host has met the promotion conditions for Tier 2 Bronze. Promote immediately?]

"Yes!"

The change came even more violently than he had expected.

A scalding heat flow exploded from deep within his bone marrow.

His body, which had previously felt like a block of high-density pig iron, was now like it had been thrown into a furnace.

His bones were roaring.

The density jumped an entire order of magnitude in a single breath.

Muscle fibers tore, rearranged, and re-wove themselves; every cell under his skin was being violently overwritten.

After promoting to Tier 2, his senses became even sharper.

The dust particles in the air were clearly countable, and the nagging voice of the old lady in the next room drilled into his ears.

"Crack!"

The concrete floor under his feet let out an unbearable moan.

Cracks spread out from beneath his feet.

[Ding! Promotion complete.]

[Host Realm: Tier 2 Bronze]

[Life Form: First Life Form (Carbon-based mortal body)]

[True Mass: 1000kg (+)]

[mass points: 2277.2]

The words "Bronze-rank" on the panel shimmered with a faint metallic luster.

Su Ming clenched his fists.

He was now a human weighing one ton.

An SSS-Rank talent Tier 2 Bronze-rank Awakened.

His physique was still that of a lean youth, his height still 1.85 meters, but his density had already broken through 13,000 kg per cubic meter.

Nearly twice that of steel.

But when he saw the "Life Form" column on the panel—

It was still First Life Form (Carbon-based mortal body).

"System, System! Come out quickly!"

"Is there a bug? I'm clearly Tier 2 Bronze, why am I still in the first form?"