1: Chapter 1: Awakening Two Armor Acupoints at the Start!
The playground of Dongyun City No. 1 High School was buzzing with noise.
Today was the city-wide unified Awakening day.
This was an era where Armor Beasts ran rampant.
Between the city's skyscrapers, one could often see giant Armor Beasts sweeping across the sky.
In the streets and alleys, people were discussing the latest Armor Beast competitive matches.
On the TV news, reports were playing about some Beast Armor Master who had once again contracted a rare Armor Spirit.
In this era, power determined everything.
And what determined how far a person could go was the Armor Orifices that would be awakened today.
Armor Orifices were distributed throughout the human body—eyes, arms, torso, legs, and so on.
In short, the more Armor Orifices awakened, the better the Aptitude, and the greater the future achievements.
The most brilliant Genius in history had only awakened nine Armor Orifices.
Nine was already a legendary number.
Lin Fan stood at the end of the line, hands in his pockets, looking bored as he watched the classmates walking onto the Awakening platform one by one.
"Wang Hao, number of Armor Orifices: four. Locations: hands, legs. Aptitude rating: Good Grade."
On the platform, a boy's hands and legs simultaneously lit up with a faint glow, drawing a burst of cheers from below.
"Did you see that? Four! Wang Hao will definitely be able to join the Armor Beast Master Association in the future!"
"Amazing, I'd be satisfied if I could have three."
Lin Fan picked his ear.
From morning until now, this crowd had been repeating the same few phrases over and over; weren't they tired?
"Li Weiwei, number of Armor Orifices: five. Locations: hands, legs, right eye. Aptitude rating: High Good Grade."
Another one.
Lin Fan looked at the faint light flickering in the girl's right eye, feeling no ripples in his heart.
Five, not bad. But what did that have to do with him?
"Lin Fan."
His name was called.
He sauntered out of the line, walking onto the Awakening platform amidst the curious or indifferent gazes of those around him.
The Awakening platform was a three-meter-square black circular disc with a crystal pillar standing in the center.
The teacher in charge of the Awakening pointed to the center of the disc.
"Stand here, close your eyes, and relax."
Lin Fan stood still and closed his eyes.
People below the platform whispered.
"Who is this guy? Never seen him before."
"Just that poor kid who lives on the outskirts of the city. I heard his foster father repairs Armor Beasts for people."
"Repairs Armor Beasts? That kind of low-class person?"
"Shh, stop talking, it's starting."
The crystal pillar lit up.
A faint light rose from the bottom, climbing up the crystal pillar.
One section—two sections.
Then, it stopped.
At the same time, two parts of Lin Fan's body lit up with light.
Left eye.
Left hand.
Only these two places.
The area below the platform was silent for a second, then erupted into laughter.
"Two? Hahahaha!"
"He's a piece of trash! Only two!"
"His life is over. What can you do with two Armor Orifices? Go home and farm!"
Lin Fan opened his eyes, looked down at his glowing left hand, then raised his eyes to look at the crowd below, who were laughing so hard they were doubled over.
He spoke slowly.
"Laughing so happily, have you all awakened eight or nine?"
The laughter faltered.
"Or is it that..."
Lin Fan walked off the Awakening platform, his tone lazy.
"The louder you laugh, the more Armor Orifices you grow?"
Someone's expression changed.
Lin Fan walked through the crowd, speaking as he went.
"I have two, you have three or four; is there really that much difference? Anyone who didn't know would think you were all Peerless Grade Geniuses."
"You!"
"You what?"
Lin Fan turned back and looked at the boy who had spoken.
"How many did you awaken? Three? Wow, so impressive, one more than me. Then you'll definitely become an Armor God in the future; remember to watch over me, I'm afraid of being bullied."
The boy's face turned crimson, and he couldn't say a word.
Lin Fan withdrew his gaze and continued walking out.
Behind him, the teacher's voice continued to call out the next person's name, as if he were just an insignificant little interlude.
Lin Fan walked to the sycamore tree in the corner of the playground and sat down against the trunk.
The faint light in his left eye and left hand had already faded.
Two.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or what to do.
Not far away, a few boys huddled together, occasionally looking over and pointing.
Lin Fan didn't need to listen to know what they were saying—nothing more than words like "trash," "two," and "pitiful."
He couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
"Lin Fan!"
Someone called him, their voice arrogant and carrying a clear provocation.
Lin Fan raised his eyelids.
The person who came was Qin Hao, a six-Armor Orifice Genius and the eldest young master of the Qin family.
The two had previously had a conflict, and he had held a grudge against him ever since.
He was followed by a few lackeys, and they marched over imposingly.
"I heard you only awakened two Armor Orifices?"
Qin Hao walked up close, looked down at him condescendingly, with a smile on his face.
"Not bad, just four less than me."
Lin Fan leaned against the tree trunk, not moving at all: "Something up?"
"Nothing, just came to congratulate you."
Qin Hao squatted down to look him in the eye.
"Two Armor Orifices, that's not easy. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to me; I'll watch over you."
Lin Fan looked at him and suddenly laughed.
"You'll watch over me? How? If I get beaten up, will you take the beating for me?"
Qin Hao froze.
"You're really meddling in other people's business." Lin Fan picked his nose and continued.
"Even when someone in their own family dies, I've never seen anyone so diligent about attending the funeral."
Qin Hao's face turned livid.
A lackey next to him stepped forward: "Lin Fan, the fuck are you talking about?"
Lin Fan looked at him and sized him up.
"How many did you awaken? Four? So loyal, did Qin Hao share one of his Armor Orifices with you?"
"Fuck!"
"That's enough!"
Qin Hao stopped his lackey, stood up, and stared at Lin Fan.
"You've got a sharp tongue, fine. I'd like to see how long you can keep that up."
After saying that, he turned and left with his people.
Lin Fan leaned back against the tree trunk, looking at the sky, appearing surprisingly relaxed.
A breeze blew past, and the sycamore leaves rustled.
It wasn't until noon, when the Awakening ceremony ended and the crowd had dispersed, that he stood up and slowly walked toward the school gate.
On the way home, he passed an Armor Beast supplies store, where images of various Armor Beast cubs were displayed in the window.
A fire-red little fox was jumping around in the virtual projection, with a price tag below—three million.
Lin Fan took a look and withdrew his gaze.
Three million.
Good heavens, that's enough to feed him and Old Mo to death eight hundred times over.
Armor Beast. Armor Spirit.
That was a matter for another world.
Evening, city outskirts.
Lin Fan passed through a stretch of low, old buildings and entered the dilapidated old house at the very end.
This was the place where he and his foster father, Old Mo, had lived for sixteen years.
The room was lit with a dim, yellow light, and an old man was busy in the kitchen.
Hearing the noise, he poked his head out.
"Back? How was the Awakening?"
Lin Fan sat down at the table: "Two."
Old Mo paused for a moment, said nothing, and continued cooking the noodles.
After a while, he came out with a bowl of noodles with a poached egg nestled inside.
"Eat."
Lin Fan looked at the poached egg and suddenly said: "Old Mo, I offended someone again today."
"Oh."
"Qin Hao, and a bunch of other people."
"Oh."
"Aren't you going to ask why?"
Old Mo sat down opposite him: "Why?"
"Because I only have two Armor Orifices, and they made fun of me, so I snapped back at them."
Old Mo nodded: "Well snapped."
Lin Fan was stunned.
Old Mo looked at him.
"If you get bullied and don't talk back, that's being spineless. You have a mouth, why not use it? Should you just bottle it up and go home to cry?"
Lin Fan opened his mouth and suddenly laughed.
"You really are like a real father."
"Picked up, not real." Old Mo stood up. "Eat, the noodles are getting soggy."
Lin Fan lowered his head and slurped a mouthful of noodles.
"Old Mo."
"Hmm?"
"I only have two Armor Orifices, what will I do in the future?"
Old Mo stopped in his tracks and looked back at him.
Under the dim, yellow light, the old man who had raised him for sixteen years had a hint of an indescribable light in his cloudy eyes.
"With two Armor Orifices, can't you live?"
Lin Fan was silent.
Old Mo said, "It's fine, if nothing else, you can just join me in repairing Armor Beasts for people later."
Lin Fan thought about it: "Your way of comforting people is quite lacking."
Old Mo slapped the back of his head: "Eat your noodles."