11: Chapter 11 The Frenzy of Accumulation Before the Monthly Exam
300 pay-to-win points.
To Wang Pingan's system panel, this number wasn't just cold data; it was his confidence, his courage.
He sat in the dim living room, sitting quietly without turning on the lights.
He could hear his heart drumming in his chest.
Thump.
Thump-thump.
The previous anxiety, the confusion about the future, the frustration of being crushed by reality—it was all gone.
In its place was a near-greedy craving.
Is 300 points a lot?
It is.
It's enough for him to push his strength up by a significant margin.
But is it enough?
Far from it!
He thought of Li Moran.
He thought of the breezy, relaxed expression on that man's face, and the way the entire class looked at him with natural worship after he punched out 188 kilograms.
Why?
Just because he was born into a better family?
Before, he had no choice, but now he wanted to be a rich man.
No, he wanted to be a powerhouse.
Having tasted the sweetness, it was impossible for him to go back to that life of counting pennies and exhausting himself until his hair almost fell out just for a few blood qi value points.
West City Scrap Yard.
In his eyes, that place was now more adorable than anywhere else in the world.
It wasn't a garbage dump.
It was his gold mine!
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Wang Pingan woke up.
He didn't go for morning exercise, nor did he go to review.
He changed into even shabbier clothes, spent a few dozen star coins at the hardware store downstairs to buy a pair of sturdy work gloves, a small crowbar, and a large black backpack that could hold quite a lot of things.
He disguised himself to look more like a real scavenger.
Sitting on a public shuttle heading to the West City, his state of mind was completely different.
Last time, it was a desperate gamble, a last resort.
This time, it was a confident, sure-to-succeed gold rush.
The scrap yard was still the same, with that intoxicating smell of engine oil mixed with rust in the air.
But as Wang Pingan smelled it now, he actually found it somewhat endearing.
This was the smell of money.
He skillfully avoided the surveillance cameras at the main entrance, crawled through a hole in the fence, hunched over, and quickly disappeared into the shadow of a mountain of scrap metal.
He didn't start scanning immediately.
Consuming 1 pay-to-win point per minute was still quite expensive.
Relying on his memory, he first crept toward the area managed by that foreman, Zhao Dahai, from yesterday.
That bastard had cheated him out of 50 star coins yesterday; today, he had to make him cough it back up double.
Wang Pingan found an excellent hiding spot behind a pile of scrapped shuttle shells; it happened to be a blind spot for two surveillance cameras.
He poked his head out and observed for a long time.
Very good. Zhao Dahai was standing with his hands on his hips nearby, cursing at a few workers, spit flying everywhere; he wouldn't notice him anytime soon.
The timing was perfect.
"Activate, Energy Scan!"
He silently recited in his heart.
The ghostly blue 3D map unfolded once again.
This time, Wang Pingan was no longer at a loss like last time; his gaze was sharp and precise, like a falcon circling in the sky, quickly locking onto his prey.
The energy reaction in this area was still terrifyingly dense.
Countless white dots of light were mixed with tiny green dots of light.
He directly ignored those low-value white dots, his gaze locked firmly on those brightest green dots.
One, at the three o'clock direction, fifty meters away, under a pile of twisted pipes.
Another, at the eleven o'clock direction, about eighty meters away, buried in a pile of scorched electronic components.
And one more...
Wang Pingan's breathing suddenly stalled.
He saw a big one.
Not far from the pile of waste where Zhao Dahai was cursing, under a huge, mountain-like wreckage of a scrapped engine, a green dot of light, brighter than the core fragment he found yesterday, was quietly flickering.
Wang Pingan's heart began to beat wildly, uncontrollably.
He forced himself to look away, starting with the closer, smaller ones first.
If you take too big a step, you might tear something. He understood this principle.
He put on his gloves, picked up the crowbar, and like an agile civet, silently sneaked to the side of the pile of twisted pipes.
He used the crowbar to push aside the top few, and quickly found his target.
It was a half-meter-long silver-white metal pipe, looking unremarkable, but its surface was engraved with some energy circuits he couldn't understand.
【Detected wreckage of a medium-sized interstellar warship energy transmission pipe, can convert to pay-to-win points: 50 points.】
Fifty points!
A great start!
Wang Pingan was delighted, quickly absorbed this pipe, and converted the energy contained within it into pay-to-win points.
He didn't linger and immediately rushed to the next target point.
The smell from the pile of scorched electronic components was extremely pungent; he held his breath and rummaged through it with the crowbar.
Soon, a palm-sized black crystal board, completely carbonized on the surface, was dug out.
【Detected warship main computer cooling core board (scrapped), can convert to pay-to-win points: 80 points.】
Another one! Wang Pingan was thrilled, hurriedly absorbed it, and didn't forget to find a few pieces of scrap iron to put in his backpack; after all, he had to play the part convincingly.
Wang Pingan's movements became faster and more proficient.
He was like the most efficient miner, under the guidance of the system, precisely digging out those abandoned "gold nuggets" from one pile of garbage after another.
An hour later.
His backpack was already heavy, filled entirely with randomly picked scrap iron.
And those scattered green dots he had scanned, worth less than one hundred points, had been almost completely swept up and converted into pay-to-win points in the system.
His gaze turned again to that biggest target.
That big guy hidden under the scrapped engine.
He estimated that the value of that thing was at least over 300 points!
But he hesitated.
That position was too conspicuous, right next to the main road, with Zhao Dahai and those few workers nearby.
If he went over, he would definitely be exposed.
What to do?
Give up?
Impossible!
That was 300 points!
A flash of determination crossed Wang Pingan's eyes.
He looked at the sky, then looked at the state of the workers, and a plan formed in his mind.
He didn't continue treasure hunting but found a more hidden corner, leaned against a pile of scrap iron, closed his eyes, and started to doze off.
He was waiting.
Waiting for an opportunity.
Time passed second by second, the sun rose higher and higher, and the air became increasingly hot and dry.
Twelve o'clock noon.
The harsh sound of the bell for the end of the shift rang throughout the scrap yard.
"Work is over! Work is over! Time to eat!"
Zhao Dahai shouted at the top of his lungs and was the first to walk toward the rest area.
The other workers also dropped their tools, complaining about the hellish weather, and left the work area with their arms around each other's shoulders.
The opportunity had arrived!
Wang Pingan opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
He leaped out from his hiding spot and rushed to the side of that huge scrapped engine at maximum speed.
He didn't even have time to look closely; he dived directly into the shadow under the engine and reached out to touch that brightest dot of light.
In his hand was a cold, angular metal block.
【Detected...】
He didn't even have time to look at the system prompt, grabbed the thing, shoved it into his backpack, and then returned along the original path at the fastest speed, hiding back in that corner.
The whole process was smooth and fluid, taking less than thirty seconds.
Only after doing all this did he feel that his back was soaked with cold sweat.
It was too thrilling.
This was more thrilling than slacking off and reading novels under the boss's nose in his previous life. He quickly converted the energy contained in the part into pay-to-win points while no one was around.
He waited until those workers finished eating and came back to work, complaining, before finding an opportunity to quietly slip out through the hole in the fence.
Back home.
Wang Pingan locked the door, not even having time to drink water, and couldn't wait to open his system panel to check the harvest this time.
The total amount of pay-to-win points on his panel showed a number that made even him feel terrified.
【pay-to-win points: 445】
He had made a fortune.
This time, it was a truly massive fortune!
Wang Pingan looked at this number, trembling all over with excitement.
With this huge sum of money, he even had the confidence to push his strength to a level that even Li Moran could only look up to before the monthly exam!
He didn't hesitate any longer and immediately gave instructions to the system.
"Add points for me! 400 pay-to-win points, distributed equally among the five basic attributes!"
Increasing one point of an attribute required 20 pay-to-win points.
A hot current, more powerful than any previous one, exploded in his body!
The blood qi in his body boiled instantly, like boiling water!
That invisible barrier leading from the early stage of the First-Rank to the middle stage didn't even last a second under the impact of this violent blood qi before it was shattered to pieces!
Boom!
Wang Pingan felt as if his body had been taken apart and then reassembled with tougher materials.
Strength, speed, physique...
All attributes underwent a qualitative leap at this moment!
【host: Wang Pingan】
【Realm: First-Rank Martial Artist (blood qi value 218 / 300)】
【Strength: 21.5】
【Speed: 21.2】
【Physique: 21.6】
【Spirit: 25.2】
【Recovery: 21.8】
【pay-to-win points: 45】
First-Rank Mid-stage!
Steadily achieved!
Wang Pingan slowly opened his eyes, and the whole world felt different in his perception.
He could clearly hear the rustling sound of paper friction as the brat from the neighbor's family upstairs flipped through a comic book.
He could see the dust slowly floating in the sunlight coming through the gap in the curtains.
This brand-new, highly controllable feeling of the world made him intoxicated.
For the next few days, Wang Pingan remained that low-key, inconspicuous student at school.
He listened in class, read books after class, and never argued loudly with anyone.
That appearance made many classmates who were shocked by his mock exam results start to doubt if the machine was really broken that day.
Only he knew what kind of beast, about to be unleashed, was hidden under that calm exterior.
The head teacher, Liu Jianguo, officially announced the news of the first monthly exam to be held next Monday during the class meeting.
He also specifically named and praised Li Moran.
"... Student Li Moran, after a month of hard training, has now stabilized at the late stage of the First-Rank, with a blood qi value as high as 225 points! He is our school's most promising seed player to hit the top three in the entire school this year! Everyone should learn from him!"
Thunderous applause rang out in the classroom again.
Countless worshipful and envious gazes were cast on that eternal focus.
Li Moran was still the same breezy, relaxed self, nodding to everyone, but the corner of his eye glanced over Wang Pingan's seat from time to time.
In that gaze, there was a hint of imperceptible provocation and contempt.
Wang Pingan kept his head down, pretending to read, but his heart was cold.
Top three in the school?
First-Rank Late-stage?
Very good.
This pressure was very sufficient.
The night before the monthly exam.
Wang Pingan once again entered the West City Scrap Yard alone.
He plowed through every corner of the entire scrap yard.
His total pay-to-win points reached an unprecedented number.
1,500 points!
In the training room at home.
Wang Pingan sat cross-legged, his eyes firm.
"System! Add points for me! Breakthrough, First-Rank Late-stage!"
【Instruction received!】
A massive amount of pay-to-win points, like floodwater from a sluice gate, crazily poured into his body!
The blood qi in his body exploded!
The final barrier to the First-Rank Late-stage was smashed open by him in the most brutal, unreasonable way!
【host: Wang Pingan】 【Realm: First-Rank Martial Artist (blood qi value 298 / 300)】 【Strength: 29.5】 【Speed: 29.2】 【Physique: 29.6】 【Spirit: 29.2】 【Recovery: 29.8】 (29.8 * 10 = 298) 【pay-to-win points: 845】
When everything calmed down.
Wang Pingan slowly stood up, feeling the unprecedented, surging power like a river and sea in his body.
He knew.
His trump card was ready.
On the day of the monthly exam.
Wang Pingan walked into the classroom, and it was already noisy as a pot of porridge.
Just as he walked to his seat, he heard Li Moran's number one lackey, Gao Fei, spouting nonsense to a few people around him.
"... Just you wait and see! Certain people got lucky during the mock exam, don't know what kind of medicine they took to get that result. This monthly exam, he will definitely be beaten back to his original shape!"
"If you ask me, he can't even punch out 100 kilograms! Brother Li is the only one who deserves to be called our school's true genius!"
Gao Fei's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for Wang Pingan, who had walked through the door, to hear clearly.
Wang Pingan didn't want to have too much entanglement with a second-generation rich kid like Li Moran, but there was no help for it; since they came to him, he could only accept the challenge.
With the help of his system daddy, what the hell was he afraid of?