Chapter 48
Yu Zhi calmed himself and reread the item description carefully.
To be sure, he asked the system: [System, does this item really work exactly as described? “As hard as I want, wherever I want”?]
System: [Please refer to the item description for details.]
Yu Zhi persisted: [Can I become so hard that no weapon or ability could scratch me?]
System: [This item allows you to be as hard as you want.]
Yu Zhi pressed further: [Can it make my entire body, from head to toe, including hair, follicles, nails, and everything else, hard?]
System: [This item allows hardness wherever you want it.]
Yu Zhi narrowed his eyes: [You’re just quoting the description to evade my question, aren’t you?]
The system didn’t respond.
Yu Zhi smirked coldly in his mind: [If this item fails and gets me killed, will you compensate me with a new life?]
The system remained silent.
Now Yu Zhi was certain the system had been dodging him. He’d come to understand its pattern—it always “played dead” when faced with tough questions.
But this item was tied directly to his survival, and he couldn’t afford to let it slide.
Slowly, he pushed himself upright on the bed. After lying there for hours, his pain and fatigue hadn’t improved but had only worsened. The simple act of getting out of bed turned his already pale face a shade whiter, and the bed creaked loudly as he braced against it.
Hearing the noise, Dr. Qi looked over.
Yu Zhi rasped, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Dr. Qi said, “The bathroom’s to the right. Need help getting there?”
Yu Zhi shook his head. “No, I’ve got it.”
He shuffled out of the observation room, clinging to the wall as he made his way to the men’s restroom. After checking each stall to ensure he was alone, he entered the last one, locked the door, and sat heavily on the toilet.
The motion tugged at the wound on his arm, and he couldn’t suppress a hiss of pain. After taking a moment to steady himself, he addressed the livestream audience. “Anyone willing to help me report this system later?”
The system: “???”
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” volunteers to help.]
[User “Rich Young Master” declares their readiness to assist.]
[User “Pure Love Warrior” believes it’s their duty to step up.]
[User “momo” is curious about the reason for reporting the system.]
[User “Scarecrow’s Plow” mocks you for struggling and vows to reclaim everything they’ve lost.]
Yu Zhi’s eyes scanned the scrolling comments. Seeing that both “Rich Young Master” and “momo” had agreed to report the system, he withdrew his gaze.
He didn’t trust most of the livestream viewers, but the two who bet on his survival were temporarily reliable. Their shared interest in universal currency meant they’d follow through.
[User “momo” asks for the exact time of the report.]
Yu Zhi replied, “If I use the item and still don’t survive Fu Suxi, report it then.”
He calculated the remaining time and his universal coins balance before saying to the viewers, “Probably in about twenty hours.”
[User “Rich Young Master” asks for the exact reason for the report.]
The next second, a line of text popped up on the panel. The system couldn’t hold back anymore.
System: [What grounds do you have to report me?]
Yu Zhi smirked. [How about this betting pool?]
[Doesn’t seem very lawful or compliant to me.]
System: [Most of your livestream audience is involved in the betting pool. Do you think they’ll report themselves?]
Yu Zhi: [The betting pool is system-initiated. How would the viewers know it’s problematic?]
System: “???”
[Yu Zhi! You’re burning bridges!]
Seeing that the system was so frustrated it called him by name, Yu Zhi raised an eyebrow. “I need to use the toilet. Turn off the livestream for now.”
[Detected that the upcoming content involves personal privacy. Would you like to continue live streaming?]
Yu Zhi: “Turn it off.”
[Shutting down the livestream…]
Once the livestream was off, Yu Zhi sneered. “Burning bridges? You’re the one burning bridges. Giving me a vague description for a life-or-death item and dodging my questions—were you planning to let me die to Fu Suxi?”
“After all, if I die, you’ll make money and get rid of a liability.”
The system was silent, clearly guilty of his accusation.
Yu Zhi chuckled dryly. “And if I die, you can just find someone else to restart the betting pool and keep making money.”
The system stayed silent, clearly uneasy.
After a moment, a childish mechanical voice rang out faintly: “Don’t forget, you’ve also gained information you needed from the betting pool.”
“If I hadn’t set up the bets, you wouldn’t have identified Nie Yue and the others in advance or avoided those risks.”
Yu Zhi raised an eyebrow. “What, are you saying I should let you profit for free?”
“If you want to make money, you have to give something in return.”
“Even without the betting pool, I could’ve figured out what was happening and just run away when I saw Nie Yue and her group.”
Yu Zhi paused for a moment and said with a straight face, “Avoiding risks early was entirely thanks to my intelligence.”
The system sneered: “Even now, you can’t help but praise yourself, huh?”
Yu Zhi: “That wasn’t praise, just a simple statement of fact.”
The system: “…”
You’re just shameless.
Yu Zhi shifted back to the main issue. “You know as well as I do that the biggest threat to me is Fu Suxi. I already figured out the prophecy situation.”
“Let’s not waste time,” he said, crossing one leg to ease the pain in his foot. Fixing his gaze on the empty air, he continued, “Are you really going to turn what could be a win-win into mutual destruction?”
“Are you sure you’ll find someone more reliable than me after I’m gone? Will anyone else cooperate with you? Will Fu Suxi cooperate with you?”
“Old clients are always more dependable than new ones. Besides, I still have a hidden mission, and Fu Suxi is actively hunting me.”
At the mention of Fu Suxi, Yu Zhi paused and added, “I’ve already earned 60,000 universal coins just off of him. With the audience growing every day, the livestream’s potential can only increase.”
Having mixed threats with persuasion, he shifted his tone. “And anyway, I’m spending 100 universal coins per minute on this item. With all that money spent, shouldn’t it be a given that Fu Suxi won’t be able to kill me?”
The system couldn’t help but retort, “Fu Suxi is strong. Him killing you is entirely reasonable.”
Yu Zhi blinked innocently, taking a step back to advance. “How about this? If you think I won’t make it, just wake me up when the danger gets too high. After that, whether I live or die is none of your concern.”
The system hesitated.
Yu Zhi pressed on, “Giving me a heads-up would be perfectly fair.”
“Isn’t urging me to act quickly and finish my tasks part of your job description?”
A minute later, the system finally spoke, its tone measured. “Waking you up can be arranged. But I cannot guarantee you won’t die while using the item, nor can I bring you back to life afterward.”
Yu Zhi: “Fine. What can you guarantee?”
System: “I can ensure the item works to its maximum effect while you’re using it. If your universal coins are about to run out, or if there’s an imminent mortal threat, I will wake you up.”
Yu Zhi agreed immediately. “Deal!”
The system felt something was off. Why had he agreed so quickly? Just a moment ago, he was demanding compensation for his life.
Suspicious, the system asked, “Did you only plan from the beginning to have me guarantee the item’s effectiveness?”
Yu Zhi, pulling out a bag from [My Items], said nonchalantly, “What else? You can’t do anything more anyway.”
The system: “…”
Crafty Earthling!
Yu Zhi retrieved pen and paper from the bag and began writing. From start to finish, he hadn’t trusted the system to ensure his survival.
Rather than relying on the system’s promises, he was more concerned it might exploit his weakened state to finish him off.
After quickly drafting two copies of an agreement, he said to the system, “Sign this contract.”
System: “?”
Yu Zhi hesitated for a moment, unsure how the system would sign, and held the pen up toward the air.
The system: “I don’t need a pen.”
The contract, prepared in duplicate, clearly stated that if the system failed to fulfill its promises, it would face an automatic report and forfeit all universal coins to its most hated superior.
The system: “…”
Losing my precious coins to the person I hate most? That’s practically a death sentence!
“Who said I even have a superior? I don’t have a boss!”
Yu Zhi signed his name at the bottom. “Don’t lie. If you had no authority, you wouldn’t exist. I bet you’ve got plenty of higher-ups.”
Fuming, the system signed its name—H0516—in neat, precise letters that looked like they were printed onto the page.
The next moment, one copy of the contract vanished from Yu Zhi’s hand.
He heard the system’s voice: “You can relax now. The contract has been automatically filed.”
Yu Zhi blinked. “What does that mean?”
The system grumbled, “It means that if I fail to do what I promised, even if the viewers don’t report me, I’ll automatically be flagged, and all universal coins will be transferred to the account of my most hated superior.”
The last sentence was practically growled, dripping with resentment. Gone was the system’s usual aloof tone.
Yu Zhi raised an eyebrow, surprised at the sheer emotion in the mechanical voice. “You’re really not going to pull any tricks?”
The system bit out its response, one word at a time: “Auto. Filing. Cannot. Be. Altered.”
Translation: It had no choice.
*
[Livestream opening…]
[Livestream H310000YA: Now live]
[Online viewers: 4,940]
Yu Zhi blinked, holding up the signed contract. Addressing the livestream viewers, he said, “Take a screenshot, everyone. If 0516 fails to deliver, remember to report it to its boss.”
“And don’t forget to collect the rewards from its boss.”
The system: “…”
Yu Zhi stood up and instructed it, “Activate the item and make me as hard as possible, from head to toe, inside and out, for one minute.”
[Item “Unstoppable Resolve” activated.]
Yu Zhi focused on his body but felt no difference compared to when the item wasn’t active.
Exhaustion, drowsiness, and pain weighed heavily on Yu Zhi.
He reached out with his left hand to touch his right hand, feeling the usual smoothness of skin. But when he tried to pinch it, he found he couldn’t grab even a bit of flesh—his skin was unnaturally hard.
Frowning, he curled his fingers and lightly tapped the toilet’s water tank lid with his nail.
A crisp sound rang out, but nothing else happened.
System: [You’re paranoid.]
Between having the livestream viewers take screenshots for future reports and now testing the item’s effects, the system felt exasperated.
Yu Zhi: [It’s not paranoia; I just don’t trust you.]
He debated whether to find something heavier to test his hand’s resilience when the sound of a door opening interrupted him.
Someone had entered.
Startled, Yu Zhi’s finger twitched and accidentally struck the water tank lid.
The next moment, a crack appeared on the lid. With a sharp snap, the tank lid split in two and fell into the water tank with a loud splash.
The noise immediately drew the attention of the person outside.
“Yu You? Are you alright?”
It was Dr. Qi’s voice.
Yu Zhi opened the stall door and sheepishly rubbed his nose. “Slipped a little. The water tank lid fell off.”
Dr. Qi first checked Yu Zhi’s face. Seeing it was still the same pale, sickly hue, he relaxed slightly. “You were gone for so long I thought you’d passed out in there.”
After saying this, he glanced into the stall and added, “I’ll get someone to clean this up. Go back and rest.”
Yu Zhi nodded and stepped out. As he exited, he caught a glimpse of several armored vehicles pulling into the underground garage of the building where Zuo Feiyang and Lu Liming were being held.
No one got out of the vehicles, leaving him uncertain whether Fu Suxi was among them.
Dr. Qi followed his gaze and remarked, “Those are probably teams returning from clearing pollutants earlier. There are too many of them to come here—they’ll all head to the research lab for parasitic contamination testing.”
BOOM!
A deafening clap of thunder exploded overhead, followed by a torrential downpour.
Standing by the window, Yu Zhi was caught off guard as rain splattered across his face.
He raised a hand to close the window, but as he glanced down, he noticed the last armored vehicle hadn’t entered the underground garage. Instead, it had turned and parked in front of the building.
The vehicle’s door opened, and a tall, commanding figure stepped out.
The man was dressed in black, with gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. His narrow, sharp phoenix eyes were intense and calculating, his lips curved into a slight smirk—exuding a dangerous charm that screamed “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Yu Zhi’s pupils contracted. He instinctively took a step back.
That small movement was enough to catch the man’s attention.
Fu Suxi’s gaze locked onto him immediately, the curve of his lips deepening as he stared at Yu Zhi with dark, foreboding intensity.
“Found you,” Fu Suxi said, his voice low and sinister.
Ayaaaa whatt goinn onnnn
Thnx ya for the chappiieee~