Evolving infinitely from ground zero

Translator: 549690339

Since they had the whole day free, students quickly began to enjoy themselves around the school.

Some wandered around the campus in groups.

Some gathered together to chat.

Some bowed their heads to play with their smartphones.

There were also those who flipped through new books to preview the material in advance.

Shen Qinghan was one of those reading books, currently hunched over a textbook, earnestly previewing the content, very diligent and hardworking.

Lin Zichen had glanced over the textbooks before and found that much of the content was things he had self-studied as a child, so he didn’t bother to look further. Instead, he started playing with his phone, scrolling through real-time news online.

“Lived up to expectations! The Capital City child prodigy that once shook the nation, has now been recommended for admission to Kyoto University, studying at Evolution College, and is expected to evolve into an advanced-level creature during his university years.”

“Heartbreaking! Genius mechanical girl underwent mechanical enhancements too early before her body fully developed, now suffering from a multitude of physiological issues, with many parts of her body deformed, her latter life likely to be spent as a disabled person.”

“Great news! Hua Wei Group has successfully cultivated a rare Common Tier Five spiritual plant, the global spiritual plant market might welcome major changes.”

Lin Zichen glanced at these three pieces of news on the homepage, and his attention quickly settled on the second news about the genius mechanical girl.

After reading it briefly, he felt a mix of emotions.

Parents are great.

But clearly, not everyone with a child is fit to be a parent.

The parents of this mechanical genius girl marketed their daughter’s talents to make money, completely disregarding her safety and subjecting her to various mechanical modifications.

They were unworthy of being parents.

Even, unworthy of being human.

Lin Zichen shook his head, not dwelling on it any further, and scrolled down on his phone to look at other news.

After reading more than twenty articles, he realized that a large number contained news about the Rat God Cult.

Counting them up, they nearly made up half of the news.

Lin Zichen frowned slightly.

Why has there suddenly been so much news about the Rat God Cult?

Had something happened?

With these questions in mind, he opened and went through all the news related to the Rat God Cult.

He then learned that the city’s security headquarters had recently concluded a crackdown, capturing a number of the Rat God Cult’s followers.

Related news was all being reported today.

Did they only capture followers?

What about the Rat King, whom the followers revere as a god?

Was he captured?

Lin Zichen’s mind was filled with thoughts, and he quickly continued scrolling through the news.

After finishing the recommended news on the web page, he started to search out other related news to read.

To his disappointment, he discovered that the security headquarters’ recent crackdown was all bark and no bite, capturing only some followers and not even a single giant mutant rat.

After browsing the news for a while longer, feeling somewhat bored.

Lin Zichen put his phone away, quietly stood up and left the classroom, and decided to find a secluded corner to exercise his body, rather than wasting time in the classroom.

After walking around the school, he finally arrived at a deserted little grove.

This place, with no people or surveillance, was perfect to use as a secret base for training.

So, he casually moved a hundred-pound rock over and began doing high-intensity weight training exercises.

[You are doing weight-bearing push-ups, Qi-Blood +2, arm muscle strength +2, chest muscle strength +2, push-up proficiency +1]

[You are doing weight-bearing sit-ups, Qi-Blood +2, abdominal muscle strength +2, sit-up proficiency +1]

[You are doing weight-bearing squats, Qi-Blood +2, leg muscle strength +2, squat proficiency +1…]

After an indeterminate amount of time, Lin Zichen finally finished his workout, drenched in sweat from head to toe.

I’m exhausted but fulfilled; I can clearly feel myself getting stronger.

“Common adult giant mutant rats are at Biological Level Common Tier Five. Just one more evolution, and I’ll surpass them…”

With that thought, Lin Zichen flopped down again, positioning the stone he had just removed back onto his back and started doing push-ups against the ground like a maniac once more.

[You’ve completed 300 weighted push-ups, Qi-Blood +600, arm muscle strength +600, chest muscle strength +600, push-up proficiency +300]

After quickly finishing a set of weighted push-ups.

Lin Zichen felt that it was about time, so he stopped, wiped the sweat from his face, and took out his cellphone to check the time.

The top right corner of his phone screen showed it was already 17:20 in the afternoon, almost time for school to end.

Then he saw a WeChat message notification from Shen Qinghan at the top of his phone screen.

He opened it to find three messages.

15:12 in the afternoon.

[Han Han: Xiao Chen, where did you go? Why haven’t you come back for so long?]

16:22 in the afternoon.

[Han Han: Where are you? (Confused emoji)]

17:11 in the afternoon.

[Han Han: Xiao Chen, there are only 19 minutes left until class ends. I’ll wait for you in the classroom, don’t go home by yourself. Remember to come find me when you see this message.]

17:22 in the afternoon.

[Zi Chen: I was just exercising and didn’t check my phone, I’m on my way back now.]

After sending this message to Shen Qinghan, Lin Zichen put away his phone and headed back to the classroom.

As soon as he walked through the classroom door, Li Chuxin, seeing him drenched in sweat, couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Where did you go? Why are you covered in sweat?”

He Yu was also puzzled, “Yeah, where have you been all this time? Did you go to play basketball or soccer?”

Shen Qinghan remained quiet, kindly pulling out a few tissues and handing them to Lin Zichen so he could wipe the sweat from his face.

She had wanted to wipe his face for him, but there were too many people watching in the classroom, and she felt too shy to do it.

Lin Zichen took the handed tissues, wiping the sweat from his face, and said honestly, “I didn’t go anywhere, just felt bored sitting in class and found a secluded place outside to exercise a bit.”

Li Chuxin looked at him admiringly, “Not only are you talented, but you’re also so hardworking. No wonder you were the top student in our district for the middle school exams.”

He Yu teased, “Wow, sneaking off to work out, do you really have to be so competitive?”

He spoke quite loudly, drawing the attention of many nearby students.

“Keep it down, He Yu.”

Li Chuxin shot him a discontented glance, feeling that this Nanguan guy was too loud—louder than a crowing rooster—which she felt was unpleasant.

He Yu realized his faux pas and quickly laughed it off, “Sorry, sorry.”

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

The students could now go home.

Li Chuxin took out three bags from her backpack and handed one to each group member, “Here, one bag for each of you for your uniforms.”

“Thanks.”

“Thanks, Chu Xin.”

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan both accepted the bags with a smile, thanking her.

He Yu, as usual, was boisterous in his thanks, “Wow, you even planned ahead by keeping bags in your backpack, such a clever move!”

Seeing him being loud again, Li Chuxin gave him an exasperated look.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, meanwhile, were quietly packing up their things, one eager to go home for a meal, the other keen to get home and read.

PS: Bowing here, asking for monthly and recommendation tickets!