Chapter 30: Number One in the World

The dust motes drifted slowly through the air, their trajectories gradually sharpening in his vision. The scents in the air were no longer monotonous, revealing distinct layers of complexity. A subtle breeze seeped through the cracks of the material warehouse, brushing lightly and clearly against every inch of Lu Ming's skin. The microscopic details of reality, usually ignored, were magnified infinitely in his heightened perception.

"My senses have sharpened."

He raised his hands, feeling the air flowing through his fingers, only to discover with surprise that the scars on the back of his hands had vanished completely. Incredulous, he looked down at his thighs; the corrosive marks on his trousers remained, but the wounds beneath them were gone.

"This..."

Could the promotion process actually heal injuries? Or did this only happen when genetic evolution reshaped the body?

[Notification: Congratulations on completing your genetic evolution and successfully awakening as a Primary Hunter Warrior! As you are the first awakened to complete genetic evolution, your Awakening Power is increased by an additional three tiers, and you have earned three lucky draw attempts. Would you like to draw now?]

A lucky draw?

Upon hearing those words, Lu Ming immediately cast aside his theories about the vanishing scars, not even bothering to consider what "Awakening Power" might be. He knew that his rise to power was built entirely upon the three lucky draw attempts from the surprise gift pack. Now that he had another chance, how could he remain calm?

"Confirm!"

[Notification: Prizes will be randomly selected from five categories: "Supplies," "Skills," "Weapons," and "Special Items." A minimum of one A-grade reward or higher is guaranteed. Please choose your draw method: (Single Draw) / (Triple Draw)]

"Triple Draw!"

[Congratulations on obtaining the special item: "Universal Deduction Voucher."]
[Congratulations on obtaining the B-grade skill book: "Advanced Steel Collection Mastery."]
[Congratulations on obtaining the special item: "Tri-District Map."]

[Notification: Your spatial storage bag has fewer than three slots remaining. Please be mindful of the storage limit; upgrading your space level will increase capacity.]

Hmm? Not enough space again?

The capacity settings of the spatial storage bag were truly frustrating. Dozens of compound bows were still lying in the second-floor room of the staff dormitory, waiting for him to collect them after the factory cleanup was finished. He had tried his best not to burden the bag, yet it still wasn't enough.

Glancing at his 580 Specialized Crystals, Lu Ming decided not to upgrade just yet. He would examine the three items he had drawn first.

[Universal Deduction Voucher]
Category: Special Item
Effect: Can be used to waive the cost of one Specialized Crystal expenditure.

...

What the hell?!

Isn't this a privilege to negate costs? A universal voucher? Such a good thing actually exists?

It had to be exceptionally rare, given that this draw was a reward for being the first to undergo genetic evolution. That was global supremacy. If he wanted to obtain more in the future, he would have to meet that same standard, otherwise, he shouldn't even dream of it.

The warning about his spatial bag's capacity was still fresh in his mind. When he first upgraded the bag, he had performed a "sublimation" operation on it. A single tier of sublimation already cost three million crystals, which meant the sublimated spatial bag must have incredibly powerful functions. Using this voucher on that would certainly be worth it, but considering the bag's growth, it would likely only increase storage utility, and Lu Ming didn't feel its priority was above everything else.

He would hold off for now.

He tucked the voucher away and looked at the next item.

[Advanced Steel Collection Mastery] (B-grade)
Category: Mastery Skill Book
Effect: Allows for the recycling and repurposing of steel.
Trait: Increases recovery conversion rate by an additional 50%.

...

There was nothing to analyze with this skill; he could just learn it directly.

The last item, the one Lu Ming was most concerned about, was the map. He remembered clearly that when he was first transferred, that cheerful synthesized electronic voice had emphasized that the map was the "most important" thing in this apocalypse. This suggested that the rarity of the map was likely extremely high.

He took out the map and was slightly stunned. Unlike a conventional paper map, this was an electronic map embedded within a tablet.

[Tri-District Map]
Category: Special Item
Description: A detailed map of the Pinghu District, Xinghui District, and Jintian District. The map marks the specific locations of 6 Tier-3 supply crates and 3 special zones.

...

The description was concise, but it was enough to drive Lu Ming wild. It wasn't just the detailed map of three districts; it even marked the locations of six Tier-3 supply crates.

Looking closely, the map clearly delineated three zones in pale yellow, golden yellow, and orange yellow. The zones formed an arc from south to northwest. The pale yellow one near the south was called Jintian District. The golden yellow one in the middle was Xinghui District—the glass display case from the mobile repair shop must have come from here. The orange yellow one at the top was Pinghu District.

Six purple markers were scattered irregularly across the three districts: two in Pinghu, two in Xinghui, and two in Jintian.

In addition, there were four markers of a different color. Three were red, located respectively in the center of Jintian, Xinghui, and Pinghu Districts. One was white, located inside the Kangbao Shoe Factory in the Jintian suburbs, almost overlapping with one of the purple markers in Jintian District.

Without a doubt, the white marker was Lu Ming himself.

Scanning the map, he followed the streets he had traveled and easily found his original residential alley—Jincui Street. It was located at the very top of the map, near the border of the Jintian District.

Combining the distribution of the Tier-3 supply crates with the existence of the red core zones, Lu Ming had reason to believe that all those who had been transferred were currently located in the suburban outskirts of each district. It followed that the level of the mutant creatures would certainly increase as one approached the center.

"The center, huh?"

Staring at the three red markers, Lu Ming subconsciously felt that those would be the most dangerous places in the entire area.

As he pondered, he suddenly paused, then snapped out of his thoughts and put the map away. Now was not the time to study such things; the collection of the Tier-3 supply crates wasn't finished, and time could not be wasted.

However, there was one thing he had to confirm: his own increase in strength.

He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and focused for a moment. His expression shifted drastically.

Why?

Because it was too powerful!

If the comprehensive strength of a Limit Soldier was ten times that of an ordinary human, then a Primary Hunter Warrior was thirty times that of an ordinary human!

What kind of concept was that! If an ordinary person could lift fifty kilograms, a Primary Hunter Warrior could lift fifteen hundred kilograms!

Is this still human?! It was absolutely absurd! And this was just a Primary Hunter Warrior; as he continued to advance, he would be leaping toward becoming a superhuman!

No wonder that synthesized voice at the beginning had uttered those crazed words: as long as you are strong enough, as long as you are wealthy enough, you are the world, you are a god!

If he continued to evolve along this trend, reaching the pinnacle of the specialized levels would make him a god to the people of today! Or perhaps something even more terrifying than a god!

Not knowing whether to be shocked or overjoyed, Lu Ming opened his character panel.