Chapter 60: Oh, XX Won the MVP (Monthly Vote Bonus Chapter)

"Alright!" Whether deliberate or by coincidence, right after a round of discussion among the group, Li Kang calmly stepped out of the district government office.

"Ah-Zhu, it's getting late. We're going to pick up Bixuan next. Since you handled things so cleanly and decisively, headquarters finally relented... Both of your artifacts have been approved!"

Li Kang paused briefly and smiled, "Congratulations! Your chances of solving the problem have increased significantly."

"That's good then." Chu Zhu nodded, "You guys go get the artifacts, though... I still have to head back and take care of some matters!"

"After all, I've only just finished negotiating terms with that bunch of 'vampires'. If I don't give them a few lashes with a whip, they won't budge! Their sacrifices finally bought us this opportunity..."

At this, a shadow crossed Chu Zhu's eyes.

For things to escalate to this scale, pushing the factory owners this hard without provoking the iron fist of the authorities, there were two MVPs. One was a policy issued a month ago by the municipal government administration; the other was that high-ranking union members had died, and many of them at that.

And for the deaths of these people, the major factory owners bore the most direct suspicion.

The deceased command the utmost respect!

"...Are you serious?" Li Kang was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Tell me, how can you be certain that assassin will come for you tonight? If you part ways with us, is there a chance we won't see you next time..."

"Don't worry, I've got this handled." Chu Zhu shrugged. He genuinely had something to rely on—his backing was simply that... if the worst came to the worst, he'd just get killed by the assassin.

A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit; he'd just be more careful next time! What else could he do?

"..." After staring at Chu Zhu for a long while, Li Kang nodded, "Fine, if you say so!"

"Hey!" Ning Linglong suddenly spoke up. She looked at Chu Zhu with a shy and embarrassed expression, "Uncle Zhu, my dad invited you to dinner tonight... Would you!"

"Turn it down." Chu Zhu recalled the previous timeline, where Ning Linglong had been completely oblivious to the setup.

Then looking at her now, clearly showing initiative...

Heh, women!

"...Oh." Ning Linglong's shoulders slumped instantly.

***

Nighttime, and still the dilapidated small building.

"...No, are you serious!" Ning Linglong was dumbfounded.

She truly could not comprehend Chu Zhu's living conditions—

Her father was merely an ordinary teacher, yet her family's home was infinitely better than this place!

Having watched Chu Zhu wield authority and coerce the major factory owners in the conference hall not long ago, and now looking at this dilapidated room in a run-down building... The contrast was so vast it felt like jumping off a cliff, leaving her speechless!

"Normal!" Guan Fei said something similar to what he had uttered in the previous timeline. "After all, this is Mr. Chu!"

Chu Zhu glanced at Ning Linglong. He could clearly perceive that, compared to the previous timeline, her state of mind at this moment was completely different—last time she had mostly been complaining internally, but this time she genuinely found it hard to accept!

"First, take this!" With a solemn expression, Li Kang pulled out what looked like an utterly ordinary... down jacket?

"???"

The corner of Chu Zhu's eye twitched. And it was red, too.

This was an ancient relic?!

One had to know that most winter clothing in the dream world was made from animal pelts... a down jacket was something current technology simply could not manufacture!

"No. 2-52! The Blade-Evading Garment!" Li Kang said softly, "How about it? Looks very fashionable, doesn't it?"

Chu Zhu: "..."

No, no, no, this looked every bit like a knockoff down jacket! Toss it into the real world, and it would basically appear on a street stall reading: *The boss has gone bankrupt with his sister-in-law, all factory inventory now on clearance at ninety percent off...*

Yet, a moment later, Chu Zhu saw Ning Linglong's eyes light up as she stared at the down jacket with a lingering, reluctant gaze.

"..." Wait, was Li Kang not joking? Was this thing actually considered high fashion in the dream world?

Since Chu Zhu hadn't paid much attention to down jackets previously, even after countless resets, this was his first time realizing the high status of down jackets in the current era!

He soon came to terms with it, however. After all, in this era, even a brick-sized mobile phone could be considered an ancient relic with an absurdly lofty status—

Perhaps this truly was an ancient relic!

"The number 2 indicates that it's a spiritual artifact benchmarked against the Second Realm; 52 signifies that among all officially recorded Tier 2 spiritual artifacts, it ranks fifty-second!" Li Kang glanced at Chu Zhu, explaining earnestly, "Very high, remarkably high. I honestly didn't expect... we actually managed to get this approved for you. Put it on."

"Just as its name implies, once you put it on, it can evade the slashes of all edged weapons! Even your neck and lower body, which aren't completely wrapped by it, receive its defense."

"Yes, theoretically, after putting it on, for you to die... either the attacker's power directly surpasses its upper limit—though theoretically, it can even withstand a tiny bit of Tier 3 power; or you aren't hacked to death, but rather swarmed and beaten to death by blunt trauma from fists or clubs..."

"Fine." Chu Zhu took it immediately and put it on.

Though he still felt a subtle sensation in his heart as he lightly stroked the down jacket with his fingers... *Ahem*, this warming effect was indeed identical to a regular down jacket.

"And then there's this! 3-181." Li Kang's expression turned noticeably grave, tinged even with a trace of fear.

This piqued Chu Zhu's interest. After all, the Li Kang he knew was an iron-willed man who wasn't even afraid of death! To make such a tough guy wear an expression like that... fascinating, simply fascinating!

Carefully, Li Kang took the case from Guan Fei's hands and opened it cautiously, revealing its true contents—

It was an infant!

An infant with cracked skin and a pitch-black body.

Its flesh was withered and clung tightly to its bones, looking exceptionally eerie and ominous.

Chu Zhu's eyelids twitched slightly. But wait, was that it? Not too sca—hm?

Chu Zhu blinked hard, staring intently at the infant. Confirming that his previous sight wasn't a trick of the light, he could no longer maintain his composure. "Wait, did it just move again?"

"Normal." Li Kang instantly snapped the case shut, maintaining a placid expression.

"You don't need to put on an act in front of me, do you?" Chu Zhu was somewhat speechless. "Uncle, your hand is still shaking!"

"Talkative." Li Kang felt a flash of恼羞成怒 (shamed into anger).

"Explain it then!" Chu Zhu inquired with avid interest. "If you don't even talk about it, what if we really need to use it later and don't know how to activate it..."

"No way! This one," Li Kang swallowed hard, "we won't use it unless absolutely necessary... Besides, if it really has to be used, I'll be the one to use it..."

"Captain, let me do it instead!" Ning Linglong furrowed her brow tightly. "Once it's used, at the most conservative estimate, your contamination index will soar significantly... You're already somewhat! Um..."