Chapter 144: A Harmless Breeze

Of course.

During this time, Lin Zhen had gone to see Dr. Forefinger several times, wanting to ask how much longer it would be until Yun Ruoxi could return.

Or he wondered if he could at least see her for a moment.

But the other party was never at the base during this period.

Even when he was there.

Each time, he would brush Lin Zhen off with, “It’s not time yet, don’t be impatient.”

Though anger boiled in Lin Zhen’s heart, he was helpless.

After all, his life and Yun Ruoxi’s safety were both tightly held in Dr. Forefinger’s hands.

All he could do was channel that anger into his escape plan.

「Poor Lao Xi, locked in a tiny dark room for three months.」

「She was too strong, the writer had to nerf her.」

「Maybe she was being ‘trained’ for three months, just the thought of it makes me feel unbearably dirty.」

「Impressive.」

「Someone, bring the smallest caliber bullet.」

Just like that, another month passed, and Lin Zhen had finished reading all the information Chicha had given him.

He confirmed that as long as he could assemble a Zhe Yue Engine, mount it onto a spaceship, and then pilot that ship out of the Asar System, he would definitely be able to return to the Prime Universe.

But each of these three steps was harder than the last.

Just the first step alone—building a Zhe Yue Engine—had already caused Yun Ruoxi to suffer.

Lin Zhen had no idea how he could possibly complete the even harder second and third steps that lay ahead.

But if he were to give up now…

He had worked so hard for so long, and Yun Ruoxi had paid the price for it, only for him to stumble this far.

He truly couldn’t bear to quit.

So now Lin Zhen was like a wounded beast crouching in the shadows, licking his wounds as he waited for a chance to strike.

“Hu!”

In the training room, Lin Zhen let out a gentle breath.

The liquid iron floating beside him slowly gathered, condensing into a narrow, black flying dagger that shimmered with starlight.

This strange dagger quivered in the air, its surface bubbling with black froth like boiling sesame paste.

Lin Zhen’s raised right fingertips trembled, star energy pouring out as if a sluice had been opened.

After more than ten seconds.

The bubbles on the flying dagger’s surface finally calmed, and it slid into his palm like a swimming fish.

Lin Zhen nodded silently, while Zi Jiu at his side showed a faint, satisfied smile.

“It worked! One second faster than before.”

“Still too slow,” Lin Zhen shook his head, “It takes over twenty seconds to condense a thirty-centimeter Grade 1 Star Energy Dagger. No one will give me that kind of time in a real fight.”

“Whether it’s Mo Yuan or Xiao Xi, ten seconds is more than enough for them to kill me dozens of times.”

For some unknown reason, up until now, the star energy metal he condensed couldn’t be maintained for long; at most, it would last twenty minutes before reverting back to liquid iron.

This forced him to synthesize star energy metal in battle or after predicting an incoming fight.

It undeniably limited his combat effectiveness.

Dr. Forefinger was also intrigued by this and conducted several tests, but ultimately couldn’t find the real reason.

He could only speculate that perhaps Lin Zhen’s star energy index was insufficient, so he couldn’t create permanent star energy metal.

But truth be told, Lin Zhen actually felt somewhat relieved by this.

If he could create permanent star energy metal at Grade 1, the outcome awaiting him wouldn’t be good.

Being turned into a human star energy metal synthesis machine would be the best-case scenario.

Zi Jiu didn’t reply.

She had once asked Lin Zhen, “Why are you always comparing yourself to Mo Yuan and Xiao Xi?”

The answer she got was, “Because Xiao Xi isn’t here anymore.”

When she saw the deep and pained look in the young man’s eyes back then, she understood everything.

Lin Zhen was still blaming himself for that day.

He even saw his perfect awakening as the final gift Xiao Xi gave him—so that he could take good care of Aili.

So he forced himself to the limit, trying to stand in for Yun Ruoxi and look after Aili well.

“But aside from those two, there’s me… and no one else can beat you in ten seconds.”

Hearing their conversation, Kaos, who was training nearby, strode over.

He smiled at Lin Zhen, raising his brows.

“Want to spar?”

“Let’s go.” Lin Zhen didn’t waste words. Ever since his awakening, their little group had developed a habit of friendly competition.

The reason was simple.

It was to push their star energy index just a little higher.

The two of them walked into the duel room at the center of the training area, took their stances, and immediately started fighting.

Kaos, riding a breeze, turned into a blur and shot towards Lin Zhen, who stood fifty meters away.

His power looked like simple wind, but in truth, it was the manipulation of airflow.

He could use air currents to boost his speed and close-quarters fighting, or compress them into air cannon-like ranged attacks.

It was a truly versatile ability.

If you couldn’t develop it well and had a low star energy index, you’d be nothing but a harmless puff of wind.

But if you could, it gave Kaos terrifying combat strength.

Currently, based on their internal sparring results, Kaos ranked first in strength among them.

Next came Zi Jiu, Lin Zhen, and Yun Che.

As for the bottom rank, it had been Anvil, but now the one with the lowest combat power was Aili.

Facing Kaos’s charge, Lin Zhen stayed calm and unflustered.

With a sweeping motion of his hand, the metals around him melted. Part of it wrapped him up, forming an airtight iron shell, while the rest turned into countless flying spikes that shot toward Kaos.

He made sure the shell was airtight.

That was because Lin Zhen had suffered before—inside the shield, Kaos had used airflow control to block his nose and mouth, and he was forced to drop the shield and admit defeat.

Swish, swish, swish!

Iron spikes rained down. On Kaos’s body, a nearly transparent, white shield suddenly shimmered, bouncing off every spike that struck him.

This shield, formed from high-speed air currents, couldn’t effectively block direct melee attacks.

But against non-energy ranged attacks, it could deflect them completely, rendering them useless.

Lin Zhen knew Kaos could do this, so he sent the spikes just to stall for time and let his shield fully form.

But Kaos was simply too fast.

With every step, he accelerated with air currents.

Amid successive sonic booms, he crossed the fifty-meter distance in just a few strides and reached Lin Zhen.

At this point, Lin Zhen’s iron shell wasn’t even fully formed.

Kaos reached out, grabbed Lin Zhen by the collar through the incomplete iron shell, and forcibly dragged him out.

Then, grabbing Lin Zhen’s wrist, he pivoted on his right foot and started spinning in place.

“Time to spin!”

Swish, swish, swish!

Jets of air blasted around Kaos’s body, making him spin faster and faster.

Until he was a blur, and then he flung Lin Zhen out, smashing him heavily against the wall of the duel room.

And by then, only eight seconds had passed since the fight began.