Apocalyptic Wasteland Simulator

Chapter 70 - 69: Brain Circuit! A Chance Encounter
”4.2, 1.9, 2.0... A near-Level 2 Genetic Warrior, and a talented one at that. How is this possible?”

Ye Luo seemed to be in disbelief. Then, as if remembering something, she hurried toward the front desk. She didn’t even have to search. A brand-new registration form was lying right on the desk behind the counter. Ye Luo picked up the paper and saw the following:

[Name: Chen Pingchuan]

[Occupation: Student]

[School: Spring City No.1 Middle School]

[Class: Unfilled]

[Home Address: Unfilled]

...

Aside from the first three entries, the rest of the information was blank. This left Ye Luo unable to determine if this person was her new classmate. Moreover, she vaguely recalled that the new classmate had also taken a test right before she did. His results had seemed quite poor, even drawing ridicule from the others at the time.

So, are these two the same person?

Meanwhile, Chen Pingchuan had no idea that the testing dojo he’d randomly picked was owned by his classmate’s family—a female classmate who happened to be a prominent figure at school.

He was feeling quite melancholic, and the reason lay in the small seed in his hand.

Ever since getting the attribute panel, he had been constantly studying the text on it. Fortunately, he had already managed to correlate the numerical values with his real-world abilities. At the same time, however, he was still just guessing when it came to the rest of the information.

Take ’Occupation,’ for instance. ’Student’ was easy enough to understand, as he was a senior at a prestigious high school. But what kind of job was ’Laborer’? He had asked around, but no one had even heard of such a profession.

Could it be that I worked in some special industry before my amnesia? But logically, I should have been in school back then too. ’Weapon Master’ seems easier to understand. It probably means I’m proficient with all kinds of weapons. Combined with my sealed attributes and my subconscious reluctance to expose my abilities... The case is solved. There is only one truth: I’m not an ordinary high school student.

I must be a high school student who joined a secret organization. I trained hard, mastering various weapons to earn the ’Weapon Master’ occupation. Then, during a mission, an accident happened, and I lost my memory. That would also explain why my family seems unclear about my situation, why they’re so evasive about my ’illness,’ and why even my own room feels unfamiliar. It’s because I was rarely home; I was training at the organization’s secret base! It all makes perfect sense. I’m such a genius.

The more Chen Pingchuan thought about it, the more convinced he became that his deduction was correct. All his questions had been answered, and a smug smile appeared on his face. He could almost see himself back in that mysterious organization, training hard and fighting heroically. Those sealed attributes were probably a protective mechanism left over from some dangerous mission. Now, he just had to reclaim his memories, lift the veil on his past, and become that powerful man once again.

But then, he started to ponder again. He’d explained the top half of the panel, but what about the rest?

What does this ’Sharpshooter’ title mean? Does it mean I’m good with pistols, or that I’m fast enough to fire ten shots a second? And ’Removal’... I don’t get that at all, and I haven’t seen any ’Compensation’ either. That just leaves ’Talent’ and ’Simulation Mode.’ What are those? The other talents don’t seem to do anything, but this ’Parasitic’ one...

Muttering to himself, Chen Pingchuan once again looked at the white seed in his palm. It felt very dear to him, almost like his own child.

Oh well, I’ll deal with it later. Getting home is more important now.

He boarded the maglev train, silently calculating. If he hurried back at full speed, he could get there just before his family returned. Now that he’d confirmed his special identity, it was even more critical not to let his family discover anything unusual about him.

The maglev train sped through the air, the scenery outside blurring into a swift retreat. Chen Pingchuan spent the ride mulling over various strategies, trying to figure out how to hide his secrets from his family and continue playing the part of an ordinary high school student.

By the time Chen Pingchuan returned to his residential community, the sun had begun to set. For some reason, an impression surfaced in his mind—a voice telling him that the sun here would never set.

The sun never sets? Pfft!

Chen Pingchuan began to doubt his intuition. Perhaps it wasn’t as precise as he’d imagined, or maybe his abilities weren’t developed enough to use it correctly. In any case, from now on, he would only treat his intuition as a point of reference.

Downstairs in the Happy Life District, Chen Pingchuan saw an unfamiliar man. It was simple to tell he was a stranger. The man wore a baseball cap, a black mask, head-to-toe sportswear, and black shoes with white trim. You’d have to be brainless to think there was nothing suspicious about that getup. After all, it wasn’t spring or autumn; it was the middle of an annoyingly hot summer. No sane person would wrap themselves up so tightly.

As for how to deal with a stranger, Chen Pingchuan put on a perfect display of being overly familiar.

”Hey bro,” he said, walking up. ”Scoping the place out?”

Wang Xing stared at the schoolboy with the backpack, completely baffled by his confident attitude, as if they were old friends. Even after Wang Xing made it clear that he had the wrong person, Chen Pingchuan just kept chattering away next to him, fueling a growing irritation in his heart.

Wang Xing wasn’t a local. To be precise, he wasn’t a resident of Spring City but a wasteland wanderer from the outer districts of another city. He had slipped in through special channels. Speaking of those channels, one had to mention the Holy Spirit Sect. As a major power in Kailing Province, the Holy Spirit Sect’s strength was undeniable, its influence extending deep into every city. This was the main reason Wang Xing had been able to infiltrate Spring City successfully.

The mission he received was both simple and complex: find a man named Chen Pingchuan.

Three months ago, the Holy Spirit Sect had suddenly issued a statement: they were looking for a man named Chen Pingchuan. Anyone who could find him or provide accurate information would receive a substantial reward. A wanderer would be inducted into the sect as a full member. An existing sect member who found him would be promoted two ranks. Even members of other factions could trade information about him with the Holy Spirit Sect for a corresponding payment.

Initially, a portion of the population in Kailing Province went into a frenzy, capturing or providing leads on anyone named Chen Pingchuan. However, the Holy Spirit Sect rejected them all, stating that none of them were the man they sought.

Wang Xing, however, didn’t overthink it. As a wasteland wanderer living one day at a time, receiving a bit of startup capital from someone already felt like a pie falling from the sky. So, driven by the dream of changing his fate as a wanderer and making it big, Wang Xing risked being killed by a Black Demon to venture into the outer districts. There, in a building marked with a leaf flag, he found a Holy Spirit Sect liaison and used their special channels to enter the inner city.

He had never questioned his decision until he met that chubby Landlady. Now, after encountering Chen Pingchuan, Wang Xing began to suspect he had chosen the wrong place to lie low.

”Bro, listen to me,” Chen Pingchuan continued. ”I’ve lived here for nearly twenty years. There’s nothing I don’t know. Just ask me anything you need.”

Looking at the innocent-faced high school student before him, Wang Xing felt a flicker of temptation.