Get Some!

Whether the pupil had surpassed the master, Ji Jue had no idea. Since his teacher had assigned him the work, he dutifully set about his labor. Starting that very day, he showed up at the workshop every day to punch in and get to work. One could only say... he hadn't been this diligent even when he was an apprentice. Back then, if he wasn't fooling around outside, he was on his way to fool around outside. Looking back now, the times he had actually sat obediently in his teacher's workshop taking lessons were shockingly few and far between. With this rare opportunity, Ji Jue made sure to seize every spare moment between optimization tasks. Whenever he chatted with his teacher, he took the chance to sort through his questions and ideas. Most of the time, his questions went unanswered. Ye Xian couldn't be bothered to wrack her brain, merely pointing out a general direction offhandedly and leaving him to fumble his way forward on his own. Domesticated in name, free-range in practice. Yet Ji Jue, shameless creature that he was, loved nothing more than this exact approach. In the midst of his rampant, wild growth, he would frequently conjure up all sorts of weird, unorthodox stunts from the directions Ye Xian pointed out. The more questions he pondered, the more he tinkered, ultimately churning out a pile of bizarre, sinister contraptions within the framework of the Nine Forms and spiritus transmutation. In the end, to spare her own blood pressure, Ye Xian didn't even bother looking into them anymore. And so, punching in every day, consuming scrap, conducting research, he finally resembled a reclusive craftsman at long last—swamped with work from morning till night. Even with a heavyweight like Ye Xian guiding him from above and an all-purpose assistant like Isis tucked away on his person, he still felt stretched completely thin. Having too many research projects on hand was a headache in itself. His study of the Nine Forms was ongoing; the completion and refinement of Three-Phase Alchemy still required drawing broadly from various strengths; the modernization of Fluid Alchemy was progressing methodically step by step; and on top of that, he was secretly conducting minor research projects forbidden by the Association. The expansion of the workshop, the funds for Xinquan, the development of Haian Industry, the launch of Haian Tech's new products, along with the upgrades and recruitment for Punabantu's Blessing Park... Once a person got busy, work popped up everywhere. So much so that he had tossed all that nonsense with Nirvana completely out of his mind. Besides, Nirvana didn't have much going on anyway. As long as that old dog Tianlu didn't show his face before him again, Ji Jue could just pretend the man was already dead. Good riddance, meow! His previous visit to Nirvana's stronghold had amounted to nothing more than meeting them, getting a voucher, and heading back. Aside from that, not a word was said. Or rather... things had already reached this point, so what was left to say? Call each other brother? The moment he laid eyes on that old dog's face, Ji Jue knew that for the rest of his life, he would probably be welded tight to Nirvana and the Mohists. Nothing he said would make a difference. There wasn't even a need to go through the motions of registering or officially joining. In all of Nirvana, there were really very few people whose lineage was more orthodox and pedigree more pure than Ji Jue's... No wonder that old geezer Qitan had looked so calm and unruffled. After downing that cup of leftover wine, roping Ji Jue into the fold had become an absolute certainty. An Ember-bearer armed with Non-Offensive, with a hand full of underhanded tricks, constantly plotting to blow up cesspools—bombing the Federation, then bombing the Empire, detonating everything wherever he went—if you claimed you weren't a Mohist, who the hell was? If you weren't Nirvana, then who the fuck was?! As for the organization's illicit operations and shady dirty work, Tianlu didn't even need to assign them to Ji Jue; Ji Jue would go find trouble all on his own. If they actually assigned KPIs, Ji Jue would probably already be their star salesman. After all, even if others worked part-time for Nirvana, they still had to eat, sleep, and live their lives. Generally, no one went out looking for trouble when they had nothing better to do. A rare gem like Ji Jue—who leaped into every pit he saw and actively courted death wherever possible—was truly one in a million. The greatest perk was information sharing. Essentially, when Ji Jue went back to see that old geezer Qitan with a scowl on his face, practically all of Nirvana's internal intelligence was made accessible to him. From then on, if there were any large-scale movements beneath the Vortex or if the Sower made another move, Ji Jue wouldn't be caught completely blind. Other than that... Just wait. Wait. If there was one thing Ji Jue didn't lack, it was patience. Another day rushed past. Ji Jue rubbed his face, staring at the power armor before him, unable to suppress a long sigh. Several consecutive days of optimization work had just fallen short at the final step. To improve stability while operating at top speed, Ji Jue had racked his brains modifying the pressurization and tail nozzles of the two secondary engine sets. As a result, it was indeed stable, but not only did the production cost skyrocket, the technology became overly complicated. And once complexity increased, operational reliability actually dropped... It had zero practical value as a modification. In a project where tugging a single thread moved the entire tapestry, touching one place affected everything. The massive web of interrelated systems formed a tangled mess where every part was inextricably intertwined with every other. Neither adding nor subtracting could produce truly immediate results. Even if an effect could be achieved, it was stifled under the dual constraints of cost-efficiency and numerous patented technological barriers. What he could actually do was run stress tests to gradually pinpoint the shortfalls requiring targeted fixes—patching what could be patched, and for what couldn't, easing the burden on subsequent maintenance. Treating the head when the head ached, treating the foot when the foot hurt. And cramming knowledge on the side... Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that after grinding his way through craftsmanship, he would have to come back and cram mechanical engineering. Once this gig was done, he'd probably have learned enough to go take the exam for a Grade-One transmission certification... "This dog's life—how is the rat race endless?" Ji Jue drifted out of the workshop like a ghost. Taking two steps, he collapsed onto the sofa in an amorphous heap, drooling in sheer exhaustion. Babbling nonsense, he completely ignored the furious glare beside him, casually picking up a bag of potato chips sitting nearby. Munching away all of your braised beef flavor. Then, grabbing the remote control, he opened a short-video app and started watching wilderness construction videos, critiquing everything: "This one's no good, just pretty on the outside like donkey dung. That one's totally staged. This bricklaying technique is amateurish—can't even smooth out the plaster. This one's okay, nothing special..." "Will you shut the fuck up already!" Ye Chun rolled her eyes and snatched the remote, switching the video to celebrity gossip and backstage catfights. But from beside her came more barking: "That face is plastic surgery. That one too. Mm, and that one... Claims she's eighteen, but judging by bone structure, she's forty-something at least... What flavor is that you've got? Give me a bite!" Ye Chun completely lost her patience. Clutching her shrimp crackers, she whipped around with a furious glare. "Wait, you little bastard, why are you still here?!" "Huh?" Ji Jue looked blank for a moment, then instinctively patted his chest. "Excuse me, Senior Sister, is there something you'd like to say to me and my two Medals of Supreme Goodness?" "You little bastard, that's enough out of you!" Ye Chun was furious. She snatched away the freshly opened bag of chips from his hand. "Let me tell you, thirty years on the river's surface, thirty years on the riverbed—never look down on a young girl just because she's poor!" "Heh!" Ji Jue sneered and tore open another bag. "Fast-forward to the grave robber's tears." "Insolence! A mere concubine-born tryhard has no right to talk back to his direct-line Senior Sister! And even less right to steal snacks from her!" Ye Chun glared and pointed at him. "Ji Jue, I am the head of this family!" "Ye Chun, you'll regret this!" Ji Jue grabbed the remote, changed the channel, and had it snatched back. After tussling back and forth, they finally settled on the cute pets channel. Now both of them were finally satisfied. Unfortunately, snacks had only half-filled their bellies, making them even hungrier. Ji Jue suggested, "Order some?" "Order some!" Ye Chun's eyes lit up. "I want crayfish—one jin of garlic flavor and one jin of thirteen-spice. And some duck necks... No, not this shop, their rating is fake, purely capsicum oleoresin. Order from this one." "This place looks pretty mediocre. Is it actually good?" "Just order it! What do you know about your senior sister's hidden gems? Throw in some chicken feet, and add an order of noodles..." "Wait, we already ordered so much and you want more? Are you a pig?" "If it's too much, don't eat!" "I'll eat, I'll eat! I'm a pig, I love eating!" In short, an all-out feast. After finishing, they went back to watching TV. But the more they watched, the emptier their hands felt, as if missing something cold and sweet... In the silence, the two couldn't help exchanging a glance, desperately trying to keep a straight face with serious expressions. "Get some?" "Get some!" And so, qingbuliang, coconut jelly, coconut milk shaved ice, mango rice rolls... another round of ravenous scarfing. After gorging themselves, they let out a loud burp, resumed fighting over the remote, insulted each other's taste, tryhard and slacker snapping at each other. Once yawning set in, the two dragged their bulging bellies, burping as they crawled off to wash up and go to sleep. The next day, after finishing his work, an exhausted Ji Jue crawled onto the sofa once more... and then sensed a gaze directed his way from the side. "Get some?" "Do it!" ... The third day. "Get some?" "Do it!" On the fourth day, without needing any reminder from Ye Chun, Ji Jue rolled up his sleeves: "Let's do it!" On the fifth day, amid absolute silence, the food delivery app was already open... And then, there was no sixth day. When Ye Xian finished the revised design for the initial prototype and came out, she found that among the takeout boxes littering the floor, the household's deadbeat content had gone completely off the charts! Two phones on the sofa were scrolling through short videos, the TV was playing a reality show, a tablet was displaying AI-dressed-up kittens, and the two were writhing around laughing like maggots... Until Ji Jue accidentally turned his head and saw an expressionless Ye Xian. Standing nearby, who knew how long she had been watching. Stunned, he reached out and poked Ye Chun, who was still squirming and giggling foolishly beside him: "Ji Jue, look at this, I sent it to you, hahaha..." The corner of Ye Xian's eye twitched up slightly. The corner of Ji Jue's eye began twitching frantically as he kept poking her. "Stop watching, Senior Sister. I'm a proper person, I never watch this kind of stuff." "Wait, what's that supposed to mean, you little bastard? You sent me so many and I watched every single one, and now you won't watch one I sent you?" Ye Chun snapped angrily. "Don't poke me, or I'll shove my shoe sole down your thro... at..." When she turned her head, she finally noticed Ji Jue's frozen expression, and her aunt standing behind the sofa. Her aunt was watching her, utterly impassive. "He did it all!" Without a second thought, Ye Chun instantly pointed at him and shouted loudly, "Auntie, he forced me!" Ji Jue instantly felt sick to his stomach. All those crayfish, barbecue skewers, milk tea, qingbuliang, hot pot, and boiled mutton—did I fucking eat all of that by myself?! Who was the one who just said it wasn't enough and wanted to add more! Unfortunately, under the pressure of Ye Chun's threatening glare, and remembering all the free barbecue, crayfish, and qingbuliang he had freeloaded over these past days—not to mention using up all her discount coupons and vouchers—he simply couldn't bring himself to pass the buck. Who would have thought that a dignified craftsman would ultimately be undone by his conscience? Choked with speechlessness, he could only shed tiny pearly tears and wipe his eyes. At the same time, he discreetly flicked a finger. Deus Ex Machina. Ye Chun's phone vibrated, blasting at maximum volume: "Your delivery has arrived!" In the dead silence, Ye Chun froze stiff, glaring daggers at Ji Jue. Ji Jue wiped his tears with an innocent look. Don't blame me for playing dirty—if we die, we die together! "..." Watching these two tear into each other and pass the blame back and forth like dogs, Ye Xian had completely lost all expression. She remarked with heartfelt emotion, "You two truly possess extraordinary talents." Thinking of herself—fiercely competitive her whole life, never bowing her head, never admitting defeat, slapping the Association, slapping the Profound, slapping Kanemoto and that old dog Tianlu even harder... Her record in the academic world had been immaculate her entire life, so why did her reputation have to be completely ruined in the field of education? Oh. It's because I taught two little bastards like you... Ye Xian's fists clenched hard. . After another spiritus offense and defense lesson, a black-and-blue Ji Jue was kicked out of the workshop by his teacher. Out of sight, out of mind—let him go annoy someone else. In any case, the optimization work was pretty much done at this stage. Before the prototype was modified and upgraded, keeping at it would just be a waste of time. After running two li carrying Little Niuma on his shoulder, his senior sister's wailing still echoed in his ears like 3D surround sound. Especially that sorrowful, resentful glare she gave him as he packed up and fled—it was so vivid and lifelike that Ji Jue feared she might put on a red dress tonight and hang herself right in front of his door... His phone chimed incessantly with incoming messages—more than a dozen sixty-second voice notes, not a single one of which he dared open. Just looking at the topics and thesis papers Ye Xian had assigned, Ji Jue knew that his good days of living like a parasite, eating and waiting to die, were over. Things had come to this, so bail out first! He could always bring a couple of papers to visit her later... Transferring via the Doomsday Express, Ji Jue pushed the door open and stepped out. The loyal Blessing Park was about to welcome back its Director Ji once more! Next stop, Punabantu! Boom! The instant he pushed open the door, darkness swam before Ji Jue's eyes. Amid billowing thick smoke, subterranean lava erupted from the fractured mountain ridge, snaking downward before plunging into the pitch-black seawater with a loud hiss. Beneath the gloomy sky lay a scene straight out of hell. "Holy shit—" Ji Jue took a step back instinctively. Where the hell did this bring me?