Chapter 20: Gaining Without Spending a Dime

“Master, shall we leave first?” Zhang Xu’s voice came this time. “It’s understandable. According to the information we gathered, Mr. Zhu carries the weight of the entire redevelopment zone on his shoulders, and in his heart, the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced residents. It’s normal for him to be busy! We simply arrived at the wrong time.”

“No, no, no. Faith in the divine allows no slackening! We shall wait right here to show our sincerity.”

Chu Zhu narrowed his eyes, suspecting that Zhang Hai already knew he was at home, yet he remained silent.

Three hours passed in waiting.

Chu Zhu was truly unhurried; he even hoped that Zhang Hai would wait until nightfall when an unknown assassin might strike, so he could observe the assassin and unearth their true identity.

“It seems today is truly unlucky,” Zhang Hai finally spoke with a sigh. “Let’s come again tomorrow. I believe that with Mr. Zhu’s skill, he will know of our arrival. We must move him with our sincerity.”

Once Zhang Hai’s departure was confirmed, Chu Zhu rubbed his brow. “Playing the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, huh?”

But if that’s the case, Chu Zhu thought, it was impossible to rule out Zhang Hai’s involvement in the assassination attempt.

After double-checking his gear, Chu Zhu got up, ate another meal, then fixed a stern gaze on the door. All the windows were securely locked from the inside, and his ears were sharp—if anyone tried to break in through the windows, it wouldn’t escape his notice.

Time drew closer.

The front door remained still. The windows were intact.

Then…

A dark flash streaked by.

Chu Zhu fired several shots reflexively. Though he couldn’t clearly see the attacker or how they had entered his home, he roughly pinpointed the direction of the attack and swiftly retreated. Yet the black light circled back midair.

Chu Zhu: “???”

His neck was slashed!

Dying with unfinished business, Chu Zhu forced his vision to focus and saw a shadow writhing in the corner…

…

At six in the morning.

Chu Zhu suddenly opened his eyes in his dormitory. The familiar sound of steady breathing comforted his restless heart. He didn’t reset again because he sensed his condition was deteriorating…

It was clear he couldn’t win now. With his state declining and the limit of four to five resets approaching, what was the point in fighting desperately? Better to rest in the real world and recuperate!

Rising, he washed up and returned to his desk, opening his notebook and scrolling through it.

First, he wrote down Li Kang’s name and marked it with a large X. Then he wrote Zhang Hai’s name and added a question mark. Hesitating, he wrote down a new name:

B2.

In a past reset timeline within the dream realm, Chu Zhu had encountered B2—a man whose mental state was dangerously unstable, a madman at best.

Chu Zhu knew little about him—either truly insane or someone genuinely resembling insanity. Even with resets, it was difficult to penetrate this man’s mind.

“But the problem is, I only met him in a reset timeline, within the dream world. At most, I only indirectly heard about him in the real world… low suspicion, but still present. Others…” Chu Zhu rubbed his temples. “There’s also a slight chance it’s the gang I wiped out from the redevelopment zone who managed to gain powerful allies outside Jinghai and are now retaliating—but that probability is even lower than Zhang Hai’s involvement.”

After pondering for a while, Chu Zhu gradually cleared his thoughts.

“I could crash at Jinghai’s third base for a night…”

As the saying goes, let heroes investigate heroes, let warriors confront warriors!

Next, it was time to assess the strength of the Captain. Conveniently, he was an innocent civilian—such a ruthless killer wielding extraordinary power should be met with the full force of the authorities!

“Perfect,” Chu Zhu closed the notebook and tossed it into the drawer. Exposure? Just three names—what could that expose?

Then, he went out for a run to exercise. Even though Chu Zhu realized that after enhancing his body, simple exercise no longer boosted his physical condition, and even without exercise, his body likely wouldn’t deteriorate… it was still a good habit.

---

During the second class in the afternoon.

Chu Zhu was attending an elective political theory class when a group of formally dressed people crowded into the room.

“Hm?” Chu Zhu was momentarily stunned to see the class advisor standing behind the leading figure, smiling broadly and explaining something.

“Principal Li, what’s going on?” The political theory teacher seemed puzzled. Was this an inspection? But he hadn’t been notified.

“We’re looking for someone!” The advisor quickly spoke, then scanned the classroom before locking eyes on Chu Zhu. “Chu Zhu, come out for a moment. We need to discuss something with you!”

As Chu Zhu rose, he felt the full attention of everyone in the room.

…

“Is this you?” Zhang Song showed a video.

Watching the man stride briskly across the screen, Chu Zhu’s expression remained unchanged. “That’s me!”

“And this one—also you?” Zhang Song’s face twisted, then he played a new video. It showed Chu Zhu at last year’s school sports meet, tricked by his class monitor into entering the 100-meter sprint competition…

Third place!

“That’s me too.” Chu Zhu’s eyes flickered with memories. “Back then, I was still slow!”

Zhang Song: “…”

That’s a bit ridiculous! What do you mean ‘still slow’… Last year’s sports meet was only a few months ago. You’ve improved by leaps and bounds…

Could it be you’ve been acting the whole time since enrollment?

“…Chu Zhu, do you have any brothers or something?” The advisor asked tactfully.

“Enough,” Zhang Song interrupted the advisor, stepping forward to firmly grasp Chu Zhu’s hand. His gaze was sincere, his voice earnest and excited. “Chu, if both of these are really you, then there’s no doubt—you are the sports prodigy we have been desperately searching for!”

“So please, will you be my student for life? I will do everything to nurture you, train you, send you to Los Angeles, and make you the pride of the yellow race at the next Olympics!”

“Oh.” Chu Zhu responded with a nod, then asked, “May I ask, do you hold any special position in our country’s sports bureau?”

Zhang Song: “…Huh?”

“It seems you have no position in the national sports bureau. Then what about the provincial or city sports bureau?”

“…I, I’ve held positions before!” Zhang Song instinctively shrank his neck, feeling oddly like he was being interviewed.

“So you resigned? Now you’re just a sports teacher at our school?”

“Yes… that’s right…”

“Well then! Being a champion isn’t bad either.” Chu Zhu patted Zhang Song’s shoulder with earnestness. “But, Mr. Zhang, you can’t just make empty promises. Bring someone from the national sports bureau next time, and then we’ll have a proper talk… I don’t think that would be too difficult for you, right?”