Chapter 2: Slaying the Soldier Ants, Awakening the Chip

“So these are army ants? The Wasteland truly is a wondrous place!”

Carefully observing the army ant beside him, Zhang Ran pressed his lips together, a grave look flickering in his eyes. His heart beat a little faster, and a thin sheen of sweat formed in his palm.

Though he had ample combat experience from his previous life, this was, after all, his first time facing a mutant beast. Inevitably, he felt a tinge of nervousness.

But as a seasoned warrior, Zhang Ran swiftly suppressed his anxiety. He took a few deep breaths, calmed his heartbeat, and slowly pushed open the barred gate, stepping into the trial chamber.

As Zhang Ran entered, the army ant began its attack. It braced its thick legs on the ground, launched itself high into the air, and traced a crimson arc, hurtling straight for Zhang Ran.

“So fast!”

Though it was called an army ant, this mutant beast’s speed rivaled that of a small mastiff on Earth—swift and ferocious. In the blink of an eye, it was upon Zhang Ran, its sharp mandibles snapping viciously at his throat.

A foul, slightly metallic wind swept over him, but Zhang Ran did not panic. With a subtle shift of his foot, his body twisted nimbly like an eel, dodging with uncanny grace. The ant’s mandibles missed his neck by a hair’s breadth.

At the same moment, Zhang Ran’s right arm flicked. He drove the tip of his combat dagger into the ant’s abdomen with a savage thrust, then slashed powerfully against the direction of its lunge.

“Crack! Crack!”

With the sound of shell shattering, the ant’s armored belly was pierced by the dagger, and a gash nearly twenty centimeters long was torn open. The beast toppled heavily to the ground, its six legs flailing, as green blood spurted from the wound beneath it.

Though the strike was effective, Zhang Ran shook his head slightly. This body’s strength was at most a third of what he had before the crossing. Otherwise, his blow could have split the army ant in two, not simply left a wound.

Despite the serious injury, the ant was not dead. Its front six legs trembled as it struggled to right itself. Zhang Ran, not about to give it the chance, stepped forward and brought his dagger down hard on the ant’s slender neck!

A dull “thud” sounded as the blade struck where the head joined the body. In an instant, the ant’s head was severed, and green, viscous blood spurted out, sending the triangular head tumbling across the ground before it finally stopped.

At that moment, Zhang Ran suddenly felt a faint warmth arise from within his body. The warmth gathered toward his spine, bringing a pleasant sensation, then slowly faded away.

“So this is what they call ‘evolution energy’? Remarkable!”

Feeling the warmth flow through him, a fiery gleam flashed in Zhang Ran’s eyes. Although the sensation vanished after just a few seconds, he could clearly sense that his strength had subtly increased, and his movements had become even more agile.

From the memories of this body’s former owner, Zhang Ran knew this warmth was called “evolution energy.” After slaying a mutant beast or other creature, the human body receives a feedback of evolution energy—the stronger the slain creature, the more energy is gained.

With evolution energy, one’s attributes can be slightly improved. Once enough is accumulated, the body can undergo evolution, becoming an Evolver, with a dramatic increase in strength.

“Large amounts of unknown active substances detected in the body. Would you like to initiate the chip’s analysis?”

As Zhang Ran marveled at the wonders of this world, a mechanical, rigid voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

“What’s this…”

Hearing the voice, Zhang Ran’s pupils contracted, disbelief flashing in his eyes. “How can this be? I clearly crossed over, and this is not my original body. How can I still hear the chip’s notification?”

Though puzzled, once he confirmed that the voice was not a hallucination, Zhang Ran’s heart stirred with excitement. In his mind, he silently commanded, “Activate!”

He didn’t know how the chip had crossed with him into the Wasteland, but he knew this chip was one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements—utilizing cutting-edge quantum computation, processing billions of billions of operations per second, with extraordinary analytical power.

In this strange and perilous wasteland, even someone as battle-hardened as Zhang Ran could not help but feel uneasy. But with the chip as an ally, his confidence grew.

“Ding! Chip integration in progress!”

With his command, a crisp chime sounded in his mind, and the world before his eyes began to shift in mysterious ways. Streaks of green light flashed before him. At the same time, he felt a brief paralysis in his body, unable to move—but in less than a second, the feeling vanished and control returned.

Zhang Ran was not surprised; this was the chip’s normal integration process. He’d undergone chip implantation before the crossing and was familiar with the sensation.

Regaining full control, he wasted no time and pushed open the barred gate, stepping outside. Because the chip fusion had taken some time, he was not the first to emerge. Two other youths were already waiting in the hall.

“Well done. Lay down your weapon and come over.”

As Zhang Ran exited, the lean man nodded in approval and gave his instruction.

“Ding! Chip integration complete. Initiating internal scan!”

After returning the blood-stained dagger to the weapons rack, Zhang Ran took his place as the third in line. The mechanical voice echoed in his mind once more.

“Scan complete!”

Within seconds, a three-dimensional model appeared before Zhang Ran’s eyes, displaying the state of each part of his body. Alongside the model, a series of data appeared:

[Name: Zhang Ran]
[Age: 7]
[Strength: 0.6]
[Constitution: 0.5]
[Agility: 0.6]
[Mental: 0.7]

Line after line of data imprinted itself in his mind, quantifying his current physical condition—and in a single instant, Zhang Ran saw himself more clearly than ever.