Chapter 83: Good and Evil

On August 30th, Fan Bei awoke from his cultivation, dispersing the lingering mist swirling around him and letting the room return to its former dryness.

His Qi Armor—or rather, the “Mist Armor”—had reached an initial stage of completion and now remained in a constant state of activation. At the slightest sense of danger within a hundred meters, a dense fog would automatically spread, shrouding the vicinity.

He had managed to reach level three with the Mist Armor’s defensive power—level one being the weakest, level three the strongest, though also the most taxing to maintain.

With his cultivation done, he resolved to conduct some tests. A system that hadn’t undergone thorough testing was inherently unreliable; if it were for a host, perhaps he could let it pass, but for himself, he wouldn’t allow such carelessness.

If the tests met his design expectations and no unforeseen issues arose, he could finally delegate the control of the last and most critical area of the shelter—the main control room.

One of the main control room’s key functions was security defense; it operated the concealed weapon systems embedded throughout the shelter. These were primarily firearms and flamethrowers—nothing too excessive, since this was just a small shelter, not equipped with rocket launchers or high-powered weaponry.

As for other management functions, Fan Bei now felt indifferent; assets he had once considered valuable now seemed trivial.

After watching Lang Sheng’s live broadcast, he realized that in this wasteland world, having too much money without the strength to protect it only brought greater danger. The proverb “a tall tree catches the wind” was not just a saying here—it carried many lessons written in blood and tears.

He had only a modest shelter, yet it had already drawn two waves of predators. Lang Sheng’s misfortune was inevitable; the only variable was when it would strike.

In this cruel world, to quietly farm and gradually grow stronger was nearly impossible without a powerful backer.

Fan Bei called Da Bai, then drove out of the shelter to the valley beyond.

He loaded every weapon he could find into the car: two handguns, an assault rifle, and a flamethrower.

Under the slanting western sun, the vehicle traveled north along the highway, finally stopping halfway.

Beside the road lay a valley woodland, its undergrowth waist-high, and a stand of white poplars common to the north. From within the woods came faint calls of birds and cicadas.

He found himself marveling that, for all the rampant evil, these creatures still clung tenaciously to life.

With Da Bai at his side, he entered the white poplar grove. Not far in, he spotted a large poplar—its trunk so robust it would take two or three people to encircle it. It stood out conspicuously.

Retrieving a handgun from the car, he aimed and fired at the tree.

Da Bai crouched nearby, unfazed by the gunshot, merely keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.

With a bang, smoke curled away, leaving a gaping hole in the bark. The trunk trembled slightly.

“It hasn’t gained sentience. Good,” thought Fan Bei. Then, with a thought, he summoned a dense fog around the poplar.

He walked forward, pressed the muzzle against the mist, and fired again, his mind sharply focused on observing the bullet’s effect.

Bang, bang, bang… He continually adjusted the fog’s thickness and density, firing round after round.

After five rounds of testing, he found that at level one defense, ten centimeters of mist was enough to sap the bullets of their power, leaving the poplar’s bark unscathed.

He was satisfied with this result; typically, a bullet’s lethal range in water was two to three meters, depending on the weapon and entry angle.

Compared to conventional armor, the Mist Armor’s greatest advantage was its ability to absorb kinetic energy, preventing secondary injuries. With bulletproof vests, for instance, a powerful bullet could still break ribs or even fatally damage internal organs through blunt force.

Switching to the assault rifle, he observed that the effective penetration distance increased to twenty centimeters. Raising the Mist Armor to level two brought the stopping distance back to ten centimeters.

Next, he tested the flamethrower. To block heat conduction from the flames, he needed level three defense and a thickness of thirty centimeters—only then could the temperature be completely isolated, sparing the bark behind from burns.

Kinetic protection and thermal defense—Fan Bei was quite pleased to acquire these two vital abilities in such a short time. Higher-level functions could be added gradually, in tandem with his daily meditation.

Test complete, he looked at the battered poplar, its trunk marred with wounds.

Fan Bei’s mind flickered. He reached out, and a green glow enveloped the tree. Slowly, its vitality returned. While the bullets remained embedded, the scorch marks and gaping holes were gradually covered by new growth.

As expected, the effect of his healing had greatly improved; it now cost less than a tenth of the spiritual energy it once had, yet the outcome was twice as effective.

Many abilities from “The System’s Father” were linked to his own skills.

Previously, his purification power had evolved into “Weakness Purification” after he learned to identify enemy weak points.

Now, following his mastery of the “Celestial King’s Jade Command,” his injury healing had become far more efficient through better spiritual energy control.

After finishing these tests, Fan Bei called for his bodyguard, Da Bai, who was busy sniffing around, clearly intrigued by the place.

Summoned, Da Bai abandoned his investigation, hopped into the car, and together, man and dog drove away.

……

About ten minutes later, two young girls’ voices sounded from within the recently healed poplar.

“Hmph, now you finally understand your mistake! You always wanted to be a peaceful, reclusive tree, hidden away in this valley. But look what happened? Trouble found you at home. I told you, whether human or beast, in this world, if you don’t strive to grow strong, you’re doomed. Evil is the world’s true nature.” One girl’s voice was fierce and accusing.

“But that person just now was a good man,” the other protested. “You made us hide in advance, so he didn’t know we were sentient trees. That’s why he used our body for his tests. But in the end, he healed our wounds. Someone who wouldn’t even harm a tree can’t be evil.”

“How naïve! Even if he’s good, there are plenty of evil ones. From today, our body is mine to command. I’ll become the forest king and never let anyone use us for experiments again!” the fierce girl declared through gritted teeth.

“Fine, you can take over. Just don’t get angry—leave me the highest branch, that’s all I ask.”

As she spoke, a tender green branch at the very top of the poplar quivered slightly, turning southward.

On the southern road, a man and a dog drove home, singing as they went.

“I have horns on my head, and a tail behind.”

“No one knows how many secrets I keep.”

Accompanied by barking—“Woof, woof, woof… woof, woof, woof.”

“Your secrets—I already know them…”

So thought the leafy branch.