Wang Dingshan glanced at the clock on the wall behind him.
–Hurry, hurry, hurry, invest—it’s almost twenty-four hours.-
Even in the Chronos expansion area, the special abilities of the clock and Lele are calculated based on the expanded timeline, where every twenty-four hours equates to a new day.
23:58:49
Yang Zicang had already begun his investment.
[I will consume 1N to obtain one Dingshan scratch card.]
[I have consumed 1N in principal.]
Enightmare, like a thick sheet of paper, blinked and slowly spat out a translucent energy light card intricately woven from red zigzag lines.
–Hurry, hurry, hurry.- Yang Zicang urged from the door as well.
He checked the time on the wall again—it was fifty-nine minutes and thirty seconds. At last, just past thirty seconds, the light card drifted gently into his hand. He had never been this nervous; given today’s misfortune, he expected to scratch a –Thanks for your patronage-—meaning no prize.
This way, probability-wise, the chance of scratching a –Thanks for your patronage- tomorrow would decrease.
And tomorrow was arriving any moment!
Wang Dingshan turned to look at the time, his voice tense: –We’ve had over a thousand draws, and I’m rarely this nervous. Hurry!-
Yang Zicang’s fingernails scraped across the ticket coating with a –crunch, crunch- sound.
The dull red coating shimmered with needle-like zigzag lines, simulating a pixelated effect as it was scratched off.
Wang Dingshan glanced at the time.
23:59:52
–A word’s appearing! Hey, press harder!-
Guaguale lowered its eyes to watch Yang Zicang’s movements.
Wang Dingshan glanced at the lottery ticket, gently stamped his feet, then turned his head to look at the wall.
23:59:58
–Too late!-
–Thank you for your patronage!-
Yang Zicang held up the lottery ticket, gasping as he spoke, and raised his head to see the time.
0:0:0
–Haha, exactly one second before midnight. How thrilling! Come on, we can start again.-
{I’ve learned. Next time I’ll play like this too.}
Once his excitement subsided, Wang Dingshan looked at Yang Zicang and grew suspicious: –Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?-
–……–
Yang Zicang waved the discarded light card in his hand, which was gradually turning transparent.
–A new day has begun. Come on, just like you said—give me another scratch.-
–You, you don’t mean…- Wang Dingshan pointed at his head: –Did Croft mess with your head?-
–You’re the one who’s messed up. Hurry up and give me another one. I’m starting to invest.-
A broken line flashed across Yang Zicang’s chest and vanished.
[I will consume 1N to exchange for one Dingshan scratch card.]
The paper-thick Enightmare slowly spat out another translucent energy light card.
Lele turned its eyes, stared at Yang Zicang as if foreseeing something, and said:
{Should be better than yesterday.}
Wang Dingshan grinned as he watched Yang Zicang, who was gripping the scratch card in his hand:
–You’re an old customer who’s been here more than seven times. My little darling has made a prophecy for you—it can improve your luck to a certain extent.-
–That’s really very kind of you.-
If it weren’t for its peculiar appearance, Yang Zicang would have reached out to touch its –head.-
–Scratch scratch,- his fingernails scraped back and forth.
— Third prize.
— Congratulations! You’ve earned a free scratch.
— Your attempts for today are exhausted. Please try again tomorrow.
–……–
Yang Zicang stared at the winning ticket.
With each passing day, the possibility of building the –Demon Hero Hall- relying solely on their own small group’s imagined power grew more and more remote.
He let out a breath: –Looks like the thing I was thinking about was just an illusion that popped out from my heart.-
Think about it—the Demon Hero Hall is such a colossal building. How could a little kid finish it in just a month or two?
Wang Dingshan glanced at him:
–Not bad. Go back and rest early, and try again tomorrow.-
–Mm, okay.-
He slept through until daytime, then was once again pressed by Croft into arranging all sorts of things throughout the Demon Hero Hall.
As soon as midnight passed, he found Lele again to start the new day’s scratch-off.
–Second prize.-
He flicked the ticket, and it dissolved into light.
Back in his room, Yang Zicang muttered under his breath:
[I think, even though Zorro’s whereabouts were discovered and we can’t relay information from that hub town, at least we can build the ether tunnel engine.]
As long as one doesn’t possess the coordinates of that town, the method for building this engine is merely Zorro’s personal ability.
A crooked line of light shot over.
{How is it today?}
–Second prize. That means my luck is above average.-
{Zicang, even if you win the grand prize to anchor your luck and maximize the probability of pipe-ascension, I still can’t tell you what the formula is.}
On the other side of the sensing screen, Zorro felt a bit ashamed. After all, this man had silently cooperated to bring him here before they had even met face to face. Now he himself had obtained the engine formula and the coordinates of the Dark Gold Hub Town, yet he couldn’t tell him.
–You don’t need to tell me.- Yang Zicang said confidently.
{Don’t need? Then how will we do it? I contacted many people today and got news about a manual workshop. I’ve asked someone to negotiate whether we can borrow it.}
Yang Zicang chuckled: –Workshop? Ha, you don’t need that. It’s useless to you. I’m going to build an automatic workshop myself.-
{Automatic!}
Zorro’s mouth opened slightly. After a moment’s thought, he showed a knowing smile.
{I see.}
This kid truly was his right-hand man! An unexpected feeling of finding a way out of a desperate situation arose in Zorro.
Although transmitting the intelligence now was a separate matter, at least… things were still moving forward.
As long as they kept moving forward, they might just touch upon a way out!
Zorro clenched his fist, and said with renewed vigor:
{If that’s the case, then I should be the one to scratch the lottery tickets next, right?}
Yang Zicang smiled and nodded.
……
–Popoli, perhaps heaven also believes that your existence may bring hope of life to more people. Hoo~-
Yang Zicang stood up and looked toward his bedroom. If he were to carve magic runes around here, he would have to move away a lot of things.
–The key to a handiwork shed is not the building itself, so I don’t actually need such a large room. Therefore, what is called an automatic workshop in reality only needs a small space stable enough to hold an alchemy ritual.-
His gaze fell on the bathroom door.
Once again, a broken line flickered across Yang Zicang’s chest.
–No time during the day—we’ll have to work through the night. Come over and help, and grab some wooden boards along the way.-
Soon, Zoro was scurrying back and forth under the strange gazes of occasional passersby in the corridor, moving tables, chairs, and benches from his own room.
Yang Zicang also dismantled his own desk, thumping and clattering as he turned it into relatively flat planks, and began drawing sections of magic runes on them with a Silver Lance.
If it had been before, doing this kind of work would have been a major project, taking several days.
But now, Yang Zicang, who temporarily possessed the –Authority of Mental Manifestation,- recalled those magic runes in his mind and the dizziness they brought vanished directly.
Perhaps the rank of the magic runes was as high as that of a three- or four-ring bloodline. But under this –Authority of Mental Manifestation,- whose rank was unknown, the –protective layer- of the runes was completely gone.
So today’s luck is meant for this! I must depict the intricate lines of the magic pattern in one shot without any errors.
Thump! Thump! Bang! Bang!
Zorro arrived, and the two were hammering on wooden boards, the room a mess.
Around six or seven in the –morning,- Zorro and Yang Zicang sat on the ground with their legs stretched out, leaning back on their hands and panting.
They glanced at each other and both burst out laughing.
–The magic pattern is half engraved. It really lives up to being an automatic alchemy array, like opening thousands of treasure chests.-
–We’ll continue after work in the afternoon.-
Zorro rubbed his face. –You take a break. I’ll go back and freshen up, then report to Sister Huan.-
–Okay.-
……
In the evening, Wang Dingshan had just returned to his room when a knock came at the door.
–Huh?- He glanced at the time. It was just past nine. –You’re this early today?-
He pulled open the door and saw Zorro standing there.
Wang Dingshan leaned against the door, rubbing his chin with his hand, appraising the young man with a decent physique.
–You guys are up to something.-
–Cut the crap. Help me see what my luck is like today.-
[I received a Dingshan scratch card.]
Just as his finger was about to scratch it, Wang Dingshan said, –Hold on.-
Zorro looked up at him. The man solemnly spread his hands.
–You guys are definitely up to something. If you can produce a Chronos of a thousand years, I can give you the most powerful prophecy.-
Zorro looked at the time inside the room.
9:23:39
He did not reply, but instead flashed a zigzag line linking to Yang Zicang.
[How much longer do you need?]
{Right away!}
In the sensing vision, Yang Zicang was holding a nail between his teeth, hammering it against the nail cap outside the wooden board.
Bang! It was driven deep into the wood.
–Whew… done.-
Yang Zicang let out a breath as he stepped back from the wooden block he’d been standing on, setting one foot onto the wooden floor with a hollow –thump.–
He took another look at the bathroom now fitted with a simple wooden frame.
The planks inscribed with magic runes pressed tightly against the wall between those wooden strips—this method left the room nearly unscathed.
Seeing that Yang Zicang had finished carving all the remaining pieces, Zoro guessed he must have used his lunch break to work on these magic rune formations.
After severing the Syn-Link, Zoro turned to Wang Dingshan and flashed a zigzag line again.
……
–That brat’s skipping dinner again!–
Amid the greetings of passersby, Jiao Ma, holding a lunchbox and puffing her cheeks, arrived at the door of the room.
She glanced at the doorplate with a smiling face, then clenched her little fist and pounded on the door.
–Open up! I know you’re in there!–
Click, the door cracked open just a sliver.
Yang Zicang revealed half of his sharply defined face, his eye sweeping the scene.
–I’ve already eaten.–
–Liar.–
Jiao Ma pressed her shoulder against the door, ready to squeeze in. With no other choice, Yang Zicang had to let her in.
–I tell you, today I specially learned to make carrots, ss~~-
Her small face froze with a dazed expression as she stared at the room, which looked like it had been wrecked by a typhoon.
She glanced at the three lunch boxes in her arms, then at where the table used to be—now empty, with only dust and wood chips on the floor.
The girl’s lips parted slightly as she turned her incredulous gaze to Yang Zicang’s face.
–You even wreck the house?-
–I…-
–You… you did this because you couldn’t vent your frustration… right? Zicang…-
–Uh, huh?-
–When you’re stressed out in the future, will you hit your wife or something?-
–……–
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