59 *Chapter 59: Half the Points? Lift the Kill Limit!

Hello everyone, translator here.

Since I know not everyone reads the authors thoughts I will post it here at the start. This chapter was not created using my usual translation methods. Given that I don't think the issues with me getting access to the raw chapters will be resolved any time soon I finally decided to publish a chapter generated from the already translated chapters of mtlnation as the base. I've been working on a "cleaning" script for this kind of thing for a while now and I am finally semi ok with the quality produced.

I am by no means happy with the situation as a whole and wanted to avoid it as much as possible as I felt it would drop the quality of the work by a lot but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting indefinitely for new chapters.

Some names of characters and places may change moving forward as again the base input for the process is no longer the raw chapters I was using and are now the rough cut MTL english translations of mtlnation.

Thank you for your patience, please enjoy, and let me know if this level of quality is something that is acceptable.

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Outside Sandy City.

The sound of heavy breathing came from the projector, startling Zheng Mu and causing him to drop his popcorn all over the ground.

"Dang it, Jikun! I asked you to download a movie, what the heck did you get for me!?"

Panicking, Zheng Mu asked Tifa to turn off the projector.

Ignoring the spilled popcorn, he rushed to the connected computer.

When he saw that each movie on the list was more inappropriate than the last, he wanted to strangle his friend, Cai Shengkun.

Thankfully, he was alone, or so he thought...

"Excuse me, young man?"

A voice came from not far behind. Zheng Mu stood up and looked in the direction of the voice cautiously.

He saw an elderly man in a purple robe, standing on a flying sword, holding a man in a military uniform.

"Uh, did you see that?"

Before the old man could respond, Zheng Mu hurriedly added,

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't download those movies, and I'm not interested in them at all?"

The old man, Ziyun Laodao, and General Qi exchanged awkward glances.

To be honest, they hadn't noticed at first, but they were startled by the strange sounds when they arrived.

You really let loose when you're alone in the wilderness. Are these movies even publicly available?

Neither of them nodded or shook their heads, just smiling awkwardly.

Finally, the old man named Qingyun rolled his eyes and reassured Zheng Mu with a smile.

"Don't worry, young friend. General Qi and I were young once, too. We're all men here. We won't go around gossiping about something like this, will we?"

Relieved, Zheng Mu asked Tifa to pack up the items and take them to his room.

If he wanted to fix Cai Shengkun's bad habits, he'd need to understand them first to find the right solution.

On the surface, Zheng Mu waved at the two men, signaling that they could land.

The Red Queen's surveillance showed that they meant no harm; otherwise, they couldn't have gotten this close without being detected.

"Excuse me, sir, and General, are you both protectors of Sandy City?"

Unfazed by their high-ranking positions, Zheng Mu calmly asked the question while Tifa and Mary Rose prepared tea for their guests.

Qing Yun's eyes lit up as he watched Tifa's skillful tea-making technique.

He looked at Tifa, who was quietly making tea, and then at Zheng Mu, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Old Qingyun is one of the guardians of Sandy City. As you can see, he's a Taoist priest. And this is General Qi Qin, the military guardian of Sandy City."

Zheng Mu was skeptical about the "ordinary" Taoist priest described by Old Qingyun. An ordinary Taoist would only be a C-level professional, and someone at that level wouldn't reach their current status.

"I'm not sure why you two are here to see me. If I recall correctly, we're in the middle of an assessment period, and outsiders aren't allowed to communicate with candidates."

As he said this, Zheng Mu made a "you're hurting me" expression.

Hearing this, Old Qingyun laughed, raised his eyebrows, pointed to Sandy City in the distance, and then gestured to the base where Zheng Mu stood.

"Hehe, it's just a coincidence that we're not breaking any rules. Your current location happens to be within the guard patrol area of Sandy City. We're simply conducting our daily rounds."

"You're still in the assessment and haven't gone out of bounds, and we're on patrol, also within our designated area..."

Seeing the two smiling faces, Zheng Mu caught on.

So, it was just a coincidence that his current location was at the intersection of the Tungu Desert assessment area and Sandy City.

Zheng Mu nodded reassuringly.

"Then, may I ask why you two are seeking me out?"

Old Qingyun and General Qi exchanged glances, and the old Taoist smiled, gesturing to the base beneath them.

"Young friend, this old man is very curious. I wonder what level of mechanical creation you've made? Of course, if you don't want to share, we won't force you. It's just personal curiosity. After all, you know how the mechanic profession is."

The old Taoist left the rest unsaid, but Zheng Mu understood.

He nodded, but replied with a slight smile.

"Senior, asking directly about my trump card like this—aren't you taking advantage of the younger generation?"

As he spoke, Zheng Mu blinked his eyes, a mix of emotions shining in them.

"Um, do you want to know something from us?"

Seeing that Zheng Mu didn't outright refuse, he felt relieved. He had been worried about handling the situation, but they had come to him.

Zheng Mu lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

"I don't suppose you could tell me the passing score for the Southwest Military Academy this year? I..."

Before Zheng Mu could finish, both of them shook their heads without hesitation.

General Qi spoke more seriously.

"Student Zheng Mu, we genuinely want to befriend you. After all, as a mechanic, you're one of a kind on Blue Star. But some rules are rules and can't be broken."

Old Qingyun nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the two were about to stand up and say goodbye, Zheng Mu quickly called out.

"Would it be a problem for you two to share the passing score for the top-tier university exam last year? I don't have any connections in my family, so there's no way for me to get this information."

This question made them pause, exchange glances, and then sit back down.

"If it's last year's assessment standard, it's not exactly a secret. People with connections might already know."

General Qi directly gestured.

"9? Nine thousand?"

General Qi nodded.

Old Qingyun quietly added,

"Last year's assessment took place on Crystal Sea Skull Island. The difficulty is likely similar to this year's."

Hearing this, Zheng Mu got a general idea.

He thanked the two with a bow, and seeing their curious eyes, he moved closer.

He whispered a few words.

"What?!" they exclaimed.

"Really?! But, but you're just a rookie mechanic at level nineteen?!"

Upon hearing Zheng Mu's answer about the level of the base vehicle beneath them, Old Qingyun nearly dropped his beard.

General Qi was even more surprised, jumping in place.

Seeing their astonishment, Zheng Mu grinned and bowed again.

"I ask you two to help me keep this a secret. Achieving this level of mechanical creation is rare for me. It took a lot of effort to get these results."

Old Qingyun and General Qi were speechless.

How could he have created a Red Hero-level mechanical device in less than two months? It sounded like a lifetime achievement.

If it weren't for the fact that he was a newcomer who had only recently awakened, they might not have believed him.

The news was so shocking that they didn't recover for a while. After a long silence, Old Qingyun finally let out a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha, it seems this year's assessment will be quite interesting."

As the three chatted, General Qi's communicator suddenly rang.

After connecting and talking with someone, his face turned gloomy, and he hung up.

"Student Zheng Mu, you might be in trouble."

Zheng Mu, sipping his coffee: "???"

"Is drinking coffee illegal?"

Seeing his confusion, General Qi sighed.

"May I see your point card?"

Zheng Mu handed it over without hesitation.

Then, as the three watched, the numbers on the scorecard rapidly increased.

When he first took it out, it showed 217.

In just a few seconds, it jumped to 220, then to 231...

The three remained silent, simply watching the scorecard. Within five minutes, the number had increased by over fifty.

You should know that to earn more than 50 points in the central area of the Bone Swallowing Desert, you need to survive life-and-death battles, and often require cooperation among several people to kill a monster above level 20.

"Um, can you tell me what kind of trouble I'm in?"

Seeing that Zheng Mu still didn't understand, General Qi realized that he wasn't like the children from powerful families who already knew a lot about the assessment before participating.

Seeing Zheng Mu's confused expression, General Qi sighed.

"Student Zheng Mu, your points are increasing too quickly. In the history of top-tier university assessments, no one has ever seen such a rapid growth. So, Shengqing University, along with other universities, accused you of cheating."

"What?! Cheating?!"

Zheng Mu was stunned by this strange logic.

In his previous life, he played a game where he fired guns, and if someone reported him for cheating, he could accept that.

But in this world of professionals, just because he performed exceptionally well, they accused him of cheating?!

Zheng Mu's face darkened.

"So, what's the decision? Are they canceling my scores or disqualifying me from the assessment?"

Hearing Zheng Mu's obviously angry question, General Qi quickly waved his hands.

"It's not that serious. You've been following the rules and using Heaven-approved mechanical creations. It's just that no mechanic has gone this far before you, so the authorities think you should be limited."

Zheng Mu narrowed his eyes.

General Qi sighed.

"From now on, you won't get points for killing monsters with a lower level than you, and... the points earned by mechanical creations for killing monsters will be halved."

"For crying out loud!"

As soon as General Qi finished speaking, Zheng Mu slammed his fist on the table, knocking over the teacup and tea set. Old Qingyun and General Qi didn't get angry.

This situation was indeed unreasonable.

Zheng Mu clenched his fists, furious and losing his composure for the first time.

Even when Shengqing and other universities rejected him during registration, it wasn't as infuriating as now.

He was angry.

At first, as a mediocre mechanic who wanted to sign up for the assessment, he was rejected by others and accepted that fact.

If you have no value, don't expect fair treatment.

But now that he had become stronger, so strong that his points surpassed examiners from other schools, he faced suppression because of it?

"Did Southwest Military University's Attaché not object?"

General Qi sighed, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture.

"One to nine, Southwest Military University is definitely stronger than Shengqing University, and they have influential people. But too many schools requested restrictions on you. Three schools...

Fortunately, the four families can solve issues directly with force, and now..."

Zheng Mu clenched his fists.

Suddenly, he seemed to have an idea and turned to General Qi.

"General Qi, I want to talk to General Qin from Southwest Military University. Can you help me with that?"

Before General Qi could respond, a voice sounded faintly from behind him.

"Oh? Do you have something to tell me?"

Zheng Mu was startled by the voice and discovered that General Qin had appeared behind him without him realizing it.

Seeing Zheng Mu's angry face, General Qin sighed and shook his head apologetically.

"Sorry, we tried our best, but we can't reach the dean right now. There are ten top-tier professional universities in Longguo, and nine of them requested restrictions on you."

Zheng Mu interrupted him with a shake of his head.

"General Qin, since the decision to restrict me has been made, I won't argue. But I can't just accept this loss. I have a request, and I hope you'll relay it to the higher authorities."

General Qin frowned. For some reason, Zheng Mu's current state gave him a dangerous feeling.

"Go ahead."

Zheng Mu stared at him and paused.

"I request that the restriction on killing be lifted!"

"What?!"

This time, not only was General Qin stunned, but Old Qingyun and General Qi also looked at Zheng Mu as if he were crazy.

Access to kill authority? Did that mean the Bone Swallowing Desert would become a ruthless battlefield for the geniuses of the Dragon Kingdom?

Zheng Mu stared at General Qin.

"I know my request isn't excessive. Thirty years ago, assessments for top-tier universities required signing a life-and-death agreement, but that has changed."

"I accept the restriction on my points, but if I'm a professional and a candidate for Southwest Military University, I should be a strong player in this examination. But because of your incompetence, I have to endure humiliation. So I can only say, if Southwest Military University is gone, then it's gone!"

With that, Zheng Mu expressed his anger.

General Qin frowned at Zheng Mu's disdainful tone toward Southwest Military University but had no counterargument.

After thinking for a while, he finally spoke.

"You should know that if the killing authority is lifted, you'll not only become a hunter in this desert but also prey, and the likelihood of being prey is even greater."

Zheng Mu smirked coldly.

"Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor are in the stars – that's the real reason I love this world!"

The two looked at each other, and for a moment, General Qin felt as if he saw a fierce beast desperately trying to break free from its chains.

Briefly, he had a terrifying thought.

The young man in front of him, who appeared rational on the surface, might not be as he seemed.

This seemingly rational guy had a hidden side, deep within his heart – a complete madman.

After a long silence, under the nervous gaze of Old Qingyun and General Qi, General Qin finally nodded.

"I'll use my influence to make it happen."

After General Qin left, General Qi and Old Qingyun didn't dare to stay any longer, their minds in turmoil.

Considering the level of Zheng Mu's base car they had just seen, they realized that if things went wrong next time, this year's top-tier university assessment might end in bloodshed.

"Old Qingyun, when you were under level 20, do you think that with your S-level profession, you could compete with a hero-level mechanical creation?"

In Huangsha City, Old Qingyun, who had just landed his sword, sighed faintly after hearing this question.

"General Qi, at this point, do you still think a mechanic is just an A-level profession?"