CHAPTER 96: CHAPTER 96: WOMEN’S RESTROOM FLOOR TILES (SECOND UPDATE)

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

The skinny middle school boy’s voice trembled. "I, I only have this much..."

From the Pangolin’s perspective, it couldn’t see how much money the middle school boy took out, but the three thuggish boys quickly provided the answer. "Huh? Two yuan and fifty cents? Are you treating us like beggars!?"

Two of the hooligans punched and kicked him. The middle school boy, crying out in pain, leaned against the restroom wall and said with a sob, "This is all the breakfast money I have. I really only have this much."

"Still talking back?" The leader of the hooligans went over and grabbed the skinny boy’s chin. "What about your lunch money?"

"My lunch money is deducted from my bank card by the school every month..."

"You still eat that pig feed they serve at school?" the thuggish boy laughed.

"Wait, you mentioned a bank card. Do you know the password?"

The skinny boy quickly shook his head. "I don’t know."

"If you don’t know, then go ask, dumbass! You got a pig brain or what? If your dad’s dead, ask your mom!"

The thuggish boy slapped him across the face. The skinny boy didn’t say a word. The other two hooligans rummaged through his backpack, tossing out all the stationery and textbooks, carelessly throwing them onto the filthy restroom floor.

"He really has no money."

"Forget it, what’s the point of talking to him? Let’s go find Brother Kun..."

It’s worth mentioning that while this game was incredibly lifelike, the character details were processed—much like in *Assassin*. One could easily tell it was fake, yet it felt harmonious, creating a fairy-tale-like effect.

For instance, the three thuggish boys looked crude and fierce-faced, and their attitude was arrogant.

The bullied student’s nose twitched incessantly. His figure was skinny. Although not handsome, he certainly wasn’t repulsive. There was a small-animal-like quality to him; he looked pitiable and weak.

This game had no quest system, so whether or not to help this kid was entirely up to Ren Suo’s whims. His only concern was whether this save file would go straight to GG if he exposed himself...

However, the Pangolin’s Talent "Burrowing" was extremely strong. With this Skill, as long as there was soil nearby, the Pangolin could burrow and stay there, creating a potential escape route.

So, Ren Suo had the Pangolin sprint over and bite the thuggish boy’s ankle!

The boy was wearing Nike basketball shoes for protection, so Ren Suo had to press ’X’ for the Pangolin to jump and bite him.

A sharp scream echoed from the restroom; the boy hopped around in pain. The Pangolin, however, struck repeatedly, biting and scratching at the other boys’ ankles. The hooligans glanced down and saw a ’mouse,’ almost the size of a cat, attacking them. Screaming in terror, they scrambled away.

"A rat! There’s a rat!"

Don’t students these days even recognize a pangolin?

Only the skinny boy remained in the restroom, curled up against the wall, looking fearfully at the Pangolin. Ren Suo ignored him, preparing to slip away. If those hooligans come back with security to catch a ’rat,’ it’ll be game over.

However, Ren Suo now instinctively pressed R3, activating "Spiritual Vision" to take a glance inside the women’s restroom, only to discover a great find in there!

A floor tile in front of the first cubicle, the one nearest the entrance and by the washbasin, was enveloped in a dense, almost swirling black mist!

When the Pangolin went over and touched it, a large chunk of information displayed:

’Women’s restroom floor tile that’s been stepped on for 14 years (dirty)’

’Spiritual Energy Quantity: Very Little’

’Enhances Evolution chance: 30%’

’Absorption time required: 13 hours 16 minutes’

’Filth: Tainted with the blood, urine, and bodily fluids of countless people. Stepped on for over a decade, it has absorbed numerous impurities yet stubbornly hasn’t broken. Absorbing the Spiritual Energy of this Spiritual Object may unlock a Filth-aspected evolution in the next evolution.’

’Unyielding: Every being that steps on it may trigger a fall.’

Stepped on for 14 years... This restroom is even older than those middle school students.

The women’s restroom cubicle closest to the door was indeed the most frequently used, so this tile had been stepped on the most. Therefore, it was very likely to be tainted by the bodily fluids of female students, especially those who used the restroom during P.E. class... and girls ’sometimes’ ask to be excused from P.E. class, after all.

Compared to the driver’s Jade Pendant, this tile was more worthy of being called a ’Spiritual Object.’ Not only did it offer a chance to unlock a new evolution, but its mere existence came with a Skill—even a tile possessed the ’Unyielding’ quality! At this point, Ren Suo truly began to believe that all things possess a spirit.

Ren Suo didn’t quite understand the Spiritual Energy settings here. He’d seen terms like ’Extremely Tiny,’ ’Fairly Tiny,’ and ’Trace Amount,’ and now he saw ’Very Little.’

However, from the Spiritual Vision analysis, this floor tile had much more Spiritual Energy than a hundred yuan, so ’Very Little’ must be greater than ’Trace Amount.’

Following this logic, above ’Very Little,’ there should be terms like ’Rather Little’ and ’Small Amount.’

The floor tile wasn’t large, and the Pangolin could dig it out and carry it away. Ren Suo made the Pangolin get to work—in reality, he just held down the Circle button, and the Pangolin started digging with its little claws.

However, Ren Suo overestimated the Pangolin’s work capabilities and underestimated this floor tile.

Having been stepped on in the women’s restroom for over a decade without breaking, the floor tile’s adhesion to the ground was unexpectedly strong. The Pangolin took several minutes just to pry it out.

However, at that moment, rapid footsteps and shouts came from outside: "It’s in here!"

"Hurry up and catch that big rat!"

"Damn, it hurts like hell!"

Those thuggish boys didn’t know whether to find a teacher or a security guard, but they were certainly coming for revenge. Since they were wearing school uniforms and had injuries on their feet, adults would naturally believe them.

This is trouble. Without the floor tile, the Pangolin could activate Afterimage and escape easily. It looks like I’ll have to drop the floor tile, run, and come back for it tonight...

"Come in!"

Ren Suo saw that the skinny boy hadn’t left but was slowly picking his books up off the floor and putting them into his backpack.

He also heard the voices outside, so he came over with his backpack and gestured for the Pangolin to go in.

Should I go in or not?

Ren Suo didn’t overthink it and had the Pangolin enter the backpack with the floor tile. It was clear the boy wanted to save the Pangolin, and Ren Suo chose to trust him.

Worst case, I’ll just start over. No big deal.

It was pitch-black inside the backpack. He could only hear a teacher questioning the boy outside. The boy said the animal had gone into the sewer, and then he quickly slipped away.

After a 30-minute fast-forward, Ren Suo found the Pangolin lying on a bamboo mat, with the skinny boy’s backpack nearby.

The floor tile!? Where is it!?

The Pangolin rummaged through the backpack. Just then, footsteps approached from outside. The boy entered, holding a clean floor tile. Seeing the Pangolin rifling through his backpack, he asked in surprise, "Weren’t you asleep?"

Does fast-forwarding while still automatically mean it’s sleeping...?

The boy placed the floor tile in front of the Pangolin. "You seemed to really want this tile," he said. "It was very dirty, so I washed it."

Washing it... It didn’t become useless, did it?

The Pangolin touched the floor tile. Its information was mostly unchanged, except the ’(dirty)’ part of its name was gone.

Good. I’ll take the floor tile, find a safe place, and fast-forward 13 hours to Absorb Spiritual Energy.

Ren Suo had the Pangolin hold the floor tile and prepare to leave. Just then, the skinny boy rubbed his palms together. "Um... My name is Huo Liang. Hello."

Talking to a pangolin? Is this kid nuts?

Yet Huo Liang continued, "Are you one of those Spiritual Beasts they talk about in the news? You can understand what we say, right? Thank you for saving me."

Spiritual Beasts? The news?

Ren Suo pondered. The government hasn’t released any such news yet.

"I don’t want my mom to worry about me... but I’m not smart, I was born with a heart condition, and my body is weak. To help pay for my medicine, my mom works outside every day."

Huo Liang’s voice fell. "And I have no Talent, so I couldn’t become a student at the Cultivator School. That third-year middle school student from our school who has Talent, he hasn’t been enrolled for long, but he can already use supernatural powers..."

Wait a minute, haven’t the Cultivator Schools not even opened yet?