Chapter 22: Recovery

After absorbing a fragment, the item database received some updates. Three new exchangeable fantasy items appeared in the list.

[Senzu Bean]: From the Dragon Ball world, rapidly recovers stamina and repairs a certain degree of injury, restores energy, and guarantees no hunger for ten days. (1000/3124)

[Weighted Wristbands]: A technological item that can automatically adjust a gravity field to train the user’s speed and strength through weight loading. (800/3124)

[Cosmic Bag (Fake)]: From the Primordial World, a mass-produced imitation of the ancient top-ten divine artifact, the Cosmic Bag. Its sole function is spatial storage, with an internal size of ten cubic meters. (2000/3124)

Without a doubt, among the three newly appeared items, the one with the greatest value was the Cosmic Bag, which cost as much as 2000 units of Materialization Power. Such a portable spatial item could provide unparalleled strategic value no matter where it was.

Next was the Senzu Bean from the Dragon Ball world. This item’s performance in the manga was miraculous; most injuries that were not immediately fatal could be repaired in an instant, though it was ineffective against diseases.

The last item, the Weighted Wristbands, seemed to be some kind of high-tech tool. Its main use was to assist with training, which held little significance for Chen Chong at the moment.

With one glance, Chen Chong’s mind was clear. He needed almost no deliberation and made a decisive choice:

“Exchange for the Senzu Bean!”

Hum!

As the command was issued to the Main God, the experience was exactly the same as when he had materialized the Ultra Divine Water earlier. Chen Chong once again experienced that strange sensation of distorted vision and a detached soul. Then, in the air before him, a thumb-sized bean materialized out of thin air without any warning and landed in his hand.

With the miraculous effect of the Ultra Divine Water fresh in his mind, Chen Chong did not hesitate at all this time. He immediately swallowed the Senzu Bean in one gulp!

The wilderness was now fraught with danger, and he had not yet completely escaped. His half-crippled arm and two broken ribs had greatly reduced his condition. Under such circumstances, the Senzu Bean, which could instantly restore him, was undoubtedly his first choice, even if it meant spending 1000 units of Materialization Power!

Crackle.

Just seconds after swallowing the Senzu Bean, a strange, cool stream burst from his abdomen and instantly spread to every limb and bone of Chen Chong’s body. Whether it was the damaged muscle tissue or the broken arm and rib bones, they all began to heal in the blink of an eye, emitting slight crackling sounds.

In just a few short seconds, all the fatigue and pain in his body miraculously disappeared completely. Even though he was mentally prepared, Chen Chong still wore an expression of disbelief as he moved his left arm, feeling that he was now bursting with energy and in an astoundingly good state!

“One Senzu Bean is equivalent to an extra life!”

While feeling shocked, Chen Chong was also a little puzzled. Logically, a healing saint like the Senzu Bean should have a very high rating, yet the Main God seemed to rate it as ordinary, requiring only 1000 units of Materialization Power to exchange for one, which made him curious.

However, recalling that characters in the Dragon Ball world, while capable of training their ki to the point of destroying heaven and earth, paradoxically had fragile physical bodies that were barely different from ordinary people’s flesh and blood without ki, Chen Chong felt relief.

The difficulty of repairing a steel fortress and a wooden hut was not on the same level, and the Main God’s description of the Senzu Bean also vaguely indicated its limitations.

“Just one fragment caused such astonishing changes in the Main God. So, if I can find and repair more fragments, the Main God’s database should become even richer, and might even unlock more abilities!”

Thinking of this, a flash of excitement rose in Chen Chong’s heart:

“The Main God Fragments in this world are probably not limited to the single one I encountered; there must be more!”

To Chen Chong, the Main God Fragment not only represented more rare cultivation techniques and items but also meant a large supplement of Materialization Power. The current Main God was like Chen Chong’s personal super-brain, possessing no consciousness and existing purely as a tool. With the integration of fragments and the replenishment of Materialization Power, the Main God as a tool could play a greater role.

Chen Chong had not yet figured out the principle behind the growth of Materialization Power. Over three months of torturous experiments had only allowed him to save just over 1000 units of Materialization Power, and he had endured immense suffering. In comparison, directly searching for and absorbing Main God Fragments was undoubtedly more convenient, faster, and more beneficial.

But this thought was just a fleeting notion for Chen Chong.

The thought flashed and vanished. His physical and mental state had now recovered to its peak. Chen Chong no longer dwelled on it and leaped down from the rock.

Chen Chong did not rush to exchange the remaining Materialization Power for the three cultivation techniques he had selected in his mind. Instead, he stored it away for emergencies. It was obvious that without a direct top-down strengthening, any cultivation technique or move would require a long period of pondering and practice, and it definitely couldn’t be mastered overnight. Even if Chen Chong exchanged for things like the “Ultimate Infinite Qigong” now, he couldn’t immediately convert them into combat power.

The wilderness was beset with dangers, and who knew what threats he might still face. The Senzu Bean was undoubtedly a life-saving item that could turn the tables. Chen Chong kept his remaining 2124 units of Materialization Power as a trump card. The translation and practice of the techniques would have to wait until he got out of the wilderness.

After that, Chen Chong gathered a small bundle of the giant tree’s aerial roots from the edge of the Bone Pool and strapped them to his back.

After eating the Senzu Bean, Chen Chong would not feel hunger for ten days, but his personality was cautious, and he liked to be prepared. He brought some along as long as it didn’t affect his movements.

Looking back once more at the silent, golden giant tree behind him, Chen Chong felt a surge of emotion. He felt as if his terrible luck had finally begun to turn around starting from here.

“Farewell for now!”

Chen Chong turned, laughed heartily, held his tactical knife, carried the giant tree roots on his back, and strode forward. His steps seemed to carry intense determination and confidence, and in moments, his figure had completely vanished into the Mist.

…

Two hours later, in the underground base, the Experiment Area, inside the Experiment Hall.

Most of the base guards were gathered here at this moment, waiting. Every guard’s head hung low, their bodies taut, expressions strained to the extreme.

The hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

“You’re telling me that, aside from these four prisoners who fell to their deaths, you haven’t captured a single living prisoner, and even Johnson is missing?”

Beside the four corpses clad in prison uniforms, Director Diris stood quietly.

His gaze, as calm and dark as an abyss, swept across the many guards in the hall. It was like a knife in a cold wind, scraping directly into people’s hearts, causing an unexplained chill to rise within every guard.

Even though these guards were normally mentally resilient, they all felt as if they were being watched by some apex predator. Trembling in fear and with hair standing on end, no one dared to look up and meet those eyes.