Ivy, having drawn blood the previous night, drew more that morning to ensure her absorption rate wasn’t affected by blood regeneration.

She ate, and went to work.

Seeing no sign of surveillance, Ivy felt a pang of regret; she’d wanted to test the Crane Claw Technique on someone.

She had the memories of ten years of training, but they lacked the real-life feel, leaving her wanting to test her skills.

At the school, the number of gang members questioning students had decreased.

Ivy thought, They’ve narrowed the list to fifty. They’re not conducting a general sweep but targeted surveillance.

Nothing unusual happened that morning.

She incinerated three evil corpses.

Her luck was average; no black beads appeared.

At lunchtime, Wang Jian excitedly told Ivy that he’d contacted La Tap.

As expected, La Tap had been on a mission with the outpost, exploring a new area.

The exploration was difficult. The area was shrouded in fog, rendering most technological equipment useless. The worst part was the unseen dangers lurking within the fog.

Half the outpost team had died in a single day.

La Tap had survived, exiting the unexplored zone. Although he hadn’t made any significant discoveries, the outpost’s rules stated that survivors received the minimum merit points.

They called these survival points, or base points.

Wang Jian was excited. “La Tap earned a merit point! I’m so envious.”

As void citizens, considered waste products by the city system, Ivy and Wang Jian only had one merit point each. One point, not zero, representing a touch of humanity within the system.

High population numbers were needed for the development of geniuses, a merit point given at birth to every citizen. Void citizens called this the “monumental baseline merit point.”

It was the only merit point most void citizens earned in their lifetime, their accounts remaining dormant until death.

Unless, like La Tap, they risked their lives.

Wang Jian was excited for La Tap. “He only needs nine more—no, eight more—merit points to reach ten, which will allow him to upgrade to an F-class citizen.”

Ivy, having finished four bowls of nutrient-rich food, said calmly, “With a 50% chance of survival per mission, the chance of surviving nine consecutive missions is about one in five hundred.”

One in five hundred was ten times higher than the college entrance exam passing rate.

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If La Tap had that kind of luck, why risk his life in the unexplored zones? He could just end it all and be reborn in Higher City.

Wang Jian’s face fell.

Ivy put down her chopsticks and added, “Of course, that’s just a theoretical probability. If someone gets lucky, that probability might be different.”

Even a naive person like Wang Jian wouldn't think La Tap would get lucky. He sighed dejectedly.

Ivy washed the dishes and left, keeping another thought to herself: Even if he gets lucky, surviving might not be a good thing. Finding something lucky in the unexplored zones probably means being unknowingly exploited, and the people on the outpost team are not fools.

In the afternoon, they burned two more evil corpses.

Their luck surged; both yielded black beads, both going to Ivy, while Wang Jian received $27.

Ivy sometimes wondered how many evil corpses the Ninth District produced daily. A few corpses daily might not seem much, but it added up. Over a year, it would be over a thousand.

Compared to the millions of people in the city, it didn’t seem significant. But the transformation into an evil corpse wasn’t easy. It required a certain level of martial arts skill—Rank Three or higher.

Considering that, the rate was quite alarming.

“It seems there’s more to the evil corpses than meets the eye. But for me, the more the better,” Ivy thought, not concerned about the impact on human survival. She only cared about her own gain.

“The black market dealers might know something. But it’s safer to know less. I just want to know how many black beads those dealers have and whether they’ll sell them to me,” she mused.

Ivy trained for four more hours after work.

[Absorption rate: 67.7%]

She planned to push it to 75% that night. At this rate, she could max out Rank 1 of the Iron Eater skill in a couple of days. She needed to prepare for the next step.

She was close to reaching Rank 2 of the Iron Eater skill. There would likely be changes, and at the very least, an additional slot for a new type of iron.

What type of iron should she choose?

Continue with cast iron, or try the Iron Fragments of Evil and Resentment?

Ultimately, it was the [Cast Iron: Plastic Embryo] property that was most stimulating to her.

She had initially planned to slowly accumulate the black beads, but now, she felt that the progress was too slow and wanted a faster method.

Before she started absorbing cast iron, Ivy had been like a child, innocent, and somewhat impulsive. But she could control it.

Absorbing cast iron was like taking her first step into the adult world.

Could the simple and the complex be compared?

Her impulsive tendencies were amplified. Now, she wanted more than just the simple pleasure; she craved the intense experience of the Iron Fragments of Evil and Resentment.

Leaving work and entering her apartment complex, Ivy noticed two figures lurking nearby.

One with blond hair, the other with red hair. When they saw her, they didn’t avoid her gaze but stared back menacingly, cigarettes hanging from their lips.

Ivy avoided their gaze. They chuckled menacingly.

Ivy locked her bike and went upstairs.

Looking out from her bedroom window, she saw the two men squatting near the building entrance, beside a food vendor’s cart. They were eating and spitting on the ground.

“They’re not hiding; they’re openly watching. What are they looking for? It’s not about finding the murderer. They’re using psychological pressure on me and the others on the list,” Ivy thought, quickly arriving at a conclusion.

She closed the blinds and changed her SIM card. She usually used her own SIM card during the day and switched to the one she used to contact Ma Wei at night.

A message arrived on her phone.

——Boss, Brother Ban sent some trusted men to follow the people on the list.

Ivy deleted the message without responding.

She didn’t feel any psychological pressure but felt annoyed, which affected her appetite.

Since her stomach was sensitive to emotions, her digestion slowed.

By her usual bedtime, her [Absorption rate] had only reached 73%.

Ivy frowned and trained for two more hours. By 6:00 AM, her [Absorption rate] finally reached 75%.

Ivy closed her eyes to sleep. She didn’t know how others on the list would react, but she had a clear plan.