Lam Minh trudged home, nursing a bandaged shoulder and a massive grudge. Fortunately, his parents were too busy making phone calls to check on relatives to notice their son's pathetic state and his torn shirt.
He slipped straight into his room, slammed the door shut, and collapsed onto his bed.
"Aargghh! This is so frustrating!" He punched the mattress hard. "That damned pink-haired loli! A party-crasher! And then she extorts me! And even tries to make me her errand boy!"
He muttered curses for a long time to vent his anger. A golden opportunity for a breakthrough, completely wasted. Now he could only return to the boring "simulation" with its meager point yield.
While he was fuming, his phone suddenly buzzed. It was an unknown number.
"Hello?" he answered, his voice still sullen.
"Is this Lam Minh? It's me, To Quyen."
To Quyen's clear, familiar voice came from the other end of the line. Lam Minh's anger instantly subsided by half.
"Oh... Class President? What's up?" He tried to adjust his tone.
"Are... are you free right now? There's something I need your help with." To Quyen's voice sounded a little hesitant, but also very urgent.
"What is it?"
"I'm at the central city library. I followed your suggestion and compiled all the reports on the 'unusual' deaths of Madakaros. The data is massive, and there are many details I don't quite understand. Could you... could you come over and help me take a look?"
Lam Minh paused. He hadn't expected her to act so quickly. This was a good opportunity to accelerate humanity's research progress, and at the same time, build a good relationship with his genius wife from his past life.
"Sure. Send me the address. I'll be there in 20 minutes."
He hung up, quickly changed into another shirt to hide the bandage, and sneaked out of the house for the second time that day.
The central city library was an old, stately building, one of the few structures that remained intact after nearly 30 years of war. It housed almost the entirety of human knowledge from before and after the cataclysm.
Lam Minh found his way to the military research section. He saw To Quyen sitting alone at a large table, surrounded by stacks of documents and an open laptop. She was chewing on her pen, her brow furrowed in thought, looking both intelligent and adorable.
Seeing Lam Minh arrive, her eyes lit up.
"You're here! Come and see this."
She pointed at the computer screen. On it was a crudely drawn map of a Madakaros body, with hundreds of red dots marked in various locations.
"I've compiled over 300 reports," To Quyen said, her face a mixture of excitement and confusion. "Just as you said, there are many cases of 'luck' happening at very specific locations. I've marked them all. But... they look so chaotic, I can't find any pattern."
Lam Minh looked at the screen. He couldn't help but admire this girl. With just a vague hint from him, in less than a week, she had accomplished a task that had taken scientists years to complete in his past life.
He sat down and took the mouse. "Let me see."
He scrolled through the red dots. With the knowledge of someone who had fought countless life-or-death battles against the Madakaros, he immediately recognized the problem.
"You've done very well. But you've lumped the data from all levels of Madakaros together," Lam Minh pointed at the screen. "The meridian systems of a Qi Refining cultivator and a Foundation Establishment cultivator are different. It's like the electrical grid of a small bungalow versus a skyscraper. Both have circuit breakers, but their locations and numbers are different."
To Quyen let out a soft "Ah," as if waking from a dream. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that!"
"Try filtering for only the Qi Refining Realm data."
To Quyen quickly worked on the computer. A moment later, a new map appeared. The number of red dots was much smaller, and they began to distribute themselves in a more orderly pattern.
Lam Minh picked up a stylus and began connecting the red dots on the touch screen. He drew smooth, precise curves, sketching out the key meridian system of a Qi Refining cultivator.
"Here," he pointed to several intersections. "This is the Taiyang acupoint, the Fengchi acupoint, the Qimen acupoint... These are the main 'circuit breakers.' Attacking here will disrupt their energy flow."
To Quyen looked at the lines Lam Minh had drawn, then at the descriptions in the reports. Everything matched up perfectly. The locations he pointed to were precisely where the Madakaros had been defeated in an "unusual" manner.
She looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "Lam Minh... how... how do you know all this? Don't tell me it's from your grandfather's book again. These meridian lines, they're too detailed, too precise!"
Lam Minh scratched his head, having to come up with another excuse. "Well... I have a special talent for connecting data. When I look at these chaotic points, my brain automatically arranges them into a coherent image."
To Quyen narrowed her eyes. She didn't believe him. It was obvious. No talent could be that miraculous. This guy was definitely hiding some earth-shattering secret.
But she didn't press further. She knew there were some things you shouldn't ask.
"Anyway... thank you so much!" To Quyen said, her voice filled with sincerity. "This discovery... it could save thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of soldiers' lives!"
Just then, a loud explosion echoed from a distance, shaking the entire library building. The lights flickered and went out. Sirens began to blare.
"Not again!" To Quyen said in panic.
A frantic voice came over the library's PA system: "Warning! Warning! A group of Madakaros has breached the second line of defense! They are entering the central district! All personnel, evacuate to the shelters immediately!"
People in the library screamed, pushing and shoving as they ran towards the exit.
To Quyen was about to run with them, but Lam Minh grabbed her arm.
"Wait! Running out there now is no different from serving yourself up on a platter!" he said calmly, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
"Then... then what do we do?" To Quyen asked worriedly.
Lam Minh looked out the window. He saw a few Qi Refining Madakaros slaughtering civilians on the street.
In the eyes of others, it was a disaster.
But in Lam Minh's eyes, it was a buffet of experience points, just waiting for him to dig in!
"That pink-haired loli robbed me of one opportunity, and now heaven has compensated me with another!" he thought to himself, feeling not a shred of fear, but rather a bit of... excitement.
He turned to To Quyen, his expression extremely serious. "Hide here. Do not go outside, under any circumstances. I'm going out to check the situation."
"No! It's too dangerous!" To Quyen tried to stop him.
"Don't worry," Lam Minh patted her shoulder lightly, flashing a confident smile. "I know what I'm doing."
Without letting her react, he quickly dashed out of the library, blending into the chaos outside. To Quyen could only watch as his back disappeared around a street corner.
She stood there, her heart filled with anxiety and confusion.
This guy—sometimes lazy, sometimes as erudite as a scientist, sometimes as reckless as a madman.
Who... who is he, really?