The dormitory was located in a private suburban community. It was a small apartment building with only three floors, and about five units per floor. Yang Bo's unit was a one-bedroom apartment with a living room, much smaller than his previous place, and simply furnished. The door was an old-fashioned manual lock, though the room did come with internet service.
"This is your employee card; you'll need it to get in.
"We don't have many employees here, and most of them have their own places.
"And here is your access card. There are security guards at the entrance of this private community," Liu Zhijie explained. The "security guards" he referred to were actually Laser emitters—a type of security Weapon. If anyone attempted to force their way into the restricted area, the devices would fire Lasers.
Liu Zhijie then drove Yang Bo to buy a new smartwatch before heading to his old community to terminate his lease. The community staff accompanied them to the apartment. Yang Bo only packed a few pieces of clothing, leaving everything else behind, and handed over his government-issued smartwatch.
Inside the dormitory, the environment of the private community was much better than his previous residence. Hidden by dense trees, the neighboring units were barely visible.
The room was simple. It featured a manual flush toilet, manual faucets, and manual temperature controls. Even the windows and the air conditioner had to be operated manually.
"Damn it, am I just a glutton for punishment? I've come to a futuristic world, only to live in a rental exactly like the one from my past life," Yang Bo grumbled to himself. Yet, after looking around, an inexplicable sense of security settled over him.
The smartwatch was a product of Ping An Technology Co., Ltd. Although it was an older model, Liu Zhijie had assured him that Hackers would never provoke Ping An Technology Company just to target him.
The unspoken implication was that Yang Bo simply wasn't important enough to warrant anyone picking a fight with Ping An Technology Company.
This watch didn't have an AI butler system. In government housing, everyone was required to wear one because the government was responsible for their safety. If anything happened to them, politicians would face fierce public backlash.
This new watch, however, was completely user-centric. Yang Bo disabled most of its functions, keeping only the communication feature—which worked like a phone—and an email service. Everything else was wiped clean.
For shopping, he could place orders on the wired virtual computer. The property management staff would then deliver the items to a designated spot, such as the lockers in the downstairs lobby or near the elevator.
Trash didn't need to be sorted, either; he could just toss it. The property management handled it all. He was free to eat and drink whatever he pleased.
After taking a shower, Yang Bo noticed a notification on his watch. It was from a game the original owner of this body used to play. The game was hosting an event tied to a female celebrity the original owner had followed; continuing to play the game offered a chance to win tickets to her concert.
Yang Bo had zero interest. He blocked the game's notifications, put on a pair of shorts, and sat down in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room.
"Skill!" Yang Bo thought, summoning his status panel.
Swimming: Basic (1/10)
Sound Wave Positioning: Basic (1/10)
Dynamic Field of View: Basic (4/10)
Disguise: Basic (4/10)
The information appeared directly in his mind. Yang Bo pondered for a moment. Sound Wave Positioning was a great ability, but where was he going to find enough bats to kill to upgrade it? If this were his past life, he could have just gone back to his hometown, found a pitch-black cave, and had a field day.
"Disguise. Yesterday, when I felt someone watching me, I sensed it immediately. Was that also due to the Disguise ability?" Yang Bo muttered to himself.
He closed his eyes and focused silently on the concept of Disguise. Suddenly, a wave of realization washed over him.
Walking into the bathroom, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. With a mere thought, something magical happened: his double eyelids seamlessly shifted into single eyelids.
With another thought, his large eyes narrowed into slits.
Yet another thought, and the shape of his eyebrows changed entirely.
A minute later, Yang Bo stared at his reflection. He had completely transformed from a fresh-faced youth into a sleazy middle-aged man. With those narrowed slits for eyes, he looked unmistakably lecherous. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"It can alter muscles and hair, but it can't change my bone structure.
"Is it because the level of Disguise isn't high enough?"
The transformation lasted for twenty minutes before the ability faded. Afterward, Yang Bo felt a hollow emptiness in his body, not unlike the drained feeling of post-nut clarity.
Through this experiment, he confirmed that at its current level, Disguise could only alter his muscles and hair.
"I wonder if there are any Energy Fluctuations when I transform?
"Should I buy an Energy Detector?
"Forget it."
Feeling a sudden pang of hunger, Yang Bo bought some groceries online while continuing to analyze his Disguise ability.
"Hunting down those creatures right now would probably be too difficult. I should go online and look into Ancient Martial Arts instead," he thought, planning to research how Ancient Martial Arts could stimulate Genetic Evolution after dinner.
Home-cooked meals were undeniably delicious, even if they required a bit more effort.
The virtual computer in his room was a major brand. According to Liu Zhijie, it was best to stick to big brands because their reputation was everything. Unless a person was of immeasurable value, no one would risk crossing these corporate giants.
"Fuck!" Yang Bo cursed out loud when the search results for Ancient Martial Arts gene schools popped up.
A holographic image displayed a square fragment of Metal. Etched onto the fragment were diagrams of human acupoints and meridians. The diagram of the human figure's front was complete, while the back was fragmented.
The description noted that four thousand five hundred years ago, the Black Stone Empire—the predecessor to the three major Alliances—conducted its first spatial jump experiment. During the test, this piece of Metal shot out from an Alternate Space.
Research indicated it belonged to an unknown civilization. It was a bizarre culture; their method of forging the Metal fragment was incredibly crude, yet the knowledge depicted on it was astounding.
Initially, scientists thought the diagrams on the Metal plate were a joke. The human body was made of blood vessels and nerves—so what were these strange marked points?
However, one scientist, perhaps driven to madness, decided to stimulate these marked points with electric currents, and... unlocked extraordinary abilities.
This breakthrough spurred the scientific community to continue their research. Later, they discovered suspicious information on the back of the golden plate. Once translated, it turned out to be Cultivation Techniques for Ancient Martial Arts.
"Are they suicidal? Stimulating acupoints with electricity?" Yang Bo stared at the Metal fragment. Could this fucking thing be a probe sent from Earth?
Or did humanity on Earth also originate from extraterrestrials?
He continued reading. This method of stimulating acupoints with electric currents eventually evolved into the Secret Techniques used to initiate Genetic Evolution. As for the Genetic Potion, there was no detailed explanation online; it only mentioned the use of advanced biological genetics technology.
"Practicing Martial Arts? I don't know how to do that, but I do know acupoints and meridians." In his past life, Yang Bo had learned massage therapy. Since his parents were elderly and suffered from various aches and pains, he had taught himself a considerable number of massage techniques.
He had also been an avid novel reader in his past life. When he was younger, he loved wuxia novels and even bought a few so-called Martial Arts manuals to read. (In reality, there were people who achieved true mastery, but it was far too dangerous and not recommended for ordinary folks to attempt.)
"But what kind of Cultivation Techniques are these? Are they the same as the ones on Earth? Are Earthlings actually aliens too?" Yang Bo didn't dare to try it recklessly. Information on the internet wasn't necessarily true, and besides, there were no specific Cultivation Techniques provided.
"I should focus on making money first." Ultimately, Yang Bo decided his priority was to earn money. He could figure the rest out later.