She watched with great concentration.
"Where’s Ma Xiaoling?"
"She waited for a while and didn’t see you come. Said she went to play games again."
"That’s perfect, I’ve already deposited the items into the lab. We’ll start adjusting the equipment from tomorrow."
The black market goods Ren Zhong bought this time were divided into two main categories.
One type consists of special parts to be replaced and installed into his armor, and the other type includes various hidden gun turrets, explosive traps, special traps, and self-destructing swarms, all intelligent weapons with autonomous combat capabilities.
Ju Qingmeng pondered for a moment and said, "The standalone equipment is fine; I can tackle that gradually. But just the armor modification alone, I estimate, would take at least fifty to sixty work hours to complete. Normally, I have to manage some tasks for the mall manager, so I can only spare at most seven to eight work hours per day. If everything is to be completed, it will take seven to eight days. I’m not afraid of the workload, but how will you handle Lin Wang’s hunting missions during the day?"
Ren Zhong smiled and waved his hand.
A complete remodeling plan was projected in front of them.
"I’ve actually considered this issue. Why don’t you take a closer look?"
After a long while, Ju Qingmeng held her hands to her chest, full of amazement.
"You’ve divided the entire equipment modification into eight stages, each requiring between six and eight hours of work. Completing each stage can specifically enhance one function, while barely maintaining the stability of the equipment. You can still wear the equipment to go out on missions."
Ren Zhong: "Exactly."
"Amazing, truly amazing. I always focused on the details and hadn’t fully expanded to see it, missing this point. Did you consider this from the beginning when designing?"
Ren Zhong nodded, "Yes. Tomorrow’s initial modification will start with the core energy system."
Ju Qingmeng mentally simulated it, confirming the full feasibility of Ren Zhong’s idea, and once again sighed, "To complete such phased modular design, you’d need to have a complete overarching plan in mind from the beginning..."
Ren Zhong shrugged, "I mentioned before that I can independently design a complete modification plan for the Fourth Level exoskeleton. Now it’s just upgrading a Third Level to Fourth Level, it’s not very difficult."
Ju Qingmeng was silent for a long time.
She truly wanted to praise Ren Zhong but found herself at a loss for words.
Forget it, after all, it’s not the first day knowing him.
He’s always , over time, one should get used to it.
"Still, there’s a problem. Even the shortest stage takes six hours, which will still affect your daytime hunting."
Ren Zhong shook his head, "No, I have other plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, you will do this and that..."
After returning to Starfire Town, Ren Zhong perfectly played the role of Lin Wang’s "exemplary new team member" over three days.
Although his performance in the abandoned mines wasn’t dazzling, it was steady and brought out functions similar to what Xing Ming had shown before.
In the afternoon "autumn wind operation," he also completed the tasks well.
In the scattered scavenger crowds, a terrifying urban legend was gradually emerging: "Better to meet Bei Lihui than to encounter Ren the Flayer."
Yang Bingzhong and Lin Wang were very satisfied with this.
Lin Wang kept urging and prodding Ren Zhong to go begging, aiming not only to corrupt Ren Zhong but for another intended purpose.
In order to get close to Ma Xiaoling, Ren Zhong had once been very close to Ma Dafu.
Though he fully sided with Lin Wang and Yang Bingzhong now, those two could not entirely shake off a small concern lingering in their minds.
However, after Ma Xiaoling and Ren Zhong publicly broke off, Ren Zhong finally diverged from the so-called benevolent and self-deceiving fool of a Mayor.
The more harshly Ren Zhong exploited the scavengers, the less he would be welcomed by the compassionate Ma Dafu.
From Ma Xiaoling’s response, who intentionally ignored Ren Zhong when crossing paths recently, clenching her fists, snorting several times, and displaying disdain, the clues were clear.
Ma Dafu also stopped summoning Ren Zhong, treating him as if he was nonexistent.
The fallout between the two was unavoidable.
Mr. Yang and Captain Lin could feel that they were transforming a kind person from the citizen class into their own kind.
In private communications, they even derived a sense of satisfaction similar to playing a development game.
Yang Bingzhong was particularly pleased.
As the owner of Starfire Resources, Mr. Yang’s greatest life’s work to date was completely sidelining Ma Dafu, the town’s Mayor, and firmly holding the votes of the town’s citizens in his hands.
Now, he was again taking a pawn from Ma Dafu’s hand.
Even if this pawn was merely a soldier, the sense of achievement did not diminish in the slightest.