C4 The Mind of My Strange Roommate

Just as he had suspected, Liangzi's pocket held not only his wallet but also a small knife with a blade measuring 7 to 8 centimeters in length.

"You actually brought a knife. If I hadn't been on my guard, you could have really done some damage!" Feng Manlou exclaimed, delivering a sharp slap to Liangzi's head.

"Big brother, I carry the knife for self-defense, not to use against you," Liangzi pleaded, on the verge of tears. "You've got an iron rod over a meter long. If I'd pulled out my knife, you would have beaten me to a pulp."

Manlou considered this and conceded the point. But recalling Liangzi's earlier bravado, he couldn't help but give him a few more slaps in anger. "What's wrong with you, stealing from others? You're living comfortably while the people you rob are left miserable!"

"Big brother, I swear I'll reform and never steal again," Liangzi implored.

Promises from the idle are worth next to nothing. Manlou ignored him and rifled through the wallet.

It contained a substantial sum—over a thousand yuan.

Without hesitation, he pocketed eight hundred yuan.

"Five hundred for the phone repair, two hundred for medical costs, and a hundred for the bike repair. I'm not extorting you, am I?"

"No, no, eight hundred is actually too little," Liangzi quickly agreed.

"Good, at least you're sensible," Manlou grunted.

He returned the wallet to Liangzi's pocket, confiscated the knife and iron rod, stood up, yanked the motorcycle key out, and hurled it over the construction site's wall, then retrieved his phone.

Fortunately, the phone's screen wasn't cracked—just a bit scuffed. It seemed to still work fine.

"Dealt with a thief and a thug, earning 20 Heroic Points."

An unexpected bonus. Not bad at all.

Satisfied, Manlou nodded to himself, mounted his bicycle, and pedaled away.

Watching Manlou vanish into the night, Liangzi rubbed his sore head, got up, and cursed his luck.

"Damn, if I'd known this skinny guy was skilled in martial arts, I wouldn't have been so stubborn. Now I've taken a beating and am out eight hundred yuan."

"Ouch, Liangzi, hurry and take me to the hospital! Something's swollen down there..."

Great, looks like I'm going to be out more than 800 yuan tonight.

"Liuzi, hold on, I'm finding the car keys right now!"

Back at school, Feng Manlou first stopped by the infirmary to pick up some Yun An white medicine spray and three-seven capsules before heading back to his dorm.

His roommates, including Da Bai, were in the thick of a gaming session. Glancing at the Bluetooth speaker on the table, Feng Manlou noticed it was already half-past ten and silently cursed them for being such time thieves.

"Maniac, why are you back so late? You're going to starve us to death..."

Da Bai's complaint was cut short as he caught sight of the food. "Holy cow, what kind of late-night snack did you bring? It's all sharp and colorful?!"

"Instant noodles," Feng Manlou said, shaking the bag. "Braised beef, pickled vegetables, shrimp and fish, mushroom chicken stew, pork ribs with kelp – it's got everything."

Du Xinbo, known as Da Bai, nearly choked. "Are you kidding me? You went out to distribute flyers and all you brought back was instant noodles? What happened to brotherhood and loyalty?"

"Cut me some slack, or just order delivery. I took a beating today and totally forgot about the late-night snack." Tossing the plastic bag to Du Xinbo, Feng Manlou started to undress, wincing as his wounds pulled painfully.

The system had him confront the thugs, but it didn't leave him unscathed.

Noticing a shoeprint-shaped bruise on his stomach, Du Xinbo (Da Bai), Ren Haoqiu (Sanqiu), Zhou Sihai (Hai Zi), Lee Fann (annoying), and Lee Nan (Amu) all dropped their phones and crowded around.

"Maniac, don't tell me you got beat up for harassing a girl?" Lee Fann asked, ever the chatterbox.

"Damn, why is your hand also swollen?!" Zhou Sihai, sporting a head full of curls, lifted Feng Manlou's hand, "Maniac, don't tell me you were getting handsy with a girl's behind?"

Feng Manlou was at a loss for words.

He rolled his eyes, exasperated, "Beat it, I'm nothing like you. I don't have those kinds of twisted thoughts!"

"What the heck happened? Spit it out!" Du Xinbo pressed.

"I'll fill you in later. First, I need to shower and wash my clothes. I took a spill, and now I'm covered in dirt... What the—what are you guys doing?!"

As his dorm mates swarmed him, intent on stripping him without explanation, Feng Manlou nearly unleashed his Five-step Fist again, which would have turned the room upside down.

"Why bother washing clothes? There's a washing machine in the hallway. I haven't done my laundry either, so let's just wash them together. Go take your shower, and afterward, you can share your tragic tale!" Du Xinbo suggested while yanking at his trousers.

"Jeez, you gave me a fright—I thought you all suddenly came out. I can undress myself, thank you very much!"

Bare-bottomed, Feng Manlou stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

As the water cascaded over him, he reactivated the system to examine it more closely.

It was an incredibly straightforward system, consisting of just two elements: the Fist Technique he had already mastered and Heroic Points.

"System, how do I use Heroic Points to exchange for martial arts techniques?"

Feng Manlou inquired curiously as he lathered up with body wash.

The light curtain shifted, revealing four options: [Outer Family Boxing], [Inner Family Boxing], [Martial World Ultimate Technique], and [Fantasy Ultimate Technique].

Feng Manlou quickly scanned the list, his eyes widening in wonder.

He set aside the Outer Family Boxing, which required a maximum of 666 points, the Inner Family Boxing at 1332 points, and the Martial World Ultimate Technique at 2664 points.

But the starting point of 13332 for the Fantasy Ultimate Technique, featuring moves like [Heavenly Horse Meteor Fist], [One Punch from Saitama], [Green Giant's Gamma Ray], [Realm King Fist], and [Absolute Kill Without Slapping]—all straight out of comics—was something else entirely.

This was ridiculously overpowered!

If he mastered Saitama's punch, wouldn't he be unstoppable, obliterating everything in his path, from foes to monsters alike?

Upon reflection, Feng Manlou realized there weren't many bugs after all.

He had courageously intervened once and had a tough fight with thieves and hoodlums another time, earning a mere 30 Heroic Points by sheer luck. To think he could amass over 10,000 points quickly was pure fantasy.

C Country is the third strongest military power on Blue Star and boasts the second-largest economy. Unless other nations lost their minds and decided to obliterate the planet, a large-scale invasion seemed highly improbable.

He knew it was out of the question for him to earn the maximum Heroic Points by defending the city gates like a legendary hero.

Serving the country and its people, Feng Manlou believed that no act of heroism could be more noble than protecting one's homeland.

Feng Manlou wasn't one to seek instant success. Even after realizing the advantages of being a skilled fighter, he decided to progress steadily, one step at a time.

Yelling "Who else?!" from the mountaintop would be exhilarating, but if that was out of reach for now, he was content to be a carefree white goose in a pond.

After his shower, Feng Manlou, clad in his tattered boxer shorts, stepped out of the bathroom only to find that Da Bai and the others had already stocked up on potato chips, cola, and popcorn.

"Seriously? Are you guys for real? You're treating my unfortunate experience like some kind of spectacle?"

"Come on, if you're lively enough to hop around in the shower, you're obviously alright. Why should we worry? We're better off being an attentive audience."

Du Xinbo gestured dismissively, then suddenly adopted a grave tone, "But before we get started, you need to come clean about something else."

Feng Manlou was taken aback, having never seen Da Bai this serious in the two months they'd known each other.

"What's that?"

Du Xinbo grabbed the deflated pillow from Lee Nan, pointing to the torn end. "Bro, are you really that desperate?"

"If you're really struggling that much, Amu's girlfriend has a friend who's quite nice and pretty good-looking. I was going to introduce her to someone else, but maybe you should meet her first?"

Feng Manlou's mouth twitched. "What do you think I did to the pillow?"

Du Xinbo squeezed the pillow into a round shape, coincidentally the size of the unmentionable. "What did you remove? That's exactly what we're thinking."

"What did I remove?"

All five nodded in agreement and chorused, "Just remove the 'what' from your sentence. That's our suspicion."

Damn, a bunch of freaks! They actually suspect I have an inappropriate relationship with a pillow!

What kind of pillow do they think this is, an inflatable one?!

This is beyond the pale! Auntie might stand for it, but Uncle won't!

In a flash, Feng Manlou lost his temper, grabbed two pillows, and charged at them.

"You bunch of despicable old lechers, prepare to meet your maker!"

"Stay calm, let's not turn on each other!"

After a scuffle, with their heads covered in cotton, the five sat down to listen to Feng Manlou recount his recent ordeal.

"So that's what happened. I floored that thug Liuzi and slapped the thief Liangzi a good dozen times. I took their iron rods, daggers, and motorcycle keys, and got out of there unscathed."

To save face, Feng Manlou glossed over the incident with Xia Lan and the milk tea shop, simply saying the girl thanked him and left.

The five picked cotton from their hair, exchanged glances, and then turned to Feng Manlou, who was applying Yunnan Baiyao to his knuckles.

"Manlou, are you sure you didn't just wipe out on your bike?" Du Xinbo was still skeptical.

Feng Manlou, being lean and not as active as him, how could he have taken on two street toughs?

"Ridiculous. If I'd fallen into a pit, I'd have a shoe print on my stomach and my head would be bleeding. Do you see any other injuries on me?!"

"Manlou, why didn't you report this to the police? What if they come back for you later?" Ren Haoqiu believed him, but questioned his approach.

In a law-abiding society, brawling only escalates the problem, a sentiment nearly everyone shares.

After rinsing his mouth and swallowing three Seven Cure Blood Capsules, Feng Manlou gave his charging phone on the bed a shake and sighed, "I had intended to call the cops before I threw a punch, but my phone died."

"Why not use those two guys' phones to call the police? That way..." Ren Haoqiu's suggestion was cut short by Zhou Sihai's interjection.

"Once you've hit someone, you can't just call the police. Madman's already floored those two and gave Liuzi a boot in the groin. There are no cameras on Nucai Road. Try explaining that mess at the station; you'd be lucky to avoid a mutual combat charge, let alone not end up owing them compensation."

Zhou Sihai continued, "I actually think Madman did the right thing. Those two are up to no good. As long as he doesn't report it, they surely won't have the guts to either. If he steers clear of the snack street from now on, we can consider the whole incident behind us."

"I'm of the same mind," Feng Manlou nodded in agreement.