I Can Control Resources

...

There was wind in the Underground City.

As for where the wind came from... that would take at least fifty thousand words to explain, so we’ll skip it.

Because of the wind, combined with the fact that the Underground City’s primary color palette was stone, winter here was actually even colder than on the surface.

So, spending a whole day in one of the restricted zones was not a pleasant experience.

At the very least, when Yi Qinglian and the others returned to the Underground City, they truly understood the meaning of "frozen and exhausted," looking utterly wretched.

From last night to this afternoon, for an entire day, she had scoured every place she had been in Zone 93, only to find a few quills in the end.

Yes, a few quills from a Darkthorn Hedgehog.

One of the raw materials.

But what fucking use was that?!

After freezing all night just to find a few quills, Yi Qinglian was so pissed her boobs ached.

In the end, she chose to give up.

She returned to the Underground City.

A large group of Dragon List Geniuses had also given up and returned to the city with her. People like Shaximo, Wei Ya, and Zhou Jin had all stopped searching as well.

"Dammit, why isn’t there anything?!"

"What the hell went wrong?"

"This makes no sense! If Gao Neng can find them, why can’t we?"

"This won’t do! I’m going back out tomorrow!"

The Dragon List Geniuses cursed and grumbled.

But when they got back to the Underground City, they received a piece of news.

Gao Neng’s group had gone to Zone 118.

"Zone 118?"

"That’s strange. There are evolved species in Zone 93, so why would they run off to Zone 118? Don’t tell me Gao Neng’s lost his mind?"

"Who cares about him? I’m freezing my ass off. I need to go take a shower!"

The Dragon List Geniuses were both confused and curious.

Just then, several figures appeared in their line of sight.

Three people and one cat.

They approached from a distance, every one of them glowing with vitality, a stark contrast to the miserable group watching them.

The newcomers were, of course, Gao Neng, Shen Ning’Er, Fang Tangtang, and Gao Xiaomeng.

Fang Tangtang’s little face was flushed, and she looked incredibly excited.

Shen Ning’Er was just as happy.

As for Gao Neng, he was also beaming with a brilliant smile.

However, this was all within his expectations, so he wasn’t about to hum a tune all the way back like Fang Tangtang. After all, they had only found sixty attribute materials and eight evolved species.

Was there anything strange about that?

Not strange at all, okay!

"Gao Neng and his group are back!"

"Looks like they’re heading to the Exchange Hall again!"

"Let’s go see!"

The Dragon List Geniuses immediately followed.

Yi Qinglian’s expression was dark—truly dark. A part of her really didn’t want to watch, but she couldn’t suppress her curiosity.

’Putting on a show. I refuse to believe you found any more attribute materials!’ Yi Qinglian grit her teeth and followed the crowd into the Exchange Hall.

"Huh? What happened to all of you?" Gao Neng glanced back at the geniuses trailing him and noticed that basically all of their faces were dark.

"..." The geniuses said nothing.

Yi Qinglian clenched her teeth so hard they could have shattered.

’What happened to us? Don’t you have a goddamn clue? It’s all because you struck it rich in Zone 93!’

In the end, Yi Qinglian managed to restrain herself and didn’t explode. She wanted to see what Gao Neng would actually pull out.

"Heh." Gao Neng chuckled and paid them no more mind.

He walked straight to the exchange counter.

"A total of sixty attribute materials, plus four evolved species. Please count them!" This time, Gao Neng was quick, dumping out all the prepared attribute materials in one go.

"⊙△⊙" The Alliance exchange counter staff.

"⊙０⊙" The Dragon List Geniuses.

"⊙︿⊙" Shaximo.

"⊙ω⊙" Wei Ya.

"⊙﹏⊙" Zhou Jin.

"⊙▂⊙" Yi Qinglian.

At that moment, the entire Exchange Hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared at the pile of attribute materials shimmering with red, yellow, and green light, and among them, four particularly conspicuous evolved species.

They were stunned.

Completely and utterly stunned.

As if struck by lightning.

Then, a miserable shriek rang out.

"AHHH! Sixty attribute materials and four evolved species! That’s even more than yesterday! I can’t accept this! We went to Zone 93 last night and searched for an entire day! An entire day... I didn’t even find a single fucking quill! They slept all night, and in just half a day, they found this much again! No, this isn’t fair! It’s not fair!"

Following that shriek, the grievance and indignation in the hearts of the Dragon List Geniuses seemed to be ignited by a flame, scorching them until they collapsed onto the floor in disarray.

"This is impossible!"

"Why is this happening to us? Gao Neng has twenty 100% hidden talents, fully formed Spiritual Power, and he can even make genetic weapons! I can tolerate all of that, but why does he also have to have such heaven-defying luck? How are we supposed to compete with him like this?!"

"Most importantly, he’s also handsome!" an ugly man exclaimed, his eyes red with jealousy.

They were all geniuses.

Super-geniuses ranked in the top 300 of the entire Alliance.

They were proud, they were arrogant, and they possessed a fighting spirit that refused to submit to anyone.

They wouldn’t yield to Gao Neng’s strength.

Because in their hearts, they believed that as long as they worked hard, even if they were just a little bit weaker, it was possible to catch up.

But...

Luck!

That was something they couldn’t change!

A person can be outstanding, but you can’t be outstanding *and* have heaven-defying luck! How is anyone else supposed to compare to you?

"AHHH! This is impossible! Gao Neng is a fraud!!!" Yi Qinglian wanted to endure it, but she really couldn’t anymore. She was truly breaking down, feeling dizzy as her legs went weak.

She had endured a day of frigid wind.

She didn’t care about that. She didn’t care that she looked wretched all day. But she just wanted to beat Gao Neng once, even if it was just a small victory.

Why did the heavens favor Gao Neng so much?

They didn’t give her even the slightest chance!

THUD! Yi Qinglian finally face-planted onto the ground. She had fainted from pure rage.

"Sister, are you alright?!" Yi Qingge immediately rushed to support her. His eyes were also a little red. In the Western Alliance, he was a super-genius who stood at the very peak.

Eighteen years old.

Tier Six Late Stage!

And he was even specially designated as S-rank by the Alliance.

Anywhere else, he would be an existence praised by tens of thousands.

But ever since Gao Neng appeared, he felt like a tiny shrimp swimming in the water, completely ignored by everyone.

"Great Sun Buddha, I... Ptui!" Shaximo wanted to say something, but in the end, he found he had absolutely no idea what to say.

He could only use that one sound to express his feelings.

The entire Exchange Hall was filled with all sorts of heaven-lamenting cries.

Gao Neng watched all this and could only spread his hands helplessly. ’I’m someone with a cheat system, and you all insist on competing with me? Aren’t you just asking for misery? Sigh, it’s lonely at the top!’

"Hey, buddy, are you going to count these or not? And what about the attribute materials I turned in yesterday, have the points been calculated? I want to exchange for some Attribute Elixirs today!" Gao Neng was in a hurry to get back and take a shower, but the staff member at the exchange counter just kept standing there dumbfounded.

’What happened to your professional ethics? You can’t just stop working because you’re scared, right?’

"Ah?! Count... count what? Oh... attribute materials. How many did you say there were? Right, sixty... Ah, my god, sixty again! They’re really all attribute materials! And four evolved species! Did you guys really find all this again?" The staff member at the exchange counter shouted one moment and muttered the next, as if he’d gone mad.

"Yeah, it took a lot of effort. I had to walk for a full two hours to find them!" Gao Neng decided it was better to be a little more low-key and make the search process sound more arduous.

Otherwise, these guys might actually go insane.

"Two hours?!" Hearing this, a bunch of the Dragon List Geniuses looked like they were on the verge of fainting again.

"We searched for over twenty hours!"

"And we didn’t find a damn thing!"

"Why did he find so much after only searching for two hours?!"

"..."

It was obvious that no matter what Gao Neng said, these people’s hearts would not be calming down anytime soon.

Because this was destined to be a day of despair.

In the Exchange Hall.

A figure was standing in a corner.

However, because this figure was shrouded in a faint mist, the people around him couldn’t see his appearance clearly.

But this figure was watching everything unfold.

"Good kid. Sixty attribute materials and four evolved species? This kid’s luck is heaven-defying, isn’t it?" After speaking, the figure vanished on the spot.

「Fifteen minutes later.」

Gao Neng walked out of the Exchange Hall.

Then, Zhang Hongying received a message.

"Gao Neng found sixty attribute materials and four evolved species in Zone 118."

"..." Zhang Hongying.

’What is going on? Could it be that Zone 118 is the real place where the evolutionary energy appeared? Then what about yesterday? What was it that I saw with my own eyes?’

Zhang Hongying’s face alternated between red and white. She remembered that she had patted her chest and guaranteed to Yutian and Wu Qingjing that a miracle would happen in Zone 93.

And the result?

Zhang Hongying subconsciously glanced at the door.

Yutian, Wu Qingjing, and a few others who had just returned from Zone 93 were standing at her door, their eyes staring at her like daggers.

"Hong Ying, what about that miracle you promised in Zone 93? This old man’s bones aren’t what they used to be. I spent the whole day searching until my back was about to break, can you believe it?" Yutian was truly exasperated. He had heard the news the moment he returned: Gao Neng had once again come back with a full load.

And what about them?

They had spent the entire day in Zone 93 with their Tier Nine Late Stage strength, just killing low-level mobs.

How could they possibly face anyone after this?

"..." Zhang Hongying didn’t speak.

Because she really didn’t know what to say.

’So the miracle wasn’t in Zone 93? Could it be that the miracle is... on Gao Neng himself?’

As this thought flashed through her mind, Zhang Hongying suddenly shot to her feet. She had abruptly remembered what Gao Neng looked like when he was searching for attribute materials.

"Governor Yun, did you guys blow up any rocks?!"

"Blow up rocks?" Yutian looked completely bewildered.

"Yes, blow up the rocks!"