Genius Chapter 120: Zhou Ke

Chapter 120: Zhou Ke

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

As soon as Yu Zhen finished speaking, a commotion arose in the united front channel, as if no one had expected that the person commanding during this time would be Momo. The name “Archdemon Momo” had already spread on the forums, and many people were aware of his talent in PvE commanding. However, commanding 10 or 20 people is vastly different from commanding 20 groups or 100 groups. Any lack of mental fortitude or carelessness could easily cause all the elite groups in the united front channel to pay the price for his mistakes.

Since the launch of Celestial Horizon, many commanders had appeared, but very few united front commanders had left a lasting impression.

“Damn, I knew Momo was great at commanding dungeons, but I never expected he could command a united front.”

“I had only heard about him before. This was my first time fighting a boss with him, and I don’t know how to describe it—it’s just a completely different feeling.”

“Wasn’t he busy fighting small bosses in the mission secret realm? How did he have time to show up here?”

“Running back and forth between both places—no wonder he’s called the archdemon.”

………

The united front channel became lively, filled with discussions. After Yu Zhen finished speaking, he sent a private message to CloudTraveller, assigning him the task of wrapping things up outside. He then got the group leader role from Honey Roasted Goose, kicking out all the irrelevant members from the group, leaving only the ten of them.

The discussions in the Vicinity channel continued.

ScarletFruit asked again, “So, bro, are you really just neighbors with ReturnToSimplicity?”

Su Mo shifted his gaze away from Yu Zhen and replied, “Neighbors. Why are you asking so much?”

“I’m just really curious. Forgive a merchant for having a sharp and curious mind for gossip,” ScarletFruit sighed deeply. “Bro, haven’t you noticed our chats? On the forum, every famous player has a dedicated thread in the gossip section. But you, you’ve got three entire threads all to yourself.”

Su Mo looked at him in surprise, “Three threads?”

He did glance through the chat logs, but he ignored any links to the StarNet forums.

ScarletFruit continued, “One thread is about you and ReturnToSimplicity, another one is about you and Brother Wanderer, and then there’s a whole thread just about you, with every possible pairing.”

When Su Mo heard this, he couldn’t help but glance at the array master beside him, “…And? Why are you following all this?”

ScarletFruit was momentarily stumped, “…I’m just looking around, joining in on the fun.”

He then added, “I have to say, that author writes really well. The more you follow, the more you get hooked.”

Su Mo asked, “Oh, so you’re hooked?”

ScarletFruit replied, “I’m over it.”

ClearWind was speechless.

Apple couldn’t help but glance at ‘ReturnToSimplicity’ and UnchainedWanderer, feeling that curiosity really did kill the cat. What other connections could these two have that no one else knew about? This was more thrilling than a novel.

The rest of the team quickly gathered, leaving only UnchainedWanderer, Honey Roasted Goose, and Salted Fish Without Salt outside. According to the previous storyline updates, they needed to find Liu Da, who would ferry them into the mission scene. Even though the three of them had been outside during the earlier boss fight, they still received the treasure rewards. It seemed that the rewards for team-based quests were distributed equally, and just being part of the group was enough to earn a share.

This made Honey Roasted Goose and Salted Fish Without Salt feel particularly embarrassed—they hadn’t really done anything, yet they received such generous rewards.

Su Mo said, “It wasn’t easy outside either. The Global Boss was tough to beat.”

He added, “Let’s finish the quest. We should be close to wrapping it up.”

The others, having nothing to do after returning to the mission scene, decided to help the three of them find Liu Da. Fortunately, after defeating the mission boss, the NPCs and quest markers in the small fishing village became much more visible. They eventually found Liu Da behind a mountain in a very hidden location. Luckily, Su Mo and the others, who were familiar with the terrain, led the way; otherwise, finding Liu Da would have been extremely difficult.

From Liu Da, they learned the secret of the small fishing village. It turned out that the scene where Su Mo and his team were located was a secret realm. The people living in this realm were their kin, who lured unsuspecting individuals into the secret realm, ultimately sacrificing them to the Lord of the Deep Sea.

Liu Da, being one of the rare kind-hearted villagers, volunteered to help them rescue people. He planned to sail them around to the back of the secret realm.

At this point, Su Mo realized that Liu Da must have been in this location for a long time. If they had mapped out the secret realm and given the map to Yu Zhen, Yu Zhen might have found Liu Da, allowing them to join forces inside the realm. This would have made defeating the mission boss much easier, which was likely the correct approach.

Unfortunately, they had released the Global Boss, the Lord of the Deep Sea, ahead of time. Yu Zhen and his team’s attention was entirely focused on the Global Boss, so they never ventured deeper into the mountain to find Liu Da.

He thought of this as he looked at Yu Zhen and the others, who were preparing to board the boat and leave.

Honey Roasted Goose said, “Then we’ll board the boat first. You guys should switch accounts, and we’ll meet up in the scene shortly.”

Yu Zhen boarded the boat and, turning his head, locked eyes with Su Mo. The latter quickly averted his gaze, almost as if he were avoiding him. Yu Zhen’s eyes darkened slightly, but he said nothing more.

Su Mo kept his head slightly lowered, and when he looked up again, the boat had already sailed away.

ScarletFruit asked, “Bro, are we switching accounts?”

“Switch,” Su Mo replied, exhaling softly without realizing it.

They boarded the boat and entered the secret realm. By the time Su Mo switched accounts and joined them, their boat seemed to have already entered the scene, and the team voice chat was available. After waiting for about ten minutes, the entire team gathered and began working on the subsequent tasks.

After defeating the boss, there weren’t many challenging tasks left. The only difficult part was making the villagers realize the truth about the Lord of the Deep Sea. Given the mission’s background and the deep-rooted belief of the fishermen in sea monsters, they had to use the available conditions to awaken the remaining villagers. Additionally, the fishermen who had previously harmed others for the Lord of the Deep Sea had been transformed into hideous sea monsters, doomed never to set foot on land again, forced to survive in the deep sea for the rest of their lives.

After some effort, the fishermen were fully enlightened, marking the completion of the [East Sea Fishing Village] quest.

Upon completion, they triggered the rewards and received the [Gift of the East Sea Fishermen] as their clearance reward. For a five-star quest, receiving two quest boxes wasn’t too bad, and they also unlocked access to the special scene [Fishing Village Secret Realm].

ScarletFruit was shocked, “Does that mean we can come here to fish for Lucky Fish from now on?”

Apple replied, “You make it sound like catching Lucky Fish is easy. Didn’t you see the new storyline update? The drop rate for Lucky Fish is only 0.0001%.”

ScarletFruit turned to look at Momo, his wealthy patron, and asked, “Bro, any plans to start a Lucky Fish seafood wholesale business?”

Su Mo was casually using the Myriad Palace Insight skill and responded nonchalantly, “We’ll talk about it when there’s time.”

Myriad Palace Insight didn’t always yield something lucky, but this time, Su Mo unexpectedly got a never-before-seen attribute called [Focus]. Focus was a positive attribute commonly used in life skills, which increased the success rate of forging and crafting. For those in life professions, it was an essential attribute, but it appeared very rarely, usually only during moments of sudden insight.

Finding this rare positive attribute, Su Mo was intrigued and decided to open both boxes right away. From the [Gift of the East Sea Fishermen], he actually obtained an 80-level PvE equipment piece.

Su Mo asked, “Quests drop equipment too?”

“They do. I remember reading in one of the weekly announcements that the quest system is interconnected. It just said that it’s easier to get PvE equipment from quest dungeons, but it didn’t say that regular quests wouldn’t drop anything,” ClearWind recalled. “I remember several top players who didn’t have luck with dungeons either exchanged gear or got it from quests, so there are quite a few ways to obtain it.”

Su Mo already had all his PvP gear, but he was still missing a few pieces of PvE equipment. Last time, he got one from Iron Fortress, and now, to his surprise, another one dropped from a quest.

The attributes on this piece were decent, perfectly usable for a summoner, and it was part of the set he needed. It was an unexpected bonus.

Seeing the remaining [Lord of the Deep Sea: Secret Treasure] in his inventory, Su Mo decided to open it without hesitation. However, the item that came out this time was quite unusual—a type of material he had never seen before. This material was called [Lunar Charm], the highest-grade golden material.

[Lunar Charm: Essence of the moon, an extremely rare forging material.]

The high-level materials that drop in Celestial Horizon are usually listed in the official database, where players can easily look up their uses. Most of these materials are tradeable. For example, forging materials often have specific attributes or bonus entries highlighted, making it easier for players to choose the right material for enhancing their weapons. However, the description for this [Lunar Charm] was just one line, with no attribute hints at all.

Noticing Su Mo’s slightly troubled expression, Yu Zhen asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I opened a very strange non-tradeable material,” Su Mo replied. Just as he shared the material with Yu Zhen, he noticed that the array master was standing very close to him, causing him to instinctively take half a step back. “There’s no information about it in the database.”

Yu Zhen noticed Su Mo’s subtle retreat but maintained his composure as he continued, “There are two possibilities when there’s no information. One is that it’s an extremely rare material tied to some future gameplay mechanic. The other is that it’s a versatile material that can enhance any attribute.”

He added, “Since it’s labeled as a forging material, that might be a clue, so the latter possibility seems more likely.”

Su Mo hesitated slightly, “A versatile material? So, it can be used for any type of forging.”

Yu Zhen replied, “Pretty much.”

As Su Mo began opening his boxes, the others followed suit. Some received equipment, others obtained item skills, and some even got pet eggs. The team was bustling with excitement, but Su Mo noticed Yu Zhen’s silence and, recalling the earlier awkwardness between them, Su Mo took the initiative and asked, “Bro, what did you get?”

Yu Zhen turned to him, showing Su Mo the two items he had received: an equipment piece and a skill. The equipment was also a missing piece for PvE, and the skill was a half-health burst skill.

“This piece probably doesn’t need to be reforged…” Su Mo was examining it when he suddenly heard a notification sound and realized it was already 11 AM.

He quickly logged off, not having time to explain. As he disconnected from the holographic interface, he glanced to see Yu Zhen also removing his head-mounted loader. After playing for so long, it was easy to forget some of the small details.

For example, since last night, Yu Zhen had been at his house without leaving.

Su Mo said, “Lele seems to be making lunch. I’ll go check on it.”

Yu Zhen responded, “Mm.”

Su Mo hurriedly stood up, but the sudden dizziness made him unsteady on his feet. Just then, a hand reached out to steady him, and concerned words came from the side.

“Are you alright?” Yu Zhen asked, frowning slightly and looking at Su Mo with worry.

Su Mo took a moment to steady himself, “I’m fine, just got up too quickly.”

He often felt dizzy after sitting for a long time, and he had almost forgotten about it when he stood up so quickly.

Su Mo said, “I’ll go over now.”

Yu Zhen sat back on the sofa, watching the figure of Su Mo as he walked towards the kitchen, his expression growing slightly somber.

He naturally noticed things like Su Mo’s avoidance since morning, his occasional glances and evasive movements in the game, and the fleeting emotions that crossed Su Mo’s eyes when he disconnected from the loader.

Was Su Mo avoiding him?

Lele had prepared meals for the three of them. When Su Mo tried to help serve the dishes, he was stopped by the robot and ended up only being able to help with the side dishes.

When he came out, he noticed Yu Zhen sitting by the sofa, seemingly looking at terminal information. Su Mo’s gaze uncontrollably drifted towards Yu Zhen, from his hand holding the terminal to his face. He couldn’t help but recall the chaotic and evocative dream from last night and said, “Brother Zhen, it’s time to eat.”

Yu Zhen looked up, his gaze sweeping over the lunch spread on the table, and his farewell words momentarily faltered.

In the end, he stayed to eat.

“Su Mo, are you heading back to school in the afternoon?” Lele asked Su Mo. “You’ll need to book the hovercar in advance.”

Su Mo paused slightly and asked, “Has the leave request been approved?”

Lele replied, “Yes, it’s been approved. You have a five-day leave, including the weekend, so you can rest for a full week.”

Yu Zhen asked, “Leave?”

“Yes, I have a medical check-up scheduled for Wednesday. Some tests can be uncomfortable, and I need a day to recuperate and be in good shape.”

Su Mo had a regular schedule for medical check-ups, which used to be every three months but had been changed to every six months. Each check-up was never easy for him—some tests were simple, but others could be quite uncomfortable. Therefore, he always took leave in advance to give himself time to recover.

This time, the check-up schedule was confirmed with Dr. Wu previously. There were a few tests that required in-depth examination, so Su Mo had to set aside extra time for them.

“I also need to visit the school in the afternoon to hand over the experimental data to my senior.”

With a week off, he needed to arrange some matters in advance to avoid delaying the experiment.

Lele, following the owner’s instructions, opened the hovercar reservation channel to book a car. “What time should I schedule it for?”

Just as Su Mo was about to speak, Yu Zhen said, “I’ll take you there.”

“I’m free in the afternoon. I can drop you off and pick you up.”

Yu Zhen added, “I’ve been intruding here for quite a while. I’ll be your driver this afternoon.”

Feeling a bit awkward about the situation, Su Mo couldn’t refuse and agreed.

After agreeing, Su Mo felt that their relationship seemed a bit distant. After all, brother Zhen had previously mentioned that they didn’t need to be so formal with each other…

***

In the afternoon, the two of them didn’t log into the game but instead went to Capital University.

Upon arrival, Su Mo hurried to the laboratory to organize the data. When he got there, his senior, Zhou, was not present, so he left a message. When he came out, he saw Yu Zhen standing in the corridor outside the laboratory, looking at the electronic bulletin board on the wall. The man, tall and upright, wore dress pants and a white shirt that accentuated his straight and well-defined waist. Even from a distance, his unique and stern aura made him appear like a poised hunter, constantly exuding a sense of intimidation.

Yu Zhen, silent and lacking his usual gentleness, seemed as sharp as a blade.

Su Mo noticed this and his gaze lingered on Yu Zhen’s arm, as if the lean and stern lines from his dream were right before his eyes.

“All done?”

“Su Mo?”

Su Mo snapped back to reality and noticed that Yu Zhen was looking at him. For a moment, his heart raced uncontrollably, an indescribable feeling seemed to rise from his chest and travel up his throat, leaving him a bit dry-mouthed.

Suddenly, he forgot what to say.

The silence between them lingered until the vibration of his terminal reminded him.

“Senior Zhou isn’t in the laboratory. I have a data storage board that I need to give him,” Su Mo said, picking up his terminal and reading a message from Senior Zhou. “It looks like he hasn’t gone too far. He’s at his cousin’s store and can’t leave, so he asked me to bring it to him later.”

Yu Zhen asked, “What about now?”

Su Mo pointed to the electronic board in his hand. “The data needs to be kept confidential. I need to drop off two documents with my advisor first.”

After dropping off the documents, it was already past four o’clock.

Every time Su Mo talked with his advisor, the advisor always showed concern for his well-being, asking about his health and whether he had encountered any problems, like a kindly elder who could chat for a long time. Su Mo was used to it; normally, he could have a long conversation with his advisor, but today he was noticeably distracted.

The advisor squinted slightly at Su Mo, rarely seeing him so distracted. “What’s the matter?”

Su Mo met his advisor’s gaze. “I have a friend waiting for me.”

The advisor was momentarily taken aback but then smiled and said, “Then go on. It’s not good to keep someone waiting.”

Su Mo stood up to take his leave, leaving the tea he had brought on the advisor’s desk.

After Su Mo left, the advisor walked to the window and looked out, seeing Su Mo exit the building and join the man waiting nearby. They seemed to exchange a few words.

“What’s the matter? Wasn’t your disciple just here to see you?” asked a newly arrived professor.

The advisor shifted his gaze away from the two of them. “He left. Young people need to make friends, not just stay locked away in the laboratory all day.”

The professor chuckled, “If my students were as proactive as Su Mo, I wouldn’t have to worry about guiding them through their papers all the time.”

The advisor smiled. “Care for some tea?”

***

The convenience store was not far from Capital University; just a few steps around the corner and he would be there. Yu Zhen went to park the hovercar, while Su Mo took the data storage board into the store. He rarely came to this place, as the parts there were too expensive; he usually went to an outlying recycling station to buy parts.

As soon as he entered the store, a part-time student came up to him and directed him, “Senior Zhou mentioned that you should go straight to the back. He’s fixing a machine.”

Su Mo followed the directions and saw Senior Zhou talking with a young man dressed in casual homewear.

The man looked quite young, shorter than Senior Zhou, with a very refined appearance but an expression of sharp calculation in his eyes. He was holding an electronic board and calculating, “Wait a minute, cousin, this part costs 300 star coins, but you’ve written 350 here. Are you trying to rip me off?”

Hearing the voice, Su Mo’s gaze faltered slightly; it sounded too familiar.

Senior Zhou said, “It’s not a rip-off. The part costs 300, and the assembly fee is 50.”

He waved to Su Mo.

The man kept his eyes on the electronic board and grumbled, “Are you overcharging for the assembly fee? 50? My younger brother’s assembly fee isn’t as high as yours.”

Senior Zhou replied, “If you don’t like it, find someone else. This is my labor cost.”

The man continued, “How about this: let’s just include the assembly fee in the total. I’ll give you 450 in total. Does that work?”

Senior Zhou agreed, “Fine, fine, fine.”

As Su Mo approached, Senior Zhou introduced him to the man, “This is my junior, the genius I told you about. Su Mo, this is my cousin, Zhou Ke.”

Zhou Ke turned and, seeing Su Mo looking at him, extended his hand warmly, “Hello, hello. I’m Zhou Ke, the owner of the convenience store. Just call me Zhou Ge.”

Su Mo’s expression became somewhat peculiar, but he finally shook hands with him.

“Hello, I’m Su Mo.”