Way of the Devil

“Alright, thank you, mister.” Lu Sheng nodded with satisfaction.

“As long as you’re happy.”

The smoking man looked on as Lu Sheng went over to inspect his newly modified armor. Then, Lu Sheng donned it.

“The modifications are done. I’ll be leaving now. Thank you for your help.” Lu Sheng bade him farewell politely.

The man blew out smoke, and said drily, “Don’t forget you have 700 tibs’ worth of allocation left. It’s still under your student card.”

“Mhm, I won’t,” Lu Sheng replied to him from within the armor.

After exiting the modifications room, Lu Sheng did not do what the other students did, testing the effects of the modifications in the Testing Area. Instead, he went into another modifications room that was unoccupied.

His Harmonizing Power’s range was one kilometer wide. He could use it as an anti-detection ability.

After making sure that the staff was not inside, Lu Sheng decisively locked the door from the inside.

These modifications rooms were equipped with secretive technologies to satisfy the needs of students who wished to carry out their personal modifications in secret.

With his Harmonizing Power, Lu Sheng had observed the entire modification process carried out by the smoking man, and basically mastered the entire process.

He swiftly removed his armor and went into the control room.

The control room was a glass room opposite the empty space where the modifications took place. There was a white rock column within it, with a simple computer embedded in it. The screen’s white light was slightly glaring in the dark room.

Lu Sheng reached out and tapped the screen.

“Please choose the components to add,” the computer spoke in an artificial voice.

“External bulletproof armor,” Lu Sheng replied calmly.

“Choice complete. Please select the quantity.”

Lu Sheng gave it some thought.

“Let’s start with 20 sets.”

“Are you sure that you want to add 20 sets of external bulletproof armor?”

“I’m sure.” Lu Sheng took out his IC card and paid for the surcharge.

One set cost 100 tibs, so 20 sets was 2,000 tibs. This was the best deal he could think of when modifying his armor.

The thick and heavy alloy plates were piled up on the surface of his armor. As time ticked by, his armor became thicker than two meters.

Because of the extra layers, his armor’s height was now more than three meters, and its thickness was more than two meters. It was a massive object right now.

“Top up on tibs.” Lu Sheng inserted his IC card into the card slot.

“Add on 50 sets of light radiation-resistant armor.” When Lu Sheng saw that the thickness was acceptable, he continued with another request.

“Are you sure that you want to add 50 sets of radiation-resistant armor?”

“Yes.”

These 50 sets of armor cost 10,000 tibs. To the current Lu Sheng, it was nothing. He had the money.

While the modifications were underway, Lu Sheng did a rough estimate of the height and width of the doorframe. He knew that he could not make any more modifications; otherwise, his armor would be too big to even go out from the door. Also, he would not be able to bring it back to his dormitory. It would also be a problem for him to hide it.

“Well, I have the money.” He glanced at the recommended beginner’s basic armor configuration chart on the wall.

The configuration chart contained more than the cheapest bulletproof external armors. There were also suggestions on basic sword and shield configurations and simple explosive motions systems.

‘Should I include some weapons?’ Lu Sheng gave it some thought. ‘No, it’s fine. Weapons aren’t really that important.’

‘Next, it’s time to improve mobility. Let’s start with two sets of short-range explosive strengthened motion force.’

Half an hour later…

Lu Sheng checked the powerful armor he had just customized. He tried to control his armor remotely with his expansive Harmonizing Power.

“Click.”

The armor swayed and slowly stood up. With a height of more than four meters and a width of more than two meters, it was now a massive object that could barely be contained within the modifications room.

Lu Sheng moved his right arm. He felt a weight of 250 grams on his arm. The combined weight on his entire body was slightly more than two kilograms.

‘As expected, Harmonizing Power is capable of lessening the weight of the armor.’ He glanced at the weight measurement on the right of the screen.

“Total weight: 23,341 dirons.”

According to the unit of weight in this world, Lu Sheng did some conversions, and calculated the actual weight of the armor. It was about 45 tons.

‘The protective power of this armor should be enough. I’ll take one-tenth of this onto myself and form a force field.’

Lu Sheng closed his eyes and felt the Harmonizing Power around him.

The insignificant Harmonizing Power before that now had some vague substance. It could be gathered around him more swiftly to form a physical force field.

‘It’s still an armor given by the academy, after all. If I don’t have anywhere to store it, it’ll be discovered by others very easily…’ Lu Sheng pondered about this issue with a frown.

His Harmonizing Power enabled him to control the armor with its heavy weight. However, this fact would also make it easy for the other students to know his true strength. He would be a deviant among them, and would be ostracized further.

“Next, I’ll need this…” Lu Sheng had thought of the backup plan early on.

His sight quickly fell on the other accessories on the screen.

He was looking at two items. Simple ore extraction and refining system and the remote-control armor ring.

***

Half an hour later, Lu Sheng strolled out from the Logistics Department casually. He was wearing the ordinary student uniform. His armor had already exited the modifications room silently through the underground lake where the water source for the cooling system was.

With Lu Sheng’s expansive Harmonizing Power, despite his armor’s size, it easily evaded the surveillance system. At the same time, through remote control, his armor moved as nimbly as if he was inside it, and easily left the Logistics Department. His armor went over to the dumpster outside the academy.

Due to his oversized armor, Lu Sheng decided to have it remain in the underground lake. He would have his armor stay in the water when it was idle. His armor would keep searching for mineral ores to refine and add onto itself.

The armors of this world were extremely peculiar. There was no need for any power source; most of the batteries needed were for the external accessories that increased the armors’ explosive power or stamina.

However, the armor itself had no need for any core energy source. It ran fully on Harmonizing Power.

This saved Lu Sheng the trouble of searching for batteries for the armor. After all, his Harmonizing Power was powerful enough. He would have no problem wearing his armor and supporting it for a few days and nights.

Lu Sheng’s initial objective was not about fighting with his modified armor. Instead, he wanted to use the protective force field and a tenth of its protective power it gave him.

Lu Sheng sat on a long bench by the road outside the Logistics Department’s main entrance. He closed his eyes and rested his mind for a bit. After hiding his armor into the depths of the lake completely, he stood up, swept the dust off his pants, and got ready to head back.

As for the upcoming final examinations, he would have to use the student armor. He had no intentions whatsoever to sit for any examination. This was the same with the money he borrowed from the loan sharks.

He did not come here to live an honest life.

‘Now, it’s time for me to carefully investigate about the culprit…’

Lu Sheng went back to his dormitory and packed some of his stuff. Then, he went directly to the next dormitory building to look for Shajay, who had been hiding something from him previously.

…

Dormitory Number Two.

In his room, Shajay carefully placed the final card onto the top of the card building on his desk.

“So, this is a problem created by you and your men in the Iron Screen again. Last night’s murder case was the third consecutive case. The academy’s patience is at its limits already,” Shajay spoke in a cold and soft voice.

A strong man stood in a corner of the room. He had his arms crossed before himself.

“We never expected anyone to be investigating that case. It’s been so long, after all,” the man spoke in a deep voice.

“That’s your problem. I’ve helped you once, but there won’t be a second time,” Shajay said coldly.

“That’s enough. The initial plan is to take care of that fellow after the final examinations. The unexpected issue now is that there’s someone else besides that fellow looking into the case as well…” the man spoke in his deep voice. “Hold on, someone’s here.” He suddenly hid himself in the curtains behind the wardrobe.

Shajay was stunned as well. At this time, everyone should have been excitedly trying out their new armor.

He wondered who would be looking for him.

Shajay stood up and spoke loudly. “Who’s there?”

“Hi, Shajay. It’s me, Jorin,” said Lu Sheng from the other side of the door.

“Jorin? Is something the matter?” Shajay found this strange, but he could not quite put his finger on it.

“The thing is, I’ve some slight issues with my armor, and I was hoping to ask you about it since you’re the class monitor,” Lu Sheng replied seriously.

Shajay narrowed his eyes. He saw the strong man from the Iron Screen walk out slowly. With a click, he flicked out a dagger and made a throat-slitting gesture at him.

Shajay felt that it was off as well. He had no blood ties with Jorin, and they were not close at all. It was truly suspicious that he would abruptly come to his room to ask for his guidance.

Shajay peeked through the door hole, and saw that Lu Sheng indeed stood outside. His suspicion was eased.

“Click.”

Shajay opened the door and stood at the entrance.

The two of them stood at the door, face to face.

“Class monitor, I’ve come all the way to ask for your guidance about an armor-related issue.” Lu Sheng moved forward with a smile. He intended to push past Shajay.

“Just say it where you are.” Shajay tried to bar Lu Sheng’s way.

“Outside? Uh, this is quite a personal problem. I wouldn’t want the others to hear about it.” Lu Sheng made a pleading expression.

Shajay felt that something was off. However, Lu Sheng was inching closer to him. He had no choice but to let him pass.

The two of them entered the room. Shajay closed the door slowly. A menacing look flashed across his eyes.

When he turned around, the man from the Iron Screen had already hidden himself without a trace. Lu Sheng, on the other hand, sat casually on the couch.

With his hands behind his back, Shajay made a gesture toward the curtain.

“Alright, Jorin. Now, can you tell me about this problem of yours?” He produced a single-edge short sword with a purplish glint behind him. With the blade concealed behind his back, he slowly walked toward Lu Sheng.

He could not allow anyone to notice that the people from the Iron Screen were in his room. As for Jorin, if he noticed any trace at all, he would have no choice but to kill him.

After all, the people from the Bai Family had been showing up in the academy lately. There had been four missing students as of late. It would be nothing to have the Bai Family take credit for another life.

“Shajay.” All of a sudden, Lu Sheng made a strange expression. “Tell me the truth. Why have you been following me before this?”

“Following you?”

…

In the female dormitory opposite Shajay’s room.

Xia Cheng and her two close friends were discussing about the arrangements for their upcoming outing.

When one of her close friends stood up and parted the curtains, she suddenly saw Lu Sheng on the couch while Shajay was standing in the opposite room. They seemed to be having a conversation.

“Isn’t that Shajay? So, I can see the class monitor’s room directly from here? Not bad,” said her close friend as she giggled. “He’s the second young master of the Sha Group. I’m actually curious to know how such a young master lives his daily life.”

“Really?” Xia Cheng smiled. She stood up and looked in the same direction.

“Why’s Jorin meeting up with Shajay?” She found this strange.

“I don’t think that’s Jorin. He doesn’t seem to be intimidated while speaking with young master Sha. It must be some other young master of another Group,” said the other girl in a soft voice, frowning. She had also stood up to look at the unfolding scene in the opposite room.

Xia Cheng frowned and said nothing.