"If calculated like this," Zhang Yanhang thought, "the day after I leave the Ashen World, I should be able to finish repairing the abandoned Transmission Channel. Not bad at all."

Zhang Yanhang prepared that next time he came over, he would go take a look at the other side of the abandoned Transmission Channel, striving to upgrade his SS Level Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea Talent to SSS Level, or even higher.

Aside from this problem regarding the abandoned Transmission Channel, Zhang Yanhang still had another equally important issue related to the Transmission Channels to solve: whether he should continue to stay in the Ashen World or return to the Main World in advance.

Mainly because Zhang Yanhang felt that staying in the Ashen World now, he really didn't have anything to do. Although he could try to clear the surrounding new areas, the other new areas around were each larger than the last, and he could only clean up a small part in twelve hours at most.

For example, the beige mountains to the south of Raccoon City—just a casual scan made him feel that the area was at least a thousand square kilometers, or even possibly several thousands of square kilometers.

It took Zhang Yanhang four days to clear a 400-square-kilometer Demonized Swamp, so for those new areas that could be thousands of kilometers, even if he spent all the remaining twelve hours on clearing, it was not certain that he could complete even 2% of the cleanup, especially since he could not use Death Wave at will right now, so his cleaning efficiency had decreased compared to his Peak Period.

As for the seemingly endless walls to the east of Raccoon City, Zhang Yanhang felt that it was larger than the beige mountains, and if he invested twelve hours now, it was uncertain whether he could clear even 1% of the area. Therefore, he was too lazy to bother with it and decided to wait until after his Promotion to Third Tier.

"So, the question is," Zhang Yanhang pondered, "since I have nothing to do in the Ashen World now, should I return to the Main World?"

After careful thought, Zhang Yanhang ultimately felt that it was actually fine to stay in the Ashen World a little longer since returning to the Main World would just mean being available ten hours later to start clearing the new area opposite the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu Underground Passage.

"Since I'm not returning to the Main World ahead of time, then what should I do next? After all, I still have twelve hours, which is enough time to get a lot done. Should I open the Treasure box now? No, I'll wait until after I clear the Goblin Plain and the third-prize pool of the Lucky Slot Machine in Raccoon City before opening them together."

The Goblin Plain and the third-prize pool of the Lucky Slot Machine in Raccoon City would refresh again in about eleven hours, and Zhang Yanhang thought he should wait, as there was no hurry.

As for what to do with the next eleven hours, Zhang Yanhang decided to use them for the Fusion of Thermo-baric Bombs. He had accumulated a good number of Thermo-baric Bombs +3, and it was time for some fusion.

But before that, he had planned to first fuse some regular Thermo-baric Bombs, as he had again reached the cap for them and could generate two more Thermo-baric Bombs +3.

After spending ten minutes on the fusion, Zhang Yanhang had two more Thermo-baric Bombs +3 in hand. Including the previous thirteen, he now had a total of fifteen Thermo-baric Bombs +3, just one more Thermo-baric Bomb +3 away from beginning the fusion to produce a Thermo-baric Bomb +7.

Since he had the time for the fusion of Thermo-baric Bomb +7 next, Zhang Yanhang did not delay and directly used Energy Value to create the incomplete Thermo-baric Bombs to fuse the sixteenth Thermo-baric Bomb +3.

"Next, I will officially begin fusing the second Thermo-baric Bomb +7," Zhang Yanhang said as he poured the Thermo-baric Bombs +3 from his Waist Bag, including the newly fused three, all onto the Alchemy Array. He immediately started the Alchemy process.

The first batch of eight Thermo-baric Bombs +4 took Zhang Yanhang an average of ten minutes per bomb to fuse, resulting in a total of eighty minutes to complete them. Then he began fusing Thermo-baric Bombs +5 and, after the same eighty minutes, produced four Thermo-baric Bombs +5.

But the fusion of Thermo-baric Bombs +6 was not as quick; the previous eight Thermo-baric Bombs +4 or the four Thermo-baric Bombs +5 together needed only eighty minutes, yet fusing just one Thermo-baric Bomb +6 required eighty minutes. Zhang Yanhang, in total, took a hundred and sixty minutes to fuse two Thermo-baric Bombs +6.

The last step, fusing the Thermo-baric Bomb +7, took even more time. Zhang Yanhang spent a total of three hundred and twenty minutes to finally succeed in fusing two Thermo-baric Bombs +6 into one Thermo-baric Bomb +7.

Starting from the Thermo-baric Bombs +4, Zhang Yanhang's total time spent was six hundred and forty minutes, which equates to ten hours and forty minutes—almost eleven hours.

The fusion of Thermo-baric Bombs this time took slightly less time than before as Zhang Yanhang had to start from the step of Thermo-baric Bombs +3, requiring an extra eighty minutes previously. So the total time for one Thermo-baric Bomb +7 was twelve hours.

This time, since most of the Thermo-baric Bombs +3 were already pre-fused, with only three being fused at the last minute, which took an additional fifteen minutes, even adding those fifteen minutes it was only ten hours and fifty-five minutes—still under eleven hours. Well, this situation might very well require rounding up to an estimated eleven hours.

Looking at the Thermo-baric Bomb +7 in front of him, which had taken eleven hours to fuse, Zhang Yanhang just sighed deeply and then put it back into his Waist Bag.

Although he already had another Thermo-baric Bomb +7 in his Waist Bag and could start trying to fuse a Thermo-baric Bomb +8, he didn't have that much time at his disposal right now.

After all, fusing a Thermo-baric Bomb +7 alone required five and a half hours. The Thermo-baric Bomb +8 would at least double, requiring eleven hours, or even jump to four times the original, becoming twenty-two hours—because from the Thermo-baric Bomb +6 onward, the fusion time tripled each time.

The main thing was that in less than an hour, the Transmission Channel would close, and it was time for Zhang Yanhang to clear the Lucky Slot Machine third-prize pool downstairs in Raccoon City, as well as the one in the neighboring Demonized Swamp.

Zhang Yanhang checked his watch and found it was already 5:10 am. There were only fifty minutes left before the Transmission Channel automatically closed. He really needed to hurry a bit.

Of course, there wasn't really such a rush since cleaning up two slot machines would only take ten minutes. So, Zhang Yanhang still had forty minutes of leeway to squander.

Still, while he had the time, Zhang Yanhang's hunting instinct (or should I say card-drawing instinct) prompted him to immediately jump out of the window and arrive in front of the Lucky Slot Machine in Raccoon City, located right beneath the window. He skillfully began to pull the metal lever on the side of the Lucky Slot Machine.

...

October 29, Thursday, four days after the Double Ninth Festival, and also the fifth day since Zhang Yanhang had entered the Ashen World. At 5:20 a.m. in Raccoon City, Dulda Apartment, Room 301, on a worn wooden bed.

After spending ten minutes cleaning out the prize pool of third-tier rewards from the Lucky Slot Machines in both Raccoon City and the Demonized Swamp, Zhang Yanhang was back in bed. Now he really had nothing else to do since there were only forty minutes left before the Transmission Channel closed.

"Since there's nothing to do, I might as well open a treasure box," he thought.

But then again, Zhang Yanhang reconsidered and felt it wasn't such a good idea. He only had forty minutes left, and although he hadn't counted them, by his estimation, he had enough treasure boxes to keep him busy opening them for at least twenty to thirty minutes.

After opening all the treasure boxes, he would need to fuse the equipment, and he figured the remaining time after opening them wouldn't be enough. It would be better to wait another ten minutes and take advantage of the option to return to the Main World half an hour early.

Although the prompt for returning half an hour early had popped up many times before, Zhang Yanhang had never taken it up; now might be the time to consider it.

As for what to do while he waited, Zhang Yanhang thought he might as well spend the time inscribing a Magical Tattoo. After he finished inscribing all his spells, he glanced at his watch and saw that not much time was left. So he simply lay in bed, motionless.

"Do you wish to continue hunting monsters in the Ashen World?"

"Option One: Yes (Although this is your first time truly venturing into the Demonized Swamp, a good hunting habit had you establish an excellent hunting plan from the start. Your strong self-discipline helped you carry out this excellent hunting plan thoroughly, and as a result, you rapidly hunted a large number of Demonized Creatures.

Moreover, the entire hunting plan went without delay; if anything, it surged ahead of schedule, causing you to clear the area of monsters that you had planned to be a four-day job in just about three days. This left you feeling slightly unsatisfied, and you began searching for other monsters to continue the hunt.)"

"Option Two: Continue (Although you had already hunted down all of the Demonized Creatures in the Demonized Swamp Area, as you rested, sporadically, new Demonized Creatures started to respawn. You felt it was your duty to hunt down these newly spawned creatures too.

However, the number of these respawned Demonized Creatures was too small, and your hunting speed too swift, you soon found yourself with nothing to do. Acting on the principle of maximizing the use of remaining labor, you set your sights on the new region south of Raccoon City, convinced there must be enough monsters there for you to hunt.)"

"Option Three: Go home (You knew the Transmission Channel would close in half an hour, and because you had already eliminated all the Demonized Creatures in the Demonized Swamp, including the Lord Monster Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boar Queen Pei Qi, you found yourself with nothing to do.

Right now, you did not feel like hunting, nor did you want to do something else with the half-hour you had. You thought, rather than wasting time in the Ashen World, why not save that half hour and go home now? Although you weren't very tired, having been away from home for five days, you still missed your big bed at home dearly.)"

"What the hell is this 'unsatisfied' business in the first option? Am I that thirsty for hunting monsters? Outrageous!" Zhang Yanhang couldn't help but criticize the option that praised his self-control in one breath, then immediately called him unsatisfied in the next.

"The first option wants me to continue hunting monsters in the Ashen World, and even to search for new ones to hunt. Definitely can't choose that one since I want to go home early.

The second is basically the same, involving monster hunting, and even urging me to head to the ochre mountains south of Raccoon City to hunt new creatures, still with no intent of letting me go home. So, the second option is also out of the question."

Zhang Yanhang felt the only choice for him was the third option, to go home. If he chose the third option, barring any surprises, he would immediately pass through the Transmission Channel and return to the Main World half an hour early.

"Now, if I go home half an hour early, would I still trigger some option that automatically teleports me to the Ashen World when the Transmission Channel in the Main World closes? For some reason, I feel like there is a good chance of that happening."

But even if it did trigger, Zhang Yanhang would definitely not choose any option related to returning to the Ashen World; he had already been there for four days and didn't want to stay another four. Although he always set high standards for his advancement speed, it just wasn't necessary.

"Besides, even though I've made this crappy wooden bed in Raccoon City quite comfortable, any son who has been away from home — even if just for five days — really starts to miss his big bed back home. Compared to options one and two, this third option does seem quite appropriate."

As for suddenly becoming a son away from home for five days, Zhang Yanhang figured if someone could be called a traveler for just working out of town, even without leaving the Empire, then why couldn't he be a traveler for working in another world?

That was a far bigger leap than leaving Asia to work in the Southern Hemisphere, or even leaving Earth to work in outer space.

"So, I choose Option Three, to go home, to return to the Main World immediately." Zhang Yanhang was truly impatient to go home; or rather, he was eager to rush home to open treasure boxes and advance in rank. He had been waiting for this day for too long, a whole half a month.

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