On the night road back, Fu Qingjun kept summarizing his experiences.
He tried hard and was very careful to leave her some hair, but the center of the mind where the "needle" was inserted still had a large bald spot.
"If I didn't extract so cautiously, she would definitely become completely bald..." Fu Qingjun hesitated and mused, "However, I left quite a bit, she should thank me."
He was still too kind, not daring to extract too much.
Although he didn't extract that mass of soul energy mixed with her original soul lump, it was still a person's soul energy.
This is like a sponge drained dry of water...
If too much is extracted, I'm afraid it would take months to recover her spirit, leaving her listless, sleepy, with weak energy...much like a living person being sucked dry of positive energy.
The other party clearly had a lot of matters to attend to, so he didn't overly drain her energy.
This temporary amount was enough.
But it shouldn't last too long; soon those energy-consuming ants would deplete it completely.
After all, not everyone has as huge and durable a soul as his own, charging others' brains every day while still being energetic, even needing to release spiritual energy daily to avoid splitting headaches...
"Thirty taels of silver was obviously a big loss."
"Its purchasing power is high. Seeing the other's plight, it was already most of Fu Qingjun's property given to her, just a moment ago earned ten taels from those three maniacs, and now spent so much... I'll have to find ways to make money if I want to stay afloat in the future."
Fu Qingjun took a deep breath, secretly reflecting that he still lacked cold-bloodedness.
But he was originally just an ordinary person in a peaceful society, how could he be cold-blooded? He wasn't a Third Master sucking blood everywhere.
"Forget it, if this isn't enough, I'll think of another way next time."
"At worst, after a few days when it's used up, I'll go near the nightclub to find the next target... but if I don't have self-preservation abilities, I really don't want to venture out again."
Fu Qingjun closed the door, returned to the room, and sat down.
If there's no necessary business, he still wants to avoid going out because leaving means risk.
This isn't a peaceful society; wars, fights, gangs, and dangers are everywhere, especially at night, when the security is terrifyingly chaotic.
"However, after testing it, the clothes worked well." Fu Qingjun calmly took off the bulky coat and sat back in the chair.
This piece of clothing had been modified by him, with a huge octopus head sewn on the inside.
If necessary, the hair usually wrapped around his waist would slowly slide into the inside of the head-covering, then protrude the neck and cover the head, transforming into a giant octopus-human head.
The two-meter-tall octopus head, combined with his own height, amounted to about four meters, and the grimly swaying balloon head could intimidate most enemies.
Puffing up to appear more formidable.
It's a four-meter-tall fat guy!
Like humans raising their hands high to appear larger to scare off beasts... this was his life-saving measure for this outing.
After all, the world is too chaotic; he's unfamiliar with the environment, leaving risks to fate alone during night outings isn't Fu Qingjun's style.
There had to be some crisis response strategies.
But his only special ability—hair—was ultimately too weak, couldn't lift much, and barely could prop up clothes as a monster mark.
However, the hair has been developed for various uses, like sewing.
The hair naturally excels in various sewing techniques.
This octopus head was sewn from the original owner's clothes, cut with hair, and was quite exquisite.
For instance, he discovered that the hair barely has the ability of antenna rods.
Insert a segment of hair atop an ant as an antenna, then there's no need to directly insert it into the ant skull to remotely control the ant's actions.
As long as the distance isn't far, the antenna on the ant's head can connect the signals.
Fu Qingjun pondered, organizing his insights from this real journey, noting the power distribution he observed along the way, and wrote down plans for the upcoming schedule,
"First, improve the life-saving head cover."
"At night it's indistinguishable and usable, but in the daytime, it's obvious it's made of fake materials. It's best to use snakeskin as a base, sew on scales, feathers, duck down, and various animal skins to make it look more like biological material."
"Second, find a way to obtain firearms."
"Otherwise, a crossbow or even smaller hidden weapons... Fu Qingjun, being street-smart, surely could get a gun, but he doesn't have it in his house; it's likely the autonomous region doesn't allow firearms among its people, only martial arts... but in this regard, I don't adhere to martial virtues, I must get one if I can."
His expression was extremely calm.
Because as a modern person, he doesn't have martial skills, he's not a warrior, truly practicing martial virtues with just enthusiasm? He's not a fool.
He pondered a bit, then picked up the pen again, "Aside from firearms, there's the bow and crossbow! Perhaps the ant civilization can expand a production line for crossbow arrows and mechanism boxes, by advancing this technological tree."
This is truly not cowardice on his part.
It's a realistic matter; without life, nothing else exists.
He was well aware of his capabilities, clearly knowing his identity is a prominent one, and must consider the future assassinations, attacks, weapon fights.
Gaining many benefits also means facing corresponding crises.
"First and foremost is self-preservation," he pressed his temples in some pain.
"Third, start researching martial arts."
"The Sun Holy Scripture is almost ready for cultivation, but its martial arts are suitable for ant anatomy; I can only cultivate the soul, mentality, and spiritual fortification parts... the human portion is still regular entry-level pillar skills."
After endless honing over ages, surely entry-level pillar skills would be perfectly suited for human anatomy.
"Fourth is the development of that tabletop Demon Country."
"It's my most basic stronghold with enormous potential, fully on track...the only regret is being unable to quickly expand the cultivation area and quantity because these ants are already straining my brain..."
He pondered for a long time this time, then wrote down the last question,
"Fifth, plants."
"The sunflowers have been constantly charging, yet haven't produced soul consciousness; is it because plant soul nurturing takes a long time, or is it simply impossible? If plants can develop intelligence, is there a possibility to mix plant and human souls to create a sort of plant-hybrid being?"
"Additionally, fish—if possible, set up a fish tank and Sea Race World in the room...but still the issue is insufficient spiritual power, can't sustain it."
....
Under the dim light bulb, he put down the pen, stretched lazily, "I'm truly weak; when can I truly stand strong."
"If I could raise several Demon Country dioramas indoors, stroll around civilizations daily, then during outside wartime with WWII planes, artillery, act as a gang leader, obtain various resources and invest them into the diorama...that would be the most beneficial cycle."
Just imagining those days feels very beautiful.
Sorting through all the ideas he could think of, reminiscent of senior-year late-night study prep habits, to proceed meticulously.
He sighed, cooked a late-night meal, and went straight to bed, returning to lie on the bed, feeling exhausted, and closed his eyes to sleep.
However, while his weak body was fatigued, his soul remained energetic.
Lying on the bed with hands clasped, his hair flew around, seeming like countless tentacles, hovering over the entire table, covertly observing the progress of civilization.
"Civilization still lacks mechanics, knowledge, medicine...never mind, let's take a brief century on the tabletop."
Fu Qingjun remotely controlled a single ant, topped with a goofy antenna, slowly stepping onto the table,
"What is this world?"
Fu Qingjun looked at the hazy, vast sky and land.
Unbelievably real tactile sensations, the bumpy wooden road beneath, distant houses, building clusters, suddenly feeling this tabletop world had genuine realness.