**Chapter 7: The Starving Gu**
On the way, Zhou Ming asked, "Brother Yang, how does the Main God define skill ranks? What's the difference between Firearms Lv1 and Lv2?"
Yang Zhisheng, who was driving, glanced at him and chuckled. "Your Firearms skill has reached Lv2?"
Zhou Ming nodded.
After absorbing some combat experience from three assassins, Zhou Ming had improved in many areas, but only Firearms showed a clear display of progress.
"Not bad," Yang Zhisheng said with a laugh. "The Main God doesn't have a specific description for skill rank divisions, but among us reincarnators, there's a widely accepted standard for classification."
"Lv1 is Proficient, Lv2 is Mastered, Lv3 is Expert, Lv4 is Grandmaster, Lv5 is Master Grandmaster, and Lv6 is Grand Grandmaster. As for the level before mastering a skill, that could be considered Lv0, but the Main God simply doesn't display it."
"But these labels don't mean much. This isn't a video game where everything is displayed as data. How proficient you are at a skill is something you have to feel for yourself—that's when you'll truly know."
"The most important thing is whether you can use it. No matter how well a skill is trained, if you freeze up at a critical moment, it's worthless."
"Understood," Zhou Ming nodded.
"By the way, how did the assassin who sniped you set up such a precise assassination? How could he have calculated that we would go to that rooftop, and that you would happen to stand in his predetermined sniping position?"
This was a point of great confusion for Zhou Ming. They had gone to install surveillance equipment and coincidentally ran into an assassin who was also looking for a suitable sniping position to assassinate young Miss Adele. The outbreak of conflict was completely unexpected.
His subduing of that assassin and bringing him to the rooftop for interrogation was also a spur-of-the-moment decision.
How could that Cronus assassin have anticipated all of this, set up this trap in advance, and fired that ultra-long-range shot?
"It was a coincidence," Yang Zhisheng said, his face showing an inexplicable expression.
"A coincidence?" Zhou Ming was startled.
"The Cronus assassin did indeed use a previous assassin as bait, but the timing he had designed for action was when that assassin sniped Adele, and we counterattacked, taking that assassin out on the rooftop."
"After all, although that assassin was formidable by ordinary standards, he was nothing in the eyes of the Cronus assassin and us. Using him as bait was indeed very suitable."
"The assassin who wanted to kill Adele was looking for a suitable sniping location, the Cronus assassin was calculating the timing for his shot, and we were setting up surveillance equipment."
"Who could have imagined that we would happen to run into that assassin, happen to capture him instead of killing him, that Yu Man and I would happen to go interrogate him, and that the Cronus assassin would also happen to be watching all of this through his sniper scope?"
"Although it wasn't the optimal timing he had envisioned, when the opportunity arose, of course he wouldn't let it slip by."
Yang Zhisheng chuckled. "That shot was indeed impressive. If it had been anyone else, they would have died."
"Can there really be such coincidences?" Zhou Ming sneered.
"Yes, I wanted to ask that too."
Both fell silent.
It was said that the Cronus Organization considered itself messengers of God, possessing extraordinary power and acting according to God's will.
Could their plans truly proceed smoothly? If such "coincidental" accidents occurred again, how should they respond?
Zhou Ming frowned, pondering this question.
The car sped down the highway, reaching their destination two hours later.
This was a villa complex, and their target, Andreas, lived here.
Andreas had assets exceeding a hundred million, with several factories under his name, perfectly meeting the conditions for producing ammonium nitrate. He was a suitable target Zhou Ming had found with great difficulty.
"Let's move."
Parking the car in a hidden spot outside the complex, the two exchanged smiles, avoided the surveillance cameras, and quietly slipped in.
The security measures here were quite good, but they couldn't stump the reincarnators. Yang Zhisheng's abilities allowed them to know the location of all surveillance equipment and even control some electronic devices to a certain extent.
As for the patrolling security guards, as long as the two didn't want to be discovered, the guards wouldn't even be able to touch their shadows.
Thus, two hours later, they were already enjoying Andreas's treasured red wine in his living room.
As for the owner of the house, he sat trembling on the sofa with his family and two nannies, unable to hide the terror on their faces.
Infiltrating the villa and kidnapping Andreas's family certainly hadn't taken two hours. What they had been doing during that time was figuring out how to make these people obediently comply.
The method was simple: they implanted miniature bombs (materials provided by Yang Zhisheng) into Andreas's family members, and even the two nannies were fortunate enough to receive this rare experience.
After demonstrating the power of the miniature bombs to them, everyone quieted down.
"What do you want? My money, my house, my car, my jewelry and gold—you can take it all, just don't harm my family."
Andreas suppressed the fear in his heart and tried to negotiate with the two bandits.
He didn't understand. These two bandits had suddenly broken into his home, used such terrifying methods to hold his entire family hostage, and yet, until now, they hadn't made any demands.
He couldn't figure out what these thugs would be after if not money.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Andreas. We just need you to do us a small favor."
"As long as you do as we say, we guarantee that you and your family will not be harmed in any way."
"Before that, we just hope your family can help you stay calm and not do anything that would be bad for everyone."
Zhou Ming said to Andreas with a smile, but that seemingly harmless smile, in Andreas's eyes, was no different from a devil's sneer.
Next, everything proceeded smoothly according to plan.
Yang Zhisheng accompanied Andreas to the factory, selected a small group of workers, and began a new production task. They had to ensure the output of ammonium nitrate while also ensuring that any abnormalities in the factory wouldn't attract the attention of interested parties, thus preventing early leaks.
Zhou Ming, meanwhile, stayed at Andreas's home, "looking after" his family for him.
Night fell.
"Sir, your bathwater is ready," the nanny said, standing beside Zhou Ming with her head bowed, trembling as she spoke.
Even though Zhou Ming hadn't shown any fierce or menacing demeanor during this time—instead acting politely and gently—the fear in the hearts of both nannies and Andreas's wife and daughter hadn't diminished much.
After all, if the seemingly teenage boy opposite them just pressed the button in his hand, their necks would be blown off, their heads would fly, blood would spray from their chests to the ceiling, their headless bodies would fall limply, and then they would be chopped into minced meat by that devil-like boy, flushed down the sewer, leaving no trace.
This was what the boy himself had said after the two men had demonstrated the power of the miniature bombs to them.
At that time, his unhurried and deliberate manner was comparable to a serial killer in a movie, leaving an indelible impression of fear in the hearts of the group.
This was precisely the effect Zhou Ming wanted. If unnecessary, he also didn't want to actually kill these people, so it was better for everyone if they behaved.
Reincarnators were never kind-hearted people. Having lived in the Northern Plains for more than ten years, Zhou Ming had long been accustomed to deceit and fierce struggles.
For survival, they could lower their bottom line considerably.
Therefore, neither Yang Zhisheng nor Zhou Ming had any psychological barriers in executing this kidnapping and coercion.
The warm bathwater gradually covered his body, and Zhou Ming let out a long, comfortable sigh.
This was the third day since entering this world, but he had already engaged in two battles, traveled thousands of miles, endured the hardships of travel, and his nerves had never truly relaxed.
His strength, after all, was vastly different from that of the two veterans. Participating in a veteran's mission was, for him, an almost suicidal adventure.
The top assassins of the Cronus Organization—those monsters who could bend bullets—could easily take Zhou Ming's life, but they were not formidable opponents for the two veterans. What Yang Zhisheng and the others feared was always the Cronus Organization as a whole, not a single assassin.
Therefore, Zhou Ming never dared to relax. In a crisis, one careless mistake could lead to eternal damnation.
Soaking in the water now, he felt a rare sense of ease, but soon, he would have another matter to worry about.
With a flip of his palm, the Water Jade Gu appeared in his hand.
Carefully examining the gem-like Gu, Zhou Ming sighed softly and placed it in the water.
Gu were living creatures and needed to eat. If a Gu was not fed for a period of time, it would weaken, or even starve to death.
The food for Gu was incredibly diverse: plants, bamboo, stones, flesh, metal, and even airflow and sound. Everything in the world could be food for Gu.
For example, this Water Jade Gu needed pure, clear water as food, fed once a day.
This was still simple—at least Zhou Ming could obtain it in this world. Distilled water could satisfy the Water Jade Gu's needs.
But feeding the other Gu was not so simple.
The Sword Qi Gu's food was Sword Bamboo leaves, fed once every seven days. The Water Armor Gu's food was water spiders, fed once every six days.
Both of these things were specialties of the Gu World and impossible to find in this world.
Fortunately, before coming to this world, Zhou Ming had been very lucky to have just fed all his Gu. And even if a Gu exceeded its feeding time, it wouldn't immediately starve to death; it would only gradually weaken until it could no longer hold on.
In other words, barring any accidents, in three more days, Zhou Ming's two Two-turn Gu would no longer be usable.
As for the remaining three Gu, the Grass Root Gu's food was Earth Qi, which was the least of Zhou Ming's worries. It only needed to be activated to root itself in the soil, and the Gu would absorb Earth Qi on its own. It was one of the easiest Gu to keep alive—living up to its name, Grass Root.
The Leaf Blade Gu's food was Green Mulberry Grass, and the Straw Sandal Gu's food was Grass Bell Flowers. Neither of these existed on this planet either.
But Zhou Ming no longer had the mind to consider these two Gu. After all, they were just One-turn Gu, of lower value. If they starved to death, they starved to death; it wouldn't make Zhou Ming too heartbroken.
In fact, these two Gu were already so starved that they were almost unusable, on the verge of death.
As One-turn Gu, although the amount they ate each time was less than Two-turn Gu, the interval between feedings was correspondingly much shorter.
Barring any accidents, these two Gu would be the first to leave Zhou Ming—even earlier than the Water Jade Gu.
At least the Water Jade Gu would still be usable for three days, but for these two Gu, it was hard to say if they would even make it through tomorrow.