I Can Summon Zeng Shisan

Zeng Shisan's scheming was even more cunning and deep-seated than Tom had imagined. Last night, Tom couldn't bear his actions any longer and intended to take up arms and fight back. If it wasn't for Uncle Wei secretly following and knocking him out, he might have been among the eight killed.

"Uncle Wei... I..."

"You're young, have a sense of justice, impulsiveness is a good thing. Do you know why I favor you so much?"

Tom was also puzzled. Ever since he entered the camp, Uncle Wei seemed particularly amiable towards him.

Uncle Wei surveyed everyone again and sighed, "We're all getting old, and you're young. As Bo Zi said, you look like someone with a story. Resisting Ah Qi takes time and conditions. We all hope that when the time is right, you'll lead us in a major counterattack against Ah Qi. But it's a pity... Ah Qi fell... and now we have Zeng Shisan, who's even more tyrannical."

"Uncle Wei... I... I was too impulsive."

"It's okay. At least this time, I pulled you back, giving you another chance to wait for an opportunity."

Tom felt touched. "Uncle Wei..."

"Tom, when you went out with Bo Zi, did you encounter anything?"

Tom hesitated. "We killed a mutated giant fly and dug out a blue crystal. According to the agreement, Bo Zi promised to hide it and bring it back for me, but yesterday Bo Zi ran away..."

"The crystal is still in the supplies. Tell me honestly, why did you urgently need a ruby the night before yesterday?"

"With a ruby, I would have the means to resist Zeng Shisan."

Uncle Wei frowned. "What about the blue crystal you found yesterday?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but they're all products of mutated creatures. I've never seen such a large blue crystal before. Maybe if I think about it more..."

"That's good! Bo Zi must have hidden the blue crystal among the supplies brought back yesterday. And those food supplies, Zeng Shisan's men haven't touched them yet. Alright, leave it to me!"

Uncle Wei walked to the side and gestured for a few leaders to gather around him. After giving some instructions, he came back and said, "During dinner later, we'll find it for you. Just wait for good news."

Seeing Uncle Wei so confident, Tom's waning hope revived a bit.

The blue sapphire could be combined with the ruby to enhance his skin's defense. With the killing power of miniature firearms, it shouldn't be able to penetrate that defense. After all, even the teeth of the mutated cat Ah Huang couldn't harm him at all, and that was much scarier than these mini bullets with greatly reduced gunpowder proportions.

But how to get the ruby?

As long as Zeng Shisan still needed people to tidy up, cook for him, and clean the environment, wasn't he still trying to recruit him... then there would be a chance to come into contact with the gemstone.

He had seen a henchman standing next to Zeng Shisan holding a ruby last night.

The time to prepare dinner came soon. According to the predetermined number of people, Rong Shu took more than thirty people out to prepare dinner, while Uncle Wei took about ten people to fetch medicine and brew medicine.

Apart from Uncle Qi, who was still lying down due to last night's conflict, there were more than a dozen people injured. Perhaps Zeng Shisan thought it was too much to feed too many ants at once, affecting the harvesting of the gemstones, so apart from the eight dead, the rest of the injured were allowed to be treated by Uncle Wei for the time being.

Tom returned to his bed and saw Uncle Qi curling up tiredly in his quilt, sneering and sitting on the ground.

It was the old man with the iron slag on the next bed who seemed to have heard their conversation just now. He half sat up, but his old eyes revealed a hopeful light, making Tom somewhat puzzled.

Zeng Shisan had done so many bad things in succession, and Uncle Qi, the former leader, bore a great responsibility, but now he slept more soundly than anyone else.

Tom waited nervously for a long time, not knowing what time it was. Finally, dinner was brought in. Rong Shu, the leader, loudly called for everyone to eat, saying that there was plenty of food today, enough for everyone to eat their fill.

It seemed that Zeng Shisan still knew how to allocate ample food, temporarily soothing the survivors' emotions. This raised Tom's estimation of Zeng Shisan's cunning by another level.

Tom was the first to go up, but he didn't want food; he wanted to know if he had found what he wanted.

Rong Shu glanced around and found that Zeng Shisan's henchmen had all left. He then pulled out a large dough from the bottom of the rice bucket. "Here!"

"Rong Shu, you know I don't want to eat... I..."

"Take it and open it in the corner over there," Rong Shu whispered.

Tom was overjoyed, tightly hugging the large dough and feeling the weight inside. "It's it, no mistake!"

"Thank you, Rong Shu!" With that, he ran back to his bed, holding the dough.

Everyone was eating, even the previously bedridden uncles were now eating by themselves. Tom sat leaning against the wall, joyfully opening the dough.

Sure enough, it was the blue crystal he had dug out of the mutated giant fly's body that day. As soon as he touched it, Tom felt much more settled.

"Half of the conditions for counterattack are met. As for the remaining ruby, I'll have to personally find an opportunity to get my hands on it. As long as I get the ruby, they won't be my opponents anymore."

But for the time being, there was no chance. Tom could only hold the crystal and contemplate it carefully.

Red enhances his strength, green grants him the ability to communicate with animals, and yellow turns Xiao Mei into a human-shaped light bulb. As for the blue one, all he knows is that when paired with a ruby, it enhances his skin's defensive capabilities.

But what if he uses it alone?

He had experimented with it in the landlord's house before, but at that time, he was in a hurry and abandoned the attempt after a few tries. Now, with the long night ahead, he felt he could spend more time on it.

Unfortunately, no matter how he tried, it seemed that he couldn't make the crystal glow. One of the characteristics of activating gems and crystals is that they emit a faint light in their own colors. But now, there was no light at all, so naturally, it had no effect.

Was there something else he hadn't considered?

Tom thought and thought, but he really couldn't think of any other way.

Suddenly, he remembered the watch in Zeng Shisan's hand. It was an electronic watch he obtained when he was in the Redemption Shelter, recognized as a Level Three Awakener, automatically given to him by the shelter.

He remembered waking up after the crash, and a day and night had passed. Strangely, neither he nor the bodies in the cabin had been visited by insects or beasts. The watch displayed "Concealment protection program for the comatose stage of the Awakener has been activated."

Concealment protection program?

This should be the benefit that ensured that as a Level Three Awakener, his scent and even appearance were masked by the watch during his coma, thus avoiding attracting nearby insects and beasts. Otherwise, he would have been eaten long ago during the coma.

This was indeed a quite powerful function. If he could also maintain this concealment, the bugs wouldn't find him, so outside...

Suddenly, he heard Uncle Wei's anxious voice: "Tom, where's Tom? Has anyone seen Tom?"

He looked up, and Uncle Wei was standing in front of him, holding a few grains of rice kneaded into a lump, anxiously looking around. "Has anyone seen Tom?"

"He... wasn't he just here?" a uncle said in surprise. "I clearly saw him."

"Oh no, that kid must have gone to cause trouble for Zeng Shisan... impulsive child!"

Uncle Wei anxiously dropped the rice ball and was about to run out. Tom quickly stood up and grabbed him. "Uncle Wei, I'm right here!"

The guards outside were disturbed by Uncle Wei's shouting and curiously lifted the curtain to look in, pulling the gun bolt. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, nothing, I was mistaken," Uncle Wei quickly said.

"Tch!" The guard rolled his eyes and stepped back out.

"How did you suddenly appear?"

Several uncles around were also curious.

Tom looked bewildered. "I've been here the whole time? I was just studying the blue crystal, got a little lost in thought. Wasn't I sitting on my own bed? Didn't you see me? Maybe it's too dark?"

"Old Wei might be getting old, but his eyesight is still sharp!" Uncle Wei exclaimed, blowing his beard and staring, "Did any of you see him?"

Several uncles shook their heads.

Tom's mood changed from surprise to joy in an instant. He held the blue crystal, laughing exaggeratedly. Everyone was startled by his mad laughter. Uncle Wei slapped him: "What are you laughing at? Have you gone crazy from thinking too much?"

Tom waved his hand, laughing, "No, just take another look!"

With that, he sat down with the blue crystal and reenacted the idea of "if I could also hide myself" from before.

"Oh... oh my God!" a uncle exclaimed in surprise. Uncle Wei quickly covered his mouth, quickly scanned the doorway, made sure he hadn't disturbed the guard, and then said, "Don't shout."

"Tom... he's gone!"

"We all saw it! Tom, are you still in the same place?"

Tom nodded, suddenly realizing that Uncle Wei couldn't see him nodding, so he stood up.

"Ah, he appeared."

Okay, he's visible now.

"Is this the secret of the gem you mentioned?"

Tom glanced at the door and whispered, "One of the secrets of the gem."

"Are there other secrets?"

"If I have a ruby and combine it with the blue sapphire, I'll become invulnerable."

The others opened their mouths wide, as if listening to a fantasy tale.

Uncle Wei frowned, "Are you kidding Uncle Wei?"

"It's true. At the entrance of that shelter, I became invulnerable with two gems. Even the mutated cats couldn't bite me. It's just that the gems were too small and the duration was too short. And if I use the ruby alone, my strength will triple."

"Really?" Uncle Wei began to believe a little.

Tom imitated a Cantonese phrase: "Not even pearls are so genuine!"

"Is this what you call the capital to resist Zeng Shisan?"

"Do you think these capitals are enough?"

Uncle Wei clenched his fist. "With you drawing the fire, it's enough!"

"But... the blue sapphire alone won't do. I still need a ruby. So, next, I'll have to find a way to approach Zeng Shisan in the name of craftsmanship and get hold of the ruby."

"We'll have to calculate this carefully."

Just then, Uncle Qi, who had been curled up in the quilt, suddenly spoke up: "I have a way to summon Zeng Shisan."

Uncle Wei snorted disdainfully, "Save it. In Zeng Shisan's eyes, you're nothing but a useless person. He's not interested in seeing you."

"Who said that? Not only can I call Zeng Shisan with just a few words, but I can also make him bring the ruby. Do you dare to bet?"