城市猎人：系统升级之王

Chapter 21: Advanced Architect

Noon, at the construction site.
Watching Li Nianlong carry six bags of lime on his shoulder and move swiftly, the other workers were somewhat numb. The foreman shakily recorded Li Nianlong's work for the morning, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and coughed. "Stop! Time to eat!"
At the mention of 'eating', everyone else stopped, some stretching their shoulders, others dusting themselves off, and some collapsing on the ground, staring at Li Nianlong as if he were a monster.
It wasn't that they were easily surprised, but this one person had done the work of ten laborers. Bro, you must be an ox reincarnated.
While others stopped, Li Nianlong continued. He was at 99% progress to becoming an Advanced Architect, and he couldn't bear to stop at such a crucial moment.
With broad shoulders carrying lime across the site, his exposed arms revealed muscles as solid as steel, sweat flying, his body and face speckled with dirt, yet Li Nianlong seemed oblivious. Having tossed the lime where it was needed, he quickly set up a sieve and started shoveling sand through it.
The foreman, assuming Li Nianlong would stop to eat after putting down the lime, was surprised when he continued. Although the foreman was pleased with this work ethic, even a robot would need to pause for maintenance after such intense physical labor, let alone a human.
"Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu! Stop working!" the foreman shouted. Seeing Li Nianlong not stopping, he thought to himself that this wouldn't do and hurried over, his rotund belly jiggling as he ran, more dramatic than a woman's bouncing bosom.
After running thirty meters, the foreman was a bit winded, panting, "X-Xiao Liu, stop for now... Huh-huh... Eat first, then work in the afternoon."
"You guys go ahead, I'll join after I finish this," Li Nianlong replied, impatiently. With just 1% left for the upgrade, how could he possibly stop? He quickened his shovel movements.
Seeing Li Nianlong revert to his rich kid temperament, the foreman smiled wryly and said, "Xiao Liu, stop for a bit! This isn't work hours, and even if you do more, it won't count towards your pay."
"I don't want your money, consider it free labor."
This statement left the foreman speechless.
Well! If he insists on working for free, who am I to complain? The foreman shook his head and walked away.
Another five minutes passed, and Li Nianlong's body tensed. His hands stopped moving.
"Host, through relentless effort, your Architect profession has leveled up again. You are now an Advanced Architect. With the advancement of your Life Profession, you are rewarded with Strength +5, Intelligence +1, 1000 Experience Points, and 5000 Currency."
Li Nianlong was momentarily stunned. He expected the 5-point increase in Strength, but why the 1-point boost in Intelligence? He delved into his mind to check his updated status.
Li Nianlong: Level 5 (1500/3000)
Strength: 50
Speed: 35
True Qi: 60
Intelligence: 36
Remaining Points: 0
Talent: Auspicious Avoidance: Born with the ability to sense fortune and misfortune, easily avoiding harm.
Skills: Random Fist (Beginner 16%): Defeat the master with random strikes. Attacks are unmethodical, leaving enemies at a loss. Increases Strength by 10%, Speed by 10%. Duration: 30 seconds. No cooldown. Costs 5 True Qi per use.
Currency: 9925
Equipment: Brick (Durability 1/1): Garbage of garbage, unremarkable, weak destructive power, but painful when hit, 1% chance to cause 3 seconds of dizziness when hitting the head.
Fine Watermelon Knife (Quantity 3): Damage +10. Exceptionally sharp weapon, causes tearing effect on hit, continuous bleeding for 15 seconds, bleeding rate varies based on wound size.
Stainless Steel Gauntlets (Durability 17/20): Made of stainless steel, very sturdy, Damage +15, 10% chance to cause a 2-second stun.
Golden Snake Whip (Durability 320/500): Damage +30, attack range 5 meters, made of stainless steel, extremely hard, coated with chili water, inflicts 500% pain when hitting the body, excellent torture tool.
Mountain-Cleaving Blade (Durability 334/510): Damage +100, +10 Armor Penetration, made of stainless steel, sharp and heavy, causes severe tearing when hitting the body, continuous bleeding until death.
Life Profession: Architect (Advanced 0%): Capable of skillfully constructing any building up to six floors.
...
Indeed, his Intelligence had increased by 1 point. Li Nianlong wondered, "Dragonfly, where did this 1 point of Intelligence come from?"
The sprite Dragonfly appeared in a glow, landing on Li Nianlong's shoulder with a flutter of its wings. It smiled and said, "Being an architect isn't just about manual labor. To construct buildings, one needs extensive professional knowledge. This knowledge is relatively simple before reaching the Advanced level, but afterwards, it becomes quite profound. Absorbing this knowledge naturally increases the Host's Intelligence."
"I see." Li Nianlong nodded and asked, "Why is the currency 5000?"
Wasn't it 1000 before?
"Wouldn't the salary for an Intermediate Chef and an Advanced Chef be different?" Dragonfly countered.
"Understood." Li Nianlong's confusion cleared as he looked at his attributes, a smile curling on his lips.
It was different, indeed. Ignoring experience points, among the four main attributes, his Strength had reached a terrifying 50 points, surpassing Speed by 15 points. Even with the recent 1-point increase in Intelligence, it was still 14 points lower than Strength and only 10 points less than True Qi. Since the start of his Life Profession, he had gained a total of 15 points in Strength, a substantial increase.
But Li Nianlong couldn't determine whether this was a good or bad thing. His Strength attribute was so high that his Intelligence was no longer enough to fully harness his maximum strength.
In fact, Li Nianlong had noticed this yesterday while working. After his Strength increased, he couldn't control it as effortlessly as before. It was like athletes who had undergone a sudden intense strength training regime, whose muscle growth exceeded what their nervous systems could adapt to, leading to errors.
Now, Li Nianlong's body had been quantified into precise data by the system. Simple exercise couldn't bring balance to his body; the only way was to level up or unlock other Life Professions to adjust his attribute points. Luckily, the difference between Strength and Intelligence wasn't huge, making it not too difficult to regain balance.
Relaxing, Li Nianlong examined the abilities of an Advanced Architect. It was indeed different from an Intermediate one. The Intermediate could only build single-story houses, whereas the Advanced could construct any building up to six floors. The gap was significant. He wondered what changes would occur when he reached Grandmaster Architect. Would constructing skyscrapers become effortless?
"Xiao Liu, are you tired?" As soon as Li Nianlong stopped, the foreman approached with two boxes of lunch, smiling when Li Nianlong turned to him. "Let's eat! We have more work this afternoon."
Looking at the tanned foreman, Li Nianlong smiled. "Okay."
...
Advancing to Advanced Architect made gaining experience points less straightforward. After working for four hours in the afternoon, he only reached 2% progress. However, he had reached 2% within three hours, meaning four hours of work would typically yield 2.5% proficiency. Over a day, he could achieve 5% proficiency. By this calculation, upgrading from Advanced to Grandmaster Architect would require a full 20 days.
It took him a day and a half to go from Intermediate to Advanced, but 20 days to advance further – the difference was substantial.
Finishing his workday in a fairly good mood, he hummed a tune on his way home, only to be stunned before reaching his doorstep.
In front of the villa, Nalan Ruyue, wearing an apron, stood on the hard ground with a small table in front of her. On the table was a foam box, beside which was a wooden sign reading: Secret Palace-style Steamed Buns, 5 yuan each.
Nalan Ruyue was busy taking hot buns from the box and bagging them for a crowd of middle-aged and elderly customers surrounding her.
"Four celery-filled for Grandpa."
"Girl, two melon-filled for Grandma."
"One of each kind! No change? Don't worry, keep the rest as a tip."
"..."
"What...?" Stunned, Li Nianlong stared, "What's going on???????"