The Programmer Cultivator

That’s why the stomach sac wasn’t very bloated.

But as two mangled yet mostly intact corpses spilled out of the stomach sac, followed by a fairly complete skeleton still clinging to some flesh, Zhang Deming froze.

The volume of what came out definitely exceeded that of the stomach sac itself.

’This stomach sac naturally has the Wishing Size Attribute?’

’So this Qiu Ape doesn’t just have the Gravity Bloodline—its Wishing Size Bloodline Talent is powerful, too?’

’Was it just that its Cultivation was too low, or its Bloodline too inferior, for the Talent to have been developed?’

’In that case, I’ve really hit the jackpot!’

’This vial of Bloodline is going to be worth an absolute fortune!’

’And this stomach sac... even though it’s just material from an Apprentice Level Demon Beast, it should be usable for making a Ruyi Bag, right?’

’It’s not a storage bag, but Ruyi Bags are still extremely valuable!’

’If that’s the case, I’m rich!’

With a look of delight, Zhang Deming carefully detached the stomach sac, stowing it away as a precious material before turning his attention to the pile that had spilled out.

The three corpses probably belonged to that group from before.

Judging by the varying states of digestion, these three unlucky souls must have been in a temporary, disorganized party. When faced with extreme danger, they chose to sacrifice their teammates.

As a result, they were devoured one by one.

That’s why the first victim was already a skeleton, while the third had only been partially digested, with no bone yet visible.

Based on this, he could deduce that the first person was eaten over half an hour ago.

The second was likely consumed about twenty minutes ago.

In other words, the Chess Dao Cultivator he had just encountered must have been the first to sacrifice his teammates. That, combined with his skill at escaping, was how he managed to survive on his own for so long.

The other two hadn’t lasted as long combined as he had alone.

As Zhang Deming looked at the corpses, his mind instantly raced with analysis.

While he was lost in thought, the Vines had already pulled the three corpses from the digestive fluids and laid them out, no longer twisted into unnatural shapes.

’What’s this?’

Zhang Deming’s expression changed as he located the source of the light.

On the wrist of the second-most corroded corpse, Zhang Deming saw a watch.

That’s right, a futuristic-looking watch, with an indicator light still blinking away.

’Is this a real watch? Or some kind of similar Array Dao Magical Artifact?’

Puzzled, Zhang Deming had a Vine slither over and remove the watch.

He quickly activated the Little Cloud Rain Skill. A miniature cloud condensed before him and, like a tiny showerhead, washed the watch on the Vine clean.

Zhang Deming brought the watch closer for a careful look.

Ha!

’It really is a watch. This is definitely not some kind of Array Dao Magical Artifact.’

Zhang Deming stared at the watch, a look of astonishment on his face.

After a moment, he snapped back to his senses and studied the watch carefully. ’The spot where the indicator light is blinking... looks like a button?’

Zhang Deming hesitated for a moment, then pressed it.

The entire watch immediately began to unfold and expand right in front of him.

When the process finished, the watch was gone. In its place was a laptop computer.

Ha!

’A watch was one thing, but a laptop? Now this is just ridiculous, isn’t it?’

Zhang Deming looked at the partially digested corpse on the ground. ’Judging from the remnants of the fabric... that’s an Outer Disciple’s uniform, right?’

’I’ve been searching for freaking months for any information on the Outer Realm and found nothing. If it wasn’t for that business with Panx Juan’er, I wouldn’t even know what the Outer Realm was.’

’We’re both Outer Disciples, but you managed to get a laptop? That’s just unfair! Is the gap between us really that big?’

Dumbfounded for a moment, Zhang Deming reached out and pressed the laptop’s power button.

"Please input specific Quantum Energy password to boot and unlock!"

’Huh?’

’A Quantum Notebook with tech that surpasses my past life’s?’

Zhang Deming was at a loss for words. ’Can I use Spiritual Power?’

Zhang Deming tried inputting a little Spiritual Power into the port.

"Quantum Energy signature mismatch. Please try again."

But Zhang Deming froze, not because of the password error, but because the moment his Spiritual Power connected to the laptop, the console in his mind flashed to life.

It was as if they were trying to link up.

’So, in a way, I can actually function as a quantum computer?’

After a long moment of contemplation, Zhang Deming decided to give it a try.

’As a hacker and senior programmer in my past life—one who worked for a publicly-listed company, no less...’

’...bypassing a startup password should be well within my abilities.’

’Besides, I’m connected directly to this laptop right now.’

Focusing on the laptop, Zhang Deming got to work.

A moment later, his face darkened. ’Was I being a little too confident?’

’Damn it, is this password impossible to crack?’

’Is it a quantum algorithm or something?’

’How many possible combinations are there?’

’Uh, wait a minute... what is all this code now showing up on my console’s panel?’

’Is this... the laptop’s low-level OS code?’

Zhang Deming worked for a long time but was getting nowhere with the startup password.

Looking at the code on the panel, Zhang Deming realized it had to be the laptop’s operating system code.

’Well, in that case... if I can connect without booting it up, and I can’t freaking crack the password, then I should be able to just modify the low-level code directly!’

Connecting directly through the panel in his mind, he began to modify the laptop’s low-level operating system code.

He began scrolling rapidly through the code.

’Not this!’

’Is this for the visual interface?’

’What the hell is this part?’

’A built-in system backdoor?’