Originally, William Clark was still considering how to use his original 2192 points of negative emotions—should he buy one Starfruit and use the rest for the lottery, or buy two Starfruits.

After all, he wasn’t too sure about the situation. He didn’t know what he could get from the lottery, nor did he know exactly how effective a single Starfruit would be.

But now, things had changed—he had so many more options...

William Clark suddenly felt as if he had found a direction that suited him. The more people there were, the greater his gains...

Looking at it this way, picking up drifting bottles seemed a bit outdated. Chatting one-on-one was just too slow...

Of course, opportunities like today’s were still rare. William Clark thought he should put more thought into this direction.

At the moment, it seemed that Starfruit was very likely a cultivation resource. Although William Clark wasn’t too clear about what the future world would be like, cultivation resources were something you could never have too much of, no matter the time.

In the novels William Clark read, cultivation resources always had to be fought for.

So, if he could disgust people a little and get his own cultivation resources without risking his life, that would be pretty sweet.

William Clark instantly felt at ease. He didn’t care how sharp his words were—as long as he was living well, that was enough.

Actually, back then, the reason no family was willing to adopt him was partly because of this.

Most of the time, William Clark was quite normal, but occasionally he’d blurt out something sharp, chilling people to the bone...

When William Clark transferred schools, it was because he had to leave the orphanage after turning sixteen, so he joined the class midway through his second year of high school. And since he was busy making a living, he didn’t get to know his classmates very well.

At first, everyone would invite him to activities, but he never had time. Over time, they just stopped asking.

Gradually, William Clark became a marginal figure in the class. He was in the liberal arts track, and his grades were pretty good—he never fell behind.

That was because William Clark understood very well that although he could barely support himself now, if he didn’t keep studying, it would be hard to find a real way out.

He envied his classmates for not having to worry about making a living, envied their harmonious families, envied that they could go out and have fun.

Sometimes, he’d imagine what his parents were like, imagine that they had no choice but to leave him at the orphanage door.

But the more he imagined, the lonelier he felt.

William Clark once thought, maybe this was how his life would be—study hard, make progress every day, and when Little Clark turned sixteen, go back to the orphanage to help her with the paperwork so she could keep studying.

In the future, he’d work, get married, have kids.

That didn’t sound so bad.

But everything changed overnight.

Little Clark finished watching the replay of the Spring Festival Gala, then turned on the Luocheng TV station, which happened to be reporting follow-up news on last night’s fire. First, they said the cause of the fire was still unknown, then reported that the confirmed number of casualties was four, and finally showed a reporter interviewing bystanders at the scene that morning.

They asked if this kind of incident would affect people’s mood during the Spring Festival, and what everyone thought about the future reconstruction of the mall.

William Clark was watching absentmindedly when he suddenly saw a familiar figure—it was that young man named Grace whom he’d met outside the acrobatics backstage yesterday afternoon!

For some reason, William Clark had a deep impression of this young man. Maybe it was because of what happened yesterday, or maybe Grace himself was a bit different from others. Otherwise, how could William Clark spot him in the crowd at a glance?

William Clark felt a bit uneasy. Could Grace also be someone who had awakened a special ability? Otherwise, why was he always present wherever something happened?

So, yesterday afternoon, was he at the acrobatics backstage on purpose?

William Clark couldn’t be sure about these things. In any case, he’d have to be careful around this guy in the future. Even now, his income log still occasionally showed 1 point of negative emotion from Grace. How much of a grudge was that?

Watching the news, William Clark suddenly felt the thrill of being an insider. While everyone else was still in the dark, he was already close to the truth.

It was a secret delight.

Meanwhile, while his classmates were still discussing special abilities and joking about awakening themselves, he was already on the verge of entering that world.

Little Clark glanced at William Clark. “They don’t even like you, so why are you still watching the group chat?”

“Eat your chips...” William Clark was still thinking about how to get more negative emotion points. Before he found a better way, he’d have to keep picking up drifting bottles and keep an eye on the class group chat...

After Little Clark went back to her room that night, William Clark lay on his bed and quietly opened the shop system in his mind, and almost without hesitation, bought a Starfruit.

Chapter 14: The Foundation

The Starfruit condensed in his hand, and a surging sense of power radiated from within the fruit. The feeling was extremely clear, making William Clark fully aware of the kind of star power this fruit contained.