When David tapped the shoulder of the translucent shadow, a strange wave of energy was released from his hand and had entered his body.
It was as if he was being soaked in warm water, and he couldn't feel entirely relaxed. There was still some residual shock in his body as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
David dozed off on the floor by the entrance of the living room. Fortunately, Emma, the robot butler, was the only one in the residence. She would not be able to control her master's actions either.
David had a dream, in which he lived together with his mother since he was a child, from elementary school to middle school and all the way to high school. In the dream, he was somewhat autistic and barely had any friends other than his mother.
His father rarely appeared, and one day, his parents were separated. A short period of time later, his mother committed suicide after making all the arrangements.
In the dreams, he had the memories of a wonderful life and had also experienced the pain and sorrow of losing his kin. He had laughed, and he had also wept.
The dream depicted a complete life from his birth until the age of seventeen, encapsulating all the experiences and emotions.
David was jolted awake by his hunger. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was the difference in his surroundings.
All the colors in his eyes were extremely vivid. It was like switching to a 4K television resolution, which was much clearer and vibrant compared to television with normal resolution.
He did not know the reason for that, but he knew it was due to the energy that the translucent shadow had passed to him.
He looked at his identity bracelet on his wrist, which was like a watch, only to see that it was nine o'clock in the evening. In other words, he had slept on the floor for an entire day.
Recalling everything in the dream, and then comparing it with the memories he had already recollected, it became very clear in his heart that he had retrieved all of his predecessor's memories.
The previous owner of the body was named David as well, thus making him wonder whether it was the choice of the transmigration process or a mere coincidence. His name was David Karl, and he was a seventeen-year-old senior in high school, who was currently on winter break.
He lived alone in that building that he had inherited from his biological mother, Cathy, but he was not an orphan. It was just that his biological father started another family.
At this moment, David couldn't describe the feelings towards his biological father that came from his memory. There was a mix of emotions like respect, resentment, and resistance.
His biological father was named Hans Karl and was a hero in the city they lived in. He also held the title of a statesman which gave him a special identity.
The title of a statesman was the highest rank among all combat heroes. It was also the origin of David's respect for Hans.
Hans had given up too much to achieve the title of a statesman, including being separated from David's mother, who thus committed suicide due to depression, as well as his left arm and left leg. He could only rely on prosthetic limbs to move around, and his body was still debilitating even though he had undergone gene therapy. Another consequence was his son's resentment and refusal to forgive him.
David's predecessor had been bitter about his mother's death and bore a grudge against Hans, who had remarried and had a son with his new wife. Those were the reasons that David lived apart from Hans, who was, of course, his legal guardian.
He also learned that the planet he was on was called Planet Rocky, which was two small galaxies away from Battlestar, where the battle with the bugs took place. It was within the area of influence of the bugs, but it was also the planet where the bugs had the least influence over.
However, even then, Planet Rocky was actually not a safe zone. The larvae of the bugs were scattered everywhere and could not be kept under control. From time to time, a bug larva would grow into a Class 1 bug, while some that were more hidden might grow into Class 2 bugs.
Bug larvae could be dealt with using ordinary heat weapons, but once the larvae became Class 1 bugs, they would not be as simple as something that ordinary people could deal with.
The only way to deal with a Class 1 bug was to wear an exoskeleton armor and attack with a weapon made of the teeth and claw tips of Class 1 bugs, as well as several types of synthetic metals. That would break through the defenses of the Class 1 bugs.
Of course, that was only during a relative situation. With the flexibility and combat abilities of the bugs, a Class 1 bug would be impossible to defeat without several contenders clad in exoskeleton armors.
The primary requirement to be able to don exoskeleton armor was to become a Certified Armorer.
Throughout the ten thousand years of battling the bugs, the Star Federation had used advanced battle machines to fight the bugs while simultaneously strengthening their own combat abilities using the said creatures.
The corpses of the bugs were the most essential resources. As mentioned earlier, the teeth and claw tips of the bugs, which were the sharpest bones of their bodies, would become the raw material for building stronger and more durable weapons.
Most of the bug corpses had two slender muscles on their backs, which were known as strengthened flesh. They were the foundation and the basis for the strong warriors of the Star Federation.
David also learned the reason for his predecessor's sacrifice. It was because his predecessor wanted to be admitted to Nan University, but his qualifications were not up to par. Hence, he thought of taking a shortcut.
Nan City, which was where Nan University was located, was the top city of Planet Rocky and the center of its economy and culture. It was protected by a strong military, thus rendering the area within a 100-kilometer radius of Nan City a place where humans could live freely.
That was extremely desirable and appealing for people like David's predecessor, who lived in Pelan City, which could put him in danger as soon as he stepped out of the city. Sometimes, bugs would even appear within the city.
Although the chances of bugs appearing inside the city were small, it also caused David's predecessor to feel rather unsafe in Pelan City.
On the other hand, even though Nan City was great, it would not be easy for one to gain the right to live there. Such a person would have to seek the appropriate permissions to do so.
In the Star Federation, traveling to other cities would not be allowed unless an individual holds a certain level of authority.
David's predecessor was still a minor. Hence, he obviously didn't hold any authority or rank privileges.
However, Hans, his father, was also his legal guardian. If Hans brought him along, he would be able to go to any city, as well as any planet at will, given Hans' status as a statesman.
However, David's predecessor was very resistant to Hans, and he did not want to beg the latter to take him there either. He merely wanted to leave Pelan City as soon as possible and be away from Hans's side. Pelan City was filled with the miserable memories of David's predecessor.
The only way he could think of, to leave Hans, was to be admitted to a university. However, he was not willing to attend an ordinary university either because he didn't want to end up becoming an ordinary office worker in the city who would have to submit an application and then wait for approval even if he just wanted to make a trip out of the city.
The students nurtured by Nan University were the talents that all organizations were competing for. As long as one was admitted to Nan University, it would be equivalent to having a stable and high salary, with a high social status that would bring about various privileges. Becoming a permanent resident of Nan City would then become inevitable.
Nan City was extremely welcoming to graduates of Nan University and would almost certainly agree to their decision to reside in Nan City, as long as they submitted applications.
David's predecessor's academic ability was only average, and his academic performance in various subjects was only slightly above the median in Rocky High School, which he was currently attending.
With such results, it would be difficult for him to even enter a second-tier university, let alone Nan University.
As such, there was no hope at all for him to enter Nan University based on his results in cultural subjects. He had no choice but to consider earning a place in Nan University with his talent in combat fighting.
Apart from producing a large number of office workers, Nan University was also the best combat and armor school in Planet Rocky.
With the affluent standard of living of David's predecessor, where he was supplemented daily with the strengthened meat of bug larvae, his body was much stronger than that of a student from an ordinary family. However, the entire cohort of freshmen in Planet Rocky was going to try to clinch a place in Nan University. There were too many other students who were better than him.
In fact, with his current strength of 600 kilograms, he could only be ranked in the top thirty among his peers at Pelan High School.