Every time Fang Wen completed a mission, he got one chance to draw one of his own skills.
So having more skills was not always better. Too many useless ones would only lower the odds of pulling something important.
That was why he had been saving up the draws tied to Morning Star and still hadn't used them.
"What are you zoning out for?"
"Oh—right, Senior Qingyi, please continue."
Fang Wen snapped back to attention and fixed his eyes on Qingyi's movements.
He had to admit that Qingyi's sharpness was terrifying. A teacher like this could notice a student slacking off from the side without even turning around.
Crystal-Clear Senses was just too useful.
Qingyi shot Fang Wen another glance, and he immediately sat up straight.
Actually, he and Qingyi were both wearing rather loose martial-arts apprentice robes right now, which still felt a little strange to him.
Partly because it really was his first time wearing clothes like these, and the loose fabric rubbing against his body was uncomfortable. But there was another reason too…
Qingyi! Can you please put on underwear?! You're flashing me!
As Qingyi continuously swung the wooden spear, her sleeves billowed with each motion, which meant Fang Wen's line of sight occasionally passed through those wide sleeves and reached "the domain of the gods."
Sure, the lack of curves cost a few points, but overall, still highly rated!
"Where are you looking?"
"Uh, haha… the weather's really nice today~"
"…Did you forget we're underground right now?"
Qingyi let out a sigh.
"Never mind. Start with the basics."
Fang Wen nodded, finally suppressing the distracting thoughts in his head and focusing on the movements.
Horse stance.
"This posture strengthens the stability of your lower body. For a spear user, stable footwork and a stable body are extremely important."
Mm. Not really sure I get it, but whatever—just do it.
Fang Wen spread his legs, sank his waist, tried to keep his thighs parallel to the floor, and fixed his gaze straight ahead.
"Good. Looks like you haven't forgotten."
Back at the police academy, this kind of foundational training had been part of their daily routine at first. It usually didn't last too long, though, since there were all kinds of other classes to attend. Later on, it depended entirely on self-discipline.
Fang Wen had done decently enough. At the very least, he had never skipped a day.
For a simple horse stance, he could hold it for about fifteen minutes at a time. The price was that his legs would keep shaking for days afterward.
After correcting a few small mistakes in Fang Wen's posture, Qingyi made herself another pot of tea.
"By the way, why are we wearing this kind of outfit?" Fang Wen took advantage of the brief lull to ask the question that had been bothering him.
"Oh? You care about that?" Qingyi tugged lightly at her pure-white robe.
"In the old era, when a master taught a disciple, they generally dressed like this."
Fang Wen raised an eyebrow.
"So the master dressed the same as the disciple?"
"There may have been some differences, perhaps, but…" Qingyi took a sip of tea. "On the endless road of the spear, I cannot really be called your master."
"At most, I'm just a senior sister helping you along."
"Uh, but Qingyi, you're a woman old enough to be my martial great-grandmaster…"
"Mm, very good. You can stay in that stance for another half hour."
Qingyi drained her tea in one go and smiled as she tapped the floor with the spear.
"It's still early. Fundamentals must be built properly."
"…I was wrong." Fang Wen's face immediately turned miserable.
Training was suffering.
By the time Fang Wen walked out of the station, his legs were shaking so violently they looked like they were breakdancing.
When the warm sunlight hit him, he felt overwhelming gratitude.
Praise the sun. Being alive is wonderful!
[Completed "Qingyi's Special Training."]
[Reward: Denny x3000, Qingyi Affection +0, current Affection 39.]
Hm? Stuck at 39 too.
Fang Wen guessed that getting past 39 probably required some kind of special trigger or event, but for now, as long as their friendship didn't mutate into something else, that was a good thing.
As for special events… he'd deal with them when they came.
"Welcome! What do you need?" The moment Fang Wen walked in, he heard Belle's bright, energetic voice.
"Yo, I'm here to return some stuff." Fang Wen forced out a smile. If his legs hadn't still been trembling, he would have looked perfectly normal.
He still had quite a few borrowed items he hadn't returned.
"This is the videotape Qingyi borrowed, and this old projector too."
"Sorry, I'm a few days late." Even though the three of them were probably much closer than outsiders imagined, that was still no reason to make exceptions for them. Otherwise the whole place would turn chaotic.
"You came at just the right time, Wen-ge. There are actually a few things we wanted to tell you."
"Mm, alright. Works out nicely—I'll rest here for a bit too." Fang Wen nodded and, already familiar with the layout, headed upstairs.
Zhe's room was locked, so Fang Wen turned and entered Belle's bedroom instead.
The moment he dropped onto the sofa, all his strength vanished. He collapsed bonelessly into the cushions like a limp strip of fried chicken.
Right now, he genuinely did not want to move another inch.
Seeing that Zhe and Belle would probably take a little while before coming upstairs, Fang Wen decided to check today's gains first.
[Learned Skill: White — Spear Basics (Proficiency 5/100)]
This was the first time Fang Wen had seen a proficiency value attached to a skill. According to the panel, once proficiency reached the cap, there was a chance for the skill to break through to a higher rank.
Compared to normal skill growth, that was much more troublesome. But at the same time, it wasn't exactly a bad thing.
[Proficiency is an exclusive trait of skills with at least Epic-tier potential.]
If that was the case, then it made sense. Because this was the only skill he had so far that could potentially reach Epic-tier.
Still, why none of his other skills could reach Epic-tier was a question worth thinking about.
"After all that trouble, at least it wasn't for nothing." Fang Wen smacked his lips and sighed.
High potential was good, but it also meant painfully slow improvement.
To make sure he gained something every day, Fang Wen decisively used up the two self-draws from the two missions he had completed today.
[Drew duplicate skill — Driving Basics (White).]
[Driving Basics (White) → Driving Proficiency (Green)]
[Driving Proficiency (Green): You can skillfully operate all vehicles with ease—those that fly in the sky, swim in water, and of course those that run on land.]
A huge flood of driving experience instantly poured into Fang Wen's mind, so much that he had to rub his temples. But after half a minute, he recovered.
Fang Wen only raised an eyebrow at the appearance of this skill, then quickly accepted it.
He didn't rely on this for a living. At best, it might come in handy now and then, but overall, it wasn't especially useful.
[Drew duplicate skill — Master Coordination (Blue).]
[Master Coordination (Blue) → Master Coordination (Blue+1)]
[Master Coordination (Blue+1): You command your body as if it were your own arm and fingers. Your coordination is on par with a professional acrobat. (You can easily perform high-difficulty movements.)]
Good! This was the first time he had ever pulled a blue-tier skill from himself!
And it was tied directly to the thing he cared about most—his control over his own power.
Truthfully, Fang Wen had already realized during his last sparring session that being able to fully master his rapidly improving combat skills within a month was already considered fast.
But now, he could clearly feel that his control over his own body had risen to another level.
At most five more days, and Fang Wen would become the third-strongest combatant in the Janus District Public Security Bureau.
Quietly getting stronger. Keep the gunfire out of it.
Fang Wen grinned, then casually opened the skill panel and checked all the abilities he possessed.
More accurately, this was the first time he had systematically reviewed all his skills, so he studied them with particular seriousness.
[Host: Fang Wen]
[Primary Attributes: roughly equal to 1.5 average adult men.](expandable)
This primary attribute was pretty intuitive, but it couldn't directly reflect a person's true combat power. So Fang Wen only took it as a rough estimate for now. After all, he still hadn't found any direct method of raising his primary attributes.
Compared to that, his skills were far more varied.
[Skill Panel as follows]
Three Blue, Master-tier skills:
Master Coordination (+1)
Combat Mastery
Time Management Master
Five Green, Proficiency-tier skills:
Cooking Proficiency (+1)
Firearms Proficiency (+1)
Driving Proficiency (+1)
Deduction Proficiency
Observation Proficiency
Four White, Beginner-tier skills:
Spear Basics (5/100)
Makeup Basics
Communication Basics
Long-Distance Running Basics
Six Special Skills:
Male Menace (Green)
Plant Affinity (Green)
Crystal-Clear Senses (Green)
Enduring Stamina (Green+1)
Big-Picture Sense (White)
Pressure King (White)
Looking at that densely packed skill bar, Fang Wen actually felt a little moved.
Because nearly half of them were completely new skills he had drawn.
And he really had been getting stronger step by step through the growth of these skills.
What could make a person feel more fulfilled than watching their own progress with their own eyes?
Though it did seem like there were a few suspiciously weird things mixed into the skill list.
[Time Management Master (Blue): For everyone, time is scarce—but not for you. You can split time in half and use both pieces. — Luo Zxiang]
An old acquaintance, is that you?
Bro, you're still not dead enough?
[Big-Picture Sense (White): You have a complete grasp of the battlefield around you and can quickly coordinate, deploy, and resolve problems.]
This skill was probably related to how often he ended up taking command in Zhu Yuan's place.
That was Fang Wen's guess.
[Pressure King (White): Having survived the hellish workplace environment of your previous life in China, you no longer mentally explode over ordinary things.]
That one, he felt deeply.
He had never once believed work was fun, but compared to his previous life, his current work environment was practically heaven.
"Sorry for making you wait, Wen-ge."
Fang Wen accepted the cup of water Belle handed him and smiled to show he really didn't mind.
"So, you found something you wanted to tell me about?"
"Mm. Your guess was right." Belle nodded and took out a chip-like object about the size of a battery.
"Do you remember that prototype machine they found in Pioneer Memorial Square?"
"Afterward, we actually found an intact storage unit hidden inside it. Maybe because it had been tucked away somewhere inconspicuous, it managed to survive."
Fang Wen raised an eyebrow and nodded for Belle to continue.
"According to Miss Grace from Belobog Heavy Industries, storage units like this are used in Belobog machinery to record and store data."
"In other words…" Fang Wen said calmly, "we can extract clues from this storage unit about what happened back then."
"Exactly. So, do you have the analysis results yet?"
Belle's expression turned a little downcast, and she shook her head.
"This chip was encrypted. Even the Belobog people don't know how to unlock it."
"What about Fairy?" Zhe had already told him about the existence of that super AI.
Though most of what he said had been complaints about the family electricity bill skyrocketing, every line between the lines screamed one thing—Fairy was absurdly powerful.
"Fairy specializes in file retrieval. For a file that's been subjected to multiple layers of encryption like this, it's not sure whether it can decrypt it without damaging the contents."
"And…" Belle looked awkward. "The electricity bill for the decryption might equal an entire month of our store's income."
"…That's the real issue, isn't it?!"
"Hehe~" Belle stuck out her tongue.
Fang Wen and the newly arrived Zhe covered their faces at the same time.
"So, you must've already thought of a solution, right?"
"Or do you need my help? Though fair warning—I probably won't be much use. I don't really know anyone around me who's good at this sort of thing."
As Fang Wen said that, Qingyi's figure suddenly flashed through his mind, but he still didn't change his answer.
This was their matter. His conversation with Qingyi in the park had already been a huge help. He couldn't keep asking her to give more for his sake.
"No need to worry about that, Wen-ge. A while ago, Nicole introduced us to a professional."
Nicole?
Fang Wen remembered that Proxy from the Cunning Hares.
The Public Security Bureau got fresh civil dispute reports involving her every other day.
There was every kind of bizarre situation imaginable, but without exception, every single one of them had something to do with Denny.
That said, compared to that, she had another feature that was even more memorable.
"You mean that money-grubbing G-cup Proxy?"
"Money-grubbing, sure… G-cup is what?" Belle tilted her head in confusion.
"Ahem. Slip of the tongue. Don't worry about the details." Fang Wen coughed once and moved past the subject under Zhe's twitching mouth.
"Next, all we need to do is contact her and crack that storage unit."
"If only things were ever that smooth." Fang Wen couldn't help sighing.
Generally speaking, things never went that smoothly.
Ding-ling-ling—
From downstairs came the clear sound of the shop doorbell being bumped.
"Sorry, customer! We're already closed for the day!" Zhe turned his head and shouted downstairs.
"That's weird. Bro, didn't you hang the closed sign when you came upstairs?" Belle looked up suspiciously at her brother leaning by the doorway.
"That can't be right. I'm pretty sure I hung it." As he spoke, Zhe walked toward the stairwell to check what was happening downstairs.
Thud-thud-thud—
The culprit had apparently already come charging up the stairs!
"Phaethon!"
Watching the doorway, Fang Wen suddenly saw Zhe get sent flying by two extremely bouncy spheres.
Uh…
Charging someone with your chest is a foul, isn't it?!
The newcomers were a hot girl with pink twin-tail waves and a quiet white mushroom-cut girl.
The first was Nicole, the very person they had just been talking about. The second seemed to be another member of the Cunning Hares. After coming in, she said nothing at all and just kept eating her hamburger.
Nicole kept staring at Fang Wen, to the point that he started wondering whether there was something wrong with his face.
"It's fine, Nicole. This is Fang Wen—you can think of him as my and my brother's big brother."
"I know that, but…" Nicole suddenly leaned close to Belle and whispered in her ear.
"I see him all the time at the Janus District Public Security Branch. Is this really okay? He's the deputy captain of the Special Operations Unit!"
"Do me and my brother look like we're in trouble?" Belle blinked.
"Speaking of which, Nicole—what about the money you still owe us from last month?" Zhe smiled pleasantly at Nicole, which somehow made her visibly uneasy.
"Uh… when I have money, I'll definitely pay it back. But forget that for now!"
Nicole glanced once more at Fang Wen, who had now nearly shrunk into the crack of the sofa.
"Is it really okay for him to be here?"
"Just relax. Wen-ge is my brother's and my connection inside the Public Security Bureau." Belle patted her barely-developed chest and declared it with confidence.
"Why are you making me sound like some kind of spy…" Fang Wen scratched his arm and smiled with amused indulgence.
"Hahahaha…"
Watching the atmosphere gradually loosen up, Nicole let out a sigh that sounded half helpless and half resigned.
"Well, since it's already come to this, I guess there's no point in hiding anything anymore."
"Wait, Nicole." Zhe pinched his chin. "If I remember right, today was supposed to be the day you took an airship to the Supreme Court, wasn't it?"
"Hm? Supreme Court?" Fang Wen suddenly spoke up. "Wait a second—what did I miss this time?"
"You didn't know? Nicole and the others are key witnesses in the Vision Corporation bombing case, and heroes in the eyes of the Canvas Alley residents. They're supposed to appear in court later today."
"…Did you all forget I was still in the hospital sleeping like the dead back then?"
"Ah, right, that's true. Hahaha." Belle laughed awkwardly and made a face.
"Anyway, there's something I absolutely have to tell you all, or I won't be able to stop worrying."
"What is it?" x3
"Phaethon, some time ago you asked me to help connect you with the hacker Rain so she could crack Belobog's storage unit, right?"
The three of them exchanged glances. They had literally just been talking about that.
"Nicole, don't tell me you suddenly grew a conscience and came here to admit you barely even know Rain?"
"How could that be! Everything else aside, how dare you question my connections." Nicole crossed her arms under the overflowing weight of her happiness and puffed up indignantly.
"Rain may be a red-hot name on the Inter-Knot, but she still gives me face."
"Ahem. Anyway, something weird seems to have happened on her end recently."
"Lately, I and some other people who know her have been receiving blank messages from her every now and then. At first it didn't seem like much. But it's been going on for half a month. Then after I took your request and tried to contact her directly, I found I couldn't reach her at all!"
"And those blank messages used to show up every few days, but this morning alone, my phone rang four or five times."
The three of them exchanged looks, each seeing the worry in the others' eyes.
"Even though I don't know this person…" Fang Wen broke the heavy silence, "she's probably in trouble."
"And if I had to guess, it's likely something already went wrong half a month ago—right when those blank messages first started."
Fang Wen's instincts told him that Rain's situation was probably already extremely dangerous by now.
Tonight was probably not going to be a quiet one.
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