Chapter 221: A Man's Secret
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Congratulations! Sword Genius has defeated keeper Yu Moli on the sixth floor of the arena and won 90 battles consecutively!"
The announcement of the results turned the arena chaotic, especially on the sixth floor. Many of them checked Sword Genius' scoreboard and found it unbelievable that he currently ranks No.3 on the leaderboard with 20308 points; they found it unbelievable.
"He is the uncrowned king even though he's only at No.3!"
"Sword Genius is too powerful! He even defeated Yu Moli!"
"I've told you that Yu Moli hasn't got a chance in defeating the Sword Genius, it came true!"
"Sigh, I thought Yu Moli would win this time, I didn't know that Sword Genius is that powerful…"
…
It was not only the sixth floor, but everybody else on the other floors were also discussing about Sword Genius. He was now a legend as he managed to go from a 60 to an 80-win streak within a day. Now that he had achieved a 90-win streak, he was the third person who had managed to come this far since the establishment of Division7. The last time a player got a 90-win streak in Division7 was 186 years ago. Many of the transcendents who were playing from the ninth floor and above started to talk about Sword Genius as well. The 12 senior executive officers were silent when they read the news.
After leaving the arena, Lin Huang was sent back to the main hall. He was not wearing a mask so nobody could tell who he was. He looked at his scoreboard before signing out.
"Nickname: Sword Genius"
"Combat Strength: Silver-Level Rank-3"
"Battle Count: 90"
"Accumulated Points: 20308"
"Winning Percentage: 100%"
"Honor: 90-win streak!"
Lin Huang then signed out from the game. Upon regaining his consciousness, he saw that the top news on the main page of the Hunter Arena had changed but most of the news was still about him.
"The Uncrowned King, Sword Genius Has Completed A 90-Win Streak!"
"I wonder how Yu Moli's doing now… I've only wiped away a portion of the monster's consciousness; will he able to clear the remaining monster consciousness that was left in his body? Hopefully, his body won't be taken over by the monster…" Yu Moli was a genius, Lin Huang did not want him to become the puppet of a monster.
In the arena, the system would usually be able to detect the difference in consciousness but what happened to Yu Moli was rare. As part of his consciousness was absorbed into the game, the system must have mistaken the monster's consciousness for his, which caused the monster to take over his body during the battle. If Lin Huang did not kill the monster, Yu Moli's consciousness would not be able to return to his body as he had lost control of it during battle. Instead, the remaining monster's consciousness would have taken over his body. That was the reason why Yu Moli thanked Lin Huang before he left the game.
After getting rid of Yu Moli from his mind, Lin Huang checked the time. From the 81st to 90th battle, it took him less than half an hour. It was not even 9:30 in the morning, Lin Huang watched all the videos that were recorded during the battles. He watched the one of him and Yu Moli fighting repeatedly while he took notes. After that, he sent all the videos to Mr. Fu with a short message 'Master, I've completed the mission!'.
Soon, Mr. Fu replied his message, "I've received your message, I'll get back to you after I've watched the videos."
It was past 11 in the morning when he was done. Lin Huang then made grilled meat for Lin Xuan before heading out to buy some ingredients for lunch. He cooked in the kitchen while Lin Xin and Lin Xuan enjoyed the meal. Later on, Lin Huang started a conversation with the both of them while he did the dishes.
"How's your gun training?"
"I hardly lose in the regular arena anymore. I've been watching the videos that were recorded by Xiao Xuan and have learned a lot from there. Xiao Xuan is even more powerful now, he's fighting with some Gold Hunters in the Hunter's Exclusive zone. Initially, he would've been defeated but not anymore. He was given a nickname by some of the other players, The Game Terminator…" Lin Xin complimented Lin Xuan's skill.
"Really?" Lin Huang raised his eyebrow. He knew Lin Xuan was a fast learner but he did not expect him to be able to fight with gold-level gunmasters when he was only at silver-level. Those gunmasters had powerful gunfighting techniques.
"Xiao Xuan has knowledge of gunfighting techniques as well?" Lin Huang asked.
Lin Xuan nodded.
"How many of them do you know?"
"126 types." Lin Xuan's answer left Lin Huang speechless. His learning speed was simply terrifying.
"Brother, I know some too. Xiao Xuan taught me three types and I've mastered two of them. Too bad I don't have any Life Seed to unleash its power…" Lin Xin said.
"You know some too?!" Lin Huang did not expect Lin Xin to have surpassed him in terms of gun skill by now. After hesitating for a while, Lin Huang said to Lin Xuan, "Xiao Xuan, could you teach me some gunfighting techniques in the coming days?"
Lin Xuan stared at him with a puzzled expression. He seemed to be wondering if Lin Huang really did not know of any gunfighting techniques.
Lin Xin's eyes were wide opened, "Brother, aren't you skilled with guns?"
"I haven't got the time to learn gunfighting techniques…" Lin Huang blushed as he spoke the truth.
"I'll teach you then!" Lin Xin was excited. She treated Lin Huang as her lab rat to experiment with her teaching methods.
"I'll get Xiao Xuan to teach me instead since you've only mastered two techniques." Lin Huang smiled and shook his head. He did not think that Lin Xin could teach him anything when it came to gunfighting techniques.
Lin Xin went to the living room to watch the news. She then asked, "Brother, since you've playing in the arena these couple of days, have you heard of this person called Sword Genius?"
"Yes, I have. What's the matter?" Lin Huang smiled and asked. He did not have the time to watch the news but news of him achieving a 90-win streak must have spread like wildfire.
"This person is so powerful. He had a 90-win streak…" Lin Xin said as she watched the battle video between Lin Huang and Yu Moli.
Lin Xuan recognized that this person who was called Sword Genius in the mask was Lin Huang.
He said, "Brother…"
Lin Xin was surprised, "Do you mean Sword Genius is our brother?"
Lin Xuan nodded.
Lin Xin looked at Lin Huang in disbelief and asked, "Brother, are you really Sword Genius?"
"What do you think?" Lin Huang did not want to give an answer straight away; he did not want to lie but at the same time, he could not admit the truth.
"I don't think so… Although you're powerful, this bloke is crazy…" Lin Xin shook her head.
Lin Xuan tried to speak but he was stopped by Lin Huang, "Xiao Xuan, come here. I need to talk to you."
Lin Xuan walked to Lin Huang immediately. Lin Huang whispered into his ear, "Don't tell anyone that I'm Sword Genius. You can't even tell your sister. This is a secret between us, okay!"
Lin Xuan nodded immediately, "A man's secret!"
"Come, give me a brofist!" Lin Huang pointed his fist at Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan made a fist in confusion, Lin Huang then bumped his fist with his and smiled, "Since we've bumped our fists, this means you must keep the secret."
"Okay!" Lin Xuan nodded hard. Lin Huang then rubbed Lin Xuan's head, "Let's play Gun Master together and you can teach me some gunfighting techniques…"
"Me too!" Lin Xin heard and joined in the conversation, "I want to see how you learn gunfighting techniques from him!"
"Sure, come with us." Lin Huang did not mind Lin Xin being there.
Chapter 222: Gun Fighting Technique
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In training ground No.02879 of Gun Master, Lin Huang prepared himself with a SilverPhoenix16. In the game, most of the guns were complimentary; only rare and modified guns required credit points to purchase. Lin Huang was only there for training so purchasing a gun would be unnecessary. A modified SilverPhoenix16 and an ordinary SilverPhoenix16 had an insignificant difference. Lin Xuan was using a SilverPhoenix16 too; since he was silver-level rank-3 like Lin Huang, using a SilverPhoenix16 would be appropriate.
Lin Xin who was watching from the side was envious of the both of them. Since she was not even at iron-level so she could not even use an iron-level gun, let alone the silver-level SilverPhoenix16. She could only watch.
"Which ones do you want to learn first?" Lin Xuan asked Lin Huang when he saw that he was ready.
"Let's start with the easiest one since I don't have the basics down yet." Lin Huang was not ambitious. Since he does not have the basics, he wanted to learn from the bottom up so that he would not be discouraged.
"I can teach you!" Lin Xin raised her hand. Lin Huang did not want to reject her after seeing her enthusiasm. He waved at her, "Alright then, come here and show me."
Lin Xin ran towards Lin Huang and smirked. She took out both of her GrayEagle17's, turned them around and held them in the right position. Facing the 36 moving targets, Lin Xin opened fire without looking at them. Her hands would move a little from the recoil after every shot. Although she seemed clumsy, she managed to shoot the moving targets. Within seconds, she shot all the 36 targets on the floor. Lin Huang was shocked with her skill as he thought Lin Xin only knew the basics but it seemed like she had mastered the first basic gun technique. It was amazing that she managed to do that considering that she was not even at iron-level.
Lin Huang kept silent and gave her a thumbs up and Lin Xin blushed.
"I've checked on the network, the easiest gunfighting technique is called Potshot. The thing about Potshot is to not to try and overpower the recoil but using it to our advantage to save our strength as well as time to adjust our aim. Although it might look clumsy in reality, the aim of the muzzle will always be within our control…"
Lin Xin explained to Lin Huang confidently. Lin Xuan did not say a word. Lin Huang patted him on his shoulder, "Xiao Xuan, why don't you show me."
Lin Xuan nodded and stood before the red line with one of his SilverPhoenix16's. He pulled the trigger, sending bullets filled with Life Power speeding towards the targets at a terrifyingly rapid speed. Within a second, all 36 moving targets fell onto the ground.
Lin Huang's jaws almost dropped as he watched Lin Xuan's speed; it was even faster than Explosive Female Demon. It was a terrifying mastery of the gun. Meanwhile, Lin Xin watched unhappily as she had finally had the chance to perform in front of her brother and was complimented but the limelight was stolen by Lin Xuan once again.
"Xiao Xuan, do it again." Lin Huang was unable to capture the full image earlier as Boundless Vision was deactivated.
Lin Xuan nodded and opened fire with his SilverPhoenix16 again and before long, all 36 targets were shot down within a second. With Boundless Vision and Third Eye, Lin Huang managed to capture the entire thing.
"Brother, you can get Xiao Xuan to slow down so that you can see all the details." Lin Xin reminded.
It's alright, I can see it crystal clear now." Lin Huang shook his head and walked to the red line.
"Let me try."
Facing the 36 moving targets, Lin Huang opened fire continuously and shot all of them down within three seconds. He frowned as he was not satisfied with the result. Lin Xuan and Lin Xin did not say a word as they watched. Lin Xin could see that Lin Huang did not take advantage of the recoil. Instead, he was affected by the recoil. To be able to control his shots, he habitually tried to control the recoil. Although he managed to shoot down all the targets, it was not the true essence of the gunfighting technique, Potshot .
"I'm not used to such a shooting technique, I shall practice more then…" Lin Huang shook his head as he proceeded to practice. After three to four attempts, Lin Xin was concerned and Lin Xuan finally spoke.
"Brother… You have to forget about the target…"
Upon hearing that, Lin Huang finally realized his problem. He was worried about missing the targets so much that he focused on them and controlled the recoil to try and hit them accurately.
"That's right, I focused too much on hitting the targets. It's okay not to hit the targets in a practice, I shouldn't use the shooting style that I'm used to as well. I should consider myself as a beginner and start from square one!"
After realizing his mistake, Lin Huang lets go of his concerns and shot randomly. This time, he only managed to shoot two targets, however, he received a notification.
"Congratulations, you have received a gunfighting technique skill card piece x1 - Potshot "
The notification assured him that he was in the right direction. However, he did not expect to receive skill card pieces during practices in the game.
He was improving fast, his accuracy increased with every shot. After 30 practices, he finally shot down all 36 targets. A notification came from Xiao Hei.
" Potshot skill card pieces x30 has been detected. Combine the cards to receive a gunfighting technique - Potshot . Would you like to combine them?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang decided to combine the skill card pieces without hesitation.
Soon, a skill card appeared in his hand.
"Skill Card"
"Skill Card Name: Potshot"
"Rarity: Normal"
"Type of Skill: Gunfighting Technique"
"Skill Level: Iron-level Gun Technique"
"Status: Available"
"Remarks: No level limit"
"Card Remarks: Useless"
After taking the skill into his body, Lin Huang held up the gun and shot randomly. All the 36 targets fell to the ground, it took him less than two seconds. Lin Xin was clapping her hands while Lin Xuan was indifferent as he thought it was normal for Lin Huang to manage that.
"Now that I have mastered the first technique, you can teach me the second one now. Teach me from the basics, I'm planning to put the fun, and my combat habits aside so that I could start from zero." Lin Huang said to Lin Xuan.
"Okay!" Lin Xuan nodded and started using the second gunfighting technique…
Chapter 223: Gold-Level Life Seed Monster
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang had learned 28 introductory-level gunfighting techniques from Lin Xuan after spending more than 10 hours in the afternoon. The introduction to gunfighting was also called iron-level gunfighting technique. This technique did not require Life Power so that iron-level hunters and above would be able to use it. However, it was rather difficult to learn.
At Lin Xin's level, she would need two to three days to master one technique and the reason Lin Huang managed to learn them so fast was because he only needed 30 skill card pieces to obtain one skill card. If he learned at the speed of regular people, he would not learn the skills any faster than Lin Xin. However, Lin Xin had always thought that her brother was talented so it was normal for him to learn much faster. On the other hand, Lin Xuan was not surprised as he learned all the techniques by looking at them once. He did not think that Lin Huang was talented. If outsiders knew that Lin Huang managed to learn 28 techniques in 10 hours, they would find it impressive even though it was an introductory-level skill.
It was 10:30 p.m. when they logged out of the game. To reward the both of them, Lin Huang made supper. The three of them then went to bed after taking a shower and Lin Huang received a video call from Mr. Fu when he was having his breakfast the next morning.
"Boy, are you having breakfast right now?" Mr. Fu saw something that looked like oats in the bowl in front of Lin Huang.
"Yes. Have you had your breakfast, master?" Lin Huang smiled as he asked politely.
"It has been years since I last had breakfast…" Mr. Fu shook his head. He seemed distracted as he thought of his past.
"Have you finished watching the videos that I sent you?" Lin Huang put down his spoon.
"Yes, I have. Don't worry, please carry on with your breakfast." Mr. Fu waved his hand.
Lin Huang did not pick up his spoon, "Please, master."
"Alright then…" Mr. Fu saw that Lin Huang did not plan to continue eating and he continued to speak.
"I've watched all the videos from the beginning until the end. You've surprised me!"
"I have always thought that you're a powerful Imperial Censor. You may have a great potential but your combat strength isn't strong enough. I've assigned you a mission that required you to get into the top 10 without using any summoning monsters; simply as a target but I didn't expect you to achieve it. I wanted to see how you'd perform in the arena and observe your true ability as well as how you'd fare during practice battles."
"The only way to complete the mission within two months was through winning. I estimated that you could achieve a 50-win streak at most and you would lose to the keeper of the 60th battle and that you'd achieve 50-win streaks repeatedly until you manage to collect the targeted points. As the battle continues; you'd be paired with stronger opponents and I didn't think you were capable of winning."
"However, you managed to defeat all the keepers and achieved a 90-win streak. That was totally out of my expectation…"
Lin Huang felt embarrassed as Mr. Fu complimented him. He had never thought that failing the mission was an option. He wanted to give his best to the mission that was assigned by Mr. Fu.
"I'm curious. Your performance was not that outstanding from the 1st to 50th battles. There were many flaws but within a month's time, you looked like a totally changed man from the 51st battle. You've never failed to surprise me since then. What did you do in that one month ?" Mr. Fu asked.
"I downloaded all the videos of the top 10 players and studied them one by one. I even made notes and practiced them in my room… Anyways, I just studied each and every one of the combat styles to see if there was anything that I could learn and adapt into a style of my own so that I can use them in the battles." Lin Huang explained.
"You sure are outstanding." Mr. Fu smiled and nodded.
"I've watched all of the videos. Although I can find some flaws, I don't see the need to for you to change. I'll only advice you."
"Yes please, master" Lin Huang sat right up and listened carefully.
"As a whole, the most outstanding part about you would be your sword skill. You have mastered a great sword skill so I won't be teaching you other sword skills at the moment. You have a great physique as well, the only flaw that you have would be your speed. Although your speed is slightly faster than a normal silver-level rank-3, you were much weaker when you encountered those who had the advantage in speed. You can overcome that with your movement skills but the two movement skills that you possess are not that special. I'll make a video of a movement skill for you to train on later."
"Sure!" Lin Huang was over the moon; since Mr. Fu was going to teach him a movement skill, it had to be at least epic-level.
"However, to be able to strengthen yourself to gold-level and fight a holy fire transcendent, relying solely on movement skills aren't enough. You'd have to improve on your speed as well. Therefore, I'll suggest you choose a speed type Life Seed when you level-up to gold-level…"
"Master, it doesn't make sense to improve my speed and physique before I become transcendent, does it?" Lin Huang voiced his doubts; he was taking his the condition he would be in when he leveled-up to holy fire-level into consideration.
"That's true. You'll experience a flesh transformation when you reach the holy fire-level. This is why people are called transcendents when they achieve the holy fire-level. The body of a transcendent is much stronger than those below that stage." Mr. Fu nodded.
"However, the speed type Life Seed that I suggested isn't an ordinary speed type Life Seed, but one that would be able to transform into a secret skill that'll enable you to move in a flash."
Lin Huang was excited upon hearing this.
"This Life Seed monster is called a Starlight Beast. It's very rare and hard to catch. I'll send you more details and videos about this monster, take your time to learn about it and see if it suits you." Mr. Fu said.
"If you've chosen your gold-level Life Seed, please share it with me."
"I've been busy for the past few days so I didn't have the time to look at it yet. However, the Starlight Beast that you mentioned sounds interesting." Although Lin Huang had read the Monster Encyclopedia, it was the first time he heard about the Starlight Beast. He planned to decide only after he finds out what it was exactly.
"I'll send you the details later so you can decide for yourself." Mr. Fu added, "Is there anything else that you'd like to ask pertaining to your training?"
"Not at the moment. I'm focusing on stabilizing my Life Power before upgrading to gold-level." Lin Huang shook his head.
"However, since you know that I'm an Imperial Censor, I have a question regarding summoning the monster." Lin Huang added.
"Please do ask. Although I'm not an Imperial Censor, I have many Imperial Censor friends. If I can't answer your question, I could always ask my friends." Mr. Fu nodded.
"I have obtained a parasitic summoning monster earlier but it comes with several parasitic skills. I'm not sure how I'm going to train this summoning monster and what kind of skills it would get." Lin Huang had been wanting to ask someone who was expert in monster training regarding his Demonic Dandelion Vine.
"I have killed many parasites before and aside from some other parasitic skills, there aren't many other attack skills it can obtain. They basically rely on defensive skills, regeneration skills and camouflaging skills to increase their chance of survival. Some can even master learning type of skill."
"The best way to train monsters would be by looking at their nature. Since you're an Imperial Censor who can control more than one summoning monster, there's no need for you to train all of your summoning monsters to their peak. I suggest you follow its nature and look for skills that of a defensive, regenerative or camouflage nature. If it is a double mutated monster with a higher intelligence, you can look for learning-type skills."
"I understand now," Lin Huang replied after Mr. Fu gave Lin Huang a clear direction.
"Do you have any other questions?" Mr. Fu raised an eyebrow.
"Not at the moment. Thank you, master!" Lin Huang said.
"I shall not interrupt your breakfast then." Mr. Fu ended the call.
Lin Huang hung up the phone and continued with breakfast.
"Who were you talking to?" Lin Xin and Lin Xuan just got downstairs after a shower.
"My teacher." Lin Huang smiled.
"Your teacher… He must be powerful?" Lin Xin found it odd.
"I think so, I'll introduce you to him in the future." Lin Huang waved at the both of them.
"Come here and eat your breakfast!"
The two of them went to the dining table. Soon, he received a couple of messages from Mr. Fu. He browsed through them, one of them was about a movement skill called Thunder Steps, the other was a complete set of details on the Starlight Beast while the final message was some information regarding parasites. He did not read them but sent Mr. Fu a thank you message. He switched off his phone and carried on with breakfast. Later on, he checked the messages again.
Chapter 224: Starlight Beast
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Starlight Beast was an extremely rare monster that could only be found in the Meteorite Desert. It looked like a robot, walked on two legs, and most of its body parts were orange in color which produced unique metal-like reflection when it came in contact with light. It has a turquoise face that looked like it was wearing a mask. Besides that, there was nothing else on its face. It had four antenna-like hands that were in blue and green colors and beneath its neck was a purple crystal that was the size of a fist.
The purple crystal was a meteor piece that could absorb energy at night. It was the only energy source of the Starlight Beast. Due to their characteristic, this monster was a star spirit type. The Starlight Beast had three major skills. The first one would enable it to transform its antennas into weapons which were similar to a vampire's Blood Power. Second, would be its explosive movement and attack speed while the last one would be flicker which allowed it to teleport within a small area.
Its last two skills made it hard to kill the monster. Besides, it had a high intelligence which made it easy for it to avoid humans. Unlike many other monsters, they would not wander out of their territory as they waited to be killed by a human. The Starlight Beast would usually avoid conflicts with humans by hiding. The hunter who kills a Starlight Beast would obtain a speed type Life Seed which will give the user a powerful movement and attack speed skill. As one leveled up to transcendent, the gift would be upgraded to a secret skill called Flash which would allow the user to use the short-distance teleportation.
"This Life Seed monster seems great. Its talent would cancel out my only flaw, giving me speed that's quite frankly, over the top. After I hit transcendent, this speed type secret skill seems powerful too. Since master recommended this to me, he must've considered the effects of the secret skill after I become a transcendent. It seems like this is the best Life Seed that I can get for a gold-level." After reading the documents on the Starlight Beast, Lin Huang decided on the Life Seed monster that he wanted. He logged onto the network immediately and searched for the monster's whereabouts.
"Meteorite Desert…"
A map was projected before him, Lin Huang frowned as he looked at the location of Meteorite Desert that was marked in yellow. It was located in the far to the northwest of Division7 from Winter City where Lin Huang was located. He would have to cross half of Division7 to reach the desert. It was more than 50% further than his trip from the Purple Crow training camp to Wulin Town.
"That's extremely far!" The distance was out of his expectations.
He would need to book the ticket to the long-distance dimensional portal at least a month in advance. With the transfers in between, it would take up at least three months for the return trip. Lin Huang was upset as he thought about the travels. This world was too big, without a dimensional vehicle, traveling was inconvenient.
"It would be great if master could send me there on some dimensional transfer equipment. Although I might have to think about I'd make it back, at least I'll be able to save more than a month of time." Lin Huang planned to ask Mr. Fu if he had some relic like the Dimensional Portal before he headed out.
After deciding on the Life Seed monster than he wanted, Lin Huang started reading the other two messages. The documents on parasites that Mr. Fu sent was much more complete than the Monster Encyclopedia that Lin Huang read in the past. It did not only have a wider the variety of monsters but the descriptions that came with it were also more detailed. It was obvious that the documents were higher ranked than the ones that he got from Yi Zheng.
He spent his entire morning reading it and he even picked some parasites that possessed survival skills and other unique skills but he was only halfway through. He ordered takeaway for lunch before making grilled meat for Lin Xuan. Later on, he returned to the living room to look through the documents again. When the takeaway arrived, Lin Xin and Lin Xuan had just logged out of the Gun Master game. Lin Huang's performance in the Gun Master the day before had triggered Lin Xin to improve her skills. After breakfast, she asked Lin Xuan to join her in the game to train her in gunfighting techniques until noon.
"Brother, are you practicing your gun skills this afternoon?" Lin Xin asked after putting a spoonful of rice into her mouth.
"Not today, I have something else that I need to do." Lin Huang shook his head. He planned to read all the documents by today to find three suitable skills for his Demonic Dandelion Vine.
"You guys go ahead and do your own stuff, don't worry about me."
"Oh." Lin Xin was secretly happy that Lin Huang stopped practicing his gun skills. It meant that she might just be able to catch up with him.
After lunch, Lin Xin urged Lin Xuan to return to the game as she did not want to waste a single minute. Lin Huang knew what she was up to when he saw her rushing upstairs. He smiled and shook his head. After cleaning the dining table, he returned to the living room and continued reading the documents on the couch.
Under normal circumstances, a monster would need to kill another monster of the same type to inherit its monster skill. Therefore, a parasite could only kill a parasite, it was impossible for a parasite to kill other types of monsters for their skills. It would be decided by the Life Seed in the monster's body; there were rare exceptions of course. For instance, a monster called the Takeru Hunter could obtain most monster's skills and even kill humans to obtain their skills… However, it was rare.
Lin Huang considered the Demonic Dandelion Vine as a common monster, he would need to find another parasite monster.
" Skin Hardening could strengthen its defense, but it's too common…"
" Enhanced Regeneration isn't bad, plus its suitable with Demonic Dandelion Vine's characteristic since its a plant…"
" Plant Camouflage allows it to disguise into any other plants. That seems suitable too…"
…
Lin Huang looked through all the documents thoroughly. When it was four in the afternoon, he finally found a skill that impressed him.
" Enhanced Intelligence … This skill is very brilliant…" What Lin Huang saw was a parasite called Brain Eater. As the parasite entered the host, it would devour the host's brain and take over the brain to control the host's body. The nutrients in the body will be sufficient for the growth of the parasite; its intelligence would grow with Enhanced Intelligence and learn everything from the host.
The skill allowed the parasite to learn at a speed of a human genius where it could learn a gold-level combat skill within a couple of days. Such a speed was comparable with Lin Huang's Goldfinger. However, this parasite had one flaw - it had to consume a fresh brain once a month. If it did not eat on time; it will die of exhaustion within 48 hours.
"I have no idea where to find this parasite. If it has Enhanced Intelligence no one would be able to find out that it's controlling a person." Lin Huang recalled the people that were affected in Xiaoxia City. He noticed that the hosts would lose their minds. If the Demonic Dandelion Vine had a higher intelligence than that, the incident in Xiaoxia City would not happen.
After choosing Enhanced Intelligence as the skill that he desired, Lin Huang picked another two skills which were Enhanced Regeneration and Plant Camouflage . He did not find any skill with a good defense so he decided on a disguise skill. It was 10 p.m. when he was done. Lin Xin and Lin Xuan ordered takeaway for dinner at six in the evening. They left his food in the oven and he finished his late dinner by 11 before he went upstairs and urged the two kids to go to bed before going to bed himself…
Chapter 225: Thunder Steps
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The next morning, Lin Huang woke up at seven to prepare breakfast. Lin Xin woke up at 7:10 a.m. on her own and woke Lin Xuan up as well.
"Brother, are you not practicing your gun skills today?" Lin Xin asked at the dining table while talking into the milk bottle.
"Not today, I'll have to practice the movement skill that my master sent. We'll see." Lin Huang nodded and smirked.
"Have you learned the third gunfighting technique yet?"
"I have learned that last night, I'll be learning the fourth one today." Lin Xin nodded. She does not seem interested to discuss further with him. After gulping down the milk, she went upstairs and brought Lin Xuan with her.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang took his time to finish his breakfast. After cleaning the kitchen, he went into the living room and started studying the movement skill that Mr. Fu sent him on the couch. It was a video that Mr. Fu recorded himself. In the beginning of the video, Mr. Fu introduced the movement skill
"This movement skill is called Thunder Steps . Just like its name, its speed is as fast as thunder. Another origin of its name is the thunder-like noise that it makes…" As Mr. Fu spoke, he moved at lightning speed; followed by a loud thud.
Lin Huang was stunned. He thought something exploded but he soon realized that the thud came from the movement skill itself. Soon, another thud was heard. Mr. Fu returned to his initial position.
"Did you see that? That's the effect of the movement skill. The sound could be heard even before you arrived at the second point from your initial position! A powerful person should be able to make his entrance …"
"Can I get a quiet movement skill instead…" Lin Huang was speechless as he felt that the movement skill was attention seeking.
Since the video was pre-recorded, Mr. Fu could not hear what Lin Huang was saying; he proceeded to explain the movement skill. The video was one and a half hour long. Since Mr. Fu put in a great amount effort to explain and demonstrate the movement skill, Lin Huang felt bad for requesting another movement skill. He continued to watch the video anyway.
The tutorial was very detailed as Mr. Fu had answered all the questions and doubts that Lin Huang had in detail; nothing was left out. Lin Huang continued watching the video until the end even though he realized that there were two to three minutes left before the video ended.
Mr. Fu demonstrated Thunder Steps on the deck of his spaceship several times before returning to speak to Lin Huang in the video recording.
"Oh right, there's something that I must say. The thud that came with the movement skill was initially a flaw when it was invented. Nobody could find a solution to it for hundreds of years. This movement skill relies on Life Power to create such a speed so it's normal to have the explosive noise. However, a genius modified the release of Life Power for this movement skill, creating a silent version. Now, I'm going to teach you how to do that…"
Lin Huang only realized that the last two minutes of the video was crucial after finishing the video. If he was to ignore the last two minutes, he would have practiced the version with the noisy thud.
"I almost got tricked by him…" Lin Huang did not expect Mr. Fu to be so playful. He turned off the video and went to the courtyard. To prevent himself from destroying his shoes from the lack of Life Power control, he removed them.
As long as he could master the force of Life Power under his feet, he would have mastered 80% of Thunder Steps . The remaining parts would be the mastery of smaller details. However, controlling Life Power was not an easy task. He lost control and dove head first into the trashcan at the entrance on his first attempt.
"It seems like I need a bigger space for this…"
Lin Huang showered, got changed and bid farewell to Lin Xin and Lin Xuan. He rode on the Alexandrian Eagle and headed to a wild zone outside the foothold.
Upon landing in an empty wild zone, Lin Huang recalled the Alexandrian Eagle and started practicing Thunder Steps . His mastery of Life Power was much stronger than a common silver-level rank-3 as he had mastered level-8 of Army Attack Tactics which gave him a 96% increment in the rotational speed of his Life Power. It was four in the afternoon; after seven to eight hours of practice, he had finally stopped tripping over the ground.
However, he was far from mastering the skill as he had only obtained slightly more than 10 skill card pieces of Thunder Steps . Since it was almost dinner time, Lin Huang summoned the Alexandrian Eagle and rode it home. When he got home, he saw Lin Xin pouring herself a cup of water in the kitchen.
"What's wrong with you?"
Lin Xin was puzzled as she looked at Lin Huang's messy clothes. She wondered if he was beaten up as he looked like he had been rolling on the ground.
"Nothing, I fell down when I was practicing the movement skill… I'll go shower now." Lin Huang waved his hand and went straight to the bathroom on the second floor.
In the shower, the water washed away the black soot that covered his body. It took him some time to clean up. Later, he threw the dirty clothes away after he changed.
"Brother, what kind of movement skill are you practicing now?" Lin Xin was curious but she did not have the opportunity to ask Lin Huang since he went straight into the shower after he got home.
"That's the movement skill that my master sent me. You can't learn it now; it requires Life Power and a high mastery of it I've been training since morning and I'm finally not tripping over anymore." Lin Huang explained.
"Oh…" Lin Xin was relieved that he was not beaten up.
Lin Huang was not in the mood to cook so he ordered takeaway instead while he looked for ways to better control his Life Power by watching the video. After dinner, Lin Huang joined Lin Xin and Lin Xuan in Gun Master instead. He was thinking of learning gunfighting techniques to relax. In four hours, Lin Huang managed to learn another nine introductory-level gunfighting techniques. He had finally learned all of the introductory-level techniques.
It was 10 at night, he went to bed exhausted…
Chapter 226: School Transfer
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
For the next 10 days, Lin Huang practiced Thunder Steps in the morning while he learned gunfighting techniques from Lin Xuan at night. He was beginning to master Thunder Steps as he had been obtaining more and more skill card pieces every day. Within two weeks, he had accumulated more than 30 card pieces. During that same period of time, he had also managed to learn all 29 of the beginner-level gunfighting techniques.
It was finally the day for Lin Xin's enrolment to her new school. There were four hunter colleges in Winter City in the four zones. Since Lin Huang stayed on the east side, they were less than two kilometers away from the college. Lin Huang rode on the Viridian Wolf with Lin Xin and Lin Xuan to the college. When they arrived, there was a crowd at the entrance with at least 10,000 people.
Lin Huang managed to locate the information counter and got directions to the admission office and brought the both of them in with him. The school was much nicer than the one in Wulin Town. It was not only bigger but had an astonishing building architecture as well. The lush greenery reminded Lin Huang of the university that he went to on Earth. Lin Xin was excited, the school was much more majestic than the one in Wulin Town. As they stepped into the admission office on the eighth floor, there were five to six people queuing up. Soon, it was Lin Xin's turn.
Lin Huang got Lin Xuan to wait at the door while he brought Lin Xin in.
"Have a seat."
The teacher responsible for school transfer did not bother to make small talk with them and got the both of them to sit down before asking all the necessary questions.
"Your name."
"Ling Xue."
"Age."
"14."
…
Lin Xin had memorized her new identity, she managed to answer all the questions. The teacher scanned Lin Xin's identity, school transfer application, and Lin Huang's residential token before giving her the school ID.
"You will be going to the second graduating class which commences three days later. Report to the form teacher before 8:30 a.m.." The teacher briefed.
"If you have any special skills, do let your form teacher know so that you would be arranged to attend special courses. If you passed the course, you would have to go through an additional assessment before graduation, which is good for your school application." The teacher added.
"Understood. Thank you, teacher!" Lin Xin smile and nodded. They left the admission office.
When they stepped out, both of them saw Lin Xuan was looking at the students in combat class. He was envious.
"Brother, why not enroll Lin Xuan as well?" Lin Xin suggested. Lin Xuan looked at Lin Huang in anticipation.
"His condition is special; If he were to learn like the rest, his superb learning speed would be revealed which may cause trouble. Many would want to experiment with him, even the Hunter Association." Lin Huang turned down the suggestion.
"Xiao Xuan, if you'd like to learn, I could find some other ways to help. You really can't be learning at a school." Lin Huang patted his head.
"I understand." Lin Xuan nodded.
As they were heading home, Lin Huang noticed that Lin Xuan was upset.
"Come here, Xiao Xuan. If you would like to learn combat skills, I'll teach you a Life Skill." Lin Huang got Lin Xuan to come to him.
"This Life Skill is called Army Attack Tactics , practice this for a few days and see where you stand."
Lin Huang passed the Army Attack Tactics crystal to Lin Xuan. His eyes lit up and he immediately returned to his room with the crystals.
After settling Lin Xuan while Lin Xin was playing Gun Master in her room, Lin Huang headed straight into the wild zone. When he returned in the afternoon, Lin Xuan was sitting in the living room looking upset.
"What's wrong? Is there any problem with your training?" Lin Huang asked.
"I'm stuck…" Lin Xuan said.
"Stuck?" Lin Huang thought it was strange as he managed to get to level 1 within a couple of hours and he did not encounter any issue when he was training level 2.
"Show me."
Lin Xuan nodded and performed the skill rotation. Lin Huang's jaw almost dropped; he finally understood what Lin Xuan meant. He was stuck on level 6 instead of level 2. Within eight hours, he managed to train from level 1 to level 5. It was always an obstacle when one arrived at level 6 as it requires one to transform their Life Power. Since Lin Xuan took such a short time to master up to level 5, his body had yet to adapt to the Life Power rotation which prevented him from moving up to level 6.
"You need to practice a couple more times and you'll reach level6 soon." Lin Huang explained, Lin Xuan understood what was the problem. After dinner, Lin Huang got Lin Xuan to teach him gunfighting techniques. Three days had passed and finally, it was the first day of school for Lin Xin. Within three days, Lin Xuan managed to train Army Attack Tactics up to level-8, which was the same as Lin Huang.
Seeing that Lin Xuan had already mastered Army Attack Tactics , Lin Huang downloaded a selection of battle videos from the first to the ninth floor of the Hunter Arena for Lin Xuan to watch. There were more than 30,000 videos with the longest one was half an hour while the shortest one was only a couple of seconds. Those videos would keep Lin Xuan occupied for a while. Meanwhile, Lin Huang focused on mastering Thunder Steps . He wanted to master that before leaving to hunt for the Life Seed monster.
He bought two more barbecue machines and he would prepare three sets of grilled meat for Lin Xuan and order dinner for Lin Xuan every morning before leaving. All he had to himself were snacks. Every day, he would train from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Apart from the time he spent to eat for lunch and dinner, which was only 20 minutes, he spent 14 hours training.
As he slowly mastered Thunder Steps , the number of skill card pieces he obtained increased as the day pass. Finally, on the 28th day since Lin Xin started school, he had obtained 3,000 card pieces. He received a notification from Xiao Hei.
"3,000 Thunder Steps card pieces detected. Combine the cards for an Epic Movement Skill Card - Thunder Steps . Would you like to combine your card?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang replied without hesitation.
"Combining 3,000 skill card pieces…"
"Congratulations! You have obtained an epic movement skill card, Thunder Steps ."
Lin Huang checked the card immediately.
"Skill Card"
"Skill Card Name: Thunder Steps"
"Rarity: Epic"
"Type of Skill: Movement skill"
"Skill Level: Unknown"
"Status: Available"
"Card Remarks: Not bad"
"Finally!" Lin Huang let out a long breath. It was dark, Lin Huang just realized that it was 10 p.m. He did not want to stay in the wild zone any longer. He then summoned the Alexandrian Eagle and flew back home…
Chapter 227: Brain Eater
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After Lin Huang mastered Thunder Steps , he started preparing for his trip to hunt for the Life Seed monster. He prepared breakfast early in the morning, Lin Xin and Lin Xuan were coming down the stairs. Since Lin Xin started school, she woke up at the same time as Lin Huang and she was also responsible to wake Lin Xuan up daily. The three of them sat at the dining table and had their breakfast.
"You've been in school for a month now. How do you find it so far?" Lin Huang asked as he ate his oats.
"It has been good. I've signed up for the gunmaster course. There will be a test two days time but I believe I'll pass with flying colors." Lin Xin was confident. Even though she was even at iron-level, her performance was outstanding as she had mastered eight introductory-level gunfighting techniques by now. She might even pass the beginner level of the gunmaster assessment.
"With your capability at hand, you should be able to pass gun-related assessments in military schools." Lin Huang smiled and nodded as he was aware of Lin Xin's progress.
"How about the rest? Is there anything that you can't adapt to?"
"The courses are similar to those in Wulin Town, they are not as difficult as before so there's nothing that I have yet to adapt. However, there are more top students now but competition isn't a bad thing. I could use it as an encouragement to improve." Lin Xin was not afraid of challenges. She was the top student back in Wulin Town, competing with the rest of the students in her new school was a form of encouragement to her.
Lin Huang felt relieved when he found out that she was doing well in school.
"Brother, when do you plan to leave?" Lin Xin knew Lin Huang was hunting for a Life Seed monster.
"Within a couple of days. I haven't decided on the time yet, I will inform you when it's confirmed." Lin Huang had some preparation to do.
After breakfast, Lin Xin headed to school while Lin Xuan watched the battle videos upstairs. Lin Huang returned to the living room and called Mr. Fu after he had finished cleaning up the kitchen. Before he was able to make the call he received a notification from the Hunter's Association; it read - Suspected Brain Eater in Foothold No.7C193 . Since he read about the skills that he wanted for the Demonic Dandelion Vine, Lin Huang had selected Brain Eater and parasite as the keywords in the Hunter Association's news. Whenever there was news related to those keywords, Lin Huang would be notified.
He looked at the message. It was an article with pictures. The sewage in a small area in foothold No.7C193 was clogged this morning. When maintenance was carried out the staff found a few corpses in the sewage. Post-mortem results showed that the four bodies belong to young men who had their brains removed. Preliminary check showed that it could be the work of a Brain Eater
Finally, there was something about the Brain Eater, Lin Huang did not want to miss a thing. He started to look for articles about foothold No.7C193. Also known as Luoxi City, it was a normal grade-C foothold. Its economy was not as good as Baqi City but it was ranked far behind among other grade-C footholds. It was not a tourist destination since it was secluded on the northeast side of Division7.
Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he saw the foothold's coordinate on the map.
"This foothold is so close to Meteorite Desert!"
He checked the distance between the foothold and Meteorite Desert, it was less than 2,000 kilometers apart.
"It's just along the way. I shall kill that Brain Eater as I take the time to stabilize my Life Power before leveling up to gold-level." Lin Huang made up his mind.
After closing the page and the map, Lin Huang called Mr. Fu. Mr. Fu picked up immediately.
"Whats wrong? Have you stabilized your Life Power and are you ready to hunt for the gold-level Life Seed?" Mr. Fu laughed.
"Not yet, but I'm almost there." Lin Huang had not been using his Life Skill in the past two months. However, it was still rotating automatically. The Life Power in his body should have stabilized soon since it had been two months.
"I'm calling to ask if you have any dimensional transfer equipment as I'm too far away from the Meteorite Desert. If you have, I would like to borrow it since it could save me a lot of time on the road."
"Sure, I should have one that is set to go to that place. When are you departing?" Mr. Fu agreed to help Lin Huang immediately.
"Within the next few days, I'd like to go to Luoxi City." Lin Huang did not hide his intention.
"Why Luoxi City? The city that is closest to Meteorite Desert would be Meteorite City." Mr. Fu thought Lin Huang had made a mistake.
"I heard there's a Brain Eater in Luoxi City, I want to try my luck to catch it to train my parasite." Lin Huang answered honestly.
"You want to obtain Supreme Intelligence for your parasite?" Mr. Fu understood immediately.
"That's a great idea. If it's a mutated parasite, it would be easier to mutate it the second time when you become a transcendent if you manage to get Supreme Intelligence ."
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded without saying much. Although Mr. Fu was his master, there were still things that he needed to keep to himself.
"Sure, I will send you to Luoxi City then. Is it okay if you depart the day after tomorrow?" Mr. Fu asked.
"No problem." Lin Huang nodded.
"Send me your address later, I'll come to you early in the morning in two days." Mr. Fu hung up the phone.
Lin Huang sent his address in Winter City immediately. He was relieved that Mr. Fu agreed to help him as it would save him at least a month and a half of time.
"Now how do I find that Brain Eater?" Lin Huang thought. The Brain Eater had a high intelligence. Since it had invaded into a human foothold, it would definitely go into hiding. There were at least millions of people in a grade-C foothold, looking for the Brain Eater that was disguised as a human was like finding a needle in a haystack.
"The only way is to look is to start at the location where the incident happened. Since it discarded all the corpses at the same place, it would mean that it had been residing in the area for quite some time. Perhaps I could find some clues on the corpses. To see the corpses and retrieve the post-mortem reports, I'd have to get to the Hunter's Association division. That could be a problem…"
Lin Huang realized that looking for the Brain Eater was not a simple task at all. He put his concerns aside and started reading up on previous cases where the Hunter's Association handled a Brain Eater…
Chapter 228: Mr. Fu's Visit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A scrumptious dinner was served on the dining table, Lin Xin and Lin Xuan drooled over the food.
"Brother, what's the occasion?" Lin Xin asked.
"I'll tell you later." Lin Huang smiled.
Half an hour later, Lin Xin slumped into the chair with a food coma.
"I'm too full, I can't eat anymore…"
Lin Huang was speechless.
"Can you tell me now?" Lin Xin did not forget about the question that she asked him.
"I'll be leaving in two days." Lin Huang told her the truth.
Lin Xuan stopped eating and looked at Lin Huang.
"So soon?" Lin Xin had her eyes wide open as she looked at Lin Huang. She knew that Lin Huang was leaving but she did not expect him to leave so soon.
"I didn't plan to leave that soon but something came up. It's something that's along the way so I thought I might as well leave earlier." Lin Huang explained.
"How long… would you be gone for?" Lin Xin hesitated but asked anyway.
"It'll take at least two months." Lin Huang factored in the time he needed to hunt the Brain Eater which would be impossible to accomplish in a matter of two days.
"Oh…" Lin Xin stared blankly at the table.
"Xiao Xuan, protect your sister while I'm gone, alright?" Lin Huang smiled at Lin Xuan.
"Okay!" Lin Xuan nodded hard.
"Xin Er, prepare two portions of grilled meat in the morning before you go to school. One is for breakfast while another one is kept warm for Lin Xuan's lunch." Lin Huang told Lin Xin.
"Actually… Xiao Xuan knows how to use the barbecue machine." Lin Xin stuck her tongue out. She taught Lin Xuan to use the barbecue machine because she was lazy to cook for him.
"You silly girl…" Lin Huang shook his head.
"Alright then, Xiao Xuan, you can cook for yourself whenever you are hungry. I still have many monster carcasses with me, I will transfer them to you later." Lin Huang added.
"Okay." Lin Xuan nodded.
After giving it some thought, Lin Huang decided to give his modified SilverPhoenix16 to Lin Xin.
"Pass this gun to Lin Xuan if you encounter any trouble."
Although they had moved to a different home and changed their names, Lin Huang was worried that the Purple Crow would come for them. Prevention was always better than cure.
Two days passed in just a blink of an eye, someone knocked on the door when Lin Huang was preparing breakfast. Mr. Fu stood at the door in a green attire, surprising Lin Huang since it was only a little past seven in the morning.
"Good morning, I hope I'm not bothering you." Mr. Fu seemed to have trimmed his white beard, it looked much neater now. His smile was warm as always.
"No, you are not bothering me. Please, come in. I'm just preparing breakfast." Lin Huang smiled as he shook his head.
"Sure."
Mr. Fu looked around as he entered Lin Huang's house.
"Nice house. Moderate size, it's homely. It doesn't look like the style that you'd like…"
"You are right, master. My sister chose this house." Lin Huang smiled and got a cup of tea for Mr. Fu.
"Please take a seat, I'll continue making breakfast."
Mr. Fu then sat on the couch in the living room and sipped the tea.
Lin Xin and Lin Xuan followed the smell of the food downstairs.
"Brother, do we have a guest?" Lin Xin heard Lin Huang talking to someone when she was upstairs.
"My master is here." Lin Huang walked out from the kitchen and introduced the both of them to Mr. Fu.
"These are my brother and sister."
"Brother and sister?" Mr. Fu raised his eyebrow. He looked at Lin Xin and smiled. He was stunned when he looked at Lin Xuan.
"What's wrong, master?" Lin Huang noticed the odd expression on Mr. Fu's.
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking what should I give them since we're meeting for the first time."Mr. Fu smiled and explained.
"Let me see what do I have in my storage space."
Soon, Mr. Fu took out a some food and toys. He seemed to have a storage ring exclusively for gifts for kids.
"Take whatever you like." Mr. Fu smiled at the both of them.
Lin Xin and Lin Xuan looked at Lin Huang.
"Pick whatever you like. Master isn't a stranger." Lin Huang nodded and smiled.
The both of them went forward to picked out the things that they liked. Mr. Fu picked a lollipop that was the size of a head and gave it to Lin Xuan.
"A lollipop for you."
However, Lin Xuan did not take it.
"Xiao Xuan doesn't like candy, he only eats meat." Lin Xin explained immediately.
"Oh, is that so…" Mr. Fu was surprised. He kept the lollipop and looked at Lin Xuan again.
As they picked out their gifts, Lin Huang was done preparing breakfast.
"Let's have breakfast together!"
The both of them kept the gifts in their storage space and ran to the dining table.
"Master, please eat with us." Lin Huang walked into the living room and smiled at Mr. Fu.
"I haven't had breakfast in a long time, perhaps I shall taste your cooking." Mr. Fu nodded and walked to the dining table.
The breakfast Lin Huang prepared was simple. Besides Lin Xuan, everyone else got a piece of toast, grilled sausage, two fried eggs, some fruits and a glass of milk. Meanwhile, there were only grilled sausages, fried eggs and big pieces of grilled meat on Lin Xuan's plate. Lin Huang was not a great chef when it comes to cooking. However, such a simple breakfast would not require any skill. Mr. Fu was happy with his breakfast. He finished the food but not the milk. Instead, he drank alcohol from his flask.
Lin Xin went to school after breakfast while Lin Huang cleaned the kitchen.
Lin Huang then called Lin Xuan over, "You are the only man in the house when I'm away, take care of your sister." Lin Huang held up his fist.
"I will." Lin Xuan nodded and fist bumped Lin Huang.
"Call me if you need anything. Let me know once you are done watching all the videos. When it's raining, close all the windows if your sister is not around, don't let the water flow in…" Lin Huang added while Lin Xuan nodded.
Mr. Fu summoned a black dimensional door, Lin Huang stepped into the door with him and disappeared from their location…
Chapter 229: Luoxi City
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Stepping into the black dimensional relic, Lin Huang arrived at a hotel room with Mr. Fu following behind him. A lady in a pink bathrobe was walking out of the bathroom as they appeared and she started screaming, "Help! There are perverts in my room!"
Mr. Fu giggled while he kept the black dimensional relic and pulled Lin Huang out of the window together with him.
The lady was so shocked that the supposed perverts had jumped out of the window.
"But this is the 99th floor…"
She ran to the balcony and looked down towards the direction the duo had dived but they were nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the both of them landed in an alley opposite the hotel.
"Hehe, I'm sorry. That was the old location that I set the last time. I didn't know that there's someone staying in there now," Mr. Fu patted Lin Huang's collar that he had pulled earlier.
"Is this Luoxi City?" Lin Huang was more concerned about that.
"Of course, it is. I wanted to send you straight to Meteorite City, but I thought you were hunting for the Brain Eater in Luoxi City?" Mr. Fu knew where Lin Huang's doubts were coming from.
"That's great. Thank you, Master, for saving much of my time." Lin Huang was embarrassed that Mr. Fu had brought him here personally.
"I'm your Master and you're my apprentice, there's no need for such formalities." Mr Fu waved his hand nonchalantly while reaching for the black dimensional relic.
"I have never gotten you anything since you became my apprentice, so here, this is yours."
Mr. Fu then disabled the authorization of the relic and a black token the size of a palm fell into his hand. He gave the token to Lin Huang.
"Master, I can't be using this. Maybe you should give me something else." A relic alone costed a bomb, what more a dimensional relic whereby its price was 10 times more than a normal relic! The dimensional relic that Mr. Fu was giving him could travel across Division 7 to Luoxi City; there was little doubt that this was a unique relic.
"Take it, Black Ink is a four-star dimensional relic which is used for long-distance dimensional travel. Not only can it be activated using Life Power, you can also use Life Crystal to activate it. It will make it convenient for you to travel. I have many dimensional equipment, so this is nothing," Mr. Fu insisted.
"Moreover, I would never take back what I give away. If you don't want it, I'll throw it away."
Since Mr. Fu insisted, Lin Huang accepted the Black Ink and kept it in his storage space.
"Let me know when you have levelled up to Gold Level. I will arrange a training session for you." Mr. Fu patted Lin Huang's shoulder confidently.
"Sure," Lin Huang assured his Master as he wanted to level up as soon as possible.
Mr. Fu proceeded to summon a gold dimensional relic. Before he left, he seemed to recall something. He turned around to Lin Huang. "Oh, I suppose your brother is not your real brother. Am I right?"
"No, he isn't. What's wrong?" Lin Huang did not deny the truth.
"Nothing, just asking." Mr. Fu did not say much, just waving his hand and stepping into the relic.
After sending Mr. Fu off, Lin Huang looked at the map and realized that he was not far away from the location where the dead bodies had been found, which was less than two kilometers away. He changed his features to the face that he had on Earth and checked into a hotel nearby using Ye Xiu's identity. The reason why he did not want to stay at the luxury hotel next to the alley was just in case he bumped into the lady in bathrobe that they had seen earlier. How awkward would that be?! Although he had a new face now, it was best that that did not happen at all.
The hotel that Lin Huang booked was even closer to the location where the dead bodies had been found. He reserved a room for three days online. After he checked into his room, he started reading the local news but there was nothing about the dead bodies found in the sewer. He proceeded to scroll to the online news a few days ago but there was nothing about the case at all.
"It seems like the news has been sealed off by the Union Government. I'm not sure if the Brain Eater knows that its identity has been revealed…"
Lin Huang looked at the Hunter Info Network and read a piece of news about the Brain Eater that was available for those ranked Silver Hunter and above. He had confirmed that the news was real. However, there was a mission at the bottom of the news.
"Mission: Who is the culprit responsible for the dead bodies in the sewer of Luoxi City?'
"Condition: Find, capture or kill the culprit."
"Reward: 3000 Life Crystals"
"Mission Due: 1 week"
"There will not be any punishment if the mission is not accomplished."
"Mission Eligibility: Only for Silver and Gold Hunters."
"Oh, there's an investigation mission available!" Just as Lin Huang was about to accept the mission, he recalled that he was in the city using Ye Xiu's identity.
"I can only accept this mission as Ye Xiu but Ye Xiu doesn't have a Hunter license…"
After some thought, Lin Huang called Yang Ling. It took Yang Ling almost one minute for pick up the call. He looked the same as usual with his dark eye circles and exhausted face.
"It's not even 8:30 in the morning, can't you just let me sleep?"
"I think you should really take a shower, I can smell your sweaty body from the screen." Seeing his messy appearance, Lin Huang could not help but to tease him.
Yang Ling lifted his hands and sniffed his armpits. He frowned and mumbled to himself, "When was the last time I took a shower again…?"
"Why did you call? Quick, I need to get back to sleep." Yang Ling soon forgot about Lin Huang's teasing.
"Can you upgrade the authorization of an Emperor's Heart Ring that was made?" Lin Huang asked.
"Sure, would you like an identity with the Hunter Association or something else?" Yang Ling asked while yawning.
"I want a Gold Hunter's identity," Lin Huang answered without hesitation.
"Which one would you like to upgrade?" Yang Ling asked.
"Ye Xiu."
"Sure, it would usually cost 1500 Life Crystals but since you did your identity with me, 1400 will do." Yang Ling agreed to do it for Lin Huang immediately.
"Is there anything else?"
"No, just upgrade it to a Gold Hunter authorization." Lin Huang shook his head.
"I'll send you a message once it's done. It will take two minutes at most. If that's all, we're done here." Yang Ling hung up the call straight away.
In less than a minute, Lin Huang received a message from the Hunter Association.
"Congratulations, Mr. Ye Xiu. You are now a Gold Hunter of the Hunter Association."
Once he received the message, Lin Huang logged on to the exclusive site of the Hunter Info Network using Ye Xiu's identity and found out that he had really been upgraded to a Gold Hunter. He took a look at the post titled 'Brain Eater Suspected in Foothold No.7C193' immediately and accepted the mission at the bottom.
Chapter 230: Investigation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Since he had accepted the mission under Ye Xiu's identity, Lin Huang applied with the local government to look at the dead bodies and the post-mortem reports as well as the contact details of the forensic scientist and the workers who had discovered the dead bodies. Before he even got any reply from the Union Government, he left the hotel and headed to the sewer. The hotel that Lin Huang who staying at was almost 1.5 kilometers from the location where the dead bodies had been discovered. On the way to the sewer, he observed the area and the hotels around.
When he arrived at the manhole cover that was shown in the document, he noticed that it was now covered properly. Without attempting to open it, Lin Huang looked around.
"There are three small inns and a hotel within a one-kilometer radius…It's very likely that the Brain Eater stayed around here. Since four of the dead bodies were all tossed under the cover, it shows that this must be the most convenient location for it to get rid of the dead bodies…"
Lin Huang noticed that there were no surveillance cameras around which could be the main reason why the Brain Eater chose to get rid of the dead bodies there. It could have kept the dead bodies in its storage space ring as it made its way there but the dead bodies had to be taken out when it wanted to dispose of them. With surveillance cameras, it could be easily noticed.
"There are many people walking around during the day, so it must have done that in the middle of the night. Although there are no surveillance cameras here, there must be some of them around the streets. The night life in Luoxi City isn't busy and not many people would be walking around in the middle of the night. I could take a look at the surveillance cameras…"
Just when Lin Huang was done with his preliminary analysis, a message came from his Emperor's Heart Ring. It was an investigation ID assigned by the local government. There was a message that came with it: "Hi, Mr. Ye Xiu, to prevent the information from documents from leaking out, we are not able to send you the post-mortem report. Kindly visit the forensic scientist."
Lin Huang was fine with that. After reading the message, he headed to a sundry shop nearby. It was located facing the direction where the manhole cover was located. The shop owner was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut. He was plump and he looked honest. Lin Huang started chatting with the shop owner as he purchased a bottle of water and some snacks.
"Boss, it's a small area next to your shop, I bet your business is good."
"It's alright, I guess, enough to get by." The shop owner smiled and shook his head.
"Is it safe to run business here since I don't see any surveillance cameras around?" Lin Huang asked.
The shop owner laughed at Lin Huang's question. "Young man, you must be a foreigner."
"The economy is bad in Luoxi City and there's nothing much to see here. However, our people are honest, so there's not much crime here, let alone thieves. Therefore, there's no need for surveillance cameras. Look, there are no cameras in my shop as well. It's not just me, most of the shops don't have that as it's not necessary."
The shop owner's answer was out of Lin Huang's expectations; he did not expect that the residents in this foothold had such faith in their safety.
"Boss, I passed by two days back and noticed that the sewer was blocked, so I walked the other way. Does that happen often? If it does, it must be inconvenient then." Lin Huang attempted to get the shop owner to talk.
"That doesn't happen often. I have been here for almost 10 years and it was the first time it happened a few days back. It was just your luck. Young man, although Luoxi City is small, not everything here is not as good as those large foothold," the shop owner explained.
"Is that so? But why was it blocked though? Did the workers explain?" Lin Huang asked.
"They did, they said the pipes underground were old. They built a shed above it and took many hours to fix it," he elaborated.
"Oh, really…?" Lin Huang just confirmed that the Union Government managed to cover the truth up.
He was relieved since the shop owners around did not know about the dead bodies in the sewer, let alone the residents. Sewage maintenance was a small matter which was not worth the publicity, therefore, the Brain Eater might not realize that what it did had been discovered.
Since he had confirmed that part, Lin Huang did not plan to waste any more time there. After bidding farewell to the shop owner, Lin Huang took a look at the address of the sewer workers that the Union Government had sent earlier. The workers who discovered the dead bodies were resting at home temporarily. The Union Government paid them a high compensation sum which amounted to years of their salary. The reason for the compensation was to avoid them from revealing the truth as well as to cooperate with the investigation of the Union Government.
Following the address, Lin Huang found the first person on the list. Brother Zhao was a tanned, skinny man. When Lin Huang arrived at his house, he was playing cards with his friends. Hearing that it was someone from the Hunter Association, Brother Zhao's wife whispered into his ear. Brother Zhao then got his friends to leave. After they left, Brother Zhao asked Lin Huang to come into his room while his wife hid herself in the kitchen.
"Hi Brother Zhao, my name is Ye Xiu. I am the investigator that was sent by the Hunter Association on the case," Lin Huang said while projecting his investigation ID.
Brother Zhao nodded immediately. "The Union Government asked me to be cooperative. Just ask whatever you have to, I will not hide anything."
"Alright, let's start then." Lin Huang nodded and got into finding out the details.
"What time was it when you guys discovered the dead bodies?"
"Early in the morning two days ago, it was about 8:30 a.m...It was our first task of the day. We received complaints from the residents once we arrived at work, saying that the sewer was blocked. Water was leaking and the stench was unbearable. We headed there right after we changed into our uniforms…"
"Could you elaborate more about how you guys discovered the dead bodies?" Lin Huang asked.
"We removed the manhole covered when we arrived. After clearing all the water, we went underground to investigate. We noticed that the silt was thick, so we went down to clean it. To our surprise, just when we started to dig, we were shocked to find a human hand. Our colleague, Little Wang, was young and brave. He pulled the entire body out of the silt. We reported it to the Union Government immediately…"
"Did you see how they die?" Lin Huang asked.
"No, it was dark down there. Moreover, the dead bodies were covered in silt. Had the Union Government not ask us to stay there till their staff came, we would've ran away immediately. We didn't dare to look."
"So, you guys only discovered one body while the rest were dug out by the staff from the Union Government?" Lin Huang proceeded to ask.
"That's right. When we called, they asked us to stay there and stop digging so that the crime scene would not be ruined. We stayed there until the staff arrived, then they proceeded to dig out the rest of the body. As we were recording our confessions while they dug, only did we realize that there was more than one dead body…"
Lin Huang nodded and asked a couple more questions until he got the answers he wanted.
"Thank you for your cooperation, we will investigate this as soon as we can." Lin Huang stood up and shook his hand after he was done with his questions.
"Mr. Ye, there were a man and a woman who came to investigate this case as well. They were not as friendly as you," Brother Zhao laughed.
"The mission was published on the Hunter Info Network by your government, so any Silver Hunter and Gold Hunter could be on it. Perhaps it's natural for some hunters to be unfriendly, please forgive us," Lin Huang explained with a smile.
"I understand that, I will do whatever I can to help. I hope you guys can catch the culprit soon." Brother Zhao nodded.
"I shall talk to your colleagues then, I'll get going."
"Do you want me to bring you there? I have nothing to do anyway," Brother Zhao offered enthusiastically.
"It's alright, I have their address here. You enjoy your holiday." Lin Huang patted his shoulder.
After leaving his house, Lin Huang took a look at the map. After confirming the address, Lin Huang summoned Viridian Wolf and headed to the address of the second person.