Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Another Upgrade
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"What? Did Abbott die on Planet Rocky?" asked Feroman, the head of the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps, when he heard the news that Clark had given him. He stood up suddenly, full of disbelief.
It was not that Captain Feroman was emotional over Abbott, even though he was his most loyal subordinate.
Abbott was the cruelest member of the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps, wanting to commit all sorts of awful acts. Hence, Abbott had plenty of charges pressed against him. He also indirectly allowed the other members of the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps to be convicted with lesser crimes.
As mercenaries, it was normal to commit robberies, the police only targeting the most vicious and famous mercenaries most of the time. So even though the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps were notorious, Abbott was the only one who was really wanted for serious crimes.
That also left Abbott with no other way out other than the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps, making him the most trusted member of Captain Feroman's squad.
It was not easy to find a mercenary like him, who would take the bullet for them. Most of the time, even mentioning Abbott's name would deter many who planned to rebel.
In addition, some of Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps' important connections were in the hands of Abbott. The most important one was the channel that the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps used to clear their names, which was also a manifestation of Captain Feroman's trust in Abbott.
This time, Abbott had left with some of the most valuable stolen goods from the recent robberies, all in a bid to sell them.
After selling that loot, Abbott did not return directly to the mercenary squad. Instead, he went to Planet Rocky to relax for a while. To his surprise, he was defeated by the people of a remote planet.
"Captain, this is the intelligence that I've bought," Clark said without any expression, sending some information to Captain Feroman's identity bracelet.
"Can you be sure the police didn't find the T3 at the scene?" Captain Feroman asked, seeming to have quickly discovered something after he looked at the information.
"Yes, I've confirmed it," Clark answered with a nod of certainty.
"The T3 will not have gotten destroyed during such an impact and explosion. It seems like someone picked it up!" Captain Feroman said in a deep voice, his expression seemed to have become less sullen.
As his most loyal subordinate, Abbott naturally knew where the assets were kept.
Due to Abbott's own reasons, all of his assets were kept anonymously, and the proceeds from the sales of stolen goods were also settled anonymously, in order for them to not be investigated by the Star Federation.
The assets were stored in anonymous accounts, which could only be opened with a corresponding chip.
As a Sniper Armorer, Abbott placed the chip right in the T3 Sniper Assist Device. Apart from Abbott, who had specifically studied the T3 Sniper Assist Device, there were probably very few people who could open the device, let alone discover the chip in it.
If the T3 Sniper Assist Device had been discovered by the police, there would be little hope of them recovering the device. No matter how arrogant the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps were, they wouldn't dare to attack any government departments.
However, the T3 Sniper Assist Device was not with the police. Hence, the situation was different.
"Seems like we have to make a trip to Planet Rocky!" Feroman said in a low voice, knocking his hand against the table after returning to his seat.
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Four days had passed, and it was now 9 pm. David had just fused the last two General Knowledge Orbs, and the information on his attribute panel now read:
Name: David Karl
Strength: 2.5 (1)
Agility: 1.7 (1)
Physique: 2 (1)
Mental Energy: 2.8 (1)
Literature (3% Intermediate), Mathematics (5% Intermediate), General (51% Beginner), Bodywork (35% Beginner), Longsword Mastery (5% Beginner)
His level in Literature and Mathematics had both reached the intermediate level. His Bodywork level had only surged in the first two days, rising to 35% Beginner level, but progress had slowed down significantly in the past two days.
In David's opinion, that should be the foundation that his predecessor obtained after practicing for numerous years. With the effect of an even stronger mental energy, it was completely stimulated, causing the rapid improvement.
It would take a long time of practice for him to achieve any further improvement in the future.
Based on David's feeling, the insights he had gained from practicing the eighteen movements of Bodywork didn't disappear. However, there were too few insights each time and he couldn't explode like before.
David had other gains in those four days. His strength increased by 0.02 arbitrary units and his physique increased by 0.1. Although the increase wasn't much, it should be noted that this was only the result of a few days of practice.
He was able to clearly see his growth, especially with this attribute panel.
He believed that after he fused the Knowledge Orbs, the increase in his Bodywork abilities would allow him to become stronger within a shorter period of time.
Initially, David thought of waiting a while to fuse those two Bodywork Knowledge Orbs, maybe after he had raised his physical ability to a higher level through his own practice.
However, the unknown dangers left him with no choice but to speed up his increase in strength and abilities. Even though he knew that it wasn't the best time to fuse the two Bodywork Knowledge Orbs, he couldn't wait any longer.
During the few days that he had spent fusing the Knowledge Orbs, he was able to confirm his previous thoughts. Although he didn't dare to waste any Knowledge Orbs on experimenting, he was certain that fusing two Knowledge Orbs every day wouldn't cause any major problems.
Thanks to the 100,000 credit points that he had received as compensation from the explosion, David's financial situation had improved. Emma, the robot butler, had also ordered a three months' supply of strengthened meat.
David was now seated in the underground gym. There were ten servings of strengthened meat in the food container in front of him, which he had prepared for the fusion of the Bodywork Knowledge Orbs.
After practicing the eighteen movements of Bodywork lately, he had been experiencing intense hunger, his body's needs far greater than before.
This was all within David's expectations. When teaching the eighteen movements of Bodywork, the teacher in school had explained that, as one's level of mastery of Bodywork increased, the amount of energy required would increase as well.
That was also the reason why a large number of students from less privileged families were unable to improve their level of Bodywork. Although the eighteen movements of Bodywork were very safe, the amount of energy required was a huge burden for ordinary families.
David had managed to advance from Bodywork 10% to 35% within a short period of time and the change in energy demand was very obvious, especially since he consumed three times as much energy every day as he did before.
Fortunately, he had received the compensation from the police station, which allowed him to continue supporting the growing needs of his body as he practiced the eighteen movements of Bodywork.
"Shadow Servant, transfer the Bodywork (70% Beginner) Knowledge Orb into my body!" David instructed, pressing his hand on its shoulder.
This time was different from the previous fusions of the academic Knowledge Orbs, so he didn't dare be distracted at all. He wanted to fuse the Bodywork Knowledge Orbs while he was in his best condition. In order to do so, he didn't control the Shadow Servant and instead ordered it to perform that task.
Like a red fireball, the Bodywork (70% Beginner) Knowledge Orb entered David's body alongside his arm. Not having the time to even check his attribute panel, he began entering the learning illusion brought about by the Knowledge Orb.
Unlike the Knowledge Orb that had brought him into the learning illusion before, the Bodywork (70% Beginner) Knowledge Orb brought him into a body that was slowly performing the eighteen movements of Bodywork without any teaching process. Hence, he could directly feel the insights brought on by the eighteen movements of Bodywork.
The changes in his muscles, which he hadn't noticed before, were slowly comprehended with his body that was in the illusion. He did not notice that this aspect was also growing rapidly on the attribute panel.
It started at 35% and slowly increased to 40%, then 50%, followed by 60%, all the way to 99% before finally stopping.
Although David had only comprehended 70% of the beginner eighteen movements of Bodywork, he was already sweating, and all of his muscles were trembling involuntarily by the time he woke up.
He took a few deep breaths before checking the attribute panel in front of him. When he saw the Bodywork (99% Beginner), he didn't even care about the exhaustion that he felt throughout his entire body. Instead, he leaped up at once, wanting to try the eighteen movements of Bodywork (99% Beginner).
However, just as he took the first stance, his body quaked. Given his current state, he was unable to complete the eighteen movements of Bodywork, which had high requirements.
Shaking his somewhat over-excited head, David sat back down on the ground and opened the food container in front of him, picking up a piece of strengthened meat and putting it in his mouth.
While eating the strengthened meat, he thought about the second Bodywork Knowledge Orb that he would fuse next. It seemed that there would be no major problem in reaching the intermediate level of Bodywork.
After resting for half an hour, he ordered the Shadow Servant to move the Bodywork (20% Beginner) Knowledge Orbs into his body once again.
David began the process, comprehending the eighteen movements of Bodywork in one body. This time, he didn't feel any new insights, from beginning to the end. However, he reinforced some of his previous insights at the very least.
After he woke up again, he immediately looked at the attribute panel in front of him. Just as he expected, the Bodywork level remained at 99% Beginner, not growing just because of the fusion of the Bodywork (20% Beginner) Knowledge Orb.
-- Gift
received