"So? Pretty impressive, aren't they?" Grace had somehow slipped out of the battle and made her way over to Fang Wen and Zhu Yuan.
Only after seeing the special Ethereal's head burst apart like a watermelon, twitch a few times, and then fall completely still did Fang Wen finally let out a breath.
"Operation over. Check ammunition expenditure, treat the wounded, and transfer temporary command authority to Officer Qingyi."
"Good."
Taking off his earpiece, Fang Wen glanced at Grace.
"You trust your teammates that much?" Fang Wen asked, looking toward the three of them off to the side, already celebrating with high-fives.
"Mm. They're strong. And I've already done everything I needed to do." Grace looked toward the special Ethereal's limbs, and Fang Wen followed her line of sight.
Several nails had been driven brutally into its joints, and even now they were still crackling with sparks.
No wonder it hadn't had much strength left to struggle in the end.
"Dragging you into this as police officers from the Public Security Bureau… I owe you an apology. I'm sorry." After finally catching her breath, Zhu Yuan pulled herself off Fang Wen's shoulder and, with visible effort, bowed to Grace.
Grace looked at Fang Wen in surprise.
Fang Wen could only shake his head helplessly.
That was just the kind of person Zhu Yuan was.
Watching Zhu Yuan with her head lowered, Grace couldn't help reaching out and patting her.
"Actually, compared to 'I'm sorry,' I'd rather hear you say 'thank you.'"
Fang Wen and Grace exchanged a glance and both laughed.
[Grace Affection +2. Current Affection: 22.]
…
After a great deal of coaxing and persuading—and after promising he would go check on her soon—Fang Wen finally managed to send the stubborn Zhu Yuan off to the hospital for an examination.
The earlier close-quarters fight had left her with quite a few bruises and scrapes. They just weren't obvious beneath her tight uniform.
She always liked to put on a brave face, but Fang Wen knew better.
"Mmm… you two really are close. You don't seem like superior and subordinate at all," Grace teased.
"Heh. Is that so?" Fang Wen didn't deny it.
He did have feelings for Zhu Yuan. That much, after thinking it through, he no longer denied.
"So can I hear the real reason you people came here now?"
With Qingyi efficiently directing the officers in the background, Fang Wen and Grace sat down off to one side.
The Hollow Investigation Association's equipment showed that the ether concentration in the Hollow was currently dropping at high speed, and was expected to fully dissipate in two hours.
So this time, it really was over.
Of course, the Hollow dissipating didn't mean this place could immediately be inhabited again. The remaining ether crystals still needed to be extracted, and the area's ether density would have to fall to harmless levels before redevelopment could even be considered.
But that was a headache for the government, not for him.
After carefully examining the corpse of the Ethereal, Fang Wen became even more convinced of certain suspicions.
Because it lacked one of the defining traits common to Ethereals—
After death, their bodies normally dissolved into ether particles and disappeared.
But this one hadn't.
And that black fluid seemed far more like the blood of a living organism.
Yet at the same time, it undeniably was connected to this Hollow.
A truly incomprehensible existence.
[Completed: "The Shadow Hidden Beneath the Surface."]
[Reward obtained: Denny x50000, Qingyi Affection +3. Current Affection: 32.]
I'll draw the skill later.
"Would you be interested in hearing a story?" Grace asked.
"I'm all ears."
"Do you know the history of this plaza?"
"You mean the story about the former president embezzling the money and running?"
"…Did you see that prototype machine over there?"
Fang Wen followed the direction of her finger. The white prototype machine sat quietly in front of the memorial monument.
"Do you all still think little Kolleda's father, Uncle Khors, ran off with the money ten or so years ago?"
That point Fang Wen couldn't deny. In fact, even his own intel on it had come from Morning Star.
"Actually, before you arrived, we found a delivery receipt here. It was for the payment on that prototype machine." She paused. "And the amount of Denny on that receipt matches exactly the amount that mysteriously vanished from the company accounts back then."
"So in other words, Khors used that money to buy this prototype machine? Then why did he come here?"
"Because of that."
Grace pointed at the special Ethereal whose head had already been completely drilled apart by Anton's pile driver.
"We were clearing out the prototype machine when that thing came out from inside the memorial."
"So it had been trapped beneath the monument all those years?"
Fang Wen's expression turned strange.
That sounded uncannily similar to a certain stone monkey being pinned under a mountain for five hundred years…
Stone Monkey Plus version?
"Mm. To this day, little Kolleda still can't forget that on that night, Uncle Khors received one final phone call, then immediately took the money and left the house."
"So… is Khors still alive?"
"…We found several bullet holes and shell casings inside the prototype machine's cockpit."
"My condolences." Fang Wen froze for a moment, then spoke with genuine regret.
After hearing Grace's story, Fang Wen became even more convinced that someone else's shadow lay behind all of this.
Whether it was the final phone call Khors received before his death, or the evidence of gunfire inside the cockpit, all of it suggested that the special Ethereal had to be connected to certain people.
But how could an Ethereal be connected to humans?
Then, thinking of the creature's biological characteristics, Fang Wen suddenly had an absurd thought.
Could it be that this Ethereal was… man-made?!
Khors had undoubtedly known too much, and been silenced for it.
The moment that possibility occurred to him, Fang Wen felt an even greater sense of urgency.
Especially after this encounter—when he had discovered that the pistol at his waist couldn't even scratch that thing's skin. If he ever ran into something like that again, wouldn't he have no power to fight back at all?!
And that was to say nothing of the threat posed by his fellow humans, hanging over his head all this time like the sword of Damocles.
Get stronger. Only by getting stronger could he protect everything he held dear!
By the time he got home, it was already evening.
Fang Wen bought groceries and treated himself to a proper meal.
After eating, he immediately opened the panel.
"Draw skills."
Morning Star's reward was optional, but Fang Wen didn't hesitate over his own and Qingyi's.
The panel had said that later, once it upgraded, it would unlock more functions related to skills. As for how to upgrade it, though, it hadn't said.
Probably because he still hadn't reached that stage yet. After all, he had only been using the panel systematically for a few days.
Later, he still had to go visit injured Zhu Yuan in the hospital.
And after that, he planned to head to the police training hall and turn all those skills into actual combat power.
Busy, busy!
[Drew duplicate skill — Combat Proficiency (Green+1).]
[Duplicate skill converted into fragments.]
[Combat Proficiency (Green+1) → Combat Master (Blue).]
Countless combat memories surged through his mind. Innumerable movements appeared, then slowly vanished, until in the end they were distilled down to only about a dozen.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Fang Wen sensed that this was not the limit of combat. Perhaps one day, when those movements fully merged into one, he would grasp the broad avenue and ultimate truth of fighting itself.
An excellent start!
Fang Wen moved on to the next draw.
[Drew duplicate skill — Male Public Enemy.]
[Duplicate skill converted into fragments.]
[Male Public Enemy (White) → Masculine Charm (Green).]
???
What the hell kind of skill is that?
How did I never know I had a bullshit skill like this?
Still dazed, Fang Wen looked toward the full-length mirror not far away.
He used that mirror every day after training to check the results of his workouts.
And then he watched, with his own eyes, as in the reflection his skin—tanned darker after years of field missions—visibly lightened by several shades. Even the lines of his face softened somewhat.
A face that had already been fairly handsome and refined now looked a few notches more attractive.
Why does it feel like…
…I'm really about to become the male succubus of the Public Security Bureau now?
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