Fang Xin sat on his bed.
The transformation of two Divine Springs into three had already made it difficult for him to remain calm.
He hadn't expected that the Light-Based Talent Divine Source, which had originally floated above the first Divine Spring, would turn into two.
Three Divine Springs, two Divine Sources.
Fang Xin was dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Yin Shengjun, with two Divine Springs, was ranked third among the Eight Great Kings of the Eternal Night Army. So, with three Divine Springs and two Divine Sources, where would he rank?
He should at least be... 2.5 among the Eight Great Kings of the Eternal Night Army!
Fang Xin looked at his extra Divine Spring and Divine Source.
According to the textbooks,
everyone was supposed to have only one Divine Spring and one Divine Source.
Moreover, Divine Springs were almost transparent, and Divine Sources were the color of the sun and moon.
Fang Xin's Divine Springs had a reddish tint, and there was black energy within his Divine Sources.
It was obvious that this was related to his Slaughter Talent.
Fang Xin felt that both his mental power and Light Power were significantly stronger than before.
The Slaughter Talent was like a cheat, even more potent than a cheat.
In addition, with the surge in mental power, his perception also increased. Fang Xin felt that his current perception had reached Level 3, and he believed reaching Level 4 to condense a perception net was just around the corner.
Fang Xin raised his hand.
An apple-sized black orb floated at his fingertips.
It was much larger than the previous billiard-ball-sized black orb.
This small orb, which could use Light Power as fuel and burn mental power, was currently Fang Xin's trump card.
Fang Xin stared at the small black orb.
His Light-Based Talent wasn't very high, only barely S-rank.
However, he had progressed rapidly, reaching Level 3 combat power shortly after awakening it, especially with this black orb, which was enough to reach Level 3 mid-stage combat power. After much thought, he concluded that the reason for this was his Slaughter Talent.
Fang Xin absorbed the black orb back into his body, observing the three Divine Springs and two Divine Sources, wondering if they would increase further.
He glanced at the time; it was getting late, so he prepared to sleep. After dawn, he would go to accept a mission.
Fang Xin woke up early.
After washing up, he took out his zhilian device and browsed the mission list.
Fang Xin's objective was clear.
Among his current talents, his Perception Talent was SS-rank, while his Light-based and Mental Talents were only S-rank. Light-Based Talent Awakened were mostly monopolized by the Church, so killing Church members to improve his Light-Based Talent would be difficult. He could only wait for the midterm test to go to the God and Demon Ruins.
Now, Fang Xin was focusing on his Mental and Perception Talents.
However, on the mission board, there were many wanted criminals whose main profession was Mental Talent, but relatively few whose main profession was Perception Talent. After all, Perception Talent users, being fragile, knew their health bars weren't thick enough and their output wasn't high enough, so they could only develop cautiously.
Fang Xin browsed for a while, finally settling on a wanted criminal with early Level 4 combat power and a Mental Talent.
He clicked to view the information. The wanted criminal was named Ximen Boguang, an early Level 4 Mental Talent user who specialized in raping and killing lone passersby. He had no preference for the victim's gender, as long as they were good-looking, earning him the nickname 'multifunctional plug'.
Fang Xin meticulously reviewed the information, confirming its accuracy. The target was indeed an early Level 4 combat power user. He clicked to accept the mission.
A few seconds later,
the mission was successfully accepted.
Time limit: thirty-six hours.
He had to return to school within thirty-six hours, regardless of whether the mission was completed.
Mission reward settlement:
Reward ①: 400 points, two-star bounty rating (one star is 50 points), totaling 500 points.
Reward ②: Ten Mental Talent fruits.
Fang Xin looked at the rewards; they were quite generous for hunting a Level 4 Stranger.
As for the Mental Talent fruits, these were used to replenish mental power after excessive consumption. However, for Fang Xin, who possessed three Divine Springs, they had some effect, but not much.
He only had thirty-six hours.
Travel time would take six hours, leaving thirty hours to find and kill the target.
Mission acceptance could be anonymous. Fang Xin selected anonymous to avoid attracting attention.
This trip was not just to complete the mission. Fang Xin also wanted to try, if he had time, to see if he could see the King of Slaughter in the mirror again.
In addition, Fang Xin sent a message to Allie.
"How have you been lately? Any new leads on the case?"
Allie's reply was quick, "I followed another lead and caught someone. After interrogation, the organization that took my sister back then is definitely connected to an organization called Nili Hall."
"And then?"
"But that Nili Hall, when it was committing all sorts of evil in the last century, its entire organization, thousands of people, were all killed," Allie replied.
Fang Xin used his zhilian device to search for Nili Hall.
"A notorious human trafficking organization in the last century, later completely eradicated by the order of the great Pope!"
There wasn't much information. Fang Xin scrolled down, and his gaze suddenly fixed on the end of the description.
In the photo, the leader of Nili Hall was executed by hanging.
He hung high, dressed in white, like a sunny doll.
A scene flashed through Fang Xin's mind instantly.
Whether it was the car involved in Fang Xin's parents' accident or the car involved in Allie's parents' accident, both had a sunny doll hanging in them.
Fang Xin fell into a brief thought.
Other information simply couldn't be retrieved. Much of the data and various pieces of information from before The Chaos of the Gods seemed to have been erased by an invisible hand. People today could only learn about what happened in the past, or about any figures and events, from the official messages transmitted by the authorities in power.
Combined with the Church approaching him earlier, and Zhuge Heng's statement that Fang Xin's parents' case involved many complexities, Fang Xin now felt that he had only seen the tip of the iceberg of all these matters, and he wondered what kind of towering, colossal iceberg he had yet to see.
Fang Xin replied with a message, "I'll also try to investigate from my end!"
"Thank you!" Allie replied.
"You're welcome."
The two of them could be considered to be in the same boat; helping Allie was helping himself.
The procedures for leaving school required seeing the counselor.
Fang Xin sent a message to Xiao Lu Jie. Xiao Lu Jie's reply was also quick, "Leaving school to take a mission?"
"Yes!"
"If you need manpower, you can show your credentials and contact the local Sky Shield Bureau. You can command a squad from any Special Operations Department except the Ninth Division!"
"Okay, Xiao Lu Jie!"
"Oh, right, remember to disguise yourself. If Yang Haosi finds out you've left, it's hard to guarantee he won't cause trouble for you!"
"Got it."
There were quite a few young masters with connections in the Sky Shield Bureau. After all, they could work for the public, and with military achievements, they could gain power. Having people in power within the bureaucracy made things easier, and the Sky Shield Bureau often turned a blind eye. This was also a disguised form of exchanging benefits with large organizations and powers, commonly known as a 'PY deal'.
Xiao Lu Jie continued, "If you can't complete the mission, you can also come back early. There's no shame in that."
Fang Xin originally intended to reply with an 'OK' emoji.
But he tapped too fast and sent another emoji instead.
【o cat jb face k】
He immediately recalled it and changed to a different emoji.
Xiao Lu also sent an emoji in return.
【Husky pointing a finger】
Fang Xin left Sky Shield Academy, wearing the disguise mask he had gotten from Allie earlier.
At noon that day, Fang Xin arrived in Xingquan City, the city where Ximen Boguang, the 'multifunctional plug', was located.
Xingquan City.
A third-tier city.
Legend has it that this place was one of the main battlefields during The Chaos of the Gods.
Ximen Boguang always committed crimes at night.
Nowadays, many places have curfews at night, and even without curfews, very few people are out and about in the evening.
Fang Xin planned to come out at night.
Night fell.
The moon was very full tonight.
The streets became increasingly deserted.
Fang Xin checked the time.
Curfew was at ten every night.
Before ten, local Sky Shield Bureau members and police officers would patrol.
So Stranger usually came out after ten o'clock.
Fang Xin walked on the street. Not many people were still out and about, hurrying home as if their lives depended on it.
Seeing Fang Xin walking alone on the street,
an old woman rushing home stopped and looked at Fang Xin.
"Child, it's so late, why aren't you home yet!"
Fang Xin smiled politely, "I'll be home soon! You should go home quickly!"
The old woman paused, nervously looking left and right, then continued, "It's so dangerous out late at night, child. Your accent sounds like you're not from around here. Is your home here?"
"No!"
The old woman quickly said, "Child, quickly find a hotel to stay in. If you, a stranger, are wandering around here at night and the officers catch you, they might arrest you to meet their quotas! Then they'll ask your family for money to bail you out!"
Fang Xin was stunned, not expecting the public order here to be so bad. "Got it, Auntie. My place is just ahead, I'm heading back now!"
The old woman pulled out her keys and walked towards the nearby store.
Fang Xin hadn't walked many steps.
Several people in uniform, wearing large hats, came around the corner. They were clearly from the police station.
They looked Fang Xin up and down. "Stop! What are you doing out so late at night, not going home?"
"My place is just ahead, I'm going back now!"
The leader, a long-faced police officer, pushed up his hat brim.
"A foreigner?"
Whoosh.
The convenience store next door opened, and the old woman ran out.
Grabbing Fang Xin's arm, she patted him lightly, "You child, I've been waiting for you for ages, why aren't you home yet? I'm sorry, this is my nephew, he's from out of town and not familiar with the roads, so he got lost!"
The long-faced police officer poked Fang Xin, then looked at the old woman and smiled, "Lost? A foreigner? Your nephew, right? Come on, tell me, what's his name?"
The old woman choked.
The long-faced police officer glared at Fang Xin and reached into Fang Xin's pocket to search for identification.
But Fang Xin grabbed his wrist.