Chapter 82: Sympathy
Translator: Editor:
The mission had only been graded as ‘Good’, but it was enough. After the completed mission notification, system notifications kept ringing continuously.
Character: Luo Yuan
Profession: Hunter
Level: 7
Experience: 1900
Attributes:-
Strength: 12 (10)
Dexterity: 13 (10)
Physique: 12 (10)
Intelligence: 13 (10)
Sensory Perception: 13 (10)
Willpower: 13 (10)
Skills: Science 16, Math 14, Mandarin 19, English 16, Finance 17,
Arithmetic 9, Dancing 1, Drawing 3, Gaming 6, Persuasion 9,
Socializing 7, Cooking 3, Driving 1, Hand-to-Hand Combat 4,
Excellent Knife Skill: 2, Gun Skill: 1
Special Skills: Identification, Synthesis
Unassigned AP: 1
Unassigned SP: 10
Incomplete Mission: None
Luo Yuan was once again in a dilemma about assigning his AP. It was different now, because there was nowhere absolutely safe. The city would soon be occupied by mutated beasts. He was not facing just one or two beasts now. He might not even have enough time to take a breath between battles.
To put it simply, he needed to have the strength to run when facing a mutated beast he could not beat. He could not afford to be out of breath after just a few steps.
After some thought, he decided to assign all his AP to Physique.
The next moment, a heated flow filled him as his skin turned red and sweat drenched his entire body. Within a few seconds, he felt as if he was being burned. His face began to feel numb. It was the kind of numbness that felt like countless ants were biting him. He scratched his face lightly, only to see flakes of skin come off.
These were newly formed scabs from the previous day, and they still had dark red blood on them. He touched where he had scratched earlier and felt the smooth skin.
When the heat had subsided, he immediately checked the back of his hand where he had been burned earlier. The scabs had all flaked like a snake’s scales, falling off once his hand brushed across them lightly. The uneven surface disappeared and was replaced by normal skin. He had recovered from all his injuries. Plus, his skin seemed smoother and fairer than before, glowing shiny like jade.
Even his scars had vanished during the heated flow.
He touched his skin, and the surface was smooth with an additional feeling of resilience. To test his assumption, he picked up a sharp stone and cut the back of his hand forcefully. Before, that much strength would definitely have caused a deep, bleeding gash.
The back of his hand hurt, even though only a layer of outer skin had been scraped off. When he removed the stone for inspection, there wasn’t even the slightest bit of blood to be seen.
He was surprised, but also a little curious. Why did working out not have that kind of effect?
Before this, Luo Yuan’s Physique had only come from working out. Nothing as strange as this had happened, other than an increase in his stamina.
Luo Yuan thought about it and came to a conclusion. The strength he’d gained from working out had to be temporary strength, much like a long-distance runner’s. If he stopped working out, his strength would have decreased considerably, and been reduced back to an average person’s in three years’ time.
From a certain perspective, the strength and physique of a long distance runner were not that much different from an average person’s. Even if the runner had gone through excruciating training to get a little stronger than the average person, his physique would still not have changed. It was a totally different case with the system though. It increased the body’s attributes from within the cells, which explained why fixed attributes like Intelligence could be increased.
Luo Yuan guessed that this had not just increased his strength, but also other things like the resilience of his skin, his ability to self-heal, even his age.
He tightened his fist and felt endless energy running through his body. He was delighted. He would not have to hesitate anymore during a battle in the future.
He looked at his 10 collected AP. His knife skill had already reached Excellent. The effect of practicing was no longer obvious. He had noted no significant improvement after practicing for half a month. He did not hesitate in adding all his AP to his knife skill. Times were grim, and any extra capability was an additional assurance of safety.
Countless knowledge flooded his brain in only a moment.
His eyes turned foggy as a frightening aura exuded from him. Even the air seemed to tense. A few seconds later, he reopened his eyes, and the pair of them flashed out of nowhere. He extracted his machete, and the knife shone with a mist-like effect, its glow covering the whole blade.
As his aura got stronger, the shine of the blade got stronger as well, becoming visible even in broad daylight. The shine had gotten almost an inch longer, the air around it hissing as if it was being sliced.
Luo Yuan smiled lightly. The glow grew weak in an instant, leaving behind only a thin layer. He drew a stroke across the ground.
It didn’t make a sound.
The next second, the ground was split open in a smooth straight line.
Going from Excellent Knife Skill 2 to Excellent Knife Skill 12 had not just made the blade’s glow stronger, but it had also allowed Luo Yuan to use it without depleting much of his Willpower.
Before Luo Yuan left, he drank a few more mouthfuls of the Golden-Winged Roc’s blood. Nothing changed.
He was not disappointed. He’d already gotten used to it.
Evolving was an extra perk for him, the system was his foundation.
Even if he did not become an evolved person, he believed he still would not be any weaker than the lucky people who did.
The battle in the distance was still ongoing, but there were less bombers in the sky. There was only 30 – 40 of them now, when it had been over a hundred the previous day. A large number of mutated beasts circled around in the sky, and a few bombers fell from time to time. It looked like the mutated beasts were winning.
As Luo Yuan passed down the street, several heavy military trucks drove by fast, a grey cloth covering their backs, which were filled up to a mound. Luo Yuan wondered what was inside as he glanced at them. The soldiers driving them looked passive and spiritless.
Noticing Luo Yuan, one of them turned his head to look at him, his gaze tinged with sympathy and pity.
Luo Yuan took a long look at the heavy trucks driving away, his mind replaying the soldier’s expression. He had a bad feeling about it, yet nothing came to him, no matter how long he pondered it. He went on his way. About ten minutes later, he came to a halting stop before a food market. He looked at it dumbfoundedly.
The metal gates were open wide, and the inside of the market was empty, like a robbery had just taken place. He walked inside in disbelief. The huge warehouse had been cleared of its contents, leaving only a few grains of rice in the inventory. He suddenly thought of the heavy trucks he’d just seen. His face paled.
He stood there for a few minutes stunned, losing all his spirit.
His mind was working in overdrive.
“Why was the food moved?”
“What did that soldier’s gaze mean?”
“Where are the trucks going?”
Luo Yuan dared not think about the answers to the first and second question. It would only make him feel hopeless. As for the third question, he had nothing. If the military was leaving Hedong City, they could only do it through the only lifeline left – the highway.
What about Hedong City and its hundreds of thousands of people, though? What would happen to them once the military left?
“Impossible. This can’t be real,” Luo Yuan mumbled to himself, his face draining of any color.
Despite his willpower, once he thought about the fall of the city, and the millions of its residents becoming mutated beast food, he felt goosebumps rising, He shuddered involuntarily.
The people had always relied on and been emboldened by the military. As long as the military was there, there was still hope, no matter how grim things looked. Even when the wave of mutated beasts had entered the city, Luo Yuan had still maintained a sliver of hope, because the military had still been fighting endlessly.
Indeed, his capabilities were spectacular – each of his 13-point attributes slowly detaching him from human physical boundaries towards evolution. However, regardless of how strong a person was, unless they broke a certain barrier, they would be no stronger than an average person under the circumstances.