Garen shook his head a little. In reality, he had only pretended to inquire around about his brother’s situation. He did not dare to tell the truth but buried it deep inside his heart. After all, this involved the Forbidden Core, and his family would not be able to bear the consequences at the present moment. Revealing the truth would only bring disaster.
The parents’ hearts immediately sank as they saw Garen shaking his head. Amy, the mother, lowered her head and began to cry.
Only the sister, the youngest one, had an appearance of nonchalance. She was still chewing on bubblegum, eyes revealing indifference.
“Look at all of you. Isn’t he just temporarily missing? If it can’t be done in the light, we could do it under the table. There’s got to be a way for sure. Cry cry cry. Can you get back the person just by crying?!”
Ker the sister commented impatiently. She was now extremely different from before. Wearing a white short skirt with a crop top, she had applied bright red lipstick, thick foundation makeup, and dark eyeshadow. She had on a pair of huge silver earrings and was sitting on the chair with one leg crossed high, unbothered about whether her underwear would be exposed.
“How could you speak like this?!” Rondo the father stood up and reprimanded.
“So what?! Want to beat me? Just go ahead! Beat here!” the sister stood up, pointed to her own face and responded loudly, “You didn’t manage to beat me to death the last time, why not you just do it this time! I’m sick of living anyway! There’s no point staying in this house at all!”
“Ker…” Amy the mother opened her mouth to speak but was cut short by the sister right away.
“In any case, I am no good at all besides bringing shame to you all. Just come. Beat me to death. I have no intention of living anyway,” Ker’s voice grew louder. When she saw that her father could not give any response, a pleasant expression instantly appeared on her face.
“That’s enough!”
Garen bellowed.
It was entirely silent in the house. The sister Ker gnashed her teeth tightly and dared not speak anymore. Ever since young, she and Baylon had always been fearful of Nono. Despite the fact that she had ‘seen the world’ outside, she was still afraid of him.
The father slumped into a chair, lit another cigarette and sucked on it fiercely with his head down.
For a moment, there was only the sound of the mother sobbing.
Garen’s face looked black as he sat down and looked at Ker.
“From now on, you will go out and mingle lesser. Do you hear me?!”
Ker pursed her lips tightly and turned her head away.
“Look at the way you dressed! What do you look like when you’re on the street?” Garen softened his tone, “Regarding Lon’s situation, I have a little progress. I know that he is still safe even though I couldn’t find him yet. Pa, ma, you don’t need to worry.”
“Sigh…” Rondo, the father, exhaled deeply. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to let him work…”
“This is nobody’s fault. None of us could have expected that this was going to happen,” Garen replied in a low voice. “Alright then. Everyone continue to go to work as usual. I will handle this matter.”
“Is Lon really alright?” the mother, Amy wiped away the streak of tears on her face.
“Really,” Garen knew that Red Moon, this Core, had lots of tricks up its sleeve. There should not be any jeopardy while under his care.
“Nono, you must find your brother and bring him back. You must!!” the mother cried, distressed, as her eyes filled with tears once more.
“I will…” Garen nodded.
Garen left his house with a heavy heart.
He truly did not know if he could find Baylon. Even if he could, there was still no way of telling whether the family would accept her current self.
He was not discriminating against transsexuals. It was just that in such a life, one would have to face countless discriminations and setbacks. Moreover, there were too many people who were over-subjective and who looked at others with preconceived ideas.
Since he had now become this person, Nonosiva, and had received the favor of his parents, it was only natural for him to be responsible for taking good care of his family.
Leaving his home, Garen made a trip to the patrol station. The only life that was lost had been replaced with a naïve looking, short red-haired girl who seemed to have a strong sense of justice.
Alexander, who had been allocated a new Mech, was commended and officially became a Second Lieutenant in the military. This guy was boasting to the other teams about the newly added black stripe on his shoulder. His face was beaming with pride.
Not only him, all the members under Garen’s leadership had been commended as well and were given a Sergeant’s rank. As they were Level One pilots, this ranking among the Mech’s troops would cause them to be one level higher than the other teams. This made everyone super excited.
“Assemble!!!” Garen stood with his hands behind his back. As he was already in a bad mood, seeing this bunch of happy people made him felt sullen.
When he was in a bad mood, he would want others to feel the same as him.
After a loud roar, the dozen of team members in the field trembled and hurriedly ran to form a line before him.
Shoo!
Couldn’t say that it was a tidy salutation.
“Team leader!” their voices sounded in unison though.
Before Garen had any say, Alexander could not hold back and decided to speak.
“Team leader, the award notice of your military credit has arrived!”
“Mine came too?” Garen had been ready to take it out on the team members until he was distracted by what he heard.
“It’s this!”
Alexander carefully took out a tiny silver circular board from his pocket and threw it on the ground.
The circular board immediately released silver halos, forming a one-meter-wide silver light board. A middle-aged female military officer dressed in black military suit gradually appeared on it. The two stars on her shoulder meant that she was actually a Colonel level military officer.
“Holographic projection?” Garen was stunned and immediately gave a salute next.
The other party rapidly returned the salute too.
“Second Lieutenant Nonosiva Lin, due to your outstanding gallantry during the terrorist attack, you are commended for a first class-merit award. The military staff have decided to confer on you the Captain rank. You can search the military web to be aware of all your privileges.”
Garen knew that his provisional rank initially was Second Lieutenant due to the benefits of joining the military with willpower Level Three. Currently, he had been promoted by two levels instantly to the level of Captain just because of a one-time military procurement.
It was said that at the Captain level, one would acquire lots of benefits. As for the higher field ranks, that would be the stratum where its members held true power in their hands. Every field rank in Blackboard Zone had to have a minimum of Level Four capability and either brilliant combat records or a powerful curriculum vitae. These were the backbones that held the power of the military and their numbers did not even reach one thousand. Since the numbers were so few, the ranks would not be granted easily.
“Besides that, the patrol unit that you are leading at the moment will be your permanent team from now on, so there would not be any more changes to the members. You have your own appointing rights. All that’s needed is just a report to the staff department later on.”
After the female Colonel made her brief announcement, she gave another salute before the image vanished.
Garen returned the salute and his face showed that he was deep in thought.
“A small permanent unit and my own appointing rights.… Doesn’t this mean that I can build my own company? Looks like my performance has attracted the attention of the higher-ups. Even so, are they thinking of training me or are they simply observing me?”
Ever since he had leveled up that nameless Forbidden Training Method, he’d felt that his body and mind were constantly being restored. After using Secret Techniques to examine, he was surprised to discover that all the hidden injuries sustained from his previous practices were being repaired through the vibration of the Willpower from this training method. It followed the most natural and harmonious way of blending into the body to become as one.
It was like bringing along medical equipment so that even the minor wounds could be treated anytime.
He did not rush to advance to Level Two because if he were to practice and advance with his own efforts, there would not be any indications. However, using potential points to advance would also be a waste because the training method level this time was a little higher, which had surpassed Crouched Eagle Talon and reached the level of high-level Secret Techniques or even a higher standard. If a mid-level Secret Technique needed two points to upgrade one level, then high-level Secret Techniques would need five points. As for this training method, it actually needed as many as ten points to advance one level.
Garen did not have much left in stock. Every day he could only accumulate two points, which was why he planned to focus on advancing the Living Secret Technique; in order for the Living Secret Technique to spur on the advancement of Crouched Eagle Talon and this unknown training method. The overall efficiency would be higher this way because it would be advancing all three at the same time.
The Living Secret Technique had begun to advance slowly under the plentiful supply of White Peacock Stone. Garen’s Hellfrost Peacock Technique leaped over the highest level of the foundation stage, which was Level Five. The level after this would be leaving the foundation stage and formally entering the practice phase. The Hellfrost Peacock Technique would also start to manifest its power as time went by.
Then again, when Garen had persisted in following the Living Secret Technique to train his body, he did not notice any trends. The effects of White Peacock Stone had weakened immensely and so it was apparent that it was only beneficial for the laying of the foundation, but other times…
Now he finally acquired potential points. With the Staff of Absolute Yin in his possession, Garen could accumulate two potential points every day. The initial number of points at twelve had currently risen to twenty in just a few days’ time.
“Alright, dismiss,” Garen’s mood had been turned around because of the promotion of rank. He waved his hands to dismiss everyone.
Only then did the team members disperse and vanish quickly, as if they were amnestied. From afar, you could still hear a group of people with bent arms around one another’s shoulders suggesting to drink and eat at a restaurant.
Garen could not be bothered about these scoundrels. Except for Alexander, the rest were all useless. You couldn’t even see their shadows during crucial times. Among those he’d summoned, only Alexander had taken the initiative to come without the fear of danger and was almost annihilated by the terrorist.
“The reason I could win this time depended on Cold Chaos of the Hellfrost Peacock Technique. This thing is simply a bug. It can seep into the Mech and affect the body of the pilot. For those who do not have a strong will, it can also act as a big killer weapon by muddling up their minds,” Garen reckoned in his heart. If it were not for Cold Chaos, he probably would have gotten seriously injured and might not have been able to make the opponent stayed put. Victory would definitely not have come this easily.
“Previously, there was a lack of White Peacock Stones to advance the Living Secret Technique. Now that this condition has been met, I should be able to utilize the potential points to advance and bypass the accumulation of time, shouldn’t I?”
He surmised.
His gaze fell upon his Attribute pane and he focused on the Living Secret Technique Hellfrost Peacock Technique.
‘Secret Technique — Hellfrost Peacock Technique: Living Secret Technique, Level Six, Completion rate of Level Six at 1%.
‘Natural Ability Obtained — Devour Level One (Devours innumerable living things to restore the body).’
‘Natural Ability Obtained — Distorted Seed Level Two (Creating chaos is the Hellfrost Peacock’s favorite pastime)’
‘Natural Ability Obtained — Cold Chaos Level Three (Causes fluctuations in time and space and releases cold air naturally within an area of 20 meters to create a chaotic low-temperature area with the lowest point at zero degrees. Simultaneously, there is a small chance of muddling up the enemies’ mind, causing them to attack randomly)’
‘(Five foundation levels and three levels in derivative level, totaling up to eight levels in the whole technique) Achieving each level will cleanse the blood of the body to gradually acclimate towards the Hellfrost Peacock’s constitution and eventually reach its highest form with its limit at Army Level.’
There were still twenty potential points left.
Garen attempted to add the potential points into the Living Secret Technique. Regretfully, it did not work. The Living Secret Technique was still the same as before. It would not accept the advancement brought forth by the potential points.
He realized, however, that the potential points seemed to be able to advance the three additional natural abilities from the Peacock Technique.
The three abilities advanced according to the standard of high-level Secret Techniques. Each level would require five potential points.
Garen hesitated; he could use the potential points to advance these natural abilities or to use them on new training methods. He was unsure of which move to make.
The effect of the natural ability Cold Chaos was very strong and it could have a sudden effect of clearing the site. Its training method equated to inner force, which was the source of the formidable force in all moves. It would be very useful when facing a powerhouse one-on-one. However, the subsequent training method was in the hands of the Forbidden Core.