Chapter 913
Chapter 913 - 899 Bounty
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9 min read
The path for professionals always fundamentally starts with professional skills, which are the basic abilities a professional acquires on a certain path.
However, these things that are extremely difficult for other professionals are not a problem in the hands of Lu Ping’an, the "Speculator." He just needs to find the right targets and work hard to leech experience and abnormal abilities.
For him, the issues pointed out by Big Cat have already greatly impacted his overall combat power and progress.
[Current Status: Physique (Silver Mid-position), Reflex (Middle Brass), Spirit (Silver Mid-position)]
These days, his physique has risen a tier once more, reaching the impressive Silver Mid-position. Just looking at the data, Lu Ping’an could go wrist-to-wrist with a fifth-order fighting professional.
And due to the existence of his "shared abilities," he gains "dividends" from his own magic pets and taboo items at every moment. The growth rate of his physique is the fastest, so much so that he must actively suppress it, while from a spirit entity like Zhi Xi, Lu Ping’an can receive even more "spiritual power" dividends.
It’s worth mentioning that the newly arrived Tree-man Mumu has given Lu Ping’an "life force," with the most obvious being the further enhancement of his physique and a significant increase in his regeneration abilities.
His problem now is that none of his magic pets have reflex-oriented... abilities, and even if they did, considering the particularity of reflex (the nervous system), feedback on his basic Reflex is unlikely to be substantial.
He needs a qualitative change, a substitution, as slow reflex nerves have already affected his upper limit in actual combat.
After all, even the best combat platform needs the user to respond quickly; it’s better not to have an overkill situation like using heavy artillery to swat a mosquito happen again.
And in the evolution of a professional, Reflex, which has already fallen behind the other attributes by a significant margin (three minor tiers), has prevented his body from evolving stably further.
If he were a "monster" that was growing, his overly sluggish reflexes might even prevent him from freely controlling his increasingly large, heavy body, ultimately being nothing more than powerful "excess flesh."
He might make a good siege engine, but definitely not a good warrior.
The shortcoming of Lu Ping’an’s Reflex is actually saying that he lacks control over his body. His growth is too rapid, akin to an organization expanding quickly without the necessary management layers; there’s no issue in the short term, but in the long term or when faced with emergencies, it leads to losing control.
"... Is it possible to skip the process and directly acquire the results?"
"Obviously not."
At this moment, Lu Ping’an is training on a thin rope, honing his balance and attempting to master the basics of an "Acrobat."
This profession has a basic trait called "Dancer on the Tightrope," and to master it, one requires a high level of "dance technique."
Lu Ping’an tried to leech experience from Hua Xueyi, but she has no talent in this area... As someone who can freely sprout wings and alter her body’s weight distribution, her "sense of balance" is probably fundamentally different from ordinary life forms.
She’s not afraid of heights because she can fly, and she doesn’t worry about losing balance because she can adjust her density and weight at any time.
Within Lu Ping’an’s small team, the one with the highest Reflex is clearly Meow, but Lu Ping’an can’t leech her experience in this area either. On one hand, she doesn’t have a Dancer profession; her movements lean more towards the Runner Path... simply put, power hurling bricks, relying more on physique than Reflex.
Her Reflex is so high, after all...
"You’re not a cat, how can a cat teach you, Meow!"
More than half of this is innate, accompanying the rise in her life level; as a high-level creature "Spirit Cat," her array of basic abilities skyrocket, and her inherent reflexes make another leap, coupled with her heritage as a Cliff Walker in the Catman battle-profession, her natural Reflex crushes that of a "bipedal, arm-wielding upright ape" – it’s not something that can be learned.
Lu Ping’an also tried to leech some experience from foreign Dancers... For one thing, "Dancer" is quite a niche profession, even if it’s undertaken part-time, it’s often not the main path. Professionals of a high Dancer tier tend to rely more on abilities from other paths in actual combat, making the professional experience he could leech relatively limited.
He consumed some magic potions, but they seemed to have an ordinary effect; the high life level of Lu Ping’an has become a problem at this time... of course, it could also be that more advanced magic potions are not only expensive but also simply unavailable for purchase.
"I could perform surgery on you, inserting an internal operating system to let a machine enhance your Reflex speed," suggested Fang Wen.
"... To what extent could it be achieved?" Lu Ping’an did not refuse, as he was somewhat numb to the issue by now.
"If I put my full effort into the technology and all the materials are supplied, you might be able to reach what you refer to as Upper Silver," she replied.
A nod, and my basic attributes can reach the limit just below Rule-level? Lu Ping’an was somewhat tempted at the time, until she heard the specifics...
"Performing cranial surgery on you, implanting a supplementary brain. Then starting with the eyes, fitting an electronic eye to manage the entire system. Cutting open the bones to insert cables for enhancement..."
A whole set of procedures, which made Lu Ping’an’s scalp tingle. If she really went through with it, she would probably turn into a living person turned terminator.
Thus, Lu Ping’an was greatly touched by Fang Wen’s "kindness," but still chose to decline.
Should I train myself? Progress has always been there, but it never seems to pick up speed... Of course, that’s just how slow he feels it is – in reality, just a few days’ training had propelled the Dancer to the second tier, which to others was an unbelievably swift advancement.
Lu Ping’an also hit a bottleneck, and the simplest and most "traditional" method would be to capture a few "acrobats" and directly share skills with them, yet this seemed to be yet another profession that was "lost" in plain sight.
"Really playing dumb, huh..."
Through the Ancient city’s Bureau of Anomaly Management, Lu Ping’an had already extended an invitation to the Playful Boy faction, and the response came swiftly – a string of denials, "It’s not me, I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me!" were thrown out cleanly,
But the other party didn’t cut off communication completely and even provided a set of contact methods, indicating a desire for "private, more in-depth talks."
Clearly, trust takes time to build, and it seems that the thing Lu Ping’an lacks the most is time...
"If only vacations could be a bit longer..."
When did it start that for Lu Ping’an and his team, hard training on Earth began to feel like a vacation?
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Maybe it’s because here they didn’t have to worry about war spreading across the entire world, didn’t have to fret that one morning upon waking up, the world would split in two, with the Moon and Sun becoming the delicacies of the Outer Gods... Earth, with its gathering of countless gods, has many problems – but at least in this regard, it fares much better than certain other worlds.
Lu Ping’an originally thought Earth’s "public order" was too terrible, but after traversing many otherworldly realms, he realized that his own world might just be the best... On his vacation days, he could wake up naturally, without the need to keep a weapon under his pillow, always ready for an outbreak.
But vacations are always limited, especially when you’re both deeply blessed and burdened with great expectations.
"...Has Blood-crow been found?" This headline news instantly ignited the entire professional world.
With a hefty bounty, brave souls may not be guaranteed, but there will always be those willing to try, especially those with already wavering affiliations.
It turned out that among the Blood-crow, aside from the extremists, there were also those with relatively normal desires and thoughts.
"Was it an internal leak? Someone snitched?"
"Yeah, an extremist who lost his family and loved ones a long time ago, a devotee of social Darwinism, a bastard with blood on his hands. But apparently, after the City-destroyer massacre, he realized he wasn’t extreme enough."
With an insider source, the world where the Blood-crow and their Church followers fled to had been determined – it was a "High Magic World" with humanoid life forms.
The good news is that the people have been found, and so has their god.
The bad news is that it’s a directly controlled domain of a Family Clan subsidiary to the Twelve-Pillar, not only without diplomatic relations, but the other side also has no obligation to give face to "inferior" humans.
"How are they planning to handle it?"
"Assassination? Gather intelligence? Kidnap and bring back... It seems that however you look at it, this is ultimately going to fall to the Explorers, and probably those from Changping State."
This time, Lu Ping’an understood.
The bounty was one aspect, and on the other hand, this was a political mission; no matter the loss, no matter the cost, it had to be completed.
Indeed, two days later the commission was issued, falling into the hands of every Explorer in the Ancient city.
"Death with no amnesty? Huh, anyone who kills Blood-crow, if it’s the Church, they directly receive a Proper God’s title and the right to develop; if it’s an organization, they directly earn a free Church district and independent Outer World domain? This is bound to start a Divine War, isn’t it."
— End of Chapter 913 —