Chapter 54 - 54 42 Third Route

54: Chapter 42, Third Route 54: Chapter 42, Third Route Does Lu Ping’an have shortcomings? Of course. After all, he has only been a Polluter for 10 days, an 0-tier Extraordinary for a week, and a 1-tier genuine Extraordinary for just one day. Even with his cheat-like growth, there are still many things he lacks. Perhaps it’s not that he has shortcomings, but that besides a few strong points, everything else is a shortcoming. But everyone present knew that the “shortcomings” spoken of here referred only to one ability. “…Is there a way to make up for my lack of close combat ability in a short period of time?” Low-level professionals don’t have many Abnormal Abilities and still mainly rely on conventional combat methods. At the present stage, both Runner and Gardener are auxiliary Professions, without combat skills like shooting and boxing. Once Lu Ping’an is approached by a professional, he’ll probably only be left with Wangba Fist. Actually, Lu Ping’an also knows the best solution to the problem. “… Developing new Career Abilities and going further on the Path of a Gardener and Runner should be able to solve the problem, but it’s not something that can be done overnight; it’s too late.” Becoming a professional isn’t the end of progress; on the contrary, it’s just the beginning. Getting a job is just a key, a door, giving you access to more privileges. Or it gives you a box in which to store more treasures. A central unit, complete with CPU, hard drive, video card, and other parts, is much more than just idle spinning. S~eaʀᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Like Lei Huoren, a pure Runner (as Meow says), his speed in combat isn’t incredibly fast, nor does he constantly use Shrink Land. He’s just always one step faster or slower than your focus point, with constantly changing pace and speed, so you miss him in a flash. The tentacles were always chasing him but never managed to touch him. And when he attacked, it was usually just a punch or a finger. The golden glowing finger would lightly touch the 2-tier Tentacle Demon Plants and the limb would be paralyzed instantly. Lu Ping’an also saw him use his “Golden Finger” to catch a poisonous whip, acting as if it was nothing serious. At the moment of explosion, his entire fist turned golden. It might be some sort of Career Ability for a Runner, but Lu Ping’an had no idea what it was. External “public” Taboo knowledge comes to an end when someone reaches 1-tier and becomes a formal professional. What Lu Ping’an has right now is just a foundation; he still needs to obtain truly valuable treasures. And none of them can be accomplished in just two days. It’s even troublesome to get into the controlled information of official organizations and big companies. He needs “authority” and “trust” to gain access to more “secrets.” Entering Ancient City University is an opportunity, otherwise, the only option would be to join a class or something. In Lu Ping’an’s eyes, Xia Qin’s display as a pure warrior series was even more exaggerated and incomprehensible. At first, she was hiding and dodging the tentacles’ whip, but later on, she directly took it head-on. She didn’t even use a weapon; she just snapped the two thickest tentacles with her hands, causing Lu Ping’an great distress. But this time, being close enough, Lu Ping’an noticed her supernatural feature. The toughness and strength of her fair skin didn’t even leave whip marks, which was obviously beyond what a natural person should have. If that could still be explained by exercise, then the faint white scales under her skin when she exerted herself made Lu Ping’an think a lot. Perhaps what he needs next for improvement isn’t as simple as just sharing experience points. Ignoring the poison from the green vine made Lu Ping’an doubt whether he had a genuine poisonous vine. “All Secret Keepers in our Bureau of Anomaly Management have some passive poison resistance abilities; this is a kind of benefit… you’ll know later.” “I don’t have it; I haven’t accumulated enough contributions yet, and I’m reluctant to exchange it. Someone like Captain Xia who’s always on the front line needs this ability more.” Lei Huoren was straightforward, saying he used a different ability to resist poison. The two Secret Keepers took time out of their busy schedules to train Lu Ping’an and pointed out some of his obvious mistakes. “…You need to keep your eyes on the target at all times, and constantly judge their actions. Don’t just look at their head, but also at their hands, eyes, and feet – key points that are hard to deceive without training.” “Don’t rely on Magic Plants for protection as soon as someone gets close to you, it’s too late. Plus, your Magic Plants don’t seem as agile and intelligent as those of other Gardeners; you might still be missing something.” “As a fortunate Gardener with Magic Plants above your tier, your desire to fight a battle of attrition is a good idea. But your scattered resources are inadequate, and you lack the ability to save your own life. In a real battle, your opponents will surely come after you.” “Although your response is quite rational and imaginative, you still lack actual combat experience, especially in a head-on fight. I’ve studied your past battles, and being a good assassin doesn’t make you a good warrior. The entrance exams test a warrior’s frontal abilities…” Lu Ping’an didn’t deny the existence of these problems. He even brought out his own “countermeasures” and directly consulted the two for their opinions. “Actually, you guys know about my ‘Dividends’ ability. I’ve gained a relatively large amount of combat experience from it, so if I take up a combat profession, even if it’s just 0-tier, my close combat abilities should be greatly improved, right?” This is the solution that Lu Ping’an had set aside. His general skill in hand-to-hand combat had actually reached an astonishing Level 5! The reason? The dividends from Xia Qin, Lei Huoren, and Meow, as well as the big experience gift package from Xue En. Secret Keepers on duty in the city inevitably have to use hand-to-hand combat skills. Lei Family’s siblings, both Runners, also use bare-handed combat techniques. When everyone provided hand-to-hand combat experience to Lu Ping’an, this “general skill” naturally reached its peak. Their complex combat memories and fighting styles allowed Lu Ping’an to quickly improve by verifying and learning from each other. However, without professional modification, it remains just ordinary combat techniques. A regular boxer who has trained for only two years is meaningless when facing a human-shaped beast up close. “From the close combat professions I know, there seem to be boxers, swordsmasters, and fighters. Sister Xia Qin is a swordsmaster and a fighter, right? Could you give me some advice?” At this time, typically straightforward Xia Qin hesitated for a moment and then shook her head. “We only set out on this path a few years before you. We’re far from being able to guide you. Choosing a path is a major life decision, and I don’t recommend making it so hastily.” “Captain is right. It’s better to fail entrance this time than to take up the wrong path. You’re young, don’t be in a hurry… It’s not a cop-out. We really don’t have the ability to guide you. At the very least, we never expected that a logistical Gardener would suit you so well. If someone hadn’t pointed it out, it would have been a miraculous stroke of luck.” Lei Huoren, on the other hand, isn’t so honest. At this moment, he is still trying to pry into Lu Ping’an’s secrets through conversation. Lu Ping’an smiled and nodded, not responding, but feeling a little helpless in his heart. “…I don’t know if this big cat is really stupid or just playing dumb. She seems to only do good things now, but relying too much on a single source of information is always a problem. I need to break free as soon as possible. Hopefully, things will be better when I enter the university.” Watching the two Secret Keepers return to their overtime work, Lu Ping’an left the police station and went home honestly this time. When downloading the supplementary drama, while Chris was in a good mood, Lu Ping’an asked the same question. Early preparedness allowed her to immediately provide an answer that Lu Ping’an couldn’t understand. “A soldier? Xue En’s part-time job? Isn’t that the weakest and least promising part-time job within the close combat system?” This answer was beyond Lu Ping’an’s expectation and was an option he had ruled out from the start. Because of Xue En’s situation, he also understood the “Soldier” path of the War God. The feedback from all aspects was that it was weak in terms of overall performance. Close combat professionals usually have two professional skills when they first start. One is combat techniques, and the other is improving their basic abilities. One external and one internal, complementing and promoting each other like a Runner’s technique and a Breathing Technique. The disadvantage of the Soldier lies in the fact that, in many people’s eyes, both of these professional skills are problematic. Swordsmasters and boxers specialize in techniques like swordsmanship and boxing, which show immediate improvements. Soldiers, on the other hand, have “All Weapon Specialization.” It sounds impressive, but the problem lies in the word “All”. Both cold and hot weapons have to be mastered with so many types of cold weapons alone. But the reported improvement is less than half that of other tiers, making it arduous and hard to see results. If this problem can be overcome, the second issue is the root cause of the rarity of people within the Soldier path. “…Soldier’s ‘War Memory’ doesn’t provide an increase in basic attributes, only an increase in battlefield perception and intuition. What’s the use of that?” “Heh, it’s not much use at low levels. At high levels, though… ” So that’s it, this is a passive ability that only becomes more potent later on? “…Even at high levels, it won’t increase your physical abilities. This is an indirect combat ability after all. If you’re relying on the Soldier path to enhance your individual combat power, maybe you’ve got something wrong.” Lu Ping’an was a little confused. The core skill of the War God’s Soldier path is an indirect combat ability? But in the next moment, Lu Ping’an understood. “Individual combat abilities? Oh, so the Soldier enhances group combat abilities?” “It’s not something that simple. All I can say is that it’s very useful, especially for you… Besides, All Weapon Specialization has its advantages too. Others have already determined the weapons they’ll use and have stuck to that path. “Lu Ping’an, your fighting style hasn’t taken shape yet, but you’ll definitely use magic plants in the future. Roots and the like in your hands could only be considered exotic weapons. What combat techniques do you plan to practice? Whip? Knife? Sword? Only All Weapon Specialization can provide a stable improvement. The high-level Gardeners I know have all taken the Soldier path as part-time.” In fact, the last sentence alone would have been enough for Lu Ping’an to make up his mind. But this kind of “common sense” that isn’t a secret among high-level circles is probably precious information that Xia Qin and the others couldn’t access, even if they paid for it. “What’s the initiation ceremony of a Soldier? Can it be done within two days?” “Two days? For you, half an hour should be enough. However, some people wouldn’t be able to do it in their entire lifetime.” “What is it? That simple?” “Killing a person in a non-hateful state. It’s very simple, right?” “…Are you sure it’s the path of the War God and not some Blood God?”