Chapter 68: New Occupation
Leonardo propped his chin on his hand, studying the shop window with intense focus. Nearby, Sherlock was questioning the owner, a portly middle-aged man who was trembling too much to answer.
Suddenly, a crack spiderwebbed across the windowpane before the entire sheet of glass shattered. Everyone flinched. When they looked back, they saw Zhou Ning stepping through the broken frame, one hand holding his hat down as he dragged a corpse behind him.
Leonardo's eyes widened with curiosity. He started forward to ask what was happening but froze when Zhou Ning shot him a look. Though confused, he instinctively took a step back.
There was no malice in the glance, yet Leonardo felt a primal fear, as if he'd just met a natural predator that could bring him fatal danger at any moment.
"What's going on?" Sherlock approached with his men, his expression a mixture of exasperation and awe. "Why is it always you?"
"He's the one responsible." Zhou Ning gestured to the body on the ground. "This one was tough. It took a lot of effort, so don't forget to pay up."
Sherlock recognized him instantly. "Elvis Bart?" Wasn't this the fire mage, one of the suspects in the king's assassination attempt? He was a genuine Transcendental Professional, bordering on high-level—an extremely dangerous man. It was why his bounty was a staggering 1,000 Victars.
"Wait, don't tell me you took down Elvis Bart by yourself," Sherlock said, completely shocked. He took in Zhou Ning's faint smirk and looked him up and down. "Alright, I believe you."
"The deceased is indeed Elvis Bart," reported a Day Guardian who had just finished a preliminary examination. "Over a hundred of his bones are broken. It's as if an elephant trampled him."
"Difficult? Took a lot of effort?" Sherlock glanced at Zhou Ning, who wasn't even sweating, and found himself speechless. He'd known the man for a while, but he never ceased to amaze him.
Just then, the possession effect of the epic vampire wore off. Zhou Ning flexed his fist, still reeling from the power he'd felt. While pummeling Elvis, he'd experienced a strength far beyond human limits. For him to have over a hundred broken bones... Elvis must have been incredibly durable.
He checked his panel, and the temporary template card from his previous mission appeared.
[Temporary Template Card: Contains a rare character template, which can only be used once. This card can only be used in the simulation world or the backtracking world.]
The card depicted Zhou Ning himself, sitting on a sofa in a black suit, black vest, and white shirt. His hair was slicked back, a rose was pinned to his lapel, his right leg was crossed over his left, and he held a cigar in his right hand.
[Character: Godfather Zhou Ning]
[Personality: Gentleman, resolute, dignified, ruthless, capricious.]
[Talents: Natural Leader (Orange), Criminal Genius (Orange), Charisma (Purple)]
[Skills: Negotiation Skills (Expert), Basic Shooting (Advanced), Basic Combat (Advanced)]
[Use 0/1]
Godfather?
Zhou Ning was stunned. Based on the skills, the card's combat potential seemed weak. However, it was the only template he'd ever seen with two orange-tier talents. He wouldn't know their specific effects until he used it.
After closing the panel, Zhou Ning casually asked, "How are things going on your end?"
"Not great," Sherlock admitted with a wry smile. "We've been swamped for the past two days. After the king's assassination, the full weight of the investigation fell on our shoulders. We haven't had a moment's rest searching for the culprits. Frankly, it's exhausting. Thanks to you taking care of Elvis, I can finally breathe a little easier."
"Should we continue our trade for guns and bullets during all this?" Zhou Ning asked.
"Of course. You don't think the Day Guardians are that shorthanded, do you?" Sherlock replied, looking slightly offended. "I'll have someone meet you at the Xilin Grocery Store tomorrow. He'll have your 1,000-Vectar bounty as well."
"Great." Zhou Ning gave Sherlock a thumbs up.
After finishing his conversation with Sherlock, he walked over to Leonardo and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."
Leonardo nodded nervously and followed a few steps behind Zhou Ning. He only let out a sigh of relief once he was sure the danger had passed.
This guy from another plane is just like Luffy or Naruto—a typical hot-blooded shonen protagonist. A moment later, Leonardo had already forgotten what had just happened and was chatting and laughing with Zhou Ning again.
As they talked, Zhou Ning learned that Leonardo—just like in the game—was a gifted alchemist. He was three years younger than Zhou Ning but was already an expert in the field, far surpassing him. What truly made Leonardo an object of envy, however, was a universal skill he possessed called [Fierce Focus]. Zhou Ning had coveted that skill for a long time. At his current pace, maybe he could acquire it one day.
Mr. Tulin's residence was next to the alchemy lab, not far from their location. When Zhou Ning pointed it out, he noticed Leonardo suddenly became quite serious, even straightening his collar before knocking on the door. Is Mr. Tulin some kind of big shot? Zhou Ning wondered.
Back at the alchemy lab, Zhou Ning eagerly opened his game panel. He now had 190,000 experience points, most of which he'd gained from the day's mission.
Now that I've learned Divine Avoidance, I only need three more active skills to complete the initial framework for my new profession.
The fusable skills in his list were: Shooting Mastery (Basic), Ripple Breathing (Intermediate), Mozambique Shooting (Basic), CAR Shooting (Basic), Dodge (Basic), Armament Haki (Basic), Divine Avoidance (Basic), Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced), and Flying Spear (Basic).
With his remaining skills, there weren't many combinations left to try. After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Ning first attempted to fuse Basic Swordsmanship and Ripple Breathing.
[Would you like to fuse Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced) and Ripple Breathing (Intermediate)? This fusion will consume 12,000 experience points. The success rate is 68%.]
Zhou Ning confirmed without hesitation. His progress in both Basic Swordsmanship and Ripple Breathing was wiped, returning them to the novice level.
[Fusion successful. You have gained the skill: [Ripple Sword Technique] (Elementary).]
[Ripple Sword Technique (Elementary): Infuse the sword with ripple energy, launching a powerful attack. The attack power is 235% of the weapon's damage. This skill deals double damage to dark creatures.]
Not bad. Although swordsmanship is just a secondary skill for me, this ability has a high damage modifier. It could be useful.
Next, Zhou Ning spent over 20,000 experience points to upgrade both Shooting Mastery and Flying Spear to Intermediate, then tried to fuse them.
[Would you like to fuse Shooting Mastery (Intermediate) and Flying Spear (Intermediate)? This fusion will consume 12,000 experience points. The success rate is 56%.]
[Yes!]
[The fusion failed. Your Shooting Mastery (Intermediate) and Flying Spear (Intermediate) progress has been reset to zero.]
Zhou Ning: ...
Good thing I saved up enough experience points for a rainy day.
He tried again, and this time, the panel displayed a new prompt:
[Fusion successful. You have gained the skill [Floating Shooting] (Elementary).]
[Floating Shooting (Elementary): Use a gun to shoot the ground and propel yourself backward into the air, then fire at the enemy. The attack damage is 135% of the weapon damage.]
This skill is just average, nothing special. At least it looks cool.
But he wasn't done yet. After a moment of consideration, Zhou Ning invested over 60,000 experience points to upgrade Shooting Mastery to Advanced, and both Armament Haki and Dodge to Intermediate.
[Would you like to fuse Shooting Mastery (Advanced), Armament Haki (Intermediate), and Dodge (Intermediate)? This fusion will consume 36,000 experience points. The success rate is 65%.]
Skill fusion wasn't limited to just two skills. Each additional component cost another 5,000 experience points, and the price compounded from there. That was why Zhou Ning had waited until he had a surplus of experience before attempting this three-way fusion.
[Fusion successful. You have gained the skill [Fatal Return] (Elementary).]
[Fatal Return (Elementary): While dodging an opponent's attack, you can inflict a fatal blow infused with Armament Haki. The damage coefficient is related to the level of Armament Haki.]
Mission accomplished. Zhou Ning couldn't help but clench his fists in triumph.
Compared to his luck with lotteries, his fortune with skill fusion was incredible. He never seemed to fail when it truly counted.
This Fatal Return was far more powerful than a simple dodge-and-shoot; it was a god-tier ability. Based on the description alone, its effect surpassed most skills from advanced professions.
With that, the preliminary framework for his new profession was complete.
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