"Come here, come here—"
Xiao He pressed Xiao Chen down to sit.
Xiao Chen looked completely bewildered: "Huh? What's wrong, Brother Xiao?"
Xiao He turned his head back around, grabbed one of Xiao Chen's hands, and said in a serious tone: "Don't ask anything, just lend me your Emperor power—"
Then before Xiao Chen could react, Xiao He grabbed his finger and pressed it against the system panel, silently chanting in his mind for the system to draw cards—
[Congratulations on obtaining "Skill Upgrade Capsule," automatically stored]
Looking at the suddenly appearing system notification, Xiao He: ...
Damn! So it really was his bad luck?
When he draws, he gets the Maximum Guarantee, but when the European Emperor draws, it's a one-shot success?
NO!!!!
This world is completely unfair!!!
European Emperor Xiao Chen had no idea about the roaring in Xiao He's heart, blinking in confusion while looking at the empty air in front of him and Brother Xiao's slightly distorted expression, completely baffled: "Huh? What European Emperor power? What happened?"
"Don't ask." Xiao He looked weathered. "I'll give you double bonus next month, go take care of your own tasks, let me have some quiet time."
Xiao Chen: "?"
Oh no! Has Brother Xiao developed mental problems?
Should he call Sister Liu?
"If you dare secretly tell Sister Liu, you won't get next month's bonus~~~~"
Xiao He said in a haunting tone from behind Xiao Chen, like a resentful ghost.
Xiao Chen shivered, feeling both guilty and awkward: "Uh, Brother Xiao, you even noticed that..."
"I'm not sick, and I don't have mental problems, don't make false reports." Xiao He urged Xiao Chen, "Go quickly and set up the filming location, Sister Liu and the others will be here soon to shoot the video. If you keep dawdling, you won't get the bonus for the month after next either."
Xiao Chen: !!!
Xiao Chen didn't dare delay any longer and began setting up the location.
Meanwhile, Xiao He took this opportunity to use these two upgrade capsules to fully upgrade his remaining Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique and basic hacking skills.
[Congratulations on obtaining "Hacking Technology (Intermediate)," automatically learned]
[Congratulations on obtaining "Anatomy Art," automatically learned]
[Hacking Technology (Intermediate) Details: Intermediate hacking technology logged in the database, more conducive to implementing criminal activities online.]
[Anatomy Art Details: Professional dissection technique upgraded from the Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique, allowing you to enjoy bloody art while learning more secrets about corpses.]
After the basic hacking skill upgraded to intermediate level, it was almost the highest level in this world. Xiao He didn't even dare imagine that if it upgraded to advanced level later, he might be able to do anything he wanted using hacking skills.
But right now, Xiao He didn't have the mind to worry about that.
His gaze fell on [Anatomy Art], and he took a deep breath.
He never expected that the upgraded form of the Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique wouldn't be some higher-level knife technique, but human anatomy!
But thinking about it now, there were actually traces all along.
For example, Expert Climbing, in the system introduction, mainly focused on assisting infiltration and escape, so the final upgrade to Extreme Escape also basically revolved around this core.
And the previous Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique specifically introduced the art of killing, improving understanding of human anatomy, but at that time it was limited to basic knowledge. Now after upgrading, he had completely mastered this "art" and understood human anatomy even better.
For example, before he might have only been able to distinguish the positions of human bones and internal organs, but now he could also judge a person's exercise habits, occupational characteristics, previous diseases, and even death conditions based on these bones and internal organs...
It's just that Xiao He really never expected that one day he would master forensic knowledge!
It just feels like this is basically not very useful. Even though he could now become a medical examiner, he couldn't take exams, get licenses, and openly display this skill like his other skills.
It's too late to become a medical examiner now...
Forget it, just take life slowly, having more skills won't burden you.
While sighing in his heart, Xiao He covered his forehead, pressing and rubbing it uncomfortably.
Since both these skills were knowledge-based, all the related knowledge had rushed into Xiao He's mind all at once. He felt a dull ache in his head and also somewhat nauseous.
Only when Liu Rulan arrived at the villa did Xiao He's condition barely improve, though he still looked somewhat listless.
"What's wrong with him?"
Liu Rulan glanced at Xiao He, then turned her gaze to Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen quickly shook his head, very professionally making a zipping motion across his lips.
Liu Rulan looked suspiciously at the two: "...Since when do you two have secrets?"
"Since they're secrets, naturally I can't tell you." Xiao He cheerfully changed the subject, "What video are we shooting this time?"
Liu Rulan glanced at Xiao Chen again but didn't press further.
Xiao Chen had been with her for several years and had good judgment. If there was really something important, he would definitely tell her.
Since he didn't say anything, there was no need to dig into every single matter.
"This time we'll shoot something daily." Liu Rulan curled her lips, revealing a "gentle" smile.
Xiao He suddenly had a bad premonition: "So what are we shooting?"
"Ahem, Xiao Chen—"
Liu Rulan cleared her throat and began calling Xiao Chen.
"Coming! Ta-da—" Xiao Chen pulled out a very familiar cup from the insulated box nearby, "Brother Xiao, Sister Liu had me specially bring this back from Beijing!"
Xiao He looked at the familiar fermented mung bean juice, feeling that strange smell lingering around his nose again. His already somewhat aching head hurt even more.
"Ah, I've really had enough. Why didn't you film a video when you pranked me that day?"
At least finish pranking me all at once! That way he wouldn't have to suffer twice.
Liu Rulan spread her hands matter-of-factly: "No choice, if Xiao Chen and I had taken out our phones to film in advance, you would definitely have been on guard. So only that time could we truly prank you, and this time is just for shooting a video, just acting."
Xiao He: "...Great, so I got successfully pranked by you twice."
Once for private, once for public—who said happiness can't be recorded in time? Hilarious, pranks can be recorded too.
However, Xiao He's resistance was useless. Liu Rulan had already shoved the script into his arms.
Xiao He: ...
"Wait, hold on, this thing actually needs a script?"
While roasting, Xiao He opened the script and looked at it, then his expression became complicated.
To be fair, this script was actually very complete, so complete that he didn't need to do any additional improvisation, just purely act as an actor and finish the performance.
—But the problem is, this is a prank! It's a practical joke done secretly by one party when the other party is unaware! Isn't this supposed to show the other person's on-the-spot performance and improvisation?
And you're telling me even this thing can be performed line by line?
Xiao He questioned his life.
Then what about those low-fat prank videos he usually loves to watch? Does that mean he has a low threshold for laughter?
Liu Rulan crossed her arms and, seeing Xiao He's expression of questioning life, comforted him: "It's okay, apart from these lines, it's basically all up to your performance."
Xiao He humbly asked for advice: "Uh... what's the difference?"
"The difference is, you can decide how exaggerated your expressions should be, or when to spit the stuff out." Liu Rulan answered very sincerely, "If it were other professional short video teams, they might need to do multiple NG takes to make you produce the most natural and appropriate expressions and actions."
Xiao He: ...
Wow, what great freedom of performance, this is really free.