CHAPTER 95: CHAPTER 95 "AFTERIMAGE

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

["Adult Human"

"Spiritual Energy Quantity: Trace Amount"

"Time Required for Absorption: Need to erase the object’s self-will first"]

Indeed, humans couldn’t be absorbed directly; he had to kill them first. Ren Suo continued to search the driver for any absorbable items and found quite a few: a wallet, underwear, keys...

Although the Jade Pendant was drained of Energy, it still provided information:

["Guanyin Jade Pendant worn for 36 years"

"Spiritual Energy Quantity: None"

"Enhance Evolve Chance: 20%"]

Enhancing the Evolve Chance must be what strengthened the Evolve options. Only 20%; it seems Ren Suo was quite lucky. The Spiritual Energy setting in this game was unexpectedly down-to-earth. Ren Suo had thought that only rare items like Cursed Antiquities or Historical Holy Relics could be absorbed for their Spiritual Energy... It seemed that the majority of things in the world were objects with Spiritual Energy; it was just a matter of how much, not whether they had any at all.

To Ren Suo’s surprise, the driver’s wallet contained a very old 100-yuan note, a version from ten years prior with four great men’s portraits on the front. It was a bit wrinkled, and the Spiritual Energy inside was both abundant and easy to absorb!

["100 RMB (issued in 1987)"

"Spiritual Energy Quantity: Trace Amount"

"Enhance Evolve Chance: 8%"

"Time Required for Absorption: 36 seconds"]

The human’s Spiritual Energy Quantity was a Trace Amount, and so was this banknote. The driver’s Spiritual Energy was nearly the same as this old RMB!

Ren Suo didn’t plan to take the money. If a Pangolin dared to use money to buy things, it would either be caught as game or sent to a scientific research institution. So, he absorbed the Spiritual Energy on the spot.

However, at that moment, the WEE-OO WEE-OO of an ambulance siren sounded on the highway as it quickly approached the overturned truck. Ren Suo looked around; there were no cameras in either direction of the road. It seemed a passing vehicle had reported the incident and then left. Fire trucks and police cars arrived after the ambulance. The paramedics were surprised to see the driver had crawled out on his own. They quickly lifted him into the ambulance, while the firefighters and police dealt with the truck and conducted a preliminary scene investigation.

Seeing his opportunity, Ren Suo controlled the Pangolin to sneak into the ambulance first. There were nurses inside, but a movable stretcher near the door (the medical staff had used it to carry the driver in) blocked their view, so they didn’t see the Pangolin crawl in. The Pangolin climbed all the way inside and squatted under a table, in a corner definitely out of anyone’s sight.

Ren Suo then fast-forwarded the time, selecting two hours. Two hours later, the Pangolin was still undiscovered inside the ambulance. However, the vehicle was still moving. So, Ren Suo fast-forwarded in ten-minute increments until the ambulance finally stopped. Several paramedics got out with the stretcher, and Ren Suo quickly had the Pangolin disembark.

This appeared to be a residential neighborhood. From the Pangolin’s low vantage point, it could only see nearby buildings and gardens. Ren Suo naturally had the Pangolin settle into the undergrowth of a garden.

The time was 16:44, with a few hours remaining before dark. Before then, I need to find a place for the Pangolin to stay. Ren Suo dared not let the Pangolin sleep just anywhere in the city. Not to mention its night vision is extremely poor. If someone discovered a Pangolin, it might end up in a cage halfway through a fast-forward...

Ren Suo controlled the Pangolin to leave the residential complex and soon discovered that a primary school and a middle school were nearby. The middle school would be deserted at night and might have a cafeteria. Where there’s a cafeteria, there are food supplies. It’s also nearly time for school to be dismissed, making it a decent place to head for. The only problem is, how can such a large Pangolin cross the road... This is going to be tricky...

However, Ren Suo remembered his Energy Slot was full. The Jade Pendant’s Energy had only been slightly used for the Evolve, and most of it remained. After absorbing the 100 RMB’s worth of Spiritual Energy, it was just enough for another Evolve.

Without a doubt, Evolving is faster in human society. Just a few hours without any combat allows for two Evolves. Of course, this might also be related to the Pangolin’s massive Potential—it’s so weak that it can Evolve with just a little absorbed Energy.

This time, two Gray Stripes Red Cards, "Armed" and "Claws and Teeth," appeared. Ren Suo had more or less guessed that gray stripes probably denoted common cards, and blue stripes rare cards.

However, the third card was a color Ren Suo had never seen before—a Yellow Stripe Red Card.

["Afterimage", Yellow Stripe Red Card. Effect: Active Skill, usable three times per day. User is forced into a state of Exhaustion after each use (all Abilities reduced by 25%, requires 60 minutes of rest to recover; stronger Recovery Ability shortens rest time). For 10 seconds, Move Ability increases by 30% (if Move remains below 522 after this increase, it is boosted to 522).

Tip: Increasing Defense Ability can reduce kinetic damage from impacts, or transform this Skill into an Attack Ability.]

An Active Skill!

This was Ren Suo’s first time seeing an Active Skill. After selecting "Afterimage," a skill bar appeared on the left side of the screen. He could use the controller’s directional buttons to select the Skill and press the activation button to launch it.

Ren Suo selected the "Afterimage" icon, which depicted a blue silhouette sprinting. He had the Pangolin duck into a roadside bush, check that the road was clear of vehicles, then activate "Afterimage" and dash towards the school entrance!

If it dies, I’ll just have wasted the few hours spent on this save file!

On the game screen, "Afterimage" lived up to its name. The Pangolin’s speed was truly like an afterimage, practically a blur as it darted across the road and slipped through the campus fence! By the time the Pangolin burrowed into the campus bushes, the Afterimage effect ended.

However, the Pangolin was now afflicted with an Exhaustion debuff and needed an hour to recover. Anyway, it’s just a matter of fast-forwarding.

After fast-forwarding one hour, the time was 17:50. The middle school had already dismissed its students, and the school gates were wide open, with backpack-carrying students streaming out.

Now’s not the time to explore... Ren Suo felt a bit annoyed. He was about to fast-forward another hour when he heard several students’ voices coming from the bushes.

"Come on over here, let’s have a chat."

"Heh heh, just looking at you pisses me off."

"What are you scared of? You think I’m gonna hurt you or somethin’?"

Three middle school boys surrounded a thin classmate, virtually dragging him behind the school building, their tones mimicking those of wannabe gangsters.

School bullying?

As mentioned before, Ren Suo had attended a top boarding school in his town for middle and high school. The academic atmosphere there was strict. Bullying wasn’t unheard of, but it was mostly limited to collective boycotts—ignoring, not acknowledging, or even mocking the targeted student. That was usually the extent of it. If it affected studies or became physical, the teachers would intervene. This kind of violent mugging, however, was a first for Ren Suo. He controlled the Pangolin to stealthily follow them.

Behind the school building was a track and field area. Between the building and the track was a restroom, likely intended for students during P.E. classes. Currently, some kids were playing basketball on the track, so the bullies took their victim into the girls’ restroom.

Since only boys were playing basketball after school, the girls’ restroom was the "safest" place for their misdeeds. Quite logical.

As the boys entered the girls’ restroom, the Pangolin quickly slipped into the space beneath the sinks to listen.

"Orphan Liang," a tall boy said, slapping the skinny boy’s face in a demeaning way. "We let you off last time. Where’s your money?"