CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 267 ENDING, PANEL UPGRADE_2

Safety first.

Monsef couldn’t afford to be sentimental about his carefully nurtured henchmen. He just hoped that before the enemy reached them, he could hide in the safe room and survive the night.

It had to be said, this guy was cowardly to a certain degree.

Under the dim, ambiguous lighting of the large platform, even Dean hadn’t noticed Monsef mingling in the crowd; his attention was drawn to those who obviously held status and identity there.

None of them seem to be him...

Dean frowned slightly. These people, all wearing the same masks and with nearly identical skin tones, were not easy to distinguish in such a short time.

Forget it!

The innocent women were all being treated like merchandise, displayed on stands and not mixed in with that group.

Since that’s the case, I’ll just kill them all.

With this thought, Dean put down the automatic rifle. He took out a large cluster of grenades from his waist, calculated the coverage area, and then, taking advantage of the chaos below, pulled the pins one by one and accurately tossed them into the midst of the guests.

Five or six seconds later, the dozen or so grenades in Dean’s hands were all gone.

The next moment, the first high-explosive grenade he had thrown detonated with a roar.

Countless shards of shrapnel swept out, instantly riddling the gathered crowd and turning them into a bloody mess, while those slightly further away were stunned and disoriented by the blast.

Only a few quick-reacting guests managed to hit the deck in time.

But the remaining high-explosive grenades had a surprise in store for them...

Monsef was lucky. By the time the first large grenade exploded, he had already reached the edge of the crowd.

The lighting was dim here. If he could just break through the passage, he could use a hidden mechanism to take an elevator straight down to the underground safe room.

Because Dean had primarily focused on coverage when throwing the grenades, when the ones near Monsef detonated, the massive amount of scattered shrapnel was largely blocked by the human shields around him. Monsef seized the opportunity, and the blast wave propelled him toward the edge of the secret passage.

He fought through the pain and dizziness, shakily reaching out his hand, hoping to escape this inferno under the cover of the blood mist and dust from the explosions.

But the merciless enemy gave him no such chance.

After the chain explosions began, Dean didn’t skimp on bullets. He lifted his automatic rifle and sprayed the area, ensuring no lucky survivors remained and preventing a situation where he’d have to brave the reacting security personnel to finish anyone off.

Amidst the hail of bullets, just as Monsef’s hand reached the mechanism’s lever, a bullet pierced through the dust and struck him squarely in the throat.

He touched his throat in disbelief as his consciousness faded. Silently, he collapsed into a heap of mangled corpses, becoming one of them...

...

The moment Monsef died, a piece of information flashed through Dean’s mind:

Mission One: Survive. Complete!

Mission Two: Identify the King. King Monsef is dead. Complete!

Instance complete!

Everything froze, then dissolved into countless specks of light, like fleeting insights flashing through data streams. These all converged into Dean’s mind, evolving into a series of scenes:

Catherine’s special forces unit handled the cleanup, eliminating the remaining security within the Royal Palace and rescuing the pitiful individuals who had been imprisoned and "conditioned." However, for some unknown reason, Catherine herself sat in a dimly lit office, her expression as cold as ice...

His employer, Sofia, was brought before Catherine while trying to snatch food from stray dogs. There, she saw her sister, Eliza, who was on her last breath...

A new "Brother Wei" product suddenly appeared, becoming the new favorite of countless men worldwide...

...

Scene after scene appeared and then vanished.

Finally, they resolved into a line of flickering text: Instance evolution complete. Influence +2. Initial Subspace area: 2 cubic meters. Binding in progress...

「Drifting in the void.」

Dean felt as if something new had been added to his consciousness.

It was a completely white space, large enough to fully accommodate his sturdy, 1.9-meter-tall physical body. This space seemed to have become a part of him, as easily controlled as his own fingers.

I’ve struck it rich!

Such a large space! Never mind a few pistols and grenades; I could even fit several rocket launchers in here!

Dean wasn’t sure what emotion he was feeling. But if it were to manifest physically, it would undoubtedly be an uncontrollable, uproarious laugh!

Just when Dean thought everything was over and his consciousness was about to return to his body, new text continued to appear in his mind:

Detective Panel, Second Phase Unlocked!

Please choose the upgrade direction for the Second Phase:

1. Super Brain Detective (You will gain some things while losing others, such as your sense of commonality with your own kind...)

2. Violent Detective (You will lose some things while gaining others, such as a beast-like physique and the screams of the opposite sex...)

Dean looked at the two options in his mind, feeling conflicted.

Obviously, further upgrades to the Second Phase panel would enhance either his intelligence or his physical attributes.

From a purely rational standpoint, intelligence far surpassing his peers was undoubtedly more suitable for this technological age.

But would living like that be truly meaningful? Being one step ahead makes you a genius, but being too far ahead turns you into an outcast.

Dean consulted his heart. Images of his family and the women in this life flashed through his mind, and he unhesitatingly chose the second option: Violent Detective!

My 15 points in Spirit are already sufficient. I don’t want to live this life like Little Mike, disconnected from everything, becoming an outcast among people, finding it incredibly difficult to experience the joys of life again... Things are pretty good as they are!

After Dean made his choice, the panel continued to change:

Locked Upgrade Direction: Violent Detective!

**Violent Detective Panel**

Character: Dean

Level: 20 (2600/3800)

Spirit: 15 (Locked)

Strength: 15

Speed: 15

Endurance: 15

Skills: Pistol Proficiency, Ancient Muay Thai Mastery, Kaz School - Mind Reading Technique L3, Trace Tracking L3, Beast Taming L1, etc. (expand).

Trait: Beast Body!

Subspace: 2 cubic meters

Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points: 2

Completed Cases: Details omitted.

The panel’s name had changed to the Violent Detective Panel!

The Spirit attribute was locked. It seems I won’t be able to enhance it in the future.

But it now included new entries: Trait and Subspace.

Dean focused his attention on these two new additions, and details about them immediately surfaced in his mind:

Trait: Beast Body (Your physique has reached the current structural limits of humanity. Further upgrades will delve into deeper genetic optimization and its outward manifestations.)

As I understand it, this means that with future upgrades, I’ll basically become a humanoid beast. Still, it’s ultimately a body of flesh and blood. No matter how much it’s enhanced, there’s a ceiling. I probably won’t be able to withstand bullets with my bare body or enact some ridiculous scene like Captain America versus a gang of blood-soaked mobsters.

So, while Dean was somewhat anticipatory of future changes, he wasn’t overly excited.

He then looked at the description for Subspace.

Subspace: A pocket dimension devoid of air where time does not flow. Everything within it remains in a state of stasis. Explore it well, and you may find some unexpected pleasant surprises.

"Everything remains in stasis?"

Some outrageous applications immediately sprang into Dean’s mind: Store bullets that have just been fired into the Subspace, then, when needed, aim and release them at a target. I wouldn’t even need to draw a gun... If I can really use it like that, heh heh...

As his thoughts ran wild, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Dean’s consciousness began to fade, gradually returning to his body...