[Alliance] Level Up

Ren Yi was about to ask another question when something suddenly seemed to brush lightly against his chest, and a swelling sensation filled his body, as though something were spilling out.

It was as if a breath of warm air had been blown into him.

Ren Yi froze. "...Brother, why do I feel a little strange?"

Ren Man was pouring water. Hearing that, he raised his head and looked at him.

Ren Yi studied his hands for a while but found nothing unusual. Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly opened the Ghost Net.

[Name: Ren Yi

Rank: E (progress: 0/100)

Rules and abilities: Not recorded

Family: Ren Man

Occupation: Cub

Status: Advancing, energy overflowing]

Ren Yi spotted the conspicuous E at once. He stared for three seconds. "Brother... I think I leveled up?"

Ren Man leaned over to look at the screen, and both brothers fell silent.

"That's right." Ren Man studied Ren Yi closely for a long time before slowly asking, "What did you eat?"

"I didn't eat anything, did I? I didn't do anything!" Ren Yi protested that his brother had really wronged him. He hadn't moved his mouth except to talk.

"Maybe you ate something without realizing it." Ren Man reached a conclusion. "Wait for the results."

True enough. The test results would be out any moment anyway, and then he would know what he had accidentally "eaten."

Ren Yi kept refreshing the results page. According to the official announcement, the results were supposed to be released at ten.

However, it was already 10:01, and the page still read, "Results are being generated. Please refresh and try again."

Ren Man frowned.

10:05.

10:10.

10:15.

The page was even more stable than Ren Yi's human form. Huh, was that comparison not quite right?

Ren Man took out his phone and tapped on it. Ren Yi saw the name "Doctor Lin" displayed prominently on the screen.

Ren Man switched to speakerphone. After a few rings, the call connected with a click, and Doctor Lin's unusually tense voice immediately came through.

"Um, Ren Man, calm down first and listen to me."

Ren Man looked at the phone, then at Ren Yi.

"I am calm."

Ren Yi detected a faint trace of bewilderment in his brother's steady voice.

"That's good, that's good. I know... there's been a bit of a problem with our Xiao Yi's test results, but don't get anxious."

"I'm not anxious." Ren Man seemed even more bewildered.

"Anyway, I'm at the clinic. The hospital is closed today, so hurry and bring him over here." Doctor Lin spoke rapidly, as though he hadn't heard a word Ren Man had said.

"...Oh," Ren Man answered.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely find a way to get him up to E-rank!" Doctor Lin vowed loudly over the phone.

Ren Yi could hardly listen anymore. He spoke toward the phone. "Doctor Lin, I'm already..."

But by then, a busy signal was already beeping from the phone. "...E-rank."

The call had ended completely, leaving the brothers staring at each other.

"Did something really serious happen on Doctor Lin's end?" Ren Yi looked up at Ren Man in confusion.

"He means something really serious happened to you."

Ren Man summed it up, looking Ren Yi up and down until he felt a little creeped out.

"Let's go take a look." Ren Man quickly looked away and stood up, motioning for Ren Yi to get ready to leave. He also looked a little bewildered. "At the very least, we need to figure out what your 'food' is."

The brothers soon headed out and got back on the electric scooter. Twenty minutes later, they arrived outside Doctor Lin's clinic.

The clinic's glass door was half-closed, and there was no one inside. After knocking and getting no answer, Ren Man pushed the door open and walked in with practiced ease.

The brothers searched three whole rooms before finding a helpless-looking Doctor Lin amid a pile of bottles and jars. When he saw Ren Man, the bewilderment on his face gradually gave way to a look of utter despair.

He glanced at Ren Man, then looked away as if pricked by a needle, focusing on Ren Yi. "Xiao Yi..." Doctor Lin began with a mournful face. "I've let you down."

"Doctor Lin," Ren Yi said, somewhat speechless. "You're exaggerating... I'm already E-rank."

"Huh...?" Doctor Lin froze for a few seconds and looked Ren Yi up and down. Then he sprang to his feet. "Wait, you really are. How did you do it? That's impossible!"

"I was just waiting for my test results, and then I leveled up out of nowhere," Ren Yi said.

Even now, he felt a little speechless talking about the fantastical way he'd leveled up. How was this any different from "leveling up while lying down"?

"Impossible!" Doctor Lin suddenly shouted. "The Alliance can't possibly have your energy crystal!"

Just then, Ren Man, who had been silent at the side, spoke calmly. "What is Xiao Yi's food?"

Doctor Lin jolted. He pondered for a moment, then said to Ren Yi, "Xiao Yi, step outside for a bit. I need to talk to your brother."

The corner of Ren Yi's mouth twitched. "Doctor Lin, what's with that look? You're acting like I have a terminal illness and you need to speak to my family in private."

Just then, Ren Yi felt the temperature around him drop a little.

"...I'm really going to hit you." Ren Man's voice was faint.

Ren Yi saw Doctor Lin shudder, as if he had recalled some very unpleasant memory. "All right, all right, I'll tell you. Xiao Yi, you know what we anomalies eat, right?"

"Energy born from following certain rules?" Ren Yi answered.

"Right. Our strength as anomalies is built on following our own rules. There are a few broad categories." Doctor Lin nodded. He seemed to have gotten into the mood to talk, and immediately launched into a lengthy explanation.

"The first type, and the most numerous, are rule-triggered urban legends."

"To give you a few simple examples, some anomalies have a behavioral pattern of 'anyone who looks directly into its eyes will have their throat slit.' For some, it's 'the unfaithful shall have their hearts torn out and die.' For others, it's 'powerful people will be struck by lightning.'"

Whoa, what snuck in there? A lightning tribulation?

"Their defining feature is that they can only use their rule-based abilities on people who trigger their rules."

"For anomalies of this type, triggering their rules is feeding. Every time they successfully carry out a rule, it counts as one meal."

"The gap between the weakest and strongest of these anomalies is enormous. The weak ones are easy to deal with, while the strong ones are completely unreasonable."

Ren Yi listened with such interest that he failed to notice the trace of resentment in Doctor Lin's voice.

"We call the second type the ammunition type. Simply put, each time they fulfill a rule, they gain one round of 'ammunition' for using their ability."

"They don't have to use the ability immediately, and they can choose their targets freely. They aren't limited to using it on the individual who triggered the rule."

"Let me give you a couple of powerful examples: 'Every time someone tells it a lie, it can accumulate one chance to rewrite the facts,' and 'for every secret it learns, it can erase one object, living thing, or even concept.'"

"It's worth noting that their ammunition capacity is limited."

"The 'food' of anomalies in this category is essentially their ammunition. The two I just mentioned, for example, eat 'lies' and 'secrets.'"

"You can think of replenishing one round of ammunition as one meal."

"The abilities of anomalies like these are interesting, but they're actually not very efficient. They're generally responsible for dealing with worlds that have powerful individuals."

Doctor Lin offered his assessment casually.