Nightingale

Although the advanced skills became more powerful, their levels were reset to Lv. 1, requiring skill experience to level up again.

I glanced at my own skill experience. While I hadn't been idle these past few days and had been busy, I had only accumulated 110,000 skill experience. This was only enough to upgrade two skills to Lv. 10.

After some thought, I chose Advanced Shooting and Advanced Swordsmanship.

Advanced Shooting would steadily increase my firearm damage, while Advanced Swordsmanship was a signature skill for Sword Specialization. The higher the skill level, the more damage dealt with a longsword. Although not stated in the description, this was a widely known hidden setting.

Thus, after injecting a large amount of skill experience, the two skills flashed brightly!

Shortly after, Advanced Swordsmanship and Advanced Shooting, two Tier 2 skills, both reached Lv. 10, granting me an additional 6 points in Strength and Agility respectively. The great thing about advanced skills was that as long as you had enough skill experience, you could level them up all the way to Tier 9 Lv. 10, for a total of 54 attribute points, which was incredibly overpowered!

Unfortunately, the vast majority of players couldn't possess a god-tier passive like Practice Makes Perfect. Therefore, skill experience could only be gained through repeated use. Most skills couldn't be leveled to Lv. 10. Even in the late game, most people would only choose to max out their class's signature skills. Auxiliary skills like shooting, throwing, programming, and maintenance would be considered excellent if they could reach Tier 3 Lv. 10.

Leaving the quest map.

"Swish~~~"

The light flashed before my eyes, and I reappeared in the night of Stream City. However, the entrance had changed; I was now in Stream City's central park, amidst a wooded area.

About a meter in front of me, a young couple was hiding in the darkness, nestled on a stone bench, whispering sweet nothings.

"Will you always love me?"

"Yes, I will only love you in this lifetime. No other woman will ever enter my heart again."

"Swear it!"

"I swear on my honor, I will only love you for the rest of my life."

"Mmm... Your hand..."

The air around them began to heat up.

I felt incredibly awkward. If I didn't do something now, they were probably going to do something!

"Cough cough..."

"Ah?!"

The couple was startled.

"Sorry, I just needed to relieve myself. I didn't mean to disturb you. Please continue, please continue..."

As I spoke, I made a gesture of pulling up my pants and "swished" out of the woods, leaving behind a startled couple who frantically looked around on the ground for my... droppings.

The central park wasn't too far from my residence, but I had to pass through the Old City District.

I picked up my phone, remembering Lu Xiaobei's message.

"Are you still there?"

"What time is it?"

She replied instantly, sending an angry emoji: "Good thing I can eat, I've been eating until now. I'll send you my location, come over. If you're lucky, you might still catch something to eat."

"Alright."

I was indeed a bit hungry.

The location Lu Xiaobei sent wasn't too far. I quickly reached it after passing through the central area of the Old City District. It was a night market not too far from Feiyang Internet Cafe. It was quite rare for a girl like her to be out wandering this late at night; wasn't she afraid of something happening?

My stomach rumbled like thunder.

I sprinted all the way, passing through countless dark alleyways.

I glanced at my phone. I was only a hundred meters away from the night market where Lu Xiaobei was. I could even see the light at the end of the dark alley. I had to eat a lot later; I'd need at least fifty skewers of lamb skewers to start, right?

"Buzz--"

Just as I was lost in thoughts of lamb skewers and grilled dried fish, the air around me suddenly solidified. Immediately after, a strange feeling enveloped my heart. The next second, I could no longer see anything around me, hear any sounds, or smell any scents, as if all five senses had disappeared at that moment!

"Sizzle!"

A sharp pain suddenly erupted from my chest and abdomen as a black spike pierced through my chest. Just as I tried to struggle, white arms grabbed me from all directions, holding my limbs, skin, and hair tightly, rendering me unable to move!

Not good!

I had never experienced this feeling before. An intense sense of oppression washed over my entire being.

[Notice: You are controlled by the skill [Psionic Cage] of [Nightingale] (Blue BOSS)!]

[Mental power comparison: [Nightingale] (Blue BOSS): 125 points, You: 68 points. Your mental power exceeds the opponent's by 50%, granting a chance for judgment. The control duration is: 4.5 seconds!]

Not only was I controlled, but the opponent also unleashed many spikes, continuously piercing my body, causing my health bar to drop rapidly!

"833!"

"799!"

"812!"

"903!"

In almost the blink of an eye, my health bar dropped to about 50%!

"Rustle rustle..."

In the alley, a woman with a graceful and slender figure, clad in a gray robe and high heels, slowly emerged from the darkness. Her face was hidden beneath her hood, but under the dim distant lights, a cold and beautiful visage was faintly visible, her lips painted a deep red, her eyes filled with a thick, mocking smile.

"033, did you really think you could escape the clutches of the Undercurrent?"

Her eyes flashed with ferocity, and she sneered, "You and 066, you traitors, not only betrayed the Undercurrent but also killed Instructor Lakuri. Hmph, Lakuri might have been a fool, but killing a superior officer is an unforgivable crime!"

She tilted her head slightly, a look of disdain on her face. "I am Nightingale, a Psionic Officer from the Undercurrent's Special Operations team. I received a secret order from General Vega to infiltrate Stream City. Don't think you can get away with it just because you've fled to this neutral city. It will be effortless for us in the Undercurrent to kill you two!"

The familiar ding-dong sound of a notification reached my ears.

[〖Psionic Cage〗 control time ended, you have regained your freedom!]

This setup...

I frowned, realizing the importance of mental strength at this moment. If my Essence Furnace, skill levels, and equipment weren't so powerful, my mental strength wouldn't even be half of hers. In that case, I probably wouldn't have been able to fight back at all and would have been controlled to death by this Undercurrent Psionic Officer named Nightingale!

"Why aren't you speaking? Are you dead already?"

Nightingale slowly approached, her lips curled into a mocking smile. "Don't die too quickly, sister hasn't had enough fun yet."

However, the next second, when Nightingale saw the look in my eyes, she was instantly thrown into a panic!

BOOM!

Three points of Essence exploded, transforming into the light of Explosive Charge, instantly piercing Nightingale's body!

Turning, Vanguard Bee Sting flashed with a chilling light, and I unleashed a flurry of attacks: normal attack + Dragon Blade + normal attack + Ground Spike Slash + normal attack, a five-hit combo that landed on Nightingale. Combined with the damage from Explosive Charge, it instantly dealt six rapid hits!

"612!"

"404!"

"1624!"

"401!"

"2412!"

"403!"

My luck was quite good. Two of my main damage skills, Dragon Blade and Ground Spike Slash, both critically hit, dealing over 5800 damage to Nightingale in an instant. Although she was also a Level 20 Blue BOSS, her health bar wasn't as tough as the Armored Ground Worm's. Psionicists are inherently magic-users with weak life growth, having only 10,000 Blood Essence. Thus, she was instantly reduced to 40% health!

"You bastard!"

Nightingale let out a sharp roar. As she retreated, her hands danced, and Mind Blast and Psionic Burn flew out, landing on me. My health bar began to steadily decrease!

Without any hesitation, because hesitation meant death, I used Step Slash, continuously maintaining my health and striking Nightingale with each sword swing. I maintained close-quarters combat, not giving her a chance to concentrate and unleash stronger psionic skills!

As a result, normal attack damage numbers flew around, and Nightingale's health bar was quickly depleted.

"033, you cunning scoundrel!"

Nightingale's eyes were filled with venom. Suddenly, she raised both hands, and a heavy mental pressure descended from the sky, enveloping my entire body!

[Notice: 〖Nightingale〗 (Blue BOSS) has used skill 〖Mind Control〗 on you. Due to the difference in mental strength, the success rate for this skill is determined to be: 19%!]

Mind Control, a Tier 2 Psionicist skill!

"MISS!"

In an instant, a blood-red MISS floated up from above my head!

"How is this possible?!"

Nightingale was greatly alarmed. She quickly raised her hand and cast Psionic Burn on me again. Blue psionic energy, like alcohol, seeped into my body and began to burn me, dealing continuous damage. My health bar finally couldn't hold on and dropped below 30%!

[Notice: You have entered the 〖Lightly Injured〗 state. All attributes and attack power are reduced by 35%, and all skill effects are reduced by 50%. You have entered a locked-health state!]

This was the first time I had been injured, and it felt terrible. My mind was hazy, and waves of pain emanated from all over my body. This was only light injury; if it were severe, wouldn't I just pass out?

However, Nightingale was also left with only a sliver of health.

Enduring the intense pain, my Level 10 Sword Mastery advanced, appearing extremely flashy. After a few "swish swish swish" flashes of cold light, I sliced open Nightingale's abdomen, thighs, and throat, depleting her last bit of Blood Essence.

[Combat Prompt: You have killed 〖Nightingale〗 (Blue BOSS), gaining 200,000 character experience points and 100,000 experience points from Essence Furnace extraction!]

[Congratulations! You have killed 〖Nightingale〗 (Blue BOSS) and obtained item: 〖BOSS Ability Crystal〗 ×1!]

Before my eyes, Nightingale's body convulsed. Her skin rapidly turned purple, and the psionic energy within her burned uncontrollably, incinerating her into a pile of ash in moments, cremating herself on the spot!

Perhaps it was due to mission failure, fearing any traces would be left behind, that she chose this method.

A gust of wind blew, leaving nothing behind, only a few bloodstains on the ground.

With a "thump," I collapsed heavily at the base of the alley wall, bloodstains still trickling down my torn clothes.

"Beep~~ Beep~~ Beep~~~"

My phone kept buzzing.

On WeChat, Lu Xiaobei had sent many messages.

"Ding Han, where are you?"

"Why isn't your location moving?"

"Did something happen?"

"Don't move, I'm coming to find you right now."

Probably due to being injured and losing blood, I felt an unbearable chill all over my body. I sat there, completely weak. The early winter wind blowing through the alley felt like it was freezing me solid.

Just then, a figure approached under the dim light. She had long hair, wore a woolen coat, and stepped in winter boots. She was incredibly beautiful and looked down at me with an anxious expression.