Corpse

"You're overthinking it again."

At 7:05 in the morning, Chen Feng woke up again.

Unable to find any new light orbs, he felt somewhat helpless.

He then got up and pulled open the curtains.

Sunlight streamed in, and blue skies and white clouds completely different from those of the Dream World appeared before his eyes.

Tall buildings rose one after another, while the sounds of the fruit shop downstairs opening for business rang out in succession.

Coming back to his senses, Chen Feng quickly summoned his status panel.

Name: Chen Feng

Age: 22

Strength: 9.2

Agility: 8.8

Constitution: 8.9

Willpower: 9.4

Skills: Sanshou (Proficient, 38%), Judo (Beginner, 41%)

Talent: Perception lv1 (11/100)

After looking over the panel information, he roughly sorted out the logic behind everything.

"Martial arts skills can be improved through personal practice or Limit Breaking Light Orbs."

"As for talents, they can only grow through specific Special Methods."

He thought of what he had gained after killing two Faceless Ones in the Dream World last night.

The two Gray Light Orbs had strengthened his Perception Talent to a certain extent.

Yet no matter how he used his Perception Talent in daily life, the number after lv1 never changed in the slightest. Unlike Sanshou and Judo, it could not slowly improve.

"This is only lv1. What if it reaches lv2 in the future?"

"Then the effects would surely be more than doubled."

His eyes flickered as Chen Feng placed great importance on his Perception Talent.

After all, this was a special method unlike Sanshou or Judo.

He even suspected that this was actually a kind of Supernatural Ability, one he had yet to truly develop.

"Take it slowly."

"At least I've figured out how talents grow now."

"The Dream World may still hold many secrets. As long as I keep exploring, one day I'll make it even stronger."

With that thought, Chen Feng clarified his plans for the future.

Bzzzz!

His phone suddenly vibrated, signaling an incoming message.

Setting his thoughts aside, he tapped it open.

Chen Yun: Xiaofeng, I told my advisor about your job search last time.

But he's a little worried and wants to meet you. He hopes we can have dinner together this weekend. Would that be convenient?

After reading the message, Chen Feng thought for a moment.

Chen Yun's advisor was a decent man. When the original Chen Feng's parents had died, the man had even come to help handle the funeral arrangements and settle the disputes left behind by the previous generation.

Over the past two years, he had occasionally invited the original siblings out for meals. Though he lectured them in the tone of an elder, he had indeed helped them quite a lot in private.

"Alright."

Nodding, Chen Feng did not want to make things difficult for him either.

In any case, he had one rotating day off each week at the supermarket. Having a meal would be fine.

Chen Yun: How about Saturday night, then? Hotpot—you love it the most. Smile.jpg.

"Alright."

After typing a few simple replies, Chen Feng set the dinner for three days later, at a place near the research institute.

With nothing else to do afterward, he recalled what had happened last night.

After changing clothes, he left the house.

A few minutes later, Chen Feng returned to the vicinity of that run-down alleyway.

"I heard someone died?"

"Yeah, it was awful. Even his organs were gone."

"Damn, that scary? Whose family was it?"

"That drunkard from Liu Ping's family. He probably got wasted again and only came home in the middle of the night. Well, karma got him."

Unlike the darkness and emptiness of last night, the street was now packed with people and filled with chatter.

Two long yellow cordons sealed off the entrances to the alleyway. Two blue-and-white Security Bureau vehicles were parked nearby, while seven or eight peacekeepers maintained order as they came and went.

"Hm?"

Somewhat surprised, Chen Feng did not expect such a huge commotion around the alleyway.

He quickened his pace and vaguely caught some of the discussions.

"His organs are gone?"

Catching that keyword, he suddenly remembered the chewing sounds he had heard while passing the alleyway last night.

Eating people?

A chill ran through his heart, and Chen Feng instinctively wanted to squeeze into the crowd to look inside.

"Who the hell—"

Someone was displeased at being shoved aside and started to curse.

But when he turned around, he saw a sturdy young man standing at 1.8 meters tall, his gaze calm.

The rest of his words caught in his throat. As their eyes met, he quickly flashed a foolish grin and stepped aside.

"Estimated time of death: around midnight last night."

"The deceased was male, forty-nine years old, name—"

Inside the alleyway, the concrete ground was uneven and pitted, stretching for more than ten meters.

On either side stood walls and two old buildings made of cement and red brick.

The partially concealed corpse lay half-reclined against the wall. Several peacekeepers standing nearby had pale faces and looked nauseated.

The veterans from the Security Bureau did not blame them, because even they were frowning.

Looking Along the Flow, the drunk man's corpse had been split into two from the waist, as if torn apart by tremendous force.

Blood had stained his clothes red around the abdomen, while only a few scraps of organs remained inside.

Blood trailed all the way from the other end of the alleyway to this spot. It looked like he had been dragged across the ground.

"Team Leader Xiang, what do you think?" someone asked.

"These injuries don't look like the work of an ordinary person." Xiang Jianjun shook his head and frowned as he examined the scene for quite a while.

"Either a Martial Artist at Professional Grade or above, or a Modified Human."

"Or else..."

He did not finish, but the people beside him understood what he meant.

Their expressions changed slightly, and the atmosphere at the scene became increasingly grave.

"How's the surveillance check going?" Xiang Jianjun ended the topic and looked up at the others.

"Team Leader Xiang, the situation is a little complicated."

"This is an old residential area. The infrastructure is poor, and there are very few surveillance cameras."

A younger peacekeeper looked embarrassed. He hurriedly opened the files on his tablet and explained, "There's only one camera at the left exit of the alleyway, but the wiring may have aged. It hasn't been working properly these past few days."

"There's another one at the right exit, but it's too far away to capture the scene."

Xiang Jianjun frowned at that, but then the man suddenly said in delight, "Wait, Team Leader Xiang, we found something."

"At 12:08 last night, someone passed nearby. Maybe we can question him."

"Xiang Jianjun?"

At the alleyway entrance, Chen Feng was already standing at the very front of the crowd, pressed close to the cordon.

His tall, sturdy frame blocked the view of quite a few people. The young man who had given up his place earlier only dared lower his head and curse silently to himself.

"What a coincidence. He's at the scene again."

"Is the Security Bureau really that short-handed?"

With that thought, Chen Feng quickly looked over the other traces at the scene.

Unfortunately, he was too far away, and the Security Bureau had deliberately covered things up.

So he Could Not see any useful clues.

"Make way, please make way!"

Two peacekeepers then carried a stretcher out, with a corpse covered by a white sheet lying atop it.

A faint bloody smell flowed into his nostrils. Chen Feng stepped back and watched as the covered stretcher was loaded into a van.

A middle-aged woman got into the vehicle with it. There was no grief on her face, only numbness.

Chen Feng guessed that she was likely the deceased's family member.

Shaking his head inwardly, he withdrew his gaze.

Soon, Xiang Jianjun walked out as well.

Their eyes met, and surprise immediately appeared in the other man's gaze.

"You?"