300 Points

"Forget it, forget it. Let's get out of here first..."

Xiao Xiao and Ruan Ruan did not linger there. After making sure nothing had been overlooked in the incident, they quickly got on the motorcycle and left.

As for this Choking Nest, Ruan Ruan also shared her experience. As the secondary body of a Choking Nest, the corpses of those who died from suffocation usually had no ability to escape the Choking Nest.

Only the source of the Choking Nest—the Suffocation Puppet—possessed the ability to move.

Still, the fortunate thing about this incident was that the Suffocation Puppet did not seem to have any particularly strong desire to escape. It had not even resisted fiercely.

However, every Suffocation Puppet was somewhat different, so Ruan Ruan did not think too much of it.

But as she carried Xiao Xiao away from the warehouse, she looked back at the warehouse that was about to be burned into ruins and could not help sighing softly:

"The explosion was so massive that the people nearby must have been alarmed. The Guard Hall might even send people over to investigate."

"If we'd left any slower, we might have been caught."

"..."

"We're solving problems on behalf of this city's will, yet we still have to worry about being caught?"

Xiao Xiao emerged from his earlier gloomy mood. Hearing Ruan Ruan say that, he found it rather absurd.

"Of course. You just burned down a warehouse..."

Ruan Ruan said, "We're only outsiders, not privilege-holders. Our transaction with this city was completed during the process of carrying out the mission and receiving the points."

"If we're caught by the Guard Hall, that'll be a separate matter. We'll have to spend points to purchase a special exemption again."

"Of course, if we escape in time, then everything that happened here will have nothing to do with us..."

"Mister Ye will communicate with the city's will, create an alibi for us, and erase the traces of our arrival in certain minor details, eliminating unnecessary trouble."

"..."

"Mister Ye?"

Xiao Xiao thought of the man who had gotten the intelligence wrong, and could not help growing curious about him.

Even as a newcomer, he knew how important intelligence work was. He would have to remind that man to be more careful in the future...

"You'll meet him later."

Ruan Ruan sounded somewhat proud when she mentioned them. "He and Jiajia-jie are the strongest among us. They're also our heart and brain."

"So Yang Jia is that powerful too..."

Xiao Xiao thought to himself. Then he remembered that he did not know how many points he would earn from this mission, or whether they would be enough to repay Yang Jia's debt...

Speaking of which, he had been so generous to Yang Jia back in high school.

She probably would not be in a hurry to make him pay her back now, would she?

Just as the motorcycle slowly left the area illuminated by the flames under the cover of night, Xiao Xiao's phone chimed. He took it out and saw that a new email had arrived in his inbox.

Congratulations, the Suffocation Puppet cleanup mission has been completed. Settlement is now underway!

Points reward: 300 points

Reminder: Leave the scene immediately to avoid being apprehended by the Guard Hall

"How many points?"

Ruan Ruan asked without turning her head as she drove.

"300."

Xiao Xiao said, "That's quite a bit more than what was mentioned at the beginning."

"Looks like the danger level of the incident increased, so Mister Ye communicated with the city's will and helped us obtain more points..."

Ruan Ruan was happy too. She smiled and said, "Congratulations, Xiao-gege. You'll soon become a veteran."

"A veteran?"

Xiao Xiao thought for a moment, then realized something and hurriedly asked, "Since we're all outsiders and all have somewhat crazy... no, impressive abilities—"

"Do people like us also have some kind of level system?"

"..."

"Of course we do..."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "Our levels are quite obvious from our points..."

After listening to her detailed explanation, Xiao Xiao immediately understood.

What Yang Jia had said before was right. In this world, points were everything.

The levels among outsiders were even simpler than he had imagined, clear and straightforward.

Those with 1 to 100 points were newcomers.

Those with 100 to 1,000 points were veterans.

Those with 1,000 to 10,000 points were experts among outsiders.

As for those with 10,000 to 100,000 points, according to Ruan Ruan, they were powerhouses—super experts who already had a specific title:

Lords.

Those with more than 100,000 points still existed, but that represented an entirely new realm.

"Xiao-gege, you have to remember that every rank represents a genuine difference in strength, and very few people can cross ranks. When someone has more points, they're simply stronger."

"Basically, once veterans reach the 100-to-1,000-point range, they've already found a path suited to them. The farther they walk along that path, the harder it is to estimate their strength."

"I've been awake for so long, and I only know that the Brander and Collector paths might allow someone to fight across ranks..."

"Huh?"

"..."

It was only when she casually mentioned the Collector path that Ruan Ruan suddenly remembered something. Curiously, she asked, "What about those three dogs of yours?"

"I saw you charge in with three dogs just now. What were they about?"

"..."

"This..."

Xiao Xiao had actually thought about how to explain the three dogs long ago. Since Ruan Ruan had seen them, there was no way he could hide it.

But he had deliberately avoided bringing them up, hoping that Ruan Ruan's little head would forget about them. He had not expected her to remember after they had already left.

When he had left the warehouse just now and gone to find Ruan Ruan's motorcycle parked by the roadside, those three loyal, adorable hounds had seemingly received some sort of summons and had not followed him.

Xiao Xiao vaguely saw faint tentacles sweeping lightly through the night in the marshland, and understood that they probably had some special way of leaving.

Just like how they had appeared out of nowhere.

The earlier introduction did say that they would appear on the battlefield in a reasonable manner, didn't it?

Heh!

He had not said anything else, merely waved at the three hounds and planned to thank them after returning.

Now that Ruan Ruan had brought them up, Xiao Xiao could not help feeling awkward. After struggling for a long while, he could only admit frankly, "I bought them. They seemed pretty useful..."

"You bought them?"

Ruan Ruan's voice rose considerably. She even wanted to turn around and look at him.

Xiao Xiao hurriedly turned her head back, making her focus on the road. Embarrassed, he said, "Was this a little..."

He had just been about to criticize himself for acting too rashly when Ruan Ruan suddenly laughed. "Xiao-gege, your tastes really are different from everyone else's..."

"When outsiders first obtain a wealthy number of points, they usually think about buying something. I've seen people buy their relatives so they could escape their nightmares forever. I've seen people painstakingly save points to buy some minor celebrity from television and fulfill their desires. I've also seen people buy many, many people and make them work as slaves to earn money for them... But you're the first person I've seen who chose to buy three dogs?"

"..."

"Huh?"

Xiao Xiao was utterly bewildered. There was actually such an operation?

He suddenly felt much more at ease. So he was not the least reliable type after all?

Buying relatives or slaves was understandable, though it did feel a little strange.

What could someone do by buying a celebrity?

He thought about it for a moment before suddenly realizing it. Oh, celebrities make a lot of money...

Hearing Ruan Ruan say this, his earlier worries finally vanished. He smiled and said, "So you won't blame me for buying them?"

"Why would we blame you? The points are yours. Even though I'm an Enhancement designer, I'm only responsible for giving you advice."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "Besides, although this sort of behavior does look somewhat wasteful, it's still human nature. We generally turn a blind eye to it."

"Of course, your tastes really are..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao felt awkward again and hurriedly changed the subject. "From what you've said, there are quite a few outsiders like us in this city, and they've even formed an organization?"

"Of course."

Ruan Ruan immediately replied, "We're a very powerful organization."

This suddenly made Xiao Xiao ask with some concern, "Then how was my performance this time?"

"..."

Ruan Ruan was actually stumped by the question. Only after a long while did she sigh and say, "Good. Very good."

Just a little too good...

Xiao Xiao did not know what she was thinking. He only felt relieved. "To have earned the veterans' recognition, it looks like I'm one step closer to truly joining the organization."

Being in a foreign land, having an organization of one's own people, would provide a great sense of security.

He only hoped that no one would bully him because he was a newcomer...

Half an hour later, Ruan Ruan took Xiao Xiao home. Only after driving away from that neighborhood did she call Yang Jia. "Jiajia-jie, the mission is complete."

Yang Jia's voice sounded somewhat tired. "How did he perform?"

"It can no longer be described as merely good."

Ruan Ruan organized her thoughts before saying, "His performance was simply astonishing. The mission unexpectedly escalated. It was at least Class C."

"Oh?"

Yang Jia sounded surprised. "Then you solved the mission this time?"

"No, it had nothing to do with me."

Ruan Ruan denied it. "He completed the mission alone, earned 300 points, and even... wasn't injured."

"..."

Yang Jia suddenly fell silent, her breathing becoming somewhat hurried.

"Jiajia-jie, I understand now why you asked me to design an Enhancement path for him."

Ruan Ruan's voice turned serious. "I can guarantee that he showed no signs of having received Enhancement before. Aside from the Violence Factor, he doesn't have any Enhancement Elements either."

Yang Jia fell silent. "But you also said that he completed a 300-point Class C mission without even being injured..."

"This..."

After a while, Ruan Ruan replied with a somewhat bitter smile, "Perhaps strength really is an innate instinct?"

Begging for votes! There are still eleven months until the New Year. It wouldn't be too much to give me my red-envelope money in advance, would it?