Reinforcement Design

"It seems that our purchases from ordinary people do not instantly distort their will."

Back home, as he started cooking, Xiao Xiao thought to himself, "Of course, it's also possible that the Butcher is different from other ordinary 'people.' Unlike those three vicious dogs or the Old Record Player, whose behavior instantly distorted something, he seemed unchanged; it was just that some underlying logic successfully structured him, making him mine..."

"...arms."

"Unfortunately, this weapon is now just for an ordinary person."

"..."

Slowly analyzing all of this, Xiao Xiao clumsily prepared two dishes and a soup, packing them into a lunchbox.

He knew his mother loved dumplings, but this skill was a bit difficult.

Besides, I'm really not comfortable letting the Butcher chop me into minced meat right now...

I'll learn it slowly later.

I tasted it myself and it was alright, so I packed it into my lunchbox, took a taxi to the hospital, and when I arrived at the ward, I saw that my mother had already woken up. The nurse was giving her an injection while chatting with her, and the two of them seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation.

"Auntie, was that your child who came yesterday? He's so handsome..."

"Oh my, people have always praised him like that since he was little..."

"Yes, he's good-looking and filial. He was so worried about you yesterday..."

"That's right, my Xiao Xiao has always been very sensible..."

"He's not young anymore, is he?"

"But look, he's already twenty-five or twenty-six by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, he just didn't go out much before, so his face looks young..."

"Um, Auntie, do you think his current job is considered manual labor?"

"Of course, his hands have been blistered so many times. I've never really been in favor of him doing this kind of physically demanding work..."

"That's right, it's not only physically demanding, but also high-risk, so you need to find someone who can take care of you..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao paused briefly at the door, sensing that their conversation had reached a certain point of contention, yet it also seemed quite consistent.

As soon as the nurse entered the ward, she blushed and slipped out. The mother was also very happy, but perhaps because they were usually too distant from each other, the two seemed a little awkward saying anything. Xiao Xiao simply brought out the food he had made and told her to eat it while it was hot. The mother was overjoyed and immediately praised it highly. However, when she saw that it wasn't dumplings, she seemed a little disappointed...

But Xiao Xiao really had no choice; making dumplings was just too difficult.

"Hospitalization here must be expensive, right? I'll just rest and recover; I don't need to stay too long. I still have to go to work..."

My mother didn't mention what happened yesterday at all, only saying it was an old problem.

She probably thought she didn't know and didn't want to worry, but little did she know that Aunt Zhang had already told her.

Xiao Xiao didn't mention it, but just sat on the edge of the bed, thinking about what to talk about.

Suddenly remembering the Butcher, he smiled and said, "The owner of that butcher shop at the end of the alley is quite nice."

"When he saw that I was his neighbor and it was my first time buying meat from him, he actually wanted to give it to me for free..."

"..."

"Oh, you're talking about that Boss Zhou, right?"

The mother's attention was diverted, especially by the atmosphere of Xiao Xiao sitting on the bed chatting with her about everyday things, which she particularly liked. So she kept talking, "He's a really nice person, he takes good care of all of us neighbors. You didn't go out much before, so you didn't know, but he moved here three years ago. Oh dear, it's a bit unfortunate, he used to have a four or five-year-old daughter..."

"So cute, like a snow doll, always smiling at everyone, it's just a pity..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao sensed the sympathy in his mother's words and his heart suddenly stirred slightly. "What happened later?"

Mom sighed softly and shook her head, saying, "I haven't seen her since..."

"I've heard from others that something happened, and it was quite... quite tragic..."

"..."

Seeing that his mother's mood was affected, and that she herself did not know the inside story and was only talking about hearsay, Xiao Xiao also started the conversation. In fact, after learning about these things, Xiao Xiao knew that there was no need to continue to understand. He already had a vague guess in his mind: perhaps, those who could be selected from the natives to become special items or Aberrant Creature were all somewhat unfortunate.

There are always so many people in this world who are immersed in pain and live numbly...

Xiao Xiao had to go to work at the store in the afternoon, and since he was still not used to talking to his mother too much, he prepared to go to the bar to continue his new job after taking care of his mother and learning that her condition was stable.

Originally, he planned to hire a caregiver to look after his mother while he was at work.

But the nurse blushed and said no, "Why spend that money? I'm here..."

"Nurses these days are really dedicated..."

Xiao Xiao was deeply impressed by her work ethic, thanked her sincerely, left some money for his mother, and then left the hospital.

Whether it's real or fake, I still really like this feeling of life right now.

Xiao Xiao felt a sense of security and focused his energy on improving his abilities.

He had already checked his points and found that he still had over a thousand points.

Killing that man resulted in a 100-point deduction.

Damn, I actually felt a little sorry for him afterwards!

If he wanted to help Yang Jia solve the problem of the Rotten Kingdom, his current level was definitely not enough. Xiao Xiao knew very well that Yang Jia was very strong, as were Ruan Ruan and Little Four. But when it came to solving the problem, everyone had to stand on their own. In other words, he would have to face opponents with average strength levels close to theirs. Who knew how terrifying that would be?

He must surpass at least the Ghost Man from the Red Eyes Club, and perhaps even surpass him by many, many more.

I'm just a newbie...

Trying to address these problems by relying on the Insightful Path is clearly too late, as each unit costs over two thousand points.

A complete third-stage Insightful Person requires even 6,000 points.

So, there's actually very little preparation I can make right now.

First, he plans to purchase one unit of the second unit of Violence Factor, which is a total of two hundred points.

This is something he learned from the Ghost Man of the Red Eyes Club. He follows the Hunter route, but he also enhances the mid-stage Violence Factor of a unit, which gives him a certain amount of amazing berserk violence in addition to the Hunter route.

I almost beat myself to death back then.

I asked Ruan Ruan, and she said that it is possible to enhance other elements of a unit outside of its own path.

Of course, too much is not good.

Outside of the Insightful Path, enhancing two units with intermediate-level Violence Factor would be very dangerous.

With three units, a complete collapse is possible.

Besides this option, Xiao Xiao decided that he also needed to enhance a special item.

Special items will experience a significant boost in strength after being upgraded and enhanced.

For example, those three hounds of Pain Hound were already three ferocious dogs before they were enhanced.

After being enhanced, it becomes... a venomous vicious dog!

This means that I need to choose at least one to enhance between the Butcher and the Old Record Player.

The Butcher is out of the question; the score difference is too significant...

As for the Old Gramophone, it seems to be her only option, and she's been working quite hard at it...

But what if it fails?

So, what exactly is the key to reinforcing success and failure?

He couldn't help but think of this question. He had asked Ruan Ruan before, but even Ruan Ruan couldn't explain it well, because there had never been any outsiders in Black Gate City who had taken the Collectors route as their path to advancement. Moreover, even if there were, they might not be able to teach him anything.

Xiao Xiao could only sense that there were actually different types of Pain Substance.

The Butcher, the Pain Hound, the Old Gramophone —they are all different types, yet all possess a certain quality of suffering...

... Huh? The Old Record Player really does have a different vibe from them.

Behind the Pain Hound is Nuo Nuo, who has been bullied, and the Butcher once had a lovely daughter.

They were all constantly immersed in pain.

But this Old Record Player keeps blaring loud music all the time and causes noise pollution everywhere...

Thinking about this question, Xiao Xiao arrived at the bar. The bar wasn't open yet, but the staff had already arrived. The manager was holding a meeting with the employees. Upon seeing Xiao Xiao, they all stood up straight politely and respectfully called him Brother Xiao. Xiao Xiao simply nodded calmly to them, signaling them to continue, and then walked straight to the office on the third floor. However, he was also very curious about the content of their meeting.

But it wouldn't be appropriate for me to stay and listen directly; it would seem too curious and wouldn't fit my image as a cold and ruthless boss.

So, Xiao Xiao's heart stirred slightly, and he continued to walk forward indifferently, but an eye split off from his shoulder.

It hovered quietly above the heads of the people in the meeting, satisfying his curiosity.

"No matter what, you have to produce the music style from yesterday..."

At this moment, the store manager, who had been respectfully watching Xiao Xiao enter the elevator, turned around, his expression turning stern again, and said to the two DJs standing in front of him, "The effect was simply amazing! Today, many customers called to book a table, saying they had a lot of fun yesterday, a kind of crazy feeling, both unrestrained and stress-relieving, so they're coming back today with their friends..."

"If things continue like this, won't our business be booming?"

"... I don't care if it's a problem with your equipment or the voltage or something, I just want the style from yesterday."

"... If you can't do it, you can forget about your bonuses this month."

"..."

"Huh?"

Xiao Xiao, who was back in his office, felt a slight stirring in his heart.

They're probably referring to the sense of distortion and absurdity created by the influence of Old Gramophone, right?

This Old Record Player has Mingming played any serious music.

The bar patrons actually really liked it?

What kind of taste is this...?