The Perfect Way to Fight

"We seem to have met before."

In the dimly lit interrogation room, the bearded man in uniform gave Shen Qian another look before speaking slowly.

"The museum?"

Shen Qian thought back and vaguely remembered.

When the accident had occurred at the museum that day, it had been the man before him who had led a team of Police Warriors inside to investigate.

"My name is Song Ye. You can call me Captain Song." The man nodded and flipped through the statement he had just recorded. "So it seems you really are a third-year student at Jingcheng No.7 High School."

"Can I leave now?"

"No. We should still wait for your teacher. You're underage, after all—it wouldn't be proper otherwise." Song Ye shook his head.

Shen Qian could only continue waiting. Fortunately, when he had made the call earlier, he had chosen to notify his homeroom teacher at school. As long as Liu Simin was dealt with, the aftermath of this matter could be minimized.

"According to your statement, those two Scavengers got into a dispute for some unknown reason and started fighting each other. You took the chance to ambush the other one after one of them fell?"

Song Ye flipped through the interrogation record again and asked with interest.

Shen Qian nodded, unwilling to say more.

Song Ye seemed thoughtful and asked Shen Qian a few more questions. But Shen Qian had already prepared his story on the way over. He stubbornly insisted that he had accidentally fallen into the sewer and then stumbled upon the Scavengers fighting among themselves.

Bang, bang!

A knock sounded. The iron door opened, and Liu Simin, wrapped in a trench coat, appeared at the interrogation room door alongside a Police Warrior.

"Teacher Liu!"

Shen Qian called out.

Carrying two sets of clothes, Liu Simin walked in and looked Shen Qian over. Only after seeing that he was not seriously hurt did she breathe a sigh of relief, then scolded him, "What exactly happened? How did you run into Scavengers?"

"Let's talk after we get out." Shen Qian gave a wry smile.

Liu Simin nodded. After exchanging a few words with Song Ye, she took Shen Qian to complete the formalities and change out of his dirty clothes.

Once everything had been settled, Shen Qian was about to leave with Liu Simin when a voice called out from behind him. "Wait."

"Is there anything else?" Liu Simin held Shen Qian back and turned to ask.

Song Ye stared at Shen Qian for several moments. Just as Shen Qian grew wary, he suddenly broke into a smile. "I almost forgot. There's a five-thousand-yuan reward for every wanted Scavenger dealt with by a Beginner Martial Artist or below. Two of them makes ten thousand. We'll need Shen Qian's bank card number so we can transfer the money later."

A ten-thousand-yuan reward?

There was such a good thing?

Shen Qian's eyes lit up. He hesitated. "I didn't exactly kill them. Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"You don't want it?" Song Ye froze. "That works too. We can donate it to—"

"China Construction Bank. 621739010212120404. Thank you."

In the corridor, the Police Warrior responsible for recording the case watched the two figures disappear around the corner and could not help saying, "Captain, are we really just letting him go?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"The scene was full of suspicious points. There were clearly traces of fighting in two places, but he said those two were fighting each other..."

"Did you read the medical examination report?" Song Ye interrupted him.

"I did."

"Then let me ask you this. If it was as you guessed, how could a student with Physical Strength only approaching 130 kg kill two stronger Scavengers in a head-on fight?"

Song Ye's eyes held the same confusion. "Judging from the traces at the scene, one of them even had Burst Strength exceeding 140 kg, infinitely close to the threshold of a Beginner Martial Artist. How could that be possible?"

"You have to understand, this was a life-and-death fight!"

The other Police Warrior fell silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Unless there was a fourth person..."

"But there wasn't, was there?" Song Ye let out a breath of stale air. "If we can't make sense of it, then stop thinking about it. No matter what, he didn't do anything evil, right?"

"Let's go. According to the preliminary estimate, at least a two-digit number of Scavengers are still hiding in the city. Some of them are genuine martial artists. We still have a heavy task ahead of us."

Song Ye patted the man's shoulder and turned to leave first.

Outside the police station.

It was already late at night, and the sky was filled with stars.

"You really don't need me to take you home?" Liu Simin stopped a taxi and asked one more time.

"No, really. My home isn't far from here. I can get back by myself." Shen Qian waved his hand.

"Fine, then I'll be going." Liu Simin thought for a moment before reminding him, "I'll keep this matter confidential for you. But if you feel psychologically unwell afterward, remember to talk to me anytime."

In Shen Qian's version of events, he had merely happened to pass by, witnessed two Scavengers fight to the death, and then been brought back by the police when they arrived.

Liu Simin was clearly worried that Shen Qian, who had never experienced such a scene, might be left with psychological trauma.

Liu Simin paid Shen Qian's fare. As the taxi slowly pulled away, Shen Qian waved to Liu Simin through the window. Only then did he lean back in his seat and begin recalling everything that had happened today.

Song Ye's business card was still in his pocket. Shen Qian had a good impression of the tough-looking captain. In truth, he knew that the story he had hastily made up was riddled with holes, but the other man apparently had no intention of pursuing the matter.

After returning home and brushing off a few questions from his mother, Shen Qian slipped into his bedroom, locked the door, summoned the system, and opened tonight's AFK Record.

"You pushed Ding Yi away and left on the grounds that you had something urgent to do (20:51)

You arrived at an adjacent alley, opened a manhole cover, and entered the sewer pipes (20:53)

You found the Scavengers hiding in the sewers (20:55)

You sneered and provocatively crooked a finger at the two of them (20:55)

One of the Scavengers charged at you (20:56)

You killed him (20:57)

(Combat Experience available here. Click to extract.)

..."

Shen Qian's pupils contracted when he saw this.

One minute?

Under the system's control, he had killed a Scavenger in just one minute...

This must have been what happened before he woke up midway through.

Shen Qian extracted the Combat Experience. His head swelled with pain, and a familiar yet unfamiliar scene surfaced in his memories.

The moment the Scavenger charged at him, Shen Qian's body had only shifted slightly to the side at the very last second, dodging the blade in the other man's hand by an unimaginable, razor-thin margin.

Then Shen Qian's right hand suddenly exerted force and struck the man viciously in the abdomen.

That sensation of power was utterly unfamiliar to Shen Qian.

Because it was his power, yet there was no way he could have unleashed such tremendous force.

The way he exerted force...

The system's method of exerting force was practically perfect.

Generally speaking, someone with 100 kg of Physical Strength would often only be able to unleash eighty percent of it as Burst Strength, or even less.

No one could fully command every shred of strength in their body. At least, Shen Qian had never heard of anyone who could.

But the version of himself controlled by the system was different.

Every cell in his body had been mobilized. His speed and strength had both approached their own theoretical limits.

And there was also that precise judgment and choice of striking point.

With a single punch, the Scavenger had nearly lost all ability to resist. Shen Qian then struck his throat with another punch, killing him on the spot.

That fragment of memory had not lasted a full minute—only a dozen or so seconds—but it had delivered an enormous shock to Shen Qian. For a while, he could not digest it at all.

"If this is the most perfect way to fight, then I think I know how the second Scavenger was dealt with. But why did the system make me wake up halfway through?" Shen Qian murmured, his heart full of doubt.