The Second Ability Pool

On weekday mornings, students carrying backpacks and white-collar workers with briefcases are seen on the streets, and most pedestrians are in a hurry.

Of course, considering this is near a hospital, most of the people there are family members of patients bringing meals in insulated containers.

"How would I know what that mayor is thinking?"

Lu Bai picked up a soup dumpling with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, savoring the burst of soup inside.

Xu Qiang glanced at the crowds on the sidewalk and lowered his voice to warn, "You need to be careful lately. I think this is probably aimed at you."

"Could it be that you instructed lower-ranking police officers to fabricate crimes against me?"

Lu Bai didn't feel a strong sense of crisis and happily picked up the bowl and drank the rest of the porridge in one gulp.

He put down his empty bowl and said with a smile, "Let's not talk about me for now. Weren't you planning to hold Press Conference first thing this morning?"

The decision to hold Press Conference ahead of schedule was only made yesterday, and then Lu Bai called in late at night to clean up the mess. It all seems a bit rushed, doesn't it?

"I've already spoken to the media, so there's no need to prepare anything else."

Xu Qiang glanced at the time and continued, "Anyway, in the time before the mayor's identity is exposed, you'd better be careful with your words and actions. You've seen the public opinion on the internet."

"I'm already under a lot of pressure not to suspend you, so please don't cause any more trouble."

He ultimately didn't take a bite of the fried dough stick in his hand. He stood up and added, "That's all for now. You keep an eye on things at the hospital. Let me know immediately if anything happens."

Lu Bai returned to the hospital alone with the packed steamed buns.

It is worth mentioning that although Director Xu Qiang left, all the field personnel of the Special Affairs Bureau stayed behind.

They are working with the police and conducting investigations throughout the hospital.

As for the main crime scene, the fifth and sixth floors of the Inpatient Department have been cordoned off.

The patients on these two floors were all moved to other floors to prevent accidental tampering of the scene.

Upon arriving at the Inpatient Department building, the Special Affairs Bureau's field agent standing at the door immediately called out, "Team Leader Lu."

Lu Bai returned a Smiling Face and casually handed over the bag of steamed buns he was carrying.

"How is the situation?"

"The outlook is not optimistic."

The field staff member hurriedly took the bag, then said with a hint of helplessness, "We retrieved surveillance footage from various parts of the hospital, and found that the Surveillance Camera in key locations had been deliberately damaged. The remaining intact cameras didn't record any useful information at all."

Lu Bai casually reassured him, "That's not surprising."

In fact, apart from a very few students with particularly poor grades, most of the deathmatch fighters who come from Deathmatch School are professionals when it comes to cleaning up criminal traces after committing a crime.

Avoiding surveillance is practically a basic tactic.

So he never expected to find a deathmatch this way.

He took two steps back, looking up at the sixteen-story Inpatient Department: "Have any suspicious individuals been discovered during this time?"

"Team Leader Lu, what do you mean?"

"... fine."

One reason he would go to the hospital with Xu Qiang for breakfast was that he was trying to use Yao Yi as bait.

But right now it seems to have no effect at all.

It's unclear whether the presence of so many police officers and special agents nearby deterred the fighters from making a move.

Ding dong~

The elevator doors opened, Lu Bai stepped out of the elevator car.

Given his current online fame, it's safe to say that everyone present recognized him.

No longer needing to pull out identification to prove one's identity because of their youthful appearance, it's a form of facial recognition in a way.

Of course, you also have to put up with the occasional whispers and comments that drift into your ears.

"Good grief, you didn't bring me any xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)."

Yao Yi was lying in the hospital bed playing on her phone when she noticed Lu Bai returning empty-handed, and couldn't help but purse her lips.

Upon returning to the ward, the countdown for acquiring the "Node" that had been stalled started moving again.

"I'll have Xiao Tong bring it to you later."

Lu Bai gave a perfunctory answer and sat down on a stool to rest with his eyes closed.

Seeing that Lu Bai had even closed his eyes, Yao Yi decided not to disturb him any further and simply continued playing on her phone.

The ward fell silent, with only the occasional sound of fingers tapping on the screen.

Lu Bai didn't sleep; he was just thinking.

He didn't believe the remaining fighters would abandon "Node"; they might be secretly plotting something big.

However, the situation is currently under control.

The only deathmatch fighter we need to be wary of is that bronze-skinned guy.

He had already seen Xiao Xueyin's body on the fifth floor. Combined with what Changhu had said at the time, it was clear that Changhu was indeed the one who did it, and that the fight hadn't caused Changhu any injury whatsoever.

It should be noted that Xiao Xueyin's fighting skills, even by Lu Bai's standards, were not weak.

Moreover, Lu Bai still doesn't understand how Changhu managed to jump from the sixth floor. Surely he couldn't have retained an ability like Lü Bai?

It's a pity I don't know where Changhu is now, otherwise Lu Bai really wanted to catch that guy and ask him.

I kept thinking about it, bit by bit.

Suddenly,

A series of familiar, mechanical prompts suddenly rang in Lu Bai's mind.

[Bite!]

The current elimination rate for deathmatchers has reached 60%.

[Note! The second Ability Pool is now open and you can select one.]

Lu Bai closed his eyes, a slight smile unconsciously curving his lips.

Since last night, the gladiators' battles have continued unabated in places he couldn't see.

I thought these guys would quiet down once it got light.

After making a small complaint, Lu Bai opened the ability selection panel in front of his retina.

The second round of Ability Pool selection remains a choice of one out of three.

[Wind Spirit Moon Shadow (Colorful): Grants a series of buffs including one-hit kill, unlimited health, unlimited stamina, unlimited money, zero weight, and immunity to all negative effects. Users should proceed with caution and avoid showing off; if discovered by other players, the user will be immediately eliminated.]

[Soul Guarding Jizo: Regardless of the type of attack received, a shield will immediately form covering the user's entire body. The shield lasts for thirty seconds, and the strength of a single shield layer is equal to the user's current defense. Shields can be stacked.]

[Ink Dye (Color): This ability has no cost. Once activated, everything intangible within sight will be dyed black.]

The second round is going to be colorful?

Lu Bai raised an eyebrow.

To be honest, although this round was a colored Ability Pool, the three colored abilities that appeared were not ideal in his opinion.

Especially the first one, [Wind Spirit Moon Shadow], whose strength seemed exaggerated from the description, but the fact that he would be banned if someone saw him cheating was really hard for him to bear.

This isn't Deathmatch Arena set in a fantasy or martial arts world.

What's the point of merely displaying your divine power in front of the natives?

As for the remaining two...

The strength of [Soul Guarding Jizo] is quite in line with the level of a colored shield, since the shield can be stacked. You can apply a few layers of shield to yourself before battle, making it very stable to use.

If one possesses an ability with a sufficiently high attack frequency, constantly replenishing their shield, the defensive effect could likely reach a level that is practically invincible.

The problem is that each shield only lasts for thirty seconds. Lu Bai doesn't really like this cumbersome way of using it, and simply taking hits is too cowardly.

As for the last one, [Ink Dye].

To be honest, he didn't quite understand it.

Simply changing the color doesn't seem to make much sense...

He struggled for a while between the latter two abilities, but his gambling mentality gradually took over.

Give it a try; it's at least a color level, it can't be completely useless.

Select, [Ink Dye].