Teaching

David didn't rest right away. The New Year's Eve party had taken up some of his evening, and he'd eaten quite a lot of energy-rich food there. He went to the Underground Gym and practiced the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique several times. Only after his whole body was exhausted did he return to his room to wash up.

Sitting on the soft bed, he took out the K2 Military Electronic Countermeasure Device and connected it to Steer Hotel's Security Optical Computer.

Using an account with elevated permissions, he logged into the Security Optical Computer and began searching for information related to Mr. Steer.

There wasn't much information about Mr. Steer in the Security Optical Computer, only his age. That was understandable; as the owner of Steer Hotel, it was normal for the system not to contain his detailed personal information.

Still, when David saw Mr. Steer's age, he found it very strange. According to the Security Optical Computer, Steer was ninety-three years old.

That didn't match the middle-aged appearance Steer had at the party. When Steer stood beside Hans, Hans had looked even older than him.

Although Hans's health problems made him look older than he really was, that still couldn't account for Steer looking so young at ninety-three.

People over ninety in the Federation didn't look as visibly aged as people had in David's previous life, but they didn't look as young as Steer, either.

David didn't dwell on it. Perhaps Steer used some special beauty treatment David didn't know about. The world of the rich was beyond the guesses of someone as modestly wealthy as him.

The Security Optical Computer was the hub of Steer Hotel's entire Security System. It contained all the hotel's records, finances, security logs, company secrets, and information on every guest who had stayed there.

The first thing David needed to find out was whether Steer Hotel had any connection to Trainer Jeremy. That would be the strongest evidence that Steer was behind the attempt to deal with him.

He soon found financial transactions between Steer Hotel and Trainer Jeremy, but the records didn't show the hotel paying Jeremy.

In fact, it was the other way around: Trainer Jeremy had been regularly investing money in Steer Hotel.

The investments had been going on for more than two years, while David had known Trainer Jeremy for only a few months. The timeline raised too many questions.

David had originally wanted to prove that Steer was the mastermind, but the results only made the whole affair more complicated. He'd been wrong about the relationship between them.

Of course, the financial records had been disguised. But once David broke through the outer layer of the deception, the truth was laid bare.

Steer had probably never imagined that anyone could easily break into the Security Optical Computer he considered impregnable. That was why he'd stored so many secrets in it.

David also found records on Amos, the dead Security Supervisor. This time, it was easy to confirm that Steer had sent Amos out. The finance department had regularly paid him bonuses under the pretext of an off-site assignment.

And after Amos was killed, they'd sent his family a sizable compensation payment.

David shook his head. The information in the Security Optical Computer wasn't as useful as he'd imagined. Still, he'd confirmed that Steer was involved, which meant he could monitor Steer's movements in turn.

He installed a small program in Steer's schedule records. It would automatically send Steer's daily itinerary to David's Identity Bracelet. From then on, David would be keeping an eye on Steer's every move.

Steer was one of Peilan City's wealthy elite, and he planned his daily outings in advance. That made it easy for David to keep track of him.

After finishing all that, David put away the K2 Military Electronic Countermeasure Device and fell into a deep sleep.

At six the next morning, Smart Butler Emma woke David. When he went downstairs, he saw Myron, who had also been woken up. Myron seemed unaccustomed to getting up so early and looked completely groggy.

"David, is there something wrong with your Smart Butler? It woke me up so early!" Myron complained as soon as he saw him.

"I didn't set it to wake us at six!" David shook his head, then turned to Smart Butler Emma. "Emma, is there a problem with your programming?"

"Self-check in progress. Self-check complete!" Smart Butler Emma immediately began its self-check. Its eyes flickered repeatedly before returning to normal. "Emma's systems are functioning normally. No programming errors detected!"

"Then why did it wake us up at six?" Myron interjected.

"By order of the highest-authority user, Hans, Mr. Gallen holds the second-highest authority and may issue commands to me. Waking you at six was Mr. Gallen's instruction," Smart Butler Emma replied.

"Getting up at six is a good habit, young men. I hope you'll keep it up!" Gallen said with a smile as he came out of the dining room, holding a glass of juice.

"Good morning, Uncle Gallen!" Myron's earlier complaints vanished at the sight of Gallen, and he greeted him along with David.

"Emma, give them the breakfasts we prepared," Gallen ordered Smart Butler Emma. Then he turned to David and Myron. "Take your breakfast with you to the Underground Gym. I want to see how you're doing!"

Smart Butler Emma handed them each a food container. David saw ten portions of Fortified Meat inside and realized they were in for a massive workout today.

The thousand-square-meter vegetable cultivation area outside the underground glass passage didn't surprise Myron. He seemed used to seeing things like it.

After entering the Underground Gym, David and Myron set down their food containers and stood in front of Gallen.

"First, I want to see how well you've mastered Body Technique. Don't be fooled by how simple the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique look. They were refined over ten thousand years, and they're the best way to build a foundation. They'll be the basis of everything you do from now on," Gallen said with a smile, looking at the two boys.

"Uncle Gallen, I heard Body Technique evolved from the Knights' training methods in God's Great World. Is that true?" Myron asked curiously. Gallen didn't seem very strict.

"Myron, if you were strong enough, you'd have the right to know. You're not qualified to ask about that yet." Gallen shot Myron a stern look, then waved a hand. "Since you're so eager, you can go first. Show me the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique."

With a wave of Gallen's hand, Myron's body slid sideways against his will and stopped five meters away, in the center of the gym.

"Okay, I'll get started," Myron said readily.

He began practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique. In David's eyes, Myron performed them far better than David himself had before obtaining the Knowledge Light Orb.

David estimated that Myron's mastery of the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique was about eighty percent of the way through the beginner stage.

After completing the forms, Myron was sweating profusely, but he looked rather pleased with himself as he glanced at David, showing off.

"Not bad. Your mastery of the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique has reached the advanced level of the beginner stage. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into it," Gallen said, nodding with satisfaction. It was easier to teach students who already had a solid foundation.

"Uncle Gallen, I haven't made any progress for several months. I can't improve my strength or speed, either," Myron asked hurriedly.

His family could afford the best teachers in Peilan City to guide him, but he'd reached a point where even they couldn't find a good way to help him improve.

"Your strength and speed are rooted in your physique. If your physique doesn't improve, neither will your strength or speed. You can generally improve your physique with special serums or by practicing Body Technique. I can tell you've used Enhancement Serum before. At this stage, you'd better not use any more. Otherwise, you'll lose the benefit of the serum when you try to break through to become a formal Armored Warrior. I'll guide you in improving your Body Technique over the next few days," Gallen said, offering his advice with a smile.

Myron nodded. He knew what his problem was; he'd simply found it very difficult to improve further after reaching this level with the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique.

That was why Mayor Bernard had gone to such lengths, calling in a favor to get him placed with Gallen.

"Each time you use Enhancement Serum, it creates a degree of resistance. That resistance may not be obvious under normal circumstances, but when you need to break through a bottleneck, it can be fatal. So you need to be cautious when using Enhancement Serum," Gallen told Myron. Then he glanced at David; the warning applied to him, too.

Thanks to "m8899" for the 500 Qidian Coins! Thanks to "Yuchen Xiaoke'ai" for the 100 Qidian Coins!