Bullet Time

Though the situation had changed abruptly, Fang Linyan had planned before acting and prepared for evacuation in advance. He ran while taking deep breaths, pressing his right index finger firmly against his brow, which finally made him feel a bit better.

Ahead was a fork in the road; turning left and walking thirty meters would bring him to a motorcycle. This was originally Fang Linyan's preferred escape method, but now he was in full drunk mode plus severe headache mode—not to mention riding a motorcycle, even driving a car would result in a rear-end collision within minutes. So he had no choice but to opt for the second escape route: turn right, walk a hundred meters, and enter the subway station.

Before entering the subway station, Fang Linyan glanced back because he had already heard the piercing alarm sounding from the memorial hall! He took a deep breath, frowned, and pressed his hand to his forehead, hurriedly descending into the subway. He quickly boarded the nearest train, which carried him roaring off into the distance.

Half an hour later, a pale-faced Fang Linyan emerged from the subway station. He took a couple of deep breaths and ducked into a convenience store. First, he poured a bottle of frozen mineral water over his head, then grabbed a nearby bottle of vodka and chugged it down. The cold water dousing his head immediately suppressed the burning pain, while the strong liquor numbed his nerves, dulling the agony into a blunt ache. This made Fang Linyan feel much better. He found a shabby motel, set an alarm, crawled inside, lay down on the bed, and slipped into a semi-conscious state.

When Fang Linyan was woken by the alarm, he checked the time. Though he felt a bit better, his eyes were still bloodshot, and his head ached terribly—like a low-level office worker with a cold and fever working overtime until dawn. So he chugged a few more gulps of liquor, and under the numbing effect of the alcohol, set the alarm again and went back to sleep.

After sleeping for a full ten-plus hours, Fang Linyan woke up again. By now, he felt much more comfortable; the headache had shifted from a sharp, piercing pain to a faint, dull ache, like a bad cold. Checking his status, he saw that his MP had recovered by about seventy or eighty percent.

After downing a cup of hot coffee, Fang Linyan checked the time and quickly booked a flight to Boston, then hailed a taxi to rush to the airport. He was a bit nervous during the security check, but it seemed the incident at the memorial hall hadn't implicated him, so he boarded the plane smoothly.

Once the plane took off, Fang Linyan put on an eye mask, reclined comfortably in his seat, let out a contented sigh, and began to tally the gains from this battle. The first thing he noticed was the root of his headache.

In the personal attribute description, the "Talent" slot, which had previously been marked as ???, now displayed a series of explanations.

A-Rank Talent: Bullet Time Description: Instantly push the brain's potential to an astonishing degree, entering a state of highly focused mental operation. This creates the illusion that time has slowed drastically, but the body's movements will also be correspondingly slowed. Your calculation and reaction abilities will be enhanced accordingly. Activating this talent instantly consumes half of your current MP, and for the duration, it burns 10% of your maximum MP per second. If your MP is insufficient to sustain this state, your spirit will suffer damage, temporarily decreasing by 1 point per second. If the spiritual trauma is too severe (exceeding 5 points), permanent damage may even occur. While Bullet Time is active, you cannot perform actions such as consuming mental recovery potions or equipping items. Additionally, Bullet Time can only be activated once every half hour.

At this point, Fang Linyan recalled the strange heating of the Black Old-Fashioned Phone he carried when he activated the talent. He immediately pulled it out and was shocked. The surface of the Black Old-Fashioned Phone was now covered in several cracks, as if it had been violently thrown, on the verge of breaking apart.

Not only that, but the light on the phone's screen was also extremely dim, and the battery capacity had dropped to just 5%, as if it would force a shutdown at any moment.

Seeing all this, a realization dawned on Fang Linyan. It was likely that his sudden activation of the talent was due to this phone sensing the immense crisis he faced, helping him out, and paying a heavy price for it.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Fang Linyan then noticed another prompt:

"You have successfully touched and read the Mayflower Compact. You have completed the milestone: Scholar." "You have obtained the title: Scholar." "Your MP has increased by 20 points." "This title is an evolvable title. In certain worlds, you can trigger its related evolution quests." "You can only equip one title at a time. Switching titles incurs a five-minute cooldown period."

Fang Linyan paused for a moment, then straightforwardly equipped it.

Since he had booked first class, a flight attendant with a sweet smile brought over the meal. The main course was spaghetti with meat sauce and pea soup—taste was mediocre—but the accompanying apple pie delighted Fang Linyan. It was hot, sweet, and tangy, and he ate three pieces in a row.

After eating his fill, Fang Linyan ordered a glass of Moscato sparkling wine, believing that a slight buzz would help him recover from the mental trauma he had suffered. He got up to use the restroom, steadied himself, rubbed his hands together, and then prepared to open the Bloody Key dropped by the blonde woman: Contractor 91UK3.

This wasn't unfamiliar to him, as Contractor 91UK3 was the second contractor he had killed. Fang Linyan already understood the essence of it—it was essentially like a lottery draw—so he couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and nervousness.

Do you wish to summon the Bloody Treasure Chest of Contractor 91UK3? Yes/No.

Then, the metal chest slowly opened. Inside, a glaring, blood-red light shone, making it impossible to see what was within. Fang Linyan's mind immediately received another series of prompts:

You have opened the Bloody Treasure Chest. You may choose one of the following options as your spoils of war.

One: Obtain 50% of the deceased's remaining potential points and universal points before death. Two: Randomly obtain three items from the deceased's storage space before death. Three: You have a 33% chance to obtain a skill scroll of one of the deceased's abilities. This scroll will be drawn from all abilities the deceased mastered (including but not limited to basic abilities, advanced basic abilities, and talent abilities), becoming a scroll that anyone can learn. The skill level after learning the scroll will be half of the original ability level.