Bloody Scroll

Looking at these three prompts, Fang Linyan narrowed his eyes. From a profit perspective, options one and two clearly carried the least risk, basically guaranteeing some gain.

However, Fang Linyan was very certain about what he needed right now—four words!

Combat Power!

He was currently in a world of unadulterated survival of the fittest, where weakness meant death, meant elimination! So, Fang Linyan had to grow stronger as fast as possible to protect himself.

Therefore, this seemingly difficult choice before him was actually not that hard to solve.

First, Fang Linyan still didn't know what Potential Points and Universal Points were even used for, so option one was ruled out.

Second, from the moment Contractor 91UK3 was attacked until her death, there was a process of over five minutes. If she had any items that could boost combat power or even turn the tables, she would have used them long ago. So option two was also directly eliminated.

Then, the only thing that could meet Fang Linyan's current needs was actually the third option—even though the chance of getting nothing from the third option was as high as sixty-seven percent, and even though what he drew might not be usable by him.

Still, Fang Linyan decisively chose it. After all, life itself was a gamble, and—though he didn't know what this damned space's operating rules were—the principle that greater risk meant greater reward held true everywhere.

The bloody light gradually faded. Fang Linyan took a deep breath, and his heart began to pound. Yes, he could already see the faint outline of a scroll appearing within the light. This meant his luck this time was pretty good.

Soon, a scroll appeared in his palm. The scroll's texture seemed to be made of mysterious parchment, covered in strange and eerie patterns that looked somewhat like a mix of Latin and cuneiform, with a faint bloody glow still emanating from it.

At this moment, Fang Linyan deliberately tested something. He spread the parchment flat in the center of his right palm, then politely asked the flight attendant to pour him a glass of water with ice. He held out his right hand flat to receive it.

Under normal circumstances, if the flight attendant could see the parchment scroll, she would surely warn Fang Linyan to be careful not to get his personal items wet—after all, the scroll looked like a valuable antique with quite a history. But instead, she just smiled silently and placed the cup directly into Fang Linyan's right palm.

This allowed Fang Linyan to basically confirm that ordinary people around him couldn't see the scroll. He then gripped the parchment tightly, and immediately, a stream of information transmitted directly from the scroll into his mind.

Grappling Mastery Scroll (Bloody)

Rarity: Blue

Effect: Allows you to master the basic ability upgrade: Grappling LV2

Requirements: Strength 5 or higher, Physique 5 or higher.

Notes: Grappling LV2. This combat technique belongs to a completely different school from Striking. It focuses on controlling, locking, wrestling, and throwing. Once in close quarters, it becomes very troublesome to deal with. However, the corresponding drawback is that you must be close to your opponent to unleash its power. Increases your success rate for locking, wrestling, and throwing opponents by 12%.

This skill is a prerequisite for learning Throwing and Joint Lock techniques. The higher your Strength value, the greater your success rate with Grappling.

Notes: You must have mastered Basic Melee, Basic Footwork, and Basic Stamina before you can learn this ability.

Notes: The level of the advanced ability—Grappling—cannot exceed the levels of Basic Melee, Basic Footwork, and Basic Stamina. (This means you must first raise the levels of these three basic abilities before you can raise the level of this advanced ability.)

Tip: This scroll is a Bloody Scroll, obtained by looting after killing a Contractor. Therefore, once the prerequisites are met, it can be learned without any cost.

***

Seeing this Bloody Scroll, Fang Linyan took a deep breath, then helplessly sighed.

Yes, he checked his own conditions and realized that while he met the requirements for Basic Footwork and Basic Stamina, he was still missing Basic Melee. So even though this was a Bloody Scroll that could be learned without cost, he could only gaze at it with longing.

"At least it's better than hitting that 67% chance of getting nothing," Fang Linyan could only console himself like this.

He racked his brains next, thinking only about how to raise his Basic Melee in this world. But unfortunately, every idea that came up was quickly shot down. The reason was simple: time constraints.

It had to be said that plans couldn't keep up with changes. In Washington, Fang Linyan's original plan was to finish in three hours, but it ended up taking nearly twenty hours just to board the return flight to Boston. After calculating repeatedly, he determined that the free time he could manage next was at most three and a half hours—clearly not enough to successfully obtain the Basic Melee LV1 tag.

Another important point was that he was in an Avatar Mode entry. Could the skills learned by this current body be retained after returning to his home world? That possibility was probably very slim.

Under these circumstances, Fang Linyan had no choice but to sigh regretfully, abandon the unrealistic dream of learning the Grappling Mastery Scroll (Bloody) in this world, and then activate his backup plan.

What was the backup plan?

Fang Linyan had carefully studied the main quest earlier. The content of the main quest clearly required boarding American Airlines Flight 11. And the quest prompt stated very explicitly that this was only the beginning of a nightmare! It also said that his choice to enter this world was a mistake.

Therefore, it wasn't hard to infer that he would likely face very great danger on the plane!

An airplane was a very special place:

A completely sealed, narrow space, with an extremely harsh external environment—it could be said that once something went wrong, survival was very difficult. Plus, there was strict security screening before boarding.

All these factors combined undoubtedly created significant restrictions. So, to make the upcoming quest a little easier, or more bluntly, to increase his chances of survival, Fang Linyan had to make some preparations.

Within five kilometers of the airport, there was a fairly large town. Fang Linyan first went to a supermarket, then to a hardware store, buying enough to fill an entire large travel bag. After finishing these tasks, only less than three hours remained out of the original three and a half.