New Identity 1 (Thanks to my brother San Zhe for the reward as an Alliance Leader)

The vehicle slowly accelerated.

Wang Yiyang first glanced at the lines of data in the bottom right corner of his field of vision.

That mysterious random identity synthesis system remained the same, without any changes.

It seemed that since it claimed a random identity once a week, it would definitely be once a week, neither early nor late.

Then, he looked at the messages on his phone.

A text message from Guixi Town quickly caught his attention.

After reading the message, he narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment, then lowered his gaze to look at the subsequent messages.

The second one was from Jian, stating that he had managed to hire three elite mercenary squads. Each of these three squads included one Extreme Martial Artist.

"Extreme Martial Artist?" Wang Yiyang was thoughtful. This was the first time he had heard such a term.

Neither his investigations before his rebirth nor the information provided by his hidden identity had ever mentioned this term.

"Do you know what an Extreme Martial Artist is?" Wang Yiyang suddenly asked.

"Extreme Martial Artist?" The bodyguard in the passenger seat recalled for a moment. "If you are referring to the people who transcend human limits, as once proposed by the Martial Alliance, then perhaps I know."

"Oh?" Wang Yiyang became interested. "Tell me about it."

"Yes, Boss." The bodyguard gathered his thoughts and continued.

"As the Federation's largest combat and fighting joint organization, the Martial Alliance once attempted to save the martial arts schools that were gradually losing their practical combat capabilities, and proposed a research project.

The name of this research project was Extreme Martial Arts."

"They publicized a standard line, which had detailed data requirements.

Those who reached above this standard line were the so-called Extreme Martial Artists. This caused quite a stir at the time," the bodyguard said in a deep voice.

"Then why did it go silent later?" Wang Yiyang also knew the name Martial Alliance.

However, he didn't know it through any actual combat fighting, but rather from the television program All-Star Fighting Tournament.

The All-Star Fighting Tournament had a nice-sounding name, but in reality, it was just a performance show.

The fighting matches within it were flashy but lacked substance; they looked very impressive and powerful, but were actually just for show.

They even incorporated melodrama, various intertwined grievances, loud and exaggerated nicknames, and impressive, bombastic background music for entrances.

Those who participated in the tournament were either handsome and beautiful or fierce and imposing. In short, their appearance had to be eye-catching.

Therefore, this program was considered a hit across the entire Federation.

"It is said that in the past, the Martial Alliance even had martial arts stars who were invited to neighboring planets for friendly matches. But the result was a crushing defeat," the bodyguard added.

"So, there are no real combat fighting experts in the Martial Alliance?" Wang Yiyang asked.

"Naturally, there are," the bodyguard replied. "Inside the Martial Alliance, it is divided into the performance faction and the practical faction. The performance faction makes money for the alliance, while the practical faction is the foundation of the alliance.

Among the practical faction, there are prescribed rank ratings to divide combat power. From the first to the tenth rank, followed by Glimmer, Bright Light, and Grand Justice. It is said that the Glimmer level is what they call an Extreme Martial Artist."

"That's quite impressive... Can we hire a Glimmer-level martial artist to join our mission?" Wang Yiyang pressed.

"It's difficult... People from the Martial Alliance are not exactly short of money. And we don't have any special channels..."

"Channels..." Wang Yiyang had a rough idea of the status of so-called martial arts experts within the Federation.

He thought for a moment, pressed his hand against the chip on his arm, and whispered the activation phrase. "Open Mister System."

Swoosh. A pale blue, semi-circular light screen that only he could see appeared on his retina.

The light screen was divided into four major sections: Weapons, Personnel, Intelligence, and Upload.

Wang Yiyang tapped into the Intelligence section.

Immediately, a large search box appeared before him.

He manually entered 'Extreme Martial Artist'.

Beep.

After a soft sound, a large amount of related information flashed across the entire semi-circular blue light screen.

But after scanning through it, Wang Yiyang discovered that this information consisted only of fragments recorded in books and magazines; there were surprisingly few details about Extreme Martial Artists in the entire intelligence network.

The network he was searching was a powerful intranet developed internally by Mister Group.

Not only could it search for intelligence within the group, but it could also connect to the outside world to extract relevant external intelligence.

The information search was extremely comprehensive.

"If even the group's intranet can't find it, either this concept has long been forgotten and completely declined, or there is official power forcibly blocking and purging it."

Wang Yiyang speculated in his heart.

"Boss." At this moment, the bodyguard couldn't help but speak again.

"Speak."

"If you want to hire and invite experts from the Martial Alliance, perhaps you don't have to go through the Martial Alliance. There is another place that should meet your needs."

"Where is it?"

"Yanhu Sect."

Screech.

The car slowed to a halt not far from the East District Police Station.

Someone opened the car door for Wang Yiyang.

"Actually, there was no need for you to come in person; we could have handled such a small matter for you," the man said in a low voice. He was the captain of one of the squads responsible for Wang Yiyang's security.

"I don't wish for my normal life to be disturbed. This is fine," Wang Yiyang replied, shaking his head and gesturing toward the car.

The men understood immediately and quickly climbed back into the vehicle.

Soon, the car pulled away, disappearing into the distant flow of traffic.

Wang Yiyang tugged at his coat and strode into the station.

Past the main gate of the police station lay a relatively spacious plaza with a few flagpoles standing lonely in the center, flying the green-striped flag characteristic of the Federation.

The red, white, and blue stripes on the flag appeared all the more vivid against the green background.

Wang Yiyang withdrew his gaze. As he passed through the gate, there was no sound of inquiry from the guard booth on the right; it seemed security was lax.

He scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted his destination on a display screen hanging outside the building.

He crossed the small plaza and entered a building on the right where a line of people was waiting.

There were over a dozen people in the queue. Wang Yiyang waited for ten minutes before it was his turn.

When the clerk at the service window heard he was there to pick someone up, she asked for his ID and phone number. After verifying them, she handed him a slip of paper.

Holding the slip, Wang Yiyang followed the printed name and soon found the Missing Persons Office.

The so-called office was actually just two small rooms connected together, totaling less than twenty square meters.

A policewoman was sitting in the office keeping Li Ran company, the two of them speaking in low voices.

Li Ran had changed into clean clothes, but her eyes were red, as if she had been crying for a long time.

"Hello?"

Although the door was open, Wang Yiyang still reached out and tapped lightly on the door frame.

Giving others a moment of psychological preparation before entering was a matter of courtesy.

"You're finally here." The policewoman stood up, looking relieved. "This child had a tragedy at home and couldn't find anyone else to help. You're her cousin, right? How could you let a young girl be out on her own for so long?

Do you have any idea she was almost abducted and sold by human traffickers? If the little girl hadn't been sharp, I'm afraid you wouldn't have seen her again..."

The moment the policewoman saw Wang Yiyang, she couldn't hold back the flood of words she had been bottling up, letting them all spill out in a rush.

Wang Yiyang listened with a smile, nodding occasionally without refuting her.

The other party meant well; the police station hadn't charged any fees, and her keeping Li Ran company was purely out of kindness.

When Li Ran heard Wang Yiyang's voice, she quickly looked up at him, then immediately lowered her head as far as it would go, remaining silent with her hands clenched into fists.

After a round of complaints and grumbling, the policewoman efficiently processed the registration for Wang Yiyang. As she worked, she continued to complain about how they encountered runaway children every single week.

She lectured about how adults needed to pay closer attention to children's education, adding that since the girl's parents were gone, her future life needed to be arranged as soon as possible. She offered to issue certificates for educational aid whenever needed.

It was a long string of nonsense. Wang Yiyang remained composed, but Li Ran, standing to the side with her head bowed, couldn't help but let tears fall again as she listened.

She didn't even dare to look up at Wang Yiyang.

When the police had asked her if she had any relatives' phone numbers, she hadn't wanted to face the expressions of those so-called relatives ever again.

If those relatives had been even slightly decent, her family wouldn't have ended up in this state.

She didn't care about her father's death, but her mother was gone too.

It felt as if a heavy boulder were pressing down on her heart. There was sadness, there was pain, but more than anything, there was a sense of aimless helplessness.

An hour had passed by the time the paperwork was finished and Wang Yiyang led Li Ran out of the police station.

Li Ran had spent the entire time shedding tears without saying a word, though at some point, her hand had tightly gripped the corner of Wang Yiyang's coat.

She was wearing a set of black long-sleeved clothes someone had given her, and with her long black hair hanging down, her face was almost entirely obscured.

From a distance, she looked like a charred black wooden stake—frail and pitiful.

After exiting the station, Wang Yiyang hailed a taxi.

Neither of them spoke once they were inside.

Wang Yiyang simply handed her a tissue to wipe the tears from her face.

The car drove all the way back to the Green Tree Residential Complex.

They stepped out of the car and arrived in front of the elevator, where they suddenly came to a halt.

"Your keys..." Wang Yiyang asked in a low voice.

"I have them," Li Ran replied softly.

"Go back and get some rest early." Wang Yiyang sighed.

He was currently unable to protect himself, and he did not want to drag the young girl into his troubles. Helping her out with minor difficulties in daily life was one thing, but this was different.

Li Ran said nothing as she stepped into the elevator.

Wang Yiyang followed her inside, watching the elevator doors slowly slide shut. He reached out and pressed the button for the third floor. That was the floor where Li Ran lived.

Li Ran looked up and saw it too.

The dim light in the elevator shone on her cheeks, the faint glow making her complexion appear even paler.

"Brother Yiyang... I will definitely... repay you in the future!" she said with earnest conviction.

"Just live well and focus on your studies. I didn't help you expecting any repayment." Wang Yiyang patted Li Ran on the head.

"If you run into trouble and truly have no other options, you can come find me. If it's something I can help with, I will do my best."

Li Ran fell silent for a moment, then suddenly turned around and wrapped her arms around Wang Yiyang's waist.