Revenge [1]

Present day.

Half a month had passed since he downloaded the Unarmed Combat skill.

Hu Long did not wait around following a set routine.

To adapt to and master this skill as quickly as possible, aside from spending money on practical combat training, he also engaged in strength exercises such as squats, push-ups, running, and interval sprints.

With this training—perhaps due to having downloaded the master-level Unarmed Combat skill, combined with his High-Efficiency Absorption and Metabolism physical talent which accelerated the benefits of his nutritional intake—he could clearly perceive his physical fitness improving at a visible and astonishing rate.

His body weight had also increased significantly; he was no longer as thin and weak as before. While there wasn't a massive change in his outward appearance, in reality, his physical condition had recovered to that of a normal adult, and perhaps even slightly exceeded it.

This rate of progress was incredibly rapid. Take running, for example.

At the start, he was half-dead after running just three kilometers on the first day.

Yet, only a week later, he could easily run twenty kilometers.

Now, half a month later, he could run forty kilometers and only feel slightly winded; Hu Long even felt that his body had not yet reached its limit.

Such progress would be impossible for a normal person.

Because the human body requires a significant amount of time to adapt, it cannot be achieved overnight; excessive training would only damage the body and produce the opposite effect.

But Hu Long was different.

He could clearly feel that even when he wasn't training, his physique was improving at an astonishing pace every single day.

And training allowed him to adapt to and enhance his physical fitness to an even greater degree.

All of this was the improvement brought about by downloading just one master-level Unarmed Combat skill.

Of course.

Aside from training.

During this time, Hu Long had also been silently monitoring the whereabouts of Xue Wu.

The benefit of the technological age is that even an ordinary person, once proficient in computer technology, can easily accomplish things that seem inconceivable.

With his master-level Network Offense and Defense skills, doing this was not difficult.

For instance, now, after opening his phone, he could easily track Xue Wu's location, view his call logs, chat history, and so on.

He could even access the other party's camera to take photos of him.

The other man's phone had essentially become his eye, allowing him to monitor him at all times.

Hu Long had been waiting for a suitable opportunity these past few days.

Unfortunately, he hadn't found any good chances.

This made Hu Long gradually lose his patience; after all, he was never a patient person to begin with.

Especially when his life was in danger.

Thinking of this, a cold glint flickered in his eyes.

"Master-level Unarmed Combat is now completely mastered, so it's time to resolve this problem. Since I can't find an opportunity, I'll just have to find another way."

The midday autumn sun hung high in the sky, baking the winding mountain road into a blinding, grayish-white expanse.

A yellow bus with mottled paint crawled slowly up the mountain road.

The body of the bus was covered in a thick layer of dust.

The cabin was filled with the stifling, heavy air characteristic of long-distance buses.

A few young passengers stared down at their phone screens, the glow of the devices reflecting on their somewhat weary faces.

Most others leaned against their seats, swaying slightly with the jolts of the vehicle, eyes closed in rest.

"Ugh—"

A sudden sound of dry retching broke the silence of the cabin.

In the back, a young man was hunched over, clutching a plastic bag tightly in his hand, his throat emitting retching noises.

Immediately, an unpleasant odor spread, and those nearby couldn't help but frown.

The retching continued for a moment before gradually subsiding.

The young man straightened up, his face pale, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

He wiped the corners of his mouth with a tissue and offered a somewhat awkward smile to the others.

Then, he looked toward the person sitting next to him.

"I'm really sorry, brother, would you mind opening the window?"

The young man spoke in a low voice, perhaps raspy from the act of vomiting.

As he spoke, he deftly tied the plastic bag in his hand to keep the odor from escaping.

Sitting beside him was a middle-aged man wearing an old leather jacket.

The man wore sunglasses, and a thick beard covered nearly the entire lower half of his face.

He had been gazing quietly out the window.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man turned his head, his gaze sweeping calmly over the young man's pale face before landing on the plastic bag in his hand.

"It's fine!"

As he spoke, he reached out and pushed the window beside him open a little further.

Instantly, wisps of mountain air surged in, carrying the crisp scent of grass and trees, diluting the stale air inside the carriage.

The breeze brushed against the young man's cheeks, allowing him to breathe a little easier.

"Thank you!"

The middle-aged man did not speak again, instead turning back toward the window, his gaze fixed on the distant green mountains.

The bus continued to wind along the mountain road, the sound of the engine echoing through the silent pass.

The bearded man was none other than Hu Long, who had left Huanyang City.

As for why he had transformed into this appearance, it was because of the two skills he had downloaded.

[Makeup (Master)]

(Description: Through peak-level makeup techniques, you can change your appearance at will. Whether it is daily grooming, artistic styling, or completely disguising yourself as another person, it can be completed in a short time, and the effect is realistic enough to pass for the real thing.)

[Voice Mimicry (Proficient)]

(Description: Proficient in voice disguise techniques, you can easily imitate the speaking styles of different ages, genders, and personalities, and even vividly reproduce the vocal characteristics and pronunciation habits of specific individuals, making it difficult for others to distinguish the fake from the real.)

He had become this way precisely because of these two skills.

Downloading these two skills had cost nine trillion in data, leaving only a single wisp of Source Value on his panel.

However, it was all worth it.

By layering these two skills, he could completely change his identity and become someone else.

As for his current appearance, it was based on a wanted criminal he had found online who had a similar build to his own.

He had used his network skills to steal that person's information.

With the support of Master-level Makeup, no one who wasn't extremely familiar with him could tell the difference if they were standing right in front of him.

However, to prevent being arrested as a criminal before achieving his goal, he had covered his tracks and added some further disguises to his face.

This was the benefit of having multiple skills integrated into one body.

As for why he had gone to the trouble of dressing up like this, his trip was naturally not for leisure or sightseeing.

It was because of the problem he was dealing with.

However, unable to find an opportunity, he did not mindlessly choose to strike at Xue Wu directly.

Although it was a different world, there were some commonalities in certain aspects.

For instance, at present.

The Yu State had begun large-scale construction of a public video surveillance system, and while it was far from being highly popularized or intelligent, it was already taking shape.

Surveillance existed only in banks, shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, and major intersections.

But it still existed.

Huanyang City was a large city, after all, with a dense population.

Accidents were prone to happen.

Rather than choosing to strike at Xue Wu there and attracting attention, it was better to go straight to the source—to Xue Wu's hometown and find his parents.

The convenience of the information age was that as long as one's technical skills were high enough, the other party's information had no secrets in his eyes.

Hu Long had easily located the other party's hometown just by accessing Xue Wu's mobile phone.

He had also incidentally uncovered all of the man's interpersonal relationships.

Xue Wu's social network was not complex; everything was no different from an ordinary person.

Except, he had no close friends or relatives, only a pair of parents back in his hometown.

Hu Long prepared to strike directly at the two of them.

Although doing so was a bit unscrupulous, Hu Long did not care; if someone wanted to mess with him, he would certainly pay them back.

Of course, there was one more thing: according to information he had gathered from monitoring Xue Wu, those two old fogies were not good people either, and they had a hand in the problems he was currently facing.