Identity Card

"Is an Identity Card more important than an ID card?"

As the conversation deepened, the young girl's body language became noticeably bolder. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she swung her bare, smooth little feet and teased him with an innocent smile. "You can replace an ID card if you lose it. But if you lose your Identity Card, all you can do is wait for someone to finish you off."

As the foundation of a License Holder's strength, an Identity Card was the basis for their survival—and there was no ruling out the possibility of it being "lost"... Jiang Qian silently interpreted the young girl's logic.

As she began explaining the next part, the young girl's expression and voice turned humble and reverent.

"An Identity Card is a divine gift from the Creator. It contains all the energy of an entirely new species! The Creator is merciful, allowing this divine gift to manifest in a form that humans can understand."

"It could be an animal, plant, or insect we know well; an extinct prehistoric beast; or even some wondrous species that exists only in human imagination and never truly existed at all! Can you imagine becoming an insect? Or a divine beast? It's all too incredible—complex and chaotic, yet displaying a certain pattern of evolution."

"Of course, the image on the card only represents the direction of evolution. It doesn't reflect the level of strength. What does reflect strength is the identity rank and energy structure, from the First State to the Seventh State. So even if your Identity Card is an ant or livestock, there's absolutely no need to worry. That is merely one form of the divine gift's manifestation, signifying limitless potential for development."

This surprised Jiang Qian somewhat.

He had not expected the young girl to summarize the concepts contained within an Identity Card in just a few words.

In short, Identity Cards came in countless varieties, but the species depicted on the card was not tied to one's actual strength. What mattered more was subsequent development.

And that development proceeded from the First State to the Seventh State.

Jiang Qian remembered that his current rank was [First State: Cognitive Form]. He was still at the toddling stage, clearly incapable of comprehending the "divine gift" represented by Teng Snake.

"How do you develop your power and raise your rank?" Jiang Qian asked.

"Keep participating in evolution instances and win. You've only just entered the game. You're currently at the First State: Cognitive Form, and your energy form has begun to emerge, but it isn't fully developed yet. The First through Third States are the phase of mutation and fusion. You'll become increasingly similar to the species on your card, and genetic fusion will be fully completed by the end of the Third State."

"At the Fourth and Fifth States, your Identity Card advances into a Noble Card! You can gradually gain the power to cultivate populations, gather and wield the forces of nature. The water, fire, wind, lightning, mist, darkness, sunlight, and gravity around us can all become weapons of a Noble Card."

"Above the Fifth State lie the Sixth and Seventh States, known as the Divine Offices. Their means of wielding power have reached the realm of 'concepts.' They are beings practically akin to gods! Even the truths and facts we accept as reality cannot escape their influence. To a Divine Office, the Super-Species World is no longer a hellish den, but soil."

"As for anything beyond the Seventh State, that exists only in legend. It isn't a realm that you or I can verify in this lifetime."

Mutation and fusion, nobility, divine office... Jiang Qian carefully considered the young girl's phrasing, doing his best to grasp and understand these new concepts.

But the young girl smiled and interrupted his train of thought.

"Don't overthink it, Brother Jiang. Not everyone gets to experience the full path of evolution."

"License Holders are already extremely rare among the general population. Most of them can only remain at the First or Second State. Those who reach the Third State are exceedingly scarce, let alone Nobles and Divine Offices! If you get too aggressive about evolution, you'll die very quickly."

Hearing that, Jiang Qian became even more wary of the young girl.

To evaluate License Holders from such a perspective, Jiang Qian had reason to suspect that she had already reached the Third State—or even higher.

As for the gap between the First and Third States, he had almost no concept of it.

But Jiang Qian did not reveal his realization. He maintained an equal footing in their conversation. "If you want to evolve, is there no other way besides participating in instances?"

The young girl shrugged.

"So the indicators of an individual's evolutionary progress are tied solely to evolution instances? More specifically, to 'experience points'? The more instances you enter and the more victories you gain, the faster your personal evolution progresses?"

As he spoke, the phone in Jiang Qian's pocket began vibrating again.

Jiang Qian silently snuffed out Xue Yang's second call before it could even begin, then immediately switched his phone to silent mode.

"Instance difficulty is also crucial." The young girl paid no attention to the call and continued guiding Jiang Qian's reasoning. "The higher the difficulty, the better the settlement rewards after victory, and the more experience you receive."

"In fact, everyone enters instances on a fixed cycle. No one can surpass or crush License Holders of the same period through sheer quantity. But for License Holders with ambition, clearing harder instances can allow them to rise rapidly in a short time."

Hearing this, Jiang Qian could not help but remark, "I know. The greater the risk, the greater the reward!"

The two exchanged knowing smiles.

"How is an instance's difficulty measured?" Jiang Qian asked next.

"As far as I know, there are currently five levels. From easiest to hardest: Easy (D), Normal (C), Difficult (B), Nightmare (A), and Hell (S)."

"Even the easiest D-rank instance has a failure rate above fifty percent. The price of failure varies, but it won't kill you. Starting from Difficult B-rank instances, though, it becomes a genuine game of gambling with your life."

"By comparison, newcomer trial instances are the friendliest starting point. There simply is no S-rank Hell mode! There's only one Nightmare-rank instance, while Difficult rank is already an unusually high level of difficulty."

Having said that, the young girl returned to her earlier question.

"By the way, what exactly was your trial instance? Did you encounter any danger... Were you hurt?"

As she spoke, the young girl unconsciously bit her lip, seeming very worried about Jiang Qian's safety.

"Not a scratch."

"Oh~ That's good!" The young girl pretended to let out a relieved breath. "Let me guess. To make things easier for newcomers, trial instances generally have low thresholds. Since Brother Jiang came out without a scratch, could it have been... Normal, or Difficult?"

"You really think too highly of me."

Of my luck... Jiang Qian silently supplied the rest of the sentence in his mind.

There was only one Nightmare-rank instance during the trial phase, yet he had been matched into it. That was no longer the level of being cursed by bad luck—at the very least, he had to be the emperor of misfortune!

"Don't tell me it was such a coincidence that you got matched into the easiest rank?" The young girl's expression became strange.

Jiang Qian did not deny it.

Compared with winning a verbal exchange, he cared more about the young girl's unknown evolution rank. Since "the higher the instance difficulty, the more generous the settlement rewards after victory," it would be best not to draw covetous eyes too easily.

Barring any surprises, he did not intend to expose himself too soon.

"Pfft, hahahaha..."

Seeing Jiang Qian tacitly admit it, the young girl could no longer hold back. She collapsed onto the bed, laughing so hard she rocked back and forth!

It was blatant mockery.

Even as she laughed, she put on a sympathetic act to comfort Jiang Qian. "Sorry, Brother Jiang. I haven't experienced a lowest-difficulty instance myself yet... No wonder you came out without a scratch. Ahem, don't be sad. Sometimes luck is a kind of strength too! Hahaha..."

Jiang Qian looked at the young girl calmly, affectionately. "You're exposed."

"Hahahaha, huh?"

"PINK."

The young girl laughed for a while longer, then her brilliant smile abruptly froze and she twitched.

She hurriedly pulled down the hem of her sleepwear and sat up from the bed!

Jiang Qian had already risen and was heading outside. "I guessed. You don't need to be in such a hurry to confirm it for me."

"You're lying. You're awful~"

As a coy complaint came from the bedroom, Jiang Qian raised his phone. "Hello? Didn't I tell you I was busy?... I'm in the Experimental Middle School family housing complex. Okay, I'm coming downstairs now..."

Jinping City Forest Park.

Several people stood beneath a gloomy bridge tunnel. Their leader wore a blue suit and gold-rimmed glasses, and his neatly groomed full beard gave him a refined air.

But Lan Junxian's expression was anything but friendly.

An unidentifiable corpse lay before him.

The corpse was tightly bound from head to toe in spider silk and buried amid the weeds. Xiao Jing, the dual-bladed girl in a beret, was working with another member of the task force to clear away the webs and conduct a further examination of the body.

The others stood guard around the perimeter.

After peeling away the layers, Lan Junxian had identified the dead man by the rotten stench of blood. It was the informant who had led him here.

"Looks like the time of death was over twenty-four hours ago."

Xiao Jing, who was examining the corpse, spoke up. Lan Junxian's face darkened further.

"She isn't here."

"Creak, creak."

After leaving the young girl's bedroom, Jiang Qian felt as though something was sticking to the soles of his shoes, producing strange creaking sounds as he walked.

The curtains in both the bedroom and living room were drawn, making it difficult for light to enter.

Jiang Qian lowered his phone.

The instant he turned around, the young girl was already standing behind him.

Wrapped in a coat but walking barefoot, the young girl wore an almost sweet smile. "Brother Jiang, you're leaving already?"

Jiang Qian acted as though nothing was amiss. "A classmate needs me for something. Let's leave it at this for today. I need to go back and digest all this."

"Is your classmate nearby? Why not invite him over to play with us~?"

"No. He's shy by nature and only likes playing with bugs. A beauty like you would be wasted on him."

Hearing that, the girl's crystal-pink lips pursed before curling back into a smile. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Jiang Qian thought for a moment, then spoke in as relaxed and natural a tone as possible. "There's still a lot. We have plenty of time... For example, approximately how many License Holders are there? What proportion of the population do they make up? Are there any organizations or groups that facilitate communication and cooperation?"

"For information that detailed, you'll probably have to join the authorities to learn it." The young girl covered her mouth and smiled, her gaze profound.

"The authorities? There's an organization like that?"

"You can think of them as Special Security Officers. After all, it's rather dangerous for special humans like us to exist in society."

From Xiao Lin's expression as she spoke, it was clear that she thought little of the so-called "authorities."

Jiang Qian changed the subject. "Let's not talk about that. As a rookie who barely survived an Easy instance, having to take in so many concepts at once is making my head spin. Being an ordinary person is still more comfortable... I'm heading back now. I'll tutor you another day."

"You're too modest, Brother Jiang. Goodbye." The young girl stepped around him to the door and opened the security door for Jiang Qian.

Her snow-white bare feet stepped onto the rough doormat, but she did not seem to care.

"Goodbye."

The old security door closed behind him, and Jiang Qian headed down the stairs...

Xue Yang, waiting on the second floor of the café, was about to make a third call.

Suddenly, a text message arrived on his phone.

The sender was displayed as "Old Jiang," but the message contained only one word: "Retreat."

Having already left Building Two and reached the street, Jiang Qian unconsciously slowed his pace.

From then until now, he had not sensed any sign of being followed.

He slipped into an alley, found an empty corner, took out his phone, and began dialing blindly...

The call was picked up the moment the phone rang.

A steady, reserved male voice came from the other end. "Hello, Special Affairs Center of the Jinping Public Security Department. How may I help you?"

Thanks:

Wuqing

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For the recommendation votes from all the readers!