Transfer

"Ah!"

After a sharp scream, the armed thug was stabbed through the heart by Qin Ran's dagger. His lips trembled slightly, but he could not say anything.

Qin Ran watched it all coldly.

From the very beginning, Qin Ran had never intended to spare him.

Especially after learning how Vulture had used women in his deal with that rebel major.

"Everyone who hangs around Vulture is a bad person!"

Qin Ran once again understood the meaning behind Colin's words.

Qin Ran did not consider himself a good person. Having had to make a living from an early age, he had long seen some of the world's darkness, so he could not simply define justice and light. But neither did he consider himself a bad person, because he could still hold to his bottom line. Even at the very end, he had never harmed innocent people for his own sake.

The Federation's sound laws naturally played a part in that.

They were enough to inspire awe.

But more than that, it was Qin Ran's own kindness.

You did not have to be merciful, but you had to be kind and not harm the happiness of others!

That was the belief Qin Ran embraced.

And had always upheld.

Qin Ran did not know whether he would change someday, but the current him would not.

Huff!

Qin Ran slowly let out a breath and quickly gathered his thoughts.

He knew this was not the time to think about such things. What he needed to consider was the matter before him.

[Slash: Deals 10 points of damage to the opponent's Health, crippling them...]

[Slash: Deals 10 points of damage to the opponent's Health, crippling them...]

[Slash: Deals 10 points of damage to the opponent's Health, crippling them...]

Qin Ran checked the system log.

There were three consecutive records of effective attacks with the kitchen knife, yet no prompt for learning a skill appeared.

Not only that, his previous threats and other words had been effective as well, but there had likewise been no prompt for learning a skill.

"There are restrictions on learning skills! At least, skills involving verbal interaction, such as [Intimidation] and [Trade], have not appeared. Or perhaps I'm using the wrong method! But the kitchen knife belongs to the category of bladed weapons, so a corresponding skill should have appeared! Unless... the game has restricted it!"

Qin Ran suddenly frowned.

He had thought of a possibility!

Because this was a Beginner Instance, the Underground Game had given players certain benefits to help them survive more easily. But those benefits were not unlimited. They had restrictions!

In a Beginner Instance, as long as something was effectively triggered three times, one could obtain the corresponding skill. That was true!

But it was probably only the first skill of the same type!

For example, once [Cold Weapon] had been triggered, the remaining skills with the "Cold Weapon" prefix naturally could not be triggered or learned!

To learn them, one could only follow the Underground Game's rules rather than the Beginner Instance's benefit rules.

"If that's the case..."

Qin Ran frowned.

This was clearly beyond Qin Ran's expectations.

Originally, he had captured the armed thug not only to learn about Vulture, but more importantly to obtain skills and rapidly strengthen himself in a short time.

But the Underground Game's designers had already established rules to prevent such a thing from happening.

It would give you the ability to protect yourself, but it would not make you powerful for no reason.

After all, cheats would only ruin a game.

Although Qin Ran would not have minded using a cheat for the sake of his life, he could only follow the game's rules now.

"I wonder whether raising the level of the first skill I've already learned follows the Beginner Instance's benefit rules,

or the standard rules?"

Qin Ran guessed.

If it was the former, that would be fine.

But if it was the latter, things would naturally become even harder for Qin Ran!

Still, he lacked basic information at the moment, making it impossible for him to reach an accurate conclusion.

In the end, Qin Ran shook his head hard and cast all those thoughts out of his mind. He stood and gestured to the watchful Colin.

Although his plan to rapidly strengthen himself had fallen through, the rest had been accomplished.

And more than accomplished!

The armed thug had not only fully told Qin Ran everything he wanted to know, but had also revealed Vulture's greatest secret—his collusion with the rebels.

"Bastard, how could he do something like that!"

After Qin Ran briefly told Colin everything he had learned, she growled angrily.

As a woman herself, Colin naturally understood what those women were about to suffer.

"That bitch will go to hell even after she dies!"

Furious, Colin cursed under her breath.

"So, we need to send him to hell."

Qin Ran said.

"Mm!"

Colin nodded.

"However, before that, we need to deal with our spoils. Only after we've properly handled all of them can we have a good fight with Vulture!"

Qin Ran pointed at the guns and body armor.

Qin Ran would not abandon these spoils, just as every player would always fill their storage and backpack with items from a game.

Even if some of those items were not particularly valuable.

Qin Ran was the same.

What was more, he did not think his spoils were worthless.

"Leave it to me!"

Colin said confidently.

"You're not taking them back to our previous hideout, are you? It was well hidden, but it isn't safe anymore!"

Qin Ran asked.

Before last night, Colin's hideout had naturally been extremely well concealed and safe.

But after its general direction had been exposed, its safety had greatly decreased.

Vulture's people could search based on that general direction, and so could everyone else.

Qin Ran did not want to fight Vulture to the death only to discover that his spoils had been stolen.

Especially since, if he faced defeat, these spoils would be vital supplies for making a comeback. He absolutely could not afford to lose any of them.

Facing Vulture's greatly increased numbers, even with the strength brought by his skills, Qin Ran did not have absolute confidence.

Naturally, he had to consider what to do if he failed.

"Do you think I'm that stupid? I have more than one hideout—pack up the things and follow me!"

Colin acted as she spoke.

She first returned to their previous hideout and took all the useful supplies. Then she led Qin Ran out of the Garden Villa District.

There were nine pistols. Aside from one each for Qin Ran and Colin, the rest were placed in Qin Ran's backpack along with the canned food and other supplies, making it bulge.

The body armor was distributed the same way, except Colin tied it up with rope and hung it, along with some items retrieved from the hideout, on herself.

Immediately, Colin appeared somewhat clumsy as she walked.

Although Qin Ran was not having an easy time either, he believed he could carry more, so he instinctively wanted to help Colin.

But Colin refused.

"If you want to carry out your plan, you need enough stamina. We don't have much food, water, or time left—if we can't reach my other hideout on Sixth Avenue within an hour, you won't be able to complete your plan before dawn today!"

Colin's refusal left Qin Ran no room to argue.

More than three hours had already passed since their fight with Vulture's men and the subsequent interrogation. It was already past one in the morning.

Around six, dawn would break, and rebel patrols would appear in the streets.

Therefore, Qin Ran had less than five hours left.

Including the travel time, he did not even have four hours.

That was naturally not good news for Qin Ran.

Although he had obtained enough information from the prisoner, an on-site investigation was still necessary, and that would undoubtedly take time.

"We need to move faster!"

Qin Ran said.

"Of course!"

As Colin spoke, she increased her pace by more than a little, and Qin Ran followed closely behind.

Forty-five minutes later, a panting Colin led Qin Ran into a building that had mostly collapsed.

By Qin Ran's estimate, it had originally been a two-story clothing store. The toppled and shattered mannequin figures were enough to prove it.

Following Colin, Qin Ran crawled through a passage formed by a collapsed section and a supporting wall. In a corner at the rear of the building, they found the door to an underground warehouse.

"Before the war, I worked here, so I knew the owner had an underground warehouse—this place is safe enough, so I made it my last hideout!"

Colin said as she opened the warehouse door.

Qin Ran nodded and entered.

The warehouse was even larger than their previous hideout. Even after Qin Ran and Colin entered with a pile of spoils, it still looked empty.

Sitting inside the warehouse, Qin Ran handed the remaining water to Colin.

"You need it more than I do!"

Colin refused again, even though her throat was dry and burning.

"Just one sip!"

Qin Ran insisted.

"Fine!"

Colin nodded, picked up the bottled water, and took a small sip to moisten her dry throat. Then she returned it to Qin Ran. No matter how Qin Ran urged her to drink more, Colin would not budge.

After that, Qin Ran poured more than half of the remaining water into his mouth.

Colin's throat was dry, and so was Qin Ran's.

His was even worse.

After all, Qin Ran had expended a great deal of energy in the previous fight.

Even though his data-based body could recover stamina quickly, hidden states such as [Dehydration] and [Hunger] still existed.

Watching Qin Ran drink, Colin understood that he was just as thirsty.

Yet despite his thirst, Qin Ran had still thought of her. That touched a soft place in Colin's heart.

It was the first time she had felt such a thing since the war began.