Skill Book

Qin Ran lay sprawled on the rooftop, feeling as if his whole body were falling apart. Though he had done his utmost to widen the distance, he had still been slightly caught in the explosion.

His entire body ached, and his health had dropped by nearly 50 points.

If his Constitution had not reached E-, giving Qin Ran 200 health points, that blast alone would have put him in a moderately injured state.

Still, it had all been worth it!

Qin Ran took a deep breath and checked the mission panel.

[Side Mission: Shuberk's Madness! (Completed)]

Clearly, the underground boss he had never met had already died in that explosion.

"Qin Ran! Qin Ran!"

Urgent shouts came from the distance.

Qin Ran stood up unsteadily and waved at the approaching Lestrade to show that he was fine.

"You lunatic!"

The deputy chief gave the most straightforward assessment of Qin Ran's actions.

Then he sent two subordinates to help Qin Ran down from the roof.

The two officers did not complain in the slightest. Their gazes toward Qin Ran were filled with deep admiration.

Qin Ran's actions had completely won them over.

From his Shooting, to his agile movements, to saving their deputy chief and fellow officer.

And then there had been that life-risking assault just now!

Every one of those deeds was enough to earn respect, let alone all of them being performed by one person.

In fact, it was not just the ordinary officers. Even Deputy Chief Lestrade's impression of Qin Ran had changed greatly.

However, the deputy chief's stubbornness kept him from showing it.

"Prepare to put out the fire. See if there are any survivors!"

Lestrade instructed the subordinates who could still move freely.

No one believed anyone could have survived the earlier explosion.

But the fire still had to be put out.

Even though it was an isolated two-story building, no one could be sure that sparks would not ride the night wind somewhere else.

Bucket after bucket of water was poured over the blazing flames, sending hissing steam into the air.

Then, rapid footsteps sounded from afar.

Tap tap tap!

The uniforms, still clearly visible in the darkness, and especially the tall figure at the front, told everyone that Chief John had arrived with reinforcements.

Everyone greeted Chief John one after another.

Qin Ran was no exception.

However, he was somewhat distracted.

Because as the flames died down, a book wrapped in white light gradually emerged from the sea of fire.

A skill book!

There was no need to identify it. Qin Ran knew what it was the moment he saw it.

After all, there was only one kind of book in the entire Underground Game that would be wrapped in light: a skill book!

From what he had learned through exchanges with Lawless, Qin Ran knew clearly that skill books were divided into grades.

White, green, orange, and gold!

Four known grades.

White represented the ordinary grade. Most of the skills Qin Ran possessed were of this grade.

Green represented the magic grade. As the name implied, such skills could produce effects similar to magic.

Orange meant rare, while gold meant legendary. According to Lawless, skills of those grades were as rare and legendary as their names suggested.

As for whether there were skills of even higher grades?

Lawless had said he did not know either.

Because so far, the highest-grade skill ever to appear in the Underground Game had been a gold skill representing legend.

The appearance of that gold skill book had even sparked a war in the Underground Game's main world.

Not some minor scuffle like Steam City or Steel Chariot.

It had been the kind of war that left countless dead and wounded.

Qin Ran clearly remembered the faintly fearful silence Lawless had fallen into when mentioning that matter, even though they had only been communicating through text.

Naturally, Qin Ran had not pressed for more details.

Thus, he had learned even more.

Aside from skill books of those grades, there was also a special kind of skill book, purple in color!

Qin Ran's [Tracking] was of that grade.

Special skills could be extremely powerful or extremely weak. They simply could not be defined by ordinary standards.

Qin Ran had already experienced that firsthand.

Master-level [Tracking] had no direct combat ability whatsoever, but in terms of support, it had long become indispensable to Qin Ran.

Likewise, Qin Ran would not look down on a white skill book.

After all, his current strength had been built up through skill books just like this one.

Moreover, in the Secret Market established by veteran players, a white skill book sold for between 1,000 and 2,000 points.

As for higher-grade ones?

Unless someone was out of their mind or truly desperate, they would definitely keep them to learn themselves.

So the instant Qin Ran saw this skill book, he forgot all about the pain.

He even made a somewhat arbitrary and unreliable suggestion to Chief John.

"John, have everyone put out the fire faster. There might be some clues left behind!"

"Mm!"

Chief John nodded at Qin Ran's suggestion.

The friendship between them made Chief John willing to accept such an arbitrary, unreliable suggestion.

Besides, he himself was filled with doubts.

Where had Shuberk gotten so many firearms and explosives?

Dozens of firearms and a huge pile of explosives had already gone far beyond the scope of an ordinary thug or hooligan.

The fire was swiftly extinguished.

Not only did the police contribute, but after confirming it was safe, civilians came out to help as well.

Some curious bystanders even asked what exactly had happened.

But Qin Ran and Chief John had no time to deal with them.

The two entered the nearly ruined site almost simultaneously.

The moment he entered, Qin Ran headed straight for the skill book.

[Skill Book Discovered: Gunpowder Weapons: Explosives!]

[Learn?]

Naturally, there was nothing to hesitate over. Qin Ran decisively chose to learn it.

[Skill Learned: Gunpowder Weapons: Explosives]

[Name: Gunpowder Weapons: Explosives (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility]

[Skill Type: Attack]

[Effect: You know how to use weapons such as homemade explosives, detonators, grenades, and hand grenades, increasing destructive power by 10%]

[Cost: Stamina]

[Learning Requirement: None]

[Note: You had better make sure whatever you throw will not hurt you!]

Qin Ran examined the skill information, feeling the knowledge in his mind coordinate with his body. He nodded in satisfaction.

Grenades were one of his indispensable means of dealing with enemies. Having a matching skill was naturally like giving wings to a tiger.

Unfortunately, if he wanted to raise the skill level, he had to finish the game dungeon and return to his room.

Having accomplished the most important thing, Qin Ran turned to look at Chief John, who was still carefully searching through the ruins, and frowned slightly.

Qin Ran knew very well what Chief John was looking for.

After all, he had been the one to make that unreliable suggestion earlier!

But Qin Ran had done so because of the skill book that had suddenly appeared.

Now that he had obtained it, Qin Ran could not simply say, "Let's go," or claim his earlier words had been a joke. That would not fit his identity in the game.

Therefore, after sighing, Qin Ran joined the serious search.

And the result?

Naturally, it was obvious.

For an entire hour, all Qin Ran found was charred debris after charred debris!

Chief John was no different.

The two exchanged a glance, gave up the search, and stood to walk out of the ruins.

"There might be a secret passage, an underground chamber, or something like that!"

Deputy Chief Lestrade was still unwilling to give up.

"Send people to clear this place out. Dig three feet into the ground!"

Chief John was similarly unwilling to give up. After assigning the deputy chief full responsibility for the matter, he gestured for Qin Ran to return to the police station with him.

Seeing that Chief John clearly wanted to say something, Qin Ran did not refuse.

They returned to the police station without incident.

It was still the chief's office. The moment they entered, Chief John began smoking.

Even after smoking two cigarettes in a row, Chief John remained silent.

"Is it that hard to say?"

Qin Ran stopped waiting and asked first.

"Yes!"

"Harder than you imagine!"

"If things are as I suspect, then everything will become troublesome!"

Chief John nodded forcefully and spoke in a low voice.

"The military, huh? That is troublesome."

"I've been running into trouble connected to the military a lot lately."

Qin Ran sighed with the first sentence. For the second, he lowered his voice and mocked himself so quietly that only he could hear.

The matter concerning Shuberk was now very clear.

This thug had wanted to seize the position left vacant by Black Hand Jimmy's disappearance, so he had contacted a supporter. By coincidence, that supporter also needed a lackey like Shuberk to handle matters he could not deal with personally.

So he had supplied a large quantity of firearms and explosives.

As for where a supporter capable of supplying so many firearms and explosives came from, anyone with even a little sense could figure it out.

The military!

No one but people from there could control such a large quantity of weapons.

Even if those explosives had been carefully disguised to look like homemade bombs.

That was nothing more than self-deception!

Anyone who had truly thought about it would never believe those homemade explosives had been made by Shuberk or any of his subordinates.

If they had possessed such talent, Shuberk would have become famous long ago.

More directly, if the maker had been Shuberk or one of his subordinates, the skill book Qin Ran obtained would not have been [Gunpowder Weapons: Explosives]. It should have been a life skill related to making explosives.

However, that was not what worried people the most.

It was not unusual for powerful figures to secretly collude with thugs to get things done.

What was unusual was Shuberk's utter lawlessness!

No matter how powerful an underground force was, it would not openly clash with the police.

But Shuberk had done exactly that!

And he had done it thoroughly!

If Qin Ran had not intervened today, things would have become impossible to predict, and the military's appearance would have become inevitable.

And Shuberk's supporter happened to be from the military.

If there was nothing suspicious about that, Qin Ran would be the first not to believe it.

Qin Ran leaned back in his chair, settling into a more comfortable position as he looked at Chief John.

"What are you going to do?"

He asked.

Welcome, readers. The latest, fastest, and hottest serialized works are all available here! Mobile users, please read on.