Shukuchi

Zhang Chengyan's proposed cooperation was simple: the Investigation Bureau would provide resources, while Lu Chengchuan would provide manpower. Each would get what they needed.

Lu Chengchuan was naturally very willing. The Investigation Bureau had quite a few good things, and he had many needs when it came to martial arts. Cooperating with the Investigation Bureau was the right choice.

"Of course. I certainly hope to cooperate with the Investigation Bureau."

At the very least, he needed to cooperate for now. He had to gather as many martial arts techniques as possible and kill more monsters to strengthen himself.

"This is our special contact phone. Take it. If anything comes up, you can contact Yaning. If we need anything, we'll discuss it with you through this phone as well."

Once they had settled the cooperation details, Zhang Chengyan took out a phone. They used special phones for internal communication. However, Lu Chengchuan was an outsider, so the phone given to him was a "standalone version" that could only contact one person directly.

Lu Chengchuan took the phone. They chatted for a while longer, but Zhang Chengyan had matters to attend to, and Lu Chengchuan wanted to look through the two martial arts manuals in his hands. Their thoughts aligned, and he soon left the office.

"You were quite impressive this time. After fighting the Investigation Bureau, you went on to fight the military."

"Captain Zhou, please stop making fun of me. Trouble yourself to see me out. I'm afraid soldiers might stop me halfway there." Now that everything was settled, Lu Chengchuan only wanted to leave.

This was the Armed Forces Department, after all. As an outsider, it was inconvenient for him to walk around freely.

After the joke, Zhou Yaning escorted him out. Along the way, she could not suppress her curiosity. "Just how strong are you? Is martial arts really that easy to learn?"

Someone who had nearly died of illness had become an expert in less than a month. Was that reasonable...?

"I thought you weren't the gossipy type, Captain Zhou."

"This has nothing to do with gossip. If your experience were made public, at least nine out of ten people would be curious."

Lu Chengchuan shook his head without speaking. Zhou Yaning had no choice either. If he did not want to say anything, could she really arrest him and bring him back for interrogation?

Zhou Yaning escorted him to the gates of the Armed Forces Department. "All right, head back on your own. I still have matters to handle."

"Goodbye."

Lu Chengchuan waved and headed toward a nearby subway station.

Ever since the monsters had appeared, every subway station had a squad of armed soldiers on patrol. They had to guard against monsters appearing, as well as people with ulterior motives coming in to carry out terrorist attacks.

He took the subway home. When his mother saw him return, she told him something.

She had bought a secondhand apartment. It did not need renovations; they only needed to buy some furniture before moving in. His mother said they would move in the next few days and asked him to find time to go see the new home with her.

"Oh, I understand."

Lu Chengchuan had no particular expectations for the new home. Right now, his mind was entirely on martial arts and monsters.

After returning to his room, Lu Chengchuan immediately opened the two martial arts manuals.

Very quickly, with the system's help, he spent forty years of lifespan to learn both martial arts techniques.

The Investigation Bureau truly had plenty of good things. Of the two martial arts manuals Zhang Chengyan had given him, one was a Mystic-rank martial art: a movement technique called Shukuchi.

This martial art had only three levels. At the first level, one could shrink twenty meters; at the second, fifty meters; and at the third, once mastered, three hundred meters. This martial art was difficult to learn and even harder to master. A warrior with poor talent might never even get started in an entire lifetime.

Lu Chengchuan had the system. As long as he had enough lifespan, Shukuchi would not be difficult for him.

The other was an external martial art called Bone Contortion. Once mastered, the practitioner could control most of the bones in their body, allowing them to shrink or expand their physique.

The two martial arts techniques appeared in the martial arts section, followed by the words "Can be upgraded."

Bone Contortion required only two years of lifespan to reach mastery. Lu Chengchuan immediately raised it to the highest level, while the first level of Shukuchi required fifteen years of lifespan, an enormously costly expense.

Yet in order to use Shukuchi, Lu Chengchuan still gritted his teeth and spent fifteen years of lifespan to upgrade it.

In less than ten minutes, Lu Chengchuan's remaining lifespan had fallen from over thirty years to fourteen. He could no longer upgrade his remaining martial arts techniques. He needed to find more monsters.

With the first level of the Earth Shrinking Technique, Lu Chengchuan felt that something had changed, yet he could not tell what it was.

He opened his bedroom door and looked toward the far end of the living room. He took a step forward and instinctively used the Earth Shrinking Technique.

The next moment, Lu Chengchuan saw the scenery on both sides rapidly recede. In an instant, he arrived at the other end of the living room, nearly crashing into the wall.

The rental apartment was only a little over fifty square meters. The entire place was not even twenty meters long.

"So this is Shukuchi?"

Lu Chengchuan found it novel. It was beyond his expectations, and the sensation was strange as well. With a single step, he could instantly cross several meters.

However, the Earth Shrinking Technique consumed quite a bit of Inner Energy. After taking just one step, he could already sense a noticeable expenditure of Inner Energy.

After night fell, Lu Chengchuan left the rental apartment. He found a relatively secluded place and prepared to practice Shukuchi there.

On an empty side street, Lu Chengchuan looked into the distance. His gaze locked onto a spot roughly fifteen to twenty meters away.

In the next instant, his figure crossed layers of space and appeared instantly at the spot he had targeted.

Lu Chengchuan took ten consecutive steps, crossing two hundred meters in a flash. At the same time, nearly one-fifth of his Inner Energy had been consumed. Shukuchi truly used up a great deal of Inner Energy.

After using up half of his Inner Energy, Lu Chengchuan stopped practicing and returned home.

On the night marking one month since the monsters had appeared, Lu Chengchuan stood on the balcony, looking at the view outside.

He had already moved into the new home. The apartment his mother had bought was on the twelfth floor. Their building had an excellent view with no obstructions, and he could see a great distance from the balcony.

The city night revealed neither moon nor stars. All Lu Chengchuan could see were sparse clouds.

Just as he was about to return to his bedroom to rest, points of light suddenly appeared one after another in the night sky. They emerged so abruptly that Lu Chengchuan's attention was instantly drawn to them.

The points of light were small and extremely far from the ground, but exceptionally bright. Even ordinary people could see them clearly. More than a hundred points of light broke through the clouds, then suddenly exploded like fireworks and rapidly scattered in every direction.

"Meteors? Or monsters?" Lu Chengchuan muttered.

Something was wrong with them. They did not seem like a natural phenomenon, and he could not help associating them with monsters.

Many people in Anyang City saw the scene and took out their phones to record it. Meanwhile, the staff at the city's meteorological bureau were frantically staring at the rapidly spreading "meteors."

They had detected no abnormal atmospheric phenomena. These meteors seemed to have appeared out of thin air, without the slightest warning. Their superiors were demanding answers and ordering them to provide an explanation as soon as possible.

"What is going on? Is there a problem with the instruments? Or did we fail to detect something?"

The meteorological bureau's director was under enormous pressure. His superiors had called several times. He wanted to answer, but he did not know what to say.

Lu Chengchuan watched a meteor fly toward the vicinity of Anyang City. A loud boom rang out. Something had landed. The exact impact site was unknown, but it should not have been far from Anyang City.

Ring, ring, ring... Ring, ring, ring...

The phone rang. It was the Investigation Bureau's dedicated phone, and Lu Chengchuan immediately answered it.

"Did you see the things in the sky? What were they?"

Zhou Yaning's voice came through. Her usually cool tone carried a trace of urgency.