Nine Skills, Fully Loaded

Gan Ming sent a short message.

"Hello, Brother He. I'm Gan Ming, the one you met in the elevator last night. This is my number. I hope you'll give me plenty of guidance and look after me in the future."

After sending it, he kept his phone in his hand instead of putting it into his ring.

Zhou Sheng glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

Seeing Gan Ming messaging someone, he said nothing.

About ten seconds later.

The phone buzzed.

He Yuan replied with four words:

"Got it, brother."

A few seconds later, another message arrived.

"Had breakfast? Want to come out and hang out?"

Gan Ming replied, "Maybe next time. I'm on my way to level up."

He Yuan replied, "Going nonstop? You're really pushing yourself?"

Gan Ming replied, "I'm broke. Can't help it."

The other side sent a voice message.

Gan Ming tapped it open. He Yuan's voice carried obvious morning grogginess, but he laughed heartily.

"Ha ha ha... alright, you're something else. But don't just focus on killing monsters. Eat when you should, drink when you should, and enjoy the privileges of being an Awakened. Contact me when you're free. Your brother will treat you."

Gan Ming replied with a text: "Definitely. I'll ask for your guidance in person another day."

After sending it, he reviewed the chat history again.

Four exchanges back and forth.

He hadn't asked about his level, talent, or which zone he was heading to.

He had a good sense of boundaries.

Gan Ming put his phone into his ring.

Travel Peace Residence, third floor, suite.

On the large bed, He Yuan tossed his phone onto the nightstand.

The woman on his left turned over groggily, while the one on his right slept even more deeply.

He Yuan folded both arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

"Gan Ming."

He muttered the name, then yawned.

He turned over, pulled up the blanket, and went back to sleep.

The car drove for another twenty-odd minutes.

The buildings outside grew sparser, and the asphalt road turned into a gravel road.

There were more and more cracks in the walls lining both sides of the road. Red-and-white warnings had been spray-painted across them:

"Fallen Zone Vigilance Line. Non-Awakened personnel prohibited."

"Sir, the outskirts of Tunnel Zone Seven are up ahead."

Zhou Sheng shifted down and slowed the car.

"I can't enter the inside. I can only take you this far."

Gan Ming gave a grunt.

He took three hundred-yuan bills from his ring and placed them on the passenger seat.

"I don't know when I'll be coming out today. I'll call you before I do."

Zhou Sheng picked up the money and was just about to say, "You've given me too much,"

but when he saw Gan Ming's expression, he swallowed the words.

"Alright! Call me, and I'll be here within half an hour!"

Gan Ming pushed open the door and got out.

The gravel road stretched another two or three hundred meters ahead.

Around the corner, he could see the outline of a gray concrete sentry post.

He had only taken seven or eight steps.

Then Zhou Sheng's quiet muttering came from behind him.

"God of Wealth... please make sure you come back safe and sound."

Gan Ming didn't stop walking and continued onward.

The taxi engine started, turned around, and drove back toward the city.

Gan Ming was the only person on the gravel road.

He raised a hand and brought up his attribute panel, switching to the skills page.

Forty-seven skills, but only nine slots.

He needed to arrange them carefully.

First, he had to establish the core.

Fanged Charge was a must.

Charge after every three strikes. It hurt no matter who it hit.

Bark Armor was a must.

Only with this shell could he confidently trade blows with anything.

Beast Scent was a must.

Honestly, among the skills he had stolen were Eagle-Eye Vision and Danger Sense. Neither was lacking in terms of individual function.

But Beast Scent was purely passive. It didn't need to be actively activated, had no cooldown, and could run all day.

With a sensing radius of over ninety meters, whenever something approached, its scent arrived first.

What he wanted wasn't "seeing far."

What he wanted was "knowing whether anyone was nearby."

Three slots were settled.

Six remained.

Gan Ming's gaze fell on the two skills he had stolen from the man with twin swords.

Dual-Wield Mastery and Double Blades.

He had already tested the practical effect of pairing those two with Fanged Charge yesterday.

They were powerful!

Each Standard Dual-Blade Short Sword had 19 physical attack, and equipping them as a pair granted an additional 8% attack speed.

Double Blades added another 17% damage bonus, while Dual-Wield Mastery added 23% attack speed and 18% accuracy.

Charge after every three strikes, then unleash a charged attack's physical damage.

Both hands charged at once.

Gan Ming didn't hesitate in the slightest and directly gave two slots to Dual-Wield Mastery and Double Blades.

Next, Lock-On.

The masked female crossbow user's innate talent.

It marked a target, increasing both accuracy and critical hit rate against it by 28%.

The mark lasted until the target died or he actively changed targets.

He had tested it while cutting down the Elite Giant Scorpion yesterday. It worked the same in melee combat.

A free 28% accuracy and 28% critical hit rate.

Paired with Fanged Charge's charged strike, if it crit...

There was no need to explain. Activate it.

Three slots remained.

But there were four skills he wanted to bring.

Swift Dash. Shadowmeld. Shadowstep. Hard Shell.

Choose three out of four.

Gan Ming stopped walking, stroked his chin, and stared at the skill list on the panel.

"Such a hard choice..." he muttered quietly.

There were no longer enough slots.

After weighing it for a few seconds, Gan Ming first settled on Shadowmeld and Shadowstep.

Those were the dagger user's signature abilities.

One granted invisibility, the other teleportation. Together, they formed a complete assassination kit.

With Shadowmeld, his safety in the Fallen Zone would double.

Avoid fights he didn't want, and seize the initiative in fights he did.

With Shadowstep, he could blink behind a target and immediately begin charging as he slashed.

Eight.

One final slot.

Swift Dash or Hard Shell?

Gan Ming looked upward at the eight skills he had already selected.

His gaze moved back and forth between Fanged Charge and Shadowstep.

Wait.

With Shadowmeld and Shadowstep, he already had mobility and the ability to strike first.

Ambush's charge and stun overlapped in function with Shadowstep.

Besides, his approach today wasn't to charge head-on. It was to launch sneak attacks.

So Ambush had lower priority than Hard Shell.

He decisively activated Hard Shell.

As for Swift Dash...

It didn't matter. Switching skills had no cooldown, so he could do it anytime.

Whenever he needed to run, he could replace Hard Shell with Swift Dash.

Then switch it back after the fight. It would only take an instant.

Gan Ming looked over the final nine activated skills.

Current active skills (9/9):

Fanged Charge +7 (Passive): After every 2 basic attacks, launches a charged attack, dealing 285% physical damage.

Bark Armor +7 (Active): Increases own defense by 155% for 15 minutes. Costs 20 mana.

Beast Scent +7 (Passive): Sensing range of approximately 95 meters. Can distinguish scent type, direction, and intensity.

Dual-Wield Mastery +7 (Passive): When equipping two one-handed weapons simultaneously, attack speed +23%, dual-wield weapon accuracy +18%.

Double Blades +7 (Passive): When equipping dual-wield weapons, damage from each weapon increases by 18%.

Lock-On +7 (Innate Talent): Marks one target. Attack accuracy and critical hit rate against the marked target each increase by 40%. The mark lasts until the target dies or is actively canceled. Only one target may be marked at a time.

Shadowmeld +7 (Active): Greatly reduces own presence and produces no sound while moving. Lasts until actively canceled or an attack is launched. Cooldown: 18 seconds. Costs 13 mana.

Shadowstep +7 (Active): Instantly teleports a short distance behind the target. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Costs 10 mana.

Hard Shell +7 (Passive): Reduces physical attack damage taken by a fixed 24 points.

Now he had a complete setup for melee burst damage, stealthy ambushes, passive damage reduction, and all-day sensing.

He would see how it performed in actual combat once the fighting started. If it didn't work, he could adjust it.

He raised a hand and applied a layer of Bark Armor to himself.

A faint green film flashed across his skin, then sank beneath the armor plates.

The defense value on his panel updated.

[Defense: 108]

Gan Ming looked at the number and nodded in satisfaction.

Preparations complete.

Time to get to work.