As a mentally mature adult, Zhang Ping naturally wouldn't make a fuss like some hotheaded kid when faced with something like this.
He calmly entered the school building and found the faculty office. But when he saw from outside that one of the teachers was also a fox wearing human skin, he walked past the office without changing expression and did not go in to seek help.
It seemed teachers might not be reliable either.
These foxes were clearly Mutated Beasts, but just how strong they were remained unknown.
If he exposed them and these Mutated Beasts decided to go all out and start slaughtering people in the school, he would be finished if the teachers could not be trusted.
Besides, he had no evidence. His word alone meant nothing.
If the teacher did not believe him, he might instead alert the enemy and put himself in danger.
"What a surprise."
Zhang Ping entered the restroom. His feelings were somewhat complicated. After standing there for a while, he came back out and headed toward the classroom.
This was troublesome.
Two Mutated Beasts had actually infiltrated a single school. Could there be even more Mutated Beasts throughout the city?
Or, thinking in an even worse direction, who exactly was the true master of this city?
Zhang Ping lay facedown on his desk, narrowing his eyes until only a sliver remained open as he watched the scenery outside the window. It seems there's still a lot about my ability that I don't understand.
The human skins worn by those two Mutated Beasts were extremely old. They had clearly been hiding in the school for far more than a day or two.
But before swallowing the Greed Gem, he had been just like most of his classmates, completely unaware that Luo Shiyu and that unfamiliar teacher were Mutated Beasts.
Therefore, this change had to have come from the Greed Gem he had swallowed.
Zhang Ping opened his hand, and in the next moment, a Greed Gem condensed in his palm. He squinted at it, then opened his mouth and swallowed it after a moment.
After all, there was no rule saying one person could only eat one Greed Gem. Since this change had come from the Greed Gem he had eaten yesterday, what would happen if he ate another one?
After swallowing the gem, Zhang Ping suddenly understood. It was completely different from yesterday's Sword Unity. This time, he felt something akin to Heavenly Communion, as though his entire being had been sublimated.
Several minutes later, he opened his eyes and felt that the entire world had become bright and vivid.
He looked at a desk not far away and keenly caught a faint scent of blood. Then a horrifying scene naturally appeared before his eyes: a teacher lectured fluently from the podium during class, while a massive fox stood in the classroom, gnawing on a student's head. Neither the teacher nor the students noticed anything.
[Appraisal successful] [Bloodstained Desk: Once, an outstanding student was murdered by a Mutated Beast without anyone noticing. This Bloodstained Desk faithfully recorded everything.]
Two lines of text suddenly appeared before Zhang Ping's eyes. He was slightly startled and immediately looked at the other desks, but none of them triggered this inexplicably acquired ability.
After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head and looked at himself. After staring for about a minute, lines of text suddenly began appearing before his eyes.
[Appraisal successful] [Summoned Beast: Zhang Ping] [Master: Zhang Ping] [Race: Human] [Potential: ???] [Lifespan: 89] [Talents] [Contract Gem: Can consume stamina + mental power to condense a Contract Gem. Once a target willingly accepts a Contract Gem, their life, soul, and consciousness will all be controlled by the summoner. At the same time, they will gain the summoner's potential and luck enhancement. After taking it for the first time, each subsequent use will slightly increase their own potential, with a 1% chance of awakening a new talent. Note: This talent ability was obtained by summoner Zhang Ping at the cost of overdrawing intelligence, potential, and luck. Although extremely powerful, it also possesses some enormous flaw. Excessive ambition does not seem to be a good thing.] [Absolute Command: You possess absolute authority over summoned beasts. Your commands cannot be disobeyed by summoned beasts.] [Absolute Obedience: You absolutely obey the summoner's commands. You will faithfully carry out the summoner's commands.] [Unstable Appraisal: Can appraise a target, with an extremely small chance of obtaining the target's information. The smaller the gap in strength between both sides, the greater the chance of successfully acquiring information. Note: A talent ability born from the thirst for knowledge of summoned beast Zhang Ping and summoner Zhang Ping.]
He had really appraised something!
Zhang Ping's eyes lit up. He had not expected to actually obtain information through Appraisal.
But when he saw that the summoned beast was himself and the summoner was also himself, he could not help but find it both amusing and absurd.
Did that mean he was both his own father and his own son?
Fortunately, this brought a new benefit: he possessed absolute authority over his own consciousness. That meant other beings could not influence his subjective awareness.
Next, he carefully read through all the appraised information. Even with how steady he usually was, the corners of his mouth could not help but rise slightly.
So his ability was not called Greed Gem at all. It was called Contract Gem.
The Contract Gem's ability was far more powerful than he had imagined.
Awakening a new talent essentially meant awakening a second, third, or even fourth superpower. That was practically infinite possibility.
Generally speaking, every person only had one ability.
Although that ability would continually grow stronger through practice, and its methods of use could be broadened, at its core, it was still only one ability.
But the Contract Gem could continuously raise a summoned beast's potential and even awaken new abilities. That was terrifying.
After understanding his own information, Zhang Ping had a general idea of the situation.
What he needed to do now was survive properly. As long as he stayed alive, there was hope.
But that did not mean he would do nothing. First, he had to figure out the city's true situation. He did not need to know every detail, but he at least needed to know whether Mingzhu City was ruled by humans or Mutated Beasts.
He did not want his own desk to become a Bloodstained Desk as well.
Noon.
After class ended, Zhang Ping hastily ate lunch before leaving the school.
He had already thought of an excuse during class. He planned to visit Su Jingyao at the Patrol Team and take the opportunity to see just how many Mutated Beasts there were in the city.
As he walked down the street, he soon saw a humanoid fox in a cold weapons shop. The fox sat with one leg crossed over the other, eating a human arm while reading a newspaper. In everyone else's eyes, they were probably just an ordinary middle-aged person, gnawing on chicken feet while reading the paper.
[Appraisal successful] [Mutated Beast: Heavenly Fox] [Race: Mutated Fox] [Potential: Unknown] [Lifespan: Unknown] [Talents] [Cognitive Distortion: Possesses a field capable of distorting the cognition of living beings and can alter a target's cognition.] [Conventionality Reversal: When performing actions that violate common sense, can overturn a target's common sense and forcibly prevent the target from noticing abnormalities.]
Zhang Ping continued forward without stopping in the slightest.
After reading the appraisal results, he immediately realized that the Heavenly Foxes had likely infiltrated all of Mingzhu City.
Fortunately, he had not rashly reported them. Otherwise, the one who died would definitely have been him, not the Heavenly Foxes.
Next, he discovered quite a few Heavenly Foxes along the way. These foxes swaggered through the streets, even talking to people as though nothing was wrong. They bargained with one another and even got into arguments. They possessed intelligence no less than that of humans!
Two hours later, he arrived at Patrol Unit Headquarters. He walked to the information desk and asked, "Excuse me, I'm looking for someone."
"Hello. Who are you looking for?" a Heavenly Fox behind the counter asked hoarsely.
Without changing expression, Zhang Ping replied, "Su Jingyao. She should have reported here today."
"I'll check." The Heavenly Fox nodded and began looking through the records.
A moment later, they looked at Zhang Ping and said, "Su Jingyao is still at headquarters. Would you like me to notify her to come over?"
"Yes, sorry for the trouble." Zhang Ping nodded.
[Appraisal successful] [Mutated Beast: Heavenly Fox] [Race: Mutated Fox] [Potential: Unknown] [Lifespan: Unknown] [Talents] [Cognitive Distortion: You possess a field capable of distorting the cognition of living beings and can alter a target's cognition.] [Uncanny Trust: The vast majority of living beings will instinctively trust you.]
This Heavenly Fox's attributes were stronger than those of the previous Heavenly Fox!
Most humans only had one talent ability, but Mutated Beasts were different. They generally possessed two or more, and having three was not uncommon. This was also the fundamental reason humans could only cower within cities. Mutated Beasts were simply far stronger than humans.
In this world, if humans did not possess intelligence, understand division of labor and cooperation, and know how to use tools, they would absolutely be at the very bottom of the food chain.
A moment later, Zhang Ping heard footsteps. He looked up, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.
Two Heavenly Foxes approached. One wore Su Jingyao's human skin over their forehead. The skin was dripping with blood, making for an extremely horrifying sight.
"Zhang Ping, why did you come looking for me?" the Heavenly Fox asked hoarsely after walking up to him.
Zhang Ping smiled. "I was mainly worried that you might not adapt to the Patrol Team. How does it feel? If you can't handle it, you might as well come farm with me."
"Who wants to farm with you? Only by joining the Patrol Team can I grow stronger. In the future, I'll go out and kill Mutated Beasts to avenge my parents!" the Heavenly Fox replied irritably.
Zhang Ping sighed. "All right. It seems you've adapted well, so I'm relieved."
"You've really decided to farm?" the Heavenly Fox asked.
Zhang Ping shrugged helplessly. "What choice do I have when I awakened a Useless Tier ability? I'm leaving. It may be a very, very long time before we meet again."
"Mm. Until next time." The Heavenly Fox nodded, then turned and left.
Zhang Ping calmly walked out of Patrol Unit Headquarters. He looked up at the blue sky and let out a long sigh after quite a while, looking like a boy who had just suffered heartbreak.
Next, he entered the restaurant diagonally across from the headquarters.
From the restaurant, he could see the entrance to Patrol Unit Headquarters. He ordered a cup of tea and sat by the window.
Being brave did not mean being reckless, and being angry did not mean he could indulge himself. In his previous life, Zhang Ping had been a member of the Rescue Team. Although a fire burned inside him, the angrier he became, the calmer he was.
An entire afternoon passed. Only after obtaining the information he needed did he return to school.
There was not a single living human in the entire Patrol Team. They were all Heavenly Foxes.
That was the conclusion he reached after observing them for an afternoon. In other words, anyone who joined the Patrol Team had effectively been sentenced to death.
The Patrol Team had already been completely controlled by the Heavenly Foxes. To them, Mingzhu City had become an undefended hunting ground, and every human was livestock they raised.
No wonder Heavenly Foxes had even appeared in the school. Mingzhu City had long since fallen.