Get Them into Bed!

The sudden eruption of flames caught everyone off guard. Those at the edge of the crowd were blasted away by the shockwave, while those at the center, engulfed in flames, were sent flying several meters.

Fortunately, Ren Suo and the others had not been too close. Though the blast of heat reached them, it had not even set their pants on fire. Still, the fiery explosion knocked everyone onto their butts, and they stared in utter terror at the Fire Man standing at the dining hall entrance.

That was right—a Fire Man!

All the clothes on his body had burned away. His skin resembled cracked earth, containing crimson flames like molten lava. His hair and eyebrows had all turned to ash and scattered away. Flames that ordinary people would flee from clung to his body like armor!

An Awakening!

Everyone immediately connected him with what Deputy Director Yu Kuangtu had said.

A trainee who was still cultivating his qi vortex had suddenly used such a terrifying spell. Other than an Awakening, there was no other possibility!

Up to now, although most trainees had gradually opened their qi vortices, they still had their doubts—because a qi vortex truly did not feel like the nuclear-reactor-like core described in novels and anime. Most people merely felt as though they had gained another internal organ. While cultivating, they could feel that "organ" growing stronger.

But they could not control it at all.

Take Jie Qiansi, for example. He activated his qi vortex on the third night and was so excited that he could not sleep all night, shouting, "I'm going to develop my ultimate trump card technique..."

Then he fell asleep faster than anyone else.

Imagining that one could manipulate some fictional energy source seemed to be an extremely effective form of self-hypnosis.

Yet right before Ren Suo and the others stood someone who had been an ordinary trainee just days ago, but could now wield powerful spells!

Though this spell was less destructive than grenades or mortars, a person had cast it himself, and it possessed limitless potential! He was a Fire Man now, but one day, he might become a Mars!

"Running naked in broad daylight!"

Hearing Qiao Muyi's startled cry from behind them, everyone lowered their gazes—he really was naked. And like his skin, that part bore cracked traces too. He looked just like a caterpillar about to emerge from its cocoon...

"Ha... hiss..." The Fire Man clutched his throat. Seeing everyone scream and flee from him, an inexplicable sorrow appeared in his eyes. He tried to approach the crowd, but the flames began to dance wildly with his movements!

His feet scorched deep black marks into the floor, while the heat radiating from his body grew more and more intense. Ren Suo and the others could feel the air temperature suddenly rising.

As everyone hurried away from the Fire Man, Ren Suo, who not only failed to retreat but even took several steps forward, became especially conspicuous.

"Brother Suo, what are you doing?" Yuan Dang hurried over and grabbed him. "Run! This guy just powered up!"

Ren Suo, who had been immersed in a strange fluttering excitement, was jolted awake. He looked at the Fire Man, and a trace of struggle appeared on his face—

He had found another key!

Compared to Qiao Muyi, this Fire Man was clearly a high-risk creature. If Ren Suo rushed over and knocked him down now, no one would blame him. They would probably give him a thumbs-up and call him a legend.

But the problem was, Ren Suo could not beat him!

Even with Physical Fitness Optimization and Introduction to Fighting, he was clearly still within the bounds of normal humanity. The Fire Man before him had practically leaped from the technological age into a fantasy world. Unless Ren Suo had a gun, how could he possibly win?

At that moment, several bald heads appeared in the crowd—

No, they had buzz cuts.

Several strong, fit military cultivators pushed through the crowd and walked toward the Fire Man without fear.

"Stop!" one of them shouted. "Take a deep breath. Don't let the spiritual energy invade your brain!"

"Urgh... Aaaah!" The Fire Man straightened and roared. As his voice rang out, a fire lotus bloomed beneath his feet, and sparks danced throughout the entire dining hall!

"If only he were wearing clothes..." Qiao Muyi sighed, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Only now did they understand why every superhero had at least one custom-made pair of underwear—otherwise, no matter how cool you looked, you would end up in an incredibly awkward situation...

The next second, the Fire Man not only ignored their warning, but charged at the three soldiers like the Battle God Ablaze. The black skin covering his body instantly turned into scorching-hot iron!

"Did he lose his mind?" One man grabbed a nearby communal dining table, lifted it with one hand, and smashed it toward the Fire Man. "Subdue him first!"

In an instant, the three soldiers actually charged into the flames without fear. The Fire Man raised his hands to block the dining table's crushing blow. With a crackling explosion, the table shattered into four pieces in midair, and the three soldiers took the opportunity to rush around the Fire Man.

Facing the wildly dancing flames, the soldiers seemed to be wearing invisible battle suits. Whenever the fire touched them, it automatically moved aside. They even dared to directly touch the Fire Man's skin, which was as hot as branding iron!

"Aaaaaah—"

The Fire Man roared as boundless flames erupted from his body again. Yet the three soldiers were completely unharmed as they pinned him firmly to the ground.

Before long, the flames dissipated. The Fire Man's cracked skin returned to normal, and he stopped struggling, lying limply on the floor.

"Eek, three grown men pinning down a naked man and doing that to him in broad daylight..."

An ethereal voice mocked them from all directions. Both the onlookers and the three soldiers were left speechless. Had someone from UC Shock News infiltrated this upright and dignified civil servant group?

"What happened?"

Ren Suo shuddered. Li Dan, the black vest with dark circles under his eyes, walked over at that moment. He seemed to have just finished eating, with grains of rice still stuck to the corner of his mouth. He was startled by the sight of three burly men pinning down a naked man, but he quickly understood. "An Awakening? Take him to the Logistics Department for processing."

Li Dan looked around. "Can anyone explain what happened... I remember you. Do you know what just happened? Hey, haven't you eaten? That's disgusting."

When everyone else had been backing away, Ren Suo had remained standing there watching, so he was naturally conspicuous. Hearing Li Dan, he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. "I just ate... Oh, that guy seemed to get into a fight with someone. Then, while they were fighting, he suddenly burst into flames."

"He fought someone?" Li Dan looked around and saw the trainees outside who had been blown away and burned. "Damn, this got pretty serious... You lot, carry the injured with us to the Logistics Department."

Ren Suo and the others, whom Li Dan had ordered around, exchanged looks. Ren Suo asked, "Shouldn't we use stretchers? We haven't learned first aid..."

"Those people look like they're about to die. Getting them to the Logistics Department for treatment is what matters," Li Dan said. "Those medical officers in Logistics are eating. If we call them over, these people will all be dead by then."

Ren Suo and the others did not object. They organized more than a dozen people to carry the six most severely burned victims along with the soldiers and Li Dan. Five trainees who had been farther away but were still burned followed them as well.

Along the way, they hurried forward carrying six pieces of Charred Remains and one naked man, naturally attracting countless stares. Li Dan walked at the front, playing on his phone as he walked, just like one of those city pedestrians who never looked up from their screens.

The Logistics Department was just inside a courtyard. Two Black Vests were watching an American TV show and eating in the room. When they saw the injured, they casually said, "Put them on the beds."

Li Dan said, "One of them just awakened."

"The naked one? Sigh..." One black vest stood up, still chewing rice, and fiercely slapped the naked man's stomach as he lay on the bed.

A sight that shocked everyone appeared—the white sheet on what looked like a hospital bed suddenly produced strange runes! Four chains shot out from the four bedposts and tightly bound the naked man!

Then he patted the other injured people. Unlike the naked man's bed, the beds of the injured emitted warm light. Before long, cocoons of light formed, completely wrapping the injured.

"Leave already. What are you staring at?" Li Dan reminded the trainees. "It's been so many days already, and you're still scared by such a tiny scene?"

The trainees could not help but smile bitterly. Most of them still had not fully transitioned from the technological age to the age of cultivation.

Ren Suo glanced at Qiao Muyi, then walked up beside Li Dan and asked, "Um... do you still remember me?"

"I remember," Li Dan said. "You always keep haunting me..."

Ren Suo's head hurt. Had this guy never received a proper education? Did he not even know how to use idioms? Still, Ren Suo had his eye on both Qiao Muyi and Li Dan, so naturally he would strike up a conversation and build some rapport whenever he could. "By the way, is Mo Zhaolong an Awakened too?"

"Mo Zhaolong? Oh, that Superpowered Criminal." Li Dan looked at Ren Suo. "Although this is information that shouldn't be disclosed, it's only because ordinary people can't know it. You'll come into contact with it eventually, so I'll tell you..."

"This Superpowered Criminal's Awakening Skill is Sleepy Mist. It can affect nearby people with colorless, odorless mist mutated by spiritual energy. Ordinary people will fall completely unconscious in less than five seconds. He once used this ability to assault several women coming home from night shifts."

Ren Suo was somewhat surprised. "Then how did he still dare become a civil servant...?"

"Who would recruit a Superpowered Criminal? The government. Who might research Superpowers? The government. He thought that by infiltrating the government as a civil servant, he could not only hide himself but also obtain more intelligence through the government. He could even rely on the government for power and status when necessary."

Li Dan smiled. "His thinking was not wrong. If a person with Superpowers voluntarily joined us and had not previously used their Superpower to commit crimes, we would still treat such Awakened well."

"But now, hmph... just as the deputy director said, those who use their Awakening abilities to commit crimes are all sent to the research institute." Li Dan looked at Ren Suo. "By the way... you're from Lianjiang, right? We might be colleagues in the future. My name is Li Dan—Li as in dawn, Dan as in painting."

Ren Suo said, "My name is Ren Suo—Ren as in willful, Suo as in demand."

Li Dan laughed when he heard that. Seeing Ren Suo extend his hand, he shook it, then turned and left.

Ren Suo returned to the dormitory with the other trainees. Someone asked, "Ren Suo, did you know that black cat before?"

"Yeah." Ren Suo told them about his conversation with Li Dan and what had happened with Mo Zhaolong, and everyone began discussing it.

"There's an Awakening Skill like that?"

"That kind of Awakening Skill would be great for treating insomnia."

"Exactly. How could he use it to attack women?"

Qiao Muyi said faintly, "But why do you all look so excited?"

Jie Qiansi declared righteously, "How could that be? We're Party members. How could we harbor such filthy thoughts..."

Ren Suo said nothing along the way. Just before they returned to the dormitory, he suddenly patted the back of Qiao Muyi's neck. Facing her puzzled gaze, he smiled and said, "There was a mosquito behind you. I swatted it away."

Qiao Muyi gave an adorably blank "Oh," but the others' discussion suddenly quieted. A second later, it returned to normal.

Ren Suo did not notice those details. Upon returning to the dormitory, he lay directly on his bed and carefully pondered the voice he had heard earlier:

"Key detected."

"The key is in an unfamiliar state. Beginning acquisition."

"The key has already formed. Acquisition requires 10,999 seconds while continuous contact is maintained. 10,998, 10,997, 10,996..."

That was what he heard when he touched Li Dan.

"Key detected."

"The key is in a friendly state. Beginning acquisition."

"The key has already formed. Acquisition requires 4,600 seconds while continuous contact is maintained. 4,699, 4,698, 4,697..."

That was what he heard when he touched Qiao Muyi.

Previously, when Ren Suo had touched Li Dan, the voice had said, "The key is in an alert state. Acquisition unavailable."

Now it had changed to an unfamiliar state, which meant Li Dan's impression of Ren Suo could change the difficulty of acquiring the key. In other words, the better their relationship became, the lower the acquisition difficulty would be!

In terms of combat ability, Ren Suo definitely could not defeat Li Dan, an experienced black vest. But Li Dan's change proved that Ren Suo had a highly viable method of acquiring keys that required no violence at all—

Sleep with them until they submitted!

Well, as long as they could sleep peacefully in front of Ren Suo, he could easily obtain their keys.

As for the key states and time requirements displayed by the voice in his mind, he could simply treat them as a progress bar in a gal game!

To prove his theory, Ren Suo had deliberately touched Qiao Muyi on the way back.

When he and Qiao Muyi had previously been in an unfamiliar state, acquiring her key had required more than 9,000 seconds. Now it only required 3,000 seconds, and "unfamiliar" had advanced to "friendly," proving that improving their relationship really could shorten the time needed to acquire a key.

"Build a good relationship. Get them into bed!"

Ren Suo had found his goal!