Five days pa.s.sed. Lin Huang sighed loudly when he heard a notification from Xiao Hei.
"You have acc.u.mulated Life Skill card - Army Attack Tactics pieces x200, would you like to proceed with a card upgrade?"
"Yes!"
"Combining Army Attack Tactics pieces x200, Life Skill card Army Attack Tactics mastery level has been upgraded."
Lin Huang then tapped on the card and saw a notification box.
"Life Skill Card"
"Life Skill Name: Army Attack Tactics"
"Rarity: Rare"
"Mastery Level: Level 2"
"Effect: 24% increment in the rotation speed of Life Power. Increases attack power and defense power by 24% respectively."
"Remarks: For the first five levels, with every upgrade, each of the Life Skill effects will be increased by 12%."
"Card Remarks: Usable"
"That was faster than I expected…" Although Lin Huang said that, he was not relaxed at all. He managed to shorten the skill rotation from half an hour to almost 10 minutes within five days. With every upgrade, the skill rotation cycle after each upgrade became more complicated. The time he took to complete a single rotation went back to half an hour. This meant that he was now back at where he initially started, requiring about 30 minutes for a single card piece.
It was 5:40 in the evening and he noticed Lin Xin coming to his room at six o’clock sharp every day to have dinner together. Since he had some spare time, Lin Huang read the news. A news article caught his attention immediately as it was a foothold code that he was familiar with - No.7B61. No.7B61 was the official foothold name of the Union Government in Xiagong City.
He started reading the news.
"Before daybreak yesterday, there were 16 murders in foothold No.7B61. From preliminary investigations, those 16 murders were committed humans and there was not a single trace of a monster invasion. Investigations are still ongoing, please do not panic…"
"Xiagong City is such a large foothold. Why is the security here so poor?" Lin Huang frowned.
Had he known about this few days back, he would not have chosen Xiagong City as their destination. He was worried for Lin Xin.
He tried to look for more news related to the incident but there were none. This was the latest case and the media was careful with their words. It would be huge if there was a monster invasion in a large foothold such as this. There would likely be an uproar.
It was 6:05 p.m. when he was done with the news. Lin Huang looked at the time and raised his eyebrow, he sent Lin Xin a message, "It’s time for dinner."
Three minutes pa.s.sed but Lin Xin was nowhere to be found. Lin Huang felt that something was wrong, he then video-called Lin Xin. Her phone rang twice and then the call was cut off.
"The person you are calling is currently unavailable, please leave a message after the tone…"
"Oh no!" Lin Xin never declines his calls. Lin Huang rushed to Lin Xin’s room and continuously rang her doorbell. He rang for more than 10 times but n.o.body opened the door. He then rushed to the balcony and broke through the sliding door with his foot.
Many people noticed Lin Huang and someone reported his actions to the staff but he could not care less. He looked around Lin Xin’s room but she was nowhere to be found. Her room was the way she left it, there were no signs of a fight. He wanted to find whatever clues he could so he tried thinking like Lin Xin for a moment. He knew that she spent most of her time on the couch in the living room, probably where she played Gun Master.
Lin Huang followed her scent which brought him to the floating elevator just outside her room. Just as he arrived at the entrance of the elevator, the door automatically opened and many staff members in uniform surrounded him.
"Sir, are you the guest from Room 156? Somebody reported to us that you broke into Room 157. For the safety of other pa.s.sengers, please follow us." The chief of staff was definitely unfriendly.
"I’m staying in Room 156, the person staying here is my sister. I can show you the ticket as proof of my booking." Lin Huang searched for the receipt, "Let me know how much the damage will cost, I"ll pay for it. My sister is missing from this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. I must look for her, please do not get in my way."
The chief of staff saw that his ticket was authentic and asked, "Are you sure she"s missing?"
"Yes! Please check the surveillance camera for me and notify me if you see anything, I’ll take a look downstairs." Lin Huang could not afford to waste any more time.
"Where and when was the last time you saw her?" The leader asked.
"After lunch, it was about 12:30. We went back to our respective rooms.
"Both of you please follow him while I go to the monitor room with the rest." The leader instructed his men at once.
Lin Huang was grateful for their help. He followed Lin Xin’s scent to the bar on the first floor, and all of a sudden, her scent disappeared. Lin Huang noticed that there was a green, air purifier block that was the size of a washbasin behind the bar counter. The block was absorbing the odor from the air.
"Boss, did you see this girl?" Lin Huang showed the bar owner a photo of Lin Xin at the counter.
"She was here an hour ago but she left in less than a minute." The bar owner waved his hand. "She asked if we served honey coffee. Why would she even think we would serve that in a bar?!"
"Did she speak to anyone here?" Lin Huang became more worried.
"No, we hardly have customers before nine. The girl left after she asked her question."
"You have surveillance cameras here right? Let me take a look." Lin Huang then placed a Life Crystal that was worth a year of Life Light on the counter.
"I would love to accept this but the surveillance camera I have here is quite old. It has been here for 20 years. I only turn it on at night when there are more people; I don’t usually turn it on during the day." The bar owner said, "If you don’t believe me, you can take a look for yourself."
Lin Huang believed what the bar owner said but shoved the Life Crystal in the bar owner’s hand anyway. He went behind the counter and randomly picked some of the recorded videos only to be disappointed that they were all night recordings.
"I told you, I don’t need this Life Crystal." The bar owner declined.
"Take it." Lin Huang insisted.
Lin Huang frowned as he walked out from the counter, he had lost his one clue. Suddenly, the communication device of the security personnel beeped. After some whispering, he rushed to Lin Huang, "Our leader found something in one of the video clips, please follow us."
"Let’s go!" Lin Huang left the bar with the duo…