Chapter 528 System Rules, and Stamina for a Night Swim
System: You have killed Christophe. You may now learn all of his abilities.
Christophe’s abilities: Basic Combat, Basic Firearms… Elementary Electrical Control (Genetic mutation. Unavailable) Christophe was a superhuman, as well as the first one that Luke had met with an electrical ability.
Not only could this bigshot use electrical attacks, he also boasted speed and reflexes that were far beyond what a regular human being was capable of, to the point that he could even dodge bullets from close up.
So, it should have been a happy thing that Luke defeated him.
However, the Elementary Electrical Control on the list of his abilities was black, which meant that it couldn’t be learned.
It was just like with Jason’s and Freddy’s abilities. Luke didn’t have what it took to learn those abilities at all.
Luke already had a speculation about this long ago.
Today, he could finally confirm part of it. Daddy System’s super learning mode didn’t allow him to learn all abilities.
The abilities of insects, such as spiders, or those of non-humans like Jason or Freddy, weren’t the only abilities he couldn’t learn. Christophe was human, but Luke couldn’t learn his abilities either.
Luke had had a lot of speculations all this time. Now, one of these not-so-great possibilities had proven to be true.
He was a little b.u.mmed, but not too disappointed.
Ever since the day the system officially came online, he had never a.s.sumed that Daddy System would take care of everything for him.
If it could take care of everything, it would be all too easy for Luke to turn into an omnipotent superhuman.
Daddy System had its own logic for its behavior.
The things it gave Luke didn’t just come out of thin air. Quid pro quo was the system’s foundation.
Thinking that, Luke looked at another system notification and heaved a sigh.
System: You have killed the Hedgehog brothers. You may now learn all their abilities.
The Hedgehog brothers’ abilities: Basic Combat… Skin Fortification (Genetic mutation. Prerequisite: 20 Strength. Irreversible. Cost: 20,000 credit points), Skin Thorn (Genetic mutation. Prerequisite: 20 Strength and Skin Fortification. Cost: 10,000 credit points)
He was qualified to learn the Hedgehog brothers’ abilities.
Seeing the note that it was irreversible, however, he quickly gave up on the abilities after a simple a.n.a.lysis.
If he were to learn their abilities, he would get the Hedgehog brothers’ reptilian skin, which was why they were so inhumanly st.u.r.dy and hideous.
He would rather wear an extra bulletproof than learn their abilities.
That side effect was even more unacceptable than going bald. At least, he had seen people who were bald but handsome, but n.o.body could look like a lizard and still be considered attractive.
Furthermore, with a warm girl in his arms, to say that he wasn’t satisfied would be hypocritical of him.
If he learned the Hedgehog brothers’ abilities and took on their wretched appearance, he was sure that Vanessa would rather return her favor to him in other ways than sleeping with him.
Thus, he gave up on those abilities without any hesitation.
However, while certain things could be abandoned, others couldn’t.
A cold light flashed in Luke’s eyes.
He had been pretty restrained in his credit-earning operations in Rio; he mostly went after gangs involved in human and organ trafficking, as well as violent gangs that had killed many people.
Drugs in Rio were peddled rampantly and out in the open. Luke basically hadn’t done anything.
If he purged Rio of the drug traffickers, tens of thousands of people might have to die, which was too big a wave.
And while the people in the underground car market were also involved in shady business, he never thought about dealing with them.
Even back in Los Angeles, he had never dealt with thieves or car smugglers.
But what Guadano did today prompted him to make a decision.
Luke wasn’t afraid that people in Rio would learn of his ident.i.ty.
The DEA and the CIA should know by now that he had rescued Lisa Morales from Christophe’s gang.
He had also contributed a lot to the rescue of Hobbs’s squad. It didn’t matter if anyone knew about him.
But what about Vanessa?
If anybody a.s.sociated with Guadano leaked “suspicious” information to Christophe’s and Hernan’s subordinates, would those people kindly let Vanessa off?
It wasn’t that Vanessa was very important to him, but simply that Luke didn’t want anyone else to be affected by him, much less a girl he was intimate with. Therefore, all the members in Guadano’s gang who had committed crimes had to die.
In the next few days, Luke and Vanessa changed up how they traveled. They rented a boat with cash and visited scenic spots in Rio by boat.
They slept on the boat at night as well.
Luke copied the idea from Haley Cohen.
Mobile lodgings were both convenient and safe in Rio, which was surrounded by the ocean.
As he expected, n.o.body disturbed them again after that.
They now had less time and fewer places to visit. Most of the time, Luke and Vanessa simply basked in the sun on the boat, or went fis.h.i.+ng and swimming.
As they relaxed, Luke asked Vanessa about her early life in Rio. It was quite simple, and she didn’t have anything to hide. Vanessa’s full name was Vanessa Giselle Bugarra, so some old friends called her Giselle too.
After her parents pa.s.sed away from illness years ago, the people closest to Vanessa were the three long-legged girls whom she worked with back in New York.
She became acquainted with Dominic’s team when she got involved in some drug deal in Mexico, and she trusted Dominic’s character.
On the other hand, her three bosom friends slash partners had gone to Europe. She heard that they caught the eye of some designer and had become fas.h.i.+on models.
Vanessa said that when Luke went back after his vacation, she would fly to Europe and buy the clothes which her three friends walked the runway in.
Luke could only express sincere admiration for such spiteful behavior.
As for whether or not they would fall out after this catfight, he didn’t care.
That night, Luke climbed back onto the boat and drew out a long, relaxed sigh.
Vanessa’s voice came from inside the cabin. “Where were you?”
Luke shook off the seawater and walked into the cabin with a smile. “I couldn’t fall asleep, so I went for a night swim.” Vanessa was reclining on the bed at the moment. Her exceptionally long wheat-colored legs were as fascinating as ever. She glanced at him with her electrifying eyes and asked with an unamused smile, “So, you swam for an hour and twenty minutes?”
She was playing with a card in her hand, on which Luke had written his note: “I’m going for a night swim.”
Luke shrugged. “I have good stamina.”
Vanessa wasn’t convinced at all. “So good that you can go swimming for an hour in the middle of the night?”
Luke chuckled and gathered her close on the bed. “You’re the last person to question my stamina, don’t you think?”
Vanessa glared at him in disdain. “Hey, you’re still wet.”