The evening breeze brushed lightly.
Alex drifted unhurriedly through the sky above the city. Below him was a dazzling sea of lights, a bustling metropolis. Above him was a brilliant night sky filled with stars.
Looking down at the prosperous city and the countless lives within it, a line he did not know which book he had read it from flashed through Alex's mind.
'Power is held only by the strong.'
He smiled and added, "And the strong need power as their axis."
"Absolute power!"
Then he opened his inventory and checked the rewards he had obtained from the event.
[Proficiency Essence: After use, increases any one talent by 20 proficiency. This item can be broken down into an equivalent amount of 'Dim Essence'.]
[Black Bat Circus Coins: Each use randomly summons two to three members from the clown troupe leader and the members Glutton, Stone Man, Beast Tamer, Replicator, and Rubber Man to serve you. Depending on usage, it enters a corresponding cooldown period, with a minimum cooldown of 24 hours.]
[Multivariate Treasure Chest (Random): The multiverse contains everything. Open the chest and you will randomly obtain one thing, including but not limited to items, treasures, talents, runes, materials, and more.]
'As expected of rewards from a major event. They were far more generous than those from ordinary events.'
Without the "Dim" prefix, one essence could raise proficiency by 20 in one go.
The coins could summon two to three circus member projections. Most of them were pretty useless, but ones like the clown leader and the Glutton still had some value. It was just that the randomness made the coins' usefulness somewhat limited.
As for the "Multivariate Treasure Chest."
That thing was purely luck-based. From Alex's many years of terrible gacha luck, it was best not to expect too much from it.
Thinking that, Alex took out one "Multivariate Treasure Chest."
It was like a lottery box. Alex reached his hand inside and could not feel any limit to the space within at all.
He groped around. After a moment, he seemed to grab hold of something and pulled it out.
A mass of soft light was lifted out. The lottery box then faded and vanished. The soft light in his hand dispersed, and a head mask appeared in Alex's hand.
It was a red mask that left the eyes exposed. Other than that, there was nothing special about it.
[Spider-Man Mask: Item from the Spider-Man universe. A component of the very first suit made by the original Spider-Man for himself. After wearing it, it strengthens one's sense of responsibility and justice.]
'What the fack?'
"Multivariate Treasure Chest" had actually produced an item from the Spider-Man universe?
'In other words, this chest can also give things from other universes, such as the Marvel universe? The DC universe?'
'That is interesting.'
Alex looked at the mask in his hand and tried putting it on.
Suddenly, he stopped and said righteously, "With great power comes great responsibility!"
After saying that, he hurriedly took the mask off.
"Way too addictive. Whoever wears this thing is a complete sucker."
He was not in a hurry to open the remaining chest and accelerated toward Anika's residence.
———
The top floor of an apartment building—
In Anika's place from the crime analysis department, loud, energetic music was playing.
"Again."
"No!"
"Impossible."
"There's no one."
Fresh out of the shower, Anika walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
She closed her eyes, her body swaying to the rhythm of the music.
She took a can of beer from the fridge and kicked the fridge door shut with her foot.
Spun around, took a sip of beer.
Facing the window, she suddenly flung the towel open.
At that moment, she heard someone clear their throat.
Anika snapped her eyes open and saw Homelander sitting on the windowsill, one fist against his lips, smiling.
"Nice figure."
Anika looked down sharply, then screamed and dashed into the bedroom.
.
.
.
A moment later, now changed into casual clothes, she cautiously poked half her head out of the room and sized up Alex on the windowsill.
Alex jumped down and spread his hands, "You don't need to hide."
"Your figure really is great."
He gave Anika a thumbs-up.
Anika put another jacket on before coming into the living room.
"Why are you here, boss?"
"Boss?", Alex found the title interesting.
Anika opened the fridge and took out another beer.
"Want one?"
Alex was in a good mood today. He nodded, caught the beer Anika tossed over, pulled the tab, and took a sip.
Then he heard Anika say, "Isn't that right? Am I not your personal investigator?"
"So that makes you my boss."
Alex gave a slight nod, "That's true."
Then he got straight to the point.
"You've got news already, right?"
"I mean the two things I asked you to investigate," Anika immediately said, "Yes, yes."
"I'll start with those two criminals."
"I checked them out. They came from the same place."
"An extremely old town called Oster, located on the Balqa Highlands in central-west Jordan."
Alex set down his beer, "Do you have the exact coordinates?"
Anika squeezed one eye, "Of course."
"Good. Send them to me."
Alex took another sip of beer.
"What about the other thing?"
"A-Train's older brother, Nathan. After A-Train died, he met frequently with a white male named 'Jeff.'"
"I investigated this man. He comes from a mysterious weapons research institution."
"Olga Weapons Research and Development Company."
Anika took out her phone, pulled up a photo, and handed it to Alex.
Alex took a look. On the phone was a white man wearing glasses, looking like an engineer.
There was an earring in his left ear, very easy to recognize.
"Well done, Anika."
Alex put the phone down and pointed at the girl, "I've already thought of how to reward you."
"Help me investigate one more person."
"Billy Butcher."
"He has a nickname, 'The Butcher.'"
Alex described the bearded man's appearance.
"I want to know what he's been up to lately."
Then he added, "Also, keep following up on Olga Weapons R&D Company and that man named Jeff."
"It would be best if you could find his address."
"No problem, boss," Anika patted her chest, "Leave it to me."
Alex left, only then did Anika let out a breath.
She picked up her phone and left a message on her social platform.
"Scared me to death. The boss suddenly showed up. Luckily, he's very satisfied with my performance. Hey, why don't you guys guess who my boss is?"
She attached a selfie of herself and the can of beer Alex had drunk from.
Putting the phone down, Anika planned to practice some yoga when a talk show host on TV said, ["Hey, guess what news I just got."]
["It's about Homelander."]
["This time, he's in big trouble!"]
———
[You used the 'Designated Talent Capsule. Self Replication'. You have obtained a new talent.]
[Note: This talent cannot use the proficiency system.]
Looking at the information floating before him, Alex felt it was a pity.
It seemed that aside from his innate talents, any talents obtained through other means could not be upgraded.
He shrugged and then poured proficiency essences into the [Steel Body] talent one after another.
[Steel Body proficiency +20]
[Steel Body proficiency +2]
[Steel Body proficiency +2]
[Your 'Steel Body +2' proficiency is full.]
[It has now upgraded to 'Biological Force Field'.]
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