Leandro was resting his chin on his hand, intently studying the shop window, while Sherlock was questioning the shop owner. The shop owner was a chubby middle-aged man, currently trembling and unable to answer anything.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the shop window glass, which then widened, and the cracks gradually spread across the entire pane. The space shattered with a roar. Everyone was startled. When they looked over, they saw Zhou Ning, his left hand pressing his hat, dragging a corpse, and stooping as he emerged from within.
Leandro's eyes widened with curiosity, and just as he was about to step forward to ask what was happening, he was startled by a glance from Zhou Ning, causing him to involuntarily take a step back, filled with apprehension.
Although that glance held no malice, he keenly felt as if he had encountered a natural enemy, one that could bring him fatal danger at any moment.
"What's going on?" At this moment, Sherlock also walked over with his men, looking at Zhou Ning with a strange expression, "Why is it always you?"
"He did it," Zhou Ning said succinctly, pointing at Elvis's corpse on the ground, "This guy was very difficult to deal with and took a lot of effort. Remember to pay up."
"Elvis Bart?"
Sherlock immediately recognized him. Wasn't this Elvis, the Fire Mage, one of the suspects in the assassination of His Majesty the King? This was a genuine Extraordinary, even quite close to high-tier, with a very high danger rating! Otherwise, they wouldn't have offered the exorbitant price of 1000 vikta.
"Wait, don't tell me you took care of Elvis Bart all by yourself!" Sherlock was utterly shocked. Then, seeing Zhou Ning's half-smile, he scrutinized him from head to toe, "Alright, I believe you."
"The deceased is indeed Elvis Bart. He had over 100 broken bones throughout his body, as if he had been trampled by an elephant," said a Sun Keeper who had finished the autopsy.
"Difficult? Took a lot of effort?" Sherlock looked again at Zhou Ning, who didn't even seem to have broken a sweat, and couldn't help but feel speechless. He had known him for quite a while, and this guy always managed to refresh his perception again and again.
At this moment, the possession effect of the Epic Vampire just happened to disappear. Zhou Ning looked at his fist, feeling somewhat shocked. When he was beating Elvis earlier, he also felt that astonishing power, which was completely beyond the human realm. Breaking only over 100 bones meant Elvis was quite resilient.
Checking the panel, the temporary template card obtained from the mission just popped up.
[Temporary Template Card: Contains a rare character template, can only be used once. This card can only be used in simulated worlds or flashback worlds.]
The image showed Zhou Ning in a black suit, black vest, white shirt, with a slicked-back hairstyle, a rose pinned to his lapel, his right leg crossed over his left, and a cigar between the fingers of his right hand, sitting on a sofa.
[Character: Godfather Zhou Ning]
[Personality: Gentleman, resolute, dignified, ruthless, capricious.]
[Talents: Born Leader (Orange), Criminal Genius (Orange), Extraordinary Charm (Purple)]
[Skills: Negotiation Skills (Expert), Basic Shooting (Advanced), Basic Combat (Advanced)]
[Uses: 0/1]
Godfather?
Zhou Ning couldn't help but be taken aback. Judging purely by skills, this card's strength wasn't actually very high, and its combat power was even quite weak. However, this was the only template Zhou Ning had seen with two Orange talents. Its specific effects would only be known when it was used.
Closing the control panel, Zhou Ning casually asked, "How are things today?"
"Not so good," Sherlock didn't shy away, giving a wry smile, "These past two days have been hellishly busy. His Majesty the King's assassination, and we're entirely to blame. We haven't rested since searching for the culprit; it's been a nightmare. Luckily, you helped us deal with Elvis, so we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
"So, should the gun and ammunition transactions continue these days?" Zhou Ning asked.
"Continue. You don't think the Sun Keepers only have this many people, do you?" Sherlock said, exasperated, "I'll arrange for someone to wait for you at Xilin Grocery Store tomorrow, and I'll have him bring your 1000 vikta bounty with him."
"Generous," Zhou Ning gave Sherlock a thumbs up.
After finishing his conversation with Sherlock, Zhou Ning walked up to Leandro and patted his shoulder: "Let's go."
Leandro nodded cautiously, followed Zhou Ning for a few steps, and only relaxed once he was sure there was no danger.
This child of the plane's temper was honestly very much like Luffy and Naruto, a typical hot-blooded anime protagonist. After a while, he forgot what had just happened and started chatting and laughing with Zhou Ning again.
Through their conversation, Zhou Ning learned that, just like in the game in his previous life, Leandro was a genius Alchemist, three years younger than himself, and his Alchemy was already at the expert level, far more impressive than his own. But what made Leandro most coveted was a universal skill he possessed called [Hot-Blooded Focus], which Zhou Ning had lusted after for a long time. At the current pace, he might be able to learn it someday.
Mr. Turing's residence was right next to the Alchemy Laboratory, not far from here. When Zhou Ning pointed out the location to him, he found Leandro to be quite serious, straightening his collar before knocking on the door. This made Zhou Ning wonder if Mr. Turing might be some important figure.
Back in the Alchemy Laboratory, Zhou Ning eagerly opened his game panel. The panel now showed 190,000 experience points, primarily from today's mission rewards.
After learning God Avoidance, he was now only three active skills away from the preliminary completion of his profession's build.
The skills that could be fused in the skill list were: Shooting Mastery (Elementary), Ripple Breathing Technique (Intermediate), Mozambique Drill (Elementary), C.A.R Shooting Method (Elementary), Evasion (Elementary), Armament Haki (Elementary), God Avoidance (Elementary), Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced), Flying Gun (Elementary).
After two fusions, the choices were not many. Zhou Ning hesitated for a moment, then first tried to fuse Basic Swordsmanship and Ripple Breathing Technique.
[Do you wish to fuse Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced) and Ripple Breathing Technique (Intermediate)? This fusion will cost 12,000 experience. Success rate is 68%]
Zhou Ning chose yes without hesitation. The experience for Basic Swordsmanship and Ripple Breathing Technique was cleared, and they both reverted to Elementary level.
[Fusion successful! You have obtained the skill: [Ripple Swordsmanship] (Elementary).]
[Ripple Swordsmanship (Elementary): Infuse Ripple energy into your sword for a powerful attack. Attack power is 235% of weapon damage. This skill deals double damage to dark creatures.]
Not bad! Although swordsmanship was only auxiliary for him, this skill's panel attack was quite high, and it might have unexpected effects.
Next, Zhou Ning spent over 20,000 experience to level up Shooting Mastery and Flying Gun to Intermediate, then attempted fusion.
[Do you wish to fuse Shooting Mastery (Intermediate) and Flying Gun (Intermediate)? This fusion will cost 12,000 experience. Success rate is 56%]
[Yes!]
[Fusion failed. Your Shooting Mastery (Intermediate) and Flying Gun (Intermediate) proficiencies have been reset to zero.]
Zhou Ning:...Good thing I had enough experience points saved up, better safe than sorry.
After another attempt, the panel finally displayed a notification:
[Fusion successful! You have obtained the skill: [Aerial Shot] (Elementary).]
[Aerial Shot (Elementary): Shoot the ground with a gun to propel yourself backward, then shoot enemies in mid-air. Attack damage is 135% of weapon damage.]
This skill could only be described as decent, not outstanding. But being cool was all that mattered.
It wasn't over yet! Finally, after some observation, Zhou Ning invested over 60,000 experience to upgrade Shooting Mastery to Advanced, and Armament Haki and Evasion to Intermediate.
[Do you wish to fuse Shooting Mastery (Advanced), Armament Haki (Intermediate), and Evasion (Intermediate)? This fusion will cost 36,000 experience. Success rate is 65%]
Skill fusion was not limited to two skills; each additional skill required an extra 5,000 experience for fusion, and the cost for multiple fusions also doubled. Therefore, Zhou Ning waited until he had enough experience before daring to attempt the third fusion.
[Fusion successful! You have obtained the skill: [Lethal Countershot] (Elementary).]
[Lethal Countershot (Elementary): Evade the opponent's attack while delivering a lethal blow infused with Armament Haki. Damage coefficient is related to the level of Armament Haki.]
Mission accomplished! Zhou Ning couldn't help but clench his fists.
Compared to gacha, his luck in skill fusion was exceptionally good, never failing at critical moments.
This Lethal Countershot was even more impressive than Evasion Shot, practically a god-tier skill among god-tier skills. Based on its description, its effect even surpassed most advanced profession skills.
With this, his new profession plan was preliminarily declared complete.