"Oh! Oh my! Oh my! Oh!"
Speaking incoherently, Fang Ran stared at his new-looking… No, completely chopped up and reformed belt. Oh my God, is this f*cking still my belt? I would totally believe it if you said that this was a divine weapon or an international renown work of art!
Fang Ran looked at the Silver Split Dragontooth in his hand. At this moment, he was holding the hilt that was originally the metal buckle, but was now a sword hilt that was like a dragon's body. The long pure-silver chain made of an unknown metal draped down like a soft whip, seemingly like a ferocious beast that was fast asleep.
Right now, Fang Ran had only one thought in his mind.
'Worth it.'
'My entire life has been worth it.'
'Sure enough, assigning all my free attribute points to the appearance stat was the right decision! Look at this cool ass sword. It's off the charts!'
A warm feeling involuntarily welled up in Fang Ran's heart.
This is fantastic! Now, my magical girl identity will finally not be exposed just because of my belt.
"#¥!#%!%#¥%#¥..."
At that moment, Ling was staring at Fang Ran's attribute interface. She had become completely incoherent!
'What the hell?!'
'What the hell is this?!'
'The attack stat reached the maximum initial value?! Magic stat 19? Speed and defense are both 15 or above?'
'Silver Split Dragontooth?'
So the belt became this strong just because its name f*cking changed?
But what the hell is with such an embarrassing chuuni-like name like Silver Split Dragontooth?!
'This attribute template is even higher than my Nether Photon Core?'
'Wait a second! This is a simplified layout that I gave him!'
Ling suddenly realised. Then she pulled out Fang Ran's original, detailed version of the attribute stats interface and read it line by line. Gradually, she had difficulty breathing, her expression was grave and filled with incredulity.
'Is this really a person's initial attribute?'
'Can the attainment of achievement really allow someone to have such a huge improvement?'
'Or is it because of his so-called SSS-talent power?'
At the end of it, she closed the original interface without saying anything and took a deep breath. 'I must never let a second person see this.' Afterwards, she looked at Fang Ran, who was holding the Silver Split Dragontooth and giggling because it was too cool, with a mixture of feelings.
Seems like I really have to help this idiot out. Even if not for myself, but also…
"Hey, Fang Ran, have you ever thought about…" Ling said seriously.
"About yourself."
Fang Ran was taken aback, then he smiled.
He pretended to sigh and said in melancholy, "Many people have already asked me this question."
"About you?"
"I already have it figured out." Fang Ran suddenly became serious. "I plan to work in the computer science industry in the future. If possible, I want to live in a city without any haze. In terms of monthly salary, 5,000 yuan or more will be good enough. Then I will find a gentle wife who has decent looks. I'll own a house before the age of thirty, this is…"
Smack!
Before he could finish talking, the power bank smacked across on his face!
"Ah!! My nose bridge!!! My nose bridge!!!" Fang Ran rolled on the floor in pain.
"Idiot! Who is asking you about that! And for the love of anything holy, can you have some ambition! You are now a Night Battle participant! A monthly salary of 5,000, finding a wife, getting a house, and you still f*cking want to work in the computer science industry. Can you be any more embarrassing!!!"
Flying up high, the power bank was about to come crashing down again. Fang Ran could sense her immense anger, and quickly begged for mercy. Gulping down his saliva, he stopped himself from saying the sentence he was thinking about in his mind, 'Actually, what I want even more is to pass my CET4.'.
After waiting for a while, he realised that the power bank hadn't come crashing down. Fang Ran heaved a sigh of relief, but to his surprise, he heard the power bank said in a firm tone,
"Get dressed, go! We're going out!"
"Where are we going?" Fang Ran was taken aback by this proposal that suddenly popped out of nowhere. Where could they possibly go in the middle of the night?
There was a moment of silence, before a Loli's voice slowly sounded from the power bank,
"We're going to make you believe in your own strength."
Fang Ran was stunned. He didn't understand what she meant, but neither did he care. Loving the Silver Split Dragontooth so much that he could not bear to part with it, he carried it and went to change his clothes, before going back to his summoned beast.
Slap!
"Ah! My nose bridge! Nose bridge!"
"Idiot! We're going out in the middle of the night, and you're wearing white, are you mad?!"
From inside the rental house, the furious bellow of the Xiaomi power bank with a Loli's voice could be heard!
…
…
The city of Los Angeles at night was brightly lit. This was exactly what a bustling metropolis should be, with the feasting, pleasure-seeking, and indulging nightlife going rampant.
Top wealthy families, down-and-out beggars in the city, etc. Countless people were striving and working hard here.
Countless people lived here and died here.
Fortunately, most of the people in this city were still ordinary common folk.
Maintaining the regular operation of the entire city.
In the meantime, somewhere high in the sky….
"Listen here, can we change positions?"
Fang Ran, who appeared to be trembling, asked in a quivering voice.
At this moment, Fang Ran was in his new get-up. He was wearing a long black trench coat and dark-coloured jeans. Ling was also momentarily surprised when he came out.
'This idiot's fashion sense is not bad.'
However, none of these were as eye-catching as the belt around Fang Ran's waist!
The Silver Split Dragontooth appeared to still have the function of connecting the head to the tail. It ought to be said that, it was no wonder that it was a belt in its past life…
As for the reason why Fang Ran was trembling at this moment, that was because…
Right now, he was several meters above the ground, and was going higher and higher. In the blink of an eye, he was about four or five stories high!
It was no wonder that he was trembling. Anyone in his position would be trembling!
The cause of the levitating Fang Ran was the Xiaomi power bank that Fang Ran was holding in his hand.
That's right, it's the Xiaomi power bank.
At this moment, Fang Ran was holding onto the power bank with one hand, with his entire weight hanging on it, and flying into the night through Ling's undisclosed means.
Seriously… Fang Ran felt that the reason he had not peed his pants in fear, must be because of the courage that he had built up from the collapse of the train station and the building previously!
"Humph, just this much and you can't take it anymore? What are you going to do when you get into even tougher scenarios in the future?"
The power bank mocked him. Actually, Ling was already bearing part of Fang Ran's burden. Otherwise, do you think that someone who has not undergone any training, would really be able to fly in the sky by just grabbing the fulcrum for flight with just one hand?
"Even then, you can't…"
Fang Ran rebutted in a quavering voice, but Ling did not listen to him at all and just focused on flying in a certain direction whilst feeling annoyed. Had she not landed in this situation, she would not have to struggle just to go this distance.
In the darkness, she flew higher and higher. After about half an hour, Ling suddenly realised something in surprise.
At some point in time unbeknownst to her, Fang Ran hadn't uttered a single word.
"Could he have passed out from fear?" Ling panicked. Then she turned her attention to Fang Ran and saw an expression that she probably wouldn't forget even after many years.
Fang Ran had neither fainted, nor did he continue trembling. At some point in time, he had suddenly calmed down. Quietly gazing at the night scenery beneath his feet, he seemed like he was in a trance. It was like a completely different Fang Ran from the one who up till a moment ago, was still grumbling incessantly and behaving flippantly.
The expression in his eyes was so tranquil, so serious, and strangely unemotional as he calmly gazed down at the city. Looking at a certain street below, he suddenly let out a small sigh.
"Do you know?"
All of a sudden, he opened his mouth and said softly, his voice still the same as his usual incessant grumbling voice, but his tone had changed entirely.
It had changed to one that was unfamiliar to Ling.
"I've lived in this city for three years. As an ordinary person, I have lived here for three years."
Ling kept quiet. Mildly surprised, she looked at Fang Ran. Looking at him right now, she suddenly didn't know what to say in reply.
"Sometimes, fate can be unfair. Ordinary people will remain ordinary because they are ordinary."
Fang Ran lowered his eyes, still looking at the city under his feet. As if he was reminiscing, he said softly,
"I once encountered someone who was surrounded by gang members in a warehouse."
Fang Ran's voice turned extremely indifferent, as if he was recounting someone else's story.
"But, I ran away."
Fang Ran went quiet for a while. Although this was a memory from a long time ago, he still hadn't forgotten about it.
"I could only call the police."
"In the end, that person was hospitalized, and he couldn't get his money back either."
"I have encountered many bullying incidents. I knew from a long time ago that I am just an ordinary man. I realized I am not very capable and I can't save anyone. There's no way I can be a hero."
Fang Ran suddenly looked up to the power bank in his hand. His summoned beast. Out of nowhere, he said,
"So I don't believe it, but…"
He suddenly released his hand, and his body fell into the night, leaving only the power bank flying high in the sky on its own. Ling, who was existing in the form of a data soul was slightly taken aback.
'What's going on…?'
…
In a dark alley, the figure of a girl rushed in, only to find that it was a dead end. The people hot on her heels - a boss dressed in black and his subordinates had reached the alley at this point in time.
Under the night, the man in black suit was particularly intimidating as he pushed forward in the tight space. The girl had no choice but to keep retreating as she clutched onto the brim of her beret with both hands.
"You better come with us obediently!" the intimidating middle-aged man in a black suit said to the girl who had nowhere to escape.
"I don't want to!"
The middle-aged man's brows furrowed and he motioned for his subordinates to take action. However, just when one of his subordinates had just taken two steps forward, suddenly large gusts of the wind blew across his body!
The subordinate's expression immediately turned to one of panic as he hurriedly took two steps back. Just as he backed away, he saw a dark shadow come crashing down from the sky!
Crash!!!
A figure wearing a black trench coat fell down. He forcefully stomped on the ground, without any skills to reduce the impact. His bent knees protested against the impact of the fall. However, a malevolent feeling washed over him and an inexplicable vigour rose from within him. As a result of that, instead of falling down, he forcibly stood upright!
Black hair, black clothes. His looks could not be seen clearly.
"Who is it?!" the subordinate shouted.
"Don't bother about that. Safety is the priority!"
When the middle-aged man saw the black shadow popping up out of nowhere and standing in front of the girl, he grew anxious and directly ordered his subordinate to take action.
His other subordinate, who was clad in black and standing by the side, quickly reached his right hand into his chest and pulled out a pistol!
Fang Ran looked at the scene in front of him. Normally, if someone from a gang was pointing a gun at him, he would have been petrified to the point of peeing in his pants. However, right now, he oddly did not feel anything. Probably because he had recalled that incident after a long time, causing him to be slightly out of sorts.
'I'm just an ordinary person. Always has been.'
'This is something I have long known for two decades.'
However, ordinary people aren't ordinary because they want to be ordinary. They are ordinary simply because they are ordinary.
Even ordinary people like us without any power…
"Hurry up and do it!!! Do it!!!" The middle-aged man barked coldly, anxiously looking at Fang Ran who was hiding the girl behind him. Upon hearing his order, the black-clothed subordinate fired a shot without any hesitation!
The fireball spurted out from the muzzle!
Bang!
The large-caliber bullet went hurtling towards Fang Ran!
"But if possible, actually, deep down in everyone's heart…"
The Silver Split Dragontooth silently appeared in Fang Ran's hands. Facing the direction where the bullet was shot from, he uttered softly, his last sentence seemingly to be said to himself or possibly to everyone,
"They all want to be heroes."
Clank!
A silver light flashed in the night sky!
The Silver Split Dragontooth drew a half arc. Fang Ran didn't have to worry at all about whether he would be able to cut the bullet. The Silver Split Dragontooth's defensive aura sent the bullet flying away!
"Weird…."
Before the subordinates could finish talking, Fang Ran directly knocked them out. His body felt incredibly light, as if he could do anything.
"What do you want to…"
Seeing Fang Ran, the imposing middle-aged man suddenly panicked, but he was immediately knocked unconscious.
The evening breeze blew, and Fang Ran was quiet. He looked at the hand that held the Silver Split Dragontooth in a daze. It was not known what he was thinking about. Afterwards, he turned around to look at the girl. Under an exquisite white dress and a beret, a face that seemed like a pitiful little animal, was watching this scene unfold in astonishment.
"Are you okay?"
Fang Ran asked gently. Seeing that the shocked girl was not answering him, Fang Ran heaved a sigh of relief before turning around and saying towards the sky,
"Let's go."
The next moment, his body flew up and blended in with the night sky. The girl, who was clutching her beret, was left behind in the same spot, unable to believe what had just happened.
In mid-air, (Naturally it was Ling helping Fang Ran to fly), Ling was slightly astounded at this moment!
You must understand that back then, it had taken her half a year to break apart what she knew and to believe that she really possessed powers. Furthermore, that was because day after day, she had utilised her powers and told herself that it was real.
Her original intention for tonight had been to get him to do some initial training…
'Yet he… Just like that, he accepted and believed in his own power?'
'Is this really the stupid and idiotic Fang Ran that I had just met? The Fang Ran who turned into a crazy whining machine the second he was nervous?'
'Is it because I just met him, so I don't understand his true nature?'
Ling pondered, while her subconscious happened to see what was happening in the alley right then.
She saw that the girl in the beautiful and exquisite white dress being in a daze for a moment, before carefully walking over to the imposing middle-aged man and poking him somewhat guiltily and embarrassedly as she said,
"That… Second Uncle, are you… Okay? Sorry, I shouldn't have run away from home…"
Ling was speechless.
Alright, acting cool with a serious expression to save the damsel in distress, only to end up making a fool of himself in trying to be smart and beating up the girl's second uncle.
This idiot is indeed the Fang Ran that I know.