"Come on, stand between us, and we'll take a photo."
Captain Liu gestured for He Ao to stand between him and a colleague.
"Umm, Captain Liu, don't we usually have a banner for acts of bravery or something?"
He Ao glanced at the two police officers on his left and right. Normally, there would be a photo op for acts of bravery, but there should be a banner, right?
Now, without it, he almost felt like all he needed were silver bracelets and a yellow vest, and he could be on the legal affairs channel.
"No worries, no worries, the banner isn't ready yet. When it is, we'll just Photoshop it in," Captain Liu laughed, pointing to an old camera, "Come on, look at the lens."
He Ao had a feeling that the yellow vest and silver bracelets could be Photoshopped in as well.
In any case, he smoothly recieved his ten thousand yuan reward.
This was indeed much faster than before; the quickest he got it before was three days, but this time it had only taken a few hours. Looking at the thick envelope, He Ao said, "Captain Liu, this isn't the money you advanced me, is it?"
"What are you thinking? If you're broke, does that mean I'm not?" Captain Liu slapped He Ao's forehead lightly, "I did indeed expedite your application, but I too was surprised it was approved so quickly."
Looking at his smile, He Ao knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, but he didn't call him out on it.
However, it was unlikely that Captain Liu advanced the money himself; it was possible that the expedited process wasn't exactly by the book.
"Ao, if you consider me an uncle, then listen to my advice," Captain Liu suddenly said seriously to He Ao, "Times have changed; you've been admitted to university. Don't go looking for danger anymore. Focus on your studies, learn well, and you won't be lacking money in the future."
Captain Liu's surname was Liu, his given name was Zheng, and his actions lived up to his name. Although he had always been stuck in this small place without promotion, his integrity was beyond reproach, and he had looked after He Ao more than once, which is why He Ao always turned to him for help.
"Mm, okay," He Ao nodded eagerly and then casually said, "Captain Liu, I'll head back first then, I still have to set up my stall tonight."
"You're letting my words go in one ear and out the other, aren't you?" Liu Zheng chided with a smile then waved his hand, indicating for He Ao to leave, "Scram, I don't want to see you anymore."
"Heh heh."
He Ao chuckled and didn't rebut, leaving the police station directly.
He, a law-abiding good citizen, where would the danger come from?
As he left the building, a man wrapped in a black trench coat, looking very aloof, was walking towards him.
Steady lower body, piercing gaze, and a calm countenance.
He looked tough.
He Ao assessed the man internally.
Aura is quite a mysterious thing; it has to do with a person's living environment.
Those who have held positions of power often seem imposing without anger, because they are used to being in core positions where they can give orders. In everyday interactions, they naturally behave as if they're still in that position, viewing the world from a different perspective and acting decisively and unquestionably, which makes people perceive them as authoritative.
Similarly, those who have truly seen bloodshed have crossed a certain line and realize that humans aren't much different from pigs or dogs – they die just the same. Without realizing, their view of the world shifts, and this change reflects in their aura.
Therefore, a seasoned hunter can easily judge whether other hunters have blood on their hands.
He Ao passed the man without further inspection, his gaze only briefly landing on the man's face before they each continued in their respective directions.
The man walked straight into the police station.
At that moment, Liu Zheng was distributing cigarettes to his subordinates. "Guys, work a little harder for the next few days. Once we catch that guy, we can all relax. Later on, have a couple of brothers follow He Ao for a couple of days. I'm a bit worried that the suspect might make a Backturn Spear."
"He won't come back," a deep voice suddenly resonated, as the man in the trench coat stepped into the room, "Don't worry about He Ao, we will protect him."
"Researcher Zhang," Liu Zheng said cheerfully, handing a cigarette to the man while ushering him into his small office, "I have to thank you for the expedited approval of the reward money. I just mentioned it in passing; I didn't expect you guys to act so quickly."
"It's fine," the man took the cigarette and put it in his mouth, following him into the office, casually closing the door behind him, "We're just a civic organization, we don't have much sway. I just passed on your request, that's all. Did 'Bull' leave any clues in He Ao's house?"
"There's a torn piece of clothing that has been sent for DNA testing," Liu Zheng pulled out a white card from his drawer and handed it to the man, "And this custom IC card, we're trying to trace the manufacturer."
The man took the card, flipped it over, then pulled out a UV light from his pocket and shone it on the back of the card. Two characters resembling a painting appeared on the back of the card, [Bull], "It's Bull's Daybreak identity card."
"Daybreak?"
Liu Zheng looked puzzled.
"A fairly active illegal civic organization," the man pocketed the card, "I'll take this with me. Leave this matter to us; if we need anything, we'll contact you."
----
Nightfall.
The roaring sound of a motorcycle sped down the road, kicking up a trail of dust.
He Ao quickly shut the glass door of his stall to prevent dust from settling on the cold noodles inside.
His gaze shifted to the subtitles in his field of vision; only now did he have time to carefully examine the system prompts given after receiving the reward.
First was the countdown in the bottom right corner that kept jumping, [Next Game Start in 20:03:27].
Then there was a flashing little person icon in the upper left corner.
He Ao focused on the little person icon, which swiftly expanded into an attribute panel.
[He Ao]
[Permission Level: Regular Player]
[Physical Conditioning: 15 (Copy World average person is 10, main world average person is 5)]
[Skills: Talent Sequences 272: Super Memory (Soul Bound) (F-rank)]
[Mechanical Modification: None]
[Martial Arts: Qi Induction (F-rank)]
This attribute panel was quite simple, devoid of fancy features. It just straightforwardly showed physical conditioning and skills.
From the system's data, He Ao's strength was now three times that of an average person in the main world?
He didn't have a clear concept of what that meant, as combat wasn't solely determined by physical conditioning. But before, his strength was probably only around 1.3 times higher at most. He relied on tactics when fighting, preferring to use his brain over his brawn.
It seemed the Vermilion Fruit indeed enhanced his physical conditioning.
Then his attention shifted to 'Martial Arts' above.