That night, the previously noisy prison gradually quieted down. A few guards were patrolling outside the cells with flashlights in hand, occasionally banging on the cell doors and scolding the "prisoners" to stop talking and go to sleep.
Noah slowly opened his eyes and walked to the cell door, peering through the iron bars at the situation outside.
There were three patrolling guards in total, one on each floor, and all of them were ordinary people, so killing them wouldn't be too difficult. The more troublesome part was the surveillance and alarm systems, which had to be bypassed.
After a moment of thought, Noah turned around, knocked all his cellmates unconscious, and then stood at the cell door, quietly waiting for the patrolling guard to come.
About ten minutes later, a guard came over with a flashlight. Noah took the opportunity to whisper to the guard, "Officer, come over here, I've got something good to show you."
The guard, puzzled and cursing under his breath, walked over. "Kid, you..."
However, before the guard could finish his sentence, the steel bars as thick as a wrist automatically parted, and Noah stretched out his hand to grab the guard's throat, pulling him into the cell.
With a little effort, he silently dispatched the guard. Then he changed into the guard's uniform and walked out of the cell confidently.
After passing through the corridors and exiting the cell area, he headed towards the living area where the guards stayed, not bothering to glance at the areas that clearly looked like ordinary dormitories.
The status of the awakened ones was relatively high; they definitely wouldn't live in ordinary dorms. Wandering around the living area and finding only ordinary people, he then specifically checked the independent dormitories.
Passing by one independent dormitory, Noah saw through the window two tough guys clashing hard, which was painful to watch. One was an ordinary person, and the other was an awakened one.
[Ability: Amplification B]
[Wealth: 1800]
The Amplification ability allows the user to increase the size of their body in multiples when activated, enhancing strength and speed to a certain extent. With proper application, it's possible to control the amplification of specific parts of the body.
It was considered a fairly good ability.
Noah first took out a chain from the wide-area space, then controlled the door lock to open automatically and silently sneaked into the room. Unbeknownst to the two men inside, the chain shot out rapidly, wrapping them up tightly like rice dumplings.
He then quickly activated his plundering ability: first copying the ability, then plundering the wealth. In an instant, he decisively killed them to silence them, exiting and closing the door in one smooth motion as he continued to search for his next target.
In less than ten minutes, a new target appeared:
[Ability: Auditory Amplification D]
[Wealth: 700]
The awakened person was deep in sleep. Noah didn't wake him but instead activated the 'Dream Crafting' ability he had just acquired to weave a nightmare of being devoured by a horde of corpses for him. The man soon showed an expression of 'enjoyment', his face gradually twisting until his whole body convulsed.
Noah walked into the room confidently to initiate the plundering.
"Hand it over."
"I want it all."
[Copying ability successful, obtained ability: Auditory Amplification D]
[Plundering wealth successful, obtained wealth value: 700]
[Plundering proficiency reached 100%, skill upgraded]
[Plundering unlocks new ability 'Stripping']
[Stripping: Completely deprives the target of their ability, the stripped ability can be transferred to others]
[Transfer condition: Favorability over 60%]
Hearing the system's announcement, Noah was greatly surprised. He hadn't expected that the upgrade of the plundering ability would unlock a new function. Previously, he could only copy the abilities of his targets, but now he could completely strip the target's ability, turning an awakened person back into an ordinary person, kicking them from the clouds into the abyss.
It was like going from shearing wool to scraping the bone. This was even more cruel than killing someone.
"Too much, too cruel... I'm too satisfied, hehe...."
And the fact that the stripped abilities can be gifted to others is an essential tool for building one's own power base in the future. It completely eliminates the troublesome process of recruiting other awakened individuals for one's own use. It's entirely feasible to create a group of awakened individuals oneself, provided there are enough targets to strip abilities from. Currently, this might not seem realistic, but as the frequency of apocalyptic events increases, so too will the number of awakened individuals, making plundering much easier.
"Let's start with this 'Sinners Island'."
Noah then turned into a shadow and disappeared into the night. After searching the entire dormitory area, he found only one other awakened individual.
[Ability: Vapor D]
[Wealth: 1500]
Noah did not hesitate to take him down, performing a one-stop operation of copying and stripping, and thoughtfully reset him afterwards.
After checking the dormitory area, the next target was the more upscale standalone villas. There were only four or five standalone villas on the island. Noah moved towards the outermost three-story villa, arriving at the second-floor balcony after a few leaps. The lights inside the villa were still on. Peering through the gap in the curtains, he saw that the villa's owner had not yet gone to sleep. Instead, he was playing multiplayer Landlord with a group of young girls, with lascivious sounds occasionally emanating from the room. This was a skinny young man with dyed red hair.
[Ability: Fire Energy A]
[Wealth: 200,000]
Seeing the small characters above the redhead, Noah's eyes narrowed. An elemental combat ability, rated A, was already a very good ability, and the wealth value was as high as 200,000, indicating a likely small boss-level figure, a veritable fat sheep.
It must be said that the strength of 'Sinners Island' is quite formidable. Up to now, I have discovered five awakened individuals here. Compared to smaller factions like the 'Long Hu Gang', the overall strength of 'Sinners Island' is significantly stronger. It could probably rank among the top in the entire Suzhou area.
"Even the small bosses are of A-level; the big boss must be of S-level."
Thinking of S-level abilities, Noah couldn't help but lick his lips. So far, he has collected eleven abilities, but most of them are of inferior quality. There are only two S-level abilities:
- An S-level functional ability: Wide-Area Space
- An S-level elemental combat ability: Lightning Control
I'm still too weak, far from being invincible. If I could simultaneously master seventeen or eighteen S-level abilities, would I need to be so cautious? I could directly go and strip them bare.
"The journey is long and arduous."