There were four guys in this group. Hearing their boss' name revealed, the other two wished they could bury their heads in their pants out of sheer embarrassment.
Arthur was at a loss. Where did these clowns come from?
"No wonder you changed careers."
Arthur shook his head before speaking. "Seeing how naive and cute you all are, I feel bad about hitting you. Go home now."
The four kids stormed off, with the freckled one yelling back at Arthur, "You'll regret this!"
Arthur blinked, wanting to retort, but finding too many things wrong to even begin.
When they became minions for Landoffer, did they get special training on what to say when they ran away? Something like "You'll regret this" or "You'll see!"?
"Maybe they did… Even the ones who came during the day left with threats," Arthur mused, his lips twitching. "If this
Randolph hasn't died of frustration from dealing with his minions and is still causing trouble, he must be something special."
A cold wind blew, making Arthur shiver. Finding the door locked, he climbed up the wall to his second-story window and slipped back into his room.
Listening carefully, he didn't hear anything coming from Lily's room. Whether she was awake or not, Arthur couldn't tell; his hearing, no matter how acute, couldn't pick up her breathing through the layers of soundproofing.
"I can't just let these guys run wild…"
Arthur sat on his bed and thought about how to handle the situation.
He needed a relatively stable environment to familiarize himself with this new world. Constant trouble from thugs in the middle of the night wouldn't help; it was enough to cause a mental breakdown.
"After dealing with those guys, I really need to figure out my next steps… Oh, right."
Arthur opened the Disassembler space and put Schmidt's gun into it. He had been so busy negotiating with Lily during the day that he had forgotten about the gun.
…
The gears in the Disassembler slowly fell silent, followed by a long hiss. Arthur waited for the weapon to be completely disassembled.
Calculating the time, it took about ten minutes, which was unusually long. Long disassembly times often indicated valuable results.
**[Announcement!]**
**Equipment disassembly successful!
**Beginner Handgun Shooting Experience*24]**.
**[Beginner Melee Gunnery experience*18]**.
**[Blood-Gleaming Battle Soul]**
**Colorless Small Crystal*3]**.
**[Disassembly complete. Would you like to extract now?]
"Hmm? Extract!"
Blood-Gleaming Battle Soul?
This thing was indeed glowing with blood like color. Not only did it glow red, but within the red aura, a skull would occasionally form and disappear, only to reappear moments later.
Arthur scratched his head. "Will I become a red man if I absorb this?"
Then he slapped it.
The red light exploded, completely enveloping Arthur.
An incredibly intense sensation swept through every inch of Arthur's body. Unlike the usual Battle Soul, this one felt much stronger, accompanied by a slight pain.
As the sensation peaked, the red light surged into Arthur's body.
"Phew! That felt amazing!"
Arthur's eyes widened as he quickly checked his skin, relieved to find it wasn't red.
He clenched his fists, feeling the newfound strength coursing through him.
Though it wasn't precise, Arthur knew that the strength he had gained this time was considerable. Compared to a broken Battle Soul, it was worlds apart.
But thinking about the Hulk he had seen on TV earlier, Arthur fell silent.
Damn… there's no way to compete with that guy, right?
The Hulk wasn't even human anymore!
"Speaking of which, the Hulk became like that because of the Super Soldier Serum, right?"
Arthur took the last vial of Super Soldier Serum from his Disassembler space and blinked. "That old man who didn't keep his word… that's on you, isn't it? Well, I can't blame the timing."
Then a thought struck him.
The Hulk almost always loses his mind when he transforms.
Can that be controlled?
Arthur pondered, recalling several movie scenes. The Hulk's loss of control seemed to stem from anger.
According to Banner himself, when he became the Hulk, his mind was chaotic, filled with countless noises.
Arthur had a preliminary guess.
But the next moment he shook his head. "Basing it on movie plots isn't reliable. It's too presumptuous… What if the actual situation is different? A single mistake could lead to a complete failure. Unless one day this green, short, and stocky guy willingly lies on an operating table for me to study… otherwise, it is almost impossible to find out."
Arthur absorbed the Intermediate Shooting Experience and Close Combat Experience he had just synthesized, then took out three small colorless crystals.
Colorless.
They flashed with subtle energy, emitting a beautiful ripple.
"What can this energy do?"
Arthur felt the energy surge through his body and suddenly smiled.
"Before, I was on the battlefield and didn't have time to test every possibility. But now it's different… I seem to have enough time to explore different possibilities. Hmm, I'll need some money… but that's okay."
Arthur had already decided where to get his first pot of gold!
Having made up his mind, Arthur put the colorless crystals aside and had a good night's sleep. Early the next morning, feeling refreshed, he went to find Lily… to borrow money!
"I don't have any money to lend, only my life to give!"
Lily glared at him, not moving an inch.
"I just need some money to buy a book…"
Arthur felt a little humiliated in his tone… there was no helping it, who could be tough when borrowing money?
"What book would you like to buy?"
"Um… about computer operations," Arthur said.
"Computer Operations?"
Lily blinked, then pointed to a room. "There's a bunch in my dad's study."
"But I can't give them back."
"You don't need to give them back," Lily huffed. "They all died without permission, and I have no use for their things. You can have it as long as you don't borrow any money!"
"You said it, no returns!"
"Stop dithering…hurry up and go."
Lily pushed Arthur out of the kitchen.