Lin Rui returned to his residential area at six in the evening.
The sky inside the base had turned completely dark, the artificial sun had gone out, and had been replaced by an artificial moon, which caused the temperature throughout the entire base city to drop suddenly.
Just as Lin Rui was driving the rented shared hover motorcycle into the entrance of the neighborhood, his sister Lin Xi sent another message.
Summer's Shallow Thought (Lin Xi): Didn't you say you would be back around six? I have made the food already, why don't I see you?
Summer's Shallow Thought (Lin Xi): Brother, did you really take the 11th place in the combat assessment? You're not lying to me, right?
Lin Rui couldn't help but chuckle; he had told Lin Xi about his assessment results at noon, but she still found his scores unbelievable.
He was just about to reply when the corner of his eye caught sight of General Xue's villa ahead.
Lin Rui's brows slightly furrowed.
The feeling he had when he passed by this villa this morning came again, rising within him out of nowhere a boundless desire to kill and malevolence.
He desperately suppressed his emotions while stopping the vehicle, staring intently at the three-story villa still under yellow police tape.
Through the reflections on the glass curtain walls that made up the exterior of the villa, Lin Rui noticed that his eyes were completely blood-red.
Lin Rui felt a chill in his heart.
This was definitely the influence of the combat spirit's obsessions; the repercussions of this replication skill were beyond his imagination.
Was there any way to resolve it?
Just then, another piece of information appeared in Lin Rui's mind.
Instruction 4: Enhancing the strength of one's soul can resist the influence of the combat spirit's obsessions.
Instruction 5: Helping the combat spirit fulfill its obsessions can weaken the intensity of its obsessions, ultimately neutralizing the combat spirit.
Lin Rui, sensing the text in his mind, displayed a thoughtful expression.
He concluded that enhancing his own soul strength could only provide temporary relief; the real cure would be helping the combat spirit fulfill its obsessions.
Just yesterday, he had taken pride in replicating three master-level martial arts skills from Xue Bogao, yet he hadn't realized that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
At that moment, another piece of information popped up in Lin Rui's mind.
Mission: Combat Spirit Number One has issued you a mission; he wants you to help him check the crime scene and look for clues about the murderer. After completing this task, you can copy a skill from Combat Spirit Number One's skill list at no cost.
Lin Rui was momentarily stunned by surprise that the combat spirit could issue him a mission.
To take a look at the crime scene and be able to exchange for a skill for free?
Lin Rui used his thoughts to open Xue Bogao's skill list and found that there was an additional skill available for copying.
He guessed it was related to the enhancements in his spiritual power and physical fitness after implanting new meridians.
Lin Rui looked around once more.
It was the evening rush hour now, the neighborhood's internal streets bustling with people and vehicles. Lin Rui also spotted two patrol officers nearby and a security team patrolling the streets.
The security management in the vicinity had been strengthened by the government after the crime occurred; now was clearly not a good time to sneak into the villa.
At this precise moment, Lin Xi sent another message.
Summer's Shallow Thought (Lin Xi): Where are you? Do you want me to drive to the train station to pick you up?
Gu Ying Tiandao (Lin Rui): I'm already home, let's talk when I get back.
Lin Rui restarted the hover vehicle and drove up to his own row villa.
As he got down from the vehicle, the shared hover motorcycle autonomously flew away. Lin Rui, with a heavy heart, pushed open the door and walked into his living room.
Upon entering, he immediately smelled the strong aroma of food.
Lin Rui, eyeing the four large bowls and six dishes on the table, expressed complete surprise, "Lin Xi, have you gone mad? Why have you made so much food today? Can the two of us really eat all this? And you even bought naturally raised grouper, how much did that cost?"
Due to a lack of breeding grounds, most base cities on Planet Extreme Star had to rely on artificially synthesized food, and any naturally bred ingredients were imported from other colonial stars, extremely expensive.
"It's you who's gone mad!"
Lin Xi, carrying a bowl of soup, pouted as she came out from the kitchen, "This is to celebrate you passing the Alien Examination. If we don't spend money now, when will we? Go wash your hands."
She pretended to be angry, but her heart was filled with sadness, suspicion, and resentment.
If it was her brother who passed the Alien Combat Examination today, it would certainly have been a great celebration.
But what if her brother had already been replaced by someone else?
Today, she had to resolve this doubt no matter what.
Lin Xi put down the soup bowl and, pretending to be surprised, looked at Lin Rui, "Brother, did you really reach the top 11 in this combat assessment?"
This guy, actually managed to reach such a high rank?
But this only further validated Lin Xi's suspicions.
Her brother was a good student, but it was improbable that he could have enhanced his combat skills to such a high level in such a short time.
"Could this possibly be false?"
Lin Rui slightly smugly went to wash his hands, "Didn't I mention it at noon, that I was going to have surgery at the school's affiliated hospital, to replace my vein with a top-grade one? This reward from the school board wouldn't have come if I hadn't ranked so high. Oh, right—"
He opened his own personal account and transferred 5000 Federation dollars to Lin Xi, "This is for your living expenses for the next few months. Ask me for more when you run out. Also, when I came back, I had already pre-purchased for you a top-grade artificial Dantian and a top-grade artificial vein. You're scheduled for implantation this weekend at our school's affiliated hospital."
Lin Xi's pupils widened, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She looked at Lin Rui uncertainly, "That must cost a lot of money, a top-grade Dantian and meridians will together likely cost seventy to eighty thousand!"
"Didn't I say? I got a 30,000 Federation dollar scholarship this time and got a refund of this year's tuition and miscellaneous fees of 27,000 Federation dollars. Along with our family savings, it all adds up to seventy thousand. Tomorrow, when my Alien License comes through, my credit rating will be upgraded, and then borrowing a consumer loan of thirty thousand will be plenty enough."
Lin Rui walked back to the dining table and ruffled Lin Xi's hair with his hand, "As long as the meridians are implanted, with your talent, Lin Xi, you can quickly transfer to the Private Armored High School."
Lin Xi, lowering her head slightly and using her bangs to hide her face, not letting Lin Rui see her expression, replied, "Maybe not, the tuition at Private Armored High School is very expensive."
Lin Rui couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you silly? Don't forget, my current combat ranking is eleventh. Why worry about money now? Those Alien Exploration Companies and government agencies will be scrambling for me. Those ranked in the top hundred alien students, who doesn't get a high salary even during their internship? And besides—"
His voice paused, his expression becoming incredibly serious, "This is what I owe you!"
It was also what he owed another Lin Rui.
By inheriting this body, he had taken on its responsibilities.
This sister also made his heart ache; Lin Xi clearly had a higher martial talent than her brother, yet she consistently refused to implant an artificial Dantian.
She not only gave all opportunities to Lin Rui but had supported him unconditionally over the years, striving to keep their home intact.
Lin Rui was somewhat envious of his predecessor for having such a good sister.
Through Lin Xi's bangs, Lin Rui saw her eyes slightly reddened, and he couldn't help but ruffle her head again, "Don't worry, as soon as the Alien License is obtained, our family's situation will get better and better, and that's settled then, first thing Saturday morning we proceed with the implantation; I have already made the prepayment."
After he finished speaking, he picked up the chopsticks and reached for the bowl of braised pork in front of him.
This was his favorite dish before he time-traveled and his tastes hadn't changed; Lin Xi must have noticed his preference and had deliberately placed this bowl in front of him.
But as Lin Rui's chopsticks nearly reached it, Lin Xi snatched the bowl away first.
Lin Rui slightly startled, asked, "What are you doing?"
"The dish has gotten cold, I'm going to heat it up."
Lin Xi hurriedly walked into the kitchen with the bowl.
She hesitated slightly, then dumped the braised pork into the trash can.
Lin Xi still couldn't confirm that the Lin Rui in front of her was her own brother.
The issue was, other than the brother who had stuck by her side through thick and thin, who else would be so good to her? To just have obtained his Alien License and then unreservedly use all his money for her implantation?
After all, had Mrs. Qing not said so? There are many reasons for fluctuations in the brain's electromagnetic field, such as severe emotional swings, suffering heavy injuries, or a large increase in spiritual power; and Lin Rui had just been heavily injured.
She couldn't be so rash and hasty, nor did she want to do anything that would harm their sibling relationship.
Lin Xi immediately opened the cupboard, took out a packet of instant braised pork and put it into the warmer.
The majority of today's dishes on the dining table were instant meals she had bought; they weren't made with care.
Thinking about it now, Lin Xi felt quite guilty for just using ready-made meals on her brother's big day.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi reopened her personal terminal to watch the video of Lin Rui being shot.
This time, she watched the video to the end, to the part where the gunman in black shot towards the direction of the holographic monitor, and then everything turned dark.
Lin Xi's eyes narrowed slightly, anger flaming inside her like magma—who exactly were these people, and were they targeting her? Were they trying to force her awakening?
She must find out what exactly happened after the shooting. Her brother was supposedly dead, his head shattered by a bullet, yet how could he just casually walk back into her life? She also needed to uncover the identity of the gunman, and then—slaughter them!
If her brother had indeed been revived by some sort of biotechnology, that would be one thing, but if he was truly dead, then what meaning was there to continue living in this world?
"Oh, right!"
Lin Xi suddenly remembered something, hurried back to her room, and grabbed a small pig-shaped piggy bank before rushing out.
She smashed the piggy bank fiercely, and inside it, there were a bunch of coins and three blood-red crystals.
Lin Xi threw one of the crystals to Lin Rui, "Take this, once your Alien License is down, you'll need to cultivate an alien form. Dad instructed repeatedly years ago, when you cultivate your alien form, you must integrate the drop of blood inside this crystal."
Lin Rui picked up the crystal, his eyes suspicious as he examined and toyed with it.
He noticed the crystal was hollow, and its material wasn't actually blood-red; it was colored by the blood stored inside.
Lin Rui's eyes flashed with astonishment, wondering what kind of creature's blood it was. Was it from an alien from Tianji Star?