PS: Thank you to the reader 0景天0 for the reward, (♡˙︶˙♡).
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Lin Rui took a full minute to steady his breathing, two more minutes to calm his mind, and also his surging blood vessels.
He found his mental fortitude to be exceptional, regaining composure just minutes after killing, able to think and act with clarity.
Lin Rui first returned to the secret room's entrance to close the outer door, then he came back to examine the two bodies.
"It's a pity, I could have held back a bit with the last strike—"
This way, he could have kept a live captive.
But that was easier said than done.
In the fight, restraining himself even slightly would have been irresponsible to his own life.
Lin Rui couldn't afford to hold back, sorely lacking experience in life-and-death combat, unable to accurately assess an opponent's strength and condition during battle, knowing only to hack forward with all his might.
Besides, he also was affected by the battle spirit's obsession; his thoughts turned fierce, his killing intent strong, nearly beyond his control.
In the end, Lin Rui only found two kinetic pistols on the bodies, the commonly seen "Shocker model 4102" of the last decades, characterized by their low cost and not insignificant power, capable of threatening sergeant-level implant wearers. Their drawback was the need for a charging time, and the initial bullet firing speed was slow, which likely was why the two didn't opt to draw their guns.
Beyond the pistols, there was nothing else—such was the downside of the technological era, with many life functions integrated into smart terminals.
Lin Rui's Grandmaster level Red Thunder Palm had some hacking abilities, but he couldn't hack into the terminals worn on the wrists of the two men, so he didn't bother trying.
Fortunately, the underground chamber built by Xue Bogao perhaps intended to avoid detection by powerful Martial Cultivators, was lined with special materials, blocking the public network of the Ninth Base.
Otherwise, the smart terminals of the two men would have alerted the medical center and police station of the base city at the instant of their deaths.
"Hmm? This looks like a gang tattoo?"
Lin Rui noticed a teal tattoo on the right side of each man's neck, shaped like a lizard, encircled with the words "Loyalty and brotherhood, share glory and shame, unite and assist, dare to act and bear."
He photographed the tattoos of both men, planning to search for them online later. Their faces, too, if circumstances allowed, could be a lead to their identities.
As soon as he finished the photography, information formed in his mind.
Notification: You have fulfilled wish number 1 of the battle spirit's crime scene investigation, and the battle spirit is very satisfied with your findings. You may now reproduce any ability from his replicable abilities column without any cost.
Lin Rui opened Xue Bogao's ability list.
In both of Xue Bogao's ability columns, there was an ability named "Cleaner (Expert)".
Lin Rui had always been unclear about what this so-called "Cleaner" ability entailed.
Now, thinking of the stealth and suppression skills Xue Bogao possessed, he had a guess.
Looking at these three characters, Lin Rui hesitated. He could now choose an ability from Xue Bogao's ability table without any cost, but exchanging for this "Cleaner" ability seemed like a bad deal no matter how he thought about it.
Then, with a flicker in his expression, he chose to learn it.
Hands-on teaching is also a form of learning, right—
The next moment, Lin Rui felt a slight chill throughout his body, and it began moving uncontrollably.
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The next morning at 9:30, Lin Rui climbed out of bed, and upon reaching the sink, he saw his face was pale as paper.
While brushing his teeth, Lin Rui couldn't help but recall the images of himself being controlled by Xue Bogao's battle spirit, handling the two corpses the previous night, and he vomited profusely, expelling all the acid water from his stomach.
What a pity for the feast his sister, Lin Xi, had painstakingly prepared for him, none of it remained.
Last night's display of the Cleaner skills by Xue Bogao was indeed expert-level, incredibly professional.
He first chopped the two bodies into chunks and placed them in the bathtub on the second floor of the Xue residence, then used several barrels of chemical solution from the Xue family's garage and poured them into the bathtub.
Lin Rui watched as the two bodies dissolved little by little into a clear liquid, streaming into the sewer.
Xue Bogao also concocted another liquid to clean the scene, ensuring no trace of the victims' blood or DNA was left. In the end, he even inspected the villa meticulously with a magnifying glass, making sure not a single hair was left behind.
The crime scene was processed very cleanly, though the process itself was extremely nauseating and bloody. Lin Rui still hadn't recovered.
When he left his room, Lin Xi had already gone to school. On the dining table, she had left a note for him, along with his favorite fried dough sticks and soy milk, and three beef steaks cooked to eighty-percent doneness.
Lin Rui picked up the note and glanced at it.
'—Just finished the exams and you're already slacking off, you lazy pig!'
Lin Xi's handwriting was elegant and graceful, and she'd even drawn a simplistic pig's head at the end.
Although it was a pig's head, it somehow captured the handsome and elegant charm of Lin Rui's face, vividly and lively.
Lin Rui gave a wry smile and started gulping down the soy milk on the table.
The soy milk still had its warmth, and as it filled Lin Rui's stomach, it warmed his internal organs and his entire body.
At that moment, his close friend Wang Sen's video call came through. After picking up, the chubby face on the other side jumped in shock, "Rui, what happened to you? Why are you as white as a ghost?"
"Didn't I have the new meridians implanted yesterday? I stayed up excited about it last night. I even tried practicing the advanced cultivation technique of the 'Red Thunder Palm' stance."
Lin Rui casually made an excuse, then looked at the background behind the chubby boy, "Wang Sen, are you at school now?"
"Where else would I be if not at school? Didn't we agree to come to the internship company's presentation today?"
The chubby boy complained, "I came over early in the morning, but you were nowhere to be seen."
Lin Rui did have an appointment with Wang Sen the day before, so hearing this he gave an embarrassed smile, "My bad, Wang Sen, just wait a bit, I'll be right over, and I'll treat you to a big meal at noon."
Wang Sen wasn't really angry. He huffed and crossed his arms, "That's more like it. Hurry up and come over. Next is Blade Exploration Company's presentation. It's the top Alien Exploration Company at Base Nine, best not to miss it."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Rui ate the beef steak while opening his personal terminal system's email inbox, where he found a pile of emails, one of which was from the Base Nine Urban Affairs Center.
Urban Affairs Center: Congratulations, Mr. Lin, for passing the Alien Creature Assessment and obtaining the government-issued Alien Creature License. Please visit the 'Alien Cultivation Center' within one month to cultivate your alien creature. We wish Mr. Lin smooth sailing and a bright future in your upcoming career.
—Click the link to view your assessment scores.
Lin Rui's eyebrows slightly raised. The alien license was approved so quickly?
He opened the certificate folder in his terminal, and indeed there was an Alien Creature License.
Lin Rui also clicked on the link in the email.
His written exam scores were 32nd in the city, including subjects like the history, language, and geography of the Polestar planet, all of which the previous Lin Rui had studied, and had nothing to do with him.
Lin Rui was clueless about these subjects and didn't know the Polestar language at all.
His practical assessment scores were 11th in the city, and he ranked 14th overall.
Lin Rui immediately took a screenshot of his scores and the Alien Creature License and forwarded it to his sister.
Summer's Shallow Thoughts (Lin Xi): Shocked!!!! It's actually true, brother, you're amazing!
Lin Rui could almost picture Lin Xi with her eyes wide open, utterly shocked.
He smiled slightly and began browsing through the other emails.
Most of these emails were from various Alien Exploration Companies and government agencies, inviting Lin Rui to visit their facilities for an internship. Even the Federal Military had sent him an invitation, hoping he would join the army.
And there were banks, insurance companies, cybernetic hospitals, car dealerships, etc., promoting various loan services. When he was still an alien trainee, these financial institutions had barely paid him any attention, but now they were sending him a bunch of spam.
The Housing Management Center also sent an email, reminding him that next month he would turn eighteen and become an adult. From then on, he would need to pay for the townhouse. If he couldn't afford it, the Housing Management Center would arrange a new place for him in the lower-city district.
What Lin Rui focused on were the invitations from the Alien Exploration Companies.
The main business of these companies was trading aliens, acquiring various resources from within Polestar, as well as undertaking exploration and scientific research missions issued by the government, military, and other social institutions, with relatively high remuneration. Some of the larger companies even offered generous salaries during the internship period.
Right now, Lin Rui only wanted money, the faster the better, the more the better.
He looked for a moment before shaking his head and closing his inbox, then hurried out the door with a fried dough stick in his mouth.
The invitations from these companies were mostly the same, with little to differentiate them, so it was better to attend their presentations and visit the companies in person.