Chapter 31: All-In—A Game of Wit

8:00 p.m.

At this hour, Shen He would usually be at home standing in his eighth-level stance, as per his daily routine. Yet tonight, against all precedent, he paced through the narrow alleys of an urban village.

This was the second mission assigned to the Southern City Sub-bureau: to track down the killer who had sliced his victim in two with a single stroke. It was also Shen He’s second collaboration with the police in pursuit of his daily mission two.

Expert analysis from the province, combined with intelligence gathered, had led to a preliminary conclusion: the killer was a mutated mantis. But such creatures excelled at camouflage and were notoriously hard to find, so luck was as much a factor as skill.

As for the mutated dog whose head Shen He had severed earlier that evening, its carcass had already been hauled to the airport, destined for a secret research institute for further study. Should he succeed tonight in bringing down this mutated mantis, its body would meet the same fate.

Whether this mantis was the mutated beast referenced in his second daily mission, however, remained to be seen—it would depend on whether fortune favored him tonight. Less than four hours remained until midnight. If he failed to find his quarry before then, he would forfeit two free attribute points for nothing.

All the while, Chen Zhao’s voice crackled through Shen He’s earpiece. Since the murder, surveillance had multiplied in the area, tracking all movement. For this operation, Chen Zhao had secured limited access to the local surveillance feeds. He and his team waited in a car within a hundred meters of Shen He, their sole purpose to monitor the cameras and search for any trace of the mutated mantis.

Shen He advanced through the alleys, occasionally glancing at the regional map that had been active for some time now. With this tool, everything was so much easier. All he had to do was follow the outermost lanes, gradually moving inward, keeping within range, and ignoring any caves or nests. His focus was on solitary beast signatures in the vicinity.

Truth be told, high-level beasts above the third tier were rare around here, apart from that mutated dog. Not all animals and plants survived the tide of awakening energies to complete their evolution.

After about half an hour’s walk, Shen He was drawing ever closer to the scene where the child had been killed. On the edge of his map, two distinct beast signatures appeared—two, not just one.

Narrowing his eyes, Shen He quietly drew his entrenching tool and stepped beyond the reach of the streetlights, moving toward a dense greenbelt not far ahead. To call it a greenbelt was generous; it was merely a patch of overgrown landscaping outside an unfinished building. With the project abandoned, no one had tended the place, and the plants had run wild, turning it into a miniature forest.

The two beast signatures on his map were now less than a hundred meters from his position.

Judging by the distance, they should be at the heart of this “forest.” Shen He, flashlight and shovel in hand, kept the beam low as he crept toward the glowing points on his map.

Soon, he caught sight of four glimmering eyes in the moonlight. Two of these glows were already fading.

[Warning! Warning! You have entered the territory of a third-tier mutated mantis. Please leave immediately.]
[Warning! Warning! You have entered the territory of a third-tier mutated mantis. Please leave immediately.]
[Warning! Warning! You have entered the territory of a third-tier mutated mantis. Please leave immediately.]

Shen He’s eyes lit up. He had found his target.

Carefully approaching, he suddenly snapped his flashlight upward and saw two figures entwined together. The female mantis was devouring the male—clearly, they had just completed the act of mating.

Drawing his military knife from his belt, Shen He acted before the female could react, hurling the blade with all his strength. Sometimes, brute force brings miracles.

The knife struck the male mantis squarely in the head, killing it instantly.

[+3 Free Attribute Points]
[Daily Mission Two Completed.]
[Reward Issued.]
[…]
[You have triggered a temporary mission.]
[Escape the pursuit of the female mantis, which is about to advance to a fourth-tier mutated beast. This mantis will evolve in 30 seconds.]
[At that time, an indiscriminate slaughter mode will begin.]
[Countdown: 29]
[…]

Staring at the tiny scarlet prompts before his eyes, Shen He felt a chill run through him. He knew that, at this moment, even a fourth-tier mutated beast might not be stronger than a first-tier one—but it would still be an upgrade, and an angry female mantis was now his foe. The trick that worked seconds ago would not work again.

He glanced at the female mantis, which had paused its meal, and swallowed involuntarily. She was much larger than the male, and presumably far more powerful. With only a few seconds left, escape was impossible. He would have to fight.

Besides, Chen Zhao and his team were already calling to him through the earpiece, ready to rush in at any moment. Shen He quickly made up an excuse to keep them at bay for now.

With their abilities, even if they arrived armed, the outcome would likely be annihilation. Still, hope remained.

Shen He now had five additional free attribute points—eight in total, counting the three gained from killing the mutated dog. If he invested them all, perhaps he’d stand a fighting chance. Even if he lost, the “narrow escape” achievement would allow him to get out alive.

Deep Blue, allocate points…

Shen He began to distribute his points. First, three to Strength. Given the mantis’s incredible speed, he added three to Agility. The remaining two, he assigned to Endurance.

Instantly, his status panel shifted dramatically:

[Player: Shen He]
[Strength: 6.2]
[Endurance: 7.0]
[Agility: 5.1]
[Spirit: 3.2]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
(Evaluation: You are a healthy adult male. Years of training have made your physique far superior to the average person. You are close to reaching first tier, but do not neglect to improve your spiritual power.)
…

Feeling the surge of power swelling inside him, Shen He’s body nearly convulsed from the sudden influx. Yet with intense focus, he managed to suppress it for the moment. He needed a fight to help his body adapt to its newfound strength.

That female mantis would be the perfect adversary.

Launching himself forward, Shen He leapt several meters in a single bound. He swung his entrenching tool down at the female mantis’s head. Just before the tool struck, the mantis sprang away, and his blow landed instead on the male’s corpse.

Before he hit the ground, Shen He snatched the knife from the male’s head and returned it to his belt.

At that moment, scarlet warnings flashed before his eyes:

[Warning! Warning! You have been targeted by a fourth-tier mutated beast. Escape immediately, escape immediately.]