Chapter 482: Combat Power and a Miss

Only 1.1?

Looking at the still pitifully low Taint Value after obtaining the new anomalous object, Li Ang couldn't help but shake his head regretfully, giving up on the fantasy of his Taint Value skyrocketing by 48 points and instantly taking off on the spot to slaughter everyone in sight.

When he had obtained the Witch's Broom earlier, his Taint Value had been able to jump directly from 0.4 to 0.9, most likely because both the Ram's Head and the Witch's Broom had very low Taint Values to begin with, and even added together they hadn't reached his tolerance cap.

And although this time the 【Holy Spirit Pendant】 had a cap as high as 48 points, he had only been in contact with anomalous objects for less than a month, so his degree of "Taint" was still very shallow, and 1.1 appeared to be his current limit.

……

"Director, I'm here."

After politely alerting the red-haired director, Li Ang proactively activated the 【Holy Spirit Pendant】, converting a small portion of his stamina into currency and directly "feeding" it to the golden toad on his chest.

"Gurgle…"

Accompanying a low call that only Li Ang could hear, a small copper wheel quietly appeared in the golden toad's gaping mouth.

And after it tilted its head back and swallowed the copper wheel, an invisible slash radiating a faint Bai Mang suddenly appeared, precisely striking the red hair floating in the air, and then…

There was no "then"…

"……"

That's it?

Looking at the red hair that, after taking a slash, still floated gently above the desk without even a single bend appearing in it, even though he had already made the corresponding mental preparations, a slight sense of discouragement still couldn't help but well up in Li Ang's heart.

As his Taint Value gradually rose, although his physical fitness had improved quite a bit, it still hadn't exceeded the range of an ordinary person; he estimated that running seven or eight kilometers would already be his limit.

So although that slash just now was unremarkable, it had already consumed one-eighth of his stamina. Considering he needed to keep some stamina in reserve and couldn't spend it all in one go, he estimated he could only unleash an attack like that four or five times.

And yet the attack he had paid such a heavy price to unleash couldn't even cut a single strand of the red-haired director's hair… this really is…

Might as well practice sniping!

"That's enough, the power is already quite impressive."

Seeing the disappointment contained in Li Ang's eyes, the red-haired director withdrew her hair and comforted him with a smile:

"The force of that strike just now was probably enough to pierce through a thin steel plate, and it was extremely covert, with no obvious preparatory movements. On top of that, the targeting was also very precise… By the way, what's the farthest distance at which you can unleash that kind of attack?"

"Um… I can't really say for sure either…"

"Then let's try a different method."

After pointing out the window, the red-haired director said:

"Send your will out, and from the farthest position it can reach, pluck back a leaf."

"I'll give it a try."

Following the red-haired director's instructions, Li Ang once again paid a little stamina to the toad on his chest.

After a while, a somewhat withered yellow leaf, carried by an invisible breeze, drifted in through the window and landed on the desk.

"So the limit is about a hundred meters or so? Then the maximum effective kill range should be just over fifty meters."

After looking at the leaf on the desk, the red-haired director nodded with satisfaction and summarized:

"The destructive power is slightly lacking—only marginally higher than police-issue firearms, lower than a large-caliber nail gun; the precision is extremely high, able to accurately sever a leaf stem from a hundred meters away; within a fifty-meter range, no preparation is needed to directly inflict damage… That's very impressive!" After giving Li Ang a thumbs-up, the red-haired director evaluated with a smile:

"As long as you're in slightly more complex terrain, relying on this anomalous object, you'd be able to single-handedly suppress an entire well-equipped squad of veteran soldiers and easily wipe them out.

And if you also factor in that ram's soul-vision, just to pin you down in an alley would require deploying five elite squads of ten men each, and they'd have to prepare for over half their number to be casualties.

And that's only if they know your capabilities in advance. In a normal encounter, as long as your exact location isn't pinpointed and you're not surrounded, you could probably wear down an entire company by yourself."

"……"

Hearing it put that way, the effect was actually decent? Combined with the complex-terrain mobility provided by the Parkour Badge, he could almost stroll sideways through an urban area, but…

"If it's only this, couldn't 【Demon's Horns】 also achieve the same?"

After mulling over the examples the red-haired director had given, Li Ang couldn't help but frown and say:

"Heishanyang can directly provoke the desire to fight, so it should be able to achieve a similar effect, right? And because teammates might attack at any moment, if used well, the enemy's offense might even collapse on its own."

"That's right, it can do that, but that requires a one-against-many situation."

After looking into Li Ang's eyes, the red-haired director continued:

"The missions you can execute at your current level are overwhelmingly small-scale events with single targets. In those situations, that ram is nowhere near as useful as this pendant.

In any case, you can rest easy for now. By my standards, once the Witch's Broom returns to normal, you'll qualify as a Level-3 Incident Handler."

After beckoning and withdrawing her hair, looking at Li Ang who was still in low spirits, the red-haired director couldn't help but earnestly advise:

"Li Ang, although you didn't say it, I can roughly tell that encountering that Holy Spirit from the Chengjin Sect has given you a strong sense of crisis, but you still need to understand that some things can't be rushed.

For someone who's only been in contact with anomalous objects for less than a month, being able to possess this degree of power is already a very rare thing. Take the rest slowly."

"Thank you for the reminder, I'll keep it in mind…"

After nodding noncommittally, Li Ang tucked the 【Holy Spirit Pendant】 into his collar and put it away, then took the red-haired director's approval slip and left the office, heading toward the Archives Bureau.

Take it slowly?

After thinking over the red-haired director's advice, Li Ang couldn't help but shake his head.

Taking it slowly would of course be best, but for someone who had joined the Cleanup Bureau, no one could say which would come first—an accident, or tomorrow.

He wasn't like Senior Emma, who had an immortal body as a safety net. Only by becoming strong as quickly as possible could he maximize his own safety, and also spare Anna and the others from losing a big brother they could rely on, right after losing their parents.

Besides, although the Taint Value couldn't be rushed and could only convert bit by bit over time, he still had the Badge System.

Shooting, Parkour, Drinking, Acting… although looked at individually, the effects of these badges weren't particularly strong, and the ones below Silver didn't even reach the threshold of "anomalous," they had the advantage of directly providing a path for advancement—as long as you did the corresponding things, a big wave of improvement would come directly.

What's more, with badges like 【Demon's Friend】 and 【Devout One】 that directly enhanced the effects of anomalous objects, as long as he could put in a bit more effort, the speed at which he grew stronger could definitely increase dramatically, so…

As long as the grinding doesn't kill me, I'll grind myself to death!!!

After resolving to become a super grinder, Li Ang took the case containing the big sniper rifle, tucked two hard loaves of bread into his jacket, and headed to the Archives Bureau, planning to first look up his own file to see what exactly Anna was worried about, then grab a quick lunch, and then spend the entire afternoon at the shooting range, firing until he couldn't see the target anymore. However…

"Um… I'm very sorry, but the file you requested has already been checked out by someone else."

After checking the file records, the Archives Bureau custodian gave a slight nod of apology to the visibly surprised Li Ang and explained:

"Although your clearance is higher, this kind of ordinary file is only kept in one copy here. If you want to access it, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until it's returned."

(End of this chapter)