Chapter 6: The Second Piece of Intelligence

No, wait! What the hell is Jose's approval?

Shouldn't it be Juan!

Roger stared, dumbfounded, at the Beagle wagging its tail and bobbing its head at him, noticing the little dog was licking his hand with its tongue.

Just two simple feedings had made it drop its guard and accept the man.

Roger felt a complex mix of emotions, unsure whether to call the little thing naive or pitiful.

He ruffled Jose's head hard, sighing at how the world had good dogs and bad people.

Afterwards, he watched Juan apply ointment to Jose's short legs and wrap them with bandages, then left the shed under the pretense of worrying about his tent's belongings.

It wasn't that he disliked the surroundings—he mainly feared Juan might hug Jose again at night and whisper to it.

Back in the tent, he tidied up, dismantled his shelter, packed it into his backpack, and returned to Liulanghan Gongyuan on Third Avenue. This book is first published on tw Easy Read, providing you with a flawless and properly ordered reading experience.

On the way, he checked the Anchor Point's effect.

Jose's Anchor Point granted him 1 point of Physical Function and 1 point of SAN Value shangxian.

Thanks to the bonus, his current paper-based Physical Function had reached 6.1; with the 10% status bonus, it could reach 6.7.

His body felt lighter than yesterday, with the illusion he could sprint a hundred meters in thirteen seconds.

"So all that hard training is worse than taming stray dogs?" Roger muttered, then turned his gaze to the Daily SAN Recovery section.

Without the status bonus, he could now only recover a fixed 1 point of SAN per day.

To lift his status from the Rift's edge to Unstable Cognition and escape the nightmares, he still needed several days of rest.

"Perfect—while the system hasn't updated the second piece of intelligence, I'll recover more SAN."

Roger didn't want to be haunted by nightmares and hallucinations forever, even if it meant losing the 10% Physical Function boost.

Soon, he walked back to the park on foot.

Unfortunately, his original spot had been taken by a new homeless man.

Roger circled a few times, finally finding a quieter new location.

After setting up his tent, he began today's training routine.

"Huh."

"Huh."

An hour later, Roger panted heavily, hands on his knees, staring at the panel.

【Physical Function: 6.25 (Status Bonus +10%)】

"Not bad." He wiped his sweat with a towel and hung it on the hanger inside the tent.

He dared not hang towels or similar items outside—who knew what passing homeless men might do with them.

After a suspicious glance around, Roger hugged himself and fell into a deep sleep inside the tent.

……

Early in the morning, his phone rang.

"Who is it!" Roger answered the call half-asleep, plagued by nightmares all night, his tone irritable.

But the next moment, a slightly excited voice from the girl with large breasts came through.

"Where are you? Roger, they're handing out pizza today! A whole box!"

"What!"

Roger jolted awake, leapt off his mat, slipped on his shoes, grabbed his backpack, and dashed outside.

"Where is it? I'm coming right now."

Come on—a whole box of steaming hot pizza was an epic drop for homeless people; normally, you only saw such meals in small-scale charity van distributions during holidays.

Who would've thought it would drop today!

After hearing Zoe's location, Roger didn't hesitate—he sprinted off.

Minutes later, he arrived breathless at the destination, finding Zoe holding the pizza box.

"Did I arrive too late?"

As soon as he spoke, he stared at Zoe in surprise: "Whoa, you got your hair permed?"

"Yep?" Zoe proudly touched her wavy hair, struck a pose to the side: "How's it look?"

"Very nice. But what surprises me most is that you actually have money."

Zoe didn't answer.

Roger turned his gaze to the logo on the pizza box, surprised: "This isn't cheap pizza? Who's being so generous? Must be a beautiful, kind-hearted girl, right?"

"Mmm!" Zoe didn't want to elaborate, only urged:

"Go line up quickly—if you're late, there won't be any left."

"You're right."

Roger hurried toward the queue, already twenty people long, and stood at the end.

Then, catching his breath, he looked ahead through the crowd.

Sure enough, at the front of the line stood a tall girl in a pink-printed T-shirt, jeans, and white sneakers, handing out pizza to each homeless man.

She stood in the sunlight, her golden hair softly resting on her shoulders. She was clean and bright, especially her skin—pale and glowing.

Most mesmerizing were her blue eyes—clear beyond belief, naturally gentle when she looked at people, as if Mary herself was gazing upon all living things.

Because of this, even the roughest homeless men instinctively avoided her eyes and lowered their voices when approaching her.

Besides this kind girl, a younger white boy stood nearby, acting as labor.

"No wonder Zoe looked like that," Roger muttered, impressed—such a beautiful blonde girl must've made her feel inferior.

Especially since they were roughly the same age, yet one stood high above while the other begged humbly—it was devastating.

She probably failed her interview yesterday; otherwise, she'd have rushed to gloat to Roger about it first.

But in his view, Zoe still had many advantages.

At least she was bigger.

He meant her eyes were bigger—don't go imagining things.

……

After waiting about ten or so minutes, the long line finally reached Roger.

Unfortunately, when the blonde girl extended her hand, the white boy spread his hands wide: "There's none left, Anjielina."

The blonde girl glanced awkwardly at Roger: "Sorry, the pizza is all gone."

"Alright, it's my own fault for coming late," Roger sighed, planning to grab two slices from Zoe's box later to fill his stomach.

"We didn't buy enough—I didn't expect so many homeless people here," Anjielina said, glancing at the line behind Roger, biting her lip.

But several filthy beggars behind her immediately began to curse:

"Pfft, another show-off!"

"Yeah, just a few boxes of pizza? Might as well feed ants—it's a waste of time."

"Hey, girl, you should take your pizza boxes to American Idol—I bet the judges would light up for you!"

Anjielina's face flushed red, unsure what to do.

Her companion was furious, but before they could shout back, Roger's angry voice rang out.

"Shut your stinking mouth!" Roger turned around, his eyes blazing, pointing his finger at the beggars—he hadn't slept well for two nights straight.

"Listen, you pigs, if you don't want your face to catch my fist, keep quiet!"

Roger was already 1.8 meters tall, and with his recent rise in Physical Function, his complexion looked far healthier than the other beggars', and his build appeared noticeably more muscular.

So when he lost his temper, the sarcastic bastards immediately fell silent.

"Get the hell out of here—I'll count to three!"

"3, 2…"

The beggars hurried away without delay.

When Roger turned back, Anjielina, relieved, said: "Thank you."

"It's nothing—it's not your fault."

Anjielina glanced into the trunk, hoping to find another box as repayment, but the boxes were empty.

Just as she felt torn and anxious, a sudden idea flashed in her mind—she pulled a CD from her bag.

"Do you like country music?" she asked hopefully, holding out the CD to Roger.

Roger raised an eyebrow, surprised: "Of course I do—but what's this?"

"It's my demo recording," Anjielina explained. "I just signed with a record label—I'm about to debut as a singer."

"Congratulations."

The girl's eyes curved like crescent moons.

"If you like it, great—if not, it's fine too. I'll come back again; next time, bring this CD and you can get a free pizza—I'll save one for you, okay?" This was the only compensation Anjielina could think of in the moment.

"Uh, alright, I'll listen to it," Roger said, slipping the CD into his backpack.

Anjielina smiled, like an angel bathed in sunlight.

"See you next time."

"See you next time."

After saying goodbye, Roger returned to the street.

He was just about to look for Zoe when suddenly new information appeared before him.

【Information: Strange Noises in the Dump】

【Witnesses report that deep within the dump near Clay Street, unexplainable strange sounds echo—like metal scraping, or the whisper of a beast. Occasional sudden gasps add to the chilling atmosphere. Investigator, please confirm the source within 48 hours and uncover the secret behind it.】

【Reward after investigation: Title "Apprentice Investigator," Ancient God's Bronze Coin ×1, $50】

"Work's come!"

"And it's an urgent one!"

Roger perked up.

But after reading the details, he noticed the reward offered no skill—only a new title, whose effect he didn't know.

"This dump…" He recalled that Juan's workplace was also on Clay Street.

"Could it be the same one?"

"Then I guess I should apply for a job there too."