Chapter 113: Fourth Energy Level!

On the ground, the wide-open eyes of the two severed heads slowly dimmed.

Lin Qing tapped his toe lightly; an invisible force erupted instantly, shattering the head beneath his foot and quickly staining the sandy ground red.

"Recruiting me?" A hint of mockery appeared in his eyes.

Benefits like points might be useful to him, but... no matter how useful, they would never be more important than 'Order'.

This was the foundation of his rise.

At this very moment—

【Order Level increased by 2.0 levels】

【Order Level increased by 2.1 levels】

Rows of green notifications immediately floated before Lin Qing's eyes.

Immediately after, a line of golden notifications appeared in his field of vision.

【Order Level broke through 10 levels; new advanceable items unlocked; can unlock again after 100 levels】

"As expected..."

A trace of joy appeared in Lin Qing's eyes.

"Order." He immediately whispered the word in his mind.

As a torrent of incomprehensible information rushed past like a waterfall, a light screen condensed before his eyes.

【Current Order Level: 12.3 levels】

【Number of advanceable items: 2/3】

【Advanced items: Combat Technique 'Free Body' (10.63% completed)】

The corners of Lin Qing's lips curled up slightly.

This was the reward.

Now, counting the incomplete 'Free Body' combat technique, he could advance three abilities! "After returning, as long as the energy stabilizer is in place, I can advance the two gene abilities of the fourth energy level of the Sky-Track Monarch bloodline in one go."

Lin Qing took a deep breath, filled with immense anticipation.

His current strength allowed him to deal with these two mainly because his Flash Speed was fast enough; with the absolute first strike, their defenses were not strong enough, which is why he had instantly killed them.

But if he encountered a two-star Patrol Elite skilled in defense, he might be at a loss.

However, as long as he excavated the three abilities of the fourth energy level of the Sky-Track Monarch bloodline, this would no longer be an issue, and his defense would also be greatly improved.

This was bloodline evolution.

Of course, under normal cultivation of bloodline evolution methods, only one or two abilities are excavated per energy level; after excavating one ability, the probability of excavating the next one drops significantly.

Unless the bloodline concentration is high enough.

"Time to deal with these two..."

Looking at the two corpses on the ground, Lin Qing wasted no time; a cyan light erupted from his pupils, and simultaneously, the muscles of his right leg swelled violently as he lightly stepped on the sandy ground.

Invisible force penetrated the ground with a boom and exploded suddenly, causing the sandy ground to crack open with a fissure over one meter long, half a meter wide, and nearly ten meters deep.

A large amount of sand near the fissure began to slowly pour inward.

Lin Qing first kicked the two heads into bloody powder, then casually flicked his toe a few times to sweep the blood-stained sand and soil nearby into the fissure; after disabling their communicators, he kicked the corpses into the fissure and used hidden force to crush them into bloody pulp.

Immediately after, he reactivated the force, causing the fissure to collapse and seal together, restoring the sandy ground to its original compact state.

Fortunately, this area was mostly sandy ground, making it easy to cover the traces.

Finally, only the communicator and the signal jammer in Lin Qing's hand remained to be dealt with.

It seemed slow, but from the moment he acted to covering the traces, only a dozen seconds had actually passed.

Lin Qing examined the signal jammer and communicator in his hand and said, "Chen Guang, after disabling the signal jamming, remember to stop the death signals of these two, then send a message to the Patrol System and the Mission Team stating they went to pursue enemies, and modify their GPS positions and trajectories."

Whether it was the Headquarters Patrol or these prisoners, once they died, the device constantly monitoring their vital signs on their bodies would send an alarm to the Headquarters or the Prison.

Now, it was only because the signal was jammed that it had not been sent successfully.

"Alright." Chen Guang's voice sounded: "But the signal jamming itself will also leave traces, which is another suspicious point."

"Doesn't matter."

Lin Qing said calmly: "This alien actually reminded me; even if a 'Great Lord' of an extraterrestrial civilization kills a Patrol, it is no big deal. When the fake in the prison is discovered, they will naturally suspect it was done by an alien Great Lord."

"Besides... there is already an 'enemy attack' right now; the surveillance cameras and aircraft destroyed by laser beams are evidence, and this has nothing to do with me."

His fingertips moved slightly, instantly shattering the jammer in his hand.

Signal jamming disabled.

At the same time, the impending death signal from the communicator was cleared, and a message was automatically sent to the Patrol System and the Mission Team.

Afterwards, Lin Qing's hands shimmered with a metallic luster, and his muscles swelled, crushing these instruments and communicators into a tight sphere of compressed metal and other materials.

"Off you go."

Lin Qing stepped back and, as if throwing a ball, hurled the sphere violently into the sky opposite to his search direction.

"Whoosh!"

The sphere instantly broke the sound barrier and vanished from the sky in his field of vision in the blink of an eye.

"Judging by your arm strength, throwing angle, and initial velocity, it should at least reach the sea over one hundred and forty kilometers away." Chen Guang immediately drew his conclusion.

"The feel was quite good."

Lin Qing smiled, turned around immediately, and continued toward his original search direction.

Ten minutes later.

"Team Leader Cheng and Gong Leping discovered the enemy escaped via an underwater propulsion device and went to pursue them?"

"Makes sense; there are emergency underwater breathing apparatuses and propulsion devices on the shore, Team Leader Cheng is a gene awakener, and Gong Leping has mastered 'Free Body' and optimized his genes once; going to pursue the enemy is normal."

"Strange, why can't we locate the Team Leader's signal? Could their phones be damaged?"

"Should we go help? The satellite search yielded no results either."

"How can underwater satellites detect anything? If the enemy is fleeing, they won't dare leave the water—they'll head straight for the deep sea."

After sending a rescue request to headquarters, the mission team waited at the airport.

The vast ocean simply offered no way to assist.

At this level of power, with equipment support, combat underwater is perfectly normal.

An hour later, the aircraft dispatched by headquarters arrived at the airport, but tracing the fake GPS trajectory and search route created by Chen Guang led to nothing.

Aside from the intelligent lifeform specially assigned by headquarters to monitor classified data, no ordinary AI system could withstand Chen Guang's intrusion.

The three-star elite inspector sent by headquarters even ventured deep into the sea, meticulously searching for half an hour.

In the end, they could only keep the satellites scanning the nearby waters for the missing Cheng Cong and Gong Leping.

The other eight members of the mission team also returned with headquarters' aircraft.

……

After returning to headquarters, Lin Qing walked straight toward his apartment.

"Lin Qing, your most likely exposure point is the fat man named 'Bok' in Duanbei Prison."

Chen Guang's voice echoed in his mind: "He's the only one who still knows about this. Though the matter can't see the light and he won't expose it anytime soon, if time passes and Gong Leping's impersonation of Ye Hong in prison is discovered, this could be dug up—and eventually lead back to you."

Lin Qing strolled along the road, gazing at the carefully arranged flowers, plants, and green belts, and said softly: "Then kill him."

"Kill him?"

Chen Guang said: "He's in Duanbei Prison. If you kill him, you won't escape either… You mean wait for him to come to you?"

"What's his strength level?" Lin Qing asked.

Chen Guang said: "According to prison records, although Bok hasn't reached the level of autonomous gene recombination, he's enhanced a fourth-tier gene ability and trained in combat techniques—his strength is at least close to that of a three-star elite inspector."

"Three-star elite inspector?" Lin Qing nodded slightly.

Before gene awakening, the absolute limit was reaching the level of a two-star elite inspector. Mastering the original combat technique to the instinctive stage, plus enhancing several third- and fourth-tier gene abilities—that was the maximum possible.

A three-star elite inspector, under normal circumstances, was someone who could control gene recombination.

They were only one level away from the four-star inspectors.

Even within the Inspection Headquarters, this level was considered among the elite of inspectors.

"Then kill him in the prison."

Lin Qing said: "He's shackled with electromagnetic cuffs and leg irons there—he can't use much of his strength. Killing him would be easiest."

"Kill him in the prison?" Chen Guang asked, surprised: "How do you plan to do it?"

Lin Qing smiled and said: "I'll have this ability soon—but I need you to prepare the perfect opportunity."

……

"You're back?"

Inside the apartment, Zhao Jiayi put down her VR headset, walked over in her pajamas, and couldn't help saying: "I thought you weren't going to stay for my birthday this time."

"What's your birthday again?" Lin Qing asked, puzzled.

"July 21st."

Zhao Jiayi looked at him helplessly, then muttered quietly in her dialect: "You don't even care about me at all..."

"Oh, today's only the 17th," Lin Qing said. "You're almost twenty—still celebrating your birthday?"

"But it's my coming-of-age birthday—it's different," Zhao Jiayi said.

"Fine. I'll get you a higher-end virtual gaming system," Lin Qing said casually. "Consider it your birthday gift?"

"Really?"

Zhao Jiayi's eyes lit up.

She'd seen it on headquarters' store long ago—but it cost over two million, and she couldn't afford it.

"No big deal," Lin Qing said. "But you need to help me find someone."

Zhao Jiayi immediately nodded: "No problem. After I come of age, I'll be different—my telekinesis will be much stronger than now."

Lin Qing glanced at her but asked no further questions.

He'd heard that Zhi Star humans could achieve gene awakening upon coming of age—perhaps Zhao Jiayi, as an alien, would also undergo some special change? "Go ahead and play."

Lin Qing immediately entered the training room and logged into the Inspection Headquarters' official website to check its information.

Not long after—

"Found it!"

Lin Qing's eyes brightened—he spotted a notice on the website about the release of "Energy Stabilizer."

As a contributor, he had priority purchasing rights and a free quota of one hundred credits.

After all, he'd already received a Special Merit Award; there was no need to give excessive rewards—this was merely symbolic.

"Energy Stabilizer, twenty-five credits per vial?"

Lin Qing carefully examined the newly listed Energy Stabilizer data and nodded inwardly.

Since it involved fourth-tier substances, the price naturally couldn't be low—twenty-five credits wasn't high at all.

For those seeking to attempt fourth-tier optimization, its effect was significant.

It stabilized fourth-tier energy, slowing its release—already a very good effect.

"I'll take four vials."

He immediately used up his free quota of one hundred credits.

Then, Lin Qing found the "Second Source" energy crystal—each ten grams cost fifty credits.

The Second Source was hailed as the gentlest source of fourth-tier energy, usable to restore energy depletion in gene-awakened individuals.

Any energy could be used to train the Bloodline Evolution Art and unlock gene abilities.

To him, the energy of the fourth level was still too strong; even the energy of the so-called most gentle 'Second Source' remained dangerous.

Without the Energy Stabilizer and the Star Refining Art, he could not use it to excavate the fourth-level genetic ability.

"Not many points."

Lin Qing glanced at his point balance.

The headquarters had given him five hundred points; previously, to excavate the third-level genetic ability of his bloodline, he had used them to purchase Black Nest No. 16, and with the spare reserve, he had already spent three hundred points.

Now exactly two hundred points remained; this prison patrol mission was eight points, and a new recruit patrol could overdraft one hundred points.

So, the points he could actually use were three hundred and eight points.

"That's just enough to buy sixty grams of the Second Source."

Lin Qing pondered silently, "However, if it's only for an advance, it is enough."

He immediately chose to purchase forty grams of the Second Source.

The Second Source, every ten grams being a minimum unit of energy, matched perfectly with four Energy Stabilizers.

"I can only overdraft one hundred more points."

Lin Qing didn't need to know; to cover the advance for the fourth-level ability, he would definitely need many Energy Stabilizers and much Second Source.

Calculating it, he didn't know how many points would be enough.

"I must find a way to earn points."

"Fortunately, becoming a two-star elite patrol in the first semester will yield one thousand points."

Lin Qing pondered silently, "After this matter ends, I will lie low for a while, then advance to two-star elite patrol, and then start earning points to repay the debt."

Just one hour later, the four Energy Stabilizers and forty grams of Second Source that Lin Qing purchased had already been delivered.

After verification through triple identification of iris, fingerprint, and DNA, he finally received the goods.

Carrying them all the way back to the cultivation room of his apartment, after closing the door, Lin Qing then opened the password box and took out the Energy Stabilizers and the Second Source.

The Energy Stabilizer was a near-transparent silvery-white liquid; after injection into the body, it was like an ice flow.

The Second Source, however, was a pale green crystal powder; it could be consumed or held in the hand, as it mainly relied on contact to absorb the energy within.

After Lin Qing injected the Energy Stabilizer, he endured the chill throughout his body and began to absorb the seemingly gentle energy within the Second Source.

The energy of the fourth level, no matter how gentle, was still powerful energy far beyond his current level! Cats and brachiosaurs both have gentle temperaments, but humans still cannot control the massive brachiosaur; this is the same principle.

However, under the effect of the cold current filling his body from the Energy Stabilizer, the vast and fierce energy of the Second Source remained stable, releasing very slowly, and did not cause harm to Lin Qing.

"Star Refining Art!"

At a thought, Lin Qing immediately activated the Star Refining Art; ripples of oscillating waves instantly rose within his body, beginning to decompose and shatter the powerful energy of the Second Source to facilitate his absorption.

Once the Star Refining Art was activated, absorbing the energy of the Second Source indeed became much simpler.

"Bloodline Evolution Method."

Taking advantage of the body beginning to absorb streams of high-level fourth-level energy, Lin Qing immediately activated the Bloodline Evolution Method.

The energy of the fourth level would also excavate a fourth-level genetic ability.

Half an hour later.

Through the excavation of the Bloodline Evolution Method, Lin Qing finally sensed the existence of a genetic ability.

But it was only a Bingshan; to truly excavate it, there was still a long way to go, requiring both time and luck.

Lin Qing opened his eyes and called out in his heart: "Order."

At this moment, on the Entropy Reverser panel, a new 【Advanceable Item】 was indeed recorded.

【Bloodline Evolution Ability - Sky Track Monarch 'Sky Track Coordinate'】

(End of this chapter)