I Contracted Myself

Outside the dark room, Liu Sishan leaned against the wall, holding a badge in her hand, nervously waiting for the result.

She had been waiting for an hour.

Suddenly, the pearl on the badge glowed faintly, followed by the voice of an elder, "Sisi?"

"Captain, I'm here," Liu Sishan immediately responded.

The elder said, "From now on, Sisi, you and Man Ni are responsible for secretly protecting Zhang Ping. The information he provides is very crucial. As for his credibility, you will have to judge for yourself. Bing Bing will monitor your mental state. If there's any issue, I will order Jin Bo to forcibly take you out of Mingzhu City.

Also... cooperate with Zhang Ping to identify every Tianchang Fox as much as possible."

"Captain, what is Zhang Ping's current status?" Liu Sishan asked.

The elder replied, "The situation in Mingzhu City is still unclear. Although Zhang Ping has provided key information, we can't rule out the possibility that this might be a trap set by the enemy. So, for now, he will act as an important informant. If this matter is resolved smoothly, we will then consider a reward."

"Understood," Liu Sishan nodded.

Ending the communication, Liu Sishan put away the badge and returned to the dark room.

The restraints on Zhang Ping were instantly released. He stretched his limbs and asked, "Verified?"

"Yes, but we can't be sure if your discovery of the Tianchang Fox is a trap set by the enemy. So, I'm sorry, you can only act as an informant. Apart from providing the location of the Tianchang Fox, we won't have more contact for now," Liu Sishan nodded and continued.

Zhang Ping was not dissatisfied with this result.

He never intended to gain anything from Liu Sishan or the organization behind her. As long as the Tianchang Fox in the city was dealt with, with his abilities, he would eventually have everything he wanted. Why go out of his way?

With no desires, there was nothing to worry about.

"For the time being, I will protect you in the shadows. If you find anything, you can contact me at night," Liu Sishan added.

Zhang Ping smiled, "Protection and surveillance? I get it. Don't worry, I will cooperate with you. As long as the Tianchang Fox is dealt with, everything will be fine."

"Thank you for understanding," Liu Sishan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She had thought Zhang Ping would be angry. After all, most young people would be upset, even furious, if they knew they were being monitored.

Zhang Ping's understanding made her feel a lot more favorable towards him.

"But I have a question. I hope you can answer it," Zhang Ping said at this moment.

Liu Sishan pondered for a moment and agreed, "If I can answer it, I will."

"Why can't the high-level Awakeners in the city see through the disguises of the low-level Tianchang Fox?" Zhang Ping asked directly.

This was something he couldn't understand.

High-level Awakeners had a certain resistance to the abilities of low-level Awakeners and Mutated Beasts. Therefore, opponents of each level usually only corresponded to their own level.

Generally speaking, the opponents of high-level Awakeners must be high-level Awakeners, not intermediate or top-level Awakeners.

The former was too weak to be considered an opponent, and the latter was too strong to be qualified as an opponent.

"We actually discovered this long ago. According to the captain's speculation, there might be a king-level Mutated Beast hidden in Mingzhu City," Liu Sishan answered.

Zhang Ping's eyes widened in surprise, "A king? You're not joking, right?"

As far as he knew, there were no king-level Awakeners among humans.

If a king-level Mutated Beast, with intelligence no less than humans, invaded Mingzhu City, what could humans use to defend against it?

"I know you might doubt it, but king-levels do exist. After becoming a top-level Awakener..." Liu Sishan thought Zhang Ping was surprised that king-levels were not a myth, so she began to explain.

But halfway through her explanation, Zhang Ping interrupted, "No, there's no problem with the existence of king-levels. I just want to know, do we humans have any king-levels?"

"No, even the captain is just a top-level Awakener," Liu Sishan paused and then replied.

Zhang Ping frowned, "Soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals. Even if I find the hidden Tianchang Fox king in Mingzhu City, what will you use to fight it?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Your concern should be finding all the Tianchang Foxes, and we will be responsible for eliminating them," Liu Sishan frowned. In fact, she wasn't sure either. The captain hadn't told her what to do after finding them.

But out of her usual trust in the captain, she didn't question his decision.

Zhang Ping was silent for a moment before speaking again, "So high-level Awakeners can't detect low-level Mutated Beasts because they are influenced by the king-level Mutated Beast?"

"The biggest difference between Mutated Beasts and human Awakeners is the existence of inherent racial skills. Once a king-level Mutated Beast appears, all the same-race Mutated Beasts within a certain range will have their inherent racial skills enhanced by the king.

Generally speaking, this enhancement can only raise the level by one, but the mental category is an exception. Unless one's mental strength is higher than the king, it's very difficult to see through the illusions, consciousness distortions, and common sense distortions created by the mental category," Liu Sishan explained.

Zhang Ping frowned, "So once a king-level mental Mutated Beast appears, isn't it invincible?"

This meant that one king-level was equivalent to a group of kings, which was too unreasonable.

"Not necessarily. The reason the mental category is like this is that their abilities themselves don't harm the target. Once they actively attack an Awakener of a higher level, their abilities might be seen through," Liu Sishan shook her head.

Zhang Ping pondered, "So the stronger ones are less likely to be attacked by the Tianchang Fox."

"Not necessarily. If the Patrol Guard has indeed been completely replaced by the Tianchang Fox, then the captain of the Patrol Guard, Lin Kedi, must have already been killed, and Lin Kedi is a top-level Awakener," Liu Sishan said.

Zhang Ping took a deep breath and stood up, "Alright, I have no more questions for now. If I have any, I'll ask you later. How do I get out of here?"

"Okay, I'll contact you tonight," Liu Sishan nodded.

The next moment, Zhang Ping felt a force pulling him forward. In an instant, he was lifted up through a dark passage and returned to a small park.

He blinked and then looked down at the ground. The ground was still the ground, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Superpower?

Zhang Ping thought for a moment and made a guess.

It was likely that the dark room itself was a space created by a superpower, and the entire small park had special passages leading to the dark room.

He returned to Iron Soul, climbed through the window into the house, and sat on the bed, pondering the night's gains.

First, his safety was somewhat guaranteed.

Although Liu Sishan's protection also had an element of surveillance, he had nothing to hide, so he wasn't afraid of being watched.

Second, he could pass information to the organization behind Liu Sishan, which would be responsible for eliminating the Tianchang Fox.

Lastly, he finally understood the general outline of the current enemy.

"King."

Zhang Ping sighed slightly. The organization behind Liu Sishan was probably only as strong as a top-level Awakener.

Although he didn't know what cards the other side had, he always felt it wasn't safe enough.

Not enough firepower.

Since we don't have a king, the best option is to gather hundreds or thousands of top-level Awakeners to besiege the enemy king.

The next day.

Zhang Ping got up as usual and continued practicing the Dough Forging Technique under Liu Tiefeng's supervision.

Any craft, unless aided by a corresponding superpower, could only be mastered through repeated practice until the skill was as good as a superpower.

This was not an easy task.

Zhang Ping found that the kneading practice of the Dough Forging Technique had many benefits. His hands became more sensitive to materials, and with the kneading movements, he had to exert force with his whole body, making the training effect comparable to push-ups.

He could learn the technique and train his physical strength at the same time, so why not?

Moreover, while kneading, he could multitask and continue to deepen his control over the fire element within his body, making it a triple win.

After finishing the kneading practice.

Next, Zhang Ping continued to learn how to distinguish various materials and their uses.

The material room on the third floor was filled with many strange materials, some were ores, some were plants, and most were body parts of Mutated Beasts.

This time, Liu Tiefeng took out a dog paw-like material and said, "This material is taken from a Mutated Beast called the Corpse-Eating Dog. Because Mingzhu City practices cremation, there are no Corpse-Eating Dogs nearby, but there are still many villages outside Mingzhu City. Some villages still follow the ancient tradition of burial, and those places might harbor Corpse-Eating Dogs."

"There are villages outside Mingzhu City?" Zhang Ping was surprised.

He had always thought Mingzhu City was a lone city in a desolate area for thousands of miles.

"Heh, of course there are. Those villages are often closed, backward, and xenophobic. Many even worship Mutated Beasts as gods. If you encounter a village while traveling in the wild, it's best to avoid it directly, lest you get captured and become a slave or sacrifice," Liu Tiefeng said slowly, smoking a cigarette.

Zhang Ping pondered and analyzed, "So, most of the people living in those villages can be considered enemies?"

"Heh, they can't even be considered people. Adventurers like to call them savages. Sometimes in the wild, the most dangerous thing isn't the Mutated Beasts, but these savages. If you become an adventurer, the seniors will usually tell you these things," Liu Tiefeng's wrinkled face showed a hint of mockery.

There had once been naive Awakeners who tried to communicate with the savages in those villages, only to become sacrifices, and even their rescuing companions died at the hands of those savages.

The customs and habits of the savages were completely different from those of the civilized people in Mingzhu City.

They had their own set of behavioral logic, and outsiders were not considered human in their eyes.

"Alright, enough of the digression. Let's continue talking about the Corpse-Eating Dog. The claws of the Corpse-Eating Dog naturally have the 'Earthbane' attribute. This attribute can't be burned, so it needs to be ground into powder and poured into the mold along with kerosene during the cooling of the weapon. This way, a weapon with a certain restraining effect on earth elemental energy can be made," Liu Tiefeng said, tossing the Corpse-Eating Dog's claw to Zhang Ping.