I Survived a Whole Day!

After finishing their meal, the two waited for Song Fushan to finish a cigarette before leisurely making their way back to the Bureau of Investigation. Inside the bureau, people bustled to and fro in a flurry of activity. Song Fushan wiped the nonchalant slouch from his face, his expression turning solemn and his stride quickening. "Make sure you write down everything from our reconnaissance earlier," he said briskly. "We're holding a meeting immediately to assess the situation." Ye Huan was startled. Did he see them? Does he know those people? But across the street, all he did was eat! "Understood, Chief!" Ye Huan responded. "We cannot afford the slightest complacency regarding anything suspicious. We'll head back later to gather evidence," Song Fushan said. "Yes, sir!" said Ye Huan. Exchanging grave remarks, the two hurried down the corridor and opened the door to the Mysterious Affairs Section. Thud. The door closed. The stern expression on Song Fushan's face collapsed instantly. He let out a yawn and said, "Tomorrow we're eating somewhere else." "Chief, are we holding the meeting now?" Ye Huan asked. "Meeting? What meeting?" Song Fushan looked at him in surprise. "...You just said we were having a situation assessment meeting." "That was for the other offices to hear. Just letting them know we're working hard too, just as busy as they are." Song Fushan sprawled directly onto the couch, snatched up his phone, and resumed playing his mobile game. Ye Huan let out a silent sigh of relief. Nothing to do right now. So what should I do? Since he was full and satisfied, wandering outside wasn't an option, and there was no actual work— Ye Huan casually shook out his limbs and sank into a martial stance right where he stood. Stance training was a standard method for martial artists to circulate qi and blood, hone internal awareness, and improve their skills. Iron Hand also came with an accompanying stance training method, used to enhance the toughness of the body's meridians and flesh. Since he had free time, he might as well cultivate! Only by growing stronger could he survive this world! He held the stance all the way from eight-thirty in the evening until ten o'clock. Ye Huan stepped out to use the restroom. —Only to find the lights blazing across every department in the Bureau of Investigation. Not a single person had left! Everyone was still working overtime! He hurried back into his office and shut the door tight. Time to keep practicing! Knock, knock, knock— A knock suddenly sounded at the door. After a brief breath of silence, Song Fushan called out, "Come in!" A woman in black office attire pushed the door open. Inside, the two men sat bolt upright with impeccable posture. Ye Huan was furiously scribbling notes in a pad, while Song Fushan stared grimly at his computer screen, speaking in a low, resonant voice: "Did you catch everything I just said?" "Every last word, Chief!" Ye Huan replied. Song Fushan nodded. "Excellent. We will deploy according to plan next—wait, hello, Xiao Ling. Any instructions?" "The director is back. An emergency meeting will be held in ten minutes. All middle management must attend; no tardiness permitted." "Understood, thank you. I'll head over shortly. By the way, Xiao Ling, you look lovely today." "Hehe, thank you for the compliment." The female employee closed the door and left. "That was the director's secretary, Li Ling. Deep background—never mess with her," Song Fushan murmured in a low voice. "Thank you for the warning, Chief," Ye Huan said. "Alright, I'm off to the meeting—that old bastard never holds a meeting shorter than two or three hours," Song Fushan grumbled with profound annoyance. Ye Huan glanced at his completely blank notebook and asked, "Chief, while you're in the meeting, what should I do?" From a pile of vacuum-sealed snack wrappers, Song Fushan fished out a black leather notebook, pulled a pen from a drawer, stood up, and headed out, casually tossing over his shoulder: "Shut the door and keep working overtime—just don't go out making trouble." "Yes, sir!" Ye Huan answered crisply. The door clicked shut. Ye Huan was left alone in the office. Excellent. I really like this working environment. —Back to stance training. Just as Ye Huan rose to raise his fists and assume his stance, a phone suddenly rang. It was the hitman's phone. Ye Huan's heart tightened. He checked the door first, then glanced at the wall clock before picking up. "Hello?" "The time has been moved up. Be at the rendezvous point at eleven." "Wait! What about—" Click— The line went dead. Ye Huan stood motionless, gazing quietly at the black phone. Should I go? ...No. Scheduling the meeting right at midnight had been entirely to wait for the new Daily Settlement. If he gained formidable strength, checking it out wouldn't have hurt. Now that the time had been moved up, he would be meeting the enemy before obtaining new power— There was absolutely no reason to risk it. No matter what preparations they had made. I'm not going. Ye Huan thought to himself. Wait— He suddenly remembered something and pulled a wad of bills from his trouser pocket. This was looted from the bodies when he took down those hitmen. He had also taken two guns, which he had buried in a corner of the mining residential compound. These bills amounted to roughly four thousand credits. Added to the 3,392 credits he had just received, and the hundred-odd credits he already had on hand, that made over 7,500 credits! For an eighteen-year-old Ye Huan, this was a massive fortune! It was more than enough to rent a decent apartment near work and still leave plenty left over for daily expenses. The harvest was already plenty. Definitely not going! Having made up his mind, Ye Huan put away the money and resumed his martial stance. Time slipped past rapidly. At a certain moment, the clock on the wall chimed. Midnight had arrived! Ye Huan let out a long breath, finished his routine, and stood in place, waiting silently. —I survived a whole day! Time to reap the rewards! The surroundings abruptly plunged into darkness. Immediately after, a stream of information surfaced in his mind: "This was a grueling day." "You brushed shoulders with death three consecutive times, yet managed to survive in the end." "For this performance, the Daily Survival Settlement is upgraded by three tiers." "Begin!" Darkness. Nothing appeared in the void. "How do I draw?" Ye Huan asked. No response. "Draw!" Ye Huan said. Still no response— Only a new message appeared: "Additional note:" "In the final hour of yesterday, you rejected the prearranged meeting." "Based on subsequent developments, your choice was judged correct. You averted another fatal crisis." "Settlement tier increased once more, totaling four increases." "Please initiate settlement!" Ye Huan shook his head. Nearly died four times in a single day. Surviving in this world really is a brutal business. Stay calm. It might be difficult, exhausting, and perilous at the start, but once things get on the right track— I'll get used to it. "Begin!" Ye Huan called out. —That did it. The moment the words left his mouth, a flood of information poured into his mind: "Settlement quality upgraded by four tiers." "Congratulations." "You may choose one of the following four rewards:" "1. Absurd Affix (High-Dimensional Interference Method); 2. Old World Ruins Treasure Map (Secret of the Ruptured Civilization); 3. Personal Exclusive Skill Tree (Point Allocation Method); 4. Single-Use Ether Global Positioning and Teleportation (Massive Energy Consumption)." "Please make your selection." Ye Huan studied them, sinking into thought. Rumor had it that even Shidu martial artists had to travel in groups just to operate in the immediate outskirts outside the city. With his current strength, he couldn't even venture into the wild alone. So Option 2 was out right away. Option 4... Massive energy consumption, with no further explanation provided. His current situation was far from secure; he was still being hunted, and there was also that giant woman's face in the sky demanding further sacrifices. Therefore— Anything that couldn't immediately enhance his survival was off the table. That left 1 and 3. How to choose between 1 and 3? Absurd Affix... He had a general idea of what an affix was. Yet "absurd" implied something bizarre, uncontrollable, and thoroughly unconventional. Right now, he was working overtime inside the Bureau of Investigation. Wouldn't that be walking right into the lion's den? Xiao Ye of the Mysterious Affairs Section cooking up mysterious affairs. —How would he face an investigation by the entire bureau? For the sake of stability and safety, rule it out. Then Option 3 it was. Tomorrow, the day after, or the day after that might not offer another consecutive four-tier upgrade. While the harvest was generous this time, he needed to arm himself first! "I choose 3," Ye Huan said. Another message surfaced in his mind: "You have acquired an Exclusive Skill Tree. Please specify your desired direction of development, and claim the initial reward for establishing the skill tree;" "Current reward settled." "Until tomorrow!" "—May you live to see it." Ye Huan pondered. A skill tree... Still needed a direction? Considering his own circumstances— As long as he survived each day, he would receive a daily settlement. Naturally, the longer he lived, the stronger he would become! As Yu Hua wrote: To Live. That was the ultimate truth! "The core principle of the skill tree is to avert all disaster and allow me to survive well in this world!" Ye Huan declared without hesitation. The next instant, a long, vertical line emerged in the darkness, its base encircling a dynamic icon of an iron fist, radiating pulses of light. "'Disaster-Averting Survival Skill Tree' has been created." "Initial skill: Iron Hand." "Reward for establishing Exclusive Skill Tree obtained: 1 point." "You may spend it to enhance the power of 'Iron Hand,' or reset the skill to recover the point." "Additionally, you may sacrifice other skills to obtain skill points to increase the power of 'Iron Hand.'" "Note:" "Skill points are flexible, but reallocation causes depletion." Ye Huan scanned the details quickly. "What is there to think about? Allocate the point and boost the fist technique's power!" he said without hesitation. The glow along the line instantly sank into the Iron Hand icon. At the same time, a wealth of new knowledge regarding Iron Hand flooded into Ye Huan's mind. This knowledge corrected several flawed force-exertion techniques within Iron Hand, evaluated different developmental paths, made comparisons, and selected superior techniques to integrate back into the Iron Hand palm art. Within mere breaths, the martial art had been elevated to a far higher level! Ye Huan attempted to circulate the technique. In a flash, his head, neck, chest, hands, and feet turned hard as iron! He threw a punch using the Iron Sand Palm. A sharp pop tore through the air, startling Ye Huan into stopping immediately. So powerful! The strength had doubled, plain and simple! It was an absolute delight. Great! This skill tree is truly useful! With this caliber of offensive power and steel-like defense, wouldn't he have a much better shot at surviving whatever trouble came his way? However— Ye Huan suddenly reached down to feel between his legs, then reached around to squeeze the flesh of his buttocks. Down there, it was still soft flesh. Not hard at all. Tsk! It seemed this art still had plenty of room for improvement. Only when every inch of his body was hard as iron would he truly feel at ease.