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Chapter 28 "The Wolf Pack" - The Wolves
In a room paved with black pebbles, a boy and a girl sat facing each other.

They have changed their clothes, from everyday attire to specially made fire-resistant suits.

This fire-resistant suit is very similar to a bodysuit, and when Du Lingwei wore it, it perfectly accentuated her body curves.

Jiang He sat opposite him, unsure where to look, and could only try to look upwards.

Du Lingwei, however, was quite poised and generous: "Did you keep the first skill point you gained after changing your class to Fire Controller?"

"It's already been used, igniting the [arson] path in the fire control system," Jiang He said.

Like the Rumor Master, the Fire Controller has two skill paths.

Each skill path has three initial skills.

The fire control path is:
[Arson - Growth Skill: Increases Spirit by a small amount when consuming your own fire source.]

[Fierce Fire - Passive Skill: Increases fire intensity slightly.]

[Wildfire - Active skill, consumes mental energy to increase the fire's intensity.]

The fire-resistant path is:
[Accumulate Fire - Growth Skill: When burned by flames, absorb some of the flames to slightly increase Spirit.]

[Fire Resistance - Passive Skill: Increases own fire resistance.]

[On Fire - Passive Skill: Increases the intensity of flames when the user is burned by fire.]

There are two paths in total, and each path has two branches.

The Fierce Fire branch increases intensity, the Wildfire branch increases range, the Fire Resistance branch enhances fire defense, and the Ignition branch absorbs fire power...

Just like the rumor-mongers, every path and branch is incredibly tempting.

Unfortunately, Jiang He only has 1 skill point, which can only be used to learn [Arsonist Lv1].

Furthermore, the upgrade process for fire controllers is not as easy as rumored.

Its only advantage is probably that it conserves mental energy.

Because fire controllers need to absorb the fire of others to upgrade, it is equivalent to transferring part of the cost to others. As long as someone is willing to feed them, their own consumption will naturally decrease significantly.

This is the same principle as incantations.

“Very good. Then try releasing the power of the fire source, ignite the surrounding fire spirit stones, and try to control the flames.” Du Lingwei said, “Don’t worry about the consumption, I will condense a fire seed for you.”

This is a special Fire Spirit Room. The black stones paving the room are special [Fire Spirit Stones].

They can absorb energy, prolong the duration of the flame, and make it easier for the fire master to control the flame, thus indirectly saving mental energy.

At this moment, Jiang He released the fire source, turning the entire room into a sea of ​​fire.

Because the walls are made of fire-resistant materials, there is no need to worry about the fire spreading. Du Lingwei on the other side is also a fire talent user, so this temperature is nothing to her.

Jiang He can unleash flames at will, consuming his power.

At this moment, his stagnant mental energy began to increase again.

[Skill triggered, Spirit Value +0.1]

The extraordinary flames that a fire controller can unleash are extremely limited.

Jiang He's fire source was quickly exhausted and almost extinguished.

At this moment, Du Lingwei raised her hand, and a spark flew out. Jiang He guided it to be quickly absorbed, and the nearly extinguished spark reignited.

[Career Growth, Experience +2]

……

Time passes quickly.

Jiang He was, after all, an F-level superhuman, and his mental strength was not particularly high.

Even though the fire wielder conserved his mental energy during his training, he quickly reached his limit.

Du Lingwei is a C-level superhuman. Even though Jiang He was completely drained, she remained calm and showed little energy expenditure.

She told Jiang He to rest first, then changed into her firefighting uniform and went out with the team to carry out a mission.

The attack ended yesterday, but there's still a ton of work waiting for the firefighters today; they're constantly on the go.

In the afternoon, Jiang He finished his rest, and Du Lingwei also returned.

She then took Jiang He to the Fire Spirit Room, where she taught him fire control techniques while replenishing his fire source and draining his spiritual energy once again.

After two rounds of training, Jiang He has made good progress in both his mental strength and his fire control profession.

Among them, the mental value even reached the F-level "shackle".

……

Name: Jiang He

Attributes: Physical 20.5, Spirit 50.1, Energy 11.0
Talents: Time Transference, Word Power (Temporary)
职业：学生lv11，传言者lv9（63/100），控火者lv3（23/40）

Specialties: Focus, All-knowing Language Sense, Fire Control

技能：纵火lv3、牙牙学语lv6、声如洪钟lv1、语重心长lv1、一锤定音lv1，余下略。

Overall energy level: 36.4 (F level)
...The "bottleneck" for F-level is 50 points.

Correspondingly, the single attribute "energy level constraint" is also 50 points.

When Jiang He broke through to F-rank, his mental value had already soared to 40.0.

He then experienced the Arc Light Organization's attack, constantly pushing his Word of Power to its limits, and with Du Lingwei's help, he exhausted his mental energy twice more.

He directly increased his mental strength to 50 points.

Starting from 50 points, the rate at which mental strength can grow further will plummet.

Unless he can break through to level E.

but--

A prerequisite for a breakthrough in energy level is reaching a "bottleneck".

Jiang He's overall energy level is only 36.4, which has not yet reached its limit and does not meet the conditions for a breakthrough.

To attempt a breakthrough, you either need to improve your physical and energy attributes to make up for your weaknesses; or upgrade your profession level to learn more skills; or simply focus on increasing your spirit to 100 points.

In short, it's about enhancing overall strength to elevate one's level.

"I never thought I would be troubled by my attributes growing too fast and my overall energy level not keeping up."

"Is this what geniuses are like?"

Today's meditation session is over.

Jiang He said goodbye to Du Lingwei and went home to discuss with Bai He how to quickly improve his overall ability level.

When he returned to Lido Community and arrived at the entrance of his own building, he stopped.

A middle-aged woman, looking haggard and with red eyes, was sitting by the flower bed, weeping, holding a stack of missing person posters with photos attached.

The photo shows a smiling young boy.

This is……

Jiang He stepped forward and said, "Aunt Yang."

"Xiao He?" Aunt Yang turned around, a glimmer of hope appearing in her red eyes. She reached out and grabbed Jiang He's arm: "Xiao He, have you seen my Xiao Zhi?"

Jiang He: "No..."

Aunt Yang's hand fell limply, her eyes filled with despair.

Jiang He's heart sank when he saw her expression.

Aunt Yang was Jiang He's neighbor. When his parents were still alive, the two families had a lot of contact. Jiang He often went to Aunt Yang's house for meals and to play with Aunt Yang's son, Li Zhi.

Later, Jiang He's parents had an accident, and he went to high school. His studies became more demanding, and he didn't have as much time.

Furthermore, since he never awakened and gradually became somewhat withdrawn, we stopped contacting each other much, only exchanging a few pleasantries when we occasionally met.

just now……

Jiang He asked, "What happened to Xiao Zhi?"

Aunt Yang cried uncontrollably: "He didn't come home after school last night. I asked the school teachers..."

Aunt Yang kept rambling on and on, but it all boiled down to one sentence.

Xiao Zhi went missing after school last night.

This would be worrying even under normal circumstances, let alone yesterday's terrorist attack in Zhongzhou City, which only adds to the anxiety.

Unfortunately, at this time, a large number of deaths occurred in Zhongzhou City, and the Public Security Bureau was short-staffed. These kinds of missing persons cases, which were not from attack sites and had not lasted for long, could not be reported even if they were put on the waiting list.

Aunt Yang had been searching all day and was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing her somewhat dazed and desperate expression, Jiang He looked up at Bai He.

"White Crane, this is..."

“Missing.” Bai He said calmly, “Before the neighborhood was destroyed, Aunt Yang never found Li Zhi.”

Missing?

In Zhongzhou City today, being missing is almost the same as being dead.

Jiang He felt heavy-hearted as he recalled the child who used to follow him around calling him "Brother Jiang He" a few years ago, and he clenched his fists involuntarily.

"Can you find the killer?"

"The murderer? Who told you he was dead?" Bai He said, "I said he's missing."

Jiang He was taken aback: "Xiao Zhi isn't dead?"

“Of course he’s not dead.” A cold smile crept onto Bai He’s lips. “He’s still alive in 2034—”

"Living as a vicious wolf in the extraordinary terrorist organization [Wolf Pack]."

(End of this chapter)