The First Order

Ren Xiaosu stood at the entrance of his shack as he watched the band leave. Old Wang was still at their side apologizing to them, “Although there’s something wrong with Ren Xiaosu’s head, this is not what it’s like. Please let me explain…”

The band member did not bother listening to his explanation. “Wang Fugui, I’m giving you six hours to get me a suitable candidate. Even if there’s nothing wrong with this kid, we won’t be using him. We’ll be setting off at dawn, so don’t screw up our plans!”

Ren Xiaosu stood happily at the shack’s entrance and watched the commotion as though he had nothing to do with it. But unexpectedly, the girl wearing the cap turned around and looked at him. Ren Xiaosu suddenly had a feeling that he had been figured out.

He could not even see the expression of the girl under her cap, yet he felt his heart throb for some reason.

Ren Xiaosu subconsciously activated and used his Skill Duplication Scroll. A voice intoned from the palace, “One of the target’s skills will be randomly copied.”

“Randomly copied?”

“Randomly copied target’s firearms skill. Do you want to learn it?”

“Yes!” Seeing the Skill Duplication Scroll disappear, Ren Xiaosu thought that if he did not learn it, it would have gone to waste.

“Learning successful. You’ve mastered the Advanced Firearms Proficiency.”

“Wait a minute, didn’t I get a basic scroll? How did I master Advanced Firearms Proficiency? Shouldn’t I learn a skill at the basic level at most?” Ren Xiaosu wondered in his mind.

“There are only two types of Skill Duplication Scrolls. The first type is the Basic Skill Duplication Scroll, which you can use to learn any skill advanced and lower. The second type of scroll is the Master Skill Duplication Scroll, which you can use to learn a master-level skill, provided you’ve also attained the advanced level of the skill. There is also the chance of copying a target’s superpowers,” answered the voice from the palace.

Ren Xiaosu was stunned to learn that he could also duplicate another’s superpowers! He then remembered the girl and asked, “Can you tell me the level of that girl’s firearms skill?”

“Yes, this information can be revealed if it’s a target you’ve learned from.”

“What is the level of her firearms skill proficiency? Master?”

“Perfect.”

…

The Basic Skill Duplication Scroll allowed the user to learn a random basic or advanced skill of the target. Meanwhile, the Master Skill Duplication Scroll allowed for a master-level skill to be learned, provided that particular skill was in the advanced level. There was even a chance of learning the other party’s superpower.

These levels were entirely judged by the palace itself. Although the palace mentioned something about a success chance, Ren Xiaosu got a little excited at the possibility of learning other people’s superpowers.

Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan had once discussed whether some superpowers were superior to others. Some people were born fighters while others were born a little weaker.

A person like Ren Xiaosu, who needed to survive in the wilderness, would feel that an offensive superpower was more powerful. However, Yan Liuyuan’s skill depended on the element of luck, so he couldn’t partake in battles. Therefore, Ren Xiaosu was insistent in his belief that there were only different types of superpowers; none was superior to another.

But now, a skill that could copy someone else’s skills? Just how superior was that!

However, Ren Xiaosu was puzzled about that girl wearing a cap.

When Ren Xiaosu received the Advanced Firearms Proficiency, a large amount of firearms knowledge was channeled into his mind. It was as though the knowledge had been integrated into him. He gained an instinctive feel for the subject.

What he possessed was not only the knowledge of all the different types and models of firearms, their disassembly, maintenance, and usage, but also a near instinctive feel for aiming them.

Ren Xiaosu even knew how much recoil each type of gun had. If he was handed a gun right now, as long as it was covered by the advanced firearms knowledge that he had gained, he would be no different from a professional who had trained for years.

Regarding accuracy, getting a score of 9.5 and above at a range of 100 meters seemed to be the standard for the Advanced Firearms Proficiency.

This surprised Ren Xiaosu a little, but not to the extent of being ecstatic yet. After all, he did not have a gun in his hand. What shocked him even more was that his mind palace had evaluated the girl’s firearms skill as perfect.

Ren Xiaosu couldn’t imagine how amazing the master-level skill was, much less think about what he could do if he perfected the skill.

Someone like her was in a band?

It seemed that those soldiers of the private army and band members were not aware that such a terror existed in their group. Ren Xiaosu realized earlier that everyone treated her as a normal member of the group.

The girl had probably not expected that Ren Xiaosu would use such a mysterious method to gain access to her secret.

He made a wise decision to get out of joining this group for their mission. At the same time, Ren Xiaosu derived great pleasure from finding out about someone else’s secret.

“Bro, why do you keep staring at her back? Yan Liuyuan asked as he stuck his head out of the shack.

Ren Xiaosu grinned from ear to ear. He turned around and looked at Yan Liuyuan. Just when he was about to behave like an elder brother with authority, the curtain door from next door was lifted. A woman asked, “Whose back? Where?”

Yan Liuyuan and Ren Xiaosu were stunned. The person who came out from the shack next door turned out to be Xiaoyu!

Yan Liuyuan wondered, “Big Sister Xiaoyu, why are you in the shack next door?”

Xiaoyu combed her hair and said with a smile, “I moved here and will be your neighbor from now on.”

“Where’s the family of three who were living here?” Yan Liuyuan asked, “Where’ve they gone?”

“I switched houses with them,” Xiaoyu explained.

Yan Liuyuan pulled Ren Xiaosu aside and whispered, “Bro, Big Sister Xiaoyu has made a big investment this time. She used to live in a brick house!”

Ren Xiaosu did not say anything as he lowered his head and went straight back into the shack. Yan Liuyuan smiled at Xiaoyu before withdrawing his head back into the shack as well.

“Bro, you’re still a virgin, right?” Yan Liuyuan asked.

Ren Xiaosu stared at Yan Liuyuan and said, “Liuyuan, since you’re not young anymore, I wish to educate you about this.”

Yan Liuyuan sat bolt upright and turned serious. “Alright, Bro, ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand—”

Before Yan Liuyuan could finish, he was kicked to the ground by Ren Xiaosu. But Yan Liuyuan did not get angry. He just kept laughing.

“You’ve really grown bolder, huh?” Ren Xiaosu laid the bed and said, “Do your best to not provoke Big Sister Xiaoyu, and don’t try to matchmake us. We can’t even handle ourselves, so where will we get the time to worry about others?”

“OK,” Yan Liuyuan replied obediently. “But she gave us some potatoes and medicine, and she’s also very concerned about you. Are you really going to ignore her?”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a while before saying, “The most important things about being human are to be honest and have a clear conscience. But if we ever feel a pang in our conscience, we must convince ourselves that it isn’t so.”

Yan Liuyuan was confused.

When Ren Xiaosu started speaking, Yan Liuyuan got ready to get lectured by him. But by the time Ren Xiaosu finished, Yan Liuyuan couldn’t be more dumbfounded.

Perhaps this was just how Ren Xiaosu was.

In an era like this, a person like Ren Xiaosu would probably survive better than most people. However, Yan Liuyuan did not mind at all the kind of person Ren Xiaosu was. Ren Xiaosu’s constant fussing and cautiousness was all due to the lessons and experience he gained through the many scars that he received in the past.

However, Yan Liuyuan knew that Ren Xiaosu still kept some of the things he wanted to say filed away.