The King of Black Fog

Cute, like.

The three of them arrived in Palermo and played around for a while.

Now having a shadow over churches, they didn't visit the numerous churches in the streets, just looked at the flowers, the cactus, and admired the palm and coconut trees by the seaside.

At 12 noon, Li Changzhou took the two back to Ming City.

Ming City happened to be at 6 p.m., dinner time.

"Time difference is truly amazing," said Li Qianxia as she ate the dinner bought with Yang Qinglan's money.

The vegetables in "Honey Pot World" could now be eaten, the breeding speed of livestock had increased a lot, the rabbits had given birth to another litter, the piglets grew quickly, and the cattle and sheep were all pregnant, but they couldn't indulge themselves yet, perhaps they should raise more.

After finishing the meal, which they didn't know whether to call lunch or dinner, the three sat under the apricot tree to digest their food while concocting the "Perception Pill."

"What if all four stats are maxed out?" Li Qianxia, with her legs folded on the chair, asked while enjoying the travel photos, "Do we break through directly?"

"Call Zheng Qing first," Li Changzhou suggested from his rocking chair, "to see if she has any news. If not, then let's break through."

Most of his thoughts were still on the church.

Regardless of before or after the Value Game, his sole goal was to not let anyone bully him or his sister, and now that included Yang Qinglan as well.

He didn't want to be threatened or manipulated by anyone and wished to live a life that was taken for granted.

The unmatched power at the First Stage had indeed slightly fulfilled his wish, but the incident with the church rekindled his thirst for more.

It was not enough, far from enough; he yearned for greater strength.

No matter where, no matter when, no matter how many people were against him, he wanted unequaled strength!

After breaking through the limits and fighting with the strong who had once existed in the past, experiencing events that influenced history, these would all become his new nourishment.

The more he thought about it, the more turbulent his heart became, and unable to wait for the "Perception Pill" to be ready, he took out his phone and called Zheng Qing.

"Li Changzhou?"

"That's me. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

"Not at all. I just finished a seminar."

"You've worked hard. Here's the thing, Officer Zheng, I'm willing to trade information or items of equivalent value for Special Warfare Bureau's information about improving 'Intelligence' and 'Charm,'" he was ready to make a significant offer.

But Zheng Qing's response was like punching the air—the Special Warfare Bureau didn't have it either.

"According to the expert group's analysis, intelligence and charm are innate and cannot be changed.

"In terms of intelligence, there are only ever people who become hardworking, but no one suddenly becomes smart, unless it's some kind of mental illness.

"Some people seem to mutate, their memory suddenly improves, their logical abilities increase, but this often comes with side effects, like speaking in strange ways, being overly focused, and whether these conditions are considered an increase or decrease in intelligence is also a matter of debate.

"As for 'Charm,' neither cosmetic surgery nor disfigurement works. In South Korea, many people undergo surgery to look like high-charm individuals, their Identity Card photos may change, but their charm doesn't follow suit, same with disfigurements."

"What about the fortune-teller? No news there either?" Li Changzhou asked again.

"You can go and ask her. Her attitude differs from person to person; it's said it's because each person can withstand a different amount of Heavenly Mechanism. Some people may face a disaster just by knowing what they'll eat tomorrow, while others might get the winning lottery numbers," Zheng Qing answered.

After hanging up the phone, Li Changzhou wasn't very dejected.

If 'Charm' and 'Intelligence' couldn't be enhanced, he still had the upper hand—among those with all four stats maxed out, there might be ones smarter than him, but none could be more charming.

"Done," Yang Qinglan said, lifting the lid off the Pill Furnace and handing out the "Perception Pills" to the siblings.

One pill for Li Changzhou, two for Li Qianxia.

With this, all members of the group had maxed out all four stats.

"Shall we visit the fortune-teller?" After taking the elixir pill, Li Qianxia was full of energy, feeling like she could even take another trip to Italy!

"Should we check it out?" Li Changzhou asked Yang Qinglan, who was writing her alchemy notes, "If that's not an option, we'll break through directly."

"Going back to the past..." Li Qianxia murmured.

"Let's go have a look tomorrow," Yang Qinglan agreed, continuing to write with her hand.

Li Changzhou often saw her taking notes, probably a firm believer in the saying, "A poor memory is worse than a slippery pen"—having such a habit was actually a sign of high intelligence.

The difference between a genius and an ordinary person sometimes lies solely in whether certain habits have been developed.

◇

An Immortal lived in a neighborhood called "Shengshi".

It was not the special neighborhood prepared by the Special Warfare Bureau for players, but an ordinary one, so common that typing the name into a map would yield at least eight hundred similar locales nationwide.

Shengshi neighborhood was at the edge of the city district, with average housing prices, but with the rapid economic growth, especially in real estate, it was close to 30,000 per square meter.

"Thank goodness for the Honey Pot World. Qing Lan, let me tell you, our original plan was to pool our resources to buy a house in Ming City before we turn thirty."

"Is there any possibility that the houses in your hometown will be demolished?" asked Yang Qinglan.

She sat in the passenger seat, Li Qianxia leaned out from the back seat, and Li Changzhou was driving as the car entered the neighborhood garage.

The car was a little white one they had rented off the street, and the driver's license was obtained after returning from Prague, with a little Game Coin spent, entrusted to Zheng Qing to handle (she did not charge, helped for free).

"We're from a village. I've only heard about fish pond demolitions, which are either that or they just fill it in and use the land to grow crops again; we don't care about it anymore. In any case, houses in the countryside aren't likely to be demolished," Li Qianxia had often envied those with fish ponds that got demolished.

"What about selling it?" Yang Qinglan asked again.

"Do you think someone would buy a house in the countryside on purpose?" said Li Changzhou.

Yang Qinglan was about to say "I could buy", but her Perception suddenly jumped, and all three fell silent at once.

The basement was dim, even during the day the fluorescent lights stayed on, and there were also several skylights, casting rectangles of sunlight down.

The only sound was that of the tires slowly crushing the road, making the silence of the garage even more pronounced. Li Qianxia's hand quietly opened, and the Blood-colored Steel Spear appeared in her grip.

Someone was watching them!

Li Changzhou gently opened a slit in the trunk, and the King Cobra slid out like water.

He found a parking space nearby, not caring if it was private, and parked the car steadily.

Get out, disembark.

He left the parking space and walked to the main road, his gaze sweeping over.

Every car in the underground garage seemed like a crouching beast, as if there were people inside, eyeing them from the shadows.

"Do we need more practice?" he asked the two following behind him.

"Stop joking," Yang Qinglan said with focused vigilance.

In one spot, a fluorescent light was faulty, blinking incessantly, and the light from the skylight made the surroundings even more shadowy.

Bang!

The three turned their gazes just in time to see the shadow of the King Cobra's tail flash across the wall marked "Exit", smashing a car flat; glass shattered everywhere, and the alarm's piercing shrillness was unbearable.

Four figures bolted, jumping towards the exit.

Li Changzhou lifted his leg and kicked against a Langyi car.

The Langyi car surged like a runaway horse, crashing into a Passat, and then, taking the Passat with it, collided into a Buick.

Thus, one after another, the cars turned into a train, thunderously hurtling toward the four figures.

The four figures were shocked, but their high Agility allowed them to stop in time and avoid being turned into pancakes by the "train".

Boom!

The "train" hit the wall marked "Exit", emitting a sound like Heavenly Thunder in the basement.

At the same time, Li Changzhou's knees bent slightly, and the next moment, he shot forward like a cannonball.

The Void shattered, the Black Death God hovered behind, and the giant White Bone Scythe flashed with a cold light.

The King Cobra roared ferociously, its shadow on the wall as terrifying as a ghost, pouncing towards the four figures at the same speed as Li Changzhou.

Yang Qinglan's body glowed unusually, with Illusions and auditory hallucinations prepared;

Li Qianxia's gaze was electric, Blood-colored Armor spread, holding the Steel Spear protectively in front of her.

Great battle was about to erupt!