Chapter 24: Rising Status

Seeing the earthen wall rise beside her just in time to block the unknown crimson liquid, the scarlet hue in Danika’s pupils rapidly faded.

"Thanks!"

She spat the word out quickly, then used her left leg as a pivot to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick, slamming it squarely into the head of the giant insect before her.

*Crack—*

A faint sound echoed as the hardened carapace on the creature’s head instantly shattered into a web of fissures.

"Skree!"

The giant insect let out a shrill, piercing shriek from its hideous mandibles.

Before it could retaliate, Danika grabbed its head with her left hand and smashed it violently into the adjacent wall.

*Thud—!*

Watching the insect’s head embed itself into the wall, Danika exhaled a breath and muttered with a hint of annoyance, "The construction quality here is atrocious. What on earth is the Bureau of Architecture doing?"

While Danika was finishing off the giant insect, Leon was not idle.

He took a deep breath and stepped lightly toward the Kun position.

"Kun Style: Flowing Stone."

As he spoke, the ruined earth wall disintegrated into several jagged stones, hurtling like projectiles into the pitch-black dormitory.

Hearing the dull thuds and the insect's screeching from inside the room, Leon knew his attack had found its mark.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he stomped hard on the ground and charged into the dormitory. A deep red figure, significantly smaller than the one outside, appeared on his imaging device.

In an instant, Leon repositioned the center of his Qimen Dunjia to this new target.

The next moment, his pale, metallic-sheened palm struck the unknown insect’s head.

[Combat with Reverse Tri-Fold completed. Skill XP +34.]
[Combat with Qimen Dunjia completed. Skill XP +21.]

Staring at the headless insect corpse, Leon stood frozen in place.

'It's that fragile?'

He had been prepared to wait for Danika’s support, never expecting the creature inside to have such significantly lower defenses than the one outside.

Just then, Danika’s voice came from behind him: "Thanks for that earlier."

Her tall figure strolled over to Leon’s side.

She looked down at the headless carcass and frowned, murmuring, "Another special breed?"

If there was one distinct difference between this creature and the one in the corridor, it was the exaggerated cannon-like protrusion on its back. Clearly, the scalding crimson liquid had been fired from there.

Recalling the searing heat of that liquid, Danika cast a subtle, fleeting glance at Leon.

Perhaps she needed to revise her previous assessment; his profession was not limited to simple physical enhancement.

'Is it an innate ability? Or magic?'

Danika could not immediately determine the true nature of his "Qimen Dunjia."

'Besides earth, can he control other elements?'

Exceptional physical stats combined with decent ranged capabilities—if one had only one of these, it would be a mediocre profession. Having both, however, moved him into the realm of the elite. Danika’s own profession was only of this caliber.

Since professional information was strictly confidential, she couldn't simply ask Leon, but she silently elevated his importance in her mind.

If her previous promise to help transition Leon from a prisoner to a non-affiliated citizen had been an empty gesture, she was now seriously beginning to consider it.

'I never expected a talent like him to be among the prisoners.'

Leon, unaware of the tall woman’s thoughts, was preoccupied with his own reflections on Qimen Dunjia.

After several real-world engagements, he had identified the flaws in the basic version of Qimen Dunjia: when fighting high-speed enemies, executing techniques tied to specific positions became extremely difficult. Furthermore, dealing with multiple opponents while trying to track everyone’s position was equally challenging.

There were solutions, however. The "Feng Hou Qimen" from the original lore did not suffer from these issues, as it allowed the user to define themselves as the central point, enabling the free flow of techniques. Of course, that was a simplified explanation; the underlying principles were far more complex.

Just as Leon was brainstorming ways to overcome the drawbacks of his technique, Danika let out a small exclamation of surprise. She leaned toward the giant insect and reached out with a fair hand to stroke its carapace.

This action caught Leon’s attention. He followed her gaze and soon noticed something unusual.

Typical beetle shells were smooth, but the carapace of this giant insect was coarse, as if covered in a layer of fine, dense scales.

...No, it wasn't just "as if."

Leon also reached out to touch it, his expression one of bewilderment. "Can insects grow scales?"

Danika glanced at him with mild surprise, then shrugged. "Who knows?"

"That’s not the Public Security Bureau’s job. I’ll file a report later and let the Research Bureau deal with the headache."

Since his superior had spoken, Leon, a prisoner, naturally saw no reason to probe further.

By now, the three team members behind Leon had shifted their gazes from indifference to genuine respect. The world was a practical place; once Leon had demonstrated his value, their attitudes changed accordingly.

To Danika’s subordinates, even if his strength were slightly below their captain’s, he was more than capable of serving as a core combatant in any squad within the Public Security Bureau.

As for his status as a prisoner... that was trivial, especially since his crime was merely illegal border crossing—a minor offense in the grand scheme of things.

After confirming that both special-breed insects were dead, Danika yawned. "Alright, time to move on to the nex—"

She was cut off by a deafening roar.

Suddenly, the pitch-black corridor was flooded with blinding light.

Leon looked up, dazed, to see that the roof of the entire dormitory building had vanished, and the Chief of the Public Security Bureau was hovering in mid-air.

"I’ve arrived, Danika!"

Marcus let out a hearty laugh, but the laughter died abruptly once he saw the situation at his feet.

Danika’s helpless voice echoed beside Leon.

"Chief, did you really have to make such a scene? At this rate, the Finance Bureau is going to slash our budget again next year."

Marcus paused, then pretended as if nothing had happened. "Bumps and bruises are inevitable. Don't worry about the small details."

He quickly changed the subject. "But Danika, if you could handle the fight on your own, why call me?"

"I didn't handle it alone. This kid helped a lot."

Danika gestured toward Leon as she spoke.