Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Qin Lan did not particularly want to fight Dong Haoran.
There was only one reason: defeating the man would force him to reveal more of his trump cards.
Without using Death’s Curse, Qin Lan was no match for this elite 3-Star Anomaly Hunter.
Before using his curses on Wang Lei and the others, Qin Lan had even put on an act, collapsing to the ground and pretending to faint so that no one would suspect him.
If he used those abilities on Dong Haoran, the man would inevitably notice something unusual. And if he reported it to Lu Xingshan afterward…
[Beep, beep.]
[You have received a new message from Lu Xingshan (Director).]
Just as Dong Haoran attacked, Qin Lan received a message from Lu Xingshan.
One glance made his eyes widen.
[Lu Xingshan (Director): Beat him, and I’ll give you a Curse Codex worth 5,000 Bureau points.]
What?
Damn!
A Curse Codex worth 5,000 Bureau points?!
Qin Lan was stunned.
Even when he had borrowed Lu Xingshan’s 4-Star Anomaly Hunter clearance, he had never seen anything so valuable. At the time, Lu Xingshan had filtered out and hidden every item worth more than 600 points.
Even if Qin Lan went out to hunt 3-Star anomalies every day, he would need to kill more than a dozen to accumulate so many points.
After leaving the last instance, Qin Lan had turned in two anomaly corpses: Matchstick Bro and Aladdin’s Magic Dong.
The Hot-Tempered Stick left behind by Matchstick Bro was an extremely precious material that could be used directly to forge a cursed weapon. Trading it for points would have been far too wasteful.
As for the weapon’s processing fee, he had paid it with the points he received for Aladdin’s Magic Dong’s corpse.
When the staff saw him pull Aladdin’s Magic Dong out of his storage bracelet, the way they looked at Qin Lan changed completely. Their reaction had not mattered to him.
Under normal circumstances, an instance contained only one anomaly.
Large instances like Fairytale Town, which contained several 3-Star anomalies, were actually quite rare.
Even with Qin Lan’s efficiency and his ability to follow death threads to quickly locate dangerous instances, accumulating 5,000 Bureau points would take him a very long time.
It would also require him to take enormous risks.
The closer an area was to the Safe Zone, the lower the average level of the instances in that part of the Fallen Zone.
If Qin Lan wanted to encounter 3-Star instances frequently, he would have to venture deep into the Fallen Zone, into territory occupied by anomalies.
But if he did that… the ridiculous effect of his Talent–“You have an eminently punchable face, increasing the chance that anomalies will attack you”–would also significantly increase his odds of running into a 4-Star instance, or even a 5-Star unsolvable instance.
After his last encounter with the Abyss, Qin Lan’s reckless edges had been worn down considerably. He no longer charged into danger as blindly as before.
If he accidentally entered another instance connected to the Abyss, then accidentally released whatever was on the other side…
The very thought sent a chill down his spine.
Besides, if he wasted vast amounts of time accumulating Bureau points instead of absorbing the curse energy contained in anomaly corpses, his own growth would slow to a crawl.
No matter how he looked at it, he had to get his hands on that Curse Codex worth 5,000 points!
Qin Lan had originally planned to withdraw and run. Now, however, his gaze sharpened. Faced with Dong Haoran’s swift and overwhelming attack, he immediately retreated to create distance.
When Dong Haoran saw the change in Qin Lan’s bearing, he laughed even more heartily.
“Good, good! Now that’s how you should look before a fight!”
“Come, Little Qin! Take my Thunderclap Flash!”
The instant the words left his mouth, Dong Haoran turned into a streak of white light and appeared directly in front of Qin Lan!
He drew a breath and growled, driving a fist toward Qin Lan’s chest. The blow screamed through the air amid flickering arcs of electricity and sharp, snapping crackles.
Boom, boom, boom!
It was less a punch than an explosion of thunder.
With speed like that, his Speed stat had to be above 30!
Qin Lan’s heart jolted. It was already too late to dodge, so he could only cross his arms in front of him and block.
Bang!
Dong Haoran’s fist struck with crushing force. The instant it slammed into Qin Lan’s arms, lightning exploded, and a faint numbness raced through his limbs and spread across his entire body.
The ferocious impact sent Qin Lan flying backward. He smashed straight through one of the instance’s walls!
[Abnormal status inflicted: Electrical Paralysis (25 curse energy).]
[Curse Resistance negated 22 points of curse energy.]
After killing Northeast Bro Yu, Qin Lan had used his class ability to absorb even more stats from the enemy’s death, along with a full 5 points of curse resistance.
His curse resistance had now reached an astonishing 22.
Dong Haoran’s signature move, Thunderclap Flash, carried only the equivalent of 3 points of curse energy after being weakened by his curse resistance. Naturally, the paralysis it inflicted on Qin Lan was greatly diminished.
“So it comes with paralysis. That really would be troublesome in a fight…”
Qin Lan shook out his arms and rose from the dust, narrowing his eyes.
His arms throbbed. Taking that punch head-on had hurt.
The abnormal status might have been weakened, but the force behind the blow had not.
“You can still stand?” Dong Haoran was genuinely surprised. Seeing Qin Lan move around freely made uncertainty creep into his heart.
As the user of Thunderclap Flash, he knew exactly how powerful it was.
An ordinary 3-Star Anomaly Hunter who had not trained in a Curse Codex focused on bodily reinforcement would have said goodnight to the world after taking that punch.
At best, they would suffer shattered bones and torn muscles. At worst, they would die on the spot.
Even Anomaly Hunters with exceptional physiques would be paralyzed by the massive lightning effect and left unable to fight.
Unless the target spent an equal amount of curse energy to neutralize it, they should not have been able to stand, much less move normally.
Yet Qin Lan looked almost completely unaffected.
“No wonder Director Lu thinks so highly of you. You really do have some skill…” Dong Haoran’s smile faded, and his expression gradually grew solemn.
Originally, he had not expected much difficulty dealing with a junior who had only recently become a 2-Star Anomaly Hunter. One Thunderclap Flash should have ended the battle.
After all, even some weaker 3-Star anomalies could not withstand the attack.
Now it seemed he had underestimated the young man before him.
Qin Lan rubbed his arms and thought, “Good thing I have curse resistance. Otherwise, that punch alone would have drained more than a quarter of my curse energy…”
“Dong Haoran is seriously strong. His curse energy has probably passed 150… Why don’t I trick him into using his abilities a few more times and drain him dry first?”
With that thought, Qin Lan instantly transformed into an award-winning actor. He staggered one step, collapsed to the ground, and cried out in pain.
His face twisted as though he were desperately struggling against unbearable agony.
“Hm?”
Dong Haoran froze. Had Thunderclap Flash worked or not?
Judging by Qin Lan’s tortured expression, it seemed to have taken effect after all.
Dong Haoran scratched the back of his head, momentarily unable to make sense of the situation.
“As expected of an elite 3-Star Anomaly Hunter!” Qin Lan panted, wiping sweat from his brow. “That Thunderclap Flash was a real eye-opener…”
“Still, how many attacks of that level can you use? It must consume a tremendous amount of energy, right?”
Qin Lan deliberately put on a smug, dismissive expression, as though he had already calculated that Dong Haoran could not unleash the same attack again.
Dong Haoran fell for it completely.
“Little Qin, you’re still too young.” Dong Haoran shook his head with an incredulous smile. “The move does consume a great deal… but that doesn’t mean I can only use it once.”
“I hope you can withstand the next one.”
“Thunderclap Flash!”
Dong Haoran charged forward again, the lightning erupting from his hand even more dazzling than before!