"Boom!"
At that moment, an immense and overwhelming stream of inexplicable information flooded into Lin Qing's mind.
According to the deductions of the Anti-Entropist—
Given his innate talent and his high compatibility with the Free Body Series Combat Technique, if he wanted to integrate the techniques into his instincts, he had to force the bio-electricity generated by the Mysterious Energy to completely saturate every nerve in his body. He needed to ensure the electrical signals remained at their peak value, completing this cycle 82 times consecutively to achieve a perfect integration.
Suddenly, a massive amount of memory surged through Lin Qing’s mind.
It was the memory of him stimulating his nerves and muscles with the combat technique over and over again. He had lost count of how many times he had transitioned from clumsy attempts to skillful mastery.
He had spent countless years repeatedly saturating every minute nerve and muscle group, barely managing a single perfect success after an eternity of effort.
By the time he had forged these combat changes into instinct, years had passed. Time had slipped away, and finally, he had achieved success.
At the same time, wisps of electricity began to circulate across Lin Qing’s skin. Beneath his eyelids, his pupils flickered with arcs of light as massive currents of electricity repeatedly coursed through his nervous system, strengthening and stimulating his muscle tissue.
Under the influence of such astonishing electrical flow, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Once everything subsided, Lin Qing slowly opened his eyes.
"Instinct?"
Lin Qing murmured. Suddenly, his hands moved, instantly blurring into phantoms that swept across his body.
In the blink of an eye, the jacket he had been wearing was already in his hand. Another blink, and he was fully dressed again.
"So fast!"
Lin Qing couldn't help but be shocked by the change in his own hand speed.
He hadn't been certain just how powerful this technique was until he tried it himself. After all, "instinct" meant that a single thought could trigger the body to its limit—like breathing. Yet, normal people don't know exactly how much air they breathe; they can only grasp a rough estimate.
In his previous life, long before the apocalypse, he had "pre-paid" to master "Master Magician" to impress girls. After the apocalypse began, he had also pre-paid for the "Expert Thief" skill to scavenge for supplies. Both skills had naturally trained and improved his hand speed and dexterity.
But now, he felt his hand speed and agility were at least three to four times greater than they had been in his past life! The speed at which his arms moved was already high enough to easily create visual afterimages.
So, even a speed increase of a few dozen percent would have been startling, let alone a ridiculous threefold or fourfold increase.
If he wanted to steal something from an ordinary person now, he could do it right in front of them, and they wouldn't notice a thing!
"A combat technique pushed to its absolute limit is indeed a much greater improvement than the 77th Edition Practice Method."
Lin Qing nodded to himself.
If the 77th Edition Practice Method were pushed to its limit, it would merely double his current physical fitness—doubling his strength and increasing his speed by forty or fifty percent.
But with Combat Technique: Agility pushed to the limit, even his weaker attribute of strength was nearly doubled, his limb speed increased by more than a hundred percent, and the improvement in his nervous reaction speed was even more exaggerated.
What did it mean to be twice as fast? It didn't mean that if the opponent swung at you once, you could swing twice. It meant that in a blade-to-blade duel, you would have already decapitated your opponent before they even had time to raise their arm!
Being this fast was already absurd. With such rapid nerve reactions, he could easily counter anyone's attacks.
He could now easily defeat ten or more people like the fugitive Jiang Chengwu without even getting injured!
"Xiao Peidong definitely hasn't trained his combat techniques to the level of instinct; otherwise, he wouldn't just be an acting team leader..."
"He has mastered two combat techniques plus the 77th Edition Practice Method, so he's stronger than me for now. But once I complete the 77th Edition Practice Method, even without a gun, I should be stronger than him..."
Lin Qing wore a faint smile, feeling a sudden sense of relief.
Although he wasn't yet a match for the fugitive from Qinghu Island Prison, once he "pre-paid" for the 77th Edition Practice Method, and if he earned enough merit to learn a few more techniques—all raised to the instinct level—then he wouldn't need to worry.
"Next, I need to pay off the debt for Combat Technique: Agility, master the 77th Edition Practice Method, and find ways to earn merit so I can learn even more techniques!"
Since he had now reached the "instinct" level with one technique from the Free Body Series, learning other techniques from the same series would come with a bonus.
Next time, the initial learning phase should be a breeze.
***
Before the new team was established, Lin Qing continued to patrol with the second squad every night.
During recent patrols, he rarely had a chance to act, and even when he did, he didn't need to use his combat techniques.
Outside of his patrol duties, he spent every day paying off the debt for Combat Technique: Agility, which required him to perform 82 perfect full-body saturations.
If he had only been at the "mastery" level, achieving a perfect saturation would have required years of familiarity and a stroke of luck during a moment of peak condition. But at his current level of instinct, he could naturally achieve a perfect full-body saturation every single time.
To his pleasant surprise, he could manage five perfect full-body saturations every day.
That meant he only needed seventeen days to fully pay off the debt for this technique!
Lin Qing was glad he had chosen the Free Body Series; the "repayment" process was indeed very fast.
***
January 10th. Dusk.
On Tieshi Street, inside a roadside beef hot pot restaurant.
After scanning the QR code to order and preparing two bowls of dipping sauce, Lin Qing returned to his seat to wait.
The beef at this shop was quite famous in the nearby blocks, and the prices were a bit steep. His appetite was much larger than before, so he rarely allowed himself to come here.
It was only because he had recently been promoted to the Patrol Department and his salary had risen to seven thousand that he allowed himself this luxury today after receiving his pay.
Of course, it was best to come alone; otherwise, it would be far too expensive.
"Quite a crowd..."
Lin Qing glanced at the customers coming and going in the hot pot restaurant. He had a fleeting illusion of having returned to his previous life, which improved his mood.
He didn't know how long it had been since he had seen such a peaceful and harmonious scene.
The era of peace was truly beautiful.
In the month since the Blue Scarf Gang had disbanded, Tieshi Street had become much more stable. At least these shopkeepers didn't have to worry about being extorted for massive protection fees.
"Young man, your beef is here."
Before long, a young woman in her twenties with exquisite makeup pushed a cart filled with beef over to him, smiling brightly.
"Alright, just put it there," Lin Qing nodded.
"Do you need me to help you blanch the meat?" The young woman leaned in and lowered her voice. "I wonder if I have the honor of serving an officer?"
"No need."
Lin Qing glanced at her. "The shop is full of customers; go do your work."
"It's fine, my brother is here," the young woman said dismissively.
Lin Qing felt a bit helpless. His current appearance was quite handsome, and being a young member of the Patrol Department certainly brought some trouble.
"I'll do it myself. I can't eat with someone watching over me."
"Oh... alright then."
The young woman muttered something and finally walked away.
Lin Qing sighed in relief.
Just then—
[Current Order Level has dropped by 0.3]
At that moment, a line of incredibly deep black text suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"Dropped by 0.3?" Lin Qing’s expression shifted.
The text was black, meaning the drop in the Order Level wasn't targeted at him, but rather because his living environment had become chaotic and dangerous. If the danger were directed at him personally, the text would have been blood-red.
"What’s going on..."
Lin Qing couldn't help but frown. "I finally reached 0.6, and now it’s dropped back to 0.3?"
The initial Order Level had been 0.3, but after resolving the hidden fugitive Jiang Chengwu and forcing the Blue Scarf Gang to disband, it had risen to 0.6. He had been counting on reaching level 1 one day, hoping he might be able to pre-pay for another skill.
For the past thirty days, the Order Level had remained stable at 0.6. How could it drop by 0.3 so suddenly today? "Could the Camel have been released? Did he reorganize the Blue Scarf Gang? But that shouldn't cause a 0.3 drop..."
Lin Qing frowned, ignoring the hot pot. He immediately picked up his phone, found "Criminal Police Captain Chu Yunfeng" in his contacts, and called him.
"Team Leader Lin?"
A slightly deep male voice sounded from the other end.
"Captain Chu, it's me."
Lin Qing didn't mince words. "Has the Camel been released?"
The other party was the Captain of the Lin'an City Criminal Police, specifically responsible for the cases of the fugitives Jiang Chengwu and the Camel, so they had been in contact before. The Patrol Department was only responsible for patrolling and searching, while the police were responsible for investigations and detentions.
"The Camel..."
Chu Yunfeng was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Our department is very grateful for your efforts, Team Leader Lin. We have been trying to find concrete evidence of his crimes, but... unfortunately, we held the Camel in criminal detention for thirty days, yet we couldn't find any solid evidence."
His tone carried a deep sense of helplessness. "He was released this morning."
"I see..."
Lin Qing narrowed his eyes.
He had heard from Qin Qin that all the evidence that could have potentially convicted the Camel had been mysteriously wiped away. It was clear that some unknown power wanted to keep him protected. Criminal detention was limited to thirty days; once that time passed without evidence, the suspect had to be released.
"What about Jiang Chengwu?"
Lin Qing asked, "Has he woken up?"
"No," Chu Yunfeng said. "The doctors said that Jiang Chengwu suffered severe brain damage. It is unlikely he will ever wake up in his lifetime."
It wasn't Jiang Chengwu? Lin Qing frowned slightly. He had thought perhaps Jiang Chengwu had awakened from his vegetative state and escaped, causing the sharp drop in the Order Level. But it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Alright... I understand," Lin Qing said. "Sorry to bother you, Captain Chu."
"Wait a moment," Chu Yunfeng said in a deep voice. "I still want to warn you, Team Leader Lin. The Camel’s background is not simple. He didn't form the Blue Scarf Gang just for petty protection fees; it involves several missing persons cases... You should be careful, Team Leader Lin."
"Missing persons cases?" Lin Qing said. "I understand. Thank you."
"Also, I know that at the level of the Patrol Department, you have the authority to search the surrounding areas of your residence at any time," Chu Yunfeng added, his tone becoming more earnest. "Perhaps one day my department will need your cooperation, Team Leader Lin. It would be a great help."
"If it’s a matter of official duty, of course that's no problem," Lin Qing replied, not wanting to commit too firmly.
"Thanks."
After ending the call, Lin Qing continued eating in the restaurant while pondering how to investigate this matter.
Suddenly—
"Bang!"
A shattering sound erupted. The restaurant’s glass door was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with a section deeply indented inward.
Judging by the shape of the indentation, it was clearly the result of a powerful kick from outside! Fortunately, the glass door was reinforced with a PVB film interlayer; even though the glass had shattered, the shards remained stuck to the film. Otherwise, with so many customers inside, some might have been injured by the flying glass.
Lin Qing frowned.
Even this kind of reinforced laminated glass had been kicked like this? During his patrol professional examination, he had tried hitting such reinforced glass. An average person, without training, couldn't even damage this type of door with a full-force kick. Lin Qing guessed that even he, without using his combat techniques, could only deform the reinforced glass door to this extent with his strongest kick.
"Bang!"
The already deformed glass door was suddenly kicked open. A massive crowd of people, at least twenty of them, stormed into the restaurant from outside.
The customers in the restaurant panicked at the sight.
Because almost every one of the people entering the restaurant had a blue neckerchief tied to their collars!