Sky-cracking Rider

"You two have worked hard!"

Chen Fei greeted the two in the truck bed with a perfunctory remark.

It's always good to be polite, no matter how displeasing someone might be, you just have to bear with it.

"Chirp!"

The little bird hopped onto the backrest of the passenger seat and also chirped a greeting.

The expressions of the two young men were quite sour, but no one could get mad at a little bird, so they awkwardly turned their heads away, pretending not to see.

Rona started the vehicle, turned the steering wheel, and praised, "Chen Fei, your bird is very well-mannered!"

"Heh heh! It's behaving now, but there was a time when it only greeted people with 'Light Burst Flash'!"

Chen Fei recalled the bad habit the little birdie used to have.

Old Piao, the deceitful merchant, suffered greatly because of it, all over a skewer of roast bird.

Although the roast bird skewer had nothing to do with birds, Xiao Jiu didn't think so.

(Roast bird skewer = Chicken skewer)

It took a long time to finally correct that bad habit.

Rona nearly slammed on the brakes, disbelief in her voice, "Light, Light Burst Flash?"

"Light Burst Flash" should be a Second Rank Human Order Light-based Spell, using that as a greeting, sheesh... who would dare to do that and not expect a beating on the spot?

Yet it was precisely such a creature that made everyone lose their temper.

A weak, helpless, pitiful little Pure Light Sparrow; there's no point in getting mad, if you get mad, you've lost.

Chekhov Big Bear: Not mad, not mad!

Deceitful merchant Old Piao: Not mad, not mad!

Chef Abel: Not mad, not mad!

911 employees: Not mad, not mad!

Boss Hana, already donning sunglasses: Shine bright, Xiao Jiu!

After all, it's the mascot of Jiu Defense Company, the direct disciple of the mechanic chief Xiao Ming and with Boss backing it up, everyone eats from the same pot. You'd see each other on looking up or down. Unless you could beat up its father, no one could really do anything about it!

"There are still some bad habits that haven't been corrected, though."

Chen Fei unsympathetically cradled the little guy, bouncing it from left to right.

Xiao Jiu took advantage to roll around and kick wildly in his hands, rolling about and kicking up a fuss.

Could what the little bird does even be considered stealing?

"Haven't seen you around these days!"

Rona turned the steering wheel, the heavy truck took a corner at an intersection, and not far ahead a scene of wreckage came into view.

The broken and fragmented road was being repaired, with many patches of asphalt looking brand new and the landscaping was a complete mess. Probably the work of Rona and those two young men.

The battle ten days ago affected a corner of the town. Important buildings were protected by Protective Barriers and remained undamaged, but some roads, public facilities, and greenery were not so lucky.

"I've been lying down for ten days!"

Chen Fei briefly explained.

"Those who survive a disaster are bound to have good fortune, surviving is fate, dying is also fate."

Rona was one of those non-combat personnel who had rushed to the nearest shelter during the emergency. Although she didn't know the details of the battle, she heard afterwards that the central base wasn't unscathed and there were a dozen casualties.

It seems Chen Fei was also one of the innocent people affected, considering the location of the camp was some distance from the nearest shelter, and it was indeed possible to get injured if one didn't take shelter in time.

"Yes, yes!"

Seeing that Rona didn't know much, Chen Fei didn't elaborate and just brushed it off with a laugh.

How could she have guessed that Chen Fei, this guy with nerves of steel, not only actively participated in the battle but also took care of the troublemaker who caused the chaos. He came close to losing his own life, the situation was extremely perilous.

System: Ding! Retrieving Longinus mission completed, Energy Points +5000!

Energy Points: 17107/20000

Did the Dog System fall asleep? Only now giving the mission rewards!

Looking at the Energy Points balance, Chen Fei almost fainted with anger. He risked his life to complete the mission, nearly lost it, and in the end, it still cost him 2000 Energy Points.

If Xiao Jiu hadn't taken Longinus, but some other random bird had, and the mission failed, would the deduction of 20,000 Energy Points have killed him?

So much for equal risk and return, is this it?

"We're here! Chen Fei, you rest in the truck for a while, we'll finish the work soon!"

Rona parked the truck steadily. Knowing that Chen Fei was just recovering from an injury, she didn't ask for his help.

"Rest? What's there to rest for, I'm not hurt!"

Chen Fei also jumped out of the truck, rolled up his sleeves, and started helping unload the green plants from the vehicle bed.

All the construction workers were Ability Users, not a single ordinary person among them.

Chen Fei's special ability wasn't put to use, his sheer strength alone was more than enough.

The two young men in the truck tried to make him look foolish by throwing the tied saplings at him forcefully, but he caught them neatly, leaving the two exchanging glances, deflated at their lack of temper.

Such petty tricks were all they were capable of after all, there wasn't any real deep-seated hatred between them.

Just as Rona said, the replanting of the greenery was completed in less than fifteen minutes. The saplings brought over from the truck that had been wilting quickly took root under the Wood System Spells.

After finishing the work, the scene was tidy, with even the dirtied ground and vehicle washed down by Rona's Water-Based Ability, marking the conclusion of the work.

Rona duly dropped Chen Fei off at the camp as promised.

As he got out of the vehicle, she tossed something to him.

"As a reward, this is for you!"

"What?"

Chen Fei stretched out his hand and caught it squarely, looking intently—it appeared to be a diamond-shaped metal plate that had been cut out, about an inch thick, and extremely heavy in his hand.

"Let's go!"

Rona didn't explain but stepped on the gas, and the truck carrying two young lads sped away like lightning.

"A magic array?"

Chen Fei then noticed that the diamond-shaped metal plate in his hand was engraved with a magic array that seemed very complete.

A thought crossed his mind.

"Metal Devouring" skill, activate!

The diamond-shaped metal plate vanished in an instant.
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System: Ding! Absorbed a total of 27.9 kilograms of alloy, composition ratio: Iron 60%, Titanium 32%, Platinum 2%...

System: Ding! Acquired magic array "Ignition"!

System: Magical Array Evolution Database (6), Category 1: Light, Dark, Spirit, Space, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Lightning | Category 2: Human Order, Earth Order, Heavenly Order | Search.../Manage...

Hmph! What use could this thing have?

Opening the "Magical Array Evolution Database," he directly entered the Fire System category, and the first one he saw was "Ignition": Engraving unit 1, Human Order first rank spell model, generates fire, the intensity and shape of the flame adjusted by spiritual power.

It's just a Small Fireball, not as powerful as a hand grenade, not as convenient as a lighter, a mere trinket.

Only when forgetting to bring matches would this magic array come in handy.

Right, it could also be used at a barbecue party, serving as a stove, but the cost of use is absurdly high.

With a harvest that was better than nothing, Chen Fei closed the dog system's visual interface with indifference and returned to the camp where he was staying.

The original "Dark Night" squad had already been ordered to deploy, leaving the entire two-story barrack building now empty save for Chen Fei alone.

He used his chip key to unlock the door, then suddenly stopped his actions.

Inside the dormitory, everything was preserved just as he had left it.

With the curtains drawn and no lights on, the room was dimly lit, but... there was someone there.

"Jiu!"

The keen-sensory Little Bird detected something was off at the same time.

Activating the skill "Basic Optical Observer (Level 4)," it autonomously initiated "Low-light Enhancement" and "Infrared Thermal Imaging" for another confirmation!

"Major Li?"

Amid the human silhouette outlined by the infrared thermal imaging, he could clearly see that Special Warfare Group Major Li Xinliang, the "Fire Owl," was sitting on the sofa inside the room.

Snap! ~

Before Xiao Jiu could release a Light Orb from the Illumination Technique, the lights turned on.

Major Li casually said, "I've been waiting for you for a while."

He didn't stand up but remained seated.

Chen Fei asked with confusion, "Weren't you..."

At that suspicious "community health center," the other party ran off first with Longinus.

Major Li shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's right! I've already handed over the object. Now, there are some things left to do that were supposed to be handled by someone else, but in the end, it fell to me."

It looked like there was new business, perhaps a mission!

Even the donkeys in the production team wouldn't be worked so hard—after all, donkeys are part of official supplies and have their own organization. But Chen Xiao'er had no such organization.

"You don't want an outsider like me to see too many people here?"

Chen Fei cut straight to the heart of the matter.

To this day, after coming to this town in Hanhai or whatever, the number of "locals" he had genuinely met hadn't exceeded twenty, and those considered significant figures didn't even surpass the number on one hand.

"Uh, there's some truth to that." Major Li didn't deny but nodded, continuing, "You really don't know alchemy?"

"I don't!"

Chen Fei was quite straightforward in his confession.

He knew nothing about runes, magic arrays, or even what exactly magic was. To be precise, he only knew some generally educated things, like how many Elemental Series there are, the origin of magic, influential figures, historical events, which he had essentially regarded as fantasy novels.

After all, at that time, he was just an ordinary person, far removed from the world of Ability Users, and he had never even thought about the day when he would have dealings with Ability Users.

"But you can replicate magic arrays!"

Major Li Xinliang got up from the sofa, picked up two metal plates from beside it, and offered them to Chen Fei, one in each hand.

"What are these?"

Chen Fei hesitated for a moment, not reaching out to take them but instead looking at the other party with puzzlement.

Logically speaking, magic arrays were controlled items and should not be so easily handed over.

"Copy it!"

Li Xinliang gestured with his right hand.

The metal plate in his right hand was inscribed with a magic array on its surface, while the one in his left was identically shaped and thick but completely smooth, without any extra markings.

System: Ding! Absorbed a total of 20 kilograms of alloy, composition ratio: Iron 60%, Titanium 32%, Platinum 2%...

The composition of the alloy was almost identical to that of the metal plate Rona had just given him.

System: Ding! Acquired magic array "Illumination Technique"!

A trinket, another trinket!

Chen Fei furrowed his brow.

He knew these controlled items wouldn't benefit him for nothing.