Chapter 266 163: The World's Secret Organizations

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for scripting the 'Human Skin Blood Corpse' plot. Calculating reward.]

[Calculating reward...]

[Plot scripting immersion: 84%. Reward acquired: 'Anger Ears'.]

[Ding! Congratulations on acquiring the reward: 'One (1) opportunity to upgrade any skill granted by the system.']

[Anger Ears: With this Skill, you can perceive all sounds within a thirty-meter radius, centered on you! (Perception quality is dependent on the target's proximity.)]

[Note: You can discern the location of the source to determine the target's direction.]

[Designated Upgrade x1: Use now?]

The night of the 31st.

At 11 PM, everyone returned to the hotel.

Xu Huo opened his computer and sent out a draft he had saved.

The long-awaited voice sounded in his ears.

'Anger Ears?'

Xu Huo froze for a moment, the corner of his eye twitching.

'The Skill is powerful. Within thirty meters... I can listen to anything!'

'Thirty meters sounds close, not like some kind of clairaudience, but...'

'What if the thirty-meter range extends vertically, too?'

To put it another way, if Xu Huo wanted, he could walk into the lobby of a National Security building, find a seat in full view of the surveillance cameras, and listen in on any activity in their most secure offices.

Or at the Special Fifth Bureau, he could provide crucial assistance during a hostage rescue.

'Damn, this Skill is useful. I can use it for eavesdropping or for keeping close tabs on a suspect.'

'But this name...'

Xu Huo sank into thought and looked at his system panel.

[Joy Eye, Thought Tongue, Anger Ears...]

'Hmm, that's three out of six. If I collect all six, do I turn into a furry monkey?'

Xu Huo thought for a moment, a smirk tugging at his lips.

He then turned his attention to the other reward.

'An upgrade for a designated Skill?'

'Like an XP pack?'

Xu Huo was skeptical. After solving so many cases, this was the first time he'd ever seen something like this.

It really was like an XP pack—use it, and a Skill would be instantly maxed out.

However, his Skills didn't seem to have levels, aside from the ones he trained himself. They were either useful or they weren't.

Xu Huo mulled it over for a moment, mentally running through his list of Skills.

'Well, the upgrade should be a positive change.'

He paused, then made his decision and used the reward.

[Ding! Are you sure you want to upgrade the Skill 'Wang Die's Scent'?]

[Note: This process cannot be stopped once initiated.]

[Note: The upgrade will not fundamentally change the Skill, only add new effects to the original.]

Since the upgrade was guaranteed to be an improvement, Xu Huo went ahead and chose Wang Die's Scent.

This Skill had helped him countless times in the past.

In the recent Human Skin Blood Robe case alone, it had led him directly to the criminals' den in Rong Garden.

"Confirm," Xu Huo said calmly. The next second, he felt his sense of smell vanish.

Then, like a chronic sinusitis sufferer whose nose suddenly cleared after being stuffed up for ages, everything rushed back in.

[Wang Die's Scent -> Love Nose]

[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained 'Love Nose'.]

[Love Nose: Perhaps... you can now smell something... special in the scents you perceive?]

'That makes four!?'

The corner of Xu Huo's eye twitched.

'I just got Anger Ears, and now Wang Die's Scent has upgraded into Love Nose...'

'I'm not actually going to turn into the Stone Monkey, am I...?'

Xu Huo suddenly felt a strange unease, and an image he couldn't suppress surfaced in his mind.

'If I turn into a monkey, would Chu Xi have to feed me...?'

'...bananas?'

'Wouldn't that make me her pet...?'

Xu Huo shuddered. The mental image was too much to bear.

'Still, the new Skill seems pretty good, especially combined with Anger Ears...'

A new Skill combination floated into his mind.

He then walked out of his room.

CREAK~

The door opened, and Xu Huo stood in the hotel corridor.

He closed his eyes and took a shallow breath.

The next second.

Several potent scents flooded his mind!

What were the scents like?

They were like threads of different colors!

These threads were left behind by their owners, tracing the paths they had walked.

And the colors represented...

...sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty?

Xu Huo sniffed.

'Love Nose!'

A faint, bitter scent was captured by his nose. It was a strange sensation. The source of this scent was...

Xu Huo's ears twitched.

'Anger Ears.'

'Goddammit...'

It was someone talking in their sleep.

At the same time, his brain combined the two pieces of information from Anger Ears and Love Nose, constructing an image in his mind.

It was a man having a nightmare, seemingly trapped in an endless cycle of work. The expression on his sleeping face was horrifying.

Xu Huo didn't catch the rest, but just from that single curse, he knew it was Li Jianye.

'Hmm... Captain Li really has it rough.'

Xu Huo mused.

'Li Jianye has it rough?'

'Strange, I wonder why that is... Xu Huo had no idea, of course...'

He didn't dwell on it and activated Love Nose again. This time, he caught a trace of sweetness.

This was...

...Chu Xi.

At this moment, she was wearing a black silk nightgown, curled up on her side under the covers. Her hair was splayed messily across the pillow, and she was hugging the little meatball, Niuniu, sleeping soundly.

Her mood was very pleasant.

'Bitter represents helplessness, terror, and fear.'

'Sour represents negative emotions, like gloominess.'

'Sweet is kindness, salty is sadness, and spicy is anger.'

After a moment, Xu Huo opened his eyes, a thoughtful expression on his face.

'Is it useful?'

'It's just a Skill. Reading someone's face and tone of voice can tell you the same things, so it's not that useful, really.'

'But...'

'...if you can see the killer's face and hear their tone, you can probably just arrest them on the spot!'

'And at a crime scene, you're not likely to find many killers getting right up in your face.'