After doing all this, Xu Xiaoyou was completely exhausted, half-kneeling on the ground, gasping loudly, every pore of her body expressing weakness and fatigue, a severe soreness making it impossible for her to even stand up properly.
Anya hurried forward to support her body, her young face filled with concern.
"I'm okay," Xu Xiaoyou said with difficulty.
The city was full of dangers everywhere, and the successive crises had left her spirit somewhat weary, especially encountering those madmen who had no regard for their own lives and whose intentions were impossible to gauge.
If it weren't for last night's swordsmanship training yielding results, she might have been finished here.
"Really tricky..."
In the battle with Catwoman, she used three bullets, leaving only two handgun bullets in the magazine.
She must be more cautious in the future, avoiding firing the gun whenever possible.
[Your understanding of 'Gathering' has deepened.]
[Proficiency of skill 'Wind Tight Pulling' 1/3.]
[Proficiency of skill 'Back Alley Stab' 1/3.]
[Proficiency of skill 'Bleeding Frenzy' 1/3.]
[Proficiency of skill 'Fireball Bombardment' 2/3.]
She looked at the series of prompts in front of her, lost in thought.
As she had guessed before, as long as she used the same Skill Card multiple times, she could completely master that skill.
From the battle just now, she confirmed that Skill Cards could not only be gathered through Card Maker points but could also be gathered through 'comprehension' in certain circumstances.
Like the previous swordsmanship training, allowing her to master knowledge related to swordsmanship, and even, in the recent battle, she gathered a new Skill Card through comprehension, Wind Tight Pulling.
She had a vague premonition that she could deduce more Skill Cards through the different connections between several basic Skill Cards, like she deduced Wind Tight Pulling using part of the thought process from Back Alley Stab in the recent battle.
For other professions, these Skill Cards were like combat techniques.
Only through a lot of practice and training, summarizing experiences, could their power be exerted, but she was different; she could directly bypass a lot of practice to forcibly activate them through Skill Cards, during which she had absolute mastery over these technique details, only to forget them quickly after activation.
This was the special feature of her as a Card Maker.
Ordinary melee professions shared common combat techniques, for example, a Barbarian Warrior could gather strength and use force techniques to unleash an attack shattering giant rocks, known as Rock Shattering. A Swordsman with a bit of strength could also replicate it if they knew the general idea.
Only Magic Professions were different; even just Elemental Resonance was like a thick barrier separating any possibility of commonality.
If she mastered Fireball Bombardment, it would mean she could resonate with elements.
Did it mean that she was no longer an insulator to elements, able to activate other magic skills?
Or could she only activate Fireball Bombardment alone?
Xu Xiaoyou shook her head, setting aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind for the time being.
There were more important things waiting for her to accomplish right now.
Looking at the surrounding scene of chaos, Xu Xiaoyou left before the guards arrived.
.......
District Thirteen.
Pink Lady Bar.
From the moment she entered the bar, the explosive music bombarded her ears nonstop, in the dim environment, the dazzling colorful lights incessantly stimulated people's vision here.
Separated only by a few walls, the city outside seemed like a completely different world.
Inside the bar, a mix of different kinds of people, everyone's spirits reaching a peak, completely forgetting their decadent lives, wantonly twisting their limbs in the dance floor, at a glance, like a continually rippling pool of pale flesh.
Onstage, in front of the cyber big screen, men dressed in bunny suits danced with enchanting postures, occasionally throwing seductive glances towards the audience below. Their attires were too tight, seen from the side like a twisting '卜' character, every hot and spicy move raising the crowd's fervent cheers below, with wads of cash thrown onto the stage.
The scene was far too eye-piercing, Xu Xiaoyou silently covered Anya's face, fearing the child's mind would be impacted.
In a corner of the bar, several cabins emitted a faint blue glow, appearing like large coffins with glass lids. Several figures lay inside the liquid within them, eyes closed, with an expression of complete enjoyment, as if immersed in a dream.
"Neural Wanderers?"
An early virtual consciousness transmission device, a product from when the concept of the Metaverse was first proposed, developed by the 'Nighttime Dreams' Company as a technological product, allowing users' consciousness to immerse in a virtual world through consciousness transmission technology, initially intended to settle the lower class people of Nest City, making them numb themselves in virtual reality to escape the real world.
After the Oasis project proposal, Neural Wanderers underwent generations of improvements, finally becoming the officially designated consciousness transmission devices, renamed Dream Wanderer, decreasing in size from coffin-like to portable headgear.
The Nighttime Dreams Company that proposed the plan also became one of the leading forces behind the Oasis.
Ironically, since the cost of a Wanderer device was quite high, only a small number of people were destined to obtain this valuable ticket to the Oasis. The lower-class people not only didn't manage to escape to a virtual world, but the Metaverse, instead, allowed rich people to indulge themselves in reality, then turn around and continue to revel in their dreams.
In fact, these machines were really just glass coffins, since users without Oasis login rights could only play early Metaverse products, the technological imperfections often lead to their brains dissolving like scattered tofu in the machines, thought related to the riotous Dream-Walking Fish within them. The Nighttime Dreams Company had invested enormous funds in controlling news media to suppress these scandals.
The insignificant lives of a few pitiful creatures would make no ripple, over time, even if someone occasionally remembered, it wouldn't matter much.
For those unfortunate souls with hopeless lives, being able to escape reality itself was reason enough to convince themselves, what would the risk of brain dissolution matter? For them, entering the dream was more appealing than death, a painless death, permanently escaping reality, was akin to hitting the jackpot.
These devices were out of production many years ago; even finding one on the black market was rare, yet unexpectedly, this bar had so many, Mr. Hao must have some connections in this regard.
Finally, she found a relatively quiet spot in the bar, sitting at the bar counter.
A tranquil violin piece set the atmosphere, golden fluorescent lights illuminated the bartender's figure as they mixed drinks on the bar counter.
A hot-bodied dancer in black lace garter hose came over, naturally sitting on Xu Xiaoyou's lap. Her open daring attire revealed a large expanse of snow-white, a deep gorge, her eyes seductively charming, pink mist lingering on her lips:
"Wanna have a go? I guarantee, it'll take you to the heavens. Of course... with a face as pleasing as yours, I might consider doing it for free~"
Saying this, the dancer's thigh wrapped in black stockings rubbed against Xu Xiaoyou's body, slender arms slipping over her shoulder, eyes filled with affection: "Girls are fine too."
"Get lost," Xu Xiaoyou said coldly.
"Oh well... so fierce, no sense of romance."
The dancer, seeing no interest, got up and left.
Before leaving, Xu Xiaoyou distinctly heard the other muttering.
"Small chest, big temper."