Seeing the hint messages, Fang Cheng’s eyes flashed with surprise, and the chopsticks in his hand also came to a halt.
Remembering that after the Gourmet Skill reached 50 points, the progress bar’s rate of increase started to slow down markedly.
At least a casual meal on a normal day rarely resulted in any experience points increase.
Recently, it had been stuck at over 90 points, unable to break through.
Fang Cheng looked at the content of the hint message and pondered in secret the upgrade patterns revealed by the panel.
It seemed... the worse the food tasted, or the more precious and rare it was, the more experience it would add?
With this thought in mind, Fang Cheng suddenly felt a surge of appetite.
He continued to pick up his chopsticks, shoveling in such things like bull’s, tiger’s, and seal’s penises.
However, this time he became much more eager, with rather exaggerated eating manners.
Just as well, except for Ma Donghe himself, other people found it somewhat difficult to swallow.
Seeing Fang Cheng with such a good appetite, clearly enjoying the feast, the atmosphere at the banquet naturally became more spirited.
Ma Donghe was even more buoyant with laughter; it was nearly as if the words "I am the Food God" were written on his face.
Fang Cheng ignored his boasting and concentrated on the endlessly emerging "+1 experience" words, focusing on the sumptuous food in front of him.
Finally, the panel flashed with a dazzling light!
[Congratulations, after relentless effort, your Skill has reached Expert Level]
[Gourmet lv1 (0/250)]
[You’ve received an Enhancement Reward, Skill Effect "Poison Resistance"]
[Poison Resistance, the body’s resistance against poor food and toxins is increased by 100% on top of the basic Constitution attribute]
At the banquet, Ma Jianguo saw Fang Cheng busy eating, not even having time to speak.
Hence, the conversation shifted to his own son.
He said it was time to find Ma Donghe a decent job, having previously been reluctant to ask old friends for favors.
Now that his son had become a good citizen who performed good deeds, he naturally had the confidence, hoping that Ma Donghe could henceforth lead a stable life, marry a wife, and give him a grandson.
After successfully upgrading his Skill, Fang Cheng was in a good mood and even helped the old gentleman speak a few words.
The joint efforts of the two made Ma Donghe feel overwhelmed with the talks, hastily using drinking as a cover for his embarrassment.
Meanwhile, inside the Ma Mansion, everyone was toasting and chatting, immersed in joyous harmony.
Far at the other end of the city in the National Security Department building, there were also people brimming with excitement.
Exiting the elevator, stepping onto the spacious and brightly lit corridor, one could see from a distance a wide and imposing glass security door with a strong sense of technology.
Brother Luo and Brother Jian were visiting the headquarters base for the first time, looking exceptionally excited yet inevitably a bit nervous.
They were then led by a pretty female police officer to the glass door.
After the security camera scanned the faces of the visitors, the door automatically opened.
The policewoman led them through the neatly organized office area and into a slightly dimly lit laboratory.
Two people stood in front of a one-way perspective glass window, staring at the data on a computer monitor, murmuring to each other.
"Dr. Sun, Director Qin, the two officers have arrived."
Hearing the reminder, Director Qin turned to glance at them and raised his hand to indicate they should wait a moment.
The policewoman then excused herself and closed the door, leaving Brother Luo and Brother Jian standing there, curiously looking around.
The laboratory seemed quite large, surrounded by precise instruments with flashing red and green indicator lights.
In another room, there were also many cylindrical glass culture vessels, filled with an amber liquid in which some strange and bizarre creatures were submerged.
Deeper down the corridor, several researchers wearing biohazard suits quietly emerged like specters, silently passing by them.
The solemn and oppressive atmosphere made the two of them slightly uncomfortable.
Watching Director Qin and Doctor Sun seem to be observing an experimental subject, they also edged a bit closer, peering through the glass window at the scene inside.
They saw two assistants in protective suits busily at work beside an experimental bed, drawing blood samples.
On the bed lay a tall man with abnormally developed muscles, his head was also fitted with a helmet connected to many cables.
It was the experimental body that they had brought back from the Red Tiger Gang’s warehouse base that night.
Only now, "he" had his head and neck sutured up with surgical thread, looking somewhat more human.
Doctor Sun stared at the brain scan images displayed on the computer screen, muttering to himself:
"You can tell that he had undergone prefrontal lobotomy in advance, the original area filled with some blue mysterious substance. This has made him completely lose human emotions, yet it enables him to withstand the Enhancement hormones in the injected drugs to the fullest extent, thus speeding up the rate of cell division and gaining a stronger regenerative ability."
"One especially important point is that the RC cell count isn’t as exaggerated as anticipated, compared to those naturally occurring mutants it’s within a marginally controllable range."
He murmured for a while, then lifting his head, he sighed:
"The scientific research strength of the mysterious organization behind the Red Tiger Gang is quite formidable, actually managing to find a new path in human body’s extreme recovery."
"If this path indeed becomes viable, the age-old dream of the Immortality Technique may no longer be just a fantasy..."
Seeing Doctor Sun come out of his focused state of research, Director Qin took the opportunity to introduce the two team members under his command.
Doctor Sun turned his head to look at the two men and nodded slightly, praising:
"You both performed exceedingly well on this mission, deserving of commendation."
Then, changing the subject, he asked:
"But, that black-clothed person who killed the experimental body, do we have an answer yet as to whether or not he is from one of the noble families?"
They did not have a good relationship with those financial dynasties that controlled the lifeblood of the country’s economy; in fact, it could be said they were in an adversarial position.
If the noble families knew of this experimental body owned by the Special Search Team, it might provoke some unnecessary ripples.
Brother Luo hurriedly replied respectfully:
"Judging from the situation at that time, I can at least be certain that he definitely does not belong to those irrational mutant freaks, otherwise he wouldn’t have just killed the others and left the bodies to us, he would have long since drained their blood to replenish his own Strength."
Director Qin then took over from his subordinate:
"I have checked the files; there’s no female or male who fits the description, whether their surname is Wen, Weng, or Wen. So it’s possible that these siblings are illegitimate children left outside by a wealthy family’s young master. Because of their awakened abilities, they were given special attention and have been secretly brought back to East Capital, yet they haven’t reclaimed their family surname."
The Special Search Team maintains a secret dossier of the genealogical pedigrees of noble families from Xia Country and several other key overseas countries.
Of course, these dossiers are absolutely confidential and must not be disclosed, or it would provoke censure and investigation from those financial dynasties.
"Since they haven’t shown any reaction for now, that boy probably just a greenhorn and doesn’t realize the value of this experimental body, having stumbled upon us while hunting by chance..."
Upon hearing this, Doctor Sun pondered for a moment and nodded gleefully, "That’s better, at least my experiment won’t be interfered with."
A routine material collection for an experiment unexpectedly yielded a pleasant surprise, which for him was the best outcome.
Director Qin then added:
"I’ve already added him to the file, codenamed ’Asura’, and instructed the intelligence department to watch for this person. If he’s a descendant of a noble family, he’ll show his edge sooner or later."
Asura refers to noble families, and the meaning of Asura is one with compatible abilities but uncertain identity.
They did not consider the possibility of him being a commoner.
This was a very natural and simple assumption.
Because even if a commoner had a one in a million chance of awakening a Special Ability, they would soon become mentally unstable.
And those who can successfully awaken and reach strength above Grade C without falling into insanity,
Are they anyone else but scions of financial dynasties?
Perhaps, there might be another possibility...
Director Qin suddenly recalled certain matters, then dismissively shook his head.
That possibility was not very realistic.