In recent years, Li Changan rarely spoke so much, perhaps also related to coming back from the dead. He had brushed past death more than once, but only this time could he be said to have truly come back from the dead. When Wen Anran found him, his heartbeat was barely detectable. It was Wen Anran who injected a large dose of adrenaline into his heart.
Rushing like mad, Wen Anran carried Li Changan to the hospital, and used a taser instead of a defibrillator. After a series of operations, at least Li Changan's heartbeat recovered. Next was taking medicine and bandaging.
"It's because you're stubbornly tenacious that you could pull through after losing so much blood. I don't have any blood to transfuse you." Wen Anran boiled water and crushed military rations in it, "Speaking of which, what is your ability? I still haven't seen you use it yet."
"I don't know either." Li Changan shrugged and accepted the gruel boiled from rations, "I haven't awakened any abilities yet."
Wen Anran's little hand shook, looking at Li Changan in disbelief, "Are you serious? Speaking of which, you're over twenty right? I've never heard of anyone who hasn't awakened at this age. Don't tell me you've actually awakened but don't know it yourself?"
"I've had it appraised before, I really don't have any abilities." Blowing on the gruel, Li Changan took small sips, feeling numb and itchy all over his body. His wounds were healing at a terrifying speed.
Seeing what seemed to be a monster, Wen Anran was so shocked he couldn't speak. After quite a while, he finally swallowed his saliva and asked, "If you don't have any abilities at all, how did you kill your previous opponents? Or are you from a wealthy family and bought a lot of gene serums?"
"If injecting serums can lead to resistance, it can also let your physique reach infinity close to Class C."
Only after drinking all of the gruel did Li Changan respond, "My family is quite poor. My dad went missing many years ago, probably died. He left my mom behind, she's a producer, so she doesn't earn much either."
"Relying on the empire's funding and what my mom earned, I barely managed to study for a few years. Later my sister awakened [Plant Growth], which happened to align with the imperial university's recruitment of that ability type. To reduce the burden on my family, I dropped out to work."
Wen Anran frowned, "You're from a family but seem even more miserable than me. But with no abilities, how could you find work?"
"Hmm." Li Changan nodded, "For an abilities-based society, it's true that people like me have a hard time finding work, but as long as I'm willing to work hard, at least I can get by."
Just as he was speaking, Li Changan glanced towards the direction outside the door. He got off the bed and walked out, "Someone's coming. His footsteps are very rhythmic, so he knows where he's going. Probably someone with a perception-based ability, coming for us."
"Why don't I go instead, your injuries aren't healed yet," Wen Anran looked hesitant. "To be honest, I feel that you being able to survive until now is really amazing, but it also makes me a bit uneasy."
"Pfft, then just come with me." Li Changan laughed as he put on his clothes. "Since we're cooperating, I should also give you an estimate of my capabilities. What do you think happened to that beast transformation ability user?"
At first I assumed you killed him of course, but after finding out you have no abilities, I thought he was eaten by a mutated monster! Wen Anran didn't say this out loud, and followed behind Li Changan out the door.
The footsteps stopped at the corner, having clearly discovered Li Changan at this end of the corridor.
"There's another one hiding in the shadows, are you teaming up illegally?" The person at the corner had a teenage boy's voice, but after encountering the dwarf, Li Changan no longer judged people by their voice.
Rolling his neck and wrists, Li Changan laughed. "You're not just a perception-type, or not only a perception-type."
"Oh? Why do you say that?" The person at the corner asked curiously.
Crouching behind, Wen Anran tsked. This guy was too easily distracted.
Li Changan continued laughing. "The advantage of perception-types isn't close combat. It's either long range sniping or outwitting. You charged straight at me, not even worried about exposing yourself, so close combat is your strong suit."
"So, either you're relying on expensive thermal equipment, or...you have dual abilities. One is perception-based, the other suited for close combat."
There was silence at the corner for a moment, then applause sounded. A seven-foot tall burly man walked out, tsking in a teenage voice, praising, "Amazing, I'm very curious what your reasoning is based on?"
"Experience. You're not the first dual ability user I've encountered." As soon as Li Changan finished speaking, he charged forward. The narrow corridor only allowed straight on collisions.
A man's romance lies in his fists. These pair of fists he was born with will beat the opponent to death.
Perhaps just as Li Changan expected, the burly man only looked startled for less than half a second before his face took on a hint of fanaticism. He strode forward and blocked Li Changan's punch with his arm.
"What tremendous strength." The burly man grunted. His arm felt a bit numb. He turned and slapped out with his palm. The fan-sized slap swept forth.
Li Changan tilted back to evade, then somersaulted backwards. His legs twined around the burly man's arm. His 1.76m frame hung on the burly man's arm like an ornament. Then he exerted force at the waist and flipped up to sit on him.
Observing from the shadows, Wen Anran watched dumbfounded. Li Changan, who clearly had no abilities, was gradually gaining the upper hand solely based on his physical capabilities in the first exchange, and didn't even get taken down right away.
But the burly man hadn't used his second ability yet, so the winner was still uncertain.
When Li Changan struck with his elbow, he felt like he had hit steel. It didn't feel like human muscle at all. In an instant, countless information flowed through his mind. All the abilities he knew of floated to the surface.
All abilities appraised at the Trials Facilities would be recorded on a stone tablet. Any facility could easily look them up. Whenever a new ability emerged, there would be someone to log it, then bring it to the wine shop at Jiang Shuibu.
As such, Li Changan was familiar with every ability in the world. Based on the traits the opponent displayed, he could deduce his specific ability.
Avoiding the burly man's grab, Li Changan backflipped. Hands and feet flattened to the floor, he passed between the burly man's legs. Hooking the burly man's right leg, he pulled up. Even gods couldn't escape losing balance with unstable footing.
The burly man tilted forwards. Li Changan stepped on his back and reached around to get him in a chokehold, using his knee to prop up the back. Exerting all his strength, he pulled backwards.
A full two minutes later, the burly man's hands weakened and released. His eyes rolled back as he fainted.
Li Changan didn't let go for another half minute before heavily gasping for breath and sitting to the side.
Wen Anran walked out from the room, gazing blankly at the scene exceeding his knowledge. An ordinary person without abilities had taken down a dual ability user in less than ten minutes.
"Phew, luckily this guy isn't that strong. His [Fiber Enhancement] can at most block bullets." Li Changan wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Did I do alright?"
Wen Anran was dumbstruck. Was that a human thing to say?