Who's the Catch

"First you have to cross hands. Apart from some special abilities, you can't know the specific data of other abilities just by looking. After determining the opponent's ability, target their weaknesses to kill them, it's that simple," Li Changan said matter-of-factly.

Wen Anran was stunned like a puppet for a moment before shaking his head and forcing a smile, "It's not simple at all, especially for abilities without flashy appearances. How can you guess them in such a short time?"

"Everyone knows they should target the opponent's weaknesses, but just guessing what ability the opponent has is already troublesome enough, let alone immediately thinking of their weaknesses. Are you a genius? Or do you have a photographic memory?"

Li Changan frowned, puzzled, "If you can't remember then just go fight, as long as you fight enough, you'll definitely remember. Take [Fiber Reinforcement] for example."

"The hardened fibers can withstand bullets and are comparable to steel, while blunt force trauma is significantly more effective, flexibility of joints is also affected.

Softened fibers make the body immune to blunt force trauma, slashing effects are extremely poor, increases muscle activity, can stop bleeding and recover, but has no defense against strangulation.

So, chokehold to the waist, he has to soften the muscles around the waist and chest, to avoid damaging internal organs, and harden the muscles around the neck to avoid being strangled by me."

Wen Anran sighed, and picked up where Li Changan left off, "So his waist has no strength to struggle free, but the hardened muscles will fatigue quickly under intense pressure, leading to you choking him unconscious in the end."

Li Changan nodded, "Isn't it very simple?"

It's not! Wen Anran couldn't find the will to argue back. It did sound very simple coming from Li Changan's mouth, but extremely difficult in practice. This was a victory of spirit and experience.

Li Changan had proven with his strength that being ability-less didn't make one useless trash. It's just that society's inherent mindset valued abilities, so those without were considered trash.

But this had its limits. Relying solely on the human body—no, this wasn't a human body anymore, at least the strength had reached that of a C-rank [Strength Enhancement].

According to the difference in ranks, ability users also had special capabilities without activating their abilities. Take [Fire Element Mastery] for example, once awakened, it granted immunity to certain high temperatures, and the threshold rises with rank.

It's said S-rank [Flame Mastery] allowed walking on lava even without activating abilities.

Li Changan's strength had reached C-rank [Strength Enhancement], the formidable physique was key to executing his plans.

Wen Anran sipped water, mind racing. It had been almost 30 years since abilities emerged, giving rise to over 3000 types. Even producers had physiques surpassing pre-apocalypse humans, it was a kind of evolution.

But no one had ever paid attention to improving physique, taking it as a bonus while enhancing abilities. No one had considered pushing physique to its limits.

Perhaps Li Changan's appearance would be groundbreaking.

But he was doomed to never stand in the spotlight. If people knew of his uniqueness, he'd likely be taken for research or scorned immediately.

Wen Anran blanked, realizing belatedly that he had become an insider. As long as he spread the news of Li Changan's lack of abilities...

You trust me so readily from a mere pinky swear?

"Hurry up and eat your fill, we have to go. With that guy's Points added, you should still be in the lead. The counter hasn't appeared yet, so deaths are less than half." Li Changan finished his portion.

"Oh...okay." Wen Anran nodded absentmindedly.

In his not very long life, gaining trust so easily seemed to have never happened before.

The battles in the city never ceased. When participants first entered the Trial Field, most just wanted to survive. If unable to decide the fight quickly, they'd retreat rapidly.

But Charles' fight with the [Imagination Materialization] ability user was like a burning oil tanker crashing into a gas station, setting the entire Trial Field ablaze. The huge thunderstorm area became a forbidden zone, forcing encounters between other ability users.

So when Li Changan and Wen Anran left the hospital, it wasn't long before they saw what Li Changan mentioned—the counter.

The sky seemed to become a screen, displaying "Survivors: 88" on it, the number slowly dropping, about 1 decrease every half hour.

"There were 197 participants. Remaining count is shown at half, top 3 at a quarter left." Li Changan explained softly to Wen Anran.

Wen Anran nodded, this was common knowledge found outside.

What Li Changan said naturally wasn't useless information. He continued, "Most know this, but something not everyone knows is that when your name appears in the top 3, you can spend some Points to randomly locate an opponent."

"What?" Wen Anran frowned, he really didn't know this, but how did Li Changan find out—could he have participated more than once?

Instinctively, the first guess was often closest to the truth.

Oblivious to Wen Anran's change in demeanor, Li Changan went on, "So we need to ensure you're top 3 first. When a quarter are left, we can make our move."

"Charles will definitely be top 3. His ability isn't cheating, but his mental strength is. He's been fighting over 4 hours now and still no sign of fatigue."

"I'm close combat so even if he doesn't attack, just flying makes me helpless. So we need to find a weapon first, I know you have a handgun but that's useless."

[Seek Fortune and Avoid Calamity] was both passive and active. Wen Anran could actively use it to determine fortune/misfortune regarding things.

This wasn't cheating, it was a walkthrough!

No matter what Wen Anran wanted, he could use the fortune/misfortune indication from his ability to determine direction. As long as he headed towards "fortune", he'd find it.

What Li Changan sought was that 20mm anti-materiel sniper rifle. Its owner still hadn't appeared, firing only a few times, a capable sniper who'd be the biggest variable in the Trial.

Taking him out first would gain a weapon and remove uncertainty, so why not?

Of course, without Wen Anran, Li Changan wouldn't target him, always moving between buildings to avoid him. But everything was different now.

This was the first time Li Changan wanted to be the hunter.