Chapter 25: Unknown Mouse

A total of nine smugglers: Zhuzi killed two, gaining 200 experience points, and his level finally increased to Level 3.

Jiang Kai killed seven: four of them were Level 4 smugglers, yielding 400 experience points, while three were Level 5 smugglers, yielding 1000 experience points.

Just a difference of one level increased the experience gain by 200 points. From this detail, one could see how punishing the system of Destiny truly was.

To level up from Level 3 to 4 required 400 experience points, and from Level 4 to 5 required 800 points. Jiang Kai directly leveled up to Level 5.

But something unexpected happened—when Jiang Kai looted the last Level 5 smuggler, who should have yielded 300 experience points, only 200 points were successfully gained.

Su Nuannuan offered a theory: it seemed the novice trial zone had a special rule—once one reached Level 5 here, no further experience could be gained, not even through looting.

None of the three had any related experience, so they could only helplessly waste 100 experience points.

The 'Fearless' watch recorded Jiang Kai's current stats:

[Strength: 20, Constitution: 24, Agility: 36, Mental Strength: 36]

"What kind of freakish stats are these?. Kai, even if we're the same level, I, a Martial Disciple, wouldn't even be able to touch you." Zhuzi frowned, deep in thought.

Su Nuannuan was also shocked by Jiang Kai's stats and muttered, "It's always said barefoot doctors and feng shui practitioners have the highest mental strength. When I reached Level 5, my mental strength was only 22 points."

Thinking for a moment, Su Nuannuan seemed to realize something important.

"Oh, I almost forgot—gamblers enjoy double the rewards, but they also bear double the risks."

Zhuzi added, "The key point is this: whether it's Martial Disciple or Barefoot Doctor, the next stages of their professions are already established."

The gambler was the first of its kind, let alone the gambler's future advancements.

Su Nuannuan and Zhuzi's expressions shifted from initial envy to sympathy and regret.

Jiang Kai frowned, noticing their gazes, and shook his head, rolling his eyes at them. "What are you looking at me like that for? If I'm not worried, why should you be? Let's go. There's still time—maybe we can find more smugglers."

"Let's get your levels up too."

The team set off again.

On the way, Jiang Kai couldn't help but recall another matter.

There was something only he knew.

He had a random talent: Super Critical Strike.

At the time, he hadn't told Zhuzi about this talent. And Su Nuannuan, who had "overheard" before, certainly knew even less about it.

It wasn't that Jiang Kai deliberately hid it—first, he didn't have time to share before Su Nuannuan suddenly appeared; second, the minuscule chance of activating the talent was hardly worth mentioning.

He figured Zhuzi would just mock him for it.

Even during his days in the novice trial, where he had attacked more than a hundred times, Super Critical Strike had never activated once.

"Man, even I almost forgot I had this talent." Jiang Kai complained to himself, quickening his pace to catch up with his teammates.

After searching for some time, the team failed to find any more smugglers—perhaps they had gone to chase down the larger groups of novices.

By noon, Jiang Kai gave up on finding smugglers.

Next, they needed to travel long distances and would require food reserves. The three split into two groups: Zhuzi and Nuannuan in one, while Jiang Kai, with his superior stats, acted alone to hunt small animals for food.

The easiest prey here were Ghost Star Mountain Rats.

They had caught several before but used them as bait for Chameleon Ground Snakes.

Jiang Kai searched among some dead tree roots for nearly half an hour with no success.

"Is my luck that bad today?" Jiang Kai frowned and continued searching.

A few minutes later, Jiang Kai spotted a black, large creature lying still in the grass ahead.

With his keen observational skills, he usually noticed moving objects easily. However, since the creature wasn't moving, he had initially missed it.

"A black panther?" From its shape, Jiang Kai immediately identified the shadow.

With his current stats, Jiang Kai wasn't worried even if it was a black panther. But what puzzled him was that he hadn't encountered any Ghost Star Panthers along the way—only to find one here.

"Strange. Panthers have extremely sharp senses. I've gotten this close, yet it hasn't reacted?"

The panther was still lying there with its back to Jiang Kai. Observing closely, he noticed its abdomen gently rising and falling.

"There's a smell of blood…" Jiang Kai frowned and drew a poison dart, cautiously approaching.

When he reached the panther's front, he saw its abdomen had been torn open, leaving a large hole. Blood had pooled on the ground.

"Do smugglers casually kill panthers too?" Jiang Kai was surprised. Under normal circumstances, panthers would sense danger and avoid smugglers, while smugglers, preoccupied with their missions, wouldn't waste time provoking panthers.

Besides, if they killed a panther, shouldn't they have taken its corpse card?

As Jiang Kai pondered, the panther's abdomen slightly bulged, as if something was inside.

Soon, a red head emerged from the panther's stomach.

The creature was possibly not originally red—its body was stained with blood, giving it the color.

It resembled a mountain rat but was much smaller, more like a common house mouse.

Covered in blood, the tiny creature stared at Jiang Kai with wide eyes, seemingly startled.

Their eyes met, and both froze.

"When did this guy show up?"

"Is this mouse eating the panther?"

The next second, the small mouse darted toward Jiang Kai at lightning speed.

Seeing the red blur approach, Jiang Kai instinctively reacted.

Using Ghost Eye Focus and his high agility, Jiang Kai swiftly caught the tiny creature in his hand.

"Wow, that's fast!"

The mouse fit perfectly in Jiang Kai's palm. Its long, blood-stained tail wrapped around his hand as it wriggled, emitting sharp squeaks while trying to escape his grasp.

Jiang Kai frowned, observing the mouse closely. "Does the trial zone have creatures like this? No, I don't recall seeing this species listed in records."

"This thing can eat a panther?"

"Hey, little guy, don't be scared. I won't hurt you. Your tiny body isn't even enough to fill Zhuzi's teeth. But seriously, what are you?"

Could it be that some mouse had logged into Destiny's Calling through a gate?

The small mouse seemed to understand Jiang Kai's words, ceasing its struggle. Its dark eyes quietly observed him.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak…"

"Huh? Can you understand me?"

Jiang Kai felt silly for even asking.

Certain professions abroad, like beast tamers or animal handlers, reportedly had talents that allowed them to communicate with animals.

But as a gambler, Jiang Kai definitely couldn't talk to mice.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Kai crouched down and slowly lowered his arm, releasing the mouse. "Little guy, you'd better get going. This place is too dangerous for you. Watch out for larger predators that might come to eat the corpse."

"If you run into a lynx, you're toast." Jiang Kai joked, pretending to shoo it away.

The small creature ran off a considerable distance. Just as Jiang Kai stood to leave, it stopped, stood on its hind legs, and held its little paws together.

Its dark eyes stared blankly at Jiang Kai.

After a moment's hesitation, the mouse suddenly dashed back to him.

"Squeak, squeak?"

Jiang Kai frowned, surprised. "Don't tell me… you want to follow me?"

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