Mark's Mastery and Investigation

Mark continued the same routine for the next two days, meaning in the morning till a little later than noon, he drove his truck to do his assigned deliveries and helped Truck-kun level up his Truck Upgrades. After that, he investigated the area around the storehouse and the orphanage and prepared his report for Sara, while at night, he trained the rest of his Skills that he didn't use during his work and investigation time.

As expected, Truck-kun had mastered most of his Skills by reaching them at level 100, except Self-Repair, which they couldn't level up fast without being reckless. As for Mark, he was still slower than Truck-kun, but he had made quite some progress these days.

Appraisal: Lvl 27

Minor Energy Manipulation: Lvl 65

Martial Art: Lvl 48

Beginner Alchemist: Lvl 34

Minor Sword Mastery: Lvl 63

Beginner Hacker: Lvl 75

Beginner Tracker: Lvl 42

Vehicle Possessor: Lvl 100 (Max Lvl)

Self Repair: Lvl 48

Fuel Efficiency: Lvl 100 (Max Lvl)

Tire Pressure Control: Lvl 100 (Max Lvl)

He had bought a punching bag that was helpful to train his Martial Art moves instead of hitting air, but he had also ordered a wooden dummy that would be more helpful as it is meant to be used in Martial Arts. He needed to order it online, and it would be at his place by the end of the week.

Ha also was reading many books about coding and ways to beware of getting hacked, which he tried to reverse the knowledge to help him level up his Skill, which actually worked. He could write at his computer without touching the keyboard and at a rate as fast as he could think of what to write. That made him wonder what the Skill would allow him to do once he evolves it.

He had found an exciting way to use his Skill once it reached its Master State at level 75. He could leave a piece of his energy in it as simple commands waiting for him to order them to activate. For example, if he used that in an automatic door, he could order it to stay open or closed no matter what unless he said otherwise. He could use it on a camera to make them stop working or keep looping what they recorded the past few seconds over and over until he once more ordered it to stop.

This ability, though, needed preparation time, and he couldn't just instantaneously put a command to a machine. Also, depending on how much of his energy, or in this case, SP, he used, the more this command would say in place, either if it was active or in an idle mode, as it used some energy in both cases. Of course, when it was in idle mode, it used much less energy.

Mark had just tested it a couple of times since he had unlocked that knowledge just a couple hours ago, but he already had quite a few ideas of how to use it.

He also studied original books about alchemy and different herbs in the real world or in games, as both seemed to help level up his <Beginner Alchemist> Skill. He still didn't have enough materials to try on making any of the potions he knew, but it wouldn't be that long since he could revisit the <Dungeon>,

But for now, he wanted to focus on helping Sarah take care of those criminals, and he was heading to the same place as last time to meet her. So he went by walking there as he left the truck back at the 'junkyard' as he couldn't have it with him all the time, and the other day was an exception since Rubes had asked him a favor.

As he reached the place, he saw Sarah being there at one table, and so he headed towards her.

"I hope you didn't have to wait long," he said as he reached the table.

"Oh… no. I don't think I waited long."

Her answer confused Mark, but he didn't want to bring it up. In the short time he knew her, Mark was sure she wasn't your average person.

"So, did you actually find out anything through your friends?"

'Is she talking about other truck drivers? Does she think we have a club or something?'

But in the end, Mark had found out things through 'friends' but not HIS friends, but Truck-kun's. But on second thought, Mark didn't know if Truck-kun even considered them or anyone else a friend.

"I have found some interesting stories that you should have soon in your email."

As he said that, a sound came from Sarah's phone, which she had left on the table. It was the default sound when there was an app notification, and Mark knew it was because of the email he had just sent her using his <Beginner Hacker> Skill. He had prepared the document and had it on his phone and just had it ready to be sent when he ordered it, as he wanted to test the new ability of his Skill.

Sarah picked up the phone to check the email, as it was apparent that was the one that Mark had just mentioned. She seemed impressed by the timing, though, and Mark kept himself from grinning.

She read it carefully, and Mark left her doing so as he stood to go to the nearest waitress to order something for him without disturbing Sarah. By the time he returned to the table, Sarah seemed to have finished reading his email, which wasn't too short, as he had quite a few details about the rumors he gathered and an explanation about why he was confident they were true.

"Are you sure that you are just a truck driver? We could use someone with your skills," Sarah said with a clearly impressed tone in her voice.

"Yes, I am a truck driver. I was just lucky this time. The second place in that report had some history with and had investigated them, so I had done some of my work. As for the storehouse, you should know its location isn't the safest place for regular people, so I started looking at anything there, and it paid off in the end. But you should crossover those leads as I am not a professional, but I hope they will be helpful."

In reality, Mark didn't doubt his report, but he needed to make it look like he was a simple person in the end. Putting it on luck was helpful, but he had to be careful, as if he overdid it, his story wouldn't work.

"Smart and humble… why are you friend with Rubes again?" Sarah said, letting out an unexpected giggle.

Mark froze for a moment after seeing her smile, as it felt like warming up his insides by just watching it. Not in a painful way, of course.

"Can I ask you for another request, then?" she exclaimed, which fortunately helped Mark escape his frozen state.

"Sure. I will do what I can for you."

As he finished his sentence, he instantly regretted it and wanted the earth to open and swallow him whole.

'WHY?!! WHY DID I SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!?' he shouted in his mind as he tried to keep his frustration over himself from showing on his face.

Fortunately, Sarah hadn't reacted to what he said in any way other than to continue speaking.

"I want to go check the area of the storehouse. Usually, we would need to prepare a warrant for something like that, but we will just check things out. Also, you are a civilian, so you wouldn't need a warrant either way."

Mark nodded at what she said, even if he knew what she said wasn't entirely true. After all, it was true he didn't need a warrant, but that was because only police and other law instruments could use them, while if he did something that required a warrant, it would be illegal.

But in theory, in the last 48 hours, he had broken quite a few laws, but nothing major, just getting information easier than others.

After actually getting something to eat, they headed towards Sarah's car since Mark didn't have a way of transportation. What she drove was a typical model, maybe a few years since it got out on the market, but it wasn't too expensive.

The area they were heading to was just 30 minutes away with the car, but they parked it a couple mins away. After all, they were to sneak in.

They moved carefully, and Mark tried his best to ensure no surveillance system, hidden or not, noticed them. It was tricky to keep him and Sarah hidden, as he couldn't tell her how to move without explaining his abilities to her. But he was already familiar with the security of the place as he had passed by it several times and checked it out.

They made it to a small storehouse, which looked a little different from the rest, but according to what Mark had found out, it was the most suspicious one. Almost the entire surveillance system of this place didn't cover that place, except for some of the secret ones, which were probably put by its actual owners.

This actually made it a bit easier for Mark to make it there, as that surveillance system was harder to find and not harder to hack under normal circumstances. But for Mark, with the help of both his <Beginner Tracker> and his <Minor Energy Manipulation> Skills, he found them faster than they had the chance to do so.

"So, what do you want to do now? This seems to be the place with the greatest chances of their whereabouts."

Sarah said nothing, as she only kicked the door open, surprising the people in it that were around a table filled with money and brick form packages, which Mark was certain contained drugs.