The friend of a friend

Mark had finally finished today's delivery and was heading to meet Rube's friend. He had a productive rest of the day yesterday, as he trained all of his Skills to the best of his abilities, and today Truck-kun had improved his Truck Upgrades too.

Currently, his Skills and Upgrades levels were as followed.

Minor Energy Manipulation: Lvl 30

Appraisal: Lvl 27

Martial Art: Lvl 24

Beginner Alchemist: Lvl 20

Minor Sword Mastery: Lvl 15

Beginner Hacker: Lvl 20

Beginner Tracker: Lvl 10

Vehicle Possessor: Lvl 100 (Max Lvl)

Self Repair: Lvl 24

Fuel Efficiency: Lvl 60

Tire Pressure Control: Lvl 30

It surprised Mark that he leveled up his <Beginner Alchemist> Skill that much without actually using it to make a potion. He made it reach level 12 only by learning the <Novice Experience Potion> while organizing the ways of producing it helped him to reach level 18. The other two he got by doing the same with organizing the way to create the <Small Healing Potion>.

That showed another difference between an unranked item like the <Small Healing Potion> and a D-Rank one.

As for the <Beginner Hacker>, he succeeded in elevating it that much, as some beginners' programming test courses he could read helped him. Even if they weren't involved in how to hack a System, they still helped Mark understand more about the logic of programming, which wasn't that complicated. The complicated part was the language of the System, mostly.

As for combining his <Martial Art> and <Minor Sword Mastery>, he had succeeded little, given that both were relatively low levels. Still, he reached the point of making a decent Trucki blade to do some damage, but he still used more focus than he wanted it to. But using the Trucki blade really helped him to level up his <Minor Sword Mastery> rather than doing it while holding a piece of wood or something similar.

As for his <Novice Tracker>, it only leveled up as much as he kept his guard up on his way towards the truck where he would do his deliveries from now on.

As for the Truck Upgrades, it did not surprise Mark much about their progress. Truck-kun used the <Vehicle Possessor> during the entire trip, and it had almost mastered it at their previous delivery job already. Moreover, its <Self Repair> didn't level up that much, as they didn't cause that much damage during their driver, as Mark didn't think it was suitable to crush it just for that reason.

The <Fuel Efficiency> was quite valuable, as even if he wasn't the one who paid for the fuel, using less could prove to his employees that he was good at his job. As for the <Tire Pressure Control> Upgrade, Mark didn't find it too helpful currently, as they weren't getting through any rough roads. However, it could be beneficial if they made more extensive future trips.

It was still early in the afternoon, as he had started his delivery earlier in the morning, and it was really not that far. However, since he didn't take any break to eat, he was heading towards the place where Rubes' friend would be sooner than usual.

Even if Mark didn't feel hungry, that didn't mean he would stop eating. After all, eating was a pleasure itself, and that hadn't changed for him.

It took him a while to find a place to park his truck, as he couldn't return it in the junkyard. Rubes called him this morning, telling him his friend would need Mark with his truck. Not that Mark minded, as Truck-kun seemed happier to be possessing the truck than being in his phone form.

Still, finding a place to park wasn't that easy or wouldn't be under normal circumstances. So Truck-kun used his ability and moved some vehicles to make space for Mark to park. Most of them moved to a place that was illegal for them to be, but it wasn't like either Mark or Truck-kun cared.

That also helped Mark to use a combination of two of his Skill in action instead of just practicing. He combined his <Minor Energy Manipulation> and his <Beginner Hacker> Skill. How his Skill worked was that Mark didn't need a PC or some other machine to do the hacking, but he was that machine.

He usually would need to be in physical contact with the machine he wanted to hack, but he had found a workaround. As he had done before when he helped Truck-kun to produce the <Small Healing Potions>, he used the Skill to manipulate his SP, and this time to move it far from him. That way, he moved the concentration of his SP toward the machine he wanted to hack, and since technically, SP was a part of himself, it counted like he was in touch with the device, at least for his Skill to work.

That way, he made some cameras around the Parking areas to either malfunction or make them turn away from the point he would park and stay like that for some time, but not forever. That gave him two levels in <Minor Energy Manipulation> and four at <Beginner Hacker>, showing how much faster it was to level up the Skills when used in an actual situation and not just in the safety of practice.

Mark ordered a milkshake, as it would be awkward to be in this place while not ordering something. And actually, he didn't have to wait long. A tall, slender woman entered the place and headed straight toward Mark after looking around and noticing him.

She had black long, straight black hair that fell to her waist, and her skin had a warm olive tone. Mark couldn't see her eyes as she wore sunglasses. She had an athletic build and seemed to carry herself with confidence and authority as she moved towards Mark, which he had to admit he didn't expect.

"Are you the truck driver? "

Mark smiled awkwardly at her, trying to break the unexpected ice.

"Yes, that's me. You must be Rubes' friend, then. "

Hearing that, the woman smiled as she sat across from Mark.

"Since you mentioned Rubes, it seems you are indeed the one he told me about. Even if you looked exactly like the one in the picture he sent me, one could never be too careful. "

Mark was curious about what picture she was talking about as he had never noticed Rubes taking one of him. Also, it's been quite some time since he had to take one.

"How can I help you, then? Rubes said something about an investigation? Are you some kind of PI or something? "Mark asked, as he was truly curious about it.

"PI? No, I am an actual police officer, but I get why you thought so. I am undercover, so not wearing my police uniform to not draw too much attention. Although I must admit, it doesn't work as well as I thought. "

"Well… maybe you should leave your glasses behind. Not that only people of your field wear them, but for not that usual to wear them if trying to keep a low profile, especially in this season. "

She removed her glasses, letting Mark see her eyes for the first time. They had a crimson color, which looked like their natural color. That was maybe a rarer type of eye color than his green.

"Welcome to the club, I guess, "Mark said with a little laugh at the end of his sentence.

Confusion appeared on the face of the woman, and Mark realized he still didn't know her name.

"I meant about your eye color. It isn't a typical one, as mine aren't. "

As Mark explained, he noticed her eyes got wider, like she just had noticed something herself.

"Your eyes are green… that is really unusual. "

Mark didn't know what to say. Most of the time, his eye color was the first thing others noticed about him, as he didn't have any other special characteristics.

After faking clearing his throat, Mark tried to bring the conversation back in order. Sarah, the woman in front of him, was a police officer and was currently investigating a sizeable group of people that rumors had it was trafficking some illegal stuff, including drugs or even people. Sarah had made some breakthroughs on the case, but they disappeared every time she was close to one member of this group.

That was when she talked with Rubes, and he suggested asking Mark's help. Apparently, they used trucks to make those deliveries and were of similar models to the ones that Mark currently drove. That showed that this group was not that simple, as those trucks weren't cheap.

Sarah at first admitted that she was reluctant to let a civilian help her, but she trusted Rubes' instincts and took his offer.

"So, what do you think? Can you help me? "Sarah asked.

Mark didn't need to think much about it, as he couldn't let people like that continue to work like that if he could stop them. And now he had the power to prevent them.

"I will help you. But I will need to do some personal investigation first. It is not that I don't trust you or anything, but as you said, those people seem to sense your arrival, so I should do it by myself. But will let you know when I have a place. "

Sarah nodded as she took out a business card and put it in front of Mark.

"Call me as soon as you have something, then. Let's bring hell to them then, "Sarah said with a wide smile.

Mark just responded with a smile and a nod. That sounded like an excellent way to practice his Skill.