Chapter 11: Abilities Gained From Camouflage 4

The dormitory was located in a private community on the outskirts of the city, a small apartment building with only three floors. Each floor had about five units, consisting of one-bedroom studios. It was much smaller than the place Yang Bo currently lived in, and the decor was simple. The doors were old-fashioned, the kind you had to unlock yourself. The rooms, however, had internet access.

“This is your employee card. It’s needed to enter.”

“We don’t have many staff here. Most of them have their own housing.”

“Here’s your access card. There’s a security guard at the private community’s gate.” Liu Zhijie was referring to a type of weaponized laser system used for security. If anyone breaches the restricted area, the system would shoot lasers.

Liu Zhijie also drove Yang Bo to buy a wristwatch and helped him apply to vacate his current residence in the community. The community staff came over to process everything. Yang Bo packed a few clothes, leaving the rest, and returned the government-issued wristwatch.

The dormitory was in a nicer environment than where Yang Bo lived before, surrounded by trees that practically hid the neighboring residents.

The room was simple, with a manual flush toilet, hand-operated faucets, and even the temperature needed to be adjusted manually. The windows also had to be opened by hand. Even the air conditioner operated manually.

“Damn, I’m an idiot. I came to the future only to live in a place that’s just as shabby as the rental from my previous life.” Yang Bo walked around, feeling oddly reassured after inspecting everything.

The wristwatch was a product of Ping’an Technology Company, though it was an old model. According to Liu Zhijie, no hacker would provoke Ping’an Tech just because of him, saying it was completely impossible.

The implication was clear: Yang Bo wasn’t important enough to warrant the company’s attention.

This wristwatch didn’t have the Smart Butler system. In government housing, everyone had to wear one because the government ensured their safety. If something happened, the politicians would be in trouble.

This type of wristwatch was entirely owner-centric. Yang Bo disabled most of its functions, leaving only a basic communication feature, similar to making calls, and an email service. He ditched the rest.

As for shopping, you could order goods on a wired virtual computer, and the property staff would deliver them to a designated location, either the storage locker in the lobby or the elevator door.

Garbage didn’t need to be sorted. You just threw it out, and the property services handled it. Eat and drink whatever you wanted.

After taking a shower, Yang Bo saw a notification on his wristwatch. It was from a game the original owner used to play. There was a new event happening related to a singer the previous owner followed. If you kept playing, you could win concert tickets.

Yang Bo wasn’t interested. He blocked the notifications and, dressed in shorts, sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

“Skills!” Yang Bo thought, summoning his skill screen.

Swimming: Beginner (1/10)

Sonic Location: Beginner (1/10)

Dynamic Vision: Beginner (4/10)

Camouflage: Beginner (4/10)

The information appeared in his mind. Yang Bo mulled it over, thinking that the Sonic Location ability seemed useful, but where would he find so many bats to kill? If it were the previous life, he could just go back home and find a cave. There, everything would be pitch black.

“Camouflage… Yesterday when someone looked at me, I immediately sensed it. Was it because of this Camouflage skill?” Yang Bo wondered.

Closing his eyes, he quietly focused on the Camouflage skill. Suddenly, Yang Bo had a realization.

He went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. With a thought, something miraculous happened: his double eyelids became single eyelids.

Then another thought, and his big eyes turned into squinty ones.

Another thought, and even his eyebrows changed shape.

A minute later, Yang Bo stared at his reflection. He had transformed from a fresh-faced youth into a greasy middle-aged man with squinty eyes—the kind that gave off a perverted vibe. Ahem.

“I can change muscles and hair, but not bones.”

“Is it because the camouflage level isn’t high enough?” The transformation lasted for 20 minutes before the ability wore off. Yang Bo felt physically drained, as if he were in some kind of post-euphoria state.

He also figured out that at this level, the Camouflage skill could change muscle and hair.

“I wonder if these changes cause any energy fluctuations?”

“Should I buy an energy detector?”

“Nah, forget it.”

Feeling hungry, Yang Bo ordered some groceries while pondering the Camouflage ability.

“Hunting those creatures would be quite difficult right now. Maybe I’ll check out Ancient Martial Arts online.” Yang Bo planned to research how Ancient Martial Arts could stimulate gene evolution after he finished eating.

Homemade food tasted the best, even if it was a bit of a hassle to cook.

The virtual computer he used here was also a well-known brand. According to Liu Zhijie, it was best to stick to big-name products because they had good reputations. Unless you were worth an astronomical amount, no big-name company would bother with you.

“What the heck!” Yang Bo manually searched for information on ancient martial arts related to gene-mutation techniques, and the results made him blurt out a curse.

The holographic display showed a square metal fragment. On the fragment were diagrams of acupuncture points and channels in the human body. One figure on the front was complete, while the one on the back was incomplete.

There was also an explanation. Around 4500 years ago, during the Blackstone Empire’s initial spatial warp tests—which eventually led to the current three major alliances—this metal fragment came through from another dimension.

Research suggested that this fragment came from an unknown civilization, one with primitive metalwork techniques, but the information it contained was mind-blowing.

At first, scientists thought the metal plate was a joke. Isn’t the human body just blood vessels and nerves? What were these points it marked? But one scientist, probably out of his mind, used electrical stimulation on these marked spots, and then… something incredible happened.

That prompted scientists to continue their research. Eventually, they found suspicious information on the metal plate’s back, which led to the discovery of the ancient martial arts method.

“Is it suicide to use electricity on acupuncture points?” Yang Bo looked at the metal fragment. Wasn’t this something Earth might have launched into space as a probe?

Or maybe humans on Earth were actually from outer space?

As he continued reading, he discovered that using electricity on acupuncture points had developed into a Secret Techniques to unlock gene evolution. As for the gene injections, there wasn’t much about them online. It only mentioned advanced biological gene technologies.

“I can’t practice martial arts, but I know something about acupoints and meridians.” In his previous life, Yang Bo learned massage techniques to help his elderly parents with their aches and pains.

He had also enjoyed reading novels in his past life, especially martial arts novels when he was younger. He had even bought some martial arts manuals. (There are real-life practitioners of the art, but it’s too dangerous for the average person to attempt.) “But what kind of method is this? Is it the same as Earth’s martial arts? Are humans on Earth also aliens?” Yang Bo didn’t dare try it right away. Just because it was on the internet didn’t mean it was true, and there was no detailed guide.

“Let’s make some money first.” In the end, Yang Bo figured he’d focus on earning money for now and worry about everything else later.