Devouring

Shi Mo leaned back on the sofa in the Seventh Sequence Base's lounge, his long, silver-white hair casually draped over his shoulders. On the enormous screen in front of him, local news was playing. The female anchor read her script in a clear, albeit flat, tone:

"...Currently, the police have located the extremist group's temporary stronghold in an abandoned industrial area in the west of the city. It has approximately thirty members, is armed with dangerous weapons, and is extremely dangerous. We remind the public..."

Thirty people. Armed. Extremely dangerous.

These keywords were like pebbles thrown into stagnant water, stirring up a faint ripple in Shi Mo's heart, which was filled with endless boredom.

For once, a very faint, almost hunting-like interest appeared on his usually expressionless face.

"System," he called out in his mind.

The silver snake, which had been dozing in the corner of the sofa, immediately raised its head, its heterochromatic eyes looking at him: [Yes, host!]

"Locate the stronghold mentioned in the news."

[Okay! Connecting to the local network, searching for relevant information... Locating...] Data streams flashed rapidly in the silver snake's pupils. [Location complete! Target located in the abandoned industrial area west of the city, Warehouse No. 3. Optimal route planned for you.]

Shi Mo stood up, without even changing out of the comfortable silk robe he was wearing, and walked straight outside.

[Host! You...you're just going like this? Don't you need to prepare anything? Like change your clothes? Bring a weapon?] The system was a little flustered.

"There's no need," Shi Mo said calmly.

Half an hour later, Shi Mo appeared in the abandoned industrial area in the west of the city. The area was overgrown with weeds, and the abandoned factory buildings resembled the corpses of steel behemoths, exuding a depressing silence. He walked barefoot on the ground covered in gravel and rust, yet the hem of his bathrobe remained spotless.

He soon arrived at Warehouse Number Three. The warehouse door was tightly closed, and he could faintly hear voices and the clanging of metal coming from inside.

Shi Mo didn't even bother looking for the entrance. He raised his hand and gently pushed the heavy iron door.

"boom--!!"

With a loud crash, the entire door, along with part of its frame, was struck by an invisible force, suddenly denting and twisting inward before detaching from its hinges and hurtling into the warehouse, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The scene inside the warehouse came into view. About thirty men, dressed in disheveled clothes and with fierce faces, were organizing weapons and cleaning firearms. The sudden loud noise startled everyone, and they instantly grabbed their weapons and nervously looked towards the door.

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, the figure at the doorway was revealed—silver hair, heterochromatic eyes, wearing a black bathrobe that clashed with the surroundings, barefoot, with no expression on his face, as if he were just passing by.

"Who goes there?!"

"Are you looking for death?!"

"Grab him!"

The thugs were taken aback at first, then flew into a rage, raising their guns and machetes and charging forward, shouting. In their eyes, this was just a guy who had gone astray or was mentally unstable, probably an escaped from the nearby mental hospital.

However, the next second, they realized how wrong they were.

Shi Mo moved.

His movements, though seemingly slow, possessed an eerie rhythm, allowing him to move with pinpoint accuracy between bullets and blades. His 18-point strength imbued each swing and kick with terrifying power far exceeding that of ordinary people.

"Bang!" With one punch, the chest of a gunman caved in, and he flew backward, crashing into the wall and falling silent.

"Crack!" With a kick, another guy wielding a machete had his knee snapped at an unnatural angle and fell to the ground screaming.

He didn't even use any skills; he relied solely on his base attributes, which were still far superior to those of ordinary people even after being suppressed, just like a tiger among sheep.

Screams, the cracking of bones, and the sound of guns falling to the ground filled the air. These ordinary people, whose average attribute was only 5 points, were as fragile as paper toys in front of Shi Mo.

[Successfully killed an ordinary human, gaining +0.1 power through 'devouring']

[Successfully killed an ordinary human, gaining +0.5 to Constitution through 'Devour']

[Successfully killed an ordinary human, gaining +0.2 Agility through 'Devour']

……

The system notification sounds kept ringing in Shi Mo's mind.

The 'Devour' skill operated efficiently, feeding back the attribute points randomly acquired after killing a target to him. Although the points provided by each individual were not many (mostly fluctuating between 0.1 and 0.5, but the system directly displays them as integers), they added up to a significant amount.

The battle (or rather, the massacre) lasted less than three minutes.

When the last bandit was snapped in the neck by Shi Mo and collapsed to the ground, the entire warehouse was filled with twisted corpses, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

Shi Mo stood in the center of the pile of corpses, his bathrobe still spotless, only his bare feet stained with a few drops of blood. He frowned slightly, seemingly displeased by the stain.

[Host... Cleanup complete.] The system's voice trembled slightly. Although it knew its host was strong, it still couldn't help but feel apprehensive every time it witnessed such pure violence.

"Hmm." Shi Mo responded, feeling the increasing power within his body. The attribute boost brought by 'Devour' was real-time.

Just then, the system notification sounded again, bringing a hint of surprise:

[A unit with lootable abilities detected!]

[Target A (deceased): Possesses Skill - Rank D 'Precision Shooting'. Effect: Slightly increases the accuracy of ranged weapon shots.]

[Target B (deceased): Possesses Skill - Rank C 'Danger Intuition'. Effect: Has a faint premonition of impending deadly danger.]

[Host, would you like to plunder?]

It seems there are two slightly interesting guys among this group of bandits.

"plunder."

[Command confirmed! Looting successful!]

[Gained the D-rank skill 'Precision Shooting'!]

[Gained the C-rank skill 'Dangerous Intuition'!]

Two faint streams of heat flowed into his body, and new members were added to his skill list. Although they were all low-level skills, they were better than nothing. In particular, the C-rank 'Danger Intuition' might save him some trouble in certain situations.

[Host, tally up this gain!] The system reported actively, [Through the 'Devour' skill, a total of attribute points were gained: Strength +2, Constitution +3, Agility +3, Spirit +2!]

[Plundering Skills: Rank D 'Precision Shooting', Rank C 'Dangerous Intuition'!]

Shi Mo glanced at his attribute panel:

Strength: 18 + 2 = 20

Agility: 12 + 3 = 15

Physical fitness: 9 + 3 = 12

Spiritual value: 77 + 2 = 79

His attributes have improved significantly, especially his previously weak physique and agility, which have finally escaped the embarrassment of single digits. His strength has also reached 20 points, four times that of an average person. His spirit attribute is also approaching the 80 mark.

"Not bad," Shi Mo commented casually. This seemingly pointless pastime had yielded some unexpected gains. Although these bandits were weak, their numbers made up for their quality, and the attribute points and skills they provided gave his "vessel" a decent boost.

He stopped looking at the mess on the ground and turned to leave the blood-soaked warehouse. The sky outside was still gray, but for Shi Mo, the past few minutes had been far more interesting than staying in the base watching the news.

"Host, shall we go back now?" The Silver Serpent System appeared at his feet (it had been following him invisibly) and asked in a low voice.

Shi Mo did not answer immediately. He looked up in the direction of the city, his heterochromatic eyes gleaming.