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Chapter 39 All About Skill
Chen Xuan never imagined that he would one day save people in space.

He wasn't wearing any spacecraft equipment; he truly relied entirely on his own abilities. If other spacecraft or astronauts had witnessed this, they would have been utterly astonished.

He imagined taking a deep breath to calm his still quite tense emotions. There was still enough time, but the two of them were being thrown in different directions, and the longer it dragged on, the farther apart they would become.

First, you need to get close to the girl.

Then naturally we'll have to rely on the Thousand Thoughts Sword.

Chen Xuan summoned a sword of energy behind him and grabbed it as it passed by his side!
His body suddenly stopped, halting his backward flight.

Just as he had expected, the Qi Sword could not only appear where he could see, but could also be used as an anchor point! The moment the hilt solidified from the intangible, it provided him with a leverage point that was enough to change his own trajectory.

Chen Xuan quickly estimated the direction of the opponent, then pushed hard with both hands—the qi sword remained "nailed" to the spot, while he flew in the predicted direction due to the reaction force.

After chasing for half a minute, Chen Xuan realized that this was too inefficient, so he made a sword of energy appear directly behind the girl and used the hilt to collide with her.

This move was clearly effective; she not only stopped rolling, but her drifting speed also slowed down considerably.

As they chased and blocked each other, the distance between them gradually closed until they were completely close together.

Chen Xuan grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

The girl did not react.

Seeing her pale face and the blood foam at the corner of her mouth, Chen Xuan knew that the situation was not good—this guest was able to withstand a direct hit from a 30mm Gatling gun with her bare body, so she was obviously not an ordinary person. However, she was obviously not as strong as him in space, and she was now clearly unconscious.

Chen Xuan placed his hand on her ear, then bit the back of his hand and shouted, "Cheer up, I'm here to save you!"

Sound cannot travel in a vacuum, but it can be transmitted through mechanical vibrations. When it reaches her eardrums, it sounds like drumming in water.

She weakly opened her eyes, glanced at Chen Xuan, and then slowly shook her head, her eyes seemingly devoid of any will to live.

"Back in the N43 lobby, you were hoping someone would lend you a hand, right? I am that hope you were praying for!" Chen Xuan didn't have time for any more mystique and shouted succinctly, "Since you're already in despair, why not try what I'm saying? Anyway, the worst that can happen can't be much worse!"

She stared blankly at Chen Xuan, her lips moving slightly.

At this moment, Chen Xuan had no way of understanding what the other party meant, so he said as a last resort, "I'll take that as your agreement!"

After saying that, he took out the barcode scanner with one hand, pressed the button on the girl, and then dragged out the Bagua Palm from the inventory and placed it on the barcode scanner.

The other party still did not react.

However, the next second, three more items suddenly appeared in the transaction box.

"Mental Fortress" LV5.

—You build high walls around your mind, firmly believing that you are still a normal person, but who knows? This is the price you have to pay to gain power.

"Born by Agreement" LV1.

—"Born, growing, and dying with a mission on their shoulders, their life trajectory is like an arrow that can never be turned back."

"Free Will" LV1.

—"The greater life's understanding of the mysteries of the universe, the freer its will. Note that forbidden knowledge should be approached with caution, as it may bring unpredictable destruction."

All three abilities are at the purple level.

Chen Xuan let out a soft "hmm," as this was the first time he had ever seen an ability with the same name but a different grade. Compared to his own LV2 white ability, this LV1 purple ability was far more dazzling.

While allocating abilities to the villagers of Spicy Village, he discovered that an ability with the same name could only be transferred between his accounts once—one in and one out. Even if someone else possessed the same ability afterward, he couldn't add it to his inventory. This prevented him from repeatedly trading an ability to gain sales points from the shop. Now, seeing a purple ability with the same name added to the trade window answered a question that had been bothering him—level and grade were probably two unrelated criteria.

Normally, people wouldn't trade three purple abilities for one white ability.

Even if it's their first time dealing with such a transaction, they can easily tell that the two are not equivalent.

The content seen by the buyer and seller may differ in form, but its essence is basically the same. The fact that she released so much at once indicates either a loss of judgment or a resigned attitude of letting Chen Xuan manipulate her.

Chen Xuan, on the other hand, needed to carefully consider which ability to choose that wouldn't have too much of an impact on her. After hesitating for two seconds, he checked "Contractual Rebirth" and clicked the confirm button.

Then, without hesitation, he used the store manager's recall!

In the blink of an eye, he returned from space to the dilapidated shop.

The ability transaction itself isn't the point; the point is to make the girl a real customer! That way, he can use the customer summoning function again to "invite" her to the shop!

The shop was in no better shape; it was tumbling along with N43, with floating debris of goods everywhere. At this moment, half of the hall had collided with the broken circular framework, and the entire dome was collapsing under the weight, threatening to disintegrate completely at any moment.

Fortunately, although the store's furnishings were riddled with holes by the Gatling gun, the main door remained relatively intact.

Chen Xuan used all his strength to pull down the roller shutter door.

The moment the corrugated steel plate clicked shut, he swiftly extended an invitation to the new guest.

The tremor disappeared in an instant, and the goods that were floating in the air fell to the ground. Then Chen Xuan heard a muffled thud. He turned around and saw that the girl had indeed appeared in the center of the shop, but she was lying on her back with her legs spread wide.

After waiting a moment and confirming that everything was normal, he slowly walked to the window and carefully looked outside.

The silver hall had vanished without a trace, replaced by the old buildings and narrow alleyways of the neighborhood.

At this point, Chen Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"This lousy shop will get me killed sooner or later."

Last time he was teleported halfway through Joan of Arc's escape, and this time he's landed directly in a crashed space city. Who knows what absurd place he'll end up in next? The crucial point is, this shop isn't in an invincible domain. What if the shop door gets smashed up? Would he be unable to return?

Despite his complaints, he was still reluctant to give up his position as store manager and go back to working for someone else.

Besides, this trip was indeed quite exciting.

Even now, the excessive secretion of adrenaline and dopamine still makes him feel a little dizzy.

When they returned to the girl's side, she seemed to have fainted, lying motionless on the ground, with only her chest rising and falling slightly.

The most noticeable wound on her body was the gunshot wound on her abdomen, the entire skin charred and peeling back, which looked quite frightening. But if you knew that this wound was caused by a 30mm caliber weapon, it would be even more terrifying.

Although Chen Xuan did not understand medicine, he knew that a gunshot wound must be an external injury, and eating a blood orange would definitely help.

After forcibly prying open her mouth and feeding her the pill, he suddenly felt that her appearance was strangely familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

He thought for a moment, then took off the girl's hood.

The hood was attached to the bodysuit. At first glance, it seemed very form-fitting, almost revealing every curve of the wearer. Now I realize it was probably a lining. The hood was likely used in conjunction with the helmet, and the bodysuit was also easier to tuck into the spacesuit.

The ports and sockets on the clothing prove that it's clearly not as simple as it looks.

The moment the hood was removed, a head of gorgeous hair cascaded down.

It's no exaggeration to say it's stunning. Under light, the hair displays a three-color transformation of pink, light purple, and dark blue, just like having a vibrant color-changing film applied. Yet, the color is very natural, completely unlike the stiff and dry look of dyed hair. Almost every strand feels silky smooth to the touch.

Chen Xuan straightened her wet bangs, revealing the girl's face.

Like her hair, her face was adorned with strikingly exaggerated makeup. A deep fuchsia eyeshadow almost completely covered her eye sockets, and her eyelashes were so long they looked like they'd been implanted. Her lips were very small, and the lip gloss had a strong metallic sheen. Theoretically, such heavy makeup should easily smudge during intense combat, but she managed to maintain it perfectly, proving it was truly cosmetics made with futuristic technology.

Chen Xuan also noticed that there were several data ports below her ears, and the indicator light next to them had changed from dark yellow to green. This might indicate that her condition had improved, and at least she was no longer in immediate danger.

Why would someone like that be sent into space, and what kind of prayers would attract the power shop? These questions will likely remain unanswered until she regains consciousness.

(End of this chapter)