America: The Cremator

Chapter 164 [Flame Fist and Flame Bullet] [Intelligence Master]! (Seeking monthly votes at the end of the month!)

Hannah strode to the center console, her gaze sweeping over the metal badge below the steering wheel. Her eyes widened in shock: "My God—it's a Vanquish VQ55!"

Hearing Hannah's exclamation, Evan curiously leaned closer: "That name sounds impressive, is it expensive?"

Hannah gently ran her fingers over the leather-wrapped joystick and exclaimed, "This isn't just expensive, it's incredibly pricey! The top-of-the-line version costs over four million dollars!"

"Over four million? In US dollars? This guy trades lives for money, he certainly knows how to enjoy life," Su Long exclaimed in astonishment.

Hannah glanced across the spacious cabin and said, "Alright, everyone, let's talk about sentimentality once we're in a safe place. Everyone, find your seats and fasten your seatbelts."

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly sat down in the back seats, pulled their seatbelts and fastened them. Su Long walked to the passenger seat, sat down, and fastened his seatbelt with a "click." He then turned to look at Hannah in the driver's seat.

Hannah briefly examined the center console before inserting the mechanical key from the electronic key chain into the ignition.

"drop--

'

A crisp electronic prompt sounded, and the ambient lighting in the entire cockpit instantly lit up with an ice-blue glow. The underlying system began to operate, and the electronic steering, throttle, and engine systems unlocked simultaneously.

Hannah pulled a red emergency stop rope from the side of the control panel, skillfully wrapped it around and secured it to her right wrist.

Surong watched her movements and raised an eyebrow: "What's this for?"

Without looking up, Hannah explained, "It's a safety measure. If the boat experiences severe rocking or I accidentally fall into the water, this rope will instantly pull the connecting switch, forcibly cutting off power to all engines to prevent the boat from going out of control or the propeller from injuring anyone."

After explaining, Hannah grasped the key and steadily turned it to the "ON" position.

On the console, two huge 15-inch anti-glare dual screens lit up instantly.

The left-hand screen is automatically divided into several sections, with high-precision nautical charts and GPS positioning systems occupying the main screen. Next to them, radar scan images, AIS (Automatic Identification System) data, and monitoring indicators such as fuel quantity, oil temperature, and oil pressure are displayed in real time.

The right-hand screen directly displays the independent operating status of the five engines at the stern, the battery level of the backup battery pack, and the Trim...

Tail wing tilt data and Joystick control mode readiness indicators.

A deep humming sound came from below the deck as the speedboat's operating system automatically activated the engine ventilation system.

Immediately afterwards, a slight whistling sound came from the fuel pump pressurizing, and the green indicator lights of the battery pack passing the self-test lit up one by one. Finally, the entire ship's safety system was fully activated.

While the entire ship was undergoing a self-check, Hannah got up and quickly scanned the surroundings of the hull, carefully recalling the procedures she had used to drive speedboats.

"All mooring lines have been released — No obstructions in the stern area — Lifesaving equipment is in position —"

After confirming that everything was ready, she returned to the driver's seat, tuned the VHF radio to the internationally recognized channel 16 to ensure that maritime signals could be received at any time, and then pressed the start buttons for engines 1 through 5 in sequence.

"boom--!"

The first Mercury V12 engine instantly ignited, its violent roar penetrating the soundproof cabin walls and causing the anti-slip steel plates beneath everyone's feet to tingle slightly.

Then, the second, the third —

Five high-horsepower water-cooled engines roared in succession, their deep and dense roar echoing in the enclosed dock, as if five steel behemoths were panting uneasily beneath the surface.

Hannah stared intently at the screen on the right, her eyes quickly scanning the various data points.

"No fault codes found for any engines."

"Water temperature and oil pressure are normal."

"The exhaust system is normal."

She gripped the steering wheel and turned it half a turn to the left and half a turn to the right.

"Straight steering is smooth and unhindered."

After confirming that the boat was in perfect condition, Hannah reached out and tapped the GPS navigation interface on the left side of the screen, quickly entering the target coordinates—St. Thomas Island Pier. A straight blue route was immediately planned on the screen.

"We're about to leave port," Hannah reminded them.

She steadily pushed the gear lever to the "N" neutral position, and then pressed the "Joystick" button next to the console.

The system instantly severed control of the traditional steering wheel and switched to precision control mode. Hannah gripped the small joystick with one hand, applying slight pressure with her fingers.

The massive hull of the luxury speedboat moved with remarkable smoothness in the water tank, its five engines controlling the hull to slowly back out of the berth through complex thrust vector calculations.

As the stern pushed out of the dock, the morning sea breeze instantly rushed into the cockpit, dispelling the smell of engine oil.

The luxury speedboat sailed completely away from the dock and onto the open sea.

Hannah decisively turned off Joystick mode, and the system control returned to the steering wheel and gear shifter. She pushed the gear shifter to "F" forward, gripped the accelerator lever with her right hand, and slowly pushed it forward.

The roar of the engine instantly rose a pitch, the propeller churned wildly underwater, stirring up large amounts of white foam, and the bow of the speedboat began to cut through the waves, moving forward.

Hannah's left hand quickly fine-tuned the angle of the Trim fin on the control panel. As the angle of the fin changed, the bow was slightly lifted by the force of the water flow, and the draft of the entire hull on the water surface decreased rapidly, the resistance was greatly reduced, and the stability was significantly improved.

"Hold on tight."

Hannah stared intently at the sea ahead, and after confirming that there were no reefs or obstacles in the course, she suddenly exerted force with her right hand, pushing the throttle lever directly to the 70% to 80% range.

The five V12 engines roared deafeningly, and the tachometer needle instantly soared to the redline of 5500 to 6000 rpm. The speedometer numbers jumped wildly, breaking through the 50 knot mark in the blink of an eye, and then steadily maintained a terrifying speed of 60 knots.

The terrifying thrust hurled the entire ship forward, the intense push pressing everyone firmly into their shock-absorbing seats. The bow rose high, ruthlessly cleaving the calm sea as it sped off into the distance.

Seeing Hannah's skillful movements, Su Long felt reassured.

He leaned back in the comfortable, shock-absorbing seat, closed his eyes, and immersed himself completely in the system deep within his mind.

His first glance was at the balance in the upper right corner, where a number that made him very happy was flashing: 130

point.

With these 130 experience points as a foundation, he has much more leeway in upgrading attributes and enhancing stats. However, besides experience points, what he is even more looking forward to are the two new stats that he has just acquired.

Su Long clicked on the notification box on the panel, and the first thing that caught his eye was the entry that had been dropped by the mercenary captain.

[Peak of marksmanship]

Category: Blessing.

Description: Greatly enhances the host's firearm shooting accuracy. Every bullet fired by the host will automatically be imbued with "World-Destroying Flames". Upon hitting a target, the bullet will simultaneously inflict three negative statuses on the enemy: [Stun], [Slow], and [Weakness].

Review: Headshots every time, such good luck!

Su Long looked at the description and nodded in satisfaction. This entry was practically tailor-made for him. His main weapon, "Sirius," was a large-caliber revolver with terrifying single-shot destructive power, but its margin for error was relatively low. When facing those high-level monsters that moved extremely fast and had unpredictable trajectories, he could easily fall into a passive position if he missed a shot.

Now, not only do we have hovering iron sights, but we also have additional accuracy enhancements, completely solving the problem of missing shots.

Even more impressively, the bullets are imbued with apocalyptic fire, eliminating the need to wait for the seventh shot after the last empty magazine, which may even have additional enhancements.

In addition, like the [Peak of Fist Technique], this entry can inflict three annoying control statuses on the enemy.

It's like firing a single shot; the enemy will not only be burned, but will also become dizzy, slowed down, and weak all over. This would be a nightmare for any opponent.

Just as Su Long was about to close the interface to check the attribute that Zena had dropped, he suddenly noticed that the borders of [Peak of Gun Technique] and [Peak of Fist Technique] were simultaneously emitting a faint golden glow. He was immediately shocked; the two attributes could indeed be fused!

Without any hesitation, he immediately issued the fusion command in his mind, and the two terms instantly intertwined and condensed into a new line of text.

【Flame Fist and Flame Bullet】

Category: Blessing.

Description: When the host uses firearms and boxing, attacks will automatically be imbued with "Apocalyptic Flames." Hitting an enemy will forcibly inflict the [Wither] status. Alternating between gunfire and boxing can infinitely extend the duration of the negative status. The host can ignore the laws of physics and instantly switch between equipped firearms and melee weapons.

Evaluation: Fast punches and accurate gun shots; possesses both fist and gun skills, both fast and accurate!

Looking at the new additional status [Withering] given by the merged entry, Su Long was wondering about the effect of this status when another line of text popped up in front of him.

[Withering] Status: When an attack hits, it inflicts [Stun], [Slow], and [Weakness] effects, and the target will be continuously eroded by the power of disintegration until the body completely disintegrates.

Su Long's breathing became heavier. This [Withering] state was a bit too strong. Not only did it inflict three negative effects, but it also caused the enemy to be continuously eroded by the power of decomposition until the body completely disintegrated.

There are other effects as well, such as the ability to instantly switch weapons. Its practicality goes without saying, and he couldn't resist wanting to test the practical effects of this ability on the spot.

Su Long eagerly opened his eyes, took "Sirius" in his hand, and with a sudden thought, "Sirius" returned to the holster on his waist, while "Lucas" was already securely slipped onto his finger.

His eyes lit up, and he was extremely excited. He switched between the revolver and brass knuckles several times, and they appeared alternately in his hands as if by magic, completely eliminating the tedious retraction and withdrawal movements.

Leaning back in his chair, Su Long still couldn't calm his excitement. This was a terrifying killing move that could completely change his combat system.

In life-or-death battles, distance control often determines life or death. Previously, if the enemy created distance, he needed to draw his gun and fire; if the enemy suddenly closed in, he needed to put away his gun and switch to hand-to-hand combat with his brass knuckles. This gap in the transition was the most fatal weakness.

But now, whenever he wants, he can seamlessly switch between the revolver and the knuckle duster, alternating between them to output damage, making it impossible for the opponent to get close to him until they are completely burned to ashes by the world-destroying fire or their bodies are disintegrated by the power of decomposition.

Surong switched his weapon back into place with satisfaction, now feeling confident about any upcoming encounter.

After his initial excitement, he looked at another entry.

Master of Lies

Type: Blessing Description: When the host lies, they can use their good looks, charm, and friendliness to increase the credibility of the lie and force the other party to ignore some loopholes in the lie, reducing suspicion. The strength and duration of the effect are affected by the host's charm value.

Comment: I'm about to start lying!

Su Long glanced at the introduction and shrugged indifferently to himself.

He's an exorcist, and he usually deals with weirdos who are either mindless or mentally unstable. Lying to weirdos? Or trying to get close to a demon like Baphomet? Obviously, that won't work.

As for dealing with people—he prefers to use guns or fire directly; in this messed-up world, physical exorcism is often more efficient than verbal deception.

Just as he was about to throw this entry into the corner of the panel to gather dust, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

On the panel, the borders of [Master of Lies] and [Intelligence Insight] suddenly lit up with a faint glow.

Can they be integrated?

Su Long's spirits lifted. What's going on today?

The two entries obtained can be merged, so it seems that although Zena is disgusting, the things she reveals are surprisingly useful.

Without any hesitation, he immediately issued the fusion command in his mind.

The silver light on the panel suddenly intensified, and [Master of Lies] and [Intelligence Insight] transformed into two dazzling orbs of light, colliding violently in the center of the light screen and condensing into a new line of gold-embossed text.

[Intelligence Expert☆☆]

Type: Blessing. Description: The host becomes a master of intelligence warfare, capable of uncovering information, exposing lies, and implementing tactical deception through conversation. Success rate and trigger probability are tied to the Charisma attribute. Weaknesses can be discovered through combat with the supernatural, revealing the opponent's combat intentions while concealing one's own. Success rate and trigger rate are tied to the Spirit attribute.

Review: Truth and lies, trust and betrayal!

Su Long's eyes suddenly lit up.

The combined effect is so much stronger! It's a qualitative leap! The originally somewhat lackluster single deception ability has been completely transformed into an all-weather, all-dimensional auxiliary skill after absorbing the characteristics of insight.

He quickly deciphered the information on the panel.

When dealing with people, he can not only more easily deceive them, but also see through their lies. Anyone who tries to play mind games with him or set up verbal traps is simply asking for trouble.

More importantly, he deals with the bizarre and unpredictable aspects. This is the foundation of his livelihood.

Bound to his mental attributes! His current mental attribute is as high as 50 points, far exceeding that of ordinary people. This means that when facing strange entities, this intelligence-gathering mechanism can be triggered almost 100%.

Discovering weaknesses, revealing combat intentions, and concealing one's own intentions—these three effects combined are practically like playing a game with full map vision. He knows exactly what the enemy is going to do next and where their weaknesses lie; while the enemy has absolutely no idea what he himself is planning.

Su Long leaned back in his chair, his mind replaying the previous fierce battles.

When facing Baphomet, if it weren't for the crucial [Intelligence Insight] providing the fatal information that "its true form is the Blood Moon" at the critical moment, he would never have been able to kill it with a single blow using that fused spear, let alone crush it with his domain afterwards. That A-rank demon's disguise was too perfect; relying solely on the naked eye and combat experience, he would have been worn down and killed by it in the Crimson Plains.

Take Zena, for example, whom we just dealt with. That woman was still putting on an act before she died, trying to drag them all down with her using the 0837 bomb boat. If the system hadn't directly exposed her lies and provided the location of the truly safe vessel and the key, they would likely be blown to bits and fed to the fish in the middle of the ocean by now.

Whether communicating with people or fighting the uncanny, intelligence is often more important than pure firepower. Firepower determines whether you can kill the enemy, while intelligence determines where you fire.

This "Intelligence Expert" entry is definitely one of his most strategically valuable trump cards at present.

In addition to participating in the assessment of the Bureau of Oddities, he also took part in Mrs. Hedley's extra commission as a candidate on Little St. James Island.

The Campbell family's resources are unfathomable. Hedley had previously promised that if these examinees could participate in the rescue of the missing examinees, she would pay them a mithril coin as a reward.

Mithril coins are a rare resource in the system that can be directly used to upgrade attributes.

He had been hesitant about what to use the mithril coins to upgrade, or to enhance the weapon Sirius.

Now, this multiple-choice question has a clear answer.

Just dump it on the [Intelligence Expert]!

Two-star stats are already this overpowered. If it's upgraded to another star, what kind of outrageous effects will it evolve into? Directly reading the opponent's memories? Or predicting the opponent's every move in advance? Whatever it is, it will definitely take his survivability to another level.

Satisfied, Su Long closed the system interface and slowly opened his eyes.

The sunlight outside the cockpit was dazzling, and the sea shimmered. The interceptor was moving extremely fast; the outline of Little St. James Island, shrouded in blood and shadow, had already become a blurry black dot in the distance.

Hedley sat in the back row by the window, holding a glass of bottled water she had found at the bar in the cabin. Noticing Su Long's movement, she turned her head and looked at him calmly.

"Thinking about your next plans?" Hedley asked, her voice not loud, but unusually clear amidst the din of the engines.

Surong turned around, rested his elbow on the back of the chair, and chuckled softly, "Thinking about the reward Madam promised earlier. After all, this mission is much more dangerous than expected."

Upon hearing this, Hedley's lips curved into an elegant smile. She set down her water glass and said solemnly, "The Campbell family never goes back on its word. You not only dealt with the true form of an A-rank high-level demon, but you also saved us all. Your performance deserves the highest praise."

She paused, then continued, "Once we arrive at St. Thomas Island, I will immediately contact the family's logistics department. In addition to the promised mithril coin, I will transfer extra funds to your account as compensation for this failure in the assessment."

"Then I'll say thank you in advance." Su Long raised an eyebrow, offering no insincere refusal.

He took back what he had risked his life for, and felt perfectly justified in keeping it.

With the whereabouts of the mithril coins now finalized, Suron was in high spirits. He turned to look at Hannah in the driver's seat.

"Captain Hannah, how much longer until we arrive?"

Hannah stared at the navigation screen and replied loudly, "At this speed, we should be in the harbor waters of St. Thomas in five minutes at most!"

Su Long nodded, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the boundless blue sea in front of him.

Let the bureaucrats of the Support Bureau deal with the mess on Little St. James Island.

All he needs to do now is go back and get a good night's sleep, and then get that mithril coin.

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