In the early morning, a ray of golden sunlight shines through the window.
"A beautiful Sunday."
Dean got up from the sofa, stretched out, and felt refreshed. The fatigue from last night had disappeared. He checked the wound on his left shoulder and found that the bleeding had been completely stopped. However, he would not be able to conduct combat training in the next three or four days, otherwise the wound would be damaged. It will crack again.
Dean went into the kitchen, toasted bread, fried eggs, prepared milk and called Rust downstairs.
"How did you sleep last night?"
"Hmm... Not bad... I had a sweet dream. I dreamed that we both successfully entered the University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy..." Rust gnawed on the steamed bun. Compared to the pig-headed appearance with a bruised nose and swollen face last night, Rust looked much better today, but Still a little swollen,
"Why the Arizona Department of Astronomy? Shouldn't we be admitted to the police academy to continue the glory of our detective duo?" Dean joked and took a sip of milk, then picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. It was an old picture tube TV. It had already been smashed by the thugs who broke into the house, but Uncle Paqui went back to the city and bought a second-hand one.
Rust smiled weakly and thought, "You've killed a pervert, but you're still going to the police academy and throwing yourself into a trap?"
"You forgot... I used to like looking up at the stars in the countryside of Alaska... Maybe I will become an astronaut in the future."
"I wish your dreams come true."
…
"Emergency report, there was a murder on the top of Mon Carlo Mountain in South Vegas last night!"
A magnetic female voice on the TV interrupted the conversation between the two.
The two eyes glanced over.
The door of a luxurious villa appeared on the screen.
A row of police SUVs blocked the entrance, and Vegas police officers with their LVPD badges flashing on their chests were setting up a cordon to block off the building.
Several news camera crews stood outside with camera flashes flashing.
Soon, a broad-minded female reporter appeared in the center of the screen.
"The deceased Bob Lowe, the owner of the villa, had just turned twenty-two."
"According to the young people who participated in the party, Bob is usually warm and friendly, and is loved by his teammates on the baseball team and the teachers and students of the middle school next door... Last night Bob Lowe held a birthday party. Hundreds of invitees were present. There were many people involved. Lvpd mobilized A large number of police personnel are urgently investigating.”
"Bah! That's nonsense!"
Rust chewed the bacon in his mouth with disdain, as if he was chewing Bob's flesh.
"Bob's father is James Lowe, a well-known hotel tycoon in Vegas. He has many assets under his name. In addition to operating hotels and theaters in Las Vegas, he also has properties on the West Coast."
The female reporter's eyes shone brightly and she pursed her slightly thick lips. "James Lowe had an only son, Bob Lowe."
"Man, you dug a big hole." Rust muttered curiously. "If the only son dies, then who will the rich man's inheritance be left to in the future?"
"Maybe the hotel tycoon has an illegitimate child outside?" Dean guessed.
"The tycoon has received the news and cannot bear the pain of losing his son. He is flying back to Vegas from the East Coast."
Female reporter reports,
"According to insiders, the murderer's method of committing the crime is extremely brutal and seems to involve some mysterious religious ritual... If you have more clues... please call 432... contact the news station. There will be a heavy reward."
"Vegas morning news reporter Catherine Medici reports for you, please stay tuned to this station for more news..."
…
Click.
Dean changed channels.
Marine animal records——
Ouou——
Seagulls sing.
A dolphin gracefully jumped out of the sea. The smooth blue sea surface complemented the red sun rising slowly on the horizon. The scenery was breathtaking.
Phew - a strange cold wind blew from here.
Rust's whole body trembled, and he felt a little uncomfortable for no reason, as if there was a pair of unknown eyes staring at him.
What's wrong with me?
He took a sip of milk to calm down his shock and looked at Dean across the dining table.
"When something happened to a rich family, COP moved as fast as if he had killed his own father! But I'm curious, how did you get rid of Bob? Why is the big-breasted woman in the news described as particularly cruel?"
"He suffered much less than Mona."
Dean's face was calm, and he glanced at the empty seat between the two of them.
The summoned shadow of the past was sitting cross-legged, looking at the portrait of Mona on the wall.
The sunlight that shines through the window falls on it, and is completely absorbed like falling into a black hole.
Rust knew nothing about it.
Dean nodded.
After verification, ordinary people cannot see the shadow of the past with the naked eye, and it is not afraid of the sun.
He then let Shadow fly back to his body.
…
"Man...it's time for Grace to get off her night shift. I have to go back and check so she won't worry."
"Then let's give the confession again and I will play the role of COP."
The two rehearsed it three times quickly and it was smoother than last night.
"By the way, Rust, come to school the day after tomorrow and bring your Nikon."
Dean thought, if human eyes can't see shadows, what about other imaging equipment?
He wants to continue to verify.
Rust made an OK gesture.
"Man, remember we are on the same side." Dean put his arm around his shoulders and said, "In addition, what happened yesterday made me realize some of my past mistakes. I can't let others do it casually in the future. Bullying you, do you want to learn something new?"
"what?"
"How do you think I defeated that strong man Bob?" Dean lowered his center of gravity and stretched out his arms, making a wrestling posture, and then delivered a clean right straight punch. The punch was so exciting that Rust blinked. Blinking, "My uncle taught me some new tricks, do you want to learn them?"
Rust immediately opened his mouth in surprise and couldn't wait,
"How about we start at school the day after tomorrow?"
…
Rust leaves.
Dean took a lighter, a kitchen knife, a tape measure...and a Colt M1911A1 with two bullets left and went out.
He did not return to the crime scene.
There is a theory in criminal psychology that the murderer will inevitably return to the scene of the crime, and he will never go back to reveal his flaws after having done what he has to do.
Dean took it upon himself to visit his neighbor across the street.
The fat man with the beard was taking care of his garden with a pair of pruning shears.
"Good morning, Uncle Jacob. I'm planning to go on a weekend hike, but I'm afraid I'll lose track of time. Can you lend me your watch?"
"On a sunny weekend, it's time to go out for a walk."
Jacob put down the pruning shears and went into the house to take out an old quartz watch.
"Here, kid... I heard Tang Ya say that you played crazy yesterday? You didn't see anyone all night, and the apple pie she prepared was all wasted."
Jacob rubbed Dean's head with his big furry hands and winked at him. The latter resisted the discomfort of being treated like a child.
"Yesterday, I returned home around five o'clock in the afternoon. I started sleeping as soon as I entered the room, and I didn't wake up hungry until early in the morning."
Dean slightly emphasized the five points.
"Oh, five o'clock. Then you missed a feast."
"How about letting me see your and Tang Ya's skills tonight?"
…
Confront your neighbors tactfully.
Dean left the community and walked along the quiet path into the forest behind for about half an hour.
Found a remote and uninhabited forest.
Begin the experiment in the middle of the clearing.
The cloak-like black smoke drifted out from Dean's back, landed in front of him and turned into a vague human shape with a constantly flashing surface.
"To avoid name confusion, from today on, you will be called Shadow." Dean said in his mind.
He glanced at his watch and remembered the initial summoning time.
"as you wish."
Its voice rang in Dean's head.
It cannot speak in a normal way and can only communicate with Dean mentally.
"How much of the past do you remember?" Dean asked.
Its dull face conveyed an incomprehensible emotion, and it crouched on the ground while bathing in the sunlight falling in the forest.
"After becoming a ghost, my thinking ability has become lower. Is it impossible to understand too complex problems?"
Dean thought this and sympathized a little with his predecessor.
But that's not a bad thing for him.
After all, if the soul of a normal person resides in the body, he will feel that he is being watched and has no privacy.
…
Next, Dean issued multiple commands to "Shadow" in succession to test its strength and speed.
The results surprised him.
Although this guy is just a ghost with low intelligence, his fighting ability is quite good.
Its strength is about twice that of Dean. In a wrestling match, it easily defeated and suppressed Dean. Its illusory and slender arms lifted Dean above his head with a single effort, and it will not damage the body due to excessive force like a living body. .
It has no endurance. As long as it is summoned, it can always output power at maximum power and run around the forest holding Dean.
…
Dean used a measuring tape and a watch to do a rough test.
Its fastest speed can reach almost 20m/s, which is also more than twice as fast as its own, but when it moves at its fastest speed, it can no longer be called running.
Instead, it turned into a black cloud suspended in the air and flew directly.
Dean rubbed his temples and tried his best to capture everything. He could only see a blurry black shadow, like a black ribbon flying between the cracks of Populus euphratica.
Incredibly fast.
But once the "shadow" left ten meters around Dean's body, it seemed to hit a wall and was unable to move forward.
"So, Ying can only move within a ten-meter radius around me."
Is this a restriction after the system naturalizes it? The limitations are huge, but it is already perverted enough, with such amazing strength and speed, coupled with the ability to become invisible.
"Shadow" can easily kill a bunch of ordinary people in close combat.
“Next is strike resistance.”
Dean endured the discomfort in his brain and held the Colt M1911A1.
The shooting skills take effect, and relevant information naturally emerges in his mind.
This pistol is an improved version of the M1911 that is still used by the police on a large scale, and is Browning's favorite work.
Semi-automatic, effective range 50 meters.
It fires 0.45-inch automatic pistol ammunition and uses a 7-round single-row box magazine to feed the ammunition. It has strong stopping power but low penetration power, and is suitable for close range killing.
The recoil and power of the M1911A1 cannot be underestimated. As long as one shot hits the human torso, it is likely to be fatal.
Bob had loaded the gun last night, no need to repeat.
Dean held the anti-slip curved gun handle with his right hand, took off the manual safety on the left rear of the slide with his thumb, pressed the trigger with the distal knuckle of his index finger, and aimed at the "shadow" 7 or 8 meters away.
Dean's current shooting skills are too low, and the distance is too far and there is a high probability of missing, let alone targeting a certain body part.
boom!
A short gunshot sounded in the forest.
The shell casings flew away.
The moment the bullet hit the shadow.
Dean's hands and wrists trembled obviously, and then his eyes widened.
The shadow's whole body underwent strange changes, suddenly losing its human shape, collapsing and shrinking inward, and its body solidified into an irregular black sphere.
When the warhead enters it, it is like being tightly wrapped by an extremely tough sponge. The power is removed and it falls to the ground weightlessly in an instant.
The next second, Ying returned to his human form, seemingly unscathed.
"Consolidate your body and increase your resistance to physical strikes, enough to resist firearms."
"The M1911A1 is more powerful than ordinary pistols. Since it can withstand it, daggers, sticks and other melee weapons should also be able to withstand it."
In a crisis situation of last resort——
Dean's eyes sparkled with excitement,
"I can summon the shadow and use it as a shield to block the gun for me, or simply let it transform into a pair of armor that covers my body in all directions."
Dean did what he thought of and ordered Ying Fei to come over and wrap himself up. Except for the breathing hole left between the mouth and nose, Dean put on an invisible "armor".
This layer of armor is almost weightless and does not affect Dean's physical activities. When you reach out and touch it, you can feel a layer of slightly cool gas, as if you put your hand into cotton.
Dean held a sharp Swiss knife tightly, and with a flash of cold light, the tip of the knife stabbed his left forearm.
But the blade was like piercing tough cowhide, and was instantly bounced away without even scratching the skin.
"The defense is good, but Shadow is essentially a ghost, so this move is called 'Ghost Armor'."
"Looking now, Ying can not only control weapons invisibly for close combat, but also act as a shield and armor. It is indeed a superpower."
And there are other uses waiting to be discovered.
Dean's head was excited, and inspiration was pouring into his mind.
"Since the body can be solidified, what about the reverse operation?"
boom!
Dean pulled the trigger again.
This time the shadow changed completely. The black body suddenly vaporized and spread around, and the color changed from black to gray.
The bullet passed directly through the gray fog and hit the trunk of a poplar tree behind it.
"Changing the body, switching between reality and reality, this ability is not weaker than invisibility."
"Now, blur your features, don't be like me again."
Dean continued to give orders,
The shadow followed its words, and its facial contour instantly became flat, like a dark faceless man.
"You will stay like this from now on."
In this way, even if there are other special groups, such as the legendary psychic eyes and psychic vision, who see the shadow, they cannot immediately connect it with Dean based on their appearance.
Dean took a deep breath.
My temples had begun to swell and tingle strongly.
But the testing isn't over yet.
After the physical attack, it's the energy attack's turn.
Dean put away the pistol. The bullets were all gone and he had no extra bullets on hand. Now was the sensitive period when Bob had just died, and it was not suitable to buy bullets, so he had to put it aside temporarily.
He used a lighter to light a dead branch he picked up in the forest, and waved the burning branch toward Ying.
Less than two seconds after being burned by the flames, the shadow immediately disintegrated into a gray mist.
The mist was struggling and squirming crazily in mid-air like a living creature, making shrill wails in Dean's heart!
Dean extinguished the flames.
The gray mist turned into a translucent human form again, crawling on the ground, and the figure blurred, as if it was about to disappear at any time.
"Sorry, man."
Dean immediately squatted down, put his arms around "Shadow"'s shoulders, and solemnly promised,
"I swear, I will never hurt you in the future. However, the pain this time will not be in vain. If we understand the weaknesses in advance, we can take targeted precautions."
Dean concluded in his head.
Therefore, Shadow has strong melee capabilities and resistance to strikes.
But the shortcoming is equally obvious, fear of flames.
Dean didn't mind, it was normal that there were gains and losses.
"You should have a good rest first."
The shadow dispersed into a ball and flew into his body again.
Dean glanced at the quartz watch with a tired expression. For exactly five minutes, his vision turned black, as if he hadn't slept all day and night. Waves of needle-like stings hit his brain, and he began to wander frequently.
If he could hold on for at most ten seconds, he would definitely faint on the spot.
"So my current 12-point spirit can only summon shadows for five minutes at most, which means it can only be used as a trump card and cannot be normalized."
And these five minutes today, plus the time when I tortured Bob last night.
Shadow of the Past's status is still lv0 (0/100), and its proficiency level has not increased by even 1 point.
As a superpower, it is far more difficult to upgrade than fighting and shooting.
"Improvement is undoubtedly a long process. I have to make a plan on how to train so as not to affect my normal schedule during the day."
Dean put his hands on the back of his head and lay in the forest, bathing in the breeze and looking up at the faint white light between the gaps in the forest.
I quickly thought of an extreme exercise method.
If he summons the shadow in one breath for the maximum time limit, his energy is exhausted and he passes out. When he recovers, will his energy increase?
"Well, let's try some extreme exercise before going to bed tonight."
After realizing the power of new abilities.
Dean felt a strong impulse in his head, as if a devil was whispering in his ears.
Why not use your superpowers to kill, rob, steal and make money?
Ordinary people can't see the shadow anyway.
Dean can do whatever he wants.
His eyes flashed red.
Dean took a deep breath and rejected this greedy idea with great perseverance.
First of all, doing so violated the bottom line of being a human being that he had cultivated in his previous life in China.
In addition, the most important point is that since he has awakened his superpowers, there is a high probability that there are other people with superpowers in this world.
What is their attitude towards themselves, whether they have good intentions or bad intentions, and how do they speculate about themselves?
Dean couldn't be sure, so he could only temporarily follow the superpower version of the Dark Forest Law, keep a low profile and keep a low profile, hiding himself firmly and not being exposed to the sight of other superpowers.
Observe secretly.
Unless necessary, try not to use "shadow" in public places or when there are too many people.
Don't use it to do evil.
Keep training every day.
Determined, Dean let out a long sigh of relief.
"Next, after the news of Bob's death passes, I should find a way to earn money to buy guns and ammunition, and then buy a car. I can't always use Rust's car."
