Torn City: The Almighty System

Awe

The huge potential rewards did not make Lincoln lose his chill.

Quite the opposite, he became even calmer than before.

He knew very well that gaining huge rewards would definitely not be an easy task.

It didn’t matter if Gunthersfield was an ally or a foe. Lincoln would still need to spend all his effort on trying to obtain them.

If Gunthersfield was a friend, Lincoln would need to raise their relationship level through the quest. In other words, the friendlier he got, the higher Lincoln’s chance of getting equipment or skills would be.

If Gunthersfield was a foe, things would be much simpler. All Lincoln would need to do was gather enough strength and hope to overpower and defeat him. In other words, kill him and make him drop all his equipment and skills.

However, Lincoln was still far from earning the farming equipment he was thinking of.

He needed to solve the problem at hand first.

Helped by the strong wind, Gunthersfield ’s punch was already within meters from Lincoln.

Lincoln did not plan on having his bones broken by such a punch, therefore he did not take the punch directly.

Master Level [Evading] and III Rank Evading made his steps swift and quick. He dodged the incoming punch with ease, just like a cat.

"Huh?"

Gunthersfield was shocked that Lincoln had been able to avoid his punch.

Despite his shock though, he followed up quickly with a second punch.

The second one was stronger and faster than the first one.

It was mere fractions of a second before the punch reached Lincoln, preventing him from avoiding it by using his swift steps and fast reflexes like before.

Lincoln knew that if the second punch landed, things would not be that simple. His bones might get punched out of shape altogether.

No one could survive with so many dislocated bones.

Not even a datafied body.

After all, his head, heart and other inner organs were listed as weak points.

Without any second thought, Lincoln bent his waist and leant his upper body back, his legs standing steadfast on the ground.

The punch rubbed over Lincoln’s face like a matchstick, messing up his hair.

Lincoln suddenly felt immense heat on his face, followed by a dripping sensation.

There was stinging pain as Lincoln’s face was chafed by the strong wind.

He did not care about that though as he saw the third strike coming.

The punch that had chafed Lincoln’s face turned into an elbow strike. It felt like a hammer beating down a nail as it aimed for Lincoln’s abdomen.

He couldn’t spare any strength while he maintained his iron bridge stance. He had been forced into a corner.

Between life and death, Lincoln chose to raise his leg and stepped forward.

Lincoln’s foot was locked tight on the ground. Loaded like a spring, he stepped on Gunthersfield ’s calf before Gunthersfield could land his elbow on Lincoln’s abdomen. Lincoln went flying backwards because of the pressure on his leg.

That was a messy technique.

When Lincoln had raised his leg, he had lost his balance. Although he had gathered enough strength to back up, he thought it would be better to roll backwards.

The box that was holding the [Viper-M1] fell to the side.

Gunthersfield followed Lincoln’s backroll, but Lincoln was not just going to wait for his end to come.

During the backroll, he had managed to grab the [M1905] and the dagger.

"STOP AT ONCE!"

Sister Mony had seen Lincoln clearly from far away, and tried to stop the two of them from fighting.

The old man had his leg raised up and Lincoln was holding his gun up ready to fire, but both of them froze when they heard Sister Mony’s shout.

They looked at each other, still on alert.

"Detective, I require an explanation!"

Sister Mony looked at Lincoln. Her eyebrows were raised, but her tone and expression were still kind.

Hearing her question, Lincoln let out a bitter laugh.

Her kind inquiries were harder for Lincoln to answer than a strict, angry question.

"When I spoke to you earlier, I sensed that you were hiding something, so I pretended to leave and came back to see what was going on," Lincoln explained.

"It was my mistake. You are the city’s greatest detective. How could you not have noticed the lies behind my words? I’m so sorry, Gunthersfield thought that you were someone else, that’s why he got so aggressive," Sister Mony sighed as she apologized to Lincoln.

"Sister Mony, please, it was my fault."

Lincoln’s expression was even more bitter than before.

He was more willing to brawl it out with Gunthersfield rather than face Sister Mony’s kind, sorrowful expression.

It was not Sister Mony’s fault.

The fact that she had not revealed everything to Lincoln was not a mistake.

Other than the girl’s own parents, no one else in the world was obligated to tell him anything.

Lincoln understood that very well.

His infiltration might have been forgivable in terms of reason, but it hadn’t been morally right.

As a matter of fact, it had all been Lincoln’s fault.

He was not denying that.

He was already embarrassed enough by the situation at hand.

"Detective Lincoln, you’re a good man.Arya was Gunthersfield ’s student, so he should know more about her. I planned on telling you tomorrow, but it would be better if you heard it from him now. Gunthersfield , tell the detective everything you know about Arya. I’m asking you."

Sister Mony looked at Lincoln with a kind face before she turned her eyes to Gunthersfield .

"Yes, your Highness!"

Gunthersfield ’s right thumb pointed at his heart, and his head bent down slightly.

It was old-time etiquette.

The way Gunthersfield had addressed Sister Mony was part of that etiquette.

As Lincoln stared at Sister Mony and Gunthersfield , he recalled that when the Sister had scolded him, she had addressed him as her Guardian Knight.

Now Gunthersfield had formally addressed Sister Mony as "Your Highness".

Lincoln was no idiot. Considering the way they addressed each other, he could tell that there was more to them than met the eye.

Gunthersfield did not care about what Lincoln thought though.

After saluting Sister Mony, the strong old man started to tell his side of the story. He told Lincoln everything he knew about Arya Bolton.

"Arya accidentally discovered this secluded area of the school compound. She was very curious for her age, and that was how she discovered this place. She just kept on searching until she stumbled upon my secret. At the same time, I discovered that Arya had quite the potential. Well, to make a long story short, I promised Arya I would teach her things she could not learn from school as long as she kept my secret."

There was a smile on Gunthersfield ’s face. The smile of an old man who was happy to forgive the pranks of children.

"Our lessons went on for four years. I taught her all the basic knowledge and some entry level knowledge too. Just a week ago, she brought an injured man here. I think he was a stranger that she had coincidentally saved. The man spent the night and then left. Arya was worried about him and she decided to follow him. Arya’s disappearance must have something to do with that stranger. But worry not, Arya won’t be in harm’s way!"

Gunthersfield looked confident in Arya’s strength and in his own teaching.

"Accidents can happen anytime. Gunthersfield , tell the detective everything you know about that stranger. Our main concern now is to quickly locate Arya!" Sister Mony ranted lightly with a sigh.

She seemed worried about her student.

"The man had a scar on his face, right between the brows to the left edge of his mouth. It was very distinct. His arms were muscular and he was big-boned. He must have had a certain level of combat practice. His injuries were on his back. If he had not been able to dodge in time, he would have been pierced through the kidneys. Whoever had attacked him must have been a veteran!" Gunthersfield painted the image of the injured stranger.

He seemed to have thought about this long. Obviously, the man had made quite the impact on him a week ago.

"Will that do?"

Sister Mony looked at Lincoln.

"It will suffice," Lincoln answered with a nod.

As a matter of fact, just the mention of the scar on the man’s face had been enough.

Such a feature would definitely have made an impact on people’s memory.

Let alone all the other features as well.

All Lincoln needed was the Chief Officer’s help, and he was confident that he could locate Arya in a short time.

"Please help us get Arya back!" Sister Mony bowed again, expressing her gratitude towards Lincoln.

"I’ve gotten the deposit from Mr. Bolton already. It’s my job as a detective," Lincoln replied with a smile while awkwardly dodging Sister Mony’s gratitude.

Lincoln had already found what he had come for, so theoretically he could leave the school.

However, he had not forgotten his goal of completing both the Sub Missions and Title Mission.

According to his information, Sister Mony had to have a Sub Mission for him.

Most importantly, if Lincoln completed Sister Mony’s side quest, it would eventually elevate his relationship level with Gunthersfield .

Gunthersfield ’s strength had made quite an impression on Lincoln.

Especially his continuous, lightning-fast punches, which he definitely did not owe to his powerful body, but some kind of mysterious skill.

If possible, Lincoln wanted to learn that skill from Gunthersfield .

Of course, he was also likely to lend a hand to Sister Mony considering her prestigious position.

Therefore, after a short pause, Lincoln said, "Sister Mony, I kind of eavesdropped on your conversation with Captain Reek earlier, and I am truly sorry for

that. It seemed like you had some kind of trouble on your hands. If you do not mind, I think I could be of aid. Consider it compensation for my inappropriate behavior!"