S-Class Judge: My ability is parasitism.

Xu Nuo watched as she completely transformed into a dried corpse wrapped in clothes, the inside of which was filled with dodder, and his stomach churned violently.

He pulled back some of the silk threads, and the golden tentacles wriggled contentedly as they retracted into his body, the energy they brought back making him slightly dizzy.

"Well done." Pan Yuan walked to his side and put his hand on his shoulder again.

He had already brought the fleeing werewolf back, and it was also unconscious. "It's bound to be uncomfortable during your first real battle. But remember, if you hadn't acted, we would be lying on the ground now—or many more innocent people."

hurried footsteps sounded outside the warehouse. The second team had arrived.

Hou Hao was the first to rush in. Seeing the werewolves scattered all over the floor and the dried-up corpse, he whistled.

"Wow, this is quite a scene! Pan Zi, your demolition team lives up to its name. Xiao Xu, over here..." He glanced at the snake woman's dead body, clicked his tongue, and said, "S-rank is indeed ruthless."

Ni Shihua examined the gnawed remains, her face pale, but she still gave Xu Nuo a thumbs up.

Zhang Wei began to deal with the scene, and Gao Shen walked in last. After looking around, he nodded to Pan Yuan and Xu Nuo.

"Mission accomplished. Team back."

The remaining mess was left to the police station to clean up.

On the way back, Xu Nuo kept looking at her hands.

Those hands had just released the life-snatching threads. Pan Yuan sat beside him, still fiddling with walnuts, the clicking sound echoing rhythmically in the carriage.

"You'll get used to it," Pan Yuan suddenly said. "Not because you're used to killing, but because you have to do it to protect others."

Xu Nuo remained silent for a long time until the car entered the city, and the neon lights flickered on his face through the car window.

"I know," he finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "it just needs some time."

Inside the adjudication chamber, everyone held a brief meeting.

"This operation was a complete success, Xiao Xu. As your first mission, you performed admirably. I thought you might struggle to adapt, but it seems my worries were unfounded."

Gao Shen put his arm around Xu Nuo's neck and praised her without reservation.

Xu Nuo just smiled awkwardly. His ability was rather special; he used his parasitic ability to directly drain the snake-like awakened one dry.

It's impossible to say that you can adapt to it; it's no different from eating the other person. The dodder vine remaining in that awakened person's body was simply because you found it disgusting.

"Alright, it's the weekend tomorrow, everyone get some rest. I won't waste your time anymore, so now... let's go home!"

"Yay~, finally I can rest. I'm going to get a good beauty sleep." Ni Shihua stretched lazily.

"Hey Miss, we didn't ask you to do anything. Panzi and Xiao Xu handled this operation. You didn't contribute anything, so why are you tired?" Monkey said rudely, as if he couldn't stand not to criticize someone every day.

Upon hearing the monkey's sarcastic remark, Ni Shihua's stretching motion froze instantly, her eyes narrowing as she stared intently at the monkey.

"Monkey! Your skin looks tight again, do you want me to loosen it for you?"

She gritted her teeth and raised her hand as if to slap him.

Hou Hao shrank back and hid behind Xu Nuo.

"Xiao Xu, save me!"

"I scared you to death!" Ni Shihua tossed her hair back to express her dissatisfaction.

Xu Nuo awkwardly raised his hands:

"Stop messing around."

He said this without much conviction.

"Alright, I don't have time to play with you guys anymore, I'm leaving." She then put her hands behind her head, took off the hair tie on her wrist, and tied her hair into a high ponytail.

"Let's go!"

Xu Nuo: "Okay, goodbye."

Seeing Ni Shihua turn around, Hou Hao then poked his head out and made a face.

Unexpectedly, Ni Shihua turned her head in an instant, her little expression extremely rich, raised her fist and made a threatening gesture before leaving.

The monkey immediately became docile, which had clearly become a daily occurrence for the two of them.

"Let's go, Xiao Xu, it's about time we headed back. The housekeeper should have already started cooking."

"Alright, Brother Pan. Captain, Old Zhang, let's go."

The two nodded, indicating that they understood.

In the car, Pan Yuan asked while holding the steering wheel:

"Hey Xu, how about we go out and have some fun tomorrow?"

"Going out to play? Where to?"

"Don't you like fishing? I heard there are some fish fry under the Yishui Bridge, shall we go try our luck?"

"Sure! This is way more exciting than playing on your phone."

"Absolutely."

From the time he spent with Pan Yuan, Xu Nuo finally understood why everyone called him "Young Master Kuo"—he was genuinely rich.

There's just one thing I don't understand: Pan Yuan is quite young, yet he has such wealth; his background must be extraordinary.

So he tentatively asked:

"Brother Pan, why are you all alone at home?"

Pan Yuan did not answer directly, but paused for a while:

"This is just where I work. My parents don't live here. The housekeeper is someone my parents arranged to take care of me. As you can see, I only work here for fun and excitement."

Xu Nuo remained silent, only filled with envy. Good heavens, this young master is out experiencing life.

"You've made me forget everything."

The next day, at 4 a.m., Xu Nuo was still asleep.

clap clap clap!

A knock on the door startled him from his sweet dream.

"What's wrong, Brother Pan? What time is it?"

"Hey, look at you, you're such a loser. When you're fishing, you have to get there early, or you won't catch anything."

"Oh! Right, right! We were supposed to go fishing."

After tidying up, the two arrived at the warehouse.

The warehouse was filled with all sorts of sports equipment, most of which Xu Nuo didn't recognize and couldn't name.

But he recognized the row of lure rods right in the middle.

I bought a cheap place when I was renting a house before, but a year has passed, and I guess the landlord has already cleared out all my belongings.

"Come on, pick whatever you like! Micro-object stakes, long-distance throwing stakes, black stakes, L, UL, ML, XL, all kinds of lengths are available!" Pan Yuan excitedly introduced his collection, his eyes full of pride.

"I just need an ML long-range pitching wedge, um... a spinning wheel."

"What's so fun about aramid wheels? Real men should ride water jet wheels, that's what's cool."

"No need, my skills aren't up to par."

Before leaving, Pan Yuan didn't forget to stuff a few iron plates into his pocket. Good heavens, those iron plates were so big that the three hooks were as thick as two fingers.

Xu Nuo was completely stunned:

"Brother Pan, what's going on?"

"Hmm~, a must-have for professional lure anglers, well, if you don't open your mouth, just open your back! Hehehe." He was even embarrassed when he said it.

Xu Nuo rolled his eyes. Good heavens, so he's a turtle. It seems being a staunch opponent is the norm. It really proves that saying:

"Students with poor grades have too many stationery items!"

"Why don't you bring a few more iron plates?" Pan Yuan asked tentatively.

Xu Nuo covered his head and waved his hand:

"No need. Why bring so many metal plates? You can use them to bait the fish. I'll just bring a few pencils and lead hooks."