Why is my anime art style so weird?

Squeak!

A piercing noise came from the storage room, as if someone was dragging metal on the floor.

Immediately afterwards, the door to the storage room was kicked open, and footsteps followed closely behind her, accompanied by the sound of metal being dragged.

But Hua Ling didn't dare to turn around at all.

The store manager was murdered!

That monster is coming to kill her now!

Run! Run! She could only keep running!

Relying on her memories of where she came from, Hana stumbled and ran through the basement.

The dragging sound behind her was getting closer and closer.

"Ha ha!"

Hua Ling was breathing heavily; she felt as if her lungs were on fire.

However, the surrounding air grew colder and colder, the chill creeping into her body like leeches.

This extreme contrast between extremes drove her to the brink of collapse.

But she still didn't dare to stop.

Finally, she was lucky enough to find the stairs leading to the entrance.

Looking at the light ahead, Hua Ling didn't know where the strength came from, but she quickly climbed the stairs, taking three steps at a time.

The entrance is getting closer, even closer!

The light seemed so close that it could be grasped in one's hand.

Suddenly, a loud wail erupted behind Hana Rin!

A cloud of black mist surged in, and countless eerie, desiccated corpses reached out from within it. They grabbed Hua Ling and dragged her into the mist...

Chapter 158 The Disappearance of the Antique Shop

"Xu Ming, something's happened!"

Xu Ming was resting when his phone rang. A call came in, and when he picked it up, the screen clearly showed Kato Megumi's number.

"What happened?"

Xu Ming asked with some confusion.

Do you remember the antique shop you visited three days ago?

"of course I remember."

That was the first time Xu Ming had used his identity as a civil servant to coerce and bribe others to find clues, and the impression he left was incredibly deep.

"What happened to this antique shop?"

"The store manager and a female employee have gone missing."

"What?! What's going on?"

Xu Ming, who had been lying on the sofa, immediately sat up straight.

"Someone reported today that the door of Zuishanju Antique Shop has been open, but the shop manager and staff are not there, so they want the police to come and handle the matter."

To everyone's surprise, after reviewing nearby surveillance footage, the police discovered that the store manager and employees had never left the store after entering.

Police then entered the antique shop and reviewed the store's surveillance footage, discovering that both individuals had entered the basement and experienced some very 'strange' events, after which they never emerged again.

The police couldn't handle this bizarre incident, so it was sent to the association. Since you recently visited the area, you might be familiar with the situation, so the association wants to assign this task to you.

Kato Megumi explained it carefully.

"So, the two people disappeared because of some strange incident in the basement of the antique shop?"

"Yes, so, are you interested in taking it on? The owner of Zui Shan Ju is quite generous, the reward for the task is one billion yen..."

Kato Megumi paused for a moment, then continued:

"However, he has one condition."

"What conditions?"

"You cannot break the antiques inside. If you break an antique, a portion of the commission will be deducted based on the antique's value."

"I see..."

After thinking it over for a moment, Xu Ming agreed.

"I accept this task."

"Okay, I'll send you the information later."

A while later, Xu Ming received an email on his phone from Kato Megumi, which contained a detailed map of the antique shop.

Xu Ming opened it and immediately frowned.

The above-ground portion is fine; it's just an ordinary two-story building.

The key part is the underground section, which is at least three times the size of the above-ground section, and the roads inside are extremely complex, winding and turning like a maze.

Most importantly, the map also indicates that there are some secret passages and mechanisms that are not marked on the map, and the map of the southwest corner of the basement is also missing.

No matter how Xu Ming looked at the map, he felt that it was marked with a big "trouble".

Fortunately, he had previously completed a series of quests and obtained a large amount of Strange Points, which he invested all of into upgrading his equipment.

For Xu Ming, the real difficulty was not the strangeness of the place, but the underground labyrinth with its hidden mechanisms and no complete map.

Having completed the 'Blood Moon Reincarnation' quest chain, Xu Ming hasn't accepted any other missions in the past few days. That quest had drained him of a lot of energy, so he simply gave himself a few days off.

If it weren't for Kato Megumi's call, he probably would have needed to rest for a few more days.

During these days of staying at home, his 'precious daughter' Erina would prepare a big meal for him every day without fail, and his older sister would also appear at the dining table without fail every day.

I gaze at my lifelike older sister across from me.

Xu Ming has been pondering a question for the past few days.

Given my older sister's leveling speed, it seems she'd level up even faster if we didn't sign a contract with her. Signing a shikigami contract would actually become an obstacle and constraint to her growth.

As for his little selfish desire—to be with his older sister forever, to always be a family—...

Isn't this how it is now?

A family of three sits around the dining table, enjoying their meal and sharing their happiness. Isn't this the feeling of 'home'?

In this situation, does he still need to use a contract to keep his sister by his side?

It seems unnecessary.

But Xu Ming won't stop.

Just as he had thought, the world was more dangerous than he had imagined.

If you can't keep getting stronger, sooner or later you'll become someone who gets exploited.

Only the strong can decide their own destiny; the weak already have a hard time just surviving.

Therefore, he will continue to take on missions, accumulate weird points, and save money... The strategy remains the same, but the goal has changed.

Before, it was to be able to sign a contract with my sister; now it's to become stronger and become the man who stands in front of my sister!

Instead of yelling "Sister, help!" in every crisis.

Over the past two days, Xu Ming rested while carefully reviewing the introduction provided by the system and analyzing it, ultimately determining how to use the strange points.

First, he upgraded the 'purification' and 'exorcism' abilities of the spirit-capturing phone lens to level 3. 'Purification' cost 500 points, and 'exorcism' cost 1000 points.

Then Xu Ming upgraded the Physics Holy Sword to level 3, which cost 500 points.

The 'force stacking' effect has been enhanced, and a new effect has been added, so the attribute becomes:

The Holy Sword of Physics (3-star, upgradable) – A super weapon forged by an indescribable being, capable of disrupting the laws of physics.

Current results—

1. Force Stacking: When striking the same target within 10 seconds, the force will stack. The first strike is 1x, the second is 2x, the third is 4x, the fourth is 8x, and the maximum stacking is 6 times, or 32x. If the target is not struck for more than 10 seconds, the force will be concentrated and released.

2. Warp: It can ignore distance and directly and accurately strike the target. The maximum effective distance is limited to 10 meters.

The effect is halved on targets with a soul level of 4, and has no effect on targets of level 4 or higher.

Don't underestimate the power of the 'force stacking' which only adds one more strike limit; it directly elevates the power of the Holy Sword of Physics to another dimension.

The added 'warp' effect makes the Holy Sword of Physics a truly powerful weapon for long-range precision strikes.

If it were upgraded a few more times, it might even become an intercontinental nuclear missile.

In addition, acting alongside Shiina Mashiro made Xu Ming deeply aware of the inconvenience of being 'blind', so he upgraded his 'spiritual vision' ability from level 1 to level 3 in one go, spending a total of 40 + 80 = 120 points.

This leaves Xu Ming with only 25 points of strangeness remaining.

With enhanced offensive capabilities, defense naturally cannot be neglected.

After all, he's the man who's going to become the legendary all-around warrior.

So Xu Ming used that precious potential-enhancing gem on 'Amaterasu Guardian - True'.

Chapter 159 Investigating the Antique Shop

Therefore, the name 'Amaterasu Guardian - True' was changed to 'Amaterasu Guardian - Ultimate', and an additional effect was added.

Amaterasu Amulet - Ultimate (3-star, upgradable) - Obtained through a thousand days of prayer and offerings by the goddess Amaterasu's daughter, containing abundant Amaterasu divine power to protect the wearer from evil spirits.

It can significantly reduce the damage of 'Strange'. The effect is weakened if the 'Strange' soul level is higher than 4, and it is ineffective if it is higher than 5.

It can slowly purify the negative energy remaining on the wearer's body.

When in danger, one can actively release 'Corona's Protection', which generates a positive energy shield on the body to resist attacks from 'weird'.

The protection of the sun's crown is similar to a passive protective shield in a game.

However, it is very suitable for dealing with the bizarre and varied abilities of the 'weird'.

Fully armed, Xu Ming, along with the little piglet and the silver-haired Erina, arrived at the apartment's main entrance, hailed a taxi, and sped away.

Half an hour later, Xu Ming appeared at the door of the 'Drunken Mountain Residence' antique shop.