Extract it.
The command hadn't even fully formed in my mind before a massive, blinding surge of information flooded my brain.
It didn't hurt. It felt like a dam breaking. Thousands of ancient medical texts, meridian maps, forgotten acupuncture techniques, and herbal formulas etched themselves into my memory. In the span of a single heartbeat, I absorbed two decades' worth of the "Divine Medical Valley's" secret inheritance.
Everything Lin Tian knew, I now knew. Better, faster, and with absolute clarity.
[Ding!] [Extraction Complete! Host has acquired: 'Divine Tier Medical Mastery'!] [Protagonist Lin Tian has lost his primary cheat! Destiny Points -1000!]
I blinked, the glowing system text fading from my vision, and looked down at the unconscious protagonist crumpled against the concrete wall.
"Put your hands where I can see them!"
I turned my head. Captain Xia Luo had finally drawn her service weapon. Her hands were perfectly steady, but her dark eyes were wide with absolute shock. She was aiming right at my chest.
I didn't raise my hands. I just looked at the barrel of the gun, then back up to her face.
"Captain Xia," I said, my voice eerily calm in the echoing interrogation room. "A crazed suspect broke out of police-grade steel handcuffs, assaulted an officer, and attempted to murder a civilian witness. I neutralized the threat using proportionate self-defense. Are you seriously pointing a gun at me?"
Xia Luo swallowed hard, her training fighting against her instincts. She slowly lowered the weapon, though she didn't holster it.
"Proportionate self-defense?" she repeated, her voice laced with disbelief. "You kicked a man hard enough to send him flying ten feet through the air. You shattered his ribs. Since when does the spoiled, playboy heir of the Chu Consortium know high-level internal martial arts?"
I smoothed out the lapels of my suit jacket. "Money buys excellent private tutors, Captain. You'd be surprised what a billion-dollar trust fund can afford."
She didn't buy it for a second. The original Chu Feng was notorious for getting winded walking up a flight of stairs. But what could she say? The security cameras in the corner of the room had captured the entire thing. Lin Tian attacked first. I was completely legally justified.
I walked slowly toward Lin Tian's unconscious body.
"Step back, Mr. Chu. Don't touch him," Xia Luo warned, stepping forward.
"Relax. I'm just checking his pulse," I said, crouching next to the protagonist. "It would be terrible PR for the Jinghai Police Department if a suspect died in your interrogation room, wouldn't it?"
I reached out and placed two fingers on Lin Tian's wrist.
To Xia Luo, it looked like a standard medical check. But the moment my skin made contact with his, my newly acquired Divine Medical Mastery activated. I could instantly feel the chaotic, violent flow of Qi raging through Lin Tian's meridians.
He was relying on his Dantian—his energy center—to fuel his arrogance, I thought, a cold, ruthless smile touching my lips. Let's see how arrogant you are when you're truly just a mortal.
Channeling my Master-Level Martial Arts, I pushed a sharp, invisible needle of my own Qi directly into Lin Tian's wrist. I drove it straight up his arm and violently crashed it into his Dantian.
Pop.
It was a sound only I could hear. The energetic foundation that Lin Tian had spent fifteen years building on his mountain shattered into a million useless pieces.
Lin Tian's body violently convulsed once, a low groan escaping his bloody lips, and then he went entirely limp. His breathing stabilized, but the aura of a 'Dragon King' vanished completely.
I had just crippled the protagonist. Permanently.
[Ding! Host has ruthlessly crippled the Protagonist's cultivation base!] [Lin Tian is now a mortal! Major Plot Armor destroyed!] [Destiny Points -2000!] [Host gains 2000 Villain Points!]
I stood up, wiping my fingers on the silk handkerchief I'd used earlier, and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
"His vitals are stable," I said to Xia Luo, my tone brisk and professional. "He'll wake up with a nasty headache and a few cracked ribs, but he'll live to stand trial for his assault on Old Master Ye."
Xia Luo stared at me, completely unable to reconcile the man standing in front of her with the rumors she had heard about the Chu family's trash heir.
"I'll have medics take him to the holding ward," she said quietly, holstering her weapon. She hesitated, crossing her arms defensively. "And for the record... my chest pain. How did you know it was costochondritis?"
I walked over to the metal table, picked up the cheap ballpoint pen Lin Tian had been supposed to use to sign his confession, and grabbed a piece of scrap paper.
"Because I have eyes, Captain," I said, quickly scribbling down a list of ingredients. "You favor your right side when you stand. Your holster sits slightly too high, forcing you to overcompensate with your shoulder muscles during training drills, causing inflammation in your rib cartilage. Lin Tian just saw a beautiful woman and made up a mystical 'liver fire' disease so he could touch you."
I slid the piece of paper across the metal table.
"Boil those three herbs in water for twenty minutes. Drink it twice a day. And fix your holster strap," I said, not even waiting for her reaction as I turned toward the door. "Have your chief send the incident report to my legal team tomorrow. Goodnight, Captain Xia."
I pushed open the double doors and walked out.
I didn't ask for her number. I didn't linger to flirt with her. I just gave her the solution to her problem and walked away like she was entirely beneath my notice.
[Ding! Captain Xia Luo is thoroughly intrigued by your medical knowledge and mysterious aura!] [She feels foolish for ever believing the rumors about you!] [Affection +20! Current Affection: 35 (Deeply Curious/Favorable).]
I let out a quiet breath as I walked out of the precinct and into the cool night air. The dopamine hit from the system rewards was incredibly addictive. In less than two hours, I had completely derailed the protagonist's destiny, stolen his medical skills, crippled his martial arts, and hooked both of his destined women.
Not a bad first night, I thought, pulling my phone from my pocket to call Old Chen to bring the car back.
But before I could dial, the screen lit up.
An incoming call.
I looked at the caller ID and my eyes narrowed.
Su Qingran.
She never called me. In the three years of our arranged engagement, I could count the number of times she had initiated a phone call on one hand. And it was almost midnight.
I swiped to answer, bringing the phone to my ear. I didn't say hello. I just waited.
"Chu Feng?" Her voice came through the speaker. It wasn't the icy, contemptuous tone from the restaurant. It sounded tight. Anxious. "Are you still at the police station?"
"I just walked out," I replied neutrally. "Why? Did Old Chen not get you home safely?"
"I'm home," she said quickly. She took a shaky breath, the sound of rustling fabric coming through the line. "Listen to me carefully. My grandfather just called an emergency family meeting. He found out about the incident at the restaurant."
I frowned. The Su Family Patriarch? "And?"
"And," Su Qingran's voice dropped to a frantic whisper, "Lin Tian wasn't just a waiter. My grandfather recognized his name from the police report. He says Lin Tian holds a marriage token from twenty years ago. The Su family... they're planning to annul our engagement tomorrow and offer me to him."
I stopped dead in my tracks on the sidewalk.
A marriage token? The classic, cliché web novel trope where the protagonist comes down from the mountain with a piece of jade that guarantees him a billionaire wife. The Heavenly Dao was really desperately trying to course-correct the plot.
A dark, genuine laugh escaped my lips.
"Chu Feng? Why are you laughing?!" Su Qingran snapped, a hint of panic in her voice. "If they annul the contract, the Chu Consortium's stock will tank!"
"Let them try, Qingran," I said softly, my eyes glowing with a terrifying anticipation. "Go to sleep. I'll see you at the Su family estate tomorrow morning. And trust me... nobody is taking anything from me."