Setting off from Mashadora, after another half-day's journey, Leo arrived at Wenqian.
Along the way, he collected quite a few more monster cards.
Man-eating Flowers on the plains, Swamp Crabs in the marshes, Spirit Monsters in the forest—each was dealt with in a single punch, turning into cards that drifted down.
His Binder grew increasingly full.
Wenqian was a small town, slightly smaller than Mashadora, with only three main streets lined with low houses and scattered shops.
At the town entrance stood a wooden sign engraved with the words "Wenqian."
Leo walked into the town and took a stroll around.
He finished walking through it in less than half an hour.
Grocery stores, inns, restaurants, card shops—it had everything it should.
The only thing that caught his eye was a flower shop on a street corner.
The flower shop wasn't large, with several pots of blooming flowers at the entrance, and a young woman sat on the doorstep.
Resting her chin in her hands, she gazed at the street with a distressed expression.
Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying.
Leo stopped in his tracks.
He remembered that when he spoke with Tsezgala before, the other man had told him the quest process for obtaining cards.
It was the process for obtaining designated card No. 70—"Mad Scientist's Muscle Enhancer."
Tsezgala had explained it in great detail, and he remembered it clearly.
He had also told Tsezgala where to get designated card No. 75—in the forest near Andochibbal, there was a group of ninjas; if you helped cure their illness, you could obtain that card.
First, come to Wenqian and find the flower shop on the corner.
Talk to the flower shop owner, and she will tell you that her younger sister has gone missing.
Then go to the lake twenty kilometers outside of town, where there is an Old Fisherman.
Help him catch a fish, and he will tell you that three days ago, a girl was taken away by a man toward the town to the east.
Then go to the town to the east, find a pure white three-story building, fight your way in, and the quest objective is in the basement.
The process was tedious, but the reward was decent.
Leo walked to the entrance of the flower shop. The woman looked up, saw a customer, and hurriedly stood up, forcing a smile.
"Welcome! What flowers do you need?"
Leo didn't look at the flowers and asked directly.
"Something bothering you?"
The woman's smile froze.
Her eyes instantly turned red again, and her lips trembled slightly.
"I... my younger sister is missing."
Leo's tone was flat.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
The woman took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself down.
"My sister... she disappeared three days ago at the lake twenty kilometers away. I've searched everywhere nearby but can't find her. I'm so worried about her..."
As she spoke, tears fell again.
"Can you help me find her and bring her back?"
Leo nodded.
"No problem."
The woman was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly bowed.
"Th... thank you! Thank you so much!"
Leo said no more, turned, and left the flower shop, walking out of Wenqian.
Soon, Leo arrived at the lake.
The lake wasn't large. An old man sat by the shore wearing a straw hat, holding a fishing rod, his eyes half-closed as if dozing off.
A woven bamboo fish basket sat beside him, completely empty.
Leo knew he would encounter this person.
There was an Old Fisherman here at the lake. Because he hadn't caught a fish for a long time, you had to find a way to help him catch one before he would tell you what happened three days ago.
But players had discovered a "bug"—buying a fish from the market and putting it directly into his basket also counted as completing the task.
Leo walked over to him, crouched down, and glanced at the fish basket.
Empty.
The old man opened one eye, glanced at him, and closed it again.
"Don't disturb my fishing."
"Caught anything?"
"No. It's been three days, and I haven't caught a single one. The fish in this lake have become spirits."
Leo took a card out of his binder.
"GAIN."
The card disappeared, and several fish appeared on the ground; these were what he had bought in advance at the town market.
He poured the fish into the old man's basket with natural movements.
Hearing the noise, the old man opened his eyes and looked into the basket. His eyes immediately lit up.
"Hey! I caught some! I finally caught some!"
He laughed loudly and slapped his thigh.
"Young man, you're my lucky star!"
Leo didn't respond and asked directly.
"Three days ago, did you see a girl come here?"
The old man thought for a moment and nodded.
"Yes, a very pretty young girl carrying a drawing board was here painting. Later, a man in a white lab coat showed up—he was quite ugly—said a few words to her, and then she followed him. I vaguely heard them say they were going to the town to the east."
Leo stood up and turned to leave, leaving the old man still grinning foolishly at the fish basket.
The process was just that boring.
You had to go through the whole thing; if you skipped even one step, the subsequent events wouldn't trigger.
That was why he followed the quest process so obediently.
If you wanted the card, you had to play by the game's rules.
The town to the east was even smaller than Wenqian.
Leo didn't linger on the streets and headed straight for the north of the town.
A pure white three-story building stood at the end of the street, its outer walls painted snowy white, with heavy curtains hanging over the windows, making it impossible to see inside.
The gate was made of iron, its surface smooth and free of rust.
The quest prompt would only tell you to go to the eastern town; after that, you had to search for the pair's tracks yourself.
After carpet searches by players, this pure white building was identified as the final quest location.
Leo walked to the door, didn't ring the bell, and simply raised his foot to give it a light kick.
"Boom!"
The iron door shattered into pieces, letting out a piercing crashing sound.
The doorframe tilted, cracks appeared in the walls, and dust fell in showers.
Inside was a spacious hall.
Several men in black were patrolling the hall; hearing the noise, they snapped their heads around.
Seeing the shattered door and the man in white standing at the entrance, their expressions instantly changed.
"Who are you?!"
"An intruder!"
Holding clubs and sticks, they rushed toward Leo.
Leo raised his hand, and several Nen Bullets shot from his fingertips, accurately hitting each man in black in the chest.
"Bang, bang, bang—"
They were hit and fell; their bodies disappeared, turning into several cards that drifted onto the floor.
Leo bent down to pick up the cards and glanced at them—they were all just common mob cards, not worth much.
He casually put them into his binder and continued inside.
The interior of the house was larger than it looked from the outside.
On both sides of the corridor were various rooms, some with open doors and some tightly shut.
As Leo passed each doorway, men in black rushed out, wielding various weapons—clubs, short knives, iron chains, and even a few with crossbows.
Leo raised his hand, fired Nen Bullets, hit them, they fell, turned into cards, and he picked them up.
The entire process took less than a minute, clean and efficient.
At the end of the corridor was a staircase leading down to the basement.
Leo walked down the stairs and pushed open the wooden door at the end.
Behind the door was a spacious underground area with high ceilings and several incandescent lamps hanging above, illuminating the entire space.
The room was filled with various instruments and equipment—huge cultivation tanks, precision electronic devices, dense networks of piping, and some unnamable machinery.
On a nearby shelf, many bottles and jars were neatly arranged, filled with liquids of various colors.
In the center of the room, a young woman lay on an operating table, her eyes closed and her face pale, but her breathing was steady.
Standing next to the operating table was a man in a white lab coat.
He turned around, revealing an extremely hideous face.
His skin was pitted, his nose crooked, and his lips were turned outward, revealing a row of uneven yellow teeth.
His eyes were small, narrowed into slits, flashing with a cold light.
He was just about to speak.
"Hmph, I didn't expect—"
Leo didn't give him the chance.
He kicked out, striking the man square in the chest.
"Bang!"
The man flew backward, crashing into the cultivation tank behind him; glass shattered, and liquid splashed everywhere.
He slumped to the ground, twitched twice, and then went still.
His body slowly disappeared, leaving three cards on the ground.
Leo walked over and bent down to pick up the cards.
The first one had an illustration of a man in a white lab coat holding a potion, with "A-16" labeled below.
Designated Pocket Card No. 70—[Mad Scientist's Muscle Enhancer A-16].
The second card, No. 71—[Mad Scientist's Pheromone A-20].
The third card, No. 72—[Mad Scientist's Plastic Surgery Machine A-15].
Leo put Nos. 71 and 72 into his binder; holding card No. 70, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
"GAIN."
The card transformed into a soft glow, then turned into seven cardboard boxes neatly stacked on the floor.
Each box had a label on it—"Muscle Enhancer."
Leo crouched down and opened the first box.
Inside were ten small glass bottles neatly arranged; the bottles were transparent, and the liquid inside was pale blue, shimmering under the lights.
He took out a bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sniff.
There was no special smell. He tilted his head back and downed it in one gulp.
The liquid slid down his throat with a hint of coolness.
He waited for a moment, feeling the changes in his body.
It was very slight, almost imperceptible, but it was definitely there—the muscle fibers seemed to tighten slightly and then relax.
It felt as if someone had gently plucked a string inside his body.
"It works."
He nodded.
"But it's too slow."
The card stated one bottle a day, and you had to drink it for a week straight to achieve the best effect.
But he couldn't wait that long; he was very confident in his own physical body.
He took out all ten bottles from the first box and downed them one after another.
After finishing the tenth bottle, he set down the empty glass and closed his eyes.
Before long, his body began to heat up.
His muscles were trembling slightly, as if every fiber was pulsing, contracting, and rearranging itself.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on his skin, his pores opened, and heat radiated from him.
An hour later, the feverish heat gradually faded, and the muscle tremors slowly stopped.
He opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and threw a punch into the air.
"Boom!"
The wind from the punch howled, more powerful and fierce than before.
The air was torn apart, letting out a sharp sonic boom.
His strength had increased by one-fifth.
"Not bad."
Leo nodded.
"There are six more boxes; drinking them all should double my strength."
He walked to the second box, opened it, took out the bottles, and began drinking them one by one.
After finishing the second round, the heat was even more intense than the first.
The muscle tremors turned into slight spasms, and the sweat on his skin turned into rivulets.
He could feel his strength climbing bit by bit, stronger with every passing second.
But his physical stamina was also being rapidly consumed.
This enhancer didn't create strength out of thin air; the process required a vast amount of energy and stamina.
Leo summoned some food from his binder and ate it.
The food was quickly absorbed by his stomach, converted into energy, and sent throughout his body.
The third box.
The fourth box.
The fifth box.
By the time he reached the sixth box, the effects began to diminish.
The heat was no longer as intense, and the muscle tremors became slight.
The growth in strength became very faint.
The seventh box.
After drinking the last bottle, Leo set down the empty glass and waited for an hour.
The heat faded, the tremors stopped, and everything returned to calm.
He threw a few punches, feeling the power within his body.
His strength had doubled.
By the time he drank the last box, the improvement was already minuscule, almost negligible.
"It's pretty much reached the limit."
Leo muttered to himself.
"This is as much as these potions can enhance."
He rolled his shoulders, his bones letting out a faint clicking sound.
A doubling of strength was incredibly precious, especially for someone like him who relied on his fists for a living.
He glanced at the young girl lying unconscious on the operating table, then at the empty bottles and wooden boxes scattered across the floor.
According to the normal quest process, he should take the girl back to the flower shop and hand her over to her sister.
But sending her back wouldn't grant any extra rewards, nor would it affect any subsequent quests.
This quest would periodically reset and refresh; the girl would "disappear" again, the flower shop owner would be "distressed" again, and the scientist would "resurrect" again.
So, it didn't matter if he didn't take her back.
Leo turned and walked out of the basement.
He went upstairs, crossed the corridor, and stepped out through the already shattered gate.
Outside, the sky had turned completely dark.
Streetlights had lit up on the town's streets, their dim yellow halos swaying slightly in the night breeze.
A few barks of a dog came from the distance, quickly scattered by the wind.
Leo found an inn and requested a room.
Tomorrow, he would continue.