57: Chapter 57 Ultimate Collapse!

"I brought you here to help clean up the aftermath, not to stand around chatting and talking nonsense!"

Governor Sun Jingan's voice rang out at the door, and Wang Jun and the others scrambled away in a panic.

After they left, the room instantly fell silent.

"Director Gu Sanding, I need to have a private chat with Chen Mo. Could you please step out for a moment?"

Governor Sun Jingan nodded at Director Gu Sanding. Knowing this was about serious business, Director Gu Sanding hurriedly got up and left.

"What, are you going to cancel my Joint Exam results?"

Chen Mo knew clearly that suicide during the Joint Exam was a major violation, which basically meant disqualification.

But it didn't really matter; he had already received his mission rewards the moment the ranking was confirmed. As for the final National Joint Examination... it was still a bit of a pity, more or less.

"Why would I cancel your Joint Exam results?"

Governor Sun Jingan was a bit puzzled. What was this kid imagining?

"I only came here this time to tell you that your results and performance were excellent and have already attracted attention from above."

"I helped you smooth over the trouble you caused during this Provincial Joint Examination, but you'd better watch yourself during the National Joint Examination!"

Governor Sun Jingan patted Chen Mo on the shoulder. He had already seen the surveillance footage of Chen Mo in the Old District.

If Chen Mo still had consciousness back at the Orphanage courtyard, then during the part where he fought his way out with Director Gu Sanding and Xueni, Chen Mo had actually been completely unaware of anything.

Running over a hundred kilometers, fighting his way out of heavy encirclement alone—if not for his tenacious willpower, Chen Mo would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

The entire street was filled with Abyss Beasts he had pounded into meat paste; the Scout Squads found it quite disgusting to look at.

Chen Mo had fought his way, step by step, out of a literal mountain of corpses and sea of blood, and he was only a First-Grade Martial Artist.

He had even managed to fight his way out of a horde of hundreds of thousands of Abyss Beasts while carrying four people with only one hand.

That this kid was still alive and sitting across from him, full of life, felt like a miracle to Governor Sun Jingan.

"I thought you were here to pick a fight."

Chen Mo nodded, then a heart-wrenching pain surged through his body.

"Hiss..."

"Because your body temperature was too high, your internal organs were burned. You also have torn tendons throughout your body and extensive internal bleeding."

"Just stay in the hospital and recover honestly for the next few days. Do you really think you're an indestructible superman?"

"And another thing!"

Governor Sun Jingan pointed forcefully at himself.

"I am, at the very least, a Rank 7 Grandmaster, and I'm also the Governor and Garrison Commander of the entire Henan Province. Can you, a mere First-Grade Martial Artist, show me some respect?"

Governor Sun Jingan couldn't understand it; why was this kid always like this when facing him?

Didn't he know he could kill him with a single punch?

"Yeah, sure, Governor Sun Jingan, I respect you so much."

Chen Mo rolled his eyes. This old guy had never been serious in front of him from start to finish, yet he expected respect. What nonsense.

"Then, regarding this respectable Governor Sun Jingan, I would like to know about Officer Li's compensation..."

Chen Mo, who had intended to keep clowning around, remembered something, and his tone became heavy.

"I know. Officer Li completed his mission, fulfilled his duty, and kept his promise to protect the people."

"I will not forget him, Luo City will not forget him, Henan Province will not forget him, and the Great Xia will not forget him."

"From now on, his family will be supported and cared for by the state, and all future expenses will be covered by the state."

Governor Sun Jingan knew what Chen Mo wanted to say. It seemed like this was the first time this kid had encountered such a sacrifice.

"Chen Mo, kid, I know you're not feeling well."

"But what I want to tell you is that on the battlefield, especially the front lines, martial artists sacrifice themselves almost every second."

"Their sacrifice is for the stability of the rear. Otherwise, why do you think life outside the Abyssal Rift is so peaceful?"

Governor Sun Jingan patted Chen Mo's shoulder again; he seemed to only know this one way to comfort people.

"Alright, kid, I won't say any more unnecessary nonsense."

"I have a question: don't tell me you only know this one Hammer Fist technique?"

"Do you know that this Hammer Fist is only a C-grade martial skill, the absolute worst kind?"

Governor Sun Jingan changed the subject; he didn't want Chen Mo to feel too much guilt over this matter.

"What, is the respectable Governor Sun Jingan going to teach me some awesome martial skill?"

"I knew Governor Sun Jingan wouldn't just pay lip service and come empty-handed."

"So that's what you were waiting for!"

Chen Mo's eyes lit up, and he immediately climbed up the pole, pushing his luck.

Governor Sun Jingan opened his mouth. Had he been cornered by this kid? Little bastard, he really wanted to hit him!

"We'll talk about this after you've recovered."

Governor Sun Jingan waved his hand, unwilling to continue talking nonsense with Chen Mo. He'd just have to take the loss.

"Then, respectable Governor Sun Jingan, I wonder what fist technique you plan to teach me?"

"It can't just be a B-grade martial skill, right?"

"If you ask me, given Governor Sun Jingan's stature, it should be at least an A-grade martial skill..."

Chen Mo muttered while secretly glancing at Governor Sun Jingan.

"Alright! That's enough!"

"After you've recovered, I'll give you an A-grade martial skill. Is that good enough?"

Governor Sun Jingan was speechless. He couldn't hit this kid, and he couldn't scold him. It seemed he would just have to avoid him.

After saying this, Governor Sun Jingan didn't care whether Chen Mo agreed or not; he turned and disappeared from the spot.

"He runs pretty fast..."

Chen Mo curled his lip, but getting an A-grade martial skill wasn't bad—at least it was better than Hammer Fist.

"Right, my mission!"

Suddenly, Chen Mo remembered that he should have heard the notification about the rewards being issued before he lost consciousness.

He hurriedly opened the system panel and found a full 120 free attribute points lying quietly in the free attribute points column.

Almost instantly, Chen Mo distributed them into Strength and Constitution without the slightest hesitation.

A series of cracking sounds erupted within Chen Mo's body, and his internal organs, which had been stinging with pain, felt much better now.

"Comfortable..."

Chen Mo moved his shoulders, feeling like he had come back to life.

Currently, his Strength and Constitution had reached 258 and 259, respectively, an increase of a full one-third over the previous values.

If he factored in Limit Burst, compression, and super-compression... Chen Mo could now punch with the power comparable to a high-speed train at full throttle.

It could be described as quite terrifying and pure—absolute purity in terms of numbers.

However, the rapid surge in Strength and Constitution ultimately had some drawbacks, for instance, his muscles had become even more robust.

Touching his wrist, which was thicker than an average person's calf, Chen Mo sighed deeply.

He had to quickly increase the level of his Muscle Compression Technique, at least to the point where it could cycle 24 hours a day.

Otherwise, he would really become a wall that could breathe and talk...

"I wonder if my current grip strength could crush a human skull..."

Chen Mo pondered while rubbing his chin, then opened the system inventory.

From the time the system awakened until now, this was the first time he had used the system inventory.

Looking at the two cards inside, Chen Mo was curious about their effects.

He tapped on the 'Skill Limit Breakthrough Card,' and a line of small text appeared before Chen Mo's eyes.

[Skill Limit Breakthrough Card: Can increase the skill level cap by 10 levels]

"Hmm..."

Chen Mo thought for a long time and finally reached a conclusion about this item. It was tasteless to eat but a waste to throw away.

He turned his gaze to the other Skill Evolution Card and gently tapped it.

[Please select the skill you wish to evolve!]

"?"

A question mark appeared over Chen Mo's head. He just wanted to see the effect of this card; why did it activate it for him!?

"You tell me first, what exactly does this evolution entail?"

[Skill Evolution Card: Can be used to evolve a skill obtained from within the system that is capable of evolution. The direction of evolution is unknown, but it is certain that the evolved skill will be more powerful.]

[Currently available for evolution: Limit Burst]

"So, I have no choice then..."

Chen Mo sighed, having no option but to choose Limit Burst for evolution. Since the system said it would be more powerful, evolving it didn't really matter.

[Skill Evolution Successful!]

[Limit Burst → Limit Disintegration!]

[Limit Disintegration: Increases all attributes for a short period, and the host can reallocate attributes other than Intelligence and Luck during the duration!]

[Note: The duration and enhancement effects are the same as 'Limit Burst,' and the original level is retained.]

"This... what does that mean?"

Chen Mo's high Intelligence of 8 points played a crucial role at the critical moment, allowing him to quickly understand the difference between Limit Disintegration and Limit Burst.

Limit Burst simply increases the values, but Limit Disintegration converts all the increased values into free attribute points, allowing him to reallocate them.

It's just that everything reverts to its original state after the time ends; they are both just short-term burst skills.

"Xiao Mo, are you done talking with the Governor?"

Director Gu Sanding saw that the room had quieted down and walked in cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm done."

Chen Mo repeated his conversation with Governor Sun Jingan verbatim.

"Alright, Director, you go get some rest too."

"My injuries haven't healed yet, and you're also someone who underwent a bridge procedure; why are you wandering around instead of lying honestly in your hospital bed?"