Upon hearing this good news, Xiao He quickly opened his panel and found that his points had reached the 50,000 mark for the first time!
However, nearly 40,000 points were accumulated slowly through the long-tail effect of the characters "Zhu Laosan" and "Muze", especially the character "Zhu Laosan".
Although Shen Jue was ruthless and his boning knife was cruel and bloody, he did not achieve the kind of "criminal influence" that Xiao He wanted.
Of course, this is only in comparison, since the promotion has only just begun and the points are still steadily increasing. All I can say is that Zhu Laosan is just too wicked; from the audience's perspective, he's clearly more of a beast.
After reviewing his own points, Xiao He's gaze fell on the hundred-point draw next to him.
Speaking of which, with all these pulls he's saved up, is he capable of emptying the low-level card pool?
Xiao He rested his chin on his hand in thought: "If I were to draw this now, that would be five hundred draws."
"How about we try two hundred draws first?"
Xiao He muttered to himself, while tapping the system: "System, I'm doing big business with you, can't you at least show me the prize pool? Let me see what's left in this beginner prize pool, I have no idea what's in the rest of your pools."
The system remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering that Xiao He was indeed its major benefactor, and then silently showed Xiao He a portion of the lottery prizes.
There were indeed many things that Xiao He was interested in, but even more things that Xiao He wanted to complain about.
Xiao He shifted his gaze from the few skills that looked pretty good, and slowly flipped through the prizes below, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Huh? A knife that kills without drawing blood? What's the point of drawing that thing?"
"Grave excavation sensor? You mean you want me to dig up other people's ancestral graves?"
"A complete guide to cooking human flesh? Ugh—take it away, don't disgust me."
"Poison powder quality assessment? It seems pretty useful, at least it prevents being poisoned... Holy crap, the poison you're talking about? How could I dare to taste it? And taste it? Get lost, don't even think about it, I'm calling the police!"
"Human transport? What is that... Huh? After changing my body type, I can stuff things inside my body to pass through security? Ugh, I'm disgusted!"
"Huh? There's an artist here too, a vase maker... Holy crap, is this vase even a person? Get lost!"
"Ah, that's pretty normal, sniping proficiency... Ugh, that's not normal either! Where would I get a sniper rifle in this society governed by law! Am I supposed to use it to pop balloons at a street stall?"
Besides these, there are some things that even Xiao He couldn't bring himself to complain about.
For example, human flesh delicacy, basic torture techniques, robbery disguise masks... and even a bunch of indescribable skills and tools specifically designed for sex crimes!
Xiao He's worldview was reshaped.
He realized he was wrong.
He was very wrong.
Why would he think that a criminal system could have anything good about it?
His understanding of the criminal world is still too narrow!
Do you really think it's as simple as just killing? No!
Xiao He was even thankful that he had been very restrained in his lottery draws and hadn't drawn anything recklessly. What if he had drawn something weird...? These things are non-refundable! If he had drawn something like a human transporter or a poison powder appraiser... Xiao He felt he might as well find a place to start over.
The only thing that relieved Xiao He was the system's note at the bottom: 【The current prize draw weight changes according to your situation; high probability of obtaining highly sought-after items and skills, low probability of obtaining other items and skills.】
Xiao He understood.
Waaah, I misunderstood the system. All the skills it gave me so many times have been usable skills, not those weird and strange things. It's just too good!
—No, we can't think like that! Just because it offers a sweet treat, does that mean we should give in to it? No!
"Hey system, let's make a deal," Xiao He said tentatively. "Have you ever heard of targeted lotteries and guaranteed minimum payouts?"
"It's basically about choosing the prizes I want to draw. If I don't get one, I'll keep drawing. Don't give me any other random stuff, just convert it all into lifespan points. Of course, you have to give me a minimum number of draws, right? Otherwise, I could draw a ton of prizes and still not get what I want—"
Following Xiao He's words, the system fell into a long silence.
Xiao He was filled with anxiety: "Also, I'm accumulating points every day, and my lifespan is almost increasing instead of decreasing. Will I really end up living like a turtle? Don't you have any other exchange mechanisms?"
Although immortality is wonderful, he would rather be an ordinary person.
Don't become a turtle! No way...
After stating his requirements, Xiao He waited quietly for the system's response.
To be honest, Xiao He had always felt that this system was a bit silly, like a half-finished product.
Not to mention the terrible system interface, the system still hasn't discovered that he's exploiting a bug.
Normally, he should spend a long time planning and preparing for a crime, and then another long time evading police pursuit. Even if he did commit a nationally sensational crime, as time passes, the shadow of the case will fade from people's sight in just a few months, and at most he would only get a few thousand points.
Xiao He, however, exploited a bug and ascended to the top in one step.
So this tells us that no matter how powerful a cheat is, it's useless if you encounter a bug.
The system is cheating, but Xiao He is a bug. What should we do?
So, as Xiao He waited with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation, the system...
【System update in progress, please wait...】
Xiao He: ...
No, I've been waiting so long, and this is what you show me?
Hello? Are you still there?
System? Dog system?!
Don't play games like this! How long do I have to wait?!
"well--"
Xiao He sighed deeply.
Liu Rulan thought Xiao He was unhappy with the news, so she patted him and said, "Why are you sighing all of a sudden while you're daydreaming? Isn't this a good thing? There's a lot of discussion about The Thief Catcher on the internet right now! And a lot of people are calling for a second season. If you weren't filming here, I could have filled your schedule with commercial appearances."
Xiao He could only pull himself together and change the subject: "Did Director Lin say anything? Do you need me to help promote it again?"
Liu Rulan curled her lips into a confident smile: "I have a better way to handle the publicity. You'll see when we get back."
Xiao He: "Okay."
After returning home that evening, Xiao He, under Liu Rulan's guidance, recorded a video of himself using a knife to remove bone.
In the video, a young man casually wearing a black short-sleeved shirt leisurely cuts ribs on a cutting board. As the rhythm of the background music intensifies, he lifts a rib and tosses it high into the air, his knife-wielding hand flashing rapidly. The rib is reduced to clean white bone in the afterimage of his hand. Just as the music reaches its climax, the young man's knife suddenly slashes horizontally towards the camera. The screen is instantly sliced open by the blade, narrowing abruptly and becoming an almost frozen slow-motion shot. Behind the blade, only the young man's eyes, belonging to Shen Jue, are visible, carrying a cold and murderous chill.
Meanwhile, the title of his video was: "I bet you can't wield this knife."
