Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: A Special Dissection

"Sis, do you think... I’m the kind of person who’s easy to get along with?"

Lloyd asked out of the blue during breakfast.

Evelor, of course, answered without the slightest hesitation:

"Of course you are! My dear Yi is the best in the world!"

Then she paused, a little startled, and quickly followed up:

"Yi, why the sudden question? Did something unpleasant happen with someone?"

She seemed a little worried by her brother’s question. Her white-stockinged feet stopped dangling and crossed over each other, the milky, silky-smooth texture bunching together like sweet, sticky ice cream bars.

"Nothing unpleasant, really. It’s just that a few of my ’colleagues’ have some misunderstandings about me. They think I’m hard to get along with."

Lloyd explained.

"I see..."

Evelor thought about it seriously before replying:

"I don’t think you need to worry too much about it, Yi. You don’t need to defend yourself. With how outstanding and sincere you are, you should be able to change their minds soon enough."

"Mhm! I think so, too."

Lloyd nodded and smiled, then changed the subject.

"By the way, Sis, is your magazine coming out tomorrow? Should I take a day off to go with you?"

"No, no, you don’t have to worry about me, Yi. I can handle it. Your work is more important; after all, the safety of our entire city is at stake."

"Alright then. Remember to bring a copy back for me. I’ll recommend it to my colleagues."

"Hee hee, I knew you were the best, Yi."

Evelor gave a sweet smile.

After finishing breakfast and combing their hair, the siblings shared a quick hug before heading their separate ways.

When Lloyd arrived at the Eighteenth District, he didn’t find Weiya waiting at the ’subway entrance.’ Instead, he heard a series of reserved, quiet coughs from behind him, as if someone was trying not to be noticed.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"

Lloyd quickly hurried back and, sure enough, saw Weiya leaning against the wall, panting softly as she coughed.

’Finally, a chance.’

He smiled to himself, strode forward, and gently patted Weiya’s back, making physical contact with her.

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

Because Weiya always arrived earlier than him, Lloyd had never had a chance to touch her and absorb her Madness Value.

’I can’t just go and hold her hand, can I?’

A moment later, Weiya gradually recovered and stopped coughing. She quickly explained:

"I left a little late today, and you saw me in such a state again."

As she spoke, she noticed Lloyd’s hand was still on her back, while his other hand rested on her shoulder, making it look a bit like he was holding her in his arms.

Weiya froze for a second. She said nothing, only lowering her head slightly as she asked:

"You haven’t tried the communication device?"

"No. I saw the instructions were pretty simple, so I figured I’d wait until I actually needed it to avoid bothering you."

Lloyd explained.

"Actually, you could also use it to discuss Swordsmanship with me, or... anything else..."

"Well... I was thinking we could discuss those things when we meet in the morning..."

Lloyd explained, trailing off hesitantly.

Weiya: "..."

Just then, Lloyd finished absorbing her Madness Value, so he quickly let go and said:

"Alright, let’s go."

Weiya nodded without a word, seemingly a bit upset.

Lloyd couldn’t quite read her mood, so he tried to finish his earlier, unfinished thought:

"I’m also a little worried... What if one morning we meet and have nothing to talk about?"

Hearing this, Weiya suddenly broke into a smile, one that was exceptionally gentle and beautiful.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, seeming to brighten the entire dim subway tunnel, and replied:

"Don’t worry. If that day ever comes, we can just find new things to talk about together."

...

Lloyd’s regular workload was increased again today. He had to deal with a total of seven Level -3 and two Level -2 Demons.

This was his heaviest workload in a while. He had a blast killing them all, and the Madness Value he harvested, combined with his previous remainder, was just enough to level up.

’Five points into Spiritual Power, let’s go!’

[Ding! Points allocated.]

[User: Lloyd]

[Status: Normal]

[Madness Value: 0/4000, Limit: 8500]

[Rationality: 85]

[Spiritual Power: 85]

[Inspiration: 40]

[Cognition: 80]

[Systems: Twist LV2, Veto LV1]

[Mastered Skills: High-Efficient Learning; Probe; Divination LV4; Dizziness Resistance LV4; Precise Dissection LV4; Twisted Realm LV4; Swordsmanship LV4; Aggressive Speech LV2; Orbital Control LV1; Seed of Distortion LV1; Veto Declaration (Twist) LV1]

[Unparsed Fragment: Unknown Fragment of unknown composition*1, current analysis progress 8%]

Lloyd took a closer look and noticed that the Madness Value required for each level-up had increased again.

’It’s increasing faster than my Inspiration stat...’

But it wasn’t a big problem. As long as he could maintain a workload like today’s, leveling up wouldn’t be too difficult.

As Lloyd pondered this, he took off his white lab coat and was about to head to the library to check out a book when he heard a knocking sound drift into his mind.

’Did a friend just come online?’

Then, the Chief Judge’s gentle and refined voice came through:

"Lloyd, please come to Tower Two."

’The Chief Judge really is too polite. He could have just spoken directly, but he ’knocked’ first.’

’But then again, why is it that when the Chief Judge speaks directly into someone’s mind, it isn’t scary, but when I do it, I can scare the people from the Future Studies Seminar to tears?’

’Is it because of my voice? The tone?’

’But Sis said my voice sounds nice...’

Lost in his rambling thoughts, Lloyd hurried to Tower Two. On the highest floor, the sixth, he saw the Chief Judge floating in mid-air, along with Chief of Staff Glaucus, whose hairline was already at a shocking state of retreat.

After a polite exchange of pleasantries, Lloyd glanced around at the environment. It had the atmosphere of a laboratory, fully equipped with workstations and all sorts of tools and equipment. It looked far more high-end, bright, and spacious than his rented basement.

’But isn’t Tower Two in charge of logistics and support?’

As he was pondering this, two Priests walked in, carrying a large crate. They slammed it down heavily on the experiment table in front of Lloyd.

They opened it and hauled out a large lump of...

’Frozen ham?’

To be precise, it was the limb of some Demon, frozen into a solid block of ice. Its shape and color somewhat resembled a leg of ham.

"Lloyd, release your inspiration and follow my guidance."

The Chief Judge ’spoke’ again.

Lloyd did as he was told. He felt his inspiration being enveloped by a gentle power, which then guided it down onto the frozen ham and into its interior.

Then, a web-like structure resembling blood vessels appeared on the ham’s surface.

Its appearance hadn’t actually changed. Rather, it was the Chief Judge’s influence that made this structure visible to Lloyd’s eyes.

’The wondrous Wisdom System...’

’Good thing this wondrous system can’t be used to pry into people’s thoughts.’

"Next, I will continue to guide you as you strip the blood vessels from this Karmic Demon’s leg,"

the Chief Judge continued.

Lloyd was taken aback and quickly asked:

"A Karmic Demon? Is that a Demon Ghost with a danger level of 7 or higher?"

"Strictly speaking, they are an entirely different form of life from Demon Ghosts... There’s no need to rush to understand all this. You don’t need to worry about fighting them yet."

The Chief Judge explained casually, then turned to glance at his chief of staff.

The latter hurried over, holding a small wooden box. He opened it to reveal a Spiritual Blade in the style of a scalpel.

It was the first time Lloyd had ever seen such a compact model.

"Use this. It contains a portion of my power, which will help you break through its surface defenses more easily,"

the Chief Judge advised.

Lloyd reached out and picked up the small scalpel. He could feel a unique Spiritual Energy emanating from it, containing a hint of the power of Veto.

"Begin. Don’t be nervous. You are the young man with the most exquisite dissection technique in our Eighteenth District."

"Hooo..."

Lloyd let out a long breath, nodded, and walked up to the ’frozen ham.’

Although the thick, solid ice on it had not yet melted, the moment the scalpel’s edge drew near, the ice instantly dissipated into the air, emitting a Spiritual Energy unique to the Veto system.

So it wasn’t ice at all, but rather some kind of Veto power that had taken on the appearance of ice.

As the ice completely melted away, a panel notification sounded in Lloyd’s ear:

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

’If I’m not mistaken, it’s coming from this ’ham.’’

Lloyd was slightly startled; this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

’Just a severed leg can emit Spiritual Contamination?’

’In that case, a complete Karmic Demon...’

’Just how much Madness Value would that be?’

Seeing his movements pause, the Chief Judge spoke again to explain:

"Do not be afraid. There is no danger. I will help you resist a portion of the Spiritual Contamination, but it would be best to hurry..."

Lloyd really wanted to tell him not to meddle...

His hands, however, were quite serious as he brought the scalpel down. Following the vascular pattern visible to his eyes, he began this special dissection.

As the blade was about to make contact with the ’ham’s’ surface, Lloyd keenly sensed a subtle resistance, as if an invisible force was obstructing it. ’Some kind of defense mechanism?’

’But this is just a single, severed leg...’

The feeling of resistance lasted only for a brief moment before it was negated by the power on the scalpel. Lloyd’s blade descended, cutting into the ’ham’s’ outer layer.

But from the tactile feedback, Lloyd felt like he wasn’t ’cutting meat,’ but rather slicing through a piece of steel.

It was even harder than steel. Every time the scalpel slid across it, it scraped up a few sparks.

However, when Lloyd observed the cut surface he had made, he saw that it still looked like muscle fiber. ’A bit like human muscle?’

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!