novellhall Chapter 28 Practical Response +1
Chapter 28 Practical Response +1
The first bus arrived fairly punctually.
The car wasn't too crowded.
A few elderly women who had gotten up early to stroll around Beverly Hills and passengers who looked like hotel staff were sitting there.
Chen Xun inserted the coin and found a seat by the window.
The car drove slowly, stopping frequently, as if it weren't picking up passengers but rather conducting some kind of neighborhood tour.
Looking out the window at the luxurious shops and neatly trimmed palm trees, Chen Xun felt that last night's experience was more like a dream.
After the car descended the mountain, it gradually entered a more ordinary community, and the number of passengers began to increase.
We arrived at the transfer point.
Chen Xun got off the car.
Waiting for the next bus at a busy, crowded bus station.
The environment here suddenly feels much more down-to-earth.
When the second bus arrived at the station, it was already packed with people.
Chen Xun squeezed his way up with the crowd, inserted his coin, and then struggled to find a place to stand in the middle of the carriage.
Next to him was a young man wearing huge headphones, swaying his body to the rhythm, and opposite him was a middle-aged woman holding shopping bags, muttering to herself.
The train started moving, its speed still appalling, and the time it spent stopping at each station was outrageously long.
Chen Xun noticed that when it was chaotic with passengers getting on and off at the front and back doors, two or three people would sneak up through the back door without paying, while the driver was looking down at the timetable or focused on the passengers paying at the front door.
Their movements were practiced and their expressions natural, as if they were simply walking through an ordinary door.
One of the boys, wearing a hoodie, even smugly gestured to his companion outside the train after successfully evading the fare.
Chen Xun was a little speechless, but he wasn't surprised.
In Los Angeles, especially on certain lines and during certain times, fare evasion on public transportation is almost an open secret.
He subconsciously tensed up, not out of fear, but as an instinctive reaction stemming from his physical attributes, which made him more acutely aware of the potential risks in his surroundings.
With his current physical condition, reaction speed, and strength, he should have no problem dealing with a few petty thieves.
The bus continued its journey, swaying and rattling, the carriage filled with various smells.
Sweat, cheap perfume, the smell of some fried food.
The in-car TV was playing the morning news in a blurry voice, drowned out by the roar of the engine and the conversations of the passengers.
At a red light intersection, the bus braked suddenly, and the passengers inside swayed due to inertia.
Chen Xun exerted his core strength, stood firmly, and barely moved.
Meanwhile, the young man next to him wearing headphones slammed his head against the armrest of the seat in front of him, grimacing and cursing.
Chen Xun suddenly recalled the scene from a year ago when he fought with those thugs to save Shen Man.
At that time, he acted entirely out of sheer courage, with no method to his movements. Although he didn't suffer a major loss in the end, he was hit several times, his lip was split open, and his body was bruised for several days.
If it were now...
He subconsciously simulated it in his mind.
With his upgraded physical attributes, he felt he could resolve the conflict much more cleanly and efficiently.
A few precise parries and counterattacks might be enough to incapacitate the opponent, while one can likely emerge unscathed.
That sense of control over my body was something I had never experienced before.
This confidence stems from increased strength.
Just like playing a game, once your character level and equipment improve, you'll find that the monsters you used to find difficult are no problem at all.
Just then, a small commotion came from the back of the carriage.
A burly man who had just been suspected of fare evasion got into an argument with another passenger due to the crowd, and they shoved each other.
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
Chen Xun immediately focused his attention, his eyes sweeping over the two people, his body in a subtle state of readiness.
His physical attributes allowed him to clearly judge that the burly man's strength was weak and his lower body unstable; he was simply relying on his size to intimidate people.
Fortunately, the conflict did not escalate. Someone nearby offered a few words of advice, and the driver also shouted through the rearview mirror. The burly man stopped cursing and hurriedly got off at the next stop.
Chen Xun breathed a sigh of relief, his tense muscles relaxing.
The bus swayed and rattled as it entered Koreatown, where Korean signs gradually became more and more numerous along the streets.
The carriage was still crowded and the air was stuffy.
Chen Xun held onto the handrail, his body swaying gently with the carriage, his mind racing with how to clean up the mess Li Suyan had made in the kitchen when he got back.
Just then, he felt a very slight tug on the back pocket of his jeans.
Extremely subtle!
If it weren't for his physical attributes giving him an extraordinary level of tactile sensitivity and enhanced perception of his surroundings, he probably wouldn't have noticed it at all.
He didn't turn around immediately, but through the blurry reflection of the car window, he saw a skinny Latino guy wearing a baseball cap behind him, who was trying to nimbly pull his wallet out of his back pocket with two fingers.
Thief!
His technique was fairly skillful, but in his current view, it was too slow and had too many flaws.
Just as the thief thought he had succeeded and his fingertips had touched the edge of the wallet, Chen Xun moved!
Without any unnecessary movements, his left hand shot out like lightning and precisely grabbed the other person's wrist!
"what!"
Caught off guard, the thief cried out in pain, feeling as if his wrist had been clamped by iron clamps.
Chen Xun kept his right hand on the ring, his body as steady as a rock, and twisted it with his left hand.
He controlled his strength perfectly, inflicting excruciating pain on his opponent without causing immediate serious harm.
The thief, in pain, instinctively swung his other hand at Chen Xun's face!
Typical street brawling!
Completely haphazard!
Chen Xun tilted his head slightly and easily dodged the attack.
He even had time to mentally complain:
The punch was soft and weak, far inferior to Tyson's feints during his routines. He grabbed his opponent's wrist with his left hand and pulled it downwards, while simultaneously tripping him with a very subtle footwork.
The thief felt an irresistible force coming at him, his lower body went awry, and he was slammed onto the carriage floor with a "thud." The movement was clean and swift, reminiscent of MMA ground fighting techniques.
A low gasp rippled through the carriage, and other passengers quickly moved aside.
[Physical Attributes - Combat Reaction +1]
A gray orb of light fell from his body.
Chen Xun maintained control while simultaneously absorbing the nutrients.
The thief was thrown around in a daze, his wrist still firmly gripped, realizing he'd met his match.
He looked at Chen Xun in terror and begged for mercy in Spanish.
Chen Xun ignored him and said coldly in English, "Get out! Don't let me see you again."
Just then, the bus pulled into the station, and the doors opened with a hiss. Chen Xun released his grip.
The thief, as if granted a pardon, scrambled off the bus, not even bothering to pick up the baseball cap that had fallen to the ground, and disappeared around the corner in a disheveled state.
The whole process took less than thirty seconds.
The bus driver looked in the rearview mirror and saw the second half of the road, then shouted:
"Is everything alright back there?"
"Fine!"
Chen Xun replied, bent down to pick up his wallet, dusted it off, and stuffed it back into his pocket.
The other passengers in the carriage looked at him with a mixture of awe and curiosity.
Chen Xun stood up straight without changing his expression, as if he had just casually swatted away a fly.
But he knew in his heart that without the crazy improvement in his physical attributes over the past month, in that situation, he could at most have spotted the thief, but he would never have been able to subdue him so easily.
The upgraded physical attributes have given him not only fancy moves for filming, but also real street survival skills.
After a few more stops, Chen Xun got off the train at his stop.
Stepping onto the familiar grounds of Koreatown.
He stretched his arm, which he had just used to exert force, and felt good.
As he walked down to the apartment building, he smelled a familiar, strange odor mixed with a burnt smell and a hint of spiciness.
He sighed and resigned himself to his fate, going upstairs.