Chapter 16: The Improved Grenade

The remaining few combat skills included the Battle Mage’s Dragon Fang and Spinning Staff. Both of these were staff techniques, requiring a staff to execute.

Upon learning Dragon Fang, Luke’s mind was instantly imprinted with an incredibly detailed map of human acupoints. The purpose of Dragon Fang was to strike an opponent’s acupoints with a staff, causing their limbs to go numb and their body to seize up, rendering them helpless to resist.

Luke couldn’t help but think of the legendary Dog Beating Staff Technique from martial arts tales…

But that wasn’t the most astonishing part.

With a slap of his hand, the method for performing the Spinning Staff also appeared vividly in his mind.

Luke was taken aback.

This move was replicated exactly as it was in DNF, without any of the magical modifications that the previous skills had undergone.

Spinning Staff: Lifting a person entirely off the ground with a staff, then slamming them back down.

It was a flagrant violation of the laws of physics!

“Is this really possible?” Luke mimicked the motions in place, scratching his head in doubt.

Still, the move certainly sounded powerful.

Just imagine, in the heat of battle, picking up a full-grown adult with a single staff move that defied the principle of levers, then smashing them to the ground in blatant disregard of Newton’s three laws…

Someone hold the coffin lid down—wasn’t that Newton rolling over inside?

“Looks like I’ll have to prepare a staff and start carrying it with me from now on,” Luke mused with amusement. “Good thing I didn’t draw the Blind Monk’s skills—otherwise, I’d have turned into an old man with a stick.”

And did he think that was all?

No, the most exasperating surprises were yet to come.

Keywords: Street Brawler, Brick Assault.

As a refreshing surge of energy flowed into Luke’s mind, his heart turned cold with dismay.

This manual taught him how to knock people out with a brick—exactly where to strike to avoid killing them outright, and so on.

Luke broke out in a cold sweat.

The worst part was that to use this skill, you really needed a brick!

Was he supposed to carry a brick around with him at all times from now on?

Would New York cops say, “Citizen, put down your weap—uh, brick,” when they saw him?

And if he eventually learned the Street Brawler’s Net Throw, Street Storm, and so forth, would he need to keep a fishing net, water pipes, stools, and trash cans on hand as well?

“Give me a break!”

Luke made a firm decision on the spot—he would never use these skills unless absolutely necessary! It was just too humiliating…

Imagine fighting Kingpin in a serious duel and suddenly going berserk, hurling trash cans everywhere…

Luke couldn’t bear the shame!

On the bright side, after acquiring this whole string of combat skills, he could at least consider himself a half-competent fighter. He could even claim to be proficient in two of the eighteen classic weapons: the staff and the brick.

On second thought… best not to mention the brick.

He also drew another Energy Barrier manual from the Qi Master, which was a duplicate. But as he held the skill book, the system informed him that he could still learn from it.

Luke asked Lotus, who was sprawled sleepily on the nightstand, “What happens if you learn a skill you already know?”

“Obviously, it stacks,” Lotus replied, eyelids fluttering open. “The skill level increases by one, and its effects get stronger.”

“I see.”

Luke immediately absorbed the Energy Barrier again.

Amazingly, he felt a much deeper understanding of how to operate the barrier, as if he had mastered a new layer of skill—practice makes perfect, it seemed.

In practice, Luke found he could now deploy the Energy Barrier much faster.

Also, the barrier, now at level two instead of one, had an obviously larger coverage—its radius grew from one meter to two.

It also appeared rounder and more robust…

“Hm… its defensive strength must have increased as well. Not bad at all!”

Luke was thoroughly satisfied with this improvement.

Last night, his survival through that chaotic hail of bullets depended entirely on the Energy Barrier’s airtight, superb defense.

As long as the barrier remained intact, he was absolutely safe inside and could carry out any operation with impunity.

Like lobbing grenades, for instance.

Compared to throwing trash cans, Luke much preferred being known as the “Grenade Mom.”

This time, he had also drawn an Ice Grenade skill book. Counting the Shock Grenade, he now had two types of grenades to throw.

Ice Grenade: Upon detonation, it instantly releases ultra-low temperatures, freezing everything within its radius solid.

In the game, this was the core skill for the Ammunition Specialist. Brought into reality, Luke was sure its power would be more than satisfactory.

The only problem was that although he now knew how to make them, he lacked the necessary materials. He needed liquid nitrogen for the explosive payload, and that wasn’t something you could just find lying around.

“Liquid nitrogen should be available online, right? That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Luke realized he needed to schedule a big shopping spree and stock up on all sorts of odd materials required for crafting.

He still had sixty thousand dollars in that bank card, though he wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

After all, his shopping list didn’t stop at liquid nitrogen.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that special skill he’d drawn would require more money than sixty grand.

“Money is a real bastard. But everyone loves this bastard.”

Luke figured he’d have to tighten his belt for a while. In the short term, there was no way he’d be making more money.

After his recent escapade, Hell’s Kitchen was now on high alert—making off with tens of thousands of dollars in one go wouldn’t be happening again for the time being.

“Other than flipping burgers for daily expenses, I’ll have to save where I can. For grenade upgrades, I’ll just scavenge whatever scraps I can.”

TP Skill: Grenade Modification.

This new skill, also drawn this time, was one of Luke’s favorites.

Aside from that money-burning special skill, Luke predicted that Grenade Modification would give him the greatest boost in combat power.

As the name suggested, Grenade Modification meant upgrading the current Shock and Ice Grenades to make them more powerful.

The process was fairly complex. In short, it involved using higher-grade materials, replacing the contents, employing proper metal casings or even special alloys, thereby massively increasing their destructive potential.

The current Shock Grenades were nowhere near as powerful as they should have been.

After all, Luke had cobbled them together using junk scavenged from his foster parents’ house—such as remote control cars, a discarded toaster quietly retrieved after Karen threw it away, a broken alarm clock forgotten at the bottom of a box, even empty beer bottles left by his foster father—all repurposed for homemade grenades.

If these makeshift grenades had about 50% of normal firepower, then after a TP modification, the new versions would have at least 130%—far beyond the current level.

With better materials, that figure could climb even higher.

Honestly, Luke felt he was getting farther and farther down the path of becoming the “Grenade Mom”…

Imagine using Adamantium or Vibranium to craft Shock or Ice Grenades—the power would be outrageous!

Unfortunately, for now, all he could do was fantasize. Vibranium was not something he had any hope of obtaining at the moment.