Enforcer Manual
Chapter 972 - 888: Ace Partner

Chapter 972: Chapter 888: Ace Partner

In the aspect of street fighting, Lu Xiang was an unrivaled expert.

She was a model of leading by example in the force, always the first to charge into a street brawl, and the specialists in the special action unit all had great admiration for her.

You would find it difficult to find someone with better fighting skills than Lu Xiang in District Seventeen.

But upon hearing Song Lan’s question, Lu Xiang raised strong doubts.

In her mind, Song Lan had never fought a battle on equal terms, and using the term "rookie" to describe his street fighting skills was quite fitting.

And more importantly...

"Can your back take it?"

Lu Xiang asked from the other end of the phone.

In District Seventeen, even street thugs had their standards. At the height of criminal powers, gang members would find all sorts of ways to enhance their own strength every day.

They consumed illegal drugs, had black market cybernetic implants of dubious origin, or spent all their time in gyms, training day in and day out just to ensure they could strike down a nerd with a single punch.

And Song Lan, let alone going to the gym, seemed like going for a run would kill him.

"Grappling and shoulder throws require long hours of practice. Novices using these techniques not only fail to achieve their intended effect but are also very likely to twist their own backs."

"Wait a moment, let me ask."

With that, Song Lan turned to look at "Nothingness," who seemed to be very interested in the conversation between him and Lu Xiang.

"Old Lu asks how your back is?"

"Average."

"That means no good."

After exchanging glances, Song Lan understood tacitly.

"Nothingness" now had the appearance of a middle-aged man, with muscle lines that did not seem strong. Walking on the street, he was the type to get punched out by thugs. It was hard for him to imagine "Nothingness" in a life-and-death struggle with others.

Essentially, both he and "Nothingness" were disciples of the same school, those considered to be of the "health-preserving" type of combatants.

If placed in a game, they would both be classified as mage-type characters.

"Old Lu, I’ve asked, he has a sore back, leg cramps, and maybe even old cold legs. Do you have any unarmed combat techniques suitable for the elderly?"

Why would an old person want to engage in a melee with street thugs?

Isn’t it better to just stay at home, watch TV, and play with computers?

Song Lan’s topics always filled Lu Xiang with puzzles, but out of consideration for Song Lan’s back, she felt compelled to persuade him to give up such impractical ideas, saying, "The year is 2167."

"Hmm?"

"If you can’t beat someone in a fistfight, you can use weapons or get cybernetic implants."

This was the choice of most company people and the secret to why they, even while spending all day in air-conditioned rooms, could easily laugh off and provoke petty thugs, "Lute City should have gun shops, right? It would be more useful for you to buy a couple of guns than for you to ponder over unarmed combat techniques all afternoon."

"...Old Lu, are you really sure?"

Song Lan still remembered the last time he used a gun, when he accidentally injured an actor brought in by Guan Lili for filming. It was said that Kolo Film Industry had to pay the other party 50,000 watt-hours in compensation for recuperation. Since then, Guan Lili had never dared to let him touch a gun again.

"That is indeed a problem."

Lu Xiang on the other end of the phone also fell into thought.

She had recently discovered that Song Lan had some kind of magical quality, and on some not-so-important operations, the success rate was actually much higher without him.

After a moment of thought, she came up with a temporary solution, "When the time comes, you can pretend to shoot and then secretly knock them down with Spiritual Energy. In the chaos of the fight, it’s unlikely anyone will notice."

"Got it. Any other suggestions?"

"When you two go in, you take the lead."

She had come up with the idea, but Lu Xiang was worried about the personal safety of Song Lan’s friend, "If a real fight does break out, you and he should each take a corner, don’t overlap."

...

"How did it go?"

"Nothingness" had eavesdropped on the whole conversation between Song Lan and Lu Xiang but still feigned curiosity as he asked.

Honestly, the phone call made him confused; he vaguely felt that Lu Xiang was very concerned about Song Lan handling a gun. However, he didn’t know what had actually happened for her to be so fearful.

Another puzzle was how Song Lan had figured out that he had old cold legs.

Could this guy really be a famous detective?

"Old Lu suggests we go to a gun shop to buy some weapons for self-defense,"

"That’s easy, the Consortium has gun shops in Lute City among their industries. I’ve wanted to try them for a while now."

For him, firearms were nothing but amusing trinkets. Before Song Lan came to Oasis, he had never found the opportunity to use them.

After all, the Echoes of the upper world needed to maintain a sense of mystery, eluding the understanding of the faithful. When he was with Song Lan, he didn’t need to worry about such things.

"You know how to use a gun?"

"What’s so hard about that? You learn just by watching."

"...Where did you learn from?"

Song Lan suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"There was a very popular movie a few years back, produced by Kolo Film Industry. It was about a top Assassin in his home being ambushed, where the attackers killed his dog, prompting him to embark on a path of vengeance."

"Nothingness" empathized with the film, especially after the protagonist’s dog was killed.

If someone killed the cricket he painstakingly raised, he would be absolutely furious as well, leveling not just the killer but the whole city they belonged to.