He had not expected the Hollow Ether here to be this powerful. Logically speaking, after cultivating the Power of the Accursed Moon, one's overall resistance should also improve.

Even if one could still be corrupted into an Ethereal, they should at least be able to hold out longer. As long as they exited the Hollow within that time, they would be fine.

That unfortunate fellow who turned into a boss level Ethereal was truly a pity.

After all, those capable of cultivating the Power of the Accursed Moon were people who harbored goodwill toward others. He could have contributed much more to society.

Walking across the plaza and observing the people on the streets, Nolan noticed that the appearance of the Accursed Moon had not caused any major changes in this world's society.

Clearly, since only those with kind hearts could cultivate it, such people would naturally abide by and uphold order.

After wandering around for a while longer, Nolan spotted some uniformed Public Security officers patrolling the streets. He decided to head to Hollow Zero to farm Adventure EXP, lest he be questioned.

After all, he had no identity. If discovered, it would be troublesome.

Just as he turned to leave and prepared to slip out of the pedestrians' line of sight, a shout suddenly came from behind.

"Stop! Don't run!"

Hmm? They already found me?

Nolan was slightly surprised and turned back, only to realize that the two officers he had just seen were chasing a flustered looking man.

The man ran toward Nolan, tossing wooden sticks, paper boxes, and crates from in front of houses and shops behind him along the way, trying to obstruct the two officers chasing him.

In the end, he even grabbed the chubby cat Nolan had just petted and threw it backward.

The two officers were both young women, one tall and one shorter, chasing in tandem. Seeing the fat cat suddenly flying toward them,

the one in front, a young woman with black hair streaked with red highlights, showed a hint of panic on her fair face and quickly sidestepped to avoid it.

The slightly shorter girl behind her calmly caught the cat, though she seemed to have misjudged its weight.

She stumbled forward, nearly falling, but thanks to her agility, she twisted her body to disperse the force and tossed the cat onto a nearby wall before continuing the chase after the man, whose crime was still unknown.

Judging by his masked appearance, there was no need to think twice, he was most likely some petty criminal.

"Get out of the way! Move!"

The masked man shouted as he shoved aside pedestrians blocking his path. When he reached out to push Nolan, Nolan simply stepped aside and extended his leg, tripping him.

"Damn it!"

As he fell, the masked man shot Nolan a furious glare, but he had no time for revenge.

The moment he hit the ground, he tried to get up and continue running.

Unfortunately, the two officers behind him were no pushovers. The instant he fell, they seized the opportunity, quickly closing in and pinning him back down before he could stand!

"Ah!"

The masked man's chin slammed into the ground, letting out a painful cry.

"Don't move, you're under arrest!"

He tried to struggle, but the young officer had already taken out handcuffs and locked them onto him.

"Damn it!"

The masked man glared viciously at Nolan. If he had just run a little farther, he could have reached a Hollow entrance he had discovered and hidden there. It was all this meddlesome bastard's fault.

"Don't look at me. You're the one who tried to shove me first," Nolan said with a helpless expression.

Seeing something like this, he had already intended to lend a hand anyway, not to mention this guy had practically run into trouble himself.

"Phew… citizen, thank you for your assistance. The Public Security Bureau offers a reward for helping capture suspects. If you have time, you can come back with us now to register and claim it."

The slightly taller officer, her hair tied in a single ponytail, let out a small sigh of relief after securing the suspect. She then looked at Nolan with a smile.

[Zhu Yuan Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 860 Affection Points. Current Afection Level: Lv.4 (260/400)]

Tch, didn't expect I'd still have to deal with an identity check… Nolan thought somewhat helplessly.

After all, claiming the reward would definitely require registering identity information. But refusing might make him even more suspicious, since most people would not turn down a reward.

"Mm… that's fine."

After thinking for a moment, Nolan did not refuse. He glanced at the girl and saw that she also had golden potential for affection. This was a good chance to raise her affection.

After all, you could never have too many powerful affection skills.

As for the other officer, her name was Qingyi. What surprised him was that she was actually a puppet body, though it was not obvious at first glance.

"Please come with us," Zhu Yuan nodded, then escorted the captured suspect back with Qingyi, while Nolan followed behind.

Out of curiosity, he asked what crime the masked man had committed, and was told that he was suspected of illegally entering a Hollow.

While heading back to the Public Security Bureau with them, Nolan secretly summoned Silver Wolf and had her invisibly create an identity for him within the bureau's system.

For a top tier hacker like Silver Wolf, this was effortless.

However, as she left, she shot Nolan a disdainful look. Going through all this trouble was nothing more than him indulging his lustful thoughts again.

What a scumbag.

Noticing her contemptuous gaze, Nolan gave her soft backside a squeeze. Tonight, he would make sure she learned her lesson.

With his identity settled, the process of claiming the reward went smoothly. Throughout it, Nolan spent more than half an hour within two meters of Zhu Yuan.

As a result, her affection increased slightly again.

After getting acquainted with Zhu Yuan, Nolan left the Public Security Bureau in a good mood. He wandered around the area for a while longer before finding an alley without people or cameras and used spatial travel to leave.

Raising Zhu Yuan's affection to the maximum would not be difficult, the main issue was finding a reason to spend time together. For now, there was no suitable opportunity.

So Nolan decided to head into Hollow Zero first to farm Adventure EXP and raise his level.

With his current strength, covering the entire Hollow with his spiritual sense was effortless, so he did not waste any time.

He directly used his spiritual power to crush all the Ethereals within the Hollow, causing a flood of EXP gain notifications to appear on his status panel.

Before long, he gathered the remaining EXP needed to reach level 220 and eagerly invested it into leveling up.

A familiar sensation, like soaking in a warm spring, surged through him as his life underwent another layer of evolution.

[Your Level Has Increased To Lv.220. Your Evolution Has Reached A New Stage. You May Obtain A "Racial Speciality." Please Choose.]

The familiar prompt appeared once again. He could obtain a new specialization, and Nolan felt a hint of anticipation as he continued to look at his status panel.

(End of Chapter)

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