城市猎人：系统升级之王

Prologue

In July, in Dragon City, a torrential rain poured down. A middle-aged man in a green robe was hastily rushing through the forest with a young man in his arms. The muddy ground posed no obstacle to the elder; even as he hurried along, only shallow footprints were left behind.
Trailing them was a tall, cold-faced youth who pursued them like a hunting leopard, closing the distance from five hundred meters, to four hundred and fifty, to four hundred... drawing ever nearer.
The young man being carried by the elder wore a look of sorrow and despair, shouting at the elder, "Uncle Guan! Don't bother with me anymore, go! Hurry and go!"
The elder's face was grave, his feet never pausing, but his tone was unusually resolute. "Young Master, no more talk. If not for Lady and Young Master saving this old servant back then, I would have long been dust. Now that Lady has unfortunately passed away early, and Young Master (encounters a great calamity), if this old servant were to abandon Young Master, how could I account for myself to Lady after death!?"
"I'm a burden! Taking me along will get us both killed!"
"Old servant here will not abandon Young Master as long as there's a breath left in me!"
"If you don't put me down, I'll hate you for life!"
"This old servant would rather be hated by Young Master for life."
"You..."
"Young Master, there's a river ahead. If we jump into it, we'll be saved!"
The elder's voice, filled with surprise and delight, caused tears to stream down the young man's face. Gazing at the rain-drenched sky, he roared inwardly: Why! Why is this happening? This isn't what I wanted!
Bang—
A gunshot echoed, and the elder suddenly staggered. A warm liquid splattered onto the young man's face. Lifting his head to look at the elder, his eyes widened, pupils dilating.
The whole world seemed to freeze.
Blood spurted from the elder's heart, spraying onto the young man's face. The arm that held the young man gradually lost strength, and with a thud, the young man fell onto the muddy ground.
"Uncle Guan—" The young man wailed, disregarding the mud on his body as he struggled to crawl to the elder's side, embracing him tightly, his heart pierced with agony. "Uncle Guan! Uncle Guan, what's wrong? Uncle Guan, don't scare me! Uncle Guan—"
Blood trickled from the elder's mouth. His face was alarmingly pale. Seeing the young man's anguish, he mustered all his strength to say, "Yo... Young Master... qu...quickly... go... go..."
"Uncle Guan..."
"Go!" Perhaps it was a surge of energy before his final moments, the elder exerted an immense force to grab the young man and throw him forward. This toss hurled the young man over ten meters, directly into the turbulent river.
The young man was swept downstream by the rapid currents. In his last glimpse, he saw the elder cling onto the leg of their pursuer, but in the next instant, the murderer fired several shots at the elder.
"Uncle Guan—!!!!!!!!!!" The young man shrieked, "Long Zongheng! I curse your mother!"
Hearing this, the murderer's expression flickered slightly. He immediately broke free from the elder's grip and chased after the young man.
Kicked away by the murderer, the elder lay on his back, his chest still faintly heaving. His withered hand reached into the pocket close to his heart and pulled out an old, bloodstained photograph.
On the photo were a middle-aged couple, each seated on a wooden chair. Behind them, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old, vibrant young girl hugged the couple, her face radiant with a bright smile.
On closer inspection, the middle-aged man's appearance bore a striking resemblance to the elder, just much younger, dressed in outdated clothes from over twenty years ago. It was presumably a family portrait from the elder's younger days.
Gazing at the photo of his wife and daughter, a trace of (relieved smile) appeared on the elder's lips. "Wife... Yun'er... I've made you wait so long... Now... I'm coming to join you..."
As his words faded, the elder's pupils dilated, and the hand holding the photograph slowly slipped away.
Blood stained the ground, only to be quickly washed away by the rain...
Young Master, this old servant is gone. You must... survive.
Elsewhere, the young man was swept along by the surging river, moving swiftly downstream. However, the current was much slower than the murderer's pursuit. In no time, the murderer caught up to where the young man was in the river. Looking at the struggling youth, the murderer sneered and aimed his gun.
The young man ceased his struggles, letting the water carry him along. His gaze on the murderer was icy, his voice hoarse. "Why?"
The murderer sneered in reply, "You're just a bastard, yet you dared to dream of becoming the heir to the throne. It's ridiculous."
"The throne?" Yes! It was all because of that damned throne, everything...
The young man cried out in pain, "I just wanted to meet my father. I never wanted to become the heir to the throne! Long Zongheng! You killed Uncle Guan! I won't let you off even in death!"
The murderer burst into laughter. "Get it straight. It was I who killed you, not Young Master Long."
"You're nothing! Just a dog!"
The murderer's face changed, and he snorted coldly, aiming his gun at the young man.
Bang—

Blood gushed from his chest, the young man's pupils dilated, and his hands rose, as if trying to grasp something, but he caught nothing. His body gradually lost strength, sinking slowly to the riverbed.The murderer sneered and lifted a walkie-talkie. "Young Master Long, mission accomplished.""Well done," came a voice as calm as still waters, as if this were but a trifling matter.The rain intensified, as if attempting to cleanse all sin from the earth.At the murky river bottom, the young man, now a corpse with a bullet wound, had a dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging around his neck. It touched his blood and unexpectedly emitted a gentle golden glow. An incredible surge of energy radiated outward from the young man, engulfing the entire planet within seconds.Animals, plants, microorganisms – living beings, and metals, stones, soil – inanimate objects, everything was scanned by this energy, displaying varying data. The world seemed to transform into a digital program, and these data funneled into the dragon-shaped jade pendant like water swirling down a drain.An electronic, icy voice sounded, "World scan complete. Average combat power of high-end organisms is low, with scarce special abilities. Overall rating is D-class. DNA compatibility is 100%. Host confirmed... Warning! Warning! Host's vital signs are fading. Initiating ultimate repair function... Repair complete. Excessive energy consumption. Entering hibernation mode."The dragon-shaped jade pendant merged into the young man's body, golden light flickering. Instantly, the gunshot wounds on his body healed, strength returned to his limbs, and his eyes, filled with hatred, slowly opened.