Lost and Found: The Most Needed Gift! Double Talent Rewards!

"Found him."

King Xin nodded, his voice steady. "After receiving your orders, I dispatched several teams to search the entire city for the commander's whereabouts.

"Ever since his third breakdown, most people have avoided him, but his location has never been a secret.

"He keeps calling out, hoping for someone to understand him. If you pay attention, he's not that hard to find."

King Xin paused before continuing, "If you need, Miss Jiang, I can have my men bring him over. It'll take about an hour."

"Good," Jiang Xiaoci nodded. "I'm quite curious about what exactly happened to the commander of Xinchang… I also heard that you were once one of his most loyal followers, that you held deep respect for him. Even after his third breakdown, you never gave up hope and even saw yourself as his successor, gathering like-minded people around you."

"Miss Jiang, that's just a rumor."

King Xin stiffened, quickly explaining, "I would never presume to take such a role. The commander had the government's endorsement. I'm just an ordinary citizen—someone who simply wanted to do his part in the nation's disaster relief efforts. There's no way I would try to claim leadership."

"No need to be so nervous."

Jiang Xiaoci chuckled, though her words carried an undertone of something sharper.

King Xin wasn't fooled. He could hear the unspoken warning in her voice—if he showed too much attachment to the Xinchang commander, it would place him under her scrutiny.

His instincts told him this woman had a subtle hostility toward the commander.

"Miss Jiang, I don't know much about him."

After a brief hesitation, King Xin chose to deny everything. "I may have followed him in the past, but I never truly understood him. As for that 'successor' talk—it's nothing more than a joke, a misunderstanding of my desire to help others."

"Alright, if you say so."

Jiang Xiaoci let the topic slide effortlessly, then turned to Chen Xun.

"Chen Xun, about the task Chen Dapeng assigned you earlier—did you follow through?"

"Not yet," Chen Xun admitted, lowering his voice. "Captain Chen's orders… I was afraid that if I carried them out too directly, it might harm the public image of Jinling's disaster relief teams."

Executing dissenters outright—it was a bit too blunt.

"You can be more tactful about it."

Jiang Xiaoci smiled. "As long as the message gets across, that's what matters. After all, we're already here—it's only right that the people of Xinchang are aware of our presence. Disaster relief is a noble cause, and we should present it with confidence. Do you understand?"

"I… I think I do."

Chen Xun lowered his head, mulling over her words.

Mike, meanwhile, had already tuned out the rest of the conversation.

With Jiang Xiaoci personally handling Xinchang's situation, things were as stable as they could be. There was little that could escape her notice, and given how much she'd fixated on the commander's breakdown, she had clearly caught on to something strange.

That was what worried Mike.

He still had no solution if he himself were to fall into the same situation—if some unknown force bypassed all his defenses and directly tampered with his mind.

"How would I resist?"

Mike took a deep breath, muttering to himself.

"Should I bring Lu Nianxin back to protect me? But even if he has the skillset for it, moving him would mean leaving Chen Dapeng without a safeguard.

"Xiaoci must have thought of this. If she didn't immediately recall Lu Nianxin, it probably means she doesn't believe he could truly protect me."

"For now, my best bet is to find the Xinchang commander and piece together what really happened to him."

Just as Mike was lost in thought, a notification flashed before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have triggered a talent reward! You have received an A-rank special item—'The Teddy Bear's Love.']

[Congratulations! Due to an active mechanism, today's talent reward has doubled!]

Mike glanced at the clock—it was midday. The daily talent rewards had arrived.

An A-rank item. Not quite the grand prize, but with the bonus effect activated, he had received two of them.

"Two A-rank items… Let's see what they are."

Curious, he opened his shelter's interface and checked the details.

[Teddy Bear's Love]: A-rank special item. A soft plush bear—a child's first gift from their mother, carrying deep maternal love. When in your possession, it can negate one fatal injury or a significant mental attack. ('A child with love does not suffer a broken, dark childhood.')

"Huh?"

"Wait—wait!"

Mike's eyes widened before a grin spread across his face.

"Yes! This is exactly what I needed!"

The teddy bear's effect was simple but powerful—a safeguard against fatal harm or mental damage.

Negating fatal damage wasn't of much use to him. His current environment was secure, and if he ever faced someone like Chen Dapeng, a single negation wouldn't make a difference—his opponent could kill him a hundred times over in mere seconds.

But protection against mental attacks? That was invaluable.

The Xinchang commander's breakdown was likely caused by a psychic assault or some kind of mental affliction.

With two instances of resistance, Mike had just significantly reduced his own risk of sharing that fate.

Even if he couldn't uncover the exact cause of the commander's madness, he at least had a safety net.

"Wait a second!"

Mike's excitement cooled as a sudden realization struck him.

"My talent ability no longer includes the 'most needed' modifier… So why did I still get exactly what I needed most?"

"Could it be… Lin Yue's luck talent at work?"

He blinked.

In terms of probability, 'receiving the most urgently needed reward' was essentially a stroke of luck.

"Holy—then I really lucked out!"

"The missing part of my talent has been patched up by Lin Yue's luck bonus!"

Even if her ability didn't trigger every time, it was still a massive buff to his talent.

And if his talent could grow even stronger, then every time luck activated, the resulting benefits would only get more and more absurd.

Limitless potential.

Mike couldn't help but laugh.

A moment ago, he had been worried about falling into the same madness as the Xinchang commander. But in the blink of an eye—bam!—a safeguard had fallen right into his hands.

Two, in fact.

That fear? Gone.

Mike exhaled, his anxiety melting away. He even considered giving one of the teddy bears to Jiang Xiaoci as an extra layer of protection.

Just then—

Through Chen Dapeng's vision, he saw movement.

A man, filthy and disheveled, was being escorted into the room by Qin Dashan and a squad of soldiers.

Mike narrowed his eyes.

The Xinchang commander had arrived.