“Damn, when I'm on meds, my skills are godlike—my makeup technique instantly jumps to master level. But once I'm off the pills, I'm back to just wearing sunglasses and sticking on a fake mustache like a regular guy... Even my Hollywood blockbuster-style English drops back to just passing Level 4.”

Yes, after taking too much NZT-48, not only are there crippling and fatal side effects, but there's also this: any abilities and knowledge you gain while medicated vanish into thin air once you're off the drug.

The only thing Brian Carter could be grateful for was that he now had over eighty thousand Hong Kong dollars on him, and his physical fitness was about three times stronger than normal.

He noticed that the system’s enhancements were super stable. Unlike other methods where your strength and speed suddenly skyrocket and you can’t adapt, the system’s boost only took about an hour to get used to, and after a bit of practice, you could control it perfectly.

His strength was about three times what it was before he crossed over—not freakishly strong like Wang Bo or Uncle Li peeling eggs in “A World Without Thieves.” Those two had honed their skills, but he could at least peel eggs as well as an average person.

With triple the physical fitness and stamina, even without any training, he was way stronger than a normal person.

After washing up, Brian Carter took a notebook out of the drawer and read it for half an hour before quietly burning it.

After a simple disguise, he left the hotel to get breakfast.

He ate as he walked, and when he spotted a familiar figure, he immediately smiled and waved, “Morning! Sorry for making you fall yesterday. Are you okay?”

It was Grace Thompson, wearing the uniform of Jeanne d’Arc Girls’ Middle School.

The student Thompson looked a bit startled, glanced at Brian Carter, and seemed dazed. Suddenly, a shout rang out from not far away, “Brian Carter, stop! Or I’ll shoot!”

When he spun around quickly, he saw two military police officers—the same ones who’d confronted him yesterday, one in a white uniform and one in blue.

As the two officers drew their guns, pointing them skyward and sprinting over while shouting, Brian Carter felt awkward.

In a split second, he dodged, spun around, and pulled Grace Thompson into his arms, grabbing a dagger in one hand. “Drop your guns, or I’ll kill her!”

The two officers were now within ten meters. Seeing this familiar move, both were speechless.

But even in their speechlessness, they didn’t drop their guns. Instead, they grabbed their shoulder radios and started calling for backup.

Grace Thompson was completely stunned. Brian Carter scooped her up and strode toward the middle-aged officer. Catching him off guard, he used Grace Thompson as a hostage and snatched the officer’s radio.

He also went for the gun in one smooth motion.

Honestly, his moves were extremely difficult—holding a nineteen-year-old girl in his arms, sprinting forward while using her as a hostage, grabbing the radio and the gun...

But Brian Carter was basically cheating.

With triple the physical strength, even carrying Grace Thompson, he was faster than a normal person without any load.

Once he got the .38 revolver from the middle-aged officer, he smoothly turned around, still holding Grace Thompson with one arm and putting away the dagger, while pressing the gun to the middle-aged officer. He grinned at the young officer a few steps away, making the young man almost cough up blood. “Brian Carter, this is the second time you’ve stolen our guns!”

For police officers, if you’ve never had your gun snatched by a hardened criminal, you can’t really call yourself a tough cop. But getting your gun stolen by the same guy two days in a row? That’s just ridiculous...

Brian Carter still wore a bright smile. “Cut the crap!”

When the young officer dropped his gun and Brian Carter moved away from the middle-aged officer and Grace Thompson to pick it up, the young officer suddenly lunged at him. Brian Carter just kicked him flying.

“You two are really shameless. Today, I’m taking a hostage and making my escape. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her. Whether you get your guns back depends on this little girl.”

With that, he dragged Grace Thompson away... Huh? The girl started to resist? Brian Carter just picked her up and dashed toward the subway station.

Chapter 007: Social Death

On the Hong Kong Island subway, Brian Carter stood in front of Grace Thompson in a near wall-slam pose. The girl looked as terrified as a quivering quail.

Awkward as it was, he still whispered, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. Just now was a coincidence... What do you like? Next time, I’ll buy it as a gift for you.”

Grace Thompson ah.

He finally remembered which story this girl was from.

Romantic Killer Free Man!

An action film starring Simon Yam and Joey Wong. In the story, Yam plays a second-generation member of the Yamada Group, a Japanese syndicate in the capital. His adoptive father, the first-generation boss, sends him to study in Europe.

When the first-generation Yamada boss is killed by the local Chinatown Chinese gang, Yam returns for revenge, hunting down the main leaders of the Chinese gang one by one. During the hunt, Joey Wong’s character, a foreign student named Jia, takes photos of him.

The police bring Jia in for questioning, but she refuses to admit she knows Yam. The Chinese gang finds out and sends people to kidnap Jia, hoping to use her to find Yam.

However, the same student girl, Grace Thompson, because she was good friends with Jia, accidentally got into Jia’s car... and was mistakenly kidnapped by the Chinese gang. After being taken back, the new boss, Chen Bin, tried to force her to reveal Yam’s whereabouts.

How could Grace Thompson know?

She ended up being beaten to death by Chen Bin.

Throughout the whole story, Grace Thompson was just Jia’s good friend, who got into the wrong car by mistake, was kidnapped by mistake, and died.