Practical Combat Training

My heart skipped a beat, and I gave him a questioning look. If I wasn't mistaken, this was the Left Hand from the Star Chart.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!"

He said excitedly, "We're on the same side... Should we exchange code phrases? Something like... 'Palace Jade Liquor' ah, and then... what's the next line?"

I gave him a bored look.

"Fine, maybe you don't know that one. Let's try another."

Left Hand gestured wildly. "Reform and opening up blows across the land, hey! The Chinese people must strive for success, hey!"

I remained expressionless.

"That doesn't work either? Let's try this one, watch closely... Genshin... Impact!"

Left Hand carefully observed my expression, looking a bit desperate. "Damn, still not working? How about this one? What are you doing~~~ Ouch~~~"

Seeing his obnoxious demeanor, I felt like I was about to break too.

"Still no? Okay, let's try a riddle then. I ask, you answer."

Left Hand pondered for a moment. "Question! American money is called US dollars, so what is British money called? Answer me!"

"Get lost, you bastard!"

I finally lost it. "Don't talk here. We'll talk on the Star Chart tonight!"

"Roger that, bro!"

Night, in bed.

I slowly woke up Star Chart and immediately entered. "Left Hand?"

"Coming, bro!"

Left Hand logged in instantly and chuckled. "After all these days, you've finally revealed yourself. Honestly, your caution is something I, as a brother, can learn from!"

"Mhm."

I nodded gently. "How did you find me?"

He grinned. "Just by observing carefully. For the past five days, you've been deliberately keeping your score low, trying not to stand out too much or risk elimination. But I could tell your marksmanship is actually very accurate."

"Not bad."

I took a deep breath. "What about Puff? I haven't heard her speak lately?"

"She's been transferred out of the Death Mine."

Left Hand said, "Now, in the Death Mine map, there are only two unfortunate souls like us left. You're No. 033, and I'm No. 066. Since you're ahead of me, you're the boss. I'll follow your lead."

"You want to cooperate to escape the Death Mine?"

"That's exactly what I mean!"

Left Hand said excitedly, "The Death Mine is heavily guarded. It's almost impossible for one person to leave alone, unless there's a coordinated effort."

"Mhm."

I agreed wholeheartedly. "It's a shame our levels are too low. We're both only level four right now, and there's no way to gain experience. If we can't awaken the Essence Furnace, we'll stand no chance against those level 10-15 NPCs."

"That's not a problem."

Left Hand said, "Sister Puff told me before she left that one training cycle at the Iron Blood Training Camp is ten days. The first five days are mainly for awakening two genetic enhancement skills and training marksmanship, close combat, etc. The last five days are for actual combat. They've raised quite a few monsters in the Death Mine, all of them experience fodder. My basic marksmanship has already been fed to level 3 with bullets. Killing monsters is not an issue. What level are you?"

"Higher than you."

"Holy crap, awesome..."

Left Hand took a deep breath, then fell silent. It seemed his confidence had taken a serious hit.

I continued, "During training tomorrow, let's create an opportunity to team up. We can look out for each other, and we won't level up with the experience we gain. We'll save it until we're ready to make our move, and then surprise these instructors."

"Deal!"

Left Hand said, "I've taken enough crap from these damn instructors these past few days. Once we level up and awaken the Essence Furnace, if we get the chance, we'll take them all down!"

"Alright, let's not talk too much. We'll play it by ear during training tomorrow."

"Roger that, bro!"

The next morning.

Instructor Lakuri announced the news of the combat training. Afterward, the base dispatched large trucks to transport all the experimental subjects out of the tunnels and to the surface. Above ground was a massive containment area, and the air was filled with a strange scent.

"Each of you, pick your weapons, and then the hunt will begin!"

Large metal crates were opened one by one, filled with various firearms, magazines, and ammunition.

I quickly chose an MP25 submachine gun, nicknamed the "Roarer." It had a magazine capacity of 50 rounds, a firepower of 50-75, relatively high shooting stability, and strong lethality. Unfortunately, the equipment was marked "Trial Use," and the system would reclaim it after the trial ended, so I couldn't store it in my dimensional storage. Otherwise, I would have collected quite a few.

Still, I stuffed both the front and back of my combat suit with loaded magazines, just to be prepared.

Additionally, it's equipped with a Vanguard Bee Sting, a steel sword with a blade length of about 30cm. It's extremely sharp and is the standard melee weapon for Vanguard members.

"Good luck!"

When we looked back, we found that Instructor Lakuri and the others had already left by helicopter. A rumbling sound came from underground, as if an entrance was being opened.

"Oh no!"

A white man with blond hair and blue eyes exclaimed in alarm: "It's bugs... it's bugs... these damned Undercurrent beasts actually hid a Bug Nest underground and are using bugs as training targets!"

"This is bad..."

Left Hand quickly moved closer and said in a deep voice, "Third Brother, what do we do? We fought bugs in the closed beta, but these are real bugs, damn it. If we can't suppress them with firepower, we're done for!"

"Calm down."

I quickly scanned the surroundings and pointed to a dilapidated lighthouse not far away. "Let's go up to the lighthouse. We don't need to kill all these bugs; we just need to survive until the end. The Undercurrent organization won't let all the experimental subjects in the base die."

"That makes sense, let's go!"

The two of them left the crowd and quickly rushed up the lighthouse's scaffolding.

In the distance, dense swarms of bugs were attacking, making one's scalp tingle!

The insectoid race is also one of the villainous factions in Star Abyss. However, the current stage we are in is the 1.0 version, Undercurrent Origin, during the game's open beta. Therefore, the insectoid race's power has not been fully unleashed, and only some low-level units have appeared.

If it were the 3.0 version, Insectoid Uprising, Left Hand and I would likely be goners.

"Here they come!"

Below, countless experimental subjects formed a defensive line and began to fire wildly.

I frowned and looked down. The dark mass of bugs was climbing up the lighthouse. They were all four-legged creatures with barbs on their bodies and covered in various disgusting gelatinous substances. They weren't too large, about the size of a dinner plate.

Dense health bars clustered together, looking extremely terrifying.

[Nest Bug] (Normal) Level: 5 Attack: 5-9 Defense: 0 Blood Essence: 350 Skill: Gnaw, deals an additional 10% damage to normal armor Details: Nest Bugs are the basic units of the insectoid race, originating from Bug Nests. Although their attack power is weak, they are numerous.

Left Hand picked up his submachine gun and unleashed a barrage, causing Nest Bugs to fall from the scaffolding.

"Don't just spray and pray."

I frowned. "Our ammunition is limited. Use three-round bursts to increase accuracy."

"Got it!"

As Left Hand changed his tactics, I also pulled the bolt of my rifle, aimed at the Nest Bugs below, and maintained a frequency of three-round bursts, firing bullets into their bodies!

"72!" "70!" "69!"

Damage numbers popped up, just as they were set in the closed beta. Weapon damage is determined by one's own firepower, and player stats cannot affect the damage outcome.

Fortunately, the Nest Bugs had weak health, and it only took about two bursts to kill one. Immediately, the area below was filled with the sound of "peng peng peng" as Nest Bug bodies exploded, spraying green ichor everywhere, looking extremely gruesome.

"Damn it, you dare to be fierce? Your father will shoot you all, you unfilial sons!"

Left Hand fired bursts madly, his face filled with ferocity.

This guy is indeed well-suited for this kind of realistic game. He gets into character quickly and has strong adaptability; he'll definitely become a top player in the future.

Fortunately, I have a level 10 basic shooting skill, making me accurate within fifty meters. Basically, every shot hits. Unlike Left Hand, whose miss rate is higher, about 30%, given his skill level. Fortunately, the swarm is dense, so most of the damage lands.

As magazine after magazine was emptied, I soon accumulated enough experience to level up to 6, but it wasn't time to level up yet. I had to endure.

On the ground, some experimental subjects were still holding their positions, while others had already been swarmed by bugs. However, after the bugs passed over them, they were gnawed down to nothing but blood and bones. The scene was extremely brutal. The so-called practical combat trial had completely turned into a scene of experimental subjects being chased and killed by bugs.

"Bro, I'm almost out of bullets," Left Hand said, his face pale.

"Use your pistol for bursts and coordinate with me."

"Okay!"

Under our coordinated efforts, a large pile of Nest Bug corpses accumulated below.

At this moment, the gate of the Death Mine slowly opened, and two machines were pushed out.

"Buzz~~ Buzz~~~"

Those two weapons were actually the legendary ultrasonic weapons!

"Squeak~~~ Squeak~~~"

Countless Nest Bugs panicked, no longer willing to fight, and in the blink of an eye, the swarm retreated like a tide.

"Damn Undercurrent..."

Left Hand looked into the distance and said hatefully, "They only moved to disperse the swarm after half the people were already dead..."

The others also grumbled. Some had anger in their eyes, but after the Instructor and guards entered, they could only suppress it. One by one, they resumed their blank, expressionless faces.

I said nothing, merely returning to the base under the escort of a group of guards, memorizing the terrain I saw on the surface.

"No. 033, you no longer have the right to a single room!"

At the mine base, a guard sneered at me. "Instructor Lakuri has arranged special accommodations for you."

Instead of returning to my room, I was led to a dilapidated storeroom by a guard.

After failing to evolve twice in a row, I had finally lost my room.

Instructor Lakuri said that trash should live with trash.

The storeroom was filled with many old, broken machines. Far from being disappointed, I felt like a fish in water looking at this pile of junk, as if I had found a treasure trove, and immediately began tinkering.

Several old, scrapped light motorcycles and small engines were quickly repaired, feeding me a large amount of skill experience. My gaze then fell upon an unmanned submersible.

This submersible only had a slightly damaged drive wheel; with a little repair, it could be used again. An escape plan suddenly formed in my mind...

There was a river above the surface of the Death Mine, not far from the base exit. If I used the submersible, could I evade the eyes of the Undercurrent's ground troops and aerial drones?

Coincidentally, I also found an old-model artificial gill among a pile of scrap. A quick wipe of the dust, and it would be usable.

Thus, I secretly stowed the unmanned submersible and the artificial gill into my dimensional storage space, acting as if nothing had happened...

Late at night, I sat in the old storeroom, full of ambition, even unable to resist curling the corners of my mouth.

Everything is ready, all I need is the east wind!

Time passed quickly, and four days went by in the blink of an eye.

In these four days, I accumulated a lot of character experience, enough to level up to 8-9 in one go. I also gained a significant amount of skill experience, so the next 2-3 skill levels shouldn't be a major problem.

At this point, the day for the third injection of Pandora Solution was also drawing near.

"No. X033!"

In the early morning, Instructor Lakuri's voice boomed, his gaze icy. "This is your last chance. If you still can't awaken any gene enhancements, hmph... you might as well die!"

I frowned, saying nothing.

Shortly after, I was once again strapped to a mobile gurney and wheeled into the operating room. A medical worker held a tube of orange liquid – the third dose of Pandora Solution!

As the needle pierced my arm, my entire limb felt like it was submerged in magma, burning hot. I was in extreme pain, after which two guards pushed me into a small room to await the drug's effect and subsequent mutation.

Before my eyes, familiar azure text jumped out—

[Pandora Solution begins to take effect!]

[Your genes are officially beginning to mutate!]

[You can choose between two evolutionary paths: directed mutation and free mutation!]