Incipient Scallop Warrior

Sitting on a wooden chair with a broken back, Cheng Tian cleaned the blood and flesh from his shield by stowing it in his inventory, a satisfied expression on his face.

However, this weapon inspection, which seemed to border on fastidiousness, didn't have much practical significance, as his suit was covered in bloodstains that were gradually becoming sticky and stiff, and his face and hands were somewhat dirty.

Apart from Cheng Tian himself, there was no one else standing, or rather, alive, in this tavern that was so littered with debris that there was almost no place to step.

With his high Strength stat of 24, and the increased defensive capabilities provided by equipping two shields simultaneously, Cheng Tian had once again almost flawlessly blocked an entire bar of thugs, nearly wiping them out. The reason it was "nearly" was because the bartender who took the money to provide the map had already escaped through a secret passage in the storeroom.

Cheng Tian's recklessness was situational. He wouldn't risk rushing into an unknown underground passage like this.

Don't let his current blood-soaked appearance fool you; although he looked like he needed a scouring pad, it was all someone else's blood.

Among similar types of armor, the Troll Head was a prime example of being mediocre in every aspect, with very low defensive capabilities. However, with the Captain America template buff, its defensive performance was restored to a normal level.

At the same time, Cheng Tian also had Captain America's Shield equipped in his main hand.

[Captain America's Shield: Shield, Template Armament. Equipment Requirement: Captain America Template/Strength 15. Defensive Performance 25, Shield Strike Damage 1-1. Durability -/-.

An accidental product forged from primordial Adamantium metal, indestructible, with extremely strong kinetic energy absorption and resistance to external forces such as extreme temperature radiation.

The shield can 100% negate all frontal ranged attack damage that does not exceed the shield's surface area, and deflect the negated attack.

The shield can absorb external physical and energy impacts to the greatest extent, while maintaining the shield's own properties unchanged.]

Because Captain America's Shield was a template armament that could stack enchantments with similar equipment, its shield strike damage was heavily nerfed, just like the whip from the previous template. At the same time, its stats couldn't fully restore the original settings, after all, the blueprint source was just a Famicom game with limited functionality.

However, unlike the attack, the shield's defensive performance was not weakened at all, fully reflecting the characteristics of the original game.

Captain America's Shield and the Captain America template that Cheng Tian had loaded both originated from the Famicom version of Captain's Mandate, but in reality, this translation was a mess-up by domestic manufacturers back then, just like "Jackal Squad" for Final Fortress and "Green Berets" for Green Beret. All of them were incorrect translations, but they were imprinted in the minds of a generation and couldn't be changed.

So, the real translation of Captain's Mandate should be Captain America and The Avengers.

What's even more interesting is that the Famicom version is the only port of the same game across multiple platforms that features a significant change in gameplay.

In its original arcade version, players could control up to four characters: Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and Vision. The game type was also more inclined towards a beat 'em up style.

But when it came to the Famicom, the game type directly became an action-adventure game similar to Bionic Commando, with exploration, puzzle-solving elements, and a large map with repeatable levels.

At the same time, in order to save cartridge space, this version directly halved the number of playable characters, leaving only Captain America and Hawkeye. They even created an original "reasonable" plot for Iron Man and Vision, directly killing them off in the story.

However, the Famicom version with its drastically changed game mode also gave Captain America and Hawkeye stronger character performance compared to the original version, and this enhancement of character performance was reflected in the template that Cheng Tian was currently loading.

In the game, as long as you kept the shield facing the enemy, all ranged attacks hitting the shield could be deflected.

When Cheng Tian was blocking the door to prevent gang members from escaping, he was shot at by half of the enemies, which clearly indicated that these guys had a high rate of gun ownership.

But Cheng Tian, this scallop warrior, not only had Captain America's Shield, but also a Troll Shield. The two shields in front of him were almost like a wall. Soon, the gang members discovered that not only had their gunfire failed to break through Cheng Tian's shield defense, but they had also suffered dozens of stray bullet injuries due to the highly random ricochet mechanism of Captain America's Shield, and each of them was bleeding and wailing in pain.

But when they stopped focusing their fire, it was Cheng Tian's turn to act.

Captain America's Shield and the Troll Head began to ricochet through the crowd alternately.

Although the former's shield strike damage was weaker, its impact momentum was very sufficient. Coupled with the fact that the thrower was Cheng Tian with 24 Strength, not to mention the Captain America's Shield with its excellent kinetic energy arc, even throwing a steel pen was enough to pierce the palm of an ordinary person at medium range.

Although the throwing speed and accuracy of the Troll Head were far inferior to Captain America's Shield, throwing this thing was like throwing a sketch bust. You tell me, would you dodge it or not?

It is worth mentioning that, with the blessing of the Captain America template, the shield appeared to be used differently in Cheng Tian's hands.

Normally, a shield is a shield. Its main function and positioning is as armor. Therefore, when you choose to throw it out, it is equivalent to temporarily giving up all ownership of it. The shield's bonus will disappear with the throw, and there is no such thing as soul binding. In theory, if another player picks it up, it belongs to them.

But Cheng Tian had clearly thrown the shield out, yet the corresponding bonus still remained on him, and he could clearly feel that he still maintained some kind of connection with the shield.

Next, he only needed to perform a spring-fist-like arm shake within a certain distance, and both Captain America's Shield and the Troll Head would automatically return to the arm corresponding to their equipment slot.

Obviously, this was the effect of the "the connection between you and the shield will be closer and more coordinated" description on 『Shield Master』 taking effect.

And with this wonderful human-shield unity and the special shields in his hand, Cheng Tian could even perform some very strange and bizarre operations...

This passive annihilation of the bar thugs did have some gains. Nearly twenty thugs contributed three Black Iron Chests to him, with a significantly higher drop rate than Zombies.

Among them, the first chest yielded a windproof lighter and a set of three cigars that could slightly accelerate MP recovery. The second and third chests yielded a "Moth Gang Combatant File" and a "Moth Gang Gunman File" respectively.

And at the moment these two paper items were obtained, Cheng Tian's bounty mission progress actually advanced by half!