Racing Against Time

"Whoa, the support abilities are all pretty impressive too..."

As he followed the group, Tao Yu focused on some of the flowers and plants nearby. Almost instinctively, he gained a degree of understanding of them.

There were no words or images, but the information he received let him understand the plants' general properties. It was basic stuff, like whether they were edible, poisonous, or might help with his current physical condition.

It wasn't much information, but Tao Yu felt it was more than enough. Without a doubt, it made the knowledge he'd accumulated far more useful and would also help keep him safer in the wild.

He could even tell if someone had poisoned him.

A skill Deified for fifty units of Wish Power—what more could he ask for?

With further upgrades or increased skill proficiency, it might even have better effects.

The pressure of having spotted a Facehugger still weighed on him, so Tao Yu asked Zhang Wei for the dried Serpent Meat from earlier. He followed along with the group, chewing on it as he accelerated his proficiency in Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced!

Wish Power acceleration usually had to be applied to one specific skill at a time.

If someone could multitask, they could accelerate several skills at once. But that would consume more Wish Power, saving no energy—only a little time.

Tao Yu didn't care about that now. He kept to the rhythm of the Breathing Technique, accelerating his practice of Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced while chewing on the dried Serpent Meat.

His blood and energy surged through his body, coursing from head to toe. With every circuit, he felt a slight improvement. Each one had a noticeable effect!

While chewing, he also squeezed in a few shooting drills, increasing his proficiency in Basic Shooting - Enhanced.

"Bullet Time boosts Dynamic Vision, so my shooting proficiency is climbing way faster than my Breathing Technique. No wonder talent determines everything for most people..."

Tao Yu was only occasionally firing at leaves and branches nearby, just as a side activity. Most of his accelerated Wish Power went toward the Breathing Technique, yet his shooting ability was improving faster!

Rat-tat-tat~

He fired a three-round burst. All three shots struck the base of a branch thirty meters away, sending splinters flying. The branch snapped and fell.

"Not bad. B-rank Dynamic Vision really is something. How many times did you accelerate it? You're already at lv2, right? With your talent, that should be enough."

Li Le was positioned about as far back in the group as Tao Yu. The two were close together, just ahead of Walter, who was covering the rear. Seeing Tao Yu fire while chewing on dried Serpent Meat, Li Le looked surprised.

Then he spotted some meat fibers still in Tao Yu's mouth and continued, "You're still practicing the Breathing Technique, right? Basic Breathing Technique?"

Tao Yu swallowed the meat in his mouth and replied evenly, "What can I do? I don't have a family like yours, Brother Li. If I don't take advantage of all this meat while it's available, what am I supposed to eat when we get back?"

The plentiful meat in this fragment zone was a benefit in its own right. Once they returned, they would have whatever food they'd brought back with them, but buying more in the Outer City settlements cost two units of Wish Power per pound. It was absurdly expensive.

Private trades risked wiping out their cannon fodder points, and they might even run into a sting operation. There was no point taking that risk.

As he spoke, Tao Yu hurried over to a nearby thicket, snapped off a stalk of a plant that looked like sugarcane, and put it in his mouth to suck out the juice.

He was replenishing his fluids and sugar.

"Do we have information on this plant? You've got some nerve."

Li Le was surprised by what Tao Yu was doing. He even wondered if Tao Yu was practicing something other than Basic Breathing Technique.

Li Le himself had learned the Knight's Breathing Technique his family had brought from the Inner City. But non-basic Breathing Techniques like that were exceedingly rare in the Outer City; there was nowhere to learn them. Tao Hu probably didn't have one either.

"My backpack got eaten by a giant snake when I came here. I was so thirsty I tried it, and it wasn't bad."

If he hadn't Deified all his support abilities, Tao Yu wouldn't have dared to eat things at random. Now, though, he felt a lot more at ease.

The plant looked like a cross between sugarcane and bamboo. It was crisp when bitten, and he could suck the juice straight out. It was extremely juicy.

Walking across the thick layer of leaves and soil, Tao Yu didn't waste a single second.

He knew that his frantic Breathing Technique practice might look strange and draw attention.

But people from the Inner City had better Breathing Techniques and related skills. They wouldn't care much about this. He couldn't let their scrutiny make him hesitate; he couldn't let the fear of choking stop him from eating!

Now that a Facehugger had appeared, he had to speed up his training as much as possible, on top of Deifying skills!

He was investing one hundred units of Wish Power per hour in accelerating both Basic Shooting - Enhanced and Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced.

The only difference was that he wasn't practicing Basic Shooting - Enhanced nonstop. He trained intermittently, so it consumed less than a tenth of the Wish Power he spent on Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced, which he practiced continuously.

It was a little frustrating that he'd started out in such poor physical shape. He'd been in the Breathing Technique's golden period then. Although he'd only spent ten units per hour for five hours, the results had been tremendous. He'd reached the level of an amateur athlete in every respect.

Now, even though he was spending ten times as much per hour, the Breathing Technique's training effect had declined, and his increased strength meant each acceleration was less effective. He no longer felt as if he were transforming with every passing second.

The returns had sharply diminished.

After all, the description for Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced only said it could "increase the body's potential to a certain extent." It was naturally much better than the un-Deified Breathing Technique, but not by that much. Most of its benefit came from actively triggering a burst of blood and energy.

At this rate, Tao Yu estimated that once he'd spent all the Wish Power he could afford on acceleration, he'd barely reach the level of an Olympic athlete across the board. He'd be lucky to run a hundred meters in ten seconds.

Well, since the improvement was across the board, he could probably manage about the same speed while carrying a load—and keep it up for longer...

Still, judging by the rate his proficiency was increasing, Basic Breathing Technique - Enhanced would soon reach lv2. That would further boost his momentary burst of blood and energy.

Thanks to his talent, Basic Shooting had already reached lv2 as well. Now that he was familiar with the gun in his hands, he could maintain a decent hit rate even with its erratic trajectory.

"Another boost to momentary explosive power. I'm starting to wonder if I'm training all wrong."

Tao Yu chewed through another pile of dried Serpent Meat, unable to help grumbling to himself. In life-or-death situations, things often did come down to a split second, but it still felt a little odd. Weren't men supposed to dream of becoming huge, muscular powerhouses with great endurance?

"We're almost there. Stay alert."

Winuo's voice came from the front. The group slowed down again, and everyone grew more vigilant.

Thanks to Tao Yu firing off a shot now and then, they'd stirred up the area and avoided any minor trouble along the way.

Tao Yu stopped practicing his shooting and occasionally lifted his head to scan the surroundings.

He'd already trained his shooting to lv2. There was no need to waste any more bullets.

And after firing for so long, could he have attracted something early?

To ordinary animals, even giant pythons, an unfamiliar sound like this was a reason to flee. It was a survival instinct written into their genes.

But...

For some other, abnormal creatures, perhaps it was different.

If it weren't for the Facehugger, why would I have borrowed so much? You'd better help me think of a way to deal with this...