"Bzzzzzz."
Under Old Qin's control, the finely engineered chainsword spun at high speed, mercilessly carving into the body of the gray monster before him.
The sharp chainsaw blades made the disgusting creature shriek as green, corrosive blood burst from its body. But with the combat power boost from his exoskeleton, the insect's counterattack clearly couldn't stop Old Qin from continuing his unstoppable rampage across the battlefield.
Ever since power armor—a piece of equipment so absurd it was hard to believe—had officially been added to the game, single-soldier exoskeletons had quickly gone from players' darling to yesterday's news. But honestly, at this stage of the game, players who could get their hands on an exoskeleton were still few and far between.
This equipment was a hallmark of elite players.
Aside from the genuinely wealthy players who could arrange to buy one for themselves through the tavern app's trading platform before entering the game, every other exoskeleton required players to invest a great deal of time and effort in-game to obtain. So you could tell at a glance whether a player had the experience and combat skills to back up their reputation, simply by looking at what kind of armor they wore in battle.
For example, the sixty-odd players Old Qin had left at the repair site weren't many, but with one exoskeleton for every two people, their equipment clearly reflected their formidable combat strength and impressive credentials. Backed by their extensive experience in warfare, these elite players quickly figured out how to deal with the strange swarm when it attacked from both the sky and the ground.
The ground insects were easiest to handle. Charge in, hit them hard, and use explosives to finish them off.
The ones in the sky were a little more troublesome. The ranged players had to