Long-Tusked Boar

Just then, the Nether Wolf finally caught its breath. It lowered its head again, white Soul Power rippling around it.

"Rrr..."

With a low growl rumbling from its throat, the Nether Wolf lunged at the white rabbit lying on the ground.

At that very moment, the white rabbit, which had looked dead for some time, suddenly opened its eyes. Its Soul Power erupted, and its two tucked hind legs shot out like lightning toward the Nether Wolf's face.

As if it had seen this coming, the Nether Wolf abruptly checked its forward charge, then darted to the side.

"Ow..."

The sideways leap seemed to aggravate its wound. The Nether Wolf's body jerked, and its front legs gave way, dropping it to its knees.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

Seeing that its final kick had missed, the rabbit, lying on the ground and completely out of strength, let out a despairing cry.

The sound was sharp, its final note drawn out long, as if brimming with boundless resentment.

Then Zhang Yang watched as the rabbit, helpless, breathed its last and turned into a wooden box.

"Awooo." At last, the rabbit was dead. The Nether Wolf gave a short howl, then could no longer support its battered body. Its legs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground.

"Now!"

Zhang Yang stepped out from behind the tree in a single stride, raising the M14 in his hands, which had been pointing diagonally at the ground, and aiming it steadily at the Nether Wolf nearby.

Hearing hurried footsteps nearby, the Nether Wolf, which had been lying on the ground and thought it was finally over, scrambled up in alarm. But its grievous wounds and blood loss had slowed its body by more than a beat.

That delay was the dividing line between life and death.

"Die!"

Zhang Yang gave a low shout and pulled the trigger with his right index finger.

"Bang!"

In an instant, a large red hole appeared in the Nether Wolf's forehead.

At the same time, its rising body froze. Its four legs, which had been trembling as they struggled to hold it up, suddenly curled inward, leaving it like a crumpled sack.

"Smack." The Nether Wolf's body dropped from the air like a free-falling object, hitting the ground from a height of thirty centimeters.

Zhang Yang had never seen such a strange sight before: a pure free fall from thirty centimeters.

The Nether Wolf's body slowly faded away, turning into a wooden box.

Standing before the Nether Wolf's box, Zhang Yang opened his personal terminal. Seeing that he still had plenty of time, he finally let out a long breath.

"Time to looooot!"

Zhang Yang shouted happily, then reached out and opened the Nether Wolf's box.

As a Soul Beast designated as a boss, the Nether Wolf's box had a 6×6 search interface. At a glance, it was clearly a higher tier than Lone Bamboo.

Unfortunately, the loot was pretty underwhelming.

"Ding."

"Purple, Wolf Tooth Pendant, value: 16,771."

"Ding."

"Purple, Nether Wolf Serum, value: 8,000."

"Ding."

Green, apple, value: 2,441.

"Ding."

10-year Soul Ring (*1), value: 1.

Zhang Yang pursed his lips. There was only one purple item worth over ten thousand in a single slot. It was a complete waste of the boss's prestige.

Pubarisaide had at least given him dozens of Tier 4 rounds.

Zhang Yang opened the Soft Bone Rabbit's box too.

Its search interface was also 6×6.

Zhang Yang paused at the sight.

"6×6? Was this rabbit a boss too? Oh! It was the Soft Bone Rabbit I'd just circled around!"

Zhang Yang felt as if the system had set him up.

Compared with the Nether Wolf, the Soft Bone Rabbit's box was impressively generous.

"Ding."

"Gold, Lucky Rabbit Foot, value: 69,429."

One Small Gold.

"Ding."

10-year Soul Ring (*1), value: 1.

There were also several other Small Blues, each worth less than ten thousand per slot.

Back when Zhang Yang had been an Assault Master, he'd never bothered picking up collectibles worth less than 20,000 per slot.

He'd have to throw them out again when looting an operative's box later anyway.

But now he couldn't afford to be picky. Never mind the Small Blues; Zhang Yang even took the white Bamboo Brush.

What choice did he have? Everyone started somewhere.

After looting the boxes, Zhang Yang had only one empty slot left on him.

What could he do? The beginner mode hadn't given him a chest rig backpack, and looting a bot box hadn't gotten him one either.

What kind of beginner's tutorial was this? It felt like some economics-themed knife run.

You started with a 9-slot secure container, then picked up a Longbow on landing and ate it, only to blow yourself up afterward.

Had some Delta Force economics professor designed this tutorial?

Good grief, what a nasty professor.

After organizing his gear, Zhang Yang set out again. It didn't take long for him to reach the marked spot on the map and gather two Crescent Moon Herbs.

"Crescent Moon Herb (Purple)"

"Value: 13,600"

"Uses: 1/1"

"Effect:"

"Activation time: 5 seconds"

"Restores 20 health points/second."

"Restores 20 Soul Power/second."

"After activation, restores 20 health points and 20 Soul Power per second for 3 seconds; activation time: 5 seconds."

Wild red and blue potions?

Zhang Yang glanced at his health and mana bars. Both were exactly at 100.

A red-and-blue potion that restored 60% over 8 seconds?

Now that was good stuff.

No wonder it was purple.

Satisfied, Zhang Yang put the two non-stackable red-and-blue potions into the slots in his pockets. He tossed aside the Bamboo Brush, which had nowhere else to go.

Although putting the potions in the secure container would have maximized their value, Zhang Yang didn't do that.

Keeping the medicine in his pocket meant he could use it right away. That was what maximized his chances of survival.

After collecting the herbs, Zhang Yang checked the map. There was still plenty of time, so he could easily take a look around the third boss's territory.

Let's go.

As Zhang Yang headed toward the third boss's territory, Soul Power kept gathering around him.

This was Zhang Yang's latest development for Lord M14.

After firing those two shots, he'd suddenly realized that every time he fired, he needed a brief moment to charge up.

That charging process consumed one point of Soul Power. Then the trigger unlocked, allowing him to fire a Soul Power bullet.

The whole process was hidden within Zhang Yang's aim and had no effect on it.

But the process was real.

So Zhang Yang had an idea.

What if he gathered Soul Power in advance, the way he would load a magazine before a fight?

Zhang Yang tried it out and found that it worked.

It took 0.5 seconds to form each Soul Power bullet, consuming one point of Soul Power.

Lord M14 had a magazine capacity of ten rounds, and it took Zhang Yang five seconds to form them all.

Then Zhang Yang switched the safety to full-auto and fired all ten rounds in the magazine at an innocent passing Soul Beast, a Reckless Bull.

One bullet killed it with a headshot. The other nine struck the Reckless Bull's box.

The full-auto recoil and brutal damage stirred Zhang Yang's poetic soul.

That felt incredible.

The power of the Carbon-Based Lifeform Calmer and acute metal poisoning left Zhang Yang a little carried away.

Now he really wanted to shoot something.

After forming another ten bullets, Zhang Yang opened his personal information panel.

Soul Power: 85/100.

Zhang Yang stared quietly at the number "85."

Before long, "85/100" suddenly changed to "86/100." Zhang Yang hurriedly glanced at the match timer in the upper-right corner.

"21:18"

Zhang Yang quickly memorized the number, then kept watching "86/100."

Before long, "86/100" changed to "87/100." Zhang Yang hurriedly looked up at the upper-right corner again.

"21:03"

Zhang Yang reached his conclusion almost instantly: "One point of Soul Power every fifteen seconds."

One point every fifteen seconds meant that over a regular thirty-minute match, Zhang Yang could recover only 120 bullets.

Add the 100 points of Soul Power he started with, and that gave him 220 rounds at most.

Two hundred and twenty rounds—that was three and a half stacks of ammunition. For Zhang Yang, who often liked to solo-queue against three-man squads across the whole map, it simply wasn't enough.

After all, he was a devoted fan of the M14 with its 50-round drum magazine.

Fifty rounds in the gun, sixty in his pockets, 240 in his secure container, and twenty rounds for the AWM—that was his usual loadout when soloing against trios.

Besides, Soul Power bullets and the bullets in his pockets were two entirely different things.

He needed to find a way.

That was what Zhang Yang thought.

Just as Zhang Yang knitted his brows and racked his brain, a series of "oink, oink" sounds came from behind a tree nearby.

"Hm?"

Zhang Yang snapped back to the present, held his breath, raised his gun, and looked toward the sound.

Nearby, a massive, sturdy wild boar with a shoulder height of over one meter was steadily approaching him.

Strangest of all, the boar had a pair of thick, sharp tusks like ivory.

His personal information panel vibrated at that moment.

But Zhang Yang had no time to check it.

Zhang Yang raised his gun and took aim, his attention fixed entirely on the Long-Tusked Boar nearby.