Desert

A few days later...

Zhuang Xiaolin and the others trekked across the snowfield. During that time, Trap Girl and Glaz would go hunting whenever the group rested, ensuring there was always extra food.

After traveling for a long while, an entirely new sight came into view.

"Hey, Mozzie, what's the situation ahead?" Big Shield asked.

"Umm... there's good news and bad news." Mozzie checked the device in his hand. The hint of delight that had appeared on his face immediately faded.

"The good news is that we're out of this damned snowfield."

"And the bad news?" Big Shield asked.

"We've entered a wasteland."

"..."

Zhuang Xiaolin walked over to a rock and sat down, looking over the strange scenery.

On one side was an endless expanse of snow; on the other, yellow sands and barren land.

To be honest, Zhuang Xiaolin had never seen such a sight before. Although he had traveled to many places on long-distance trips or international business trips because of the company, he had never properly appreciated the scenery there. He had visited many countries and places for work, but never had the time to truly take in the views.

"What do we do next?" Doc looked toward the boundless wasteland in the distance.

"Is there any way to cross this quickly?" Zhuang Xiaolin asked.

"If we had camels to guide us, maybe. This is a wasteland, not a desert. Although these two strange landscapes are intertwined, there are still animals and plants surviving here. The supplies we have on us are more than enough to get through, but if anything unexpected happens, it'll be a major threat," Doc said.

"Umm..." Zhuang Xiaolin hesitated.

"Come on, everyone, get over here and eat first." Rook's voice came from the distance. Without giving it much thought, Zhuang Xiaolin followed the others over and grabbed a ballistic plate to stuff into his vest.

As he stuffed the ballistic plate into his vest, Zhuang Xiaolin suddenly remembered something. He still had one draw he had not used.

Zhuang Xiaolin silently recited the command in his mind, and the screen before him changed again. Following the prompt, he entered the draw interface.

The draw interface consisted of a massive black circular object. Beneath it were two buttons, Single Draw and Ten Draws, while above it were three options: Basic Pool, Intermediate Pool, and Advanced Pool.

Looking at the page showing his available draws, he saw that it was for the Basic Pool. After thinking it over, Zhuang Xiaolin directly pressed the draw button.

The black circular object began to spin. Finally, a faint golden light leaped out from within it.

[Congratulations, you have obtained—]

[Dead Eye Set]

What was the Dead Eye Set?

Zhuang Xiaolin had heard of Dead Eye. It was an active skill from a game called Red Dead Redemption 2. If he had to compare it to something, it was like Quicksilver or The Flash.

It increased one's own speed, making everyone else seem slower by comparison. That was what Dead Eye in Red Dead Redemption 2 did. Moreover, this ability had an utterly broken feature: it could lock onto enemies. Yes, lock onto them. Unless the enemy ducked behind cover, a locked target would basically be hit with a 100% chance.

It was somewhat similar to thrown weapons in Hitman, but Zhuang Xiaolin was not too sure. After all, as a corporate drone, where would he find the time to play games?

Since it was a set, it should be possible to open it, right?

Thinking so, Zhuang Xiaolin selected the Dead Eye Set. Sure enough, after he clicked it, an Open option appeared.

Upon clicking Open, an elongated Volcanic pistol came into view, with a silver-white body, a dark brown grip, and intricate engraved patterns.

Next came a skill icon depicting an eye with an X drawn across its center.

[Death's Gun]

[Can fire lethal ammunition, killing enemies from long range. For every enemy killed, the firearm's power increases slightly. If used in conjunction with Dead Eye to kill enemies, a special effect will be triggered: for every person killed, firearm power increases by 20, and Dead Eye skill level increases by 5%.]

[Dead Eye]

[Description: By affecting certain human senses, it causes the flow of time in places seen by the user's eyes to become relatively slower. During this period, rapid long-range shooting or the use of long-range attack items will produce remarkable effects.]

[For a certain period of time, it slows down the time of everything the user sees. Targets can be locked on, and once the effect ends, if a ranged weapon or thrown object has been used, the enemy will be hit unless they have taken cover.]

[You want all that I have? Take it, then. Go be a man who stands tall!]

[For every person killed with a ranged weapon while using Dead Eye, Dead Eye skill level increases by 1%. When used with Death's Gun, Dead Eye skill level increases by 5%.]

[For every level gained, Dead Eye duration increases by 10%, and the number of targets Dead Eye can lock onto increases by 5%. Every ten levels of Dead Eye unlocks a minor branch. Every fifty levels of Dead Eye unlocks a major branch.]

[A skill and weapon compatible with Tal'darim Power have been detected. Would you like to reshape them?]

[Yes/No]

The sudden prompt left Zhuang Xiaolin somewhat dumbfounded.

But after thinking about it carefully, Tal'darim Power seemed quite compatible with these two things. Both required killing to gain experience, and experience gained by personally taking action was even greater.

Especially after Tal'darim Power killed that batch of Stone Crawlers with the Rainbow Six Squad, Zhuang Xiaolin had felt his vitality strengthen somewhat, yet the skill experience bar for Tal'darim Power had not increased at all.

That meant that if he wanted to level up, it was not enough for the Rainbow Six Squad to be powerful. He needed to be strong himself as well.

And wasn't this exactly what he needed?

He had just been worrying about having no weapons or skills for combat, and now they had been delivered right to him.

Although he had weapons from Doc and Big Shield, those were their weapons. Only in the hands of the Rainbow Six Squad could they increase in power; in his hands, they would not improve at all.

Yes.

Zhuang Xiaolin silently recited the command in his mind. Reshaping should be something like fusion, right? After all, weapons that needed to be synthesized or fused could not possibly be weak.

[Confirmation received. Process in progress...]

[Congratulations, you have obtained—Death's Revolver]

[A weapon formed from the power of the Tal'darim and the power of death, containing eight rounds. It possesses the appearance of a Volcanic pistol and the ability to fire infinitely. Each shot condenses a portion of death power onto the bullet, increasing firearm power by 50%. The firearm power gained from each firearm upgrade is increased by 50%, and the user may adjust the firearm's power as desired. When used with Eye of Death, its power increases by 200%, and the experience gained from killed targets increases by 10%.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained—Eye of Death]

[Improved through integration with Tal'darim Power. After killing a target, it releases a death shockwave that damages enemies near the killed target, slows their movement speed, and applies negative buffs. It automatically locks onto nearby targets carrying hostility and killing intent. When they are about to deliver a fatal blow to the user, it directly shoots their vital points or subdues them. After killing a target with this skill, the user recovers 100% health and permanently increases health recovery by 0.0001% of maximum health.]

Well, damn...

Zhuang Xiaolin did not even know what to say. Wasn't such a powerful long-range weapon tailor-made for a weakling like him?

Not long afterward, Zhuang Xiaolin noticed a holster had suddenly appeared on the left side of his pants. Inside it was a Volcanic pistol with a silver-white body, a dark brown grip engraved with intricate patterns, and a faint crimson aura swirling around it.

The Rainbow Six operators around him were not particularly surprised by the sight. After all, they knew about the system too, so there was no reason to be overly shocked by such abilities.

After familiarizing himself with the weapon and abilities, Zhuang Xiaolin led everyone onward.

"Commander, based on our assessment, some large moving vehicle or something else should have passed through here." Doc looked at the massive mark on the ground and guessed.

Amid the endless yellow sands, a huge track-like mark stretched across the ground as far as the eye could see, resembling a crack.

"It's truly astonishing. What kind of monstrous main battle tank would use such enormous tracks?" Machine Gun Guy exclaimed.

They had already been walking through this wasteland for nearly seven days, and today was when they made a new discovery.

Looking at the somewhat deep black earth in the distance and the tracks not far away, Zhuang Xiaolin thought it over. At the suggestion of Machine Gun Guy and Glaz, he decided to head over and take a look. Of course, they would not follow the tracks. Instead, they would head left along a small path and see if they could find a nearby high point to survey the area.

At that moment, not far from the group, two groups of people were racing across the wilderness, one chasing the other.