Chapter 265: Harvest, Sniper Rifle, Commanding Will

Chapter 265: Harvest, Sniper Rifle, Commanding Will

As life rapidly ebbed away, Modred died with a resentful roar, his body crystallizing into a clump of essence.

Lu Heng immediately recognized the concentration of the essence—it was Tier 3 Essence.

The Shadow Knight was a Tier 3 job class, and Lu Heng had suspected from the start that this job class hadn't fully merged with Modred.

Tier 3 Essence was extremely rare at this stage, and even with the backing of the Plant Family and their vast wealth to purchase resources, it was impossible to complete the fusion of a Tier 3 job class at this point in time.

Lu Heng pocketed the essence without choosing to absorb it.

The Shadow Knight job class was highly valuable, and keeping it might prove useful in the future.

Moreover, absorbing this essence now wouldn't achieve a 100% fusion rate.

It would be better to wait until he had gathered enough essence to absorb it all at once and complete the job class fusion.

...

013, the Shadow Raven, watched with a darkening expression as member 021 of the organization was killed, and by none other than Zero Twenty-Eight. "You actually killed him? I already told you his number is 021," he said.

Lu Heng glanced back at him and spoke in a cold tone, "Don't question me like that, or I'll squeeze the life out of you too."

The context of the conversation made it appropriate for him to say such words.

However, when Lu Heng mentioned 'squeezing the life out,' he was referring to the Shadow Raven in 013's heart, which could literally be squeezed to death.

013's tone turned grave, "This is already the second member of the organization you've killed."

He didn't count Hasegawa and Alexander Austin, as they were merely invitation targets and hadn't officially joined the organization.

Additionally, he didn't include Derek Wolfe, as the Creator Organization was still unaware of who had killed Derek Wolfe. They assumed it was Zero Twenty-Seven, or Xie Shi En.

Apart from that, Lu Heng's first kill, a Shadow Raven, wasn't counted either.

If invitation targets were included, Lu Heng had eliminated six members of the Creator Organization—enough to field a basketball team with a substitute.

Lu Heng's lips curved into a dangerous smile, "Then you'd better remind the other members of the organization to keep their hands off Daxia. If they dare to mess with me in my territory and expect me to turn a blind eye, they're dreaming."

013 fell silent.

Indeed, the incident had started because the Round Table Knights had encroached on Daxia, even going as far as to assassinate and threaten Tempering Masters there.

And Lu Heng was the highest-ranked Tempering Master in Daxia, controlling the largest tempering market.

The actions of the Round Table Knights were directly affecting Lu Heng's interests.

If he had to yield in this situation, then it would be reasonable for him to go to the Lionheart Empire and meddle with the Round Table Knights' affairs.

The Creator Organization usually didn't involve itself in the disputes between major powers.

This time, 013 had appeared because Modred was a member of the organization.

Lu Heng's actions were justified—the Round Table Knights had dared to assassinate a Tempering Master in Daxia, and they had to bear the consequences for their actions.

Evidently, Modred had faced the consequences, but he couldn't handle them.

If he had won this battle, the tempering market in Daxia would have belonged to the Round Table Knights.

It was as simple as that.

In an era where strength reigned supreme, the solutions to problems became direct.

Might made right.

...

013 knew that the blame for this incident couldn't be placed on Lu Heng, so he switched to another topic, "When will you obtain Derek Wolfe's blood and flesh cells?"

This had been the task 013 had assigned during his last appearance.

Lu Heng responded with a cold expression, "Don't boss me around. Last time, you wanted Sexes technology data, and I gave it to you after seeing how you resolved the Soul Devourer crisis. In the future, if there's no satisfying condition for an exchange, don't bother asking me for favors."

Moreover, the one who had resolved the Soul Devourer crisis was actually Xie Shi En, or Zero Twenty-Seven.

Interestingly, Xie Shi En wasn't a member of the Creator Organization.

In other words, it wasn't the Creator Organization but Xie Shi En who had helped Lu Heng resolve the Soul Devourer crisis.

At that moment, Lin Zeyu's voice came through the communication channel, "I got a new rifle. Want to see if I can take this birdman down with a single shot?"

As he spoke, he was already aiming at 013 through the rifle scope.

013, with his powerful psychic energy and a beast's innate danger sense, felt a tinge of danger.

"Next time we meet, I'll provide a condition for an exchange that will satisfy you," 013 said, spreading his arms and transforming into a Shadow Raven, flying into the sky.

Lin Zeyu's rifle followed his movement, always keeping him in the crosshairs.

"Should I fire?"

"Never mind," Lu Heng ultimately decided to let 013 leave.

If he eliminated the Shadow Raven every time, the Creator Organization would eventually notice the pattern.

This time, killing Modred was justified, and there was no need to silence 013, so he could be allowed to leave.

After eliminating Modred and the Phantom Sniper Harris Bob, Lu Heng and his team boarded a plane back to Binhai.

...

In a wine estate in Manchester, a noblewoman, who was none other than the influential Margaret of the Plant Family, used scissors to snip a bunch of grapes from the vine, placing them in a tray held by a servant, a middle-aged butler entered and bowed respectfully, "Madam, the Round Table Knights have encountered a problem. Modred is dead."

Margaret paused in her grape-cutting, handing the scissors to the servant before stepping back into the house and asking, "What happened?"

The butler bowed his head, "A man from Daxia named Lu Heng attacked the Thames Base, and Modred was killed in the assault."

"Daxia?" Lady Margaret's expression remained calm, showing no particular concern for the mention of Daxia.

"Yes, according to the information we received, it was the Round Table Knights who assassinated the Tempering Master in Daxia, angering this individual and leading to this incident. After killing Modred, they left a message, threatening us not to interfere in Daxia." The butler relayed all the information he had heard.

Lady Margaret took the cup from the servant and sipped the crimson liquid within, asking, "What do the other Round Table Knights say?"

The butler paused for a moment before responding, "The other Round Table Knights plan to temporarily halt their actions against the Daxia Tempering Masters until they find a solution to the resistance."

Lady Margaret glanced at the butler and said, "The tempering furnace has been acquired, and the funds have been invested. Now, they want to stop? What's the use of keeping those Round Table Knights around?"

The butler bowed his head and replied, "I understand. I will inform the Round Table Knights and have them resolve the issue."

Lady Margaret waved her hand, dismissing the butler, and added, "In the future, there's no need to bother me with such trivial matters. We hire mercenaries to solve problems, not create them."

"Understood." The butler nodded in agreement and retreated.

...

Daxia, Binhai City.

After Lu Heng and his two companions returned home, they finally had some leisure time to review their gains from the Lionheart Empire trip.

In fact, Lin Zeyu had been beaming with joy on the way back.

Once he arrived home, he immediately took out his new acquisition, "I thought the Round Table Knights' Phantom Sniper was so powerful, capable of a three-kilometer range. Turns out it's all thanks to this sniper rifle. Look at the data on this rifle, it's incredible!"

Lu Heng had already heard him mention it several times during the journey back.

However, it wasn't convenient to take out the sniper rifle while on the plane.

As soon as Lu Heng saw the sniper rifle Lin Zeyu brought out, he instantly recognized it.

It was an electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle, utilizing both gunpowder and electromagnetic propulsion, resulting in an extremely high muzzle velocity.

[Electromagnetic Acceleration Sniper Rifle Z-100 (+9)]



[Item Grade: A-Grade]



[Specifications: Length 132 cm, Weight 5.3 kg, Magazine Capacity 20 rounds]



[Attributes: 1025 Attack Power (Attack power decreases with bullet flight distance, 50% decay at 1000 meters)]



[Muzzle Velocity: 1521 m/s]



[Evaluation: This sniper rifle is a fusion of gunpowder kinetic energy and electromagnetic acceleration technologies, resulting in extremely high precision and destructive power. The attack power of a firearm is determined by the gun body and bullets, and it cannot gain the user's strength attribute bonus.]



After seeing the data, Lu Heng confirmed his initial impression.

This type of sniper rifle is a combination of gunpowder kinetic energy firearms and electromagnetic kinetic energy firearms, resulting in exceptional power.

Relatively speaking, this electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle has a slightly higher muzzle velocity than a Gauss sniper rifle, while also possessing the characteristics of both gunpowder kinetic energy weapons and electromagnetic kinetic energy weapons.

This sniper rifle is an intermediate product in the evolution of sniper rifle technology.

Following the development trend of the Cyber World, future sniper rifles will gradually transform into electromagnetic kinetic energy sniper rifles. However, during the transitional phase when the technology is not yet mature, these intermediate products can apply electromagnetic acceleration technology to sniper rifles ahead of time.

The muzzle velocity of this sniper rifle is an astonishing 1521 m/s.

In other words, if the bullet's speed after leaving the barrel is not affected by the speed of sound, it can hit a target at a distance of 3000 meters within two seconds.

The terrifying muzzle velocity is evident with a simple calculation.

The speed of sound is 340 m/s, and the muzzle velocity of this electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle is approximately five times the speed of sound.

By the time the target hears the gunshot, they would already be dead.

Of course, even with this weapon, hitting a target at a distance of 3000 meters is not an easy task.

It requires additional skills and class abilities to support it.

With this electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle, the muzzle velocity is sufficient to hit targets at a distance of 3000 meters, and it's all up to the sniper's precision.

Since the beginning of Abyssal Descent, Lin Zeyu had always focused on firearm enhancement, and his initial talent was [Precision Shot]. When using a sniper rifle, his accuracy was significantly higher than other metahumans.

Therefore, with this rifle, he could also achieve a 3000-meter range, and his precision might even surpass that of the Phantom Sniper, Harris Bob.

"How is it? The attack power exceeds a thousand, it's like a one-shot-one-kill against little kids now." Lin Zeyu caressed the body of the sniper rifle, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The only issue was that this sniper rifle didn't have a spirit-imbued effect.

Spirit-imbuing is a more advanced technique than tempering, and lower-level tempering masters have a low success rate in spirit-imbuing.

Additionally, the Round Table Knight Mercenary Group hadn't possessed this sniper rifle for long, so they hadn't found suitable spirit-imbuing materials yet.

Harris Bob's status within the Round Table Knight Mercenary Group was lower than that of knights like Modred, so he hadn't been able to spirit-imbue this sniper rifle yet.

Lin Zeyu examined the data on the sniper rifle and asked, "Can this be spirit-imbued? It doesn't have a spirit-imbued effect yet."

Lu Heng nodded in response, "Yes, it can."

Lin Zeyu felt a bit regretful, "My SVD sniper rifle already has a dual-effect spirit-imbuing. If I switch to this rifle, won't the materials I invested in the SVD be wasted?"

Lu Heng explained, "Not necessarily. If you're sure you don't want the SVD sniper rifle anymore, we can extract the spirit-imbuing and tempering materials from it.

"However, the extraction process will cause some damage, and tempering materials are relatively easier to obtain, I suggest only extracting the spirit-imbuing materials.

Lin Zeyu asked curiously, "If we extract the materials, will this SVD sniper rifle become unusable?"

Lu Heng nodded in response, "Of course, the extraction process will damage the gun to some extent. It might still be usable, but its accuracy will definitely decrease, rendering it almost useless."

Lin Zeyu frowned, "Then what if I'm not used to this new rifle? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

Lu Heng replied, "That's why you should think carefully before making a decision. You can try out this new rifle first. If it performs well, then you can extract the materials from the original one."

"Alternatively, you can directly exchange this SVD sniper rifle for materials. After all, there's a chance of failure in extracting the infused materials, and even if successful, there will be some loss."

"This SVD sniper rifle is actually quite good. If used for exchanging infused materials, it's a decent choice, depending on whether any faction is interested in the trade."

Currently, it was the end of December in the Abyssal Descent, and although some weapons with infused effects had appeared, their numbers were still limited.

Weapons with dual effects were even rarer, so this SVD sniper rifle remained a top-tier weapon in the market.

If auctioned, it could fetch an astronomical price.

Moreover, many metahumans still preferred firearms, and sniper rifles were the best choice for long-range target elimination.

With Lu Heng's strength, he wasn't overly concerned about sniper rifles, but he still needed to be cautious.

For other metahumans below level 25, encountering this dual-effect SVD sniper rifle would be a formidable challenge, making it a terrifying weapon for other metahuman organizations.

Overall, if the infused materials were extracted from the SVD sniper rifle, one would only obtain two sets of infused materials, assuming the extraction was successful.

After extracting the materials, they would still need to infuse them into a new weapon, and there's also a chance of failure during the infusion process.

With all these variables, there's a possibility of losing the materials without a successful infusion.

In that case, the SVD sniper rifle would be rendered useless.

Furthermore, aside from the value of the infused materials, this SVD sniper rifle also carried the value of Lu Heng's infusion craftsmanship and 2000 points of spiritual energy.

From a profit maximization perspective, it would be much better to exchange it for infused materials.

After listening to Lu Heng, Lin Zeyu nodded, "That's true. I'll try to see if I can exchange it for infused materials. A dual-effect sniper rifle should fetch more than just two sets of infused materials."

For many major factions, even with infused materials, creating dual-effect weapons wasn't guaranteed.

After all, on Bluesphere, Lu Heng was one of the few tempering masters with a high success rate in infusion.

Tempering masters from other countries could only rely on trial and error, using a large quantity of materials, hoping for a successful infusion.

Additionally, metahumans had other means of obtaining effect weapons. For instance, in the Abyssal Battlefield, encountering a tempering master from the Abyssal World could lead to acquiring infused weapons.

Lin Zeyu had been using this SVD sniper rifle for over half a year and had become quite accustomed to it. He was reluctant to part with it for the time being, so he decided to keep it until he adapted to the new electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle Z-100, and then consider trading the SVD rifle.

However, as time passed, the number of dual-effect weapons would increase, and the value of this SVD sniper rifle would naturally decline.

Lin Zeyu planned to practice with the electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle after returning and consider selling the SVD rifle once he became proficient with the new one.

...

Aside from the electromagnetic acceleration sniper rifle, Lu Heng also obtained numerous spoils of war.

At Thames Base, he acquired over a dozen crystal cores, one of which was a suitable skill crystal core.

However, Lu Heng was still contemplating whether to use it during his journey.

The skill crystal core was [Commanding Will].

Lu Heng's skill slots were already full, and he couldn't absorb new skill crystal cores.

The existing [Mental Control] skill and [Commanding Will] were of the same type.

These two skills could be combined, and there was a chance of obtaining a higher-level skill.

It was a matter of deciding whether to combine them.

The reason for Lu Heng's hesitation was his consideration of whether to keep this skill slot for mental-type skills.

Although Lu Heng's mental attribute was not low, he wasn't a mental-type metahuman.

If, in the future, he encountered a world task reward in the Abyssal Battlefield that offered the option to delete skills, he could free up this skill slot.

Then, he could learn new skills.

If he planned to delete this skill later, using this [Commanding Will] crystal core now would be a waste.

After all, this crystal core was B-grade and had a powerful control effect.

After careful consideration, Lu Heng decided to keep this skill. Even if he received a world task reward later, he could choose something else.

Having a mental-type skill was often very useful.

For example, during the incident in Blackstone City, if he had possessed this skill, the search for the traitor would have been much simpler.

At that time, they had relied on Zhao Liwen, a mental-type metahuman, for mental interrogation.

However, since Zhao Liwen herself couldn't be completely ruled out as the traitor, her mental interrogation also carried uncertainty.

If a member of their team had possessed the mental interrogation skill, the traitor could have been identified within minutes.

After careful consideration, Lu Heng chose to absorb the [Commanding Will] crystal core, introducing 2000 points of spiritual energy for skill integration.

After combining the two skills, the final result was the B-grade [Mental Domination], a skill with slightly stronger effects than [Commanding Will].

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end