Shortly after Jiang Yunâer left, Chen Yanyan walked out of the bedroom, having changed into a set of casual clothes. Her Level had also increased dramatically.
Thanks to the Damage dealt by the Armored RVâs ten Heavy Machine Guns, even with only a tenth of the rewards gifted to her, the massive number of kills still yielded a generous return.
Lin Feng estimated that the Armored RV had killed two to three hundred Black Spine Zergs in total. While a fair number of those kills came from the three Machine Cannons, after the TNT explosion, the swaths of heavily injured Black Spine Zergs were all mowed down by the high Fire Rate of the Heavy Machine Guns.
Moreover, once the RV had accumulated enough Upgrade Points, Lin Feng had cut back on using the Machine Cannons to conserve ammunition.
So, the rewards Chen Yanyan gained from this mission were equivalent to at least twenty Black Spine Zergs, granting her over twenty Upgrade Points.
And when Lin Feng checked Chen Yanyanâs Attributes, the displayed data confirmed his prediction:
ăChen Yanyan, lv15/19ă
ăLife Value 110, Physique 118, Spirit 110ă
ăMechanical Pioneers: Minor Enhancementă
Having smoothly entered the Tier One Middle Stage, Chen Yanyanâs Superpower had improved. Her control over the RV was becoming more adept, and the rise in her Spiritual Value allowed her to operate it with greater precision.
Lin Feng let her get familiar with her new abilities, encouraging her to practice multitasking, while he went into the bedroom to inspect the changes to his weapon:
ăGrenade Cannon lv19/19, Red Qualityă
ăDamage 190, Effective Range 10 km, Remaining Bullets 5000/5000ă
ăExtra Attributes: Bullet Recovery 1/s, Spatial Magazine (5000 rounds), Eye of the Death God 0/50, Firepower Coverage Damage 40+30/să
ăNew Firepower Coverage Effect: Covering Area upgraded to 10,000 square metersă
ăEvaluation: A Divine Level weapon with the power of a 203mm caliber Grenade Cannon. This is the absolute limit of its current form. By stacking bonus Energy Damage, a direct hit on a target can create a twenty-meter-diameter zone of destruction.ă
After completing the final Upgrade for the Tier One stage, the gun in Lin Fengâs hands had reached the pinnacle of its Red Quality. In any Tier One engagement, it was practically an invincible weapon.
With a staggering 190 points of Damage per shot, even a giant Level 19 Black Spine Zerg could be dealt with in a single blast!
Coupled with its ten-kilometer Effective Range and a total of 5,000 reserve rounds, Lin Feng was truly a one-man army, wielding the firepower of nearly a hundred soldiers.
Especially now that Firepower Coverage was several times stronger, boasting 40 points of Basic Damage and an incredibly high growth of 30 additional Damage per second of charging, it would be devastating against a Black Spine Swarm offensive.
Add to that the 10,000-square-meter Covering Areaâlarger than a standard soccer fieldâand it could heavily wound a thousand Black Spine Zergs in an instant. Charging it for another two or three seconds would unleash a terrifying hundred points of Damage per square meter, ensuring no Tier One creature could possibly survive.
This immense firepower gave Lin Feng sufficient confidence for the upcoming battle of Wu City.
Of course, he couldnât be everywhere at once and was incapable of defending the entire front line by himself. He could only ensure that the flank he was on, at the highway service area, remained secure.
If the main defensive line was ever breached, Lin Feng would absolutely be the first to make a run for it.
He wasnât foolish enough to wait until the Mother Empress was at the gates to mount a futile last stand. By that point, escape would be impossible, even if he sprouted wings.
The Level 19 Grenade Cannon was powerful, but that was only relative to the Tier One Zerg Race. Against the Middle and Late Stages of Tier Two Zerg Race, Lin Feng wasnât nearly as confident.
Judging by the pattern of stat progression from Tier Zero to Tier One, the Attributes of a Tier Two Zerg Race would likely be in the high hundreds or more. Against that, even the Grenade Cannonâs 190 Damage would hardly be enough.
And if he had to face a High-tier Zerg Race, with its terrifying Attributes in the thousands or even tens of thousands, a lone Red Quality weapon probably couldnât even break through its Defense.
âLooks like I still need to keep upgrading.â
And once the Perfection Upgrade was complete, the requirements for the next stage quickly appeared before Lin Feng:
ăTier Jumping Upgrade Conditions: Upgrade Points 10/10 (Completed), Kill Tier Two Zerg Race 0/1 (To be completed)ă
âJust as I thought. Same as with the Tier One Awakening, I need to perform a Tier Jumping kill on a Tier Two Zerg Race creature to advance to the next stage.â
The only problem was that Tier Two Zerg Race, unlike Soldier Zergs, were not limitless in number and were extremely difficult to find.
Most of them existed deep within Zerg Race territory, guarding a High-tier Zerg Race Mother Empress.
To kill one, he would have to follow the example of Cheng Zhanâs group and risk his life by venturing deep into their heartland.
It was currently a period of peace; both the Black Spine Zergs and Red-Armored Beetles were holding fast within Zerg Race territory. Venturing in rashly would likely lead to being surrounded and outmaneuvered, and the Mother Empress would have plenty of energy to prepare for any intruders.
Therefore, Lin Feng planned to wait until the great battle erupted. He would then bide his time, looking for an opportunity to slip deep into their territory and hunt a Tier Two Zerg Race while the Mother Empressâs attention was focused on the front lines.
Once he completed the Tier Jumping Upgrade, Lin Feng could use his Replication Skill to create a whole arsenal of Level 19 Grenade Cannon Replicas.
With this batch of high-Damage Replicas, the plan to defeat the Zerg Race on the main battlefield would no longer be a mere dream, but a great victory with a very real chance of being achieved.
Before any of that, however, Lin Feng had to complete his own personal Upgrade.
After a quick meal, he issued the command. A warm current flowed from the body of the gun into him, and a moment later, Lin Feng completed his final Upgrade within Tier One:
ăLin Feng, lv19/19ă
ăLife Value 150, Physique 150, Spirit 150ă
Seeing that all three of his Attributes had reached their caps, Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction. Now, all that was left was the fusion upgrade for the Level 13 Armored RV.
He was still short some upgrade materials and would have to wait for Qin Hu and Hu Fei to deliver them.
In preparation for the battle of Wu City, Lin Feng planned to ask Hu Fei for another truckload of Fine Steel.
âAt least ten tons this time.â
Shortly after he sent the message, Hu Fei called him back.
"Brother Feng, no new stock today? The big clients over here are getting impatient. Red-Armored Beetles are one thing, we have other channels to make up the difference, but youâre the only supplier of Black Spine Zergs in all of Jiangnan Province. Even in the entire Federation, there are hardly any stable sources."
Lin Feng shook his head.
"Letâs skip today. I was busy helping a certain big-name female star with her publicity-stunt mission. No time to catch live ones."
"Besides, the Thirteenth Division really stirred the pot. The Zerg Race will be on high alert for the next few days, so capturing live specimens will require extra caution and stealth. Iâll head out again tomorrow."
Hu Fei paused for a moment.
"Alright then, Brother Feng, as soon as you can. Just notify me when you have news, and Iâll immediately arrange for my people to go pick up the goods."
After hanging up, Lin Fengâs eyes narrowed slightly.
âLooks like I canât just rely on my own vehicle to do all the work. Shen Jie and his group were quite efficient last time; they passed their initiation mission.â
âItâs time to give them a real trial.â
With that thought, Lin Feng walked into the bathroom. He decided to gather the group that evening to properly plan out the next few days.
Meanwhile, in a parking lot not far from the auto shop, Jiang Yunâer had returned to her own RV and driven the luxury vehicle to a spot closer to Lin Fengâs garage.
The soldiers who had been assigned to protect them were, by order of Qin Hu, now participating in the construction of the forward outpost. The construction site had been short-staffed, causing progress to slow down.
Of course, after several harrowing, near-death experiences, the profound lack of security Jiang Yunâer now felt was far more than a few armed soldiers could ever hope to assuage.
Faced with the memory of the overwhelming, endless Black Spine Swarm, she felt that only Lin Feng and his modified RV could give her any hope of escape.
Even though they were now far from the front lines, just recalling the earlier danger made her whole body go numb and her heart clench with fear.
After showering in a daze, she lay on her bed, tossing and turning, unable to calm her mind.
Naturally, this meant she was unable to initiate her full Tier One Awakening.
It wasnât until Jiang Yunâer gave up on her diet, ran to the refrigerator, and ate a large amount of cake and snacks that she finally managed to sleep a little more soundly.
During her long rest to recover her strength... in the middle of the night, her full Awakening began to quietly unfold.
Her mind descending into chaos, Jiang Yunâer was facing the most lethal crisis of her life.
Her Mind Control Superpower had caused her Spiritual Attribute to increase far too rapidly...
It had already surpassed the limits her physical body could endure.