Lin Xinghai walked up to Liu Miaomiaoâs tent, metal case in hand, and knocked.
In fact, their tents were right next to each other, and in the entire Mercenary Corps encampment, only the two of them had private tents. As for everyone else, even Fang Tianhe had to squeeze in with others.
Those with the rank of captain or higher had it a bit better, able to live in two-person tents. As for the others, they were basically in 6-person or 8-person tents.
"Who is it?" a slightly surprised voice called out. Lin Xinghai then heard footsteps approaching, and soon the tent flap was opened.
When Liu Miaomiao saw Lin Xinghai, her expression was first one of surprise, then delight, which was immediately followed by a hint of shyness.
"What are you doing here?" Liu Miaomiao asked, seeming a little bashful.
"Whatâs wrong? Not happy to see me?" Lin Xinghai said, pretending to be annoyed.
"Itâs not that..." Liu Miaomiao quickly waved her hands. "Shouldnât you be resting at this time? Come in and have a seat!"
Lin Xinghai stopped teasing her. He followed Liu Miaomiao into the tent, lifted the metal case, and said, "I brought you something good."
"Whatâs this?" Only then did Liu Miaomiao notice the case in Lin Xinghaiâs hand, her curiosity piqued.
"This is Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid," Lin Xinghai said.
"You actually got them!" Liu Miaomiao said with a look of surprise.
She had heard Lin Xinghai mention it before and knew this stuff was twice as effective as regular Genetic Medicine Liquid. She took the metal case, her curiosity growing.
"So many?" When Liu Miaomiao opened the metal case and saw a full 100 vials of Genetic Medicine Liquid, she was so surprised her jaw dropped.
She knew the price, too. This stuff cost five times as much as the regular Genetic Medicine Liquid.
Even buying it at the discounted price required a full 500 Points per vial. Without being part of a Mercenary Corps or the Military Department, the price was as high as 1,500 Points per vial.
In her mind, for something so valuable, if Lin Xinghai had brought her eight or ten vials, it would have been incredibly generous.
After all, that would have been worth four or five thousand Points.
But now, here were a full 100 vials of Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid, worth 50,000 Points.
In any other Mercenary Corps, forget about using so many resources to strengthen an ordinary memberâeven if the Mercenary Corps Leader spent it all on himself, the other members would probably revolt.
"Old Fang requested 500 vials, so just use them without worry. Even if there arenât enough for the other members, we can always buy more later," Lin Xinghai said casually.
"But this is so much! I wonât be able to use it all, even after I reach the Blood Qi Realm!" Liu Miaomiao said.
Lin Xinghai faltered for a moment. âI hadnât actually thought about that. There are 100 vials of Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid here. If theyâre twice as effective as the regular version, then one vial contains 10 points of Blood Qi Power, meaning 100 vials is 1,000 points. And Liu Miaomiaoâs Genetic Assessment is A Level, so she can absorb 100% of the Blood Qi Power. With that kind of talent, she would need 500 points of Blood Qi Power at most to cultivate from an ordinary person to the Blood Qi Realm.â
"Ahem! Itâs fine. Just use what you need for now. When you donât need them anymore, it wonât be too late to return the extra Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid to Fang Tianhe," Lin Xinghai said after a light cough.
âThereâs no way Iâm taking the extra Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid back now. For one, I donât want to make another trip. For another, donât I have my pride to think about?â
âI just told Fang Tianhe I wanted 100 vials of Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid, and now Iâm supposed to send them right back? What would I even say?â
âThat I miscalculated?â
"Okay!" Liu Miaomiao didnât overthink it and nodded obediently.
However, a conflicted expression soon appeared on her face. "Um... can I use some of this Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid for something else?"
"Hm?" Lin Xinghai looked at her, puzzled.
"I want to give some to Wang Yao and the others, at least so they can become the Optimized and join the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps," Liu Miaomiao said.
"No problem. Do whatever you like," Lin Xinghai said with a smile.
âThese were minor matters to him. Even for someone like Yang Yi, whose Genetic Assessment was only E Level, it wasnât difficult to make them one of the Optimized by raising their initial optimization to 30%, as long as one was willing to throw enough resources at the problem.â
Seeing Lin Xinghai agree, Liu Miaomiao broke into a happy smile.
"Oh, right, thereâs one more thing. In a few days, once I break my second Genetic Lock, I want to try piloting a Mecha," Liu Miaomiao requested.
"Thatâs a small thing. How about I have one custom-made for you right now?" Lin Xinghai replied.
"Ah! No, no, thatâs too expensive! Itâs enough if Captain Luo just lets me try out a Mecha when heâs free," Liu Miaomiao said, quickly waving her hands.
Lin Xinghai almost laughed. âRoger really has it rough. When we bought the third Mecha, it should have been his turn to pilot it, but I snatched it. Now, the fourth Mecha is finally his, and he might have to give it up again?â
âForget it. Iâll just discuss it with Old Fang and buy another one,â Lin Xinghai thought. âAfter all, we need five Mechas to become a Third Level Mercenary Corps, so it wonât be a waste.â
The two chatted for a while longer before Lin Xinghai left. He needed to rest, too.
...
The following week was a series of repetitive days for the First Battalion: clear out Zombies, rest, clear out more Zombies, rest again.
It was as if they had fallen into a fixed pattern.
However, the members of the First Battalion saw changes almost daily. This was especially true for the Gun Technique of the members from the First Level Mercenary Corps, which improved at a terrifying pace.
While this rate of progress wasnât as dramatic as when Lin Xinghai had personally instructed them, it was a completely different story when compared to the other First Level Mercenary Corps.
In just seven short days, this group, who had originally been at the bottom of the barrel among the First Level Mercenary Corps, not only surpassed the other corps of their level but were even becoming comparable to members of the Second Level Mercenary Corps.
One could easily imagine that by the time their trip to Guanghan City was over, any mercenary picked at random from the First Battalion would have Gun Technique on par with any seasoned veteran mercenary.
And it wasnât just the people who were improving; the equipment of the various Mercenary Corps was also constantly being updated and replaced.
The most obvious change was with the Mechas piloted by the Mercenary Corps Leaders. Originally, the vast majority of their Mechas had been prototypes.
But after a week, almost all of them had been modified. Even their Mechaâs weapons had been replaced. These improvements were enough to boost their combat effectiveness by more than 30%.
After the Mechas, the second-biggest change was to the Armored Vehicles.
Many of the Armored Vehicles had been fitted with Electromagnetic Railguns on their roofs, capable of threatening Mutated Zombies. Even those who couldnât afford an Electromagnetic Railgun had at least mounted a rapid-fire machine gun.
Of course, a well-funded group like the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, which wasnât short on cash, had purchased a complete automated fire-control system in addition to their Electromagnetic Railgun.
At least six mobile Heavy Machine Guns were mounted on the edges of each Armored Vehicleâs roof. With four Armored Vehicles, that meant twenty-four mobile Heavy Machine Guns. Controlled by an AI system, the resulting network of fire was no weaker than a small, mobile fortress.
With the First Battalionâs current equipment, if they were to encounter another zombie horde, it would be difficult for it to pose a major threat as long as the numbers didnât exceed 50,000.