Chapter 123: The Poor Eat Chicken, the Rich Send Packages

The four soldiers stared in shock at the sight of Zhou Shu inspecting the corpses.

What had they just witnessed? Another instant kill! Captain Zhou did not strike often, but when he did, it was always a one-hit finish. Was this the true power of an esper sniper? It was truly astonishing!

Although they were not espers themselves, their judgment was sharp. Relatively speaking, the enemies they had faced earlier were quite mediocre; the soldiers could even trade blows with them—though, admittedly, they had mostly come out unscathed. It just went to show that a skilled marksman with the right weaponry could still pose a threat to "low-tier" espers.

However, the two who appeared later were different. The soldiers had fired several shots at them, but the bullets couldn't even graze them, which went to show just how powerful those two were. Yet, Captain Zhou had forced one back with two moves and then gunned them both down with two shots. It was that simple, brutal, and direct.

In their eyes, everything had gone exactly as planned; Zhou Shu had barely moved. It seemed as if the entire situation was under his control. As for that exaggerated sniper rifle, because of their position behind him, they hadn't seen where it came from; they only knew that the formidable Captain Zhou had suddenly produced a weapon and struck down the two enemies. As an esper sniper, being able to produce a rifle out of thin air seemed perfectly reasonable to them. Thinking back, they realized the first rifle he had discarded after running out of ammo must have been part of the plan—a ruse to feign weakness and lull the enemy into a false sense of security.

Having served alongside such a powerhouse, the soldiers looked at him with nothing but pure admiration.

Compared to the soldiers' reverence, Zhou Shu felt nothing. He didn't even know who these people were; they were just nameless nobodies who had come out of nowhere. After dealing with the intruders, he lay back down to continue his sniping mission.

The harvest this time, however, was massive. These "delivery couriers"—that was how he categorized these nameless foes. They looked formidable and had even managed to injure him, but in the end, they were just delivering supplies. It was the same logic as "the poor player hunts, the rich player delivers." These "rich couriers" had provided him with the largest supply of source energy he had ever received, surpassing even the initial energy provided by the system.

[Hunter System]
[User: Zhou Shu (Recruit)]
[Spirit: 4.36 (Cap)]
[Strength: 3.33 (Cap)]
[Agility: 3.51 (Cap)]
[Endurance: 2.64 (Cap)]
[Physique: 3.39 (Cap)]
[Special Abilities: Bullet Time, Anomaly Detection, Psychokinesis (Weak: 31%)]
[Weapon Proficiency: Firearms (Mastery 64%), Power Exoskeleton Operation (Mastery 45%)]
[Auxiliary Equipment: Elite Power Exoskeleton Armor (Good Condition)]
[Source Energy: 12.76]

He remembered the system had started with around 11 units, which he had squandered in his youthful ignorance. But had he not "squandered" it back then, he might not have survived until today. Now, he possessed 12.76 units of source energy—and that was after he had already allocated some to his stats.

With so much source energy, Zhou Shu was overjoyed, even more so than he was about the growth in his attributes. After all, as long as he had source energy, he could keep getting stronger. The increase in attributes was just a drop in the bucket.

His Spirit attribute went without saying; it had always been stellar. In terms of raw data, it had already reached the fourth tier, though its derivative abilities were mostly auxiliary. Since the only offensive one was still at a "weak" level, Zhou Shu didn't typically count it as a combat metric. With his current physical stats, he was equivalent to a third-tier Demon Slayer in the Great Qin State—commonly known as a "Great Demon"—which was also the international standard for an A-rank esper. And he was far from a novice.

Although his Endurance was his weakest attribute, compared horizontally to other espers at his level, it was already quite impressive. Not to mention that his actual combat power exceeded his paper stats; two espers of the same level were no match for him. If he hadn't wanted to test his melee capabilities at the start, he could have gunned them down instantly. Firearms and weapons were also part of his strength.

With his current abundance of source energy, if he could enter the virtual battlefield with access to mechs, he might be able to materialize an entire mech. Of course, he had to be flexible and choose the right moment. Just like before, if he could materialize the power exoskeleton armor, he could naturally materialize individual parts of it. After all, the armor was made of individual components, and using parts required less source energy.

However, there was a knack to it. He couldn't just pull out a random servo; that would only be good for "throwing stones to test the path." Purely mechanical structures like firearms were much simpler. The oversized sniper rifle he had used had one drawback: it lacked a scope. On the armor, it would have been linked to an auxiliary system, so it didn't need a traditional scope. Fortunately, it had built-in iron sights, and combined with Zhou Shu's slow-motion perception and keen intuition, the aiming effect was no less effective than a scope—and it didn't obstruct his field of view or slow down his rate of fire.

This support sniper rifle, designed for a folding platform, had a caliber exceeding 20mm, placing it in the realm of an autocannon. Even though it was an "original" weapon from the armor and lacked tungsten-cored armor-piercing shells, the sheer amount of propellant was enough to guarantee its lethality. After all, the power of a firearm lay in the gunpowder. Not enough power? That just meant there wasn't enough gunpowder! With enough powder, you could bring down an entire building.

He had run out of ammo for his previous rifle, so he was now using the materialized heavy sniper rifle. It could instantly kill a late-stage third-tier esper. Zhou Shu didn't know if he could do the same to a fourth-tier esper, but he felt he at least had the power to fight one. Even if he couldn't win, if he had one day, he could ensure his main combat attributes reached the fourth tier, making him a "Celestial Master." Once he reached that level, he could materialize high-firepower weaponry at will, and it wouldn't just be a question of "having the power to fight."

From what he knew, fourth-tier Celestial Masters seemed to be the peak of combat power both domestically and internationally, though he wasn't sure if there was anything higher. But given human nature, or at least his experience in the Great Qin State, anything known to the public certainly wasn't a state secret, and the equipment on display was never the most advanced. He suspected there were even more powerful entities within the human camp.

Regardless, he could now get away with using materialized firearms, provided no one saw them appearing out of thin air. He could even explain away the first mutant he had killed. What if the ammunition was strange? What if the markings were unrecognizable? It wasn't as if such things didn't exist on Earth. Not only could they build things from the "future," they could even craft "fantasy" or "immortal" items. He could create an "immortal sword"—even if it couldn't fly, it would be sharp enough to kill. The inscriptions on the ammo didn't affect the lethality. As he said before, the power of a bullet depended on the propellant, just as the lethality of an "immortal sword" came from the steel. Even if it wasn't sharpened, it could still crush you to death. Given Zhou Shu's current status and combat power, what did it matter if he had a few contraband items?

"Comrade Zhou Shu, the long-range sniping mission is complete. Immediately head to the Eternal Pavilion to support Celestial Master Feng!"

Just as he was lying in wait for the next target, Zhou Shu heard this command over the channel.

"Understood!"

The other soldiers had heard it too and immediately prepared to leave with him. But Zhou Shu said, "Stay here and guard the scene. Notify the troops to come and collect these corpses immediately; these things are still of great use."

No one dared to argue with him now, so the soldiers stood their ground as they watched Zhou Shu disappear into the stairwell.