Chapter Twenty-Two: The First Kill, A Mutual Destruction

Damaged battle armor was all salvaged from the battlefield. Some pieces still bore mud and blood, so the repair technicians had to spray them clean before they could begin any repairs. The workstations of the repairmen, mechanics, and engineers were lined up side by side; the sound of mechanical cutting was piercing, welding sparks flew in every direction, and everyone was working feverishly.

What could be fixed was repaired; what couldn't was dismantled for spare parts, and the truly unusable pieces were recycled as scrap metal.

When Zhou Shu entered, he was quick-witted, immediately donning a filthy set of overalls, slipped on gloves, and sidled up to a nearby mechanic to make conversation.

“Hello, I’m new here. What should I do?”

“Get lost!”

“….”

Zhou Shu was speechless.

“My enthusiasm for learning nearly got extinguished right then and there,” he thought. “If your arms weren’t as thick as my thighs, I’d have beaten you so badly your mother wouldn’t recognize you!”

He moved to another spot, glaring at the back of the man’s head, but of course, he wasn’t about to seriously quarrel with these “NPCs.” After all, he was here to learn, not to fight, so he turned to a second mechanic.

This one had a gentler disposition and was quite skilled, chatting with Zhou Shu as he worked. But when he asked Zhou Shu to fetch a piece of equipment, and Zhou Shu had no idea what it was, he was promptly chased away.

“Stop getting in the way.”

“….”

No matter, on to the third.

“You don’t know anything. Why are you here?”

“….”

Fourth. Fifth.

…

“What did you learn at technical school? Such a waste of resources!”

“….”

Now his eagerness for learning was thoroughly crushed.

Although his daily conversations were fine and he’d unlocked all the English audio and bilingual subtitles for the film, none of that included the details of the powered exoskeleton. After all, in the movie, it was pure science fiction—a product of imagination—not a real machine simulated by Hunters based on the film’s description.

He didn’t even know the names of the parts and equipment, so he had no idea where to begin learning the craft.

It was further proof that the system had made the “virtual battlefield” sufficiently “real”—those two points of Origin Energy were well spent. Yet, recouping them would not be easy.

Still, he didn’t give up. No one here knew him, and even if they did, he could simply reload and they’d forget! As long as he was thick-skinned enough in the short term and kept asking questions, eventually he would learn something.

Moreover, most of the exoskeletons here were just a pile of parts; even if he didn’t talk to the mechanics, just watching was already valuable.

Perhaps he could even teach himself.

After all, he was a citizen of the Great Qin.

“Copying talent, Sharingan, activate!”

But before he could “open his eyes,” someone from Team J spotted him due to his position.

So much for his plan to sneak off.

However…

“Backboard content +1.”

“Next time, watch your position—don’t let them spot you as soon as they come in.”

When he returned, he was also restricted, but not nearly as severely as Tom, the “deserter.” Thankfully.

If it were about popularity, Tom was probably in the negative, while Zhou Shu’s score had dropped from a barely passing sixty to thirty or forty.

But as he dutifully completed various tasks, never acting suspicious or ready to run like Tom, his popularity quickly recovered.

During the “veteran mentoring rookie” session, Zhou Shu’s demonstrations and explanations left the seasoned members of Team J stunned by his proficiency.

“Zhou, you—have you trained before? Didn’t the sergeant say you’re a complete rookie?”

“Of course I am. But my home is right next to the recruitment station, so I’ve seen these things before. Anyway, let’s discuss this module.”

He lied without batting an eye, then pointed to the control module behind the armor. “Nancy, what’s this module called? If it malfunctions, can we still use the armor normally? And if not, should we discard it or try to fix it?”

“That’s the individual auxiliary core. It controls—”

As planned, he didn’t repeat what he’d already learned. He was going to squeeze every bit of knowledge from these veterans.

They weren’t professional technicians, but as seasoned fighters, they had unique insights into the powered exoskeleton armor.

That night, during physical training, Zhou Shu didn’t cause any trouble. He figured out the threshold for attribute increases—how much exercise was needed to gain 0.01 points.

Once he understood that, he could balance learning techniques and strengthening his body, or focus on either side.

The next morning, as usual, they boarded the transport aircraft bound for the battlefield.

This time, Zhou Shu chose a safer spot, ensuring he wouldn’t be blown up before landing.

“Listen for my command, prepare for airborne insertion…”

The sergeant was counting down. Tom’s face was drenched in sweat, until he finally shouted, “Hey!”

“Boom—”

Zhou Shu, right on cue, muttered inwardly, “Voice-activated bomb,” and immediately pressed the descent switch.

He was the first to slip away.

“Swish—”

The heavy steel armor allowed him to slide down the cable quickly. Once he reached a safe altitude, he detached the cable and, using the veterans’ technique, performed a textbook landing maneuver.

“Thud~”

“Ha! Not so hard after all!”

Zhou Shu stood and dashed forward, eager for his first kill.

On the beach, battle raged. The Mimics, those alien monsters, had learned artillery from the humans, as well as fire coverage. Balls of flame, trailing black smoke, streaked across the sky from every direction—an overwhelming barrage.

To be honest, this was no different from the amphibious landings of World War I and II. For most, surviving a hit was a matter of luck, not skill.

Even experts could be swept away in a moment, like the famous Valkyrie, the female protagonist from the film.

Zhou Shu was lucky this time—he wasn’t struck by any projectiles or ambushed by monsters bursting from underground, and quickly reached the front lines.

Here, chaos reigned. The Mimics no longer used artillery but engaged in brutal close combat.

Calling it melee was generous; the alien monsters were overwhelming the human soldiers.

Inside, they resembled molten lava, glowing orange or red, with numerous tentacles made of basalt-like material. Each tentacle ended in a sharp blade.

They could spread out into a spiked ball like a sea urchin or gather their limbs to move like a four-legged beast, agile and fierce.

They were immensely strong and highly resistant. Once in motion, they became supercars outfitted with steel spikes.

Humans needed to empty a magazine, sometimes resorting to grenades and shells, aiming for their core. The monsters, on the other hand, only needed a casual stab to kill a soldier.

If a Mimic managed to get close—especially if it emerged from underground into the middle of a squad—it was like a tornado demolishing a parking lot. The soldiers couldn’t react in time and were slaughtered by the steel sea urchin.

Mud, blood, debris, and bodies were flung by immense force. The carnage stimulated Zhou Shu’s nerves, making his heart race, breath quicken, body flush, and adrenaline surge.

Soon, he set his sights on a monster. It had just wiped out a squad and climbed out of a large crater, right in his path.

The monster likewise targeted him, charging straight ahead.

Nothing left to say!

“Damn!”

With the momentum of a team destroyer, the beast rushed at him, no fancy moves, so Zhou Shu didn’t bother aiming—he