Chapter Seventy-Four: Setting a New Goal

“Huh~ I got it!!”

He had just won a spot in the testing of the “Super Vanguard” powered exoskeleton armor, an improved version of the previous “Vanguard” generation.

No one could be happier than Sun Congliang at that moment.

In fact, from the very first day the original “Vanguard” had arrived at the Demon Suppression Bureau, he had been coveting it. Back then, he was just a rookie, nowhere near eligible for a test run—only elite warriors had that privilege.

Now, he was an elite himself. The moment Zhou Shu’s gaze landed on that experimental exoskeleton, Sun Congliang knew he had found a kindred spirit.

At first, he didn’t know what Zhou Shu was planning; he thought Zhou simply liked the machine. But the next month left him utterly astonished.

This wasn’t just a kindred spirit—this was the avatar of a mech god walking among mortals! An angel sent to realize his dreams!

When the call for new testers went out once more, Sun Congliang fought his way to the front and secured the spot.

When Zhou Shu finally confirmed the list of participants and announced Sun’s name, Sun’s hands trembled with excitement. Zhou smiled and joked, “What’s wrong, Brother Sun? If you’re not feeling well, I can have you replaced.”

“No, that’s not necessary! I’m in perfect health!” Sun Congliang straightened up and declared loudly, “I promise to complete the testing mission!”

“Good, you look lively,” Zhou Shu said, patting his shoulder with practiced familiarity, then added, “I heard you want to join my demon-hunting squad. Are Instructor Zhang and your Captain Zhuang really willing to let you go?”

At the mention of this, Sun Congliang’s bravado faded. He scratched his head sheepishly and replied, “Both Captain Zhang and Captain Zhuang know how much I love this stuff, so they didn’t try to stop me. In fact, they told me to look after you.”

His spirit returned, and he said loudly, “Don’t worry! I won’t let those mutated monsters lay a finger on you!”

Seeing these two “youngsters” so full of energy, the circle of seasoned researchers around them couldn’t help but chuckle.

Zhou Shu would officially turn eighteen tomorrow, while Sun Congliang was already twenty-seven, but to those present, both were still young.

Especially Zhou Shu. In just over a month, they had come to understand that people truly cannot be measured by a single standard.

Zhou Shu had not only busied himself with the exoskeleton project, he also attended school. Although, after just over a week, his schedule became so hectic that he requested leave.

His reason: the school curriculum was too simple.

With his homeroom teacher vouching for him and his own promise to take a test each week (ensuring his score wouldn’t drop below 700), the school relented.

In the following weeks, he indeed never scored below 700, sometimes even reaching 720, depending on the test.

His classmates were in awe.

But he didn’t spend all his spare time on the exoskeleton, either. As an apprentice demon-hunter at the Bureau, he still had to study the courses he’d previously selected.

Within two weeks, he finished all of them, passing every practical test with perfect marks.

He hadn’t participated in actual combat, simply because he had no time. Even so, he managed these achievements while simultaneously upgrading the powered exoskeleton and keeping up with his studies.

And although he hadn’t fought recently, he’d already built a record in previous field exercises, qualifying him for promotion to official demon-hunter.

A seventeen-year-old, officially recognized demon-hunter.

Since then, he hadn’t gone on a single mission—his team was still being assembled, and he spent all his time holed up in the lab.

When the older researchers retired for the night, exhausted, he and his assistants kept working into the small hours.

Eventually, even the assistants succumbed to sleep, but he would continue to work a while longer.

The next morning, old Li would exclaim, “Damn, this kid! Damn! He reminds me of myself in my younger days—”

The others would all groan in mock disgust.

After more than a month running at full throttle, Zhou Shu hadn’t burned through any source energy, nor gone out for strenuous monster hunts, yet all his attributes had improved somewhat.

Still, it didn’t compare to the overnight jumps in strength that came from expending energy in life-or-death situations.

When the “Super Vanguard” exoskeleton’s self-check reached 100% completion, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Even Zhou Shu, whose constitution had already surpassed 1, felt the exhaustion.

It had been hard work.

With the first phase a success, everyone decided to end the day early and get a good night’s sleep, ready for the official tests to begin tomorrow.

That night, lying in his dormitory bed, Zhou Shu took stock of his gains from the past month.

First, there was the attribute panel, offering the most direct summary:

[Hunter System]
[User: Zhou Shu (Recruit)]
[Mental: 1.84 (max)]
[Strength: 1.12 (max)]
[Agility: 1.14 (max)]
[Endurance: 1.10 (max)]
[Constitution: 1.11 (max)]
[Special Abilities: Slow-Motion Vision (Advanced 28%), Vigilance (Basic)]
[Weapon Proficiency: Firearms (Mastery), Powered Exoskeleton Operation (Mastery)]
[Support Equipment: One Elite Powered Exoskeleton Armor (Good Condition)]
[Source Energy: 4.62]

In just over thirty days, his mental attribute had increased by 0.25, which surprised him. Then again, it made sense: though he hadn’t faced any life-or-death situations, he’d spent every day in intense brainstorming sessions with veteran scholars. Even with his expertise in exoskeletons, he’d learned a great deal of new knowledge.

Such constant mental stimulation made the growth logical. In fact, he felt it could have been higher.

The rest of the “core three attributes” had only increased by a fraction, as he’d focused on the superpowered sniper program, not all-around training.

His constitution, though, had grown by 0.03—quite unexpected.

To put it in perspective, that was equivalent to the improvement from surviving three near-death encounters!

Or perhaps it meant that the late nights and sheer exhaustion of the past month had been enough to kill a normal person three times over!

Spooky.

His weapon skills had reached mastery—firearms purely from practice, nothing more to say about that.

His exoskeleton operation skill had improved thanks to all the modifications, dismantling, and reassembly he’d done; he now understood the armor’s structure, functions, and limits inside and out.

The only unchanged skill was vigilance. There was nothing to be done about that—since he’d spent all his time indoors at the Bureau, never encountering danger, his proficiency barely budged.

What puzzled him most was the change in slow-motion vision.

It had upgraded, but not to “mastery”—instead, it was now marked as “advanced,” with a percentage progress bar.

It was only after asking his system assistant, Xiao Shou, that he learned the truth.

This ability was really about to evolve—from “slow-motion vision” to “bullet time”!

The youth version was going pro.

Once the percentage reached 100%, he would have a fully developed bullet time ability. After that, he wouldn’t need to dodge muzzle flashes or anticipate gunfire; like Neo in The Matrix, he could simply dodge bullets.

The appearance of a percentage bar was thanks to the superpowered sniper training program: low-intensity drills like rapid-fire quizzes and counting games, and high-intensity ones like skeet shooting.

All of it was designed to train his eyesight, forcing him to use slow-motion vision until it became second nature, accessible at will.

Zhou Shu found this excellent.

He made a mental note to ask the trainers to dial up the difficulty from now on.

The harder, the better!

As for the virtual battlefield for practicing the detection of hidden monsters—one he had specifically requested—the Hunter System had yet to finish developing it.

The main obstacle was that “detection” was truly difficult to program, and their database lacked records of the monsters’ stealth techniques they’d encountered.

The new virtual world was nothing like the world of “Edge of Tomorrow.” There, facing alien monsters, you just needed to stack up your physical stats, hone your combat skills, and charge straight ahead.

Besides, each run in that world was short, followed by endless repetition. It was perfect for beginners, easy to produce, and quick to complete. The new world, however, required careful crafting.

The system suggested Zhou Shu check if the Bureau had any relevant records or data, but he’d been far too busy to even look.

So tonight, Zhou Shu set a new goal for himself.

Once the “Super Vanguard” testing was complete and the technology up to standard, he would leave the mass production to others and devote himself to gathering data and improving his own abilities!

As the overall power of the team rose, the need for peak individual strength would only become more crucial.

No matter how many tanks you had, even if you could unleash a tide of steel, the importance of a nuclear bomb was self-evident.