The battle on the east side of town was escalating. The scramble for supplies had pushed the conflict between players to a fever pitch, with sporadic skirmishes upgrading to life-and-death struggles between teams. On this chaotic battlefield, larger guilds, leveraging their numerical superiority, were gradually encroaching upon and wiping out smaller, weaker groups. The winner took all, the losers fled in disarray – the law of the jungle was starkly evident.
Suddenly, sharp whistling sounds tore through the din as several arrows accurately struck down a few players engaged in fierce combat. The battlefield fell eerily silent, all eyes turning towards the direction from which the arrows had come.
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!" Another volley of arrows rained down, densely covering the crowd. Amidst screams, a swath of players turned into white light and dissipated. The survivors, whether injured or not, instinctively stopped what they were doing, looking towards the source of the arrows with suspicion and uncertainty.
A portly figure, flanked by a group of underlings wielding crude wooden bows, swaggered down the middle of the street. He leaped onto the roof of an abandoned car, looked down from his vantage point, and announced in an unquestionable tone: "This mall is mine, Fireball's! If you know what's good for you, the women can stay and join our Fireball Guild. Everyone else, scram!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand smugly. His underlings immediately charged towards the nearby shops like ravenous wolves, brutally driving away and shooting down the scattered players still scavenging. The supplies painstakingly collected by the slain players over the past twelve hours now burst forth, scattering all over the ground.
"Haha, Boss Fireball is truly brilliant! Getting weapons first thing, let's see what these paupers can fight us with!" a sycophantic underling with a pointy face and monkey-like cheeks flattered, causing the fat on Fireball's face to jiggle and a self-satisfied grin to spread across his lips.
The remaining players were forced back by this sudden, ferocious force. Some of the more alert ones had already quietly slipped away to find other places. Just as Fireball's men thought they had cleared the area and were about to enjoy the spoils, another group of people burst into the area without warning.
Leading them was a red-haired woman with a stunning figure. A white, navel-baring crop top outlined her astonishing curves, and tight jeans hugged her long, powerful legs. Behind her followed a group of players, including several women, all with grim expressions and an imposing aura. Faced with the arrows aimed at them by Fireball's underlings, they showed no fear whatsoever.
"Boss, another group, and quite a few of them!" an underling on lookout reported to Fireball, his voice cracking, while simultaneously shouting at the red-haired woman's group with feigned bravado: "Get lost if you don't want to die! ...Uh, the women can consider staying!" He had noticed the attractive female players in the opposing group, and his tone involuntarily softened.
The red-haired woman's cold, beautiful eyes merely swept over the underling's face before she raised a delicate hand and drew a dark pistol from behind her back. "Bang! Bang!" Two crisp gunshots rang out. The underling shouting from the rooftop fell before he could finish his sentence, his body turning into white light mid-air, the bow in his hand falling limply to the ground. At the same time, several players behind the red-haired woman also drew their firearms, their dark muzzles instantly locking onto Fireball's archers.
"Damn it! Where did they get guns?" The smug smile on Fireball's face instantly froze, replaced by shock and disbelief. He stared intently at the approaching group led by the red-haired woman, his mind in turmoil.
At the beginning of the game, he had ordered his men to search for weapons immediately, but all the gun stores had already been looted clean. He initially thought the NPCs had hoarded all the firearms, so he turned to robbing residential houses. But those houses, as if foreseeing the apocalypse, were tightly sealed with formidable defenses, and the NPCs inside resisted fiercely with firearms, causing his men heavy losses. Only after hitting a wall did he reluctantly resort to gathering materials to craft these crude bows.
"Leave all the supplies, then, get lost!" The red-haired woman's voice was not loud, but it carried an irresistible authority. She casually toyed with the gun in her hand, and with a flick of the muzzle, another shot rang out. A Fireball underling trying to flee with supplies fell to the ground. Her icy gaze swept over Fireball and his remaining men as she delivered her ultimatum.
Reality was this cruel. In this game world, devoid of magic and fantasy powers, where everything followed real physical rules, technology and weapons were the absolute symbols of strength. The lethality of firearms was realistically portrayed; under the muzzle of a gun, all were equal. This was the truth of the apocalypse.
"We... retreat!" Fireball gritted his teeth. Despite his immense unwillingness, he could only humiliatingly order a retreat. He clearly couldn't contend for this area and could only lead his remaining forces away in disgrace to find another way to survive.
After Fireball's men disappeared around the corner, a female player picked up a dropped wooden bow from the ground and respectfully handed it to the red-haired woman. The red-haired woman took the bow, her captivating phoenix eyes merely glancing at it before a look of undisguised disdain appeared on her exquisite face. "Hmph, truly shoddy craftsmanship." She casually tossed the bow to one of her subordinates, instructing, "You guys go gather some materials too. Make more bows and arrows, and some axes and shields to deal with those damn things. Oh, and make some silencers while you're at it. Bullets are precious, use them sparingly."
Then, she beckoned to several attractive female players, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. "Have these nearby residential buildings been scouted? You few, each take a building, bring some people, and use your 'charms' to get those NPCs to open their doors. I want all their weapons and supplies."
The beautiful female players exchanged knowing glances, a cunning light flickering in their eyes, and nodded in unison.
How could these 21st-century Earth "otaku" NPCs possibly resist the deliberate seduction of these exotic beauties, who had evolved for a hundred years and possessed such captivating allure?
Meanwhile, on the west side of town, not far from the "Giant Hammer" supermarket, a nimble, silver-white figure was rapidly darting through the deserted streets. It skillfully avoided the wandering zombies. Occasionally, a few zombies, distracted by the intermittent gunshots from the surroundings, failed to notice its presence. Even if a few zombies lunged, it dodged them agilely. The figure slipped through a small hole left in the back door of a shop and then expertly passed through an inconspicuous doggy door into a shop.
It was a snow-white dog, medium-sized and slightly plump. Its fur color and facial features resembled a crossbreed of a Border Collie and a wolf, with the wolf's characteristics being more prominent. Its light blue eyes sparkled with unusual intelligence. It wore a specially made small vest with several pockets sewn on for carrying items.
A rough hand gently stroked its head, then skillfully unzipped a pocket on the vest and took out a folded piece of paper. The dog obediently stepped aside, and immediately, the cheerful teasing and doting laughter of several girls could be heard from that direction, diluting the somber atmosphere of the apocalypse with a touch of warmth.
The burly man holding the note unfolded it and quickly scanned its contents. A rare look of relief finally appeared on his face, which had been etched with worry.
As Alice and Jacob returned to their temporary base inside the supermarket, chatting and laughing, a dull "thud" startled them. Looking towards the sound, they saw Ka straightening up from beside a thick wooden plank, a measuring tape in her hand, and quickly walking back to Boyu.
A moment later, Ka's slightly cold voice was heard: "Hmm, this ratio is very close."
(Boyu and Ka were testing the optimal mixture ratio of gasoline and air for propellant. Boyu had discovered that the game's combustion parameters differed slightly from reality, so the two had begun repeated experiments.)
Alice and Jacob approached curiously, seeing Boyu fiddling with a strangely shaped device in his hands, resembling a section of steel pipe connected to several valves and a small cylinder-like structure. This must be the prototype of the new weapon they had been tinkering with for a long time, though it still looked like a crude, unfinished product.
"What are the parameters this time?" Boyu asked without looking up, his gaze fixed on the prototype in his hands.
"Penetration depth increased by another five millimeters," Ka replied concisely, putting down the measuring tape.
"Hmm, it seems this ratio should be optimal." Boyu nodded thoughtfully. "No matter how much more we adjust, the room for improvement is limited." He finally looked up and saw Alice and Jacob approaching, greeting them, "Ah, you're back."
"Is this your masterpiece?" Alice blinked her lively eyes, smiling as she pointed at the device in Boyu's hand, her tone laced with a hint of teasing and curiosity.
"Yes, the preliminary test results are very promising." Boyu pointed to the battered wooden plank at the other end of the room, explaining, "That plank can be completely penetrated. The power is sufficient."
Alice and Jacob walked over to the plank to examine it closely. The thick plank was already riddled with nails of various shapes and sizes: some nail heads were deeply embedded, some nail tails protruded, and a few nails had simple fins made of cut plastic attached to their tails. Almost all these nails were deeply embedded in the wood, and their impact points were relatively concentrated in a small area, though the depth of penetration varied, clearly the result of multiple improvements and tests.
"So now what? Are we going to use this 'octopus' to fight zombies?" Ka asked Boyu, her tone calm. Although this experimental piece was powerful, its appearance was far from commendable: it was cumbersome, to say the least, with various tubes and wires tangled around it. If they were to take it into actual combat, it would probably fall apart after a few steps.
"Don't worry, I've will send the design and parameters to Bao'er." Boyu, noticing Ka's concern, smiled confidently. "Let the AI assist in optimizing the structure, and we'll have the finished blueprints soon."
With that, Boyu began to take multi-angle photos of the crude prototype, uploading the data to his personal AI assistant, "Bao'er." After a seemingly complex operation, the entire model was successfully digitized. Bao'er, connected to an external server, immediately began high-speed calculations. Before long, a brand-new, optimized design blueprint was transmitted back. The new design fully considered the limitations of available materials, simplifying and integrating many components, and came with detailed parts processing instructions and assembly steps. (Only Boyu could see all this, as Bao'er was linked only to his personal OAD account.)
After carefully studying the design and procedures, Boyu picked up the materials at hand and began to process them methodically. Cutting, grinding, welding, debugging... His focused expression and skilled movements dazzled Alice and Jacob. Ka, however, seemed to always follow his train of thought, handing him the right tools at the right time. Having participated in the entire testing and improvement process, Ka knew the function of each component like the back of her hand. Just twenty minutes later, Boyu had completely dismantled the previous experimental piece and reassembled it according to the new design. When the final product was presented to everyone, they were all deeply shocked – who would have thought that such a sophisticated weapon could be handcrafted in the early stages of the game?
The weapon before them, cleverly assembled from multiple steel pipes, featured a compact pump-action mechanism. Pulling the bolt back opened the rear combustion chamber valve and simultaneously fed a special spike from the internal magazine into the ready position; pushing the bolt forward chambered the spike, locked the breech, closed the combustion chamber valve, and automatically injected a small amount of gasoline, completing the ready-to-fire state. Boyu expertly operated it once, and just as he was about to test-fire, he suddenly turned to Ka, handing her the weapon with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Ka was slightly taken aback, a rare hint of delight flitting across her usually cool face. Without hesitation, she reached out and took the weapon. The heavy metallic feel and intricate mechanical structure evoked a strange sense of familiarity within her. She skillfully raised the weapon, aimed at the distant wooden target's bullseye, and decisively pulled the trigger.
"Bang!" A much crisper explosion than expected rang out. A black spike shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, accurately hitting the bullseye and embedding itself deeply into the wooden plank. The powerful kinetic energy even made the plank wobble.
"Success!" Jacob and Alice couldn't help but cheer.
Ka caressed the weapon's body, feeling the slight vibration from the trigger, an almost imperceptible hint of satisfaction in her eyes. But she quickly thought of something else and said to Boyu, "Subsonic. It's best to add a silencer."
Boyu understood immediately, turned back to the workbench, picked up a section of steel pipe and some spare parts, and quickly began to work. A moment later, a simple but effective silencer was completed and firmly attached to the muzzle.
Test-firing again, the effect was immediate. The already quiet gunshot became even fainter after the silencer was attached. Coupled with the fact that the spikes themselves were subsonic, the weapon was now almost inaudible beyond ten meters. In comparison, the sound of the spike hitting the wooden plank seemed louder.
"Perfect," Ka commented succinctly, the corners of her mouth seeming to curve upwards in an almost invisible arc.
Watching Ka test the weapon, Boyu couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. He made a few more minor adjustments to make it handle better. Just then, Alice quietly pulled Ka aside.
"Oh, Ka, look at you! You were just like a cool-headed inventor! 'Subsonic,' 'silencer,' you were talking like an expert," Alice giggled, covering her mouth. "I've never seen you like this!"
Ka, slightly embarrassed by Alice's words, felt a faint blush creep up her face, but a sense of unprecedented comfort and satisfaction filled her heart. She had felt this way before when she successfully forged her own longsword. And now, looking at the weapon in Boyu's hands, a product of their joint efforts, she knew she had a part in it too.
After thorough testing and data recording, the various attributes of this new weapon gradually became clear. It fired special spikes. Although its single-shot stopping power was slightly less than a 9mm pistol round, its penetration was significantly higher, making it particularly suitable for attacking a target's weak points. More importantly, it had minimal recoil, almost no muzzle flash, and a faint firing sound, making it a perfect tool for stealth and ambushes.
Next came the naming of this new weapon. Boyu had never been good at naming things; even his AI assistant's name, "Bao'er," was chosen casually. He habitually turned his gaze to Ka.
Ka's beautiful eyes flickered slightly. Her gaze fell on the spikes, whose tips had turned black after heat treatment. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Let's call it 'Black Spike'."
"Black Spike... Hmm, it fits the black spikes it fires and also implies its hidden and deadly nature, like a poisonous sting. Nice, very nice!" Alice clapped her hands in approval.
**Here are the details for the "Black Spike":**
* **Weapon Name:** Handmade "Black Spike" Launcher
* **Type:** Pump-Action Launcher (Magazine-Fed, Improvised)
* **Weight (kg):**
* Base: 2.8 kg
* With Silencer: 3.1 kg
* **Ergonomics (0-100):**
* Base: 55
* With Silencer: 45
* **Durability (Points):** 80/80
* **Cleanliness (0-100%):** Initial 95%
* **Magazine Capacity:** 10 rounds
* **Fire Modes:** Single Shot (Pump Action)
* **Base Reload Speed (seconds):** 3.0 seconds (for 10-round magazine)
* **Concealment (0-20):**
* Base: 5
* With Silencer (and/or Scope): 17 (Scope does not affect concealment)
* **Repairability (0-20):** 14
* **Accessories:**
* **Slot 1 (Muzzle):** Custom Silencer
* Effects: Concealment +12, Ergonomics -10, Weight +0.3kg
* Description: Makes the weapon nearly silent beyond 10 meters, but slightly cumbersome.
* **Ammunition Loaded:**
* **Caliber/Type:** Handmade Black Spike (Gasoline Propelled)
* **Projectile Description:** A sharp steel spike, propelled by a small, controlled gasoline deflagration.
* **Damage (per projectile):** 50
* **Accuracy (MOA):**
* Base: 4.5
* **Recoil (0-100+):** 20
* **Penetration (0-100+):** 40
* **Destructive Power (0-100+):** 30
* **Muzzle Velocity (m/s):** 300 m/s
* **Effective Range (m):** 50 m (Base)
* **Rate of Fire (RPM):** ~30-40 RPM (Pump Action, Magazine Fed)
Now that the prototype was tested, Boyu needed to build a "Black Spike" for each member of the squad. To improve efficiency, before starting formal production, he first demonstrated to everyone how to mass-produce the special spikes for the "Black Spike."
For this, he even made a simple mold. He arranged a row of ordinary steel nails neatly, then placed two layers of tough plastic packing straps between the nail heads and shanks, and clamped them with the mold. Next, he heated the nail tips with a flame. The high temperature would melt the plastic straps, which, under the pressure of the mold, would form aerodynamic fins. The red-hot nail tips were immediately quenched in oil to increase their hardness. After cooling and opening the mold, a row of ten spikes with black fins and gleaming black tips was complete. They were also cleverly connected, making them easy to carry and load.
Looking at these spikes with their black tips and menacing fins, everyone agreed even more with the name "Black Spike." It was already three in the afternoon. Boyu began to concentrate on building the "Black Spike" launchers for the squad members, while Alice, Jacob, and Ka were responsible for processing the spikes. Their assembly-line division of labor made them exceptionally efficient. Just two hours later, Boyu had successfully manufactured another three "Black Spikes." At the same time, he gained a massive amount of manufacturing experience, his crafting skill soaring to level three and a half, while the other squad members' crafting skills also rose to level two.
The squad members, each with a brand-new "Black Spike," were eager to conduct live-fire tests. They went to the second floor of the supermarket's staff area, which used to be the manager's and administrator's offices. A water dispenser and a small amount of food remained. The office windows offered a wide view, overlooking most of the supermarket interior. Some zombies that hadn't been cleared out yet were still wandering aimlessly among the shelves, naturally becoming the best test targets for the "Black Spike." Each squad member found a comfortable shooting position, set up their weapons, and began to aim.
"The default zeroing distance for the sights is fifty meters. The trajectory has a certain arc, so aim slightly lower at close range and raise the muzzle appropriately at long range," Boyu briefly explained the ballistic characteristics of the "Black Spike."
Ka was the first to demonstrate. She pointed at a zombie over fifty meters away, steadily raised her "Black Spike," and locked onto the zombie's head through the simple iron sights. With an almost inaudible firing sound, a black shadow shot out from the muzzle, accurately hitting the zombie's head. The zombie staggered violently, took a few steps back, and shook its head blankly, seemingly having suffered a massive impact but unable to determine where the attack came from. It didn't fall immediately, but then Ka fired another shot, also a precise headshot, and the zombie finally collapsed onto the floor.
"Beautiful!" Jacob exclaimed in admiration.
In this extremely realistic game, there were no traditional health bars. Players couldn't intuitively know how much damage they had inflicted on a target; they could only judge by observing the target's reaction. And when players themselves took damage, there would be no system prompts, only the most realistic pain feedback.
Moreover, zombies wouldn't drop various items after being killed like in other games. To find out if a zombie had anything useful, one had to personally search its body. There would be no such things as "crystal cores" to enhance player strength – that was a trope from web novels; a realistic game environment wouldn't have so many flashy things, although during the beta test, some persistent players would always try to dig for them. If killing zombies provided anything, it was only experience points and corresponding skill proficiency. After Ka accurately headshot a zombie with the "Black Spike," her shooting skill proficiency increased by nearly five percent. This was due to both the shooting distance and the difficulty of the headshot.
Next, the squad members began to practice shooting to their hearts' content. Fortunately, everyone had played some shooting games before, so they picked it up quickly. Ka's marksmanship was as stable and excellent as ever, while Alice showed amazing talent. Although she was a bit clumsy at first due to not being used to the "Black Spike's" subsonic trajectory, she quickly got the hang of it, and her shooting accuracy and efficiency improved rapidly, making her almost the fastest learner in the team. The acquisition of shooting skill proficiency was directly related to shooting distance and target difficulty. For example, hitting a moving target at a long distance yielded far more proficiency than hitting a stationary target at close range. With various bonuses stacking, a single precise hit could even bring several times the proficiency increase.
Due to the extreme scarcity of resources in the early game, most players couldn't quickly improve their shooting skills because they simply didn't have enough ammunition to expend. Although bows and arrows could also be used for ranged attacks, their rate of fire was slow, their effective range was limited, and they required a lot of practice to become effective in combat. But Boyu's team was different; they could already craft their own firearms and ammunition, which allowed them to create a huge gap in shooting skills with other players in the early game.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Shooting was a type of ranged combat skill. Each level increase provided a small attribute bonus: a one percent damage increase, a one percent aiming speed bonus, a five percent extra headshot damage, a one percent hit rate increase, and a one percent reload speed bonus. As the squad members' shooting skill levels continued to rise, these bonus effects also accumulated. Soon, Alice was surprised to find that she could also kill a zombie with a single headshot!
"Look! That zombie, I took it down with one shot!" Alice boasted proudly to the others, immediately receiving Jacob's unreserved praise.
Before long, all squad members' shooting levels had reached level eight, which was the breaking point for one-shot headshot kills on common zombies. It was now half pass five in the afternoon. The sun was setting, and the sky was still bright, but the intense heat of midday had dissipated considerably. The squad decided to go out again to gather supplies. Both their pickup truck and the newly equipped "Black Spike" launchers required gasoline as fuel. This was naturally their primary objective for this trip, and the more, the merrier.
Considering that driving out now would not only require clearing the obstacles blocking the supermarket entrance, which was time-consuming and laborious, but the vehicle's noise would also easily attract a large number of zombies, hindering their careful scavenging. So this time, they decided to go on foot, taking only two oil container and some previously collected empty water bottles. They also found a few plastic hoses and a hand pump in the supermarket for siphoning oil.
Exiting through the supermarket's back door and carefully locking it, they surveyed their surroundings. A few zombies roamed the parking lot. Ka raised her hand and dispatched them cleanly with a few shots, then skillfully took out a row of spikes from her backpack and loaded them into the "Black Spike's" magazine.
"We've already looted the cars in the parking lot," Ka said, pointing to a nearby wall. "We'll climb over here."
Behind the parking lot wall was a dense thicket of bushes. The group went to the wall. Boyu and Jacob, being agile, easily climbed over. Then the two of them helped pull Alice up. Ka supported Alice's feet from below and then, with a hand from Boyu, leaped lightly and landed steadily on top of the wall.
Jumping down from the wall, passing through the bushes, and crossing a road, they began to work on the abandoned vehicles along the roadside. Boyu first tried pulling the car door. Finding it locked, he unhesitatingly raised his short spear, smashed the car window, climbed in, and opened the fuel cap. He placed the oil container on the ground, inserted one end of the plastic hose into the fuel tank, connected the other end to the hand pump and then to the oil container, and then squeezed the hand pump a few times. Soon, gasoline gurgled out through the hose and into their oil container. He specifically reminded everyone that if they found gasoline of different colors, it was best to store them in separate containers to avoid affecting fuel quality when mixed.
The street was clogged with a long line of abandoned vehicles. The squad chose a red sedan as their starting point. Alice and Ka were responsible for siphoning oil from vehicles in the direction of the town center from here; Boyu and Jacob were responsible for scavenging in the direction leading out of town, agreeing to meet later at a barbershop on the street corner.
"Remember to store different colored oils separately," Boyu reminded them again.
Alice and Ka nodded and began to work diligently. Boyu and Jacob, meanwhile, advanced towards the outskirts of town.
"Swoosh—" A black spike whistled from the barrel of Jacob's weapon, accurately felling a zombie attempting to approach.
"Super smooth, bro! This thing you made this time feels really good!" Jacob stood on the roof of a car, providing covering fire for Boyu, who was siphoning oil, while praising him sincerely. One headshot, one kill – it was almost too easy.
"It's mainly limited by materials; this is the best solution I could come up with. Ka helped a lot too," Boyu replied without looking up, skillfully opening a fuel cap and inserting the siphon hose.
"So, what do you think of her?" Jacob grinned, leaping from one car roof to another, continuing to shoot. The firing sound of his "Black Spike" was extremely faint, not hindering their conversation at all. "Alice told me they both just arrived at the Star Station not long ago and are currently working at a bar called 'Comet'."
"She's... very pretty, and very smart..." Boyu responded vaguely, his thoughts involuntarily drawn to the information Jacob had brought. After emptying one car's fuel tank, he moved on to the next, signaling Jacob to continue.
"Alice is also a somewhat famous indie singer! Writes her own songs, arranges her own music. I plan to go to the bar tomorrow to support her and hear her live," Jacob said, firing another shot. A black spike accurately pierced the eye socket of a zombie that was just about to turn its head.
"This is awesome! This thing is like a gasoline-powered crossbow, silent and deadly!" Jacob became increasingly proficient with the "Black Spike." The unique firing sensation and almost negligible recoil gave him an unprecedented shooting thrill. As he spoke, he quickly reloaded another row of spikes. Unconsciously, he had already emptied several magazines. The surrounding zombies had long been cleared, and he had even begun to deal with scattered targets further away.
Looking back at the two equally busy, charming figures in the distance, Jacob lowered his voice and leaned closer to Boyu. "That tall one, Ka. I see you two get along pretty well. She's so beautiful and skilled, you should... be a little interested in her, right?"
"This... I..." Boyu was momentarily speechless, his cheeks flushing. Jacob's words had indeed hit home. Ka's beauty, mystery, and her aloof demeanor that kept others at a distance deeply attracted him. But when it came to choosing a partner, Boyu had always harbored his own romantic fantasies – he longed to meet a woman as perfect as a story's heroine and give her all his love and care. He had once confessed to Jacob his, uh, not-so-normal infatuation with virtual characters.
"I know what you're thinking, kid." Jacob, with an "I get you" expression, patted Boyu's shoulder. "But reality is reality, and fantasy is fantasy. If it really doesn't work out, you can always try role-playing! In the 'OAD' system, you can completely satisfy each other's needs. With Ka's cool personality, she'd be amazing at role-playing, definitely satisfying your 'heroine complex'!" he said with a wink, then turned and jumped to another car, continuing to reload and advance.
"And hey, don't underestimate some girls. They might seem one way on the surface, but if they really get into role-playing, they might just blow your mind and shatter your perceptions!" Jacob added, turning back with a meaningful smile. Boyu couldn't help but chuckle, thinking this might very well be Jacob's personal experience.
Jacob, truly Boyu's childhood best friend, had hit the nail on the head with just a few words, causing Boyu to fall into deep thought.
"Hey! Hey! Boyu! The oil is overflowing!" Jacob's loud voice suddenly snapped Boyu out of his reverie. Lost in thought, Boyu had forgotten to check the oil container, and gasoline was about to spill from the top. He fumbled to lift the siphon hose and switched to an empty bottle. They looked at each other and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"But... but I don't know if she'll like me," Boyu said, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"Like? It's not that fast!" Jacob laughed. "But I bet you've definitely caught her attention, kid."
"What do you mean?" Boyu asked, surprised.
"Meaning, she's interested in you, kid!" Jacob said, cocking his chin proudly. "That's not easy! Look at me, working out so hard, maintaining my image, putting in so much effort, and I only barely got her to look at me differently. You, on the other hand, just casually invent something and you've got her!"
"So... then what?" Boyu pressed.
"Then?" Jacob stopped what he was doing and gave Boyu a signature encouraging smile. "You can try to get to know her better. I know it might be difficult for you to make the first move, but you can subtly ask about her when you're chatting."
"And, most importantly," Jacob's expression turned serious, "be natural, be your true self. Don't ever try to change yourself or compromise yourself just to please others."
"Then... what if she doesn't like me because I'm 'being myself'?" Boyu asked worriedly.
"That's fate's arrangement then." Jacob shrugged. "Even if you compromise yourself and she likes you for the facade you put on, that kind of relationship won't last, and your future together won't be happy. So, don't worry so much, just be yourself. Even if Ka really doesn't fancy you, with your current conditions – a level four mechanic at such a young age – are you afraid you won't find a girl who likes you? You can have any type you want, can't you?"
"Oh..." Boyu listened thoughtfully to Jacob's advice, silently letting Bao'er record these "golden words of wisdom."
After filling all the containers they had brought, they started heading towards the town center. Jacob suddenly leaned closer to Boyu, looked him up and down, and then said with great seriousness, "Also, bro, I think girls like Ka might prefer someone a bit stronger. By the way, do you still have that resistance training suit?" He nudged Boyu with his elbow.
"Yeah, it's still at home."
"Good! I'll send you a training tutorial later. Stick to it for an hour every day, pair it with special nutritional supplements, and I guarantee you'll see noticeable results within a week! Then I'll help you pick out a new look. And then, I'll ask Alice out, and we can go on a double date, how about that?" Jacob grew more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see a beautiful future.
"Huh? Results in a week? What kind of 'miracle drug' are you planning to give me?" Boyu looked at Jacob in disbelief.
"Relax! When I say 'results,' I mean making your physique look more balanced and healthier, so you'll be more confident in whatever you do or say," Jacob explained. "If you want to build a body like mine, it'll take at least a few months of hard work."
They started heading back to the barbershop. This time, Jacob was responsible for carrying the heavy oil containers, while Boyu, armed with the "Black Spike," cleared any zombies that might appear along the way. While clearing zombies, he would also search their bodies for anything worth salvaging. Unfortunately, most zombies had nothing but worn-out wallets and defunct mobile phones. Just as he was about to leave one zombie, he inadvertently glanced at a ring on its finger. An idea struck Boyu; thinking it might be useful later, he took it off and tossed it into his backpack.
"What are you doing? Dawdling around." Jacob, carrying the oil containers, saw Boyu fumbling with a zombie for a long time and curiously walked over to check, just in time to see him pick up a gold ring.
"It's the apocalypse, is this thing still useful?" Jacob asked, puzzled.
"I don't know, but it's a precious metal, maybe it can be used as currency later." Boyu showed the ring in his hand to Jacob. It was a simple gold ring with a small diamond embedded in it, looking quite exquisite. "If we get the chance in the future, try to collect them all."
"And this." Boyu pulled out a mobile phone from the zombie's pocket and showed it to Jacob. "These should be their communication tools from that era, called 'mobile phones.' Collect these too, I have a feeling they have other uses."
"Okay." Jacob nodded and returned the ring to Boyu. The latter took out a small cloth bag and stored these miscellaneous valuables inside.
Along the way, they looted quite a bit of gold and silver jewelry and discarded mobile phones from the zombies they had killed earlier. When they returned to the designated barbershop, Alice and Ka were already waiting there.
"Ah, you're back!" Alice, who was guarding the front door and idly shooting at a few zombies across the street with her "Black Spike," immediately smiled and waved at them when she saw them return. Ka, on the other hand, was leisurely reclining on a dilapidated barber's chair, her long, slender legs casually propped up on a cracked table. The glass doors and windows of the barbershop had long been destroyed. The gasoline they had collected was placed on the front counter by the entrance – even though they had drained the fuel tanks of all nearby vehicles, they had only managed to gather about half a container, plus a small bottle about half full.
Although the barbershop looked like it had been thoroughly looted, Alice and Ka still searched it carefully and found some scissors, razors, and a few bottles of hairspray. The scissors and razors were distributed as tools, and Boyu, after checking the ingredients of the hairspray and finding it flammable, collected it as well.
"Oh, right, and these." Boyu took out a small bag from his backpack, containing the gold and silver jewelry and a few mobile phones he had collected along the way. "Everyone, pay attention from now on. If you find these things on zombies, try to take them all. It's just a hunch, but I think these precious metals might become hard currency later on. As for these mobile phones, I have other plans for them."
Alice and Ka took the two items, examined them curiously, and then nodded thoughtfully.
After organizing the collected supplies, the group began to conduct a thorough search of other shops along the road. Alice even ran back to retrieve the ornaments from the zombies they had killed earlier. She held those shiny trinkets, turning them over and over, unable to put them down. Although some of them were not precious metals, she collected them all because they looked nice. She even kicked the zombies' trouser pockets with the tip of her foot, and if she felt something hard, she would bend down to take out the mobile phone inside and toss it into her backpack.
This afternoon's scavenging operation went surprisingly smoothly. Faced with the formidable firepower of the "Black Spike," the scattered zombies posed no threat to them at all. Moreover, since the firing sound of the "Black Spike" was extremely faint, it hardly attracted zombies from other areas. This allowed them to leisurely search for supplies in various shops, needing only two people to stand guard outside, easily killing zombies and looting at the same time.
The sun gradually set, and seeing that it was about time, the squad began to return to the supermarket base. Relying on the precise shooting of the "Black Spike," they hardly let any zombie get within ten meters of them.
Just then, Ka seemed to have noticed something and abruptly turned her head. A silver-white figure flashed past a distant street corner. It nimbly dodged a few zombies blocking its path and visibly paused upon seeing the four squad members. The two parties briefly made eye contact from a distance of several tens of meters, and then the silver figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the buildings.
Ka frowned slightly but didn't dwell on it, turning to follow the squad's pace. Through the bushes, over the wall, unlocking the door, and carefully reinforcing the lock from the inside, they finally returned to the relative safety of the supermarket base.
Everyone took out all their spoils from their backpacks and placed them on an empty shelf, taking stock of the afternoon's harvest: a few bottles of mineral water, several cans – meat, vegetables, and hot dogs – a loaf of bread, two packs of biscuits, and a few bags of chips. In addition, they found two medical kits containing various first-aid supplies for external injuries, as well as a fast-acting wound healing ointment with significant effects. This ointment came in several packaging forms: syringe-injectable, toothpaste-tube-like for topical application, and directly attached to adhesive bandages. These items seemed out of place for this era, but Boyu reconsidered; after all, this was a game, and excessive realism sometimes sacrificed playability. If a player needed to lie in bed for a week or half a month to recover from an injury, the game would be unplayable.
After a busy day, everyone felt famished; it was time to refuel. Seeing that no one seemed to have much cooking experience, Alice volunteered to be the chef. She took out bread and canned hot dogs, asked Boyu to help light the charcoal in the makeshift stove, and then began to prepare dinner methodically, looking quite experienced. Jacob also actively helped, fetching a large pot of clean water from the sink.
Alice first opened the canned hot dogs, drained the liquid, rinsed them with clean water, and then heated them in hot water. After a short while, she took them out and set them aside. Next, she opened the canned meat, canned vegetables, and canned tomatoes, poured the contents into the pot, added chopped potatoes and some seasonings she had found, covered the pot, and let it simmer over medium heat. At the same time, she slowly toasted bread slices by the stove fire. More than ten minutes later, a fragrant and simple dinner was ready.
Under Alice's skillful direction, everyone used the slightly charred toasted bread slices to wrap the warm hot dogs, drizzled some ketchup on top, and then each had a large bowl of steaming hot potato stew. The crispiness of the bread rolls, the deliciousness of the hot dogs, and the richness of the stew, though simple, had a unique flavor.
Jacob naturally didn't miss this opportunity to curry favor, praising Alice's exquisite cooking skills relentlessly. Alice smiled and thanked him, humbly saying she had just made some simple home-style food.
After dinner, night fell. Although the moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, making outdoor activities theoretically feasible, all players seemed wary of the dangers of the night. Through the second-floor windows of the supermarket, they could still clearly see the zombies roaming inside. They also noticed that in the dark, the zombies' movements seemed to become more agile and natural; they no longer swayed as they walked during the day, and their speed seemed to have increased slightly.
Jacob suggested going to the supermarket roof with Alice to enjoy the night view and get some fresh air. Ka merely glanced at the two figures heading upstairs, didn't follow, and instead walked straight to the workbench. Boyu was currently sitting at the workbench, engrossed in dismantling the discarded mobile phones they had collected today. Ka picked up a circuit board removed from a mobile phone and examined it carefully. Although she was clueless about these complex electronic components, she could clearly see that almost every circuit board had a distinct charred black area, a mark left by high temperatures.
"You noticed it too?" Boyu put down his tools, looked up, and asked, a hint of understanding in his voice.
"Mm-hmm," Ka nodded, placing the circuit board back on the table. "What happened here?"
"Same as the car circuits we checked earlier, all fried by some powerful energy pulse," Boyu explained. "If I'm not mistaken, all the precision electronic devices in this town, and perhaps the entire game world, have suffered the same fate."
"You mean... there will be no electricity anymore?" Ka frowned slightly; this discovery made her feel a little uneasy.
"Power supply will probably become very scarce and unstable," Boyu mused. "But this is just a guess for now. Here, let me show you something good." As he spoke, he picked up a newly assembled slender, tube-shaped object from the workbench and handed it to Ka.
Ka took it doubtfully and looked closely, discovering it was a surprisingly intricate, simple optical scope. The scope body even had knobs for adjusting magnification and focus, allowing for continuous magnification from one to four times.
She picked up her "Black Spike," noticing that Boyu had thoughtfully added a short Picatinny rail on top of the weapon's body. The scope was easily and securely mounted on the rail. Ka raised the "Black Spike" with the scope attached, aimed at the wooden plank previously used as a target through the lens, and decisively pulled the trigger. "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" Three soft sounds, and three spikes shot out in succession, landing almost in the same spot, incredibly precise.
**The attributes of the "Black Spike" (with scope) are updated as follows:**
* **Weapon Name:** Handmade "Black Spike" Launcher
* **Type:** Pump-Action Launcher (Magazine-Fed, Improvised)
* **Weight (kg):**
* Base: 2.8 kg
* With Silencer: 3.1 kg
* With Scope: 3.0 kg
* With Silencer and Scope: **3.3 kg**
* **Ergonomics (0-100):**
* Base: 55
* With Silencer: 45
* With Scope: 52
* With Silencer and Scope: **42**
* **Durability (Points):** 75/80
* **Cleanliness (0-100%):** 90%
* **Magazine Capacity:** 10 rounds
* **Fire Modes:** Single Shot (Pump Action)
* **Base Reload Speed (seconds):** 3.0 seconds (for 10-round magazine)
* **Concealment (0-20):**
* Base: 5
* With Silencer (and/or Scope): 17 (Scope does not affect concealment)
* **Repairability (0-20):** 14
* **Accessories:**
* **Slot 1 (Muzzle):** Custom Silencer
* Effects: Concealment +12, Ergonomics -10, Weight +0.3kg
* Description: Makes the weapon nearly silent beyond 10 meters, but slightly cumbersome.
* **Slot 2 (Optic):** Homemade Optical Scope (1-4x)
* Effects: Effective Range +30%, Ergonomics -3, Weight +0.2kg, Aim Speed +10%
* Description: A simple adjustable 1-4x scope made from recycled mobile phone camera lenses. Provides +10% aiming speed when ADS. Allows adjustment of focus and magnification.
* **II. Specific Ammunition Combat Attributes (Loaded with Handmade Black Spikes):**
* **Ammunition Loaded:**
* **Caliber/Type:** Handmade Black Spike (Gasoline Propelled)
* **Projectile Description:** A sharp steel spike, propelled by a small, controlled gasoline deflagration.
* **Damage (per projectile):** 50
* **Accuracy (MOA):**
* Base: 4.5
* With Scope: **4.5** (Scope does not change inherent weapon accuracy but improves effective aiming distance)
* **Recoil (0-100+):** 20
* **Penetration (0-100+):** 40
* **Destructive Power (0-100+):** 30
* **Muzzle Velocity (m/s):** 300 m/s
* **Effective Range (m):** 50 m (Base) / **65 m** (With Scope)
* **Rate of Fire (RPM):** ~30-40 RPM (Pump Action, Magazine Fed)
Before long, Boyu had installed the remaining scopes on the other "Black Spikes" and calibrated each one, ensuring they were all accurate and reliable.
"What are Jacob and Alice up to? Still on the roof?" Boyu asked casually as he packed up his tools.
"Mm-hmm, stargazing on the roof," Ka replied coolly, her tone unreadable.
"Alright, let's go up and see too." Boyu picked up his "Black Spike" and gestured for Ka to go upstairs with him. They went up the stairs one after the other, pushed open the iron door leading to the roof, and immediately heard Jacob's hearty laughter and Alice's bell-like voice. It turned out Jacob was telling Alice amusing anecdotes about his youthful vacation on Earth, making Alice giggle and repeatedly say she definitely wanted to experience Earth firsthand if she got the chance. Seeing Boyu and Ka arrive, they greeted them warmly.
Boyu walked to the edge of the roof and only then discovered a huge water tank on top of the supermarket, apparently for collecting rainwater. No wonder Jacob could still get clean water from the supermarket's internal pipes earlier, though this rainwater should ideally be thoroughly boiled and disinfected before drinking.
The moonlight tonight was indeed very bright, bathing the land in its silvery glow. In stark contrast, almost the entire town was shrouded in darkness, with only a few distant residential buildings showing faint glimmers of light. Boyu raised his "Black Spike" and observed carefully through the scope, discovering that those faint lights seemed to be flickering candlelight.
Ka remained vigilant, her gaze as sharp as an eagle's, scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, she seemed to have spotted something and whispered a warning, "Look over there, a car!"
Following her pointed direction, they indeed saw a car with glaring headlights speeding down the dark street. The loud roar of its engine could be clearly heard even several streets away. At this moment, the car was speeding towards the town exit not far from their location. Even more exaggeratedly, the car seemed to be equipped with some kind of amplification device, magnifying the engine noise several times over, so much so that a dense swarm of zombies, attracted by the sound, was chasing behind it!
Boyu and Ka simultaneously raised their "Black Spikes." Through the scopes, they could even clearly see the scene inside the car: a panicked young man in the driver's seat, and an equally terrified young woman in the passenger seat. When they saw that the town exit was already blocked by abandoned vehicles, they slammed on the brakes abruptly. The screeching sound of tires frictioning against the road tore through the night sky. Shaking off the countless pursuing zombies, they sped off in another direction, colliding head-on with several zombies attracted by the noise. The car, under the immense impact, careened out of control and crashed into a roadside shop, making a loud bang before falling silent.
And those zombies, attracted by the noise, began to roam and roar frantically in the vicinity after losing their target, causing the zombies inside the supermarket to become agitated as well. Zombies within a radius of several hundred meters seemed to have been startled by the sudden loud noise, all swarming towards the source of the noise – the crashed car.
"Those people in the car are really 'lucky'," Boyu lowered his "Black Spike" and shook his head. "They attracted almost half the town's zombies in one go. Now that the car is stuck in the shop, those zombies won't be able to get in for a while, which buys them some breathing room."
The squad members on the roof witnessed this thrilling scene, all feeling a lingering fear.
"Oh my, how can there be such a noisy car? It's so annoying!" Alice complained, clearly frightened by the car's tremendous noise. Hearing this, an idea sparked in Boyu's mind. He made a mental note to remind Bao'er to find a way to modify their pickup truck with materials found in the supermarket to reduce its engine noise.
"I've noticed that zombies at night seem to move faster," Boyu shared his earlier observation.
"Mm-hmm, and they've become more sensitive to sound too," Ka added her own finding.
After a brief exchange, they returned from the roof to the supermarket interior.
"Oh, right, I've installed scopes on all your 'Black Spikes.' Come and try them out," Boyu pointed to the other two modified "Black Spikes" on the workbench. Hearing this, Alice and Jacob immediately ran over excitedly, each picking one up and examining it with great interest.
Ka, however, walked straight to the window of the second-floor supervisor's office and began to pick off the zombies roaming inside the supermarket from a high vantage point with her scoped "Black Spike," seemingly enjoying herself. Seeing this, the others joined in, each finding a comfortable shooting position. Anyway, they still had plenty of spikes they had processed earlier. If they could take this opportunity to clear out all the zombies inside the supermarket, then this place could become a relatively safe zone.
After Boyu once again accurately hit a zombie, his shooting skill leveled up again, and he also unlocked a new passive skill – "Night Adaptation," which slightly improved vision in low-light conditions. Since clearing zombies could both increase skill levels and allow them to practice with their new weapons, the squad members enthusiastically began a new round of "hunting." It felt a bit like playing hide-and-seek; they needed to carefully search for traces of zombies in the dim environment. Boyu then thought of a more efficient method: he found a relatively well-lit area and then shot at nearby metal shelves with his "Black Spike." The "clang clang" sound of the spikes hitting the metal quickly attracted all the surrounding zombies, which were then picked off one by one with headshots. When Ka saw this, she immediately followed suit. Before long, with everyone's combined efforts, all visible zombies inside the supermarket were eliminated.
Happy times always fly by. Unconsciously, it was almost time for the game's scheduled logout.
"Thank you so much for inviting me today, this is the most fun I've had recently!" Alice bid farewell to everyone with a radiant smile. Ka also stood behind her, waving gently at Boyu and Jacob, a hint of almost imperceptible warmth in her eyes.
Everyone logged out one after another, returning to their personal spaces and entering a brief period of dormancy, preparing to welcome a new day in the real world.
