Saving the World in an Apocalypse-Style Text Game

Chapter 35: Chapter 38 Engineer’s Shell_1 Chapter 35: Chapter 38 Engineer’s Shell_1 Lin Xun rode at a gallop, swiftly arriving at the engineer’s “crash” site.

The surroundings was wasteland, with a blackened, smoking body lying immobile in the center of a large pit.

Lin Xun rode closer, wondering if he should add another “Profane Sunlight” to the guy in the pit, just in case.

But suddenly a line of text appeared before his eyes.

[Thousand Faces and Million Forms talent, triggers!]

[Pyramid Corporation’s engineer—Cyke’s shell, an engineer with advanced technology in nano armor, proficient in various electronic technologies. Flesh-and-blood shell, killed by some kind of powerful thermal force. Compatibility: 122% (+35%)]

[Do you want to possess this shell?]

Lin Xun stared at the familiar text in his field of view. The engineer was obviously dead beyond any doubt.

He deactivated the Yellow Bishop’s shell manifestation and approached the pit.

The engineer’s face was covered with blood. He barely made out the features of a Westerner with blond hair and blue eyes. But now this face seemed to be changing subtly, and the ragged nano armor on his body was gradually peeling away.

The engineer was also a shell in the game, and this shell would gradually fade away as its owner died.

By now, the female boss had arrived and clearly saw the body in the pit whose shell was gradually fading.

“Lin Xun, what was that shell you just manifested…”

Li Xingyue, the head of the Intelligence team, naturally knew about the Law Knights in the Blood Sun world.

But where did the thin and horrifying mage shell come from?

The look in her eyes was full of shock, but she stopped herself halfway through the sentence. After all, everyone has their own secrets which are not suitable for prying.

Li Xingyue hurriedly nodded to Lin Xun indicating the urgency of time and continued with the plan.

Lin Xun read the text in his field of view and chose to possess it!

[The apostle’s main body possesses the ‘Pyramid Corporation Engineer—Cyke’s’ shell.]

[You obtained the shell in reality, this shell will be directly fed into the shell column.]

[Current shell column 4/5]

Lin Xun only felt a slight vertigo, then nothing else unusual.

Looking back at the “engineer” in the pit, his nano armor was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was dressed in casual clothes and his face had completely changed, morphing from a Westerner’s to an Easterner’s.

This is his real identity.

The internal structure of the New World is very strict. Only the minions at the bottom would use their real body shells in reality.

The engineer belonged to the middle level of the New World. He would use the in-game shell to relay information with superiors and subordinates. Also, a special identification mark would be branded in the shell in a certain unique way.

Thus, his shell in reality was not important.

Lin Xun automatically ignored the [Possess ordinary adult male shell] option that appeared again in his field of vision.

Seeing Lin Xun nod, Li Xingyue knew he had obtained the engineer’s shell.

“You greatly contributed to this mission! When you get back, I will reward you accordingly!”

Having said that, she went into the pit to inspect the body. As she did, her brows furrowed slightly as she fished something from the dead body’s hand.

It was a clump of black sludge.

Lin Xun was somewhat puzzled. What was this? The sludge in the female boss’s hand looked a bit eerie, as if it were some sort of item from the game.

Li Xingyue gave no explanation, the sludge in her hand vanished, presumably stored in her item column.

Lu Caiyi also arrived at the scene, followed by a senior cheerleader—Ye Xiaoqi.

Her shell was as “ordinary” as she was, dressed in a dark overcoat, beret on her head, the most striking feature was the weapon in her hand.

It was a large gun made from a combination of flesh and machinery, a few sizes larger than her shell. There was a fist-sized eye on the gun, the eyeball filled with blood vessels, making it look intimidating and bizarre.

Ye Xiaoqi stared at Lin Xun, her big eyes looking at him as if she didn’t recognize him. Her mouth was firing words like a machine gun:

“Lin Xun, what shell did you just manifest? It was awesome!”

“And that weapon is so cool. How did you get it? I want one too.”

“By the way, what was that last skill you used? It was like a laser cannon, thick and huge.”

Lin Xun quickly glanced at the chest of the Apostle in its game shell. Then he modestly replied,

“Not that big, not that big. Compared to Senior Xiaoxi, I am still far behind.”

“Lin Xun, I am so angry…” Ye Xiaoqi grinded her teeth in frustration.

…

By the time Lin Xun got home, it was already the wee hours of the morning.

The scene of the engineer’s assassination was being cleaned up by the logistics team. They would wrap things up and leave no trace.

Even the leveled pavilions of the manor will be restored. There are so many peculiar talents among the Apostles in the organization, Lin Xun was not surprised at this.

However, the subsequent plans the black silk beauty mentioned to him were somewhat aggravating…

Ignoring all that for now, he logged into the game to inspect his loot for the day.

[Thunder Dragon Staff Spear+1 (Epic Weapon), successfully forged from the fusion of the Dragon Hunting Spear and the Pure Silver Scepter of the Moon, supplemented with exquisite blacksmithing. After incorporating the characteristics of two drastically dissimilar weapons, the Staff Spear is capable of both casting magic and engaging in close combat just like a long spear. The dragon-slaying power obtained from the imitation makes this weapon even more formidable.]

During tonight’s mission, just when the engineer was about to escape by flying, Lin Xun’s new weapon was finally forged!

Without further ado, he initialized the shell of the Yellow Bishop, brandished his new weapon, and instantly slew the engineer with a blast of “Profane Sunlight”.

It was the first time that Lin Xun had seen a weapon effective for both close and long-range combat.

Ignoring the weapon’s power for now, the most critical aspect was that it was damn cool!

Recalling the envious stare of Ye Xiaoqi as if she was drooling, Lin Xun almost burst into laughter.

The “+1 enhancement” on the weapon likely yielded from both the Pure Silver Scepter of the Moon and the shattered Dragon Hunting Spear having a “+1 enhancement”.

Lin Xun checked the shell of the engineer by opening the shell panel.

[Shell – Pyramid Corporation’s Engineer]

[Real Name: Siek]

[Compatibility: 122% (+35%). Compatibility exceeded the critical point, thus the quality of the shell increased!]

[Shell Quality: Excellent Level]

[Shell Level: 32]

[Shell Equipment: Nano-bio Armor (Rare Level). A combat suit equipped with high-level technology. The artificial muscle fibers attached enable mode switch among Armor, Strength, and Speed. Unfortunately, the Nano Armor has been severely damaged at the moment, requiring repair to function.]

[Shell gear: High-voltage Energy-storing Electric Spear (Ordinary+). The gun barrel includes a superconductive electrode, once it hits a target, it can release a high-voltage electric shock, causing the target’s muscles to spasm, leading to unconsciousness. Once fired, it requires automatic charging for 12 hours.]

[Shell Skills: Electronic Technology (Ordinary+). It can easily master various high-tech electronic products, exhibiting extraordinary operational ability.]

Lin Xun was a bit caught off guard. The engineer, who was a middle-level antagonist, only had an Ordinary+ level shell.

It was only due to Lin Xun’s talent that the shell quality was elevated to Excellent.

You should know that even the shell of the Law Knight initially had the quality of Excellent, while the Yellow Bishop as a mage had a shell quality of Rare level.

Is it really that hard to get a shell of high quality? As a middle-tier member of an organization, isn’t this shell a bit of a letdown?

Before Lin Xun realized it, he began to sound like a bragging aristocrat.

If it can be known by the dead engineer, he would surely curse in his coffin that Lin Xun was a rich man who has no idea what hunger is like.

As for the gear of the engineer’s shell, the Nano-armor that Lin Xun was eyeing so much has been damaged and needs to be repaired in the game.

Regarding the electric spear, the black silk beauty told him that the engineer had used it once in the yard. As for its power… well, it should be pretty devastating to Apostles in their non-shell state.

The only thing that made Lin Xun feel not at loss was that this shell was level 32!

That was a whole 19 levels higher than the Yellow Bishop’s 13!

Recalling how he instantly killed the engineer with one cast of “Profane Sunlight”, it seemed unbelievable.

On second thought, he was far superior to the engineer in shell quality, equipment, and skills. This engineer had also used the ‘Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique’ and was only a shadow of his former self. It was perfectly reasonable to be able to kill him instantly.

On the other hand, if he wasn’t able to take down the engineer despite all of this, it would render all his top-tier equipment and skills useless.

He cleared his mind and looked at the time, It was three in the morning.

After experiencing the intense battle during the mission, Lin Xun felt weary and drowsy.

Deciding on waking up early, he will save the two lives tomorrow morning to fight a tough battle—the Fallen Subspecies Sea Dragon!