Chapter Seven: Equipment and Evolvers?

A mutated mosquito, thrilled by the sight of food, darted toward him at lightning speed. Yet before it could even get close, there was a sharp whooshing sound—a flash of silver lightning split the air, and the mosquito's body was already severed in two. Dark, red-black blood spilled from its chest and abdomen, and at the same time, two gleaming copper coins dropped to the ground.

Beautiful!

"You have obtained two copper coins."

A faint white spiritual glow drifted into Liang Jing's body.

Bzzz... bzzz... bzzz...

Whenever Liang Jing heard the hum of mutated mosquitoes, he pursued and killed them one by one. Although he couldn't strike perfectly every time, he could feel his progress—his accuracy was improving, his coordination between movement and sight growing more seamless.

"This is bad!"

Bzzz... bzzz... bzzz...

Seven or eight mutated mosquitoes swarmed around Liang Jing, and he couldn’t react fast enough. By the time he managed to kill them all, he had already been bitten twice.

The wounds began to swell, itching and burning painfully. Blood oozed from the sunken bite marks, but as the white spiritual glow seeped into his body and suffused the injuries, all discomfort slowly faded away. From the indented, bleeding wounds, a blue-black liquid trickled out, after which the skin restored itself to normal.

Incredible!

The white spiritual glow was marvelously effective, serving multiple purposes: strengthening his body, relieving fatigue, healing injuries, and more. Now, seeing how effective it was against mutated mosquito bites, Liang Jing felt much more at ease. After all, with others, who knew what might happen if they weren’t bitten to death outright?

Besides, finding medical treatment would be a challenge now. With the world in chaos, hospitals were likely long closed. Liang Jing, however, carried his own personal physician within him, ready to heal at a moment’s notice, quickly and efficiently.

Ding...

Equipment drop!

Next to the corpse of a mutated mosquito, a piece of reddish-brown leather armor lay on the ground. Liang Jing reached out and picked it up, his eyes lighting with delight. At last, after such a long time, he’d finally gotten a piece of gear—not bad luck at all.

"Warrior's Leather Armor. Quality: Common. Defense: 5. Durability: 10. Weight: 5. Requirement: Strength."

Defense equated to the wearer’s resistance against attacks—the higher the defense, the less likely one was to be harmed. Durability indicated how much punishment the gear could endure before breaking down.

The reddish-brown leather armor looked crude, like a piece of cloth hastily wrapped around the torso. It had no pockets, and its short sleeves only protected the core of the body, with thickened, reinforced shoulders to improve defense without sacrificing agility—a practical design, if not exactly stylish. The only drawback was the limited protection for the arms, which extended only to the elbows.

Examining the armor, Liang Jing sighed. Once again, his burden grew heavier. He couldn’t wear this conspicuously over his clothes—such obvious wealth would only attract trouble. Better to keep a low profile for now, covering it with an outer jacket until his strength was truly formidable.

Wearing three layers in the sweltering heat—his T-shirt already soaked with sweat—was uncomfortable, but such discomfort was nothing compared to the value of staying alive.

Having acquired a practical piece of gear, and reassured by the system’s guarantee of quality, Liang Jing felt in high spirits. He decided not to go out of his way hunting mutated mosquitoes anymore and instead made his way toward Clear Water Bay’s largest supermarket, Hundred Blessings.

As Liang Jing headed for Hundred Blessings, more and more mutated mosquitoes were drawn to him, no less than when he’d been actively seeking them out. It was as if they sensed the abundant, pure blood coursing through his veins—more enticing than that of others.

Damn it!

As four or five mutated mosquitoes suddenly converged on him, with even more looming in the distance, Liang Jing dared not be careless. He hadn’t expected that, even if he left them alone, they would relentlessly pursue him, emboldened by the scent of his blood.

In truth, it was only because Liang Jing had left some mosquitoes alive in his haste to move on that the swarm behind him kept growing.

Now, his physical abilities were roughly equivalent to five grown men combined—his speed and strength much enhanced, and handling the mutated mosquitoes was far easier.

He took a deep breath and dashed ahead, left hand blocking and swatting, right hand wielding his knife in relentless arcs, never pausing for a moment.

One mutated mosquito landed on his body, its long proboscis probing for a gap in the leather armor. But, as the saying goes, a mosquito cannot pierce an uncracked egg; it found no seam to slip through. The mutated mosquito’s proboscis was no match for the defense of the Warrior’s Leather Armor—unlike before, when even a denim jacket left gaps for bites.

Liang Jing kept running, drawing plenty of mutated mosquitoes in his wake, but thanks to his speed, he avoided being overwhelmed. In fact, he ended up killing more mosquitoes this way than during his previous, targeted hunts.

On the road, Liang Jing became a magnet for the creatures’ aggression—a veritable hate tank. Others, driven by hunger, could only wrap themselves in thick clothes, clutching fishing nets or mosquito screens, creeping forward like bandits sneaking into a village. None could move so freely and confidently.

Anyone else, in his situation, would have stood no chance—they would have been left to await death.

"This is bad..."

A sudden hiss—Liang Jing, rounding a corner, ran straight into a mutated spider’s web. He was startled; danger loomed both ahead and behind. But then, a flash of cunning crossed his eyes. He ignored the mutated spider, which was excitedly waving its limbs at the prospect of a meal. Though his feet were stuck to the web, his strength now was worlds apart from what it had been at level zero. Even a level-four mutated spider’s web could not restrain him. With a powerful surge, he burst forward, detouring around the spider as it charged toward him.

Snap!

The web stretched, and with a slash of his short knife, it broke. Let the mosquitoes and spiders fight each other—let the monsters tear themselves apart.

Hisssss!

Bzzz... bzzz... bzzz...

The level-four mutated spider saw Liang Jing escape from its trap, tearing a hole in the web, but paid little further attention. It had spotted even more food—perhaps driven by inherited animosity toward its genetic enemies. A swarm of no less than ten level-two mutated mosquitoes hurtled toward the web; several crashed straight into it, struggling futilely, only to become easy prey for the spider’s fangs, their feeble resistance swiftly ended.

The mosquitoes not ensnared by the web paused, ignoring Liang Jing. Their wings buzzed in agitation, as if communicating. Then, seven of them abandoned their pursuit of Liang Jing and launched an aerial assault on the spider caught in its own web.

The spider, distracted from its entrapped prey, scuttled across the web on its eight legs, its pedipalps swinging like human arms, snatching and swatting at the airborne mosquitoes. Occasionally, a mosquito would be batted down and stick to the web, joining the spider’s larder. Yet more mosquitoes latched onto the spider’s abdomen and back, feeding greedily.

The spider shrieked in pain, but the venom the mosquitoes carried seemed to have little effect on it—not like with humans, who would blister and bleed, worrying whether a mutated mosquito’s bite would be the harbinger of rabid madness. Though its belly began to cave in from blood loss, the mutated spider’s life force was formidable. Even severed at the abdomen, it would not die at once. As it moved around the web, it used every trick and posture to scrape the mosquitoes off and stick them to the web. In the end, the level-four spider managed to trap all the mosquitoes, though it was left barely clinging to life. But with so much food, given time, its robust insect vitality would surely allow it to recover—and perhaps even evolve further.

Hiss... hiss...

Standing nearby, Liang Jing watched the scene unfold, a faint smile curling his lips. This was the wisdom of humanity—the fisherman’s profit.

Without further ado, he stepped into the web and, targeting the spider’s two black, pearl-like eyes, drove his blade in with a twisting thrust—a technique he’d learned from experience, allowing him to kill mutated spiders swiftly.

Ding...

The mutated spider collapsed in its web, and a pair of greaves dropped beside its body, matching the Warrior’s Leather Armor.

"Warrior’s Greaves. Quality: Common. Defense: 5. Durability: 10. Weight: 5. Requirement: Strength 1."

Liang Jing quickly equipped the greaves, and with his silver-gray safety helmet, leather armor, sturdy gloves, and black reinforced work boots, he was fully outfitted. Mutated mosquitoes could hardly threaten him now, and even mutated spiders were no longer much of a challenge.

Even against firearms, so long as bullets didn’t strike his head directly, Liang Jing believed he could survive. After all, the system’s equipment was guaranteed quality—even if bullets could penetrate the leather armor, the damage would be minimal. Of course, he didn’t take it for granted that the armor could stop bullets entirely.

With his new greaves on, he pressed forward toward his goal.

"Hey, friend! Friend... Can you help us? Please, save us!"

As Liang Jing passed a small internet café with just over a dozen computers, he heard several voices calling for help inside.

He turned and looked. The door was open, and inside stood two men and two women. A man lay on one of the chairs.

"What happened?" Liang Jing asked, surveying the situation. The man on the chair was someone he recognized—Yang Yuyuan.

Yang Yuyuan was someone he got along with fairly well—a CNC drill team leader at Starshine Molds, cheerful and sociable. Liang Jing was always willing to help him if he could.

"It’s like this—our boss came with us to surf the net this weekend. Then all these monsters appeared, and chaos broke out. Everyone was fighting the monsters, and our boss got hurt by a giant mosquito and a spider while protecting us. Please, you have to save him!" The speaker, a young man not yet twenty, his face dotted with dark acne scars, was clearly distraught. Yang Yuyuan had always been kind to him, and now, having been injured while protecting them, his condition was rapidly deteriorating. In desperation, they turned to Liang Jing, who looked invincible in his battle gear.

Yang Yuyuan’s sharply defined features were furrowed in pain; his body was covered in wounds, clearly the work of mutated mosquitoes and spiders. Unfortunately, Liang Jing had few options. If he had medicine, he could help—but the game store was closed, and real-world medicines were only available in town.

"Current status: Evolutionary (Elite), evolving..."

An automatic prompt?

A flash of surprise crossed Liang Jing’s eyes. Evolutionary (Elite)? Was Yang Yuyuan mutating?

Yang Yuyuan’s brow was deeply furrowed, his whole body trembling, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white, legs alternately straightening and bending in agony. Liang Jing noticed a faint vermilion mist enveloping his skin, as streaks of gray-black filth oozed from his pores, filling the air with a nauseating stench. Within moments, the room was reeking.