Ye Yun was quite confident in the blue Shelter Entrance.
With 200 Defense Power and 200,000 durability, it was enough to hold out until the battles on both sides were over.
After hearing their assignments, the group didn’t hesitate. They immediately left the shelter and moved to engage their respective targets.
The Shelter Entrance had just closed when a communication request came in from Sub-base 2.
Ye Yun’s heart sank. ’I knew it. I was right.’
No. 1:
"Administrator, a total of three mutant creatures have appeared at the base—one large and two small."
"Following your previous orders, I haven’t sent the shelter members out to fight. We are defending from within the base."
"I’ve already assigned construction robots to carry out repairs, but the Shelter Entrance’s durability is still decreasing at a rate of 0.1% per minute."
Ye Yun quickly did the math.
At 0.1% per minute, that was 6% per hour. Barring any other incidents, the blue-grade Shelter Entrance could hold out for about 16.5 hours.
Ye Yun felt a wave of relief.
’It’s a good thing I upgraded the Shelter Entrance at Sub-base 2 ahead of time.’
’Otherwise, with the strength of a green-grade Shelter Entrance, it would have held for four to five hours at most.’
’That would have meant even if his team finished their battle immediately and he dispatched Bena and the others as reinforcements, they might not have made it in time.’
But now, with a 16-hour buffer, the problem wasn’t too severe.
Ye Yun suppressed his worries and replied:
"No. 1, you’ve done well."
"The Shelter Entrance has been upgraded. It can hold out against even three large mutant creatures for a long time."
"We’re also facing three mutant creatures here. After we deal with them, I’ll immediately send Bena and his team to support you."
No. 1:
"Understood. We will defend the shelter until the reinforcements arrive."
Ye Yun nodded and ended the communication, feeling slightly more at ease.
As long as Sub-base 2 could hold on until the support team arrived, the crisis would be averted.
For now, he needed to focus on the battle at hand.
The battle began swiftly. Bena led No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 to engage the largest of the mutant creatures.
In the wasteland, a mutant creature’s size was often a direct indicator of its strength.
Bena had already equipped his exoskeleton. From 50 meters away, he aimed his laser gun at the nearly four-meter-long mutant rat before him.
A four-meter-long rat was like a small truck. At a distance of 50 meters, Bena didn’t even need to aim.
A searing red laser beam struck its body with perfect accuracy.
The firearms in the hands of No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 also spat fire at the same time.
A deadly net of bullets and laser fire enveloped the enormous mutant rat.
The mutant rat let out a series of piercing shrieks. Its skin was as tough as iron, but under the concentrated fire from Bena’s team, it was still riddled with holes.
The charging mutant rat screeched to a halt, its blood-red eyes locked onto the small creatures that had dared to attack it.
Seeing that he had instantly drawn its attention, Bena stowed his overheating laser gun.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew an iron shield and a one-handed short blade.
After switching to his melee weapons, he ordered in a low voice:
"Keep your distance and provide suppressing fire. If you see Zhou Mei’s team in trouble, you can support them too."
The other three bionics immediately nodded in acknowledgment.
"Understood, Captain Bena."
"Understood, Captain Bena."
...
If he only had the exoskeleton, Bena certainly wouldn’t have spoken so arrogantly.
But after his Strength broke through 10 points, he felt as if his body had been completely transformed. Now was the perfect chance to test just how strong he had become.
With a low shout, the 1.8-meter-tall man charged directly at the 4-meter-long mutant rat.
While Bena confronted the mutant rat head-on, Zhou Mei, Lanton, and Zhou Yiming were holding back another mutant creature.
Relying on her agility, Zhou Mei constantly circled the mutant creature, looking for an opening to attack.
She had long since swapped her green-grade weapon for a blue-grade one with considerably better stats and effects.
[Poisoned Dual-Handed Dagger (Blue)]
[Attack: 35-35]
[Attack Speed: Extremely Fast]
[Attack Range: Extremely Short]
[Required Attributes: Agility 9, Strength 5, Stamina 5]
[Poison-Tipped: Each attack applies 1 stack of poison damage. Poison damage can stack up to 10 times.]
[Poison Damage: Triggers once per second. Each stack of poison deals 1 point of damage.]
Although this Dual-Handed Dagger didn’t have high attack power, its poison-tipped attribute was incredibly useful.
As long as she stacked the poison damage to 10, it would deal 10 damage per second to the enemy even without subsequent attacks.
Furthermore, unless an antidote or a special ability was used, the poison damage would persist until the enemy died.
In a long enough battle, this weapon could be called a Divine Artifact for whittling down health.
The moment the fight began, Lanton threw an item from his inventory.
[Can of Hateful Surströmming]
[A can of surströmming that’s been stored for who knows how many years.]
[Effect: When used on an enemy, the intense odor will make them despise you.]
After throwing the can, Lanton immediately raised his shield to block the mutant creature’s attacks while looking for a chance to counter.
[Steadfast Two-Handed Shield (Blue)]
[Defense: 0-60]
[Required Attributes: Strength 6, Stamina 7]
[Prevents the use of other weapons while equipped.]
[Stand Fast: Defense Power is 60 when stationary.]
[Flinch: Defense Power is 0 while moving.]
[Heavy: Movement speed is reduced by 20% while the Two-Handed Shield is equipped.]
[Durability: 89%]
The can of surströmming smashed squarely against the mutant yellow ox.
The black liquid instantly caused the mutant ox’s gaze to lock firmly onto Lanton.
Staring at the crimson bull eyes fixed on him, Lanton swallowed hard.
This was his first time facing a large mutant creature. Although the past few days of training had shown him that his strength had indeed improved, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.
Lanton took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
’I’m the team’s off-tank,’ he knew. ’I have to hold the front line and create openings for my teammates to attack.’
The mutant ox let out a heaven-shaking roar. With hooves thundering, it charged at Lanton like a black bolt of lightning.
Lanton gripped his Two-Handed Shield, eyes locked on the charging mutant ox, ready to brace for impact.
With a deafening BANG, Lanton, holding the shield with both hands, didn’t move an inch. But the three-meter-long mutant ox was knocked back several steps by the rebounding force.
A few drops of cold sweat trickled down Lanton’s forehead. Although the Two-Handed Shield’s defense was extremely high, the attack of a large mutant creature was nothing to scoff at.
From just that single impact, he could already feel his hands going numb.
Even though the mutant ox was the one that had been pushed back, Lanton didn’t feel so great either.
But in the next moment, a tentacle landed on him.
Feeling a wave of warmth spread through his body, the worry on Lanton’s face vanished instantly. He turned his head to look behind him.
A translucent green tentacle extended from Zhou Yiming and came to rest on his shoulder.
Zhou Yiming shouted:
"Lanton, don’t worry! I’ve got you!"
Lanton:
"Thanks!"
[PS: The exam papers are done. We can go back to three updates a day starting tomorrow.]