Chapter Forty-Eight: The Leveling Squad

When they retreated to the entrance of the fourth floor’s stone staircase, the swarm of bees surprisingly didn’t pursue them. Everyone except Wu Hua and Su2o was a mess; some were vomiting, others crying out in pain.

Tu Tiao and Ri Wan’s elbows and knees were swollen and green. The bees hadn’t done much damage to their armor or inflicted serious wounds, but their venom was incredibly potent. Even after applying antidotes, the purple numbers above Tu Tiao and Ri Wan’s heads kept flashing wildly. Finally, Lan Lan and Qiao Qiao desperately cast “Energy Detox” and “Energy Healing” skills, and after three minutes, Tu Tiao and Ri Wan lay on the ground, gasping—back to normal.

Su2o frowned, “I’ve seen plenty of monsters, but these bees are terrifying.”

Lan Lan said, “They’re disgusting. Just looking at them makes me want to puke.”

Tu Tiao replied, “You were in the back, just watching. I was up front hacking at them. You don’t know how bad that mashed meat smelled—it’s even worse than Ri Wan’s big feet.”

Ri Wan protested, “Come on, I just have athlete’s foot! Is it really that bad?”

Lan Lan promptly threw up again.

Qiao Qiao pleaded, “Guys, please, can you stop talking about it…”

Their banter was loud and chaotic. Wu Hua, meanwhile, was deep in thought, strategizing. Past experience had taught him that brute force wouldn’t work here. Leveraging both their team and the terrain was the key.

Many people understood Star Wars in a realistic way, and Wu Hua’s understanding was also grounded in reality. The difference was how far his technical knowledge could push that realism.

After a brief rest, Wu Hua devised a strategy—a warrior’s time-gap assault.

Lan Lan applied energy armor to Ling Ling and handed her a powerful antidote. Ling Ling then jumped down from the staircase. Wu Hua and the others followed a few seconds later.

The passage below was teeming with bees. Ling Ling, throwing caution to the wind, sprinted forward. She was a doctor with high agility and high defense; her 1030 defense made the bee stings nearly negligible, only the venom caused damage. She was incredibly fast—even faster than Wu Hua. She drew all the bees forward, sprinted over a hundred meters, then turned back. If she were alone, she would have died.

When she got within fifty meters, Wu Hua was ready: “Get down. Roll back!”

Ling Ling’s doctor uniform was covered in green spots from the stings. She obeyed, dropped to the ground, and rolled back toward the stairs.

The AUG opened fire, bullets spraying wildly at the swarm.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang!” Bullets spread like a net, tearing and smashing through the bees.

Yellow pulp splattered through the air, wings shattered in the fray.

“My god,” Qiao Qiao gasped. Experience points were shooting up like crazy. She suddenly realized Wu Hua’s gun was an unstoppable weapon.

The sixty rounds in the AUG were spent in just ten seconds. In the pause to reload, Tu Tiao moved forward to hold the line, Ri Wan used his “Pig Meat Eighteen Slash” to cover Ling Ling’s retreat, Qiao Qiao feverishly healed Ling Ling, Lan Lan detoxed Tu Tiao and Ri Wan, and Su2o unleashed a powerful telekinetic wave, pushing the swarm back. The wave didn’t deal damage but acted as a strong invisible barrier, holding off the bees for about ten seconds. Then Tu Tiao and Ri Wan began to retreat, Wu Hua reloaded and started the second round of firing.

The bees stopped attacking Tu Tiao and targeted Wu Hua directly.

When the full swarm surged forward, everyone retreated to the fourth floor, Wu Hua being the last to scramble up. By then, his HP of over 3000 had been halved. The girls frantically healed and detoxed him, the whole ordeal taking just five minutes.

Qiao Qiao smiled, “If we keep fighting like this for twelve more rounds, I’ll reach level 27!”

Tu Tiao rolled his eyes, “Sis, all his bullets are paid with my credit points! They’re turning into experience points.”

This time Lan Lan and Ling Ling were utterly awed by Wu Hua. His flexible tactics gave everyone a clear role, minimized losses, and kept resource consumption low.

Actually, the consumption was still significant—Wu Hua’s bullets were expensive—but he didn’t care. Tu Tiao’s heart ached for his wallet, but seeing his level 25 experience jump up by 9%, he was all smiles again: “Brother Madness, your tricks are brilliant. I’m counting on you.”

Wu Hua, however, wasn’t satisfied; their coordination still lacked polish and perfection.

On Ling Ling’s second descent, Lan Lan armored everyone. As the team’s top doctor, Lan Lan could cast “Eggshell” every five seconds. This time, they were bolder and more coordinated, and Wu Hua’s HP barely dropped, resource consumption was even lower, and experience points soared.

In the end, every game boils down to trading money for stats, but the process and strategy make it captivating.

This was their third run. Wu Hua kept Ice Coffee’s advice in mind: replace the barrel every 150 rounds. He’d already used four magazines, and the AUG was burning hot, so he swapped in a standard barrel:

Muzzle energy: 2100 joules (base) + 500 joules (penetration), standard barrel.

Each barrel type for the AUG had its strengths and weaknesses. The suppressor was perfect for stealth kills but reduced power; the SMG barrel boosted fire rate but sacrificed accuracy and power; the heavy barrel could reach +650 joules but only worked in scoped single-shot mode; the standard barrel was the most balanced of the four, but it had a huge drawback—its noise wasn’t just loud, it was thunderous!

“Bang bang bang bang!” The AUG’s shots had a unique muffled power, reminiscent of steel plates clashing with a sharp ring.

Even up close, Qiao Qiao couldn’t help but cover her ears—this noise was unbearable, but it inspired confidence.

The AUG’s recoil was fierce, its trajectory like a sweeping fan, mowing down the swarm midair. Limbs flew everywhere, and both walls were smeared with thick pulp. The fifth floor of the tomb was now a slaughterhouse.

As Wu Hua fired away, he began to understand—like that day on the mining bridge, why “Shooting You Is No Crime” had gone on a wild rampage. It was a kind of madness; men crave speed and madness.

The swarm’s numbers dwindled, bodies piled up. The bees dropped plenty of items, but no one dared pick them up, fearing they’d break formation.

The AUG’s gunfire echoed down the passage, the buzzing reverberations not fading but somehow intensifying.

Suddenly, everyone felt a gentle force rebound from the end of the corridor. Wu Hua’s vision blurred, overlapping images of bees appeared.

Everyone felt a sharp pain in their heads, and couldn’t help collapsing to the ground.

Wu Hua glanced down in horror—his HP had plummeted, barely over a thousand. This force had done severe damage.

“What happened?” The group scrambled up to the fourth floor, gasping.

Tu Tiao said, “My vision blurred—felt like hallucinations.”

Lan Lan said, “Same here. My head hurts, and my HP dropped by two-thirds.”

Qiao Qiao weakly added, “I feel completely drained…”

Wu Hua stared at Su2o, who stood off to the side. “Why are you the only one unaffected?”