6: First battle

Lin Ye walked through the gloomy and slightly oppressive First Newcomer Trial Passage, and the view before him suddenly opened up.

A faint smell of smoke and a lingering scent of rot rushed toward him, causing him to frown slightly.

This was the so-called No. 1 Frontline.

Unlike the metal future-city style inside the Resistance Post, this was a barren plain. The ground was scorched earth, scattered with the wreckage of unknown buildings and twisted metal fragments, clearly having experienced a fierce battle.

The sky in the distance was overcast, and several Void Rifts emitting ominous purple-black light were visible to the naked eye like scars hanging in the sky.

Near the exit of the passage, scattered Newcomers were either nervously on guard or looking around in confusion.

"Roar..."

Not far away, several staggering figures swayed as they moved toward the direction of living people. They had rotting skin, tattered clothes, and emitted unconscious low roars from their mouths. These were the most basic monsters in this area mentioned in the Newcomer manual.

Lin Ye's gaze focused, and the 【Truth Sequence】 talent was quietly activated.

【Slow Zombie】

Level: 1

HP: 120/120

Attack: 15

Defense: 5

Skills: None

Characteristics: Undead creature, weak resistance to piercing damage, more vulnerable to fire and holy energy damage.

Description: The lowest-level Void-polluted creature, formed by the bodies of dead creatures being eroded and mutated by leaking Void Energy, moving slowly with only primitive bloodthirsty instincts.

"120 HP. For a Newcomer, if the weapon isn't good enough or the aim is too poor, it would indeed take some effort," Lin Ye assessed in his heart.

He did not hesitate at all, and with a thought, he said, "m-1 type miniature floating cannon, summon!"

With the consumption of 50 mana points, a silver-white spherical floating cannon full of sci-fi metallic texture appeared out of thin air beside him. A faint blue light flashed on the muzzle, representing that the energy was fully charged.

【m-1 type miniature floating cannon】

Type: Mechanical Creation (Black Iron)

HP: 1000

Attack: 500

Agility: 50

Attack Speed: 0.1s

Physical Defense: 200

Under the 10-fold amplification of the 【Infinite Empowerment】 talent, the attribute values of this fist-sized floating cannon far exceeded its Black Iron level.

"Auto-target, prioritize clearing the nearest target," Lin Ye gave a simple command.

"Whoosh!"

Like a loyal hound that had received an order, the floating cannon turned slightly, and a condensed, deep blue energy beam shot out instantly, accurately hitting the head of the nearest zombie!

"-495!"

A bright red damage number floated up from the top of the zombie's head! The zombie didn't even have time to let out a complete roar before its rotting head exploded like a watermelon hit by a heavy hammer. Foul-smelling body fluids splattered everywhere, and the large body swayed, falling helplessly to the ground, twitching twice before stopping all movement.

【Killed Level 1 Slow Zombie, obtained experience points: 10 points.】

Almost the moment the system prompt sounded, the familiar "xiao dingdang modifier" interface in the lower-left corner of Lin Ye's vision moved slightly.

Below the original text "Remaining uses: 0", a very thin, almost imperceptible progress bar quietly appeared, and it jumped slightly from 0% to become: 0.01%.

Lin Ye's eyes suddenly lit up!

"So that's how it is!" A surge of ecstasy rose in his heart, "The modification count of 'Xiao Dingdang' is actually recharged by killing these Alien Species!"

0.01% per kill, meaning that killing ten thousand Slow Zombies would allow him to regain one modification opportunity!

The importance of this discovery far exceeded the SSS-level class and EX-level talent he had just obtained! This meant that his most heaven-defying trump card was not a one-time consumable, but a true divine skill that could be continuously regenerated and reused! As long as he could keep fighting and keep hunting Alien Species!

Just as his emotions were stirred, several faint light orbs quietly appeared under the headless zombie, which were the dropped items after the kill.

Lin Ye walked forward, and the passive effect of 【Miracle Law】 was silently taking effect at this moment. He bent down to pick them up:

【Obtained: Broken Cloth × 3】

【Obtained: Black Iron Fragment × 2】

【Obtained: Inferior Recovery Ointment (Small) × 1】

【Obtained: Copper Coin × 15】

"Level 1 mobs dropping so many things, and even a small ointment, it really is 【Miracle Law】," Lin Ye nodded with satisfaction. Although these were all the most basic items, compared to the almost negligible drop rate of Level 1 monsters under normal circumstances, this was already very generous.

Under normal circumstances, killing about ten Level 1 zombies and getting one or two pieces of broken cloth or a few copper coins would be considered good.

Meanwhile, the battles of other Newcomers were also unfolding one after another.

"Ah! Don't come over! Don't come over!" A young girl holding a standard rifle closed her eyes and fired wildly. The bullets swept toward the sky with a "rat-tat-tat" sound, not a single one hitting the target, and instead nearly hitting a teammate not far away.

"Idiot! Aim before you shoot! Save some bullets!" A burly-looking man holding an alloy battle saber nearby roared, hacking off a zombie's arm with one slash, but he was also scratched on the arm by another zombie, wincing in pain.

There were also those with impressive performances. A tall youth holding a long spear seemed to have awakened a talent related to agility or combat skills. He moved flexibly through the encirclement of three or five zombies like a fish, and every shot was incomparably agile.

Although the efficiency was not as good as Lin Ye's floating cannon, he already stood out from the crowd among ordinary people, attracting many envious gazes. A few teammates quickly gathered around him, vaguely forming the core of a small team.

"What about that one over there! What's going on with the one with the little flying machine?!"

"Damn, one shot one kill? What kind of weapon is that? It looks so high-end!"

"Is that little flying machine his summoned object? That's so cool! And it automatically fights monsters while we are still struggling to aim..."

Lin Ye's floating cannon was efficiently harvesting one zombie after another. In just a few minutes, a large area had fallen around him. As for him, he was leisurely picking up dropped loot everywhere.

Occasionally, he would raise the assault rifle in his hand and fire a few shots at the running zombies in the distance, just to get used to the feel of the firearm.

The rifle, strengthened 10 times by 【Infinite Empowerment】, became a powerful weapon in his hands, with every shot capable of opening a large hole in a zombie.

This leisurely scene of farming monsters formed a sharp contrast with the chaotic scenes of other Newcomers around him, naturally attracting everyone's attention.

"Brother, what strong strength!" A young man with a loud voice, a square face, and a leader-like temperament walked over with a few people. He was wearing a melee suit and holding an alloy battle axe. There was dark brown blood on the axe blade, and he was clearly also a capable Awakened.

"My name is Xiong Bing, A-level talent 【Giant Strength】. I want to invite you to join our 'Brotherhood Alliance', to clear this area together. The resources obtained will be distributed according to contribution, how about it?"

Lin Ye glanced at him, and the people behind Xiong Bing also looked at him with expectant eyes. "Sorry, I'm used to being alone," Lin Ye refused flatly.

For him, teaming up would only slow down his efficiency in obtaining "Xiao Dingdang" charges.

A flash of disappointment crossed Xiong Bing's eyes, but he didn't force it, just laughed heartily and said: "It doesn't matter. If you change your mind, brother, you can come to us anytime! Having more friends means more paths!" After speaking, he took his people away and continued to recruit other Newcomers who seemed to have potential.

One after another, a few more groups came to talk. Some wanted to rope him into forming a fixed team, some wanted to rely on the strong for protection, and there were even female players who thought they were beauties trying to approach in other ways, all of which were rejected by Lin Ye one by one.

His goal was very clear: to accumulate enough times to use the "xiao dingdang modifier" again as soon as possible. Whether it was modifying his own attributes, or stronger equipment he might encounter in the future, or even certain key skills, all required the power of the Modifier.

The floating cannon was still tirelessly harvesting, and the experience points and the Modifier progress bar were rising steadily. Lin Ye's gaze had already turned to the further distance, those areas where more Slow Zombies were wandering.