25: Chapter 25: The RV is upgraded to level 8, and the player leaderboard is released…

Shen Wanxing's fingers moved to the eight C-grade military explosion-proof tires.

Her palms pressed against the tread woven from rubber and Kevlar fibers.

The system paused for a beat.

Then—a purple-gold beam of light shot into the sky, dyeing the night sky above with a ripple of color.

[Ding! 1% quality upgrade probability triggered! The original item has undergone a qualitative change!]

[C-grade military explosion-proof tires upgraded to—B-grade all-terrain self-healing armored tires * 8!]

[Feature: The tire sidewalls have a built-in nano-repair gel layer, which can automatically repair punctures or tears within 30 seconds. Load limit of 15 tons, compatible with all heavy modified vehicles.]

Eight new tires exuding a dark silver luster replaced the original military tires out of thin air.

The treads were deep, with visible metal mesh embedded between the patterns; they felt cold and tough to the touch.

Jiang Yanxue couldn't help it.

"Damn."

A single word, squeezed through her teeth.

She stared at the eight tires that had even changed their form, then stared at Shen Wanxing, who was squatting on the ground, clapping her hands and standing up, her voice trembling:

"What kind of talent level is she, anyway?"

Chen Chen, who was squatting on the ground organizing the doubled gear sets, answered casually:

"Both of them are God-tier. One can see through all things to lock onto hidden targets, the other can make supplies crit-upgrade."

He tilted his chin toward the passenger seat:

"You probably haven't seen Shen Wanbing's talent. That Miss Shen can see how many knives you've got hidden in the gaps of your bones."

Jiang Yanxue didn't speak.

Two God-tier supports.

Her SS-grade [Aberration Domination], if taken outside, would absolutely be top-tier combat power on this highway.

Controlling monsters as sentries, cannon fodder, or intelligence networks—in any team, she would be the core of the core.

But in this vehicle?

One is a human radar and strategic analyst, the other is a living resource multiplier.

Her little ability to control a few low-level monsters, compared to theirs, was small-time.

Jiang Yanxue swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and unclenched her hand, which was gripping an empty water bottle.

The last bit of her arrogance shattered silently.

Resources are ready.

Chen Chen didn't delay any longer.

"Manufacture C-grade vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns."

As his thought fell, two complete material lists were extracted from his storage backpack by the Power of Rules.

High-strength gun barrel steel was melted, stretched, cooled, and set; precision gear sets engaged and rotated, loading into the fire control module; the ammunition synthesis module was embedded into the belt-feeding system.

In the white light, two vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns with an extremely ferocious design condensed and formed.

The gun bodies were matte black, the chassis of the dual-mount rotating gun mounts were thick and solid, the caliber was estimated at 12.7mm, the belt-feeding systems were coiled on both sides of the mounts, and the metal ammunition belts shimmered with an oily, cold light under the illumination.

[C-grade vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns * 2: Dual-mount rotating gun mounts, electric fire control, effective range of 800 meters. Causes devastating damage to low-level Aberrants, and can effectively suppress elite-level targets. Ammunition is supplied by system energy conversion, no manual reloading required.]

Chen Chen lifted one and weighed it; it was at least sixty pounds—a heavy piece of iron.

Putting down the heavy machine gun, he dug out all the remaining primary vehicle core fragments from his backpack—bits and pieces he had collected along the way.

Adding the intermediate fragments dropped by the elite monsters in the military factory, after synthesis, he held seven complete intermediate vehicle cores in his hand.

The dark blue crystals emitted a deep light in his palm, with energy flowing inside visible to the naked eye.

"Upgrade vehicle."

[Deducting intermediate vehicle core * 7! The All-Iron Exoskeleton RV has leveled up three times, reaching Lv.8!]

The commotion of this upgrade was greater than all the previous ones combined.

The sound of metal reshaping didn't spread from inside the vehicle outward, but rushed from the ground toward the sky.

The entire RV was wrapped in a dazzling white-gold light shell, and from within the light shell came the dense, continuous sound of structural reorganization—skeletons breaking, welding, reinforcing, breaking again, and reorganizing again.

The vehicle body expanded a full circle laterally within the light shell.

The rugged iron exoskeleton armor peeled off layer by layer, replaced by a dark black composite laminated armor.

The armor surface was no longer a rough patchwork of rivets, but a modular structure formed in one piece, with the gaps between each armor plate filled with elastic sealant, and the joints polished smooth.

The vehicle chassis was raised by twenty centimeters, and six B-grade all-terrain self-healing armored tires automatically replaced the original worn-out tires—Chen Chen only needed to replace six, so the remaining two were stored in the rear compartment as spares.

The dark silver wheel hubs were almost as wide as an adult's waist, and the metal mesh on the tread reflected a blade-like light under the moonlight.

A hemispherical weapon turret rose from both the front and rear of the roof.

The turret covers opened automatically, and two C-grade vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns were embedded into the mounting points with the assistance of robotic arms; the electric rotating gun mounts completed calibration, with the barrels defaulting to face the front and rear of the vehicle.

360-degree crossfire coverage.

The light shell shattered, and the white-gold fragments scattered into the night sky.

A steel behemoth that had transcended the concept of an "RV" stood silently in the wilderness, crushing gravel beneath it.

Chen Chen pulled up the vehicle panel.

[Vehicle: mobile heavy fortress (Lv.8)]

[Defense: 1200 (Composite laminated armor, ignores all physical attacks from Aberrants below level 10)]

[Magic Resistance: 80 (Mental protection layer, can resist a small portion of mental corruption)]

[Durability: 1500/1500 (Structural strength above military grade)]

[Tonnage: 11.2 tons]

[Rear compartment space: 80 cubic meters (includes independent cockpit, living quarters, and small weapon maintenance bench)]

[Fuel consumption: 38L/100km (Turbocharged fuel optimization rate offsets part of the tonnage penalty)]

[Fuel: 96L/150L (Fuel tank capacity expanded again)]

[External equipment: B-grade all-terrain self-healing armored tires, C-grade turbocharging kit, heavy serrated bumper (reinforced version)]

[Vehicle-mounted weapons: C-grade dual-mount vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns * 2 (front/rear dual fire points, supports remote shooting from the cockpit)]

[Radar warning module: Can detect high-risk targets within a 5km radius, automatically marks threat levels.]

[Life support system: Advanced air circulation, interior constant temperature control (15-28°C), intermediate water purification module (can purify 8L of drinking water daily), basic waste disposal unit.]

Jiang Yanxue stood outside the vehicle, looking up at this thing that was more exaggerated than most military vehicles she had ever seen.

An 11-ton mobile heavy fortress, dual heavy machine gun firepower, 1200 defense points, 5km radar warning.

She had been the intelligence chief for the Black Dragon Society for three years, had seen military armored convoys, and had seen the private militias of underground arms dealers.

Not one compared to the one in front of her.

Chen Chen jumped onto the vehicle and sat down beside the weapon maintenance bench.

He opened his personal panel.

The experience points accumulated from crushing the zombie horde along the way, plus the large influx from killing elite monsters in the military factory, had long since caused his experience bar to overflow.

[Level increased to Lv.5! Gained free attribute points: 12.]

Perception 6 points, Spirit 6 points.

[Perception: 22]

[Spirit: 22]

The moment he finished adding the points, the world became one layer clearer in his senses.

The sound of an Aberrant stepping on a dead branch five kilometers away was precisely captured and located by his eardrums.

His mental barrier was reinforced to a new level, and the sense of transparent clarity in his brain was addictive.

Chen Chen was about to close the panel—

"Detected that you have reached level 5, meeting the requirements for the leaderboard, do you want to hide your real name?"

"No..."

Chen Chen answered subconsciously.

The next second.

A dark gold curtain of light exploded right in the center of his retina.

It wasn't just him.

Everyone still alive in Zone 069 had this announcement hit their minds simultaneously.

[Ding—Server-wide announcement!]

[Detected that ten players in the 069 novice zone have reached Lv.5 first!]

[Regional Level Leaderboard and Combat Power Leaderboard are officially opened!]

[The top ten players will receive exclusive ranking titles and extra rewards. Rankings are updated in real-time and visible to the entire zone.]

The dark gold leaderboard unfolded on everyone's virtual panel.

[— — Zone 069 Level Leaderboard — —]

[1st Place: Codename "Iron Wall" (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: North China Military Region, 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade]

[2nd Place: Chen Chen (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: None]

[3rd Place: Codename "Deep Blue" (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Ocean Group Private Security Department]

[4th Place: Chu Kuang (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Southern Border Hunter Guild]

[5th Place: Codename "The Shepherd" (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Holy Light Church]

[6th Place: Zhao Tiezhu (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: None]

[7th Place: Codename "Scorpion" (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Middle East Mercenary Syndicate]

[8th Place: Jiang Jiuyou (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Jiang Consortium · Dark Division]

[9th Place: Codename "Ghost Face" (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Interpol · Special Operations Division]

[10th Place: Bai Qi (Lv.5) — — Affiliation: Bai Family Ancient Martial Arts Clan]

Ten names, ten factions.

The military, conglomerates, religious organizations, ancient martial arts clans, international law enforcement agencies, mercenary groups—

The hidden order of civilized society was stripped bare by this leaderboard.

The regional channel instantly boiled over.

"People from the military region are in this zone too? 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, that's a heavy armored unit!"

"Ocean Group's private security? Those guys are either former special forces or retired mercenaries; their equipment is even fiercer than the regular army!"

"What the hell is the Holy Light Church? Can missionaries also kill monsters to level up?"

"Look at the 6th place—Zhao Tiezhu, affiliation 'None'. Just like that Chen Chen in 2nd place, a solo player? A solo player who fought into the top ten among these monsters?"

"2nd place, Chen Chen. Does anyone know him?"

No one answered.

In the vehicle, Shen Wanbing stared at that leaderboard for three seconds.

Her gaze rested on the thin dividing line between "1st Place" and "2nd Place".

"The military." She spoke, her tone a pure statement of information,

"If the 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade was teleported in as a complete unit, their vehicle might be a real military armored vehicle. It's not strange for them to be ranked ahead of you."

Chen Chen closed the leaderboard.

"Temporarily."

He glanced at the three women in the vehicle—Shen Wanbing, cold as frost in the passenger seat; Shen Wanxing, wrapped in a windbreaker on the back mattress; and Jiang Yanxue, covered in blood and filth, leaning against the armored wall.

A human radar, a living money-printing machine, an Aberration Domination master.

Plus an 11-ton mobile heavy fortress, dual heavy machine guns, B-grade self-healing tires.

That "Iron Wall" in first place on the leaderboard, no matter what kind of military iron turtle he's driving, will have to give up his spot sooner or later.

Chen Chen leaned back against the driver's seat, one hand resting on the top of the steering wheel.

Outside the window, the night in the wasteland was still long.

But he could already see the road clearly after dawn.