5: Chapter 5 First Real-World Battle

The upward-climbing passage grew steeper. About an hour later, the path was blocked by a pile of collapsed metal beams and concrete blocks. However, on the left rock wall, there was a crack hidden by a half-broken ventilation pipe, through which a faint airflow could be felt.

[Scan indicates that the crack connects to an abandoned ventilation pipe behind it, extending forward for about twenty meters before entering a larger space... There is an extremely weak, regular pulse signal, suspected to be old-era equipment on standby...]

Lin Qiming carefully moved the ventilation pipe and squeezed sideways into the crack. Inside was a circular pipe sloping upward. He climbed up using both hands and feet, the pain in his left arm nearly causing him to slip several times.

After climbing about ten meters, a pale blue cold light appeared ahead.

At the end of the pipe was an irregularly shaped room of about fifty or sixty square meters. In one corner, there was a control console semi-embedded into the wall; its screen was long since shattered, but several indicator lights below were still flashing a pale blue glow rhythmically. On the other side of the room stood a makeshift "tent" constructed from heavy canvas and a metal frame, next to an extinguished small fire pit and several empty cans.

Someone had lived here, and they might have left not long ago.

Lin Qiming had Hephaestus scan the entire room thoroughly. Only after confirming there were no living creatures or traps did he carefully crawl out of the pipe.

He first walked toward the flashing control console.

[Detected low-power voltage-stabilized energy unit... Remaining energy: approximately 1.5%... Safe to absorb...]

"Finally, something a bit more reliable."

The process was steady. The pale blue light gradually dimmed and went out completely after about a minute.

[Energy absorption complete.]

[Energy Reserve: 2 -> 18 ENU]

[STC Repair Progress: 0.07% -> 0.11%]

[Energy Level: 4.1 -> 4.7 ona]

A good harvest. Next, he checked the tent. Under the rags of the "bed," he felt a rusty but relatively intact short knife, as well as a small roll of relatively clean linen. He also found half a can of fresh water and two pieces of black bread wrapped in oil paper, which were as hard as stones.

"Supplies!" Lin Qiming's eyes lit up. He immediately took a small sip of water and broke off a small piece of black bread to stuff into his mouth.

[HP +1, Stamina +8]

[Current HP: 18/68, Stamina: 20/100]

He washed his wound with water and re-bandaged it with the linen. Then he sat down and began to sharpen the knife. [Mechanical Affinity] gave him a subtle grasp of the blade's angle and the force required, making it much more efficient than sharpening blindly.

About two hours later, Hephaestus issued a warning:

[Detected approaching vital signs... Count: 3... Energy signature matches 'Iron Tooth Gang' with 92% similarity... Estimated arrival time: 2 minutes...]

"Iron Tooth Gang!"

Lin Qiming immediately stopped sharpening the knife, grabbed the short knife and the metal pipe, and moved quickly to the side of the ventilation pipe exit, pressing himself against the wall.

"...That kid definitely couldn't have run far!"

"This damn pipe is so hard to climb! Dammit, when I find him, I'm going to skin him alive!"

The first head poked out from the pipe opening; it was a bald man with a face full of scars.

Now!

Lin Qiming lunged forward from the side, thrusting the short knife fiercely into the side of the bald man's exposed neck!

"Puchi!" The blade entered the flesh. The bald man's eyes widened, and blood gushed from the wound. Lin Qiming immediately withdrew the knife and retreated. The bald man's body went limp, blocking half of the pipe's opening.

"Fuck! There's an ambush!" A startled and furious roar came from inside the pipe.

Lin Qiming retreated to the center of the room, discarded the short knife (which might have been chipped), and gripped the metal pipe with both hands. His heart pounded like a drum, but his mind was exceptionally calm.

The second gang member struggled to squeeze past the bald man's corpse, holding a machete. When he saw his companion's body, his eyes instantly turned red: "You little brat! You're dead!"

He brandished the machete and charged. Lin Qiming retreated to the side and rear while simultaneously sweeping the opponent's lower body with the metal pipe. The man's momentum was too strong; his calf was struck, and he stumbled. Lin Qiming seized the opportunity, changing the sweep into a thrust and stabbing the metal pipe fiercely into the man's chest!

The third gang member finally crawled out as well, holding a wooden club embedded with nails. Seeing his companion being suppressed, he roared and lunged at Lin Qiming from the side.

Lin Qiming was attacked from both front and back. He suddenly pulled back the metal pipe and swept it behind him in one fluid motion, forcing the third person attacking from the side to back off. However, the second enemy recovered, and his machete slashed down again!

"Clang!" Metal collided, and sparks flew. Lin Qiming's hands felt numb, and the sharp pain in his left arm almost made him lose his grip. The opponent was stronger than him!

He gritted his teeth and persevered, constantly moving his feet and using scattered toolboxes and piles of parts as obstacles to avoid being surrounded. A few more wounds were added to his body, and his health slowly declined.

"This kid is slippery! Together!"

Both men closed in simultaneously. Lin Qiming was backed into a corner.

A matter of life and death.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Lin Qiming's eyes. He stopped retreating and instead charged toward the enemy with the machete! He ducked sharply to avoid the horizontal slash of the machete, while simultaneously thrusting the metal pipe upward with all his might into the opponent's abdomen!

"Ugh!" The man cried out in pain, the machete slipping from his hand as he collapsed to his knees.

But from the side, the nail-studded wooden club was already whistling toward Lin Qiming's head!

He couldn't dodge it!

Lin Qiming could only raise his left arm to block.

"Crack!" The wooden club smashed into the splint on his left arm, making a sickening sound of splintering. Sharp pain instantly overwhelmed Lin Qiming; his vision went dark, and he nearly fainted. But his survival instinct made him sweep the metal pipe in his right hand blindly behind him!

"Bang!" The metal pipe luckily struck the third person's knee. The man cried out in pain and fell to one knee.

Lin Qiming stumbled back, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath. A piercing pain came from his left arm; the splint was likely shattered, and the fracture had probably been displaced again.

The enemy with the machete was still groaning on the ground, temporarily losing his combat capability. The enemy with the wooden club was clutching his knee, trying to stand up.

Lin Qiming endured the intense pain, gripped the metal pipe with both hands, and used all his strength to smash it toward the head of the third person kneeling on the ground!

The opponent hurriedly raised the wooden club to parry.

"Clang!" The wooden club snapped! The metal pipe's momentum was not spent, and it struck heavily at the junction of the opponent's neck and shoulder.

"Ah!" The third person screamed and slumped to the ground.

Lin Qiming was also drained of strength, and the metal pipe nearly slipped from his hand. He leaned on the pipe, breathing heavily.

Three enemies: one dead with a knife wound to the throat, one heavily injured in the abdomen and out of the fight, and one injured in the neck and shoulder, unable to get up.

He had won. A pyrrhic victory.

[Combat ended. Kills: 2, Heavy Injuries: 1.]

[Energy Level: 4.7 -> 7.0 ona]

[Skill [Basic Combat] leveled up to Lv1]

[Current Status: HP 11/68 (Danger), Stamina 5/100 (Overexertion), left arm injury worsened.]

The warm current was significantly more noticeable than before, his energy level had broken through 7 ona, and his combat skill had leveled up. But Lin Qiming felt no joy, only endless fatigue and pain.

He staggered to the bald man's corpse and searched it. He found some loose coins, a small bag of powdered substance, and a crumpled, simple map wrapped in waterproof oil paper.

The map was marked with crooked lines of the surrounding area, and next to one point was written "Old Ventilation Shaft? Safe?"; the location seemed not far from here.

There was no time to hesitate. More noisy voices could already be heard in the distance. The Iron Tooth Gang's reinforcements had arrived.

Lin Qiming grabbed the supplies he could carry and rushed out of another exit into the dim alleys of the Hive Bottom.

On his panel, the experience points had changed to 120/200 (required for F-rank to E-rank).

The repair progress of the stc core, at some point, flickered slightly from 0.11% to 0.12%.

Repairing seemed to require more than just energy and materials.