Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 9 9. This is the first money you have ever earned
It is known that there are still dozens of teams fighting in this vast park, but since they are only fighting with light weapons, the intensity is naturally not very high.

After Cypher inherited his teammates' legacy, his individual actions became even faster... It sounds easy, but this is from Cypher's perspective.

Switching to a residential area that looks like it has been blown to pieces by artillery fire, two teams are fighting fiercely here. Both sides rely on various solid ruins as cover, and try to kill the other side with one blow when they see the opportunity.

The explosives had been used up, and the only thing they could trust was the weapons in their hands. The three mercenaries, dressed in different costumes, assisted each other in shooting, forcing the enemy to be unable to raise their heads.

Just as they had driven everyone into the last room, before they had time to get excited, a fragmentation grenade smashed into the window they had just broken through.

Not to mention the people in the room, the three of them quickly turned their guns towards the direction where the grenade came from, but were shocked to find... someone rushing up along the wall!

It was vertical, ninety degrees, with no place to cling to. It was clearly a flat surface, but the man was sprinting sideways as if he was walking on a slope.

The sound of "thump thump thump" footsteps turned into stepping on the wall the moment the three guns were carried up. The jet device on the man's waist worked together, allowing him to immediately change the wall and continue sprinting.

Switching left and right, and even continuously raising the terrain he occupied, Seifer threw a grenade from top to bottom, which he had held for two seconds, and then walked through the ruins without looking back.

The last thing the three people in the corridor knew was that a fragmentation grenade the size of a sandbag flew in front of them... There was a loud bang, and then they knew nothing.

Sefer didn't stay there for too long. After all, the intensity of the battle at the 'evacuation point' was definitely much greater than these sporadic enemies.

Seifer, who was sprinting at almost flying speed, leaving no one alive on the road, and almost killing thirty people by himself, was being broadcast loudly to the whole audience, leaving an indelible impression on the participating mercenaries.

After all, mercenaries really can't climb walls and shoot heads with every shot if they can't use their own weapons and equipment. If this were in Sefer's previous world, someone would report him for cheating if he just turned around in place.

He himself was in a good mood - his body could do what he wanted to do according to his thoughts, and winning in such an intense event was enough to make him happy.

Fortunately, his liaison, Leica, was there as a remote assistant, pulling his thoughts back from their tracks. "Red Crossbow, your information link is very clear, and you even have enemy detection and reconnaissance capabilities... Which company's products perform so well?"

"Of course I'm far ahead, right? I'll tell you the details later. I'm almost at the evacuation point now. Do you have any suggestions for this anomaly?"

"My advice is to kill as many enemies as possible to improve your ranking. If you simply hold on to the extraction point without taking anything away, your final reward will likely be relatively low."

Although the two hadn't exchanged much, Laika had already mastered the role of liaison and assistance. "I'll send you the identification codes for the special harvest items. You can use the threat scan to identify them."

"But no matter what you gain, you must protect your own life. Evacuating or destroying all enemies is the condition for victory... Come on."

The previous mode was like a shooting game that I played with my colleagues in the dormitory when I had nothing to do. The current supplementary explanation is like another game.

I vaguely remember that colleague scolding others every day for cutting the bag hanging under the helicopter, which was disgusting. But I never really played it.

If the mechanism is similar, the loot will also be taken away... Hmm, it seems that the only option is the second one.

That is to eliminate all competitors!

This is the most direct thing, but also the hardest thing for others to do.

The fundamental reason is that Sefer is quite lucky - the Edge Node City was just completed not long ago, and those who come here to make a living, whether they are independent mercenaries or company employees, are actually not veterans who have been in the industry for too long.

Even if there is, after confirming that the benefits of this anomaly are so limited and not worth wasting time on, they would rather wait for the external mission.

This is not an act of making up for it. After all, more independent mercenary teams with more money and strength are probably fighting fiercely outside in those companies and organizations that are superficially allied. They don't have the time to come to such a remote area.

...Of course, with Sefer's ability, even experienced mercenaries would find it difficult to confront him head-on unless they used heavy weapons.

The following time was an enjoyable process for Sefer to adapt to his own body.

Leica's intelligence came very timely. She could always identify the weapons held by these enemies and their advantages and disadvantages at the first time. Combined with the danger detection ability possessed by this body, Sefer only needed to focus on fighting.

At first, Laika reminded him in a businesslike manner. Later, when Seifer's name and appearance (especially the one wearing protective clothing) were broadcast to the entire stadium and his bounty increased again and again, and after becoming so powerful, her attitude began to change subtly.

It’s like… a rally co-driver transitioning from a professional road guide to a supporting role in a crosstalk performance.

With Seifer's enthusiasm, the match quickly drew to a close. Even the announcer overhead sounded particularly excited: "Oh! Among those random soldiers we picked up to make up the numbers, there's actually a giant shark... Look at him! This figure reminds me of an old friend."

"Perhaps only famous actors can compete with him on the same stage, but it doesn't matter. The battle is almost over, and the final winner has already been decided!"

"Who is this guy bragging about being a 'player'?" Cypher asked over the comms. "I don't know. Everything in the vision will disappear when it dissipates. If a similar vision appears next time, the same process will repeat itself."

Seeing the enemy's reaction disappear, Leica seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "So there is no need to worry about doing anything too earth-shattering here, because once the strange phenomenon disappears, everything is over."

That's good. Seifer reversed the assault rifle in his hand, which had emptied its ammunition, and smashed the neck of an unlucky guy with the butt of the rifle.

Then he lifted the backpack on his back, which was already half as tall as him, and looked back at the way he came.

It may be a bit late to add an explanation now, but it’s not that Cypher wasn’t hit by weapons during this period... Compared to the flesh and blood bodies of the mercenaries, he was hit and his body only paused slightly.

The cost of trial and error was extremely low, and besides damage to the protective suit, there wasn't much damage to speak of. He even took a sniper shot at close range, stumbling for a moment in the eyes of the enemy before immediately moving on.

To make an analogy, it's probably a group of African uncles with light weapons trying to fight against the fully armored fearless warriors.

It's not that the army was completely defeated, at most it was just a huge setback.

After scanning several times to confirm that all nearby threats had been eliminated, Seifer placed his backpack on the ground and stepped on the mechanism at the evacuation point.

In an instant, the entire battle area was immediately gushing out a large amount of three-dimensional fireworks composed of dazzling lights. They came from far away and finally gathered at the evacuation point to form a huge three-dimensional projection flower.

This technology… Seifer was somewhat impressed. In science fiction, the most important thing was this kind of three-dimensional, medium-free, anti-interference projection. Yet, in the vision, it was easily used as entertainment…

The host's voice became increasingly excited. As he spoke, a huge bladeless aircraft came quickly and, after hovering, dropped a strong steel cable.

After hanging the backpack up, Sefer grabbed another rope and climbed up with it.

"The vision is coming to an end. Red Crossbow, be prepared. Escaping the vision may be affected by the spatial transformation."

"If there is a mobile base when you enter the vision..." Leica paused, as if preparing to add further explanation.

Cypher had no time to listen.

He was pulled up to the cabin of the plane by a rope and was surprised to see people dressed very fancy inside - before he could see what they were, everything in front of him became blurry.

It was like suddenly dropping chemical raw materials into a paint pool and turning all colors into colorless water. The cabin, which was originally clearly visible, with clear lines and a high-tech texture, was blurred and dissipated.

The large square reappeared before my eyes. Compared to before, it seemed to have become quite crowded... Hmm? Everyone returned to the outside of the vision at the same time?
Hearing a low roar in his ears, Sefer quickly turned around and was surprised to see that the thin veil of the strange vision trembled and dissipated, and even the last trace of light disappeared.

I have to say, it’s quite... magical.

Seifer came to his senses. He grabbed the medium-sized backpack that appeared on his back after he came back, covering the torn marks on his protective suit, and walked out of the crowd very low-key.

Just in case, he didn't take the main road, but took a tram that had already started, which was prepared for those entrepreneurial-level mercenaries who did not bring their bases.

Let's be reasonable, let's be reasonable, this world treats mercenaries pretty well, but considering all the equipment and abilities they bring with them, they work pretty hard, and they only require money to form a team... there's nothing wrong with treating them this way.

After all, conflicts between companies are not traditional business wars.

After slipping out of the square incredibly smoothly, Seifer breathed a sigh of relief and then returned to his car with full mobility.

Then he couldn't wait to open his backpack: "Leica, can I use the reward from the vision, or should I use it to pay back the money?"

"This is actually your first time going to a vision... ahem, in a vision of this magnitude, some cutting-edge electronic equipment or panels will appear. You can leave some of them and find the company's craftsmen to make weapons and equipment for you later..."

Leica paused. "Trust your instincts as a mercenary. Everything produced by the vision is very valuable. Also, don't forget to connect to the support system to withdraw your reward. If you forget, it will swallow up the reward."

"Red Crossbow, I have some things to do in the next few hours. We can talk when I contact you first."

Cypher suddenly asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Go to school... ahem, go... do the important work of a liaison officer."

Then she went offline!
(End of this chapter)