In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

The crystal core projectile struck the shadow leopard's fur, exploding into sparks.

The power of a Tier 2 rifle cannot directly penetrate the defense of a Tier 3 mutated beast, but concentrated fire brings intense pain.

Shadow Leopard was forced to retreat repeatedly and move towards the open area on the left side of the mall's atrium.

It leaped back and forth among the ruins, trying to break through from the side.

"Second group, move forward and block the left flank!" Chen Wu's voice rang out.

The two veterans gritted their teeth and pushed forward, pulling out high-explosive grenades, pulling out the pins, and throwing them forcefully toward the exit on the left.

Two loud explosions rang out, and the shockwaves from the blasts, carrying steel bars and concrete, shot skyward.

The Shadow Leopard's escape route was destroyed, and the huge shockwave affected its body, causing it to lose its balance in mid-air and crash into a concrete slab.

It struggled to its feet, its chin involuntarily tilting upwards to reveal a patch of grayish-white soft armor.

On a high point outside the shopping mall.

"die."

Chen Wu narrowed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

"Buzz! Hiss!"

A beam of azure light pierced through the wind and snow, shooting into the hole in the collapsed shopping mall.

The beam struck the soft armor on the shadow leopard's lower jaw.

The lower half of the shadow leopard's head was completely carbonized.

Its massive body froze in place before collapsing, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The battle is over.

From contact to kill, the entire process took less than a minute.

The mall quieted down.

"Huff... huff..."

Martin struggled to his feet, glanced at the slashed armor on his shoulder, and felt cold sweat soaking his back.

If you hadn't dodged faster, his head would have been cut off.

"We survived..."

The other veterans, holding their guns, remained in a vigilant stance, scanning their surroundings.

When he looked at Martin, there was less contempt in his eyes and more recognition of the survivor.

"Bang."

Chen Wu also leaped down from the ruins, his military boots shattering the glass on the ground, and spoke as he walked.

"Well done."

Walking to the corpse, he pulled out the tactical dagger from the outside of his thigh and picked out a crystal core the size of an infant's fist.

He took out a cloth to wipe away the bloodstains and put it into the sealed bag at his waist.

"Fall back."

At Chen Wu's command, the group quickly maintained their formation and retreated.

On the return helicopter trip, the air pressure was very low.

No one spoke.

The pressure of hunting third-tier mutated beasts was immense, and everyone was trying to calm themselves down.

Hans sat opposite Martin, took out the half-smoked cigarette, and took a deep drag through his nose.

"A newbie, lucky, and tough."

Hans lifted his eyelids to glance at Martin, then grinned, revealing his chapped lips.

Upon hearing this, several veterans nearby also let out a few low chuckles.

Martin remained silent.

The helicopter landed outside the supply base.

Chen Wu led them to the logistics department to hand over their tasks.

"One Tier 3 Shadow Leopard Crystal Core".

Chen Wu threw the sealed bag onto the stainless steel counter with a "thud."

"No casualties among the team, request settlement."

The logistics officer from Daxia checked the information expressionlessly and made a few operations on the tablet.

"Confirmed. The kill points have been distributed to your respective tactical wristband accounts according to the team agreement."

The logistics officer looked up, his tone businesslike.

"In addition, the exchange quota for Great Xia nationality has been updated. You can now check the latest progress."

Upon hearing this, the veterans immediately swarmed around the query terminal like hungry wolves.

Martin stood on the perimeter, watching the data flashing on the wristband screen.

On the screen, the progress bar representing "third-order crystal core integration" jumped forward a bit.

He received one-ninth of the share.

"Perhaps... if only we could do it eight more times..."

Martin's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

While everyone else was checking the points redemption window, he quietly slipped out of the crowd and found a sheltered corner with no blind spots in the surveillance cameras.

After confirming that no one was around, Martin activated the communication device on his wrist and inserted a specially made data disk the size of a fingernail into the interface.

This is an encrypted frequency band that can only send short text messages in one direction.

Martin: The area surrounding the camp is full of ordinary people. We haven't entered the core area. No other information at this time.

After sending the message, he immediately pulled out the hard drive, leaned against the wall, and exhaled a heavy puff of white air.

"Richard...you arrogant and stupid idiot."

Martin's gaze fell on the red flag flying high in the center of the base.

"Everything you've done is pushing the entire camp into a fire pit."

The war machine of Great Xia has been set in motion, and anything that stands in its way will be crushed.

What he needs to do now is to do everything possible to protect himself!

Make the most of Richard's remaining value, use his life to pave the way for your own great Xia!

Martin composed himself and turned to walk towards the foreign soldiers' dormitory tent.

A stove was lit inside the tent, making it much warmer than outside.

Hans and his men were already lying on their beds; some were smoking, and others were cleaning their guns.

Seeing Martin come in, the group made room for him near the stove.

This is how you treat useful people.

Martin sat down, unbuckled his weapon, and placed it beside the bed.

"Newbie, what are you thinking about? Still reminiscing about that swipe?"

Tom tossed a small piece of dried dark bread, which landed precisely in Martin's arms.

"It's nothing."

Martin picked up the bread and took a bite.

"I'm just thinking about tomorrow's tasks, how to earn more points."

"Save your energy, newbie, don't overthink it."

Hans rolled over and closed his eyes.

"You're lucky today. That beast didn't attack you directly, which is why you survived."

God won't always be on your side!

……

at the same time.

Richard, far away in the ruins of Hamburg, received this message.

Inside the underground air-raid shelter, Richard stared at the text on the screen and slammed his fist against the wall.

"Unable to enter the core area?"

Richard's face turned ashen.

"Useless! That idiot Martin, all he got after sneaking in was this little bit of information?"