Delta: Mandel Bricks drop right at the start!

The evacuation helicopter hovered over the dock for thirty seconds. When the rope ladder was lowered, Lin Rui grabbed the crossbar with one hand and tightly protected the zipper of his backpack with the other.

The heavy load of equipment caused people to sink.

Level 6 armor, a fully upgraded HK416, Eye of Mandel, and a huge amount of ammunition and medicine filled the level 2 backpack to its capacity limit.

"Evacuation successful. Total value of supplies obtained by this bureau: 4,870,000 HAF Coins."

"Kills: 6. Experience: +3,200. Current Level: 13."

Back in the safe zone lobby, Lin Rui first organized the supplies.

The Level 6 Armor and HK416 were listed on the in-game auction house. The Eye of Mandel was kept for personal use for the time being, and all other miscellaneous materials were sold to the system merchant in exchange for Haff coins.

After finishing those steps, he opened another option in the system panel—

[Resource Conversion]

Option A: Sell for cash (exchange HAF coins for real currency at the market exchange rate)

Option B: Decomposition Enhancement (Decompose resources into enhancement points, which are then applied to the host's physical body)

This was the first time he had seen the specific explanation for option B.

[Details on Disassembly and Enhancement]

[Disassembleable resource types: Armor, weapon attachments, medical supplies]

[Decomposition Output: Physical Enhancement Points / Reaction Neural Enhancement Points / Perceptual Enhancement Points]

[Example: Disassembling a level 4 armor plate = 5 Physical Enhancement Points + 2 Reflex Enhancement Points]

[Warning: The dismantled resources cannot be recovered and cannot be exchanged for Huff Coins. Please choose carefully.]

Lin Rui stared at the interface, hesitating for about ten seconds.

Ten million has been received, so there is no shortage of funds in the short term.

If we could convert some of the resources into real-world improvements in physical fitness...

He selected a level 2 armor fragment he had seized from a passerby and several unusable low-level accessories from his backpack and clicked "Disassemble".

The items disappear as points of light in the interface.

[Decomposition complete. Gains: Physical Enhancement Points x3, Reaction Nerve Enhancement Points x1.]

[Immediate injection? The effects will gradually take effect after the host leaves the game.]

Injection confirmed.

A warm sensation emanated from the base of the spine, flowing along the nerve pathways to the limbs.

In a virtual reality environment, this experience is simulated as the feeling of full-body relaxation after taking a hot bath.

[Injection complete. Expected effects: 8% increase in basic physical fitness, 3% increase in neural reaction speed. Effects will gradually stabilize over the next 6 hours.]

Lin Rui exited the system panel and returned to the game lobby.

He had planned to log off and rest for a while, but the global chat channel in the lobby was being flooded with messages, and the content caught his eye.

"Dam Zero is glowing red again? Is this the second time today?"

"No, the important thing isn't the red light, the important thing is that the 'armored train' was destroyed! Someone took down three level 6 armored vehicles with P92s and VSSs!"

"P92? Isn't that the starting pistol? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding! The kill log is all out there, go check it out yourself! ID 'Lin Rui,' six kills and retreating! Three of them were the 'Armored Train' trio!"

"Wait, the guy who got the Mandel brick yesterday was also named 'Lin Rui,' right?"

"It's the same person, eleven kills in two games combined. All the equipment he used was picked up from the map. What kind of monster is this?!"

The chat messages scrolled faster and faster, and Lin Rui's ID was mentioned repeatedly.

Some people are analyzing his kill replays, some are speculating whether he is a smurf account of a retired professional player, and others are questioning whether he used a third-party cheat.

"I checked, the ID 'Lin Rui' was registered two months ago, and the level is only thirteen. The previous record was mediocre. It's like a different person since yesterday."

"Is this some kind of cheat code? This rate of progress is abnormal."

"If it were cheating, why didn't the official anti-cheat system trigger? Do you think 'Star Shield' is just sitting around doing nothing?"

"StarShield" is the core AI anti-cheat system in Delta Force, which is said to be able to identify 99.7% of known cheat programs within 0.3 seconds.

Since the game opened the HAF Coin exchange channel, the crackdown on cheating has been intensified to an unprecedented level. After all, real money is involved, and the operating company is more afraid of problems than anyone else.

"So it wasn't a cheat. But if it wasn't a cheat, how do you explain the P92 penetrating level 6 armor?"

"After watching the replay, I saw that he was hitting the gaps in the protective plates and weak points, controlling the landing point of each shot within a few centimeters. That kind of accuracy is either from a top professional player or..."

"What's the choice?"

"It's just that God gave us this talent."

Lin Rui closed the chat channel.

He doesn't want to become famous on the forum, at least not now.

The more one's X-ray vision is revealed, the more trouble it will attract.

He was certain that the system would not be detected by "Star Shield"—its underlying logic was completely different from that of a cheat program; it was more like a "world rule modification" that only worked on him personally—but a person's vigilance was another matter entirely.

He made a decision: to reduce the frequency of using the perspective in the next few rounds, at least not to hit every box precisely, leaving himself some room for explanation that "ordinary players are lucky".

Exit the game.

The changes in the body are immediately apparent when the virtual reality headset is removed.

It wasn't a radical transformation, but rather a subtle yet genuine adjustment.

He raised his right hand and made a quick grasping motion in the air. His fingers responded a little faster than yesterday, and his grip was also stronger.

He went to the bathroom and turned on the tap to wash his face.

When cold water is poured over his face, he can more clearly perceive the temperature changes of the water and the feel of his skin.

This improvement in "clarity" felt incredibly real; his entire nervous system was tuned to be more precise.

"It really works!"

He looked at himself in the mirror.

It was still that ordinary face, not taller, more handsome, or stronger, but the look in his eyes was different.

It's hard to describe, but it's probably the kind of confidence that comes naturally from knowing you have money in your pocket.

My phone vibrated.

The text message from the debt collection agency reads: "We have received your repayment of 370,000 yuan. This loan relationship has been settled. Thank you for your cooperation."

It also included a smiley face emoji.

Lin Rui deleted the text message.

Next, I received a voice message from my landlady, Aunt Zhang: "Xiao Lin, I've received your rent. Oh, did you get a promotion recently? I'll treat you to a meal sometime!"

His tone was completely different from the urgent text message he sent yesterday.

Lin Rui replied with "Thank you, Auntie," and didn't say anything more.

He opened the food delivery app and ordered a 78-yuan charcoal-grilled steak set meal for himself.

His finger paused for a moment when he placed the order. Just a week ago, he was still debating whether to spend fifteen yuan on a bowl of Lanzhou ramen with an egg.

While waiting for his takeout, he reopened the Delta forum.

The number of discussion threads about him has grown from one to seven or eight, with one title standing out in particular:

[In-depth Analysis] Who exactly is Lin Rui, the newcomer to Dam Zero? Frame-by-frame breakdown of his kill replay!

Clicking through, you'll find the original poster, a tech-savvy analyst with the ID "Xigu Laogou," who wrote a 3,000-word article that dissected Lin Rui's two kill replays frame by frame, complete with numerous screenshots and ballistic analysis.

"...Focus on the battle in the control room in the second round. Lin Rui did something unusual before entering the control room: he stopped in the corridor for about ninety seconds, waiting for the two groups of players to have exhausted each other before entering."

"This means he knew there were two groups exchanging fire inside the control room before he entered. But the control room was nearly 30 meters away from where he was, separated by two walls and a fire door. There was no normal way to obtain this information."

"The second point of doubt: the timing and location of his use of the flashbang. The flashbang landed precisely at the geometric center of the three level 6 armored players, ensuring that the blinding effect would take effect on all three simultaneously. Such calculation ability is basically unrealistic in actual combat, unless he could see the precise positions of the three people in advance."

"Conclusion: This player 'Lin Rui' either possesses battlefield intuition and spatial calculation abilities far beyond ordinary people, or he is using some kind of new auxiliary tool that has not yet been included in 'Star Shield'."

"I personally lean towards the former. Because if it were a cheat, his aiming data would show a mechanical, predictable pattern. But his shooting has a distinct 'human touch'—hesitation, fine-tuning, and improvisation. This isn't an algorithm; it's talent."

The comments section is already in an uproar.

"The original poster's analysis is so detailed, it gave me goosebumps."

"But how did he know there was someone behind the wall? The original poster didn't provide a reasonable explanation for that."

"Maybe it's the sound of footsteps? The sound system at Dam Zero is very sensitive; high-end headphones can hear running sounds from thirty meters away."

"Listen for footsteps through two concrete walls? You try listening to one!"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's wait for the official high-definition version of the kill replay before we talk. Players of this skill level will eventually be noticed by the professional scene, and then we'll have a conclusion."

Lin Rui scrolled to the bottom of the post and left the forum.

The analysis by "Old Dog in the Valley" is frighteningly accurate.

If he continues to dissect it, the "X-ray vision" will eventually be deduced.

Although there is no concrete evidence, the speculation on the internet is itself a risk.

"I'll have to be more careful with my spending next time," Lin Rui told himself.

The doorbell rang; the takeout had arrived.

As he walked to the door to get his lunchbox, his neighbor across the hall came out to take out the trash.

A tall, thin young man wearing glasses, around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, was wearing a Delta collaboration T-shirt.

"Wow, steak." The neighbor glanced at the lunchbox in his hand, quite envious. "Did you strike it rich?"

"I worked overtime," Lin Rui said casually, preparing to close the door.

"Wait, wait, wait." The neighbor called out to him, lowering his voice, his face a mixture of excitement and confusion, "You play Delta Force too, right? I've noticed you always wearing the neural-connected helmet when you go in and out."

"Yeah, let's play."

"Did you check the forums? That 'Lin Rui' from Zero Dam! The one who shot through level 6 armor with a P92! My god, I watched that kill replay at least twenty times, it's practically a work of art..."

The neighbor suddenly stopped talking, tilted his head and looked at the name of the person picking up the food that was stuck on the takeout bag on Lin Rui's chest.

"Lin Rui".

He looked up at Lin Rui's face again.

"You...you wouldn't be...?"

Lin Rui pulled the takeout bag closer to his chest, covering the name on the receipt.

"There are many people with the same name."

He closed the door.

The sound of a neighbor pacing back and forth outside the door drifted in, interspersed with suppressed mutterings: "No, no, this is too much of a coincidence. Same building, same name, and they even play Delta Force..."

Lin Rui took the steak out of the bag and opened the lid.

The thick-cut steak was steaming hot, and the aroma of black pepper sauce filled the entire small room. He cut a piece with a plastic knife and fork and put it in his mouth.

The beef fibers break apart between your teeth, and the newly acquired sensory enhancement amplifies that texture several times over, revealing even the finest details of the muscle fibers.

"I need to level up two more times," he thought as he chewed.

Level 13 and 15 unlock the "Plunder" attribute.

The difference between the two levels can be resolved in two or three games.

He picked up his phone and opened the game's matchmaking interface.

The number of people online at Zero Dam has surged by 30% compared to yesterday. Without a doubt, most of them were attracted by the news about "Mandel Brick" and wanted to try their luck, as well as encounter the monster named "Lin Rui".

"Alright."

Lin Rui pressed the match button.

"Since you're all here, don't blame me for treating you as walking experience packs."

Match countdown begins.

Outside the window, his neighbor knocked on his door: "Bro! Bro, open the door! I just have one question! How did you manage to do that X-ray vision? Isn't it a bit too blatant? I've been studying it all night!"

Lin Rui chewed the steak in his mouth but didn't respond.

The countdown reaches zero, and the screen transitions to loading.

Dam No. 0, for the third time.

This time, his backpack contained the Eye of Mandel, an MP5, and plenty of ammunition. He was no longer the poor guy with only a P92.

The number "13" on the level panel is waiting to be changed to "15".

By then, what he'll be marking on this map won't just be money.