Chapter 45: 045 Each has its own gains

"Let me see it."

"Okay!"

Kuang Xin was the first to hand his over, quite eager.

Once the homemade gun was in hand, its attributes unfolded.

On one hand, the gun's performance was inferior to the military-issued Sand Fox, which was a hardware issue that couldn't be resolved.

However, on its own...

[...Durability 4/10]

[Trait: Roughly Made, shooting accuracy -10%; the manufacturing process is too poor, there is a certain chance of barrel explosion during use; lack of proper maintenance over time has led to rust at critical parts, durability is rapidly decreasing, significantly increasing the chance of barrel explosion!]

The debuff was nearly maxed out, weren't they afraid it would explode in their own hands?

Seeing Bai E frown, Kuang Xin cautiously asked, "Sir?"

Without a word, Bai E took out a screwdriver from his embrace and got to work.

He had already carried with him the few tools necessary for maintaining light firearms.

After disassembling the parts, Bai E exposed the rust inside to the sunlight, "If you are warriors, you should learn to protect the weapons in your hands. They are your tools for killing enemies and the partners you should value the most."

"..."

Kuang Xin didn't make a sound.

They were just beginner weapons. If they blew up, just buy another.

Bai E's words continued to echo in their ears, "I know you might not care about such a readily available weapon, but I don't want it to betray you at a critical moment. If you cannot treat it well, you will eventually be hurt by it. As new members of the organization, I don't want to see you get injured."

[Do you decide to teach the target survival skills?]

[Confirm!]

...

The three players who received the system prompt were startled at the same time.

Firearm maintenance and care?

This auxiliary ability costs 200 general experience points to learn?

Are you learning it? I'm not.

Kuang Xin and Dai Lian exchanged glances, reaching a consensus.

Amidst the silence, Gong Yan squatted down, moved closer, and observed Bai E's motions carefully.

"Sir, can you teach me?"

Compared to the previous Bai E, the one now bending down to maintain the firearm seemed warmer, and Gong Yan, with her careful thoughts, captured this tender moment.

For her, rampaging through the game wasn't important, but certain interesting details were simply too appealing.

Moreover, she was willing to learn these support abilities.

Bai E glanced at her, "Okay, where's your gun?"

"Here..."

"Take it out and follow along."

[You have spent 10 general experience points in learning, which has been converted into 5 points of "Firearm Maintenance and Care" experience.]

...

[You have learned "Level 1 Firearm Maintenance and Care" and simultaneously received 1* technological point.]

[Firearm Maintenance and Care (Level 1): Maintains light firearms, restoring the target's durability by 3 points, target cooldown time 24 hours.]

The three homemade guns were revitalized after maintenance.

[...Durability 7/10]

[Trait: The original hand-assembled homemade gun has been carefully treated by a professional, significantly reducing the chance of barrel explosion; limited by inherent conditions, shooting accuracy -5%. (Cooldown time: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds)] S~eaʀᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Kuang Xin's eyes widened, "The effect is so powerful..."

When he first got it, there was a -10% penalty in shooting accuracy, but after one maintenance, it was reduced to only a -5% penalty. If it's maintained once more, wouldn't the penalty disappear? Maintain one more time, wouldn't it become +5%? And if maintained yet again...

If the homemade gun was like this, surely other weapons obtained in the future would benefit as well.

He never thought that such an auxiliary ability could be so potent, it could be described as defying fate.

In that moment, Kuang Xin felt a bit of regret. He had plenty of experience left, enough to learn the skill.

But... an opportunity missed is missed for good.

The officer probably had no interest in teaching it again.

Gong Yan was all smiles, her eyes curved into crescents, willingly declaring, "If I know it, it's as if you know it too."

"Alright."

Bai E got up, and for the first time in front of the three of them, he showed a smile, "Goodbye."

The two educational sessions had wasted too much of his time; would he have to run back so fast he'd practically fly?

Fortunately, the first half of the afternoon was the original shooting training, so as a newly graduated rookie, he didn't need to assemble immediately.

Watching Bai E's retreating figure walking away briskly, Dai Lian tightened his grip on the pistol in his hand, feeling for the first time a real advantage in this game.

A brand new organization!

A mysterious chain of missions.

A powerful yet gentle superior!

And... a specialization with special attributes that no one could have at the early stages of the game!

"How did everyone do?"

Dai Lian asked.

Understanding the combined combat power of the team was the most important thing for a team's strategist to do.

"I spent 100 points of combat experience to get Level 1 Light Firearms Specialization, 200 points of general experience for firearm maintenance, and didn't use the rest of the experience to level up to Level 2," Gong Yan answered crisply.

Dai Lian let out a light sigh, "Same here, but I used 150 points of combat experience and 120 points of general experience just to get Level 1 Light Firearms Specialization. Now I only have 30 points of general experience left..."

"???"

Kuang Xin and Gong Yan looked at Dai Lian like they were seeing him for the first time.

Since when had Dai Lian tapped into Kuang Xin's network?

Dai Lian smiled mysteriously, after knowing each other for so long, he always wanted to show off in front of his acquaintances.

"My specialization might be a bit different from yours."

Kuang Xin was full of curiosity, "What is it?"

Dai Lian placed a finger to his lips, "It's a secret."

Then he turned to ask Kuang Xin, "What about you?"

"Me?" Kuang Xin shrugged, "I used 90 points of combat experience~ But..."

"But what?"

"I got a trait too..."

Kuang Xin grinned, his smile beaming brightly.

He'd held back until now, finally ready to reveal it.

[Trait—Well Trained: More adept at team combat, with no fewer than "five" combat units working together, Insight Performance +1, Reflex Performance +1; more likely to survive in complex combat environments (with over 10 participating units within 500m³), Block +5%, Dodge +3%.]

"Damn!" Dai Lian lost his composure for the first time.

Gong Yan also opened her slightly parched mouth wide, "...Shit!"

The attribute boosts that were triggered were terrifyingly strong, even stronger than all the progress they had made in the game from the start until now.

This this this...

Dai Lian remembered the prompt that had flashed briefly in the educational session, "Could it be..."

Kuang Xin shrugged smugly, "Yeah, I just learned it naturally."

"..."

Naturally...

Damn it!

Dai Lian pursed his lips.

He'd been outdone.

But the fact was, Kuang Xin had learned it, and he hadn't—that was skill.

"Eh? You guys are all here?"

An incongruent voice suddenly rang out, and Pu Jie's face, which looked sleazy no matter how you saw it, came running over from a distance.

"It's noon, shall we go wolf-hunting?"

Dai Lian nodded fiercely, "Let's do it!"

Having just acquired specialization skills, and his weapons feeling reborn, with his accuracy indeed improved significantly, if they didn't go on a killing spree now, when would they?

"Exactly!"

Pu Jie was exceptionally excited, "We're all friends of Yanzi, I won't let you down! I've already found out, at the top of this mission is the Heretical Arbitration House in the city! As long as we get the best results, I can get you guys connected to that line, it'll be totally worth it!"