384: Chapter 383 The Price of Power

In a training exercise, the first person to be "killed" was actually the commander. This was something no one had expected, including the three people in the control room.

Zheng Yi's assessment had become reality at this very moment.

When Night Crow's terrifying attribute of accelerating from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in one second appeared, everything was already sealed. Furthermore, the terrifying directional change ability displayed by Captain Li Liancai left no room for doubt or deviation in this result.

Within a twenty-meter range, almost no one could keep up with the Night Crow, which was capable of extreme directional changes.

The scene that followed was quite bloody.

After Jin Weidong was "killed," his five-man squad followed in his footsteps after holding out for only two seconds.

And this duration didn't even provide enough time for the other teams to react.

What would happen to the other teams that hadn't managed to regroup?

Captain Li Liancai quickly provided the answer.

Two seconds: the three-man support squad was completely wiped out.

Five seconds: a five-man squad to Jin Weidong's left was completely wiped out.

Fifteen seconds: the remaining ten-man squad was assaulted head-on and was completely "killed" without any ability to resist.

The cost was merely two extra white spots on his body.

The twenty-five-man elite squad had held out for less than twenty-five seconds before the Night Crow detonated all the smoke grenades on their bodies. The screen was filled with bursts of yellow smoke, which seemed to tell the tale of the Night Crow's brutality.

Night Crow, this brand-new piece of equipment, announced the arrival of its era in the most tyrannical manner.

On the rooftop.

Wang Shuo watched Captain Li Liancai's agile movements while wearing the Night Crow, compared himself in his heart, and fell into a heavy silence.

Compared to him, he, the creator, was like a Grade 7 invalid. Whether it was combat awareness, physical fitness, coordination, sensitivity, or the degree of human-machine integration, he was miles behind.

Captain Li Liancai could defeat a twenty-five-man squad in twenty-five seconds while wearing the Night Crow; if it were him, he'd be lucky not to be beaten until he was crying for his parents.

The Night Crow is not invincible; the person is.

It's just that Wang Shuo didn't know what kind of tumultuous waves the Night Crow—which he didn't consider invincible—had stirred up in the hearts of Zheng Yi and Instructor Duan Chengwu.

Zheng Yi stood silently in place, watching the chaos on the screen, and pondered silently in her heart.

The members of this team were all elites; this could be seen from their reaction speed and tactical coordination.

There were no major flaws in their tactics. Even with six people missing, it only weakened the density of the fire net, but it shouldn't have caused a fundamental collapse—at least, it shouldn't have prevented them from lasting even a short thirty seconds.

The fundamental reason for the failure lay in their underestimation of the Night Crow's speed and directional change ability in a small, confined space.

If this distance were expanded to one hundred meters, the situation might have been completely different.

An overly optimistic assessment of the opponent's strength led to obvious tactical flaws, and those tactical flaws were seized upon and amplified by an opponent of the same level, eventually leading to a total collapse.

Then, if she were to lead these twenty-five people, what would the result be?

I'm afraid there wouldn't be any difference.

With only rifles and a small number of throwing weapons, and lacking heavy firepower, even if she led the team, she couldn't think of a better method than fire coverage.

And fire coverage?

Within a twenty-meter range, the Night Crow's speed clearly held the absolute advantage.

And too far a distance, such as one hundred meters, would give the Night Crow ample space to dodge.

Thinking it over, the best method seemed to be using the same equipment, or simply using heavy artillery for saturation bombing.

Zheng Yi thought of this, turned her head slightly, and looked at young man standing beside her.

That young face was full of vigor.

For some reason, Zheng Yi felt that Wang Shuo in front of her seemed much more handsome than when she had seen him before.

The lines on his face were noticeably more rugged, a gleam flashed in his eyes from time to time, and his overall temperament was more mature and steady.

Compared to her own good-for-nothing brother, this young man in front of her was as brilliant as the sun.

And the Night Crow undoubtedly added another layer of brilliance to him.

"Wang Shuo."

Zheng Yi lowered her head slightly and asked, "What is the price for the Night Crow?"

Wang Shuo was slightly stunned. "Sister Zheng, what did you say?"

"The Night Crow."

Zheng Yi pointed to the black figure standing tall in the smoke on the screen. "How much are you selling it for?"

"You want to buy the Night Crow?"

Wang Shuo looked at Zheng Yi with some astonishment and said, "But this is just something improved from a civilian version; it lacks many designs. You still want it?"

Zheng Yi paused.

Sometimes, she really wanted to hit someone, you know?

If Instructor Duan Chengwu hadn't been watching nearby, she would have already hit Wang Shuo over the head with a club.

Seriously, the type of person she hated most in this life was someone who pretended to be cool at every turn. Whenever she saw such a person, Zheng Yi would make their life unforgettable.

But, if the person pretending was Wang Shuo...

Zheng Yi looked at the innocent-looking Wang Shuo and nodded faintly. "I want it!"

"I see..."

Wang Shuo lowered his head and pondered slightly.

Seeing this, Instructor Duan Chengwu gently pushed the switch on his wheelchair and left the monitoring room.

He was a person with a great sense of propriety and understood that the following matters were no longer suitable for him to participate in. Regardless of what decision Wang Shuo eventually made, it had nothing to do with him.

Instructor Duan Chengwu's departure didn't change anything; the atmosphere in the room remained heavy.

Zheng Yi watched Wang Shuo quietly, waiting for his response.

"How about this, Sister Zheng."

Wang Shuo thought for a moment, then raised his head. "The Night Crow is just something improved from an engineering Exoskeleton. It is definitely not suitable to supply this kind of thing directly to you, so I won't sell it to you."

Zheng Yi raised her eyebrows slightly.

Seeing Zheng Yi's expression, Wang Shuo quickly said, "But don't worry, even if I don't sell you the Night Crow, I can sell you other Exoskeleton armor."

Wang Shuo took out his phone, opened a blueprint, and handed it to Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi frowned as she picked up the phone, and with just one glance, she was stunned.

"This is..."

Wang Shuo smiled slightly. "Sister Zheng, let me introduce it to you. It's an advanced version of the Powered Exoskeleton armor, fully covered mechanical power armor, abbreviated as..."

"Mecha!"

...

Outside the arena.

All the team members were sitting quietly on the ground, holding their rifles tightly in their arms, looking with slightly dazed eyes at the black figure standing tall in the sunlight not far away.

Watching him walk step by step into the shadows and come before them.

Jin Weidong's eyes were complex as he looked at the black Night Crow in front of him. He said bitterly, "We lost."

Captain Li Liancai took off his helmet, revealing his cheeks which had long been soaked with sweat. He said indifferently, "You did lose, and you lost very miserably."

"If this were a real battlefield, you would all be corpses right now, and the price I paid..."

Captain Li Liancai lowered his head and pointed to the few insignificant white marks on his body. "...was merely three insignificant dents."

Everyone was silent.

"Do you know where you lost?"

"A loss is a loss; what is the point of saying these things now?"

Jin Weidong shook his head slightly and said, "We admit that you are indeed impressive, but what is even more powerful is the Night Crow."

"You are wrong."

Captain Li Liancai said indifferently, "You have mistaken one thing. The Night Crow is very powerful, but without me, it is just a piece of equipment. It is no different from the guns in your hands, the grenades on your clips, or the combat helmets on your heads."

"It is precisely because of me that it is even more powerful!"

As Captain Li Liancai spoke, the Night Crow on his body suddenly unlocked, and he stepped out lightly.

Jin Weidong looked at Captain Li Liancai with some confusion. When he completely exited the Night Crow, his pupils suddenly shrank.

Within his field of vision, the part of the Night Crow that was originally the Exoskeleton, at the corresponding position of the support arm near Captain Li Liancai's calf, had actually shown obvious distortion.

"This is..."

"This is the price."

Captain Li Liancai slowly straightened his body, as if he were enduring immense pain.

"The price of power!"