5: Life pool!

However, none of that was the point. The exact second the Major was killed, Li Xiao noticed the red number in the upper right corner of his vision suddenly jump to 1100.

This made him connect it to the health of the two Imperial Soldiers and the durability of the off-road vehicle.

Their health was exactly 1100, and Di Yun had previously said the off-road vehicle's durability should be around 2000 points.

But what Li Xiao didn't understand was why the system would display these values.

Just as he was pondering this, Ye Ming, who was beside him, suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Commander, I've been promoted!"

"Promoted?"

Li Xiao quickly walked over and opened Ye Ming's profile, and sure enough, he found that his military rank had jumped from Private to Private First Class! His health had increased from 100 to 300 points! His comprehensive ability rating had also risen from G-rank 1-star to G-rank 5-star!

Tsk tsk... Li Xiao couldn't help but sigh, the experience value from one Major was truly impressive, allowing a Private to consecutively advance four ranks, directly skipping Private Third Class, Private Second Class, and Private First Class, to reach the rank of Private First Class.

"It seems one Major can provide about 100 points of merit."

He quickly checked Di Yun's rank again, but unfortunately, the Major was not killed by him, so Di Yun only received two points of merit for killing one infantry and destroying one vehicle.

However, as Li Xiao was checking their information, he suddenly noticed a '+' sign appearing after both their health values!

He clearly remembered that it wasn't there when he looked at the information before. Combining this with the data in his vision, Li Xiao vaguely felt that there was a connection between the two.

Out of curiosity, Li Xiao clicked on Di Yun's health plus sign, and then a prompt panel that made him extremely excited popped up!

"Do you want to increase Private Di Yun's maximum health?"

"What the hell! There's an operation like this?"

This prompt box completely stumped Li Xiao. Could maximum health be increased manually? Wasn't health only increased by upgrading one's military rank?

He knew that from Private to Private First Class, each rank would add 50 points to maximum health, but the system hadn't told him that health could be added manually.

There was no hesitation; Li Xiao directly clicked confirm, and then another prompt panel popped up.

"Please enter Di Yun's additional health amount. Note: Current life pool total is 1100."

Sure enough!

By this point, Li Xiao was very certain that the number was the sum of the health of the enemies he had killed.

So, in other words, could his troops have infinite health?

"No way, would the system have such a terrifying setting?"

However, it was indeed true. Li Xiao casually allocated 1000 points of health to Di Yun, and he didn't expect it to succeed!

At this moment, Di Yun, despite being a Private, already had more health than a Major! It was simply terrifying!

"This is great. We're more confident about taking the bridgehead now. You two quickly change into their clothes. We'll set off immediately."

Li Xiao didn't have time to delve into what this life pool was all about. Most of the first day had already passed, and he hadn't acquired any resources yet.

But at this moment, Ye Ming, who knows where he pulled it out from, was using a cutting machine to dismantle the already scrapped off-road vehicle.

"Uh, Ye Ming, what are you doing?"

"Collecting steel, of course!" Ye Ming said as he cut, "After upgrading just now, my collection ability has been strengthened. Now I can collect 10 points of steel or fuel per hour, and rare minerals can reach two points."

"Only 10 points per hour, the speed is indeed a bit slow."

Upgrading the first level of the base required 120 points of resources, and he only had 48 hours of safe time, which was quite urgent.

Ye Ming pouted and said helplessly, "Commander, this is already fast for me. If I hadn't upgraded, it would be at most two points per hour, and that's assuming there are ample collection points."

The collection points Ye Ming mentioned were actually resource zones. All towns and villages were resource zones, and even roadside garbage heaps or damaged vehicles on the battlefield counted.

Engineers could only fully utilize their resource collection function if they were within a resource area. Otherwise, if you sent him into the deep mountains and old forests, the collection amount would likely be zero.

"Let's abandon this off-road vehicle for now." Li Xiao thought for a moment and said, "There seem to be a lot of vehicles passing this road. Your collection time is too long, and I'm afraid we'll encounter a large enemy force again, which would be troublesome. Let's head straight for the bridgehead and try to take out those three people to get some food first."

Although the off-road vehicle was gone, the two sets of military uniforms remained. If successful, they could blend in close to the enemy before launching a surprise attack, which would at least prevent them from being ravaged by heavy machine guns from a distance.

According to the plan, Di Yun would carry a pistol, and Ye Ming would equip the enemy's rifle and approach on foot.

Li Xiao would provide support from a distance, immediately reinforcing them if the situation turned bad.

Di Yun was still very bold. The two, wearing the Black Hawk Empire's military uniforms, feigned being out of breath as they walked onto the bridge.

The three defending soldiers who were playing cards noticed them and all stood up, with one soldier immediately entering the heavy machine gun position.

"Stop! Who goes there?"

Di Yun was stopped when he was still twenty meters from the opposite bridgehead. Although the person blocking the way didn't draw his gun, the heavy machine gun's muzzle kept tracking them.

"Private First Class! Has no one taught you to respect your superiors!"

Facing the guard's inquiry, Di Yun did not panic. Seeing that the opponent's collar insignia showed the rank of Private First Class, he began to assume the posture of a Major.

After Di Yun said that, the three of them took a closer look and all stood at attention.

"Apologies, sir! How can we assist you?"

Di Yun breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and gestured for Ye Ming to follow. The two arrived in front of the tent.

He glanced at the Private First Class who had just spoken and said with a serious expression, "We were attacked by an unknown armed force a few kilometers ahead and lost our vehicle. I need to use your satellite phone to contact headquarters!"

"Yes, sir! This way!"

The Private First Class, without a hint of suspicion, stepped forward a few paces and pulled back the tent flap. Di Yun glanced inside and, sure enough, there was a communication radio and a satellite phone.

"Hmm, good!"

Di Yun's lips curled into a smirk. Before the Private First Class could react to his sinister smile, in the next second, he saw the dark muzzle of a gun pressed against his forehead.

Bang bang bang bang!

Puff puff puff puff!!!

As Di Yun's pistol fired, Ye Ming, who was already standing behind the other two Imperial Soldiers, also pulled his trigger simultaneously.

The Private First Class's 300 health points were instantly annihilated by Di Yun's four close-range headshots, and the other two Privates also died after being hit by several shots each.

Few people would likely be able to react to such a sudden attack.

After eliminating these three, Li Xiao saw that the life pool had indeed increased by 500 points, confirming the undeniable connection between the two.

"Quick, see what's in the tent!"

Li Xiao said excitedly, after all that effort, they finally had some progress.