Chapter 281: Blade Mastery

“This time we’ve hired a master blacksmith to forge new armor for you.” Zhou Rui knew Yang Bo loved mechas, so she started there.

Yang Bo caught a faint yet pleasant scent in the air, it was probably Zhou Rui’s perfume.

It was a beautiful scene, but Yang Bo couldn’t help but remember the first time he saw Zhou Rui transform from a muscular man into an alluring woman.

Thinking of a sturdy bald man spraying on the same perfume made him feel odd.

“A master blacksmith? That must be expensive, right?” Yang Bo asked, surprised, revealing his inexperience.

Yang Bo knew that masters, no matter their field, aren’t measured by money.

But his persona was that of someone inexperienced, so he’d measure everything by money.

“A master blacksmith can’t be valued by money. Look it up later, you’ll see. We had to call in favors to get this master.” Zhou Rui smirked, thinking her smile was charming, as she explained to Yang Bo.

Yang Bo continued reading his book while asking, “I’ve heard the Fat Boss talk about forging before, but I don’t really get it. Can you explain?”

“Forging requires talent. The combination of materials and their properties creates mysterious transformations.”

“It’s hard to explain in detail. By the way, I heard you’re pretty talented with making potions?” Zhou Rui didn’t want to delve too far into forging, given her family’s deep involvement in the craft.

“I’m not sure. The boss says I’m a genius, but I haven’t met other alchemists.” Yang Bo replied honestly.

“How about a demonstration sometime? It wouldn’t be too much trouble, right?” Zhou Rui quickly followed up.

“Of course not, Sister Rui. You continue ordering the food.” Yang Bo nodded in agreement.

“Yang Bo, don’t you have any other hobbies?” Zhou Rui asked after finishing ordering.

“Nothing in particular.” Yang Bo considered his life. Beyond gaming to improve his strength, he didn’t have any other interests.

Perhaps it was because he lived as a weakling in his past life, constantly being bullied, that he now focused all his time on strengthening himself rather than pursuing useless hobbies.

As for enjoying life, Yang Bo believed that once his strength was at a certain level, he could enjoy life however he pleased.

“Developing hobbies not only makes your life more comfortable but also helps you connect with others.”

“That’s why the elite organize all sorts of events; it gives them a place to interact.”

“Do you like fishing? Maybe I should take you fishing someday?” Zhou Rui finally got to her point after speaking a lot.

“I’m not good at it. Last time I tried fishing at home, I didn’t catch anything, and there are too many regulations.” Yang Bo shook his head—why fish when he could play games to get stronger?

He could just catch whatever fish he wanted from the ocean… if only it weren’t so hard to sneak them home.

Once he obtained some storage boxes, he could grab what he wanted whenever he wanted.

“You just don’t know the right technique. I’ve been on this planet for over 30 years, and I’m great at fishing. The shallow seas here don’t have many fish; hurricanes destroy their habitats.”

“Only certain marine life comes ashore during breeding season to lay eggs.” Zhou Rui explained patiently.

Yang Bo wasn’t surprised by Zhou Rui mentioning she’d been here 30 years. In this society, you couldn’t judge age by appearance.

Yang Bo nodded, “Let’s wait for better weather.”

“There are plenty of indoor activities too, like…” Zhou Rui started, but a waiter knocked on the door before she could finish.

“The boss told me not to go to private places.” Yang Bo immediately used the Fat Boss as an excuse.

Zhou Rui laughed, cursing the Fat Boss in her heart.

Out loud, she had to agree, “Your boss means well. Things can get complicated in private places.”

“Sister Rui, let’s eat.” Yang Bo changed the topic.

The food from this restaurant was quite good, and Yang Bo finished everything, even drinking two bottles of milk.

“Sister Rui, can I borrow this book for a few days?” he asked as they were leaving.

“Nope. If you want to read it, you’ll have to ask me out.” Zhou Rui smiled sweetly.

“Alright then, I’ll ask you out in a few days. I’ll go buy some Cold Weapons first and see if I’m talented with any.” Yang Bo wasn’t surprised by her answer, knowing it was one of her treasures.

“Of course.” Zhou Rui smiled but cursed him as a blockhead—several men had given her appreciative looks today for her outfit.

Yang Bo took his leave and left the restaurant.

“Zhou Rui’s family must be impressive, being able to get a master to forge my armor.” Yang Bo mused as he walked home.

After Yang Bo left, Zhou Rui returned home, satisfied but still annoyed at the Fat Boss. How could he leave and say something like that to Yang Bo?

“I’ll have to verify Yang Bo’s supposed alchemy talent. If it’s real, maybe I might consider marrying him.” She stared at her reflection, confused about why Yang Bo seemed indifferent to her charms. In Zhou Rui’s eyes, there was a clear distinction between a husband and a lover.

Usually, husbands were of equal standing. It was rare to consider anyone from outside such circles.

Even if Yang Bo had enough talent, in this society, true geniuses weren’t that special—they couldn’t compare to the influence of families. Zhou Rui’s plan was to use her beauty to win Yang Bo over, or at least soften his resistance.

She didn’t actually plan on doing anything serious.

But Yang Bo’s obliviousness frustrated her.

Later that night, Yang Bo couldn’t resist diving into the sea again, letting the water press against his body. His energy continuously nourished his cells, muscles, and bones.

He used his energy to shield sensitive areas and weak points from the pressure.

The next day, Yang Bo entered the game. The other four were already online.

“Captain.”

“Captain.” The other four had been stuck at home and were bored out of their minds.

“Let’s aim to clear two farms today. Here’s the plan. First, we stock up on game currency, then buy bullets before heading out. And make sure to grab two extra sets of clothes.” Yang Bo laid out their strategy.

The extra clothes were for disguises—clothes here were cheap and didn’t count as equipment.

In the game, unless someone added you as a friend or you were part of the same team, they wouldn’t know your username.

Yang Bo enjoyed listening to the two girls. He didn’t care if they were gender-benders, they were useful teammates regardless.

The two farms were quite remote. Yang Bo’s main goal was to increase his Mind Control.

The more remote a farm, the more likely it had free-range animals. Free-range animals often had higher chances of having leaders.

Regular farms just had zombies or nothing at all.

In Yang Bo’s opinion, these regular farms had no protection, which made them easy targets for animals or zombies.

In large-scale farms with hundreds of animals, even if attacked by a few zombies, they couldn’t all be wiped out quickly. Instead, they’d likely mutate en masse.

“Is it a virus or some other kind of energy?” Yang Bo couldn’t figure out what force was transforming everything like this.

It was terrifying how it seemed to happen so subtly in this world, where people and animals were still mostly intact.

There were no signs of large-scale conflicts. The remaining buildings were hardly damaged.

If these changes had been gradual, there should’ve been more resistance.

Zombies encountered along the way weren’t unusual: rabbits, wild chickens, wild boars.

They finally arrived at the first farm, a long-haired rabbit breeding base at the foot of a mountain.

“There’s so many!” Everyone grabbed their binoculars and saw a large number of zombie rabbits packed together among the ruins at the foot of the mountain.

“Captain, is that a mini-boss over there?” The smaller girl asked, pointing out a direction.

Standing beside her, Yang Bo used his binoculars. Sure enough, he spotted a particularly large zombie rabbit hidden in the rocks, its body covered in long white fur.

The rest of the rabbits had patchy fur, but this one was almost fully covered.

It had over 80% of its body covered in hair.

“We’re lucky to find it so soon.” Yang Bo wanted to shoot the mini-boss immediately and leave with the loot.

But he couldn’t, as his four teammates had walked with him for an hour and carried all the extra bullets.

“You guys step back. We’ll try to take it out in one move.” Yang Bo told his teammates to retreat.

He baited a wave of rabbits away from the farm to a safer location.

Then the cleanup began. Their necks were thin and brittle. Often, one shot would decapitate them, with their heads left gnawing at thin air.

It was horrifying. They had nearly emptied their magazines, and around fifty rabbits still remained.

“Captain?” The smaller girl asked as they waited for the ammo supply.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try using a cold weapon.” Yang Bo had brought a machete with him.

He marched forward, dog-leg knife in hand, to take care of the remaining rabbits while the two girls quietly collected mission items.

The girls didn’t want to retreat despite how disgusting the monsters were. They were too lazy to leave.

In the end, it all came down to laziness!

Collecting items was easy: you only needed to target the object and press the collect button—the character would automatically do the rest.

Once the collection process was complete, the zombie rabbit would stop moving. No manual interference was needed.

Yang Bo looked at his machete. “What material is this made of, anyway?”

Yang Bo threw a rock at the remaining rabbits, and they immediately started screeching.

The leader, the big white-furred zombie rabbit, rushed out.

Its body was covered in long white fur, its black, shriveled body was horrifying, and its sharp fangs were terrifying.

It hopped toward them in a jerky way, like a dried corpse.

The rabbit’s speed was unmatched. It leaped over a meter into the air and covered nearly two meters in distance.

As it jumped, it emitted strange sounds, and the other zombie rabbits followed suit.

“So scary!”

“Thank goodness we turned off the monster sounds!”

“This game is so realistic!”

“The gaming company is really powerful. The mecha game’s rating dropped so low.”

“Is our Captain really an Advanced Mecha Pilot?”

“The two guys who vouched for him wouldn’t lie, would they? I could believe they have poor morals, but no way they would fool us with that.”

“Probably not. We just need to stay cautious!” The two girls whispered to each other while collecting.

Yang Bo picked up two more rocks and hurled them at the leading rabbit.

But the rabbit swiped at the incoming rocks, shattering them midair.

Yang Bo threw another rock. Again, the rabbit broke it apart with a single swipe.

This time, Yang Bo saw clearly—the rabbit’s claws were incredibly long, several centimeters each, and semi-transparent.

Then, the next second, a gunshot rang out.

The leader rabbit’s neck was blown apart. Yang Bo had saved some bullets, worried the boss rabbit might spit poison at him.

Right after, the other zombie rabbits rushed to devour their fallen leader.

“Damn!” Yang Bo quickly charged forward, cold weapon in hand.

The mini-boss was too valuable to let go—it could compensate for the bullets he’d used up.

Thankfully, it had moved faster than the rest of the rabbits.

Yang Bo controlled his Bionic Puppet, wielding the machete with precision.

Every rabbit that touched his machete soon lost its head, which then continued to gnaw at the earth.

His two female teammates were stunned by the sight and immediately began recording the video to analyze later.

Yang Bo didn’t think much of it—it was like he was slicing fruit in a game as he wielded the machete and slashed away at the remaining rabbits.

In just two seconds, all 40 remaining zombie rabbits were decapitated.

Forty heads remained on the ground, still gnawing at everything in sight.

Mind Control +8!

After harvesting the boss rabbit’s brain, Yang Bo got an extra +8 to his Mind Control stat.

“I knew it had a skill when it shattered that rock midair.” Yang Bo had tested for this earlier.

“Plus, I think there was some Blade Mastery bonus when I used my cold weapon earlier,” Yang Bo recalled.

Two updates complete.