Chapter 11 Crunch Time (1/2)

All that Han Xiao had in his arsenal was the enhanced 73-WASP handgun, an N9 Colt Assault Rifle, 15 magazines of ammo, and the Lightweight Mecha Arm whose durability had been reduced to 130. He was essentially outmatched in terms of equipment.

Bang!

The sniper rifle was fired again. The bullet pierced through the tree he was hiding behind, narrowly missing him. Han Xiao groaned. While the enemy had night-vision, he could only attempt to make out their position from the muzzle flashes.

The sniper rifle was too powerful. With his current health, it would probably take only 3 shots to kill him. Han Xiao decided to put the 18 unassigned stat points at his disposal to use. He added 14 points into END for additional health and 4 into STR to bolster his STR advantage. Engaging in a shootout would only be disadvantageous, so even though close combat was risky, he had to take the chance. It was virtually impossible to run away since the enemy had night vision. The only way to make it out now was to kill them all!

With the +10 bonus from the Mechanical Arm on top of his 29 STR, Han Xiao had enough STR to ensure that his blows would proc 'overwhelming blows'. With 36 points in END, he now had a max HP of 460. He had instantly gained 140 HP from adding END, which was crucial as Han Xiao was already low on health. His current HP was now close to 400, which was much more optimistic than before.

The agents were fanning out to surround him, and Han Xiao noticed that they were not very closely coordinated.

He estimated that it would take around 5 to 8 seconds for them to reach each other to help.

In other words, Han Xiao had to be sure to finish off his target in this short amount of time.

Having killed over 30 guards in the Valkyrie base, Han Xiao was now sitting on 116,000 experience points.

He dumped all of it into his combat skills.

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[Grappling] has been raised to Lv. 5

+7% Counter, +10% Damage (bare-handed)

[Basic Combat] has been raised to Lv. 8

+8% Damage (bare-handed)

As [Basic Combat] has reached Lv. 8 and [Submission] has reached Lv. 3, you may learn one of these three advanced skills:

[Special Ops Combat]

[Jiu-jitsu]

[Iron Fist]

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Special Ops focused on explosiveness, assassination, and usage of tools; Jiu-jitsu focused on grappling and submission; Iron Fist focused on strengthening the limbs and improving one's tolerance to taking damage. They were three very different styles of skills. What Han Xiao needed now was explosiveness, so he chose [Special Ops Combat].

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You have learnt the advanced skill [Special Ops Combat]

+6% Crit Rate (melee), +4% Damage (bare-handed)

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Han Xiao's melee damage was now increased by 15%, and his overall combat ability was also boosted considerably. Not only did he feel much stronger than before, he had a mysterious feeling that he had somehow acquired mastery over several fighting styles.

It's a pity that I still don't have any active energy-based combat skills, thought Han Xiao. As Mechanics had very few active skills in their earlier levels, they couldn't make much use of their Energy.

Han Xiao put on the Lightweight Mecha Arm and crouched down. He took a few moments to regulate his breathing and optimize his oxygen flow before suddenly springing forward and charging towards the agent closest to him on the flank. As soon as Han Xiao showed himself, the 6 agents opened fire.

With the mecha arm as his shield, Han Xiao weaved through the trees to evade the rain of metal while returning fire with the SMG in his other hand. The smell of gunpowder was overbearing.

In 3 seconds, Han Xiao came within range of his target. He threw the SMG at the agent's gun hand as a distraction before swinging the mighty mecha arm at him. The agent raised his arms in reflex to block the blow and endured the pain to draw his handgun. He aimed at Han Xiao's head and fired, but Han Xiao's DEX was not just for show. With seemingly inhuman reflexes, Han Xiao clipped his arm over the agent's gun hand and tugged down to make him lose balance and buckle forward before proceeding to ruthlessly smash his knee up into his groin.

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You have dealt a fatal blow! 2x Critical Hit! Your target is stunned for 2 seconds!