In the trenches, there were always comrades smoking, but Lu Chen found it distasteful.
After the war, someone jokingly offered him a cigarette, but he always declined, citing his "underage" status.
"When you're charging, your age isn't exactly obvious," his comrades teased, and he laughed along, not quite sure why.
Those days were tough, but he didn't feel the hardship. Now, however, he felt bitter. The prolonged war had finally ended, but they had lost, and those who used to mock him were all dead.
The specially designed cage they kept him in was sturdy, but he had opportunities to escape before. He stayed because he didn't know where to go after fleeing.
Times had changed. For thousands of years, the Eastern powers had dominated the world with their secret blood warrior techniques. But now, with Western technological advancements, charging into battle with a blade against modernized military forces made secret blood warriors look foolish.
Lu Chen... he was the biggest fool of them all.
The reason he chose to escape today wasn't because he was tired of inhuman imprisonment, but because he heard something interesting.
That woman said there were people with extraordinary powers appearing, and she actually wanted him to come out and help them.
It was clear that these people were no ordinary individuals, and he just hoped they wouldn't be wielding firearms again, as that would be too boring.
Lu Chen knew that technology was the future, but the values instilled in him from childhood wouldn't allow him to just bow down. He looked forward to, hoped for, other extraordinary powers that could take him further.
Even if he couldn't attain them, he wanted to die by the hands of the extraordinary, not under the barrel of a gun.
Of course, he wouldn't charge blindly into the Western Union now. He needed time to recover. If there were indeed extraordinary individuals, he hoped to face them in his prime.
Two years of imprisonment, sustained only by nutrient fluids, had made his body much leaner than before. It would take at least a month to recover, so he needed to escape the borders of the Western Union first.
The process wouldn't be smooth. After evading capture four times, he finally arrived at the southern border of the Western Union, a boundless desert.
"Hmph..."
He couldn't help but grunt as he squeezed out the bullet embedded in his left shoulder. He wasn't invincible. In the last breakout, he was hit by a sniper amidst the chaos. Luckily, his body density wasn't that of an ordinary person's, and he managed to deflect the impact in time, avoiding being pierced through.
He had no means of transportation because he couldn't drive. High-tech gadgets were beyond his knowledge and ability to use. All he had was two bags of water and one of dry rations. Crossing this desert would seem like suicide to the average person.
But that's exactly what he did. He ventured deep into the desert for hundreds of kilometers, relying on the formidable physique of a secret blood warrior and his control over his body, minimizing sweat production to retain maximum hydration.
...
"Another failed blockade!?"
A white-haired old man slammed his desk in anger. "Wasn't it said they could be executed on the spot?"
"Your Excellency, please calm down. It's just one secret blood warrior."
The one speaking was a brigadier general responsible for the specifics of the blockade.
"A secret blood warrior!? Do you know how many secrets he holds? He's a treasure trove! He's the strongest secret blood warrior, and we still haven't fully understood the genetic secrets within him. This could be a biological revolution, and yet you've reduced it to 'just a secret blood warrior'?" the President thundered angrily.
"Now that he's already left the country, it'll be very difficult to dispatch troops to capture him again," the general reported, bowing his head.
"The southern region..." The President's expression grew dark, seeming conflicted.
"We can't let him escape to that area. Use that weapon," he said grimly.
The general was taken aback. "That's still under development and hasn't been tested. Moreover, killing him in this manner would leave us with nothing!"
The President fell silent for a moment, his emerald eyes fixed on the general. "It's better than letting him fall into the hands of other countries. Consider it an experiment with a new weapon."
"Understood."
...
Lu Chen walked on the sandy terrain, suddenly stopping as he felt something.
He looked up at the sky, only to be met with the glaring sun.
Taking a cigarette from his mouth, he took a deep drag and exhaled slowly.
"Extraordinary... Can it really surpass technology?" he murmured to himself, somewhat self-deprecatingly.
In the next moment, a blinding white light descended, like a divine sword, as if passing judgment!
Lu Chen's figure disappeared, and a massive mushroom cloud rose in the desert.
...
When Lu Chen opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dilapidated projection room, with strange information flooding his mind.
He wasn't dead; or rather, he had been resurrected.
He clenched his fist, feeling the state of his body, which had miraculously returned to its prime!
Even his clothes had changed, resembling the training attire one would wear in a martial arts academy.
While others might panic and be puzzled by this situation, Lu Chen was filled with joy.
He had been struck by the Western Union's cutting-edge technological weapon, which should have reduced him to dust. Yet, the additional information in his mind undoubtedly told him that he had found it – extraordinary power!
["Explorer ID 63570591, please check your mission."]
A pleasant female voice sounded in his ears. He looked around cautiously but found himself alone in the back row.
Calming down, he began to recall the additional information in his mind...
It seemed he had been chosen by a place called the Origin Space. This was his first mission world, and only after completing it could he officially return to space.
Following the instructions from his newfound memories, he attempted to summon from within.
"Origin."
Instantly, a semi-transparent menu appeared before him, displaying various information.
[Mission World Type: Derivative]
[Difficulty Level: lv.7~lv.40]
[Current World Time: 2008.09.06]
[World Introduction: This is a world with the existence of dragon races and hybrids. For more, explore it yourself.]
Seems pretty straightforward... But Lu Chen also understood that there were indeed some extraordinary powers in this world.
[Main Mission (First Tier): Slaughter Cinema]
Mission Content: A hybrid with uncontrollable bloodline is hiding in the town cinema, and a feast of slaughter is about to begin.
Optional Mission Objective 1: Escape from the cinema
Difficulty: Easy
Success Reward: 300 Origin Coins
Failure Penalty: None
Optional Mission Objective 2: Kill the uncontrollable hybrid
Difficulty: Easy
Success Reward: 3000 Origin Coins
Failure Penalty: None
[Note: Optional branches will affect subsequent main missions. Explorers, choose carefully. There will be no further reminders.]
Lu Chen was somewhat puzzled. The rewards for Objectives 1 and 2 differed greatly, which he understood, but why were both the difficulty levels displayed as easy for both killing and escaping?
He hadn't played games before, but he knew that easy should be the lowest difficulty.
With some doubts, he began to examine his own attributes. He wasn't in a hurry; after all, he wasn't planning to run away.
[Explorer ID 63570591]
[Level: lv.1]
[Reference: Except for Luck, the average for an ordinary adult is 5 points for each attribute]
[Life Source: 100%]
[Soul Source: 100%]
[Constitution: 40 points]
[Strength: 39 points]
[Agility: 39 points]
[Spirit: 35 points]
[Charisma: 9 points]
[Luck: 2 points]
Lu Chen understood Life Source as his HP and Soul Source as his MP? It all sounded very similar to the games the guards would discuss privately.
Constitution determined the upper limit of Life Source, endurance, defense resistance, and injury recovery speed.
Strength determined carrying capacity and attack power, while together with Agility, it affected sprinting speed. Agility also affected reflex speed.
As for Spirit, based on the introduction, it seemed to influence control over martial arts skills, damage from some skills, and resistance to abnormal control.
Charisma influenced the effectiveness of conversations with people, the ability to summon creatures, and resistance to some forms of abnormal control.
With just a glance, Lu Chen knew that this attribute point assessment wasn't simply added evenly. His Strength was definitely not just 8 times that of an average adult...