[Elastic Steel Silk of SS-grade beast spider!]
[Quill of SS-grade beast hawk!]
The system notified.
'The Crossbows in their hands are made from the elastic steel silk of an SS-grade beast spider!'
Marcus' eyes widened as he scrutinized the men. His gaze fell on the quivers they carried on their backs. The bolts were made from the quills of an SS-grade beast hawk.
Marcus recalled browsing the internet the previous day and seeing various gears and weapons crafted from mutant beasts.
This crossbow was incredibly expensive because its string and bolts were made from SS-grade mutant beasts, costing five million Yuan.
The manufacturing process was also intricate. The elastic steel silk of an SS-grade beast spider is so thin that it requires five times normal perception to even see it. To make it usable, the thickness had been increased, enhancing its durability and strength. This increased thickness not only made the crossbow string exceptionally strong but also allowed it to be drawn with greater tautness, significantly increasing its range and accuracy.
Which means, the string would demand some level of strength in order to be drawn to full power.
'That means these Awakened would likely excel in strength'
'Damn, I'm kinda super weak, my strength stat is one, an average human strength, I can't even lift a finger to Earth's bodybuilders in pre Awakened era, not to mention Awakened that excel in strength, I'm too weak!!'
Marcus swallowed a lump.
Moreover, this crossbow was equipped with thermal imaging and could be used like a sniper rifle. It had a longer range than any other crossbow and sniper rifle available, thanks to the reinforced and highly taut beast elastic silk.
Marcus now realized why the government deployed two B-ranks Awakened.
Two B ranks Awakened armed with SS-grade weapons should be enough to take down an SS-grade mutant beast.
'Those bolts will probably penetrate the beast cockroach exoskeleton'
Marcus recalled how his classmates, Alex Wei, Leo Zhang, and PE teacher Mr. Lau Lau had fought and defeated an SS-grade beast hawk, the beast hawk's quills actually penetrated the fuselage of a military helicopter.
For some reason, the SS-grade beast cockroach wasn't attacking, it just remained motionless in the distance while facing them, it had already thrown the car its leg pierced away, the car lodged atop the top edge building in the distance.
"Is it waiting for the right moment to strike or does it have the ability to gauge an enemy's strength?, Perhaps it thinks it would be foolish to attack something it can't beat"
Marcus watched as Mei Ling rushed to greet the two carefree brothers who were unconcerned with the beast roach they turned their back on.
Since Mei Ling was a biologist, she must have probably known them during expeditions in numbered areas.
She looked calm, compared to when she was with Marcus, perhaps it was due to the two brothers' presence.
"Are they that strong?" This made Marcus wonder underbreath.
"Mei Ling, what are you doing here, this place is dangerous," one of them said, he looked sincerely worried.
"Well, we are off to someplace and I thought the Awakened had already been deployed here" Mei Ling glanced at Marcus and the two brothers looked suspiciously at him.
'What is with them?'
"Who is he? Mei Ling" the other one with unruly hair and a slanted scar on his face stared at Marcus, his gaze was quite penetrating.
Mei Ling held the two guys' hands and dragged them towards Marcus.
"Wei Long, Chen Hao, meet Marcus Cheng"
"Is he a civilian or an Awakened, I bet he was the one that dragged you with him" Wei Long, the one who kept staring at Marcus wore a furious expression.
"Seriously, who is he to you? I know you don't have a brother as far as I remember"
'Is he jealous?' Marcus wanted to confirm his suspicion, so he then took and held Mei Ling's hand.
Wei Long frown immediately.
"He is a friend and a civi—"
Mei Ling hadn't finished her words when Marcus saw something moving fast towards her.
He knew immediately that it was one of the beast cockroach's legs, it shot it out so fast that it appeared like a blur, streaking through the air like a bullet, targeting Mei Ling's back.
The two brothers hadn't noticed, Marcus reasoned it was because of his perception stats, three times more perceptic than an average human, even so, the leg still appeared like a blur.
Marcus drew her closer, hugging her in the process and turning such that his back was the one that got struck, he had already manifested his exoskeleton on reflex.
'Five times more agile than average human isn't a joke.
The deadly leg that pierced the bulletproof vest of soldiers, I hope my tungsten grade exoskeleton armor is....'
"KOIN!!!"
The sound of metal striking metal echoed across the silent street.
The strike was so hard that it knocked them several meters away.
"What the...!"
The two brothers were stunned, but they reacted quickly, firing their crossbows at the beast cockroach.
Multiple bolts pierced its exoskeleton and some colorless fluid oozed out from the points it was pierced. It died immediately.
Upon the impact, while in his embrace, Mei Ling and Marcus rolled several meters away before they came to a stop.
Still covered in small segmented golden exoskeleton except for his palms, head, and soles of his feet, Marcus release Mei Ling and help her up.
[Ding!]
[Exoskeleton mastery has increased!]
[Effect condition has been met!]
[Inbuilt gear: Exoskeleton armor]
[Grade: 5]
[Effect: +2 strength when activated]
The notification prompted Marcus to frown, he never thought this type of effect could activate, that meant he would be three times stronger than an average human, and his strength would be on par with some bodybuilders of Earth's pre-Awakened era.
'Not bad'
Mei Ling stood and looked at him with disbelief.
"Thanks for that, I'm ashamed but I will admit that we couldn't see the attack coming" Wei Long who seemed to be the jealous one said. "Thanks, man"
"I don't know you are an Awakened" Chen Hao gazed at Marcus' armor with disbelief. "This is an exoskeleton, a very hard one" he knew because he had witnessed the litter of soldiers' corpses on the street, and the fact that they wore bulletproof vests.
'Grade 5 tungsten exoskeleton armor isn't for show'
"Y-yeah" Marcus muttered and turned to Mei Ling. "Let's go" he held her hands and started walking away. "Bye"
Mei Ling followed obediently, she was still stunned by what happened, if Marcus had been a second late, she would have been pierced through the heart from the back. She couldn't meet his gaze, she just kept staring at the ground.
'Well, it was to be expected, after all, I didn't tell her anything about my powers'
'But why didn't the beast cockroach attack when the two brothers came, and why did it attack only Mei Ling? so it could sense its enemy's strength.?'
Marcus realized that was the only possible answer.
'That means the two brothers' power has something to do with strength, perhaps its legs wouldn't be able to pierce their body?'
As they passed by the dead beast, Marcus gazed at the monster with a narrowed look.
'If only the guys weren't here, I would have cut out a chunk from the beast and eat its meat'
[Searching...]
[No gear could be crafted with gene remains!]
[Eating gene remains of SS-grade beast cockroach would increase host exoskeleton armor grade]
Marcus wasn't disappointed, even if there was a gear that could be crafted from it, he couldn't possibly lay hands on it, it had become government property.
He looked back, but the guys stood sentinel in the distance, watching their back incredulously, they were still surprised that he outperformed them.
"How he hugged Mei Ling and turned his back to the attack, I couldn't see his movement, he was so agile" Chen Hao was amazed, while the two watched Mei Ling and Marcus go.
"Me too, I'm happy Mei Ling called him a friend, it seemed we have got ourselves a rival"
Wei Long patted his brother's shoulder and smiled as they waited for the government copter to come and transport the beast cockroach to the government research facility.