Marcus clenched and opened his hands, and moved all the joints of his body, making sure that the exoskeleton didn't restrict any of his joint movement.
[+2 strength effect has activated]
"Huh?"
All at once, Marcus' body felt hot from inside, nope, this wasn't hotness, it was like a warm sensation was welling up from his inside, and all at once, like how it had come, this sensation immediately dissipated.
"Have I become three times stronger? Is that the cue?
Well, I will have to test that in battle"
"But will I?" Marcus immediately sulked after remembering the agreement, he gave the form a long gaze, his share was only five million yuan since he wouldn't be participating in combat, which meant no beast loot.
"Not bad for a deal involving filling the headcount"
Marcus filled out the form and gave it back to the soldiers, however, it seemed they were still awestruck by his exoskeleton.
After all, an armor that can be donned at will, any time and anywhere was a rare ability among Awakened.
"Wait, commander, is this the last member you were talking about?"
"The one that keeps us all waiting? A rankless Awakened?"
A man trudged furiously towards Marcus while two others followed, but Marcus noticed something, the look on his face was like an arrogant bully looking to display their power.
"What is with that? An exoskeleton like crabs and insects? It is a rare Awakened ability but it is just as stupid!"
One of his followers burst into a loud, silly laughter.
"Simply because it can't stand a punch from C ranks like us, I don't know about measly D ranks."
It wouldn't bode well for him to engage in their mockery, so Marcus bowed and left their presence. He would like to avoid any fight at this time around simply because he knew what he was capable of.
Looking at them, the men were in full combat armor. It was needless to say they were the type that had undergone many raids, enough to afford such luxurious gears, although still inferior to that of the squad leader.
"Even D ranks aren't measly when compared to someone rankless."
It seemed they were trying to taunt Marcus.
'What do I do? I planned to join this raid to complete the first quest, but it seemed these people were capable. Perhaps I should go for Plan B.'
Marcus smiled mischievously. His Plan B involved killing any beast he found, which was like a breach of the agreement, but there was no agreement that said he shouldn't fight when a beast came his way.
'In short, there is no rule preventing me from killing any beast in self-defense.'
Marcus brought out a small dagger, after he heard that his mom's hospital bills had been cleared, he had used the money to buy this dagger.
"Was spending twelve million on this weapon worth it? Well, I will have to see about that"
The beast hide used to make the dagger handle held firmly in Marcus's grip and its sharp edge glinted under the sky, the time was around five in the evening but there wasn't a guarantee that the team would clear the beast zone the same day.
"I think the blade was made from the teeth of a mutant beast shark, no wonder it looked quite menacing"
At a mere look, the jagged edge of the dagger was menacing enough to give Marcus the creeps.
The dagger cutting edge was fashioned just like the shark teeth, which means the frontmost teeth of the blade (those at the cutting edge) would be the first to wear down or break during use.
So in sharks' case, as the front teeth are lost, the teeth positioned directly behind them in the same row (or slightly deeper) would move forward to take their place.
But in this dagger case, its design ensured that as the front edges are consumed by usage to some particular level, the subsequent row of teeth becomes exposed, maintaining its jagged and menacing profile until all rows are exhausted.
'I think it has five rows of blade teeth, although I don't know how long one edge would last'
Marcus released the dagger and twirled it around and between his fingers.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
The speed that Marcus' fingers displayed was enough to scare the hell out of the two C-rank Awakened.
EEK!!!
"What the hell was that!!"
One of the bullies that was spitting abuse on Marcus earlier cried out unintentionally, cold bead of sweat started forming on his brow.
"Why are you sweating, are you nervous"
"Nope, no way in h-hell, my armor, it is kinda hot inside it today"
The man avoided the gaze of the other, gnashing his teeth furiously.
'I guess this is what you get from being five times more dexterous than an average human.
The stat should be able to increase my chances of striking a critical hit, even if I'm only three times stronger than average, I can make my stats all work together to become slightly overpowered' Marcus took a look at his stat.
[Name: Zhao Marcus Cheng]
[Species: Hiveman]
[Class: Insecta]
[Rank: 1]
[Level: 1]
[XP: 80/100]
[Gene Tokens: 10]
[Health Recovery Portion: —]
[Titles: Gene Devourer, Hungering Lord ]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 5]
[Speed: 1]
[Dexterity: 5]
[Constitution: 3]
[Perception: 3]
[Intelligence: 2]
[Charisma: —]
[Luck: 1]
[Will: 2]
'Charisma is the worst, no wonder nobody takes a liking to me'
Marcus surveyed the ill gaze around him from the bullies.
Just then, Marcus noticed Ming approaching him.
"I don't need to tell you that you are not part of the combat team, do I?"
She whispered then turned to enter the beast zone while others followed up.
'I guess it is time to enter the den'
****
"Whoa, this is a Beast Zone"
One young lady marveled at the sight, just like the others.
Marcus realized that just like him, some were new to raiding.
The location was once a bustling intersection in the heart of the city, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Now, it stood as a haunting fragment of its former self.
Abandoned cars were scattered across the lanes, their surfaces covered in dust and faint claw marks that hinted at the chaos that had unfolded here.
It was a completely desolate place, and all around, as the group ventured deeper, it was all silent like a graveyard with large unnatural gaping holes drilled into building walls.
"What is with these big holes that gaped through glass walls of high-rises, it was as if someone drilled it through them, I heard this place is an S-grade but what type of mutant beast lives here that bore these holes?"
The members started to express their opinions.
"I-it feels too creepily silent, commander, can you tell us what type of beast that lives here?"
It seemed some of the ladies had started to group behind Huang Ming, and at the same time, fear had started creeping through them enough to ask such reasonable questions.
"Come to think of it, nobody asks what type of beast is in here, because for an S-grade area, our manpower met and surpassed the requirements of Awakened"
"Or isn't that correct? Leader"
The leader of the bully went over to Ming who was in a daze near the remains of a flat, crushed car.
"Ming!!"
He yelled and went it grab hold of Ming's arm when he noticed that she was actually lost in thought. The girls' group surrounding Ming shuddered, their anxiety spilling over into soft murmurs of concern.
"Hey, behave yourself"
The B-rank Awakened beside Ming grasped the hand of the bully leader, removing forcefully from Ming's arm.
The latter regained her composure and started walking towards the center of the wide lane.
And as if on a signal, some loud and buzzing sound emanated from every one of the unnatural holes in the building walls.
"Don't tell me!"
Then it dawned on the members.
"This Beast Zone is an insect colony! I should have known at first glance: these big gaping holes that look as if something has eaten its way into the building's walls, the silent atmosphere that feels as if an insect is in its colony."
"In short, all these buildings are anthills"
"Hey!! What did you mean by that? You mean all these skyscrapers and buildings have turned into towering anthills?!"