Invincible through Touching Corpses

When Lin Xinghai called a halt, all the Mercenaries breathed a collective sigh of relief.

If their only daily task after being recruited was to pick up Elemental Crystals, their lives would certainly be easy, but that kind of boring, monotonous existence wasn’t what they wanted.

Now that they heard they would be free to practice their Gun Technique later, everyone was fired up. They all wanted to show Lin Xinghai their best performance. If they could earn the approval of this Gun God and get even a few casual pointers, it would be the best-case scenario.

The nearby Zombies had been cleared out, so everyone casually sat on the ground and took out compressed biscuits and other food to fill their stomachs.

Half an hour passed quickly. Once the team had rested, they took a different route and started to head back.

Lin Xinghai didn’t engage in the fighting, letting the Mercenaries handle it on their own.

As for him, he was, of course... going to pilot the Mecha.

He had long wanted to fight in a Mecha, but for various reasons, he’d never had the chance. Now that he finally had some free time, he could give it a proper try.

After climbing into the Mecha and entering the key he’d gotten from Gao Mountain, he activated the Control Helmet’s program and began to synchronize his brainwaves.

As Lin Xinghai deliberately released his Perception Power, the synchronization level quickly reached 100%.

The sensation of the Mecha becoming an extension of his own body returned, giving Lin Xinghai the illusion that he was immensely powerful.

After glancing at the Mecha’s status, which showed all systems were normal, he had the machine make a light leap out of the Armored Vehicle.

This seemingly ordinary move left Gao Mountain completely stunned.

A Mecha, with weapons and all, weighed at least seven tons. Gao Mountain knew all too well how incredibly difficult it was for such a behemoth to perform such a "light" maneuver.

It required meticulous control over the power output of every part of the Mecha. The balancing, control, thruster, and recoil-dampening systems all had to be perfectly coordinated, without the slightest room for error.

With his own Perception Power, it was absolutely impossible. Only someone who had broken the third Genetic Lock and achieved 100% control over the Mecha could perform such a seemingly "light" maneuver.

’How did he do that?’ The question instantly surfaced in Gao Mountain’s mind.

What happened next only deepened his confusion. Lin Xinghai piloted the Mecha like anything but a novice, executing all sorts of difficult maneuvers with ease.

Gao Mountain’s Mecha had been modified for the Strength Type, and its weapon was a Great Saber over five meters long.

If he were the one attacking Zombies with the weapon, the most he could do was guarantee a hit. To ensure that hit rate, he usually opted to slice the Zombies in half at the waist.

But Lin Xinghai wielded the over five-meter-long Great Saber as if it were a nimble dagger. Every strike targeted a Zombie’s weak point, either severing its head at the neck or piercing its temple with the tip of the blade.

’As for the former,’ Gao Mountain thought, ’I could probably manage that after a few tries. But piercing a temple with a Great Saber over five meters long? That’s just ridiculous. It’s a blatant show of skill!’

Lin Xinghai didn’t know what Gao Mountain was thinking. He was busy piloting the Mecha, killing one Zombie after another, and feeling absolutely exhilarated.

This was actually his first time fighting in a Mecha. He had test-piloted one before, but those were just simple maneuvers. There was no way to truly experience the Mecha’s power like this.

The more he killed, the more thrilled he became. He continuously tested the ideas forming in his mind, growing more and more proficient with this Mecha.

Of course, while 100% synchronization made piloting the Mecha feel almost like controlling his own body, there were still many subtle differences. For starters, it was impossible to execute the Phantom Divine Technique inside a Mecha.

Moreover, many fine-control maneuvers were impossible. Piercing a temple with the blade’s tip was just about the limit of what he could do. Trying to control the force and depth of the Great Saber’s thrust would be pure fantasy.

However, choosing to pilot a Mecha was a matter of using brute force to overcome finesse, so excessively fine control wasn’t needed.

Of course, that only applied to using weapons in close combat. If he were using an Electromagnetic Railgun for long-range attacks, it would be a different story. Firing required precise control.

Unfortunately, Gao Mountain’s Mecha wasn’t equipped with an Electromagnetic Railgun, which was a slight pity as it meant Lin Xinghai, the Gun God, couldn’t put his greatest talent to use.

An hour later, Lin Xinghai felt thoroughly invigorated. He glanced at the Mecha’s Energy gauge and saw it was down to 30%—and that was without any intense combat.

"This Mecha’s energy storage unit is terrible! You can’t fight a protracted battle with it at all," Lin Xinghai grumbled as he piloted the Mecha back onto the Armored Vehicle.

If Gao Mountain, who was standing on the Armored Vehicle and already shocked to the point of numbness, had heard this, he would have surely retorted, "A normal person could never pilot it for that long."

Piloting a Mecha was extremely draining on one’s Perception Power. Even for someone who had broken the third Genetic Lock, half an hour of continuous combat was the absolute limit before needing a rest, unless they were fighting for their life.

Yet Lin Xinghai had been "playing around" for a full hour, and when he jumped down from the Mecha, he still looked completely refreshed. No matter how slow on the uptake Gao Mountain might be, he understood that Lin Xinghai’s Perception Power was far from ordinary.

Of course, he was tactful enough not to say or ask anything. He acted as if he hadn’t noticed a thing and simply looked at Lin Xinghai with an expectant gaze.

Lin Xinghai knew exactly what he was anticipating. "Go gather all the members," he said. "I’ll give pointers to ten people today!"

"Okay!" Gao Mountain agreed and hurried off to make the arrangements.

The ten people Lin Xinghai chose were Gao Mountain, Ling Xiu, Zhang Meiling, Huang Nuo, and Yao Cheng, plus the five members who had been the most diligent in collecting Elemental Crystals earlier.

The other members weren’t surprised that core members like Ling Xiu and Zhang Meiling were receiving guidance on their Gun Technique. However, the selection of the five newcomers made the rest of the Mercenaries burn with envy and jealousy.

Lin Xinghai took note of everyone’s reactions, but this was exactly what he wanted. Healthy competition was necessary for growth.

"Old Gao, let’s start with you," Lin Xinghai began, explaining in a calm, steady voice. "Your Gun Technique isn’t great, but it won’t be hard to improve. You can start by focusing on these three areas. First..."

With his experience guiding the members of the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, this kind of work was now second nature to him.

When everyone was practicing their Gun Technique earlier, he only needed to glance at them to identify their problems and figure out how they could correct and improve them.

As Lin Xinghai spoke, Gao Mountain felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

When Lin Xinghai gave his pointers, he didn’t do so in private, so the other members could all listen in.

Many problems with Gun Technique were common and not unique to a single individual. By listening, the other members were bound to learn something as well.

It took nearly an hour for Lin Xinghai to guide all ten of the chosen members.

All the members now wore captivated expressions, clearly having gained a great deal from the session.

Seeing their expressions, Lin Xinghai knew that his "appearance" today had been a complete success.

These new members probably wouldn’t leave now even if he tried to chase them away. In the future, once they developed a sense of belonging and saw the potential of the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps, they wouldn’t leave even when he wasn’t around.

"Alright, that’s all for today’s guidance," Lin Xinghai announced, simultaneously helping Gao Mountain establish his authority. "From now on, I’ll take you out on a mission every other day and guide ten people. As for who those ten people will be, Gao Mountain will be the one to decide."

Things with the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps were now settled. Handling the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps would likely be even easier.

However, his real headache wasn’t these trivial matters. It was the question of how to prepare for the confrontation with the behemoth—the Morgan Conglomerate—in one week’s time.