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n

nAs soon as Maximus jumped, he closed the passage.

n“Huff.”

n“Huff.”

nMaximus breathed heavily as he calmed himself down.

nThis was the first time he had felt so out of control.

nWithout mana and soul power, he was back to square one, relying solely on the system.

nAfter calming himself, he looked at the panel from the beginning.

nHe had only seen the mission and hadn’t noticed the details.

nSpecial Mechanic Trial: Death Mode

nReward: Special Student Status

nWasteland World: A world dominated by machinery. Due to a failed biological experiment, the entire world has turned into a biological nightmare.

nSurvive for a hundred years.

nNote: The body is biologically enhanced to live up to a hundred years.

nMana and soul power are prohibited and cannot be used.

nBiological Monster ranges from Tier 0 to Tier 6.

nTrial participants: 12,421,327.

nDeath here will lead to real-world death.

nGood luck and give it your best.

n“Damn, I knew golden gates weren’t a good sign,” Maximus cursed.

nSeeing the golden gate, he had acted impulsively and entered without any investigation.

nNow he had to endure a nightmarish environment, with Tier 6 creatures lurking around.

n“That colossal monster earlier must have been Tier 6,” Maximus thought.

nNow he had to survive using only his mortal body.

nBiological Modification should be possible, but given his current circumstances, he shelved that thought for now.

n“Fortunately, this is a world with plenty of resources,” Maximus sighed in relief.

n“The solution to this situation should lie within those materials,” Maximus murmured as he noticed various materials scattered on the ground.

n“System, scan all the materials and display the relevant information from the Myriad World Mall,” Maximus commanded.

nSoon, all the materials around him were scanned, and the system sifted through the Myriad World Mall for information on these materials.

nMyriad World Mall:

nBlack Steel No.1224

nAluminum Gold No.24

nHult Plastic No.3𝗈𝐯xt.𝒪𝐦

n…

nA vast library of material information was available for purchase.

nMaximus operated the system and acquired all the available information.

n13 million books – Price: 230,000 magic crystals

nConfirm?

n(1,000 gold = 1 magic crystal)

n“It’s surprisingly affordable to buy material information,” Maximus muttered as he clicked “confirm.”

nDuring this time, all of his money had been converted into system points solely for this trial.

nMagic Crystals: 1.2 billion

nIt was an immense sum, but Maximus doubted whether it would be enough for a hundred years of survival.

nUnfortunately, this was a virtual world, and he couldn’t purchase physical items; otherwise, he could easily break out of this trial.

nSoon, all the information was digitized and passed through the system.

nPhysical books were not feasible, so the system intelligently transformed the information into a digital format for easy access.

n*Rumble*

n*Bang*

nWhile he was browsing the system, the undead creatures above seemed to have detected his location, as they pounded on the sewage cover.

n“I need to be faster,” Maximus thought.

n“System, transmit the information directly,” Maximus commanded.

nSoon, a river of information flowed through his mind as if it would never end.

nUnable to use his soul power, he couldn’t scan the knowledge with his consciousness.

nSo, he could only rely on the system.

nThe downside was that it was excruciatingly painful.

n“Urgh!” Maximus stifled his agony as it felt like his head was about to explode.

nFinally, after what seemed like an eternity, the information transfer concluded.

n“Huff.”

n“Huff.”

n“Huff.”

n“I should pace it more slowly next time,” Maximus said, wiping his sweat from the earlier pain.

nWithout lingering, he opened his system to allocate points.

n13 million Mechanical Material: Initial (0

/2 billion)

nHe quickly added life points.

n 400,000 Life Points

nThis time, the torrent of information was gentle, even comfortable.

nMaximus felt as if he were immersed in a river of knowledge.

n13 million Mechanical Material: Transcendent (max)

n“Huh?” Maximus’s eyes snapped open.

n*Roar*

nThe undead above appeared to be shifting the sewer cover.

nWith swift reflexes, Maximus hastily closed it.

n“A close call,” he muttered with relief, then turned his attention to the surrounding scrap materials.

n“This should be enough to craft an electronic air gun,” Maximus assessed, examining the broken pieces.

n“A worn-out battery.”

n“Oh, these materials can be synthesized into a top-grade lithium-ion.”

n“Huh? A synthetic metal No. 72, lucky!”

nAfter a few minutes, he had gathered all the necessary materials to fashion a mechanical airgun.

n“A rotation here.”

n“I should connect it like this.”

n“It’s too narrow; I should widen the passage.”

n“Huh? My hands have become so flexible and precise.”

nMaximus mumbled as he assembled various materials.

n“Done!” Maximus exclaimed excitedly.

nGazing at the odd, bulky air gun, he could hardly believe it was his creation.

nWithout a blueprint, he had been forced to piece the materials together haphazardly.

n“This shouldn’t compromise the gun’s strength,” Maximus assessed.

n“Now, Tier 1 and lower should just need a shot from my gun.”

nFeeling elated, he opened the sewer cover and quickly moved back.

n*Roar*

nAn undead creature fell down, lunging toward him.

nThe air around him compressed and shot through the undead.

n*Bang*

nThe undead’s head disintegrated a few meters away due to inertia.

n“Basic,” Maximus murmured confidently.

nOne after another, the undead fell as he fired at them.

nHowever, just as he was about to celebrate, a hint of suffocation washed over him.

n“Damn, the air is running out.”

nAs the air gun compressed the air around it, the atmosphere surrounding Maximus was depleting.

n“I’ll get out first.”

nHe didn’t wait for the undead to fall one by one.

nInstead, he advanced as they approached, choosing to fire into the ground.

nThe sewer passage was blocked, so he couldn’t go that way.

nHe had no choice but to surface and find his way out.

nFortunately, he had the air gun, which made it relatively safe.

nFurthermore, the lithium synthesis he had created with his transcendent mastery was long-lasting.

nHe estimated that even if he fired continuously for three days and three nights, the lithium wouldn’t run out.

nWith enough materials and a proper environment, he could even create nuclear fusion on his own.

nSoon, he managed to escape the group of undead and found a safe house.

n“It should be safe here,” Maximus sighed as he settled onto a sofa.

nHowever, seeing the colossal monsters hundreds of miles away kept him on edge.

n“I’ll get out of here tomorrow.”

nAfter barricading his location to ensure no sound or smell would escape, he jumped into his bed, embracing the darkness.

n…

nThe next day, Maximus woke up.

nAs he looked around, he suddenly remembered why he was in this situation.

n“There’s a lot more to do,” Maximus encouraged himself.

n“But how can I get out of here?”

n“System, scan and list all available materials,” Maximus commanded.

nA list appeared, revealing materials he could use to escape quickly.

n“Huh? A mechanical RV?” Maximus grew excited when he spotted a damaged RV near his safe house.

n“It’s in bad shape…”

n“But with my transcendent mastery, fixing this should be easy,” he concluded.

nSoon, he left the house, firing at the undead to prevent them from accumulating.

nBang*

nBang*

nEach shot removed an undead’s head.

nHis firing speed was faster than his footsteps.

n“I should add a silencer later,” Maximus made a mental note.

nHe arrived at the mechanical RV.

n“What a beauty,” Maximus admired.

nDespite being badly worn, just looking at its structure allowed him to imagine its past glory.

n“Tsk, the chassis is still in good condition; it should be fine with a bit of tweaking.”

n“The battery is gone, it must have been taken after it was abandoned.”

n“Fortunately, I saved some of the synthesized lithium from yesterday. It should be enough to get out of here.”

nMaximus got to work, rummaging around the city for materials to repair the mechanical RV.

nHe reinforced his air gun to make it more durable, stealthy, and powerful.

nNow, it could even kill a Tier 2 biological monster with a single shot.

nAfter a few days of trial and error, he perfected the mechanical RV’s repairs.

nIf he wasn’t in such a hurry, he could have modified it to be even stronger.

n“Now, I can finally escape from here,” Maximus said with happiness.

nLooking at his masterpiece, he turn on the switch as he navigated out to a safe area.

n…

nIn the monitoring room, Fealan and various Tier 8 teachers watched all the individuals who had entered the golden gate.

n“Oh, this Maximus is indeed a promising talent,” Fealan commented as he observed Maximus successfully overcoming the initial challenge.

n“Dean, there’s also Ragnar from the Battle Mage Golden Gate. He’s pushing through endless waves of beasts like nothing,” a Tier 8 teacher reported.

n“Don’t solely focus on this year’s elites”

n“Pay attention to those seekers who have been refining themselves for a thousand years as well.”

nAdvised another Tier 8 teacher as he observed a seeker performing admirably in a golden gate trial.

n“Alright, let’s continue observing these so-called geniuses as they continue to struggle. This is only the beginning,” Fealan reminded.

n

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