Chen Yanyan's second upgrade was faster than Lin Feng's premium handgun upgrade. After decapitating two red armored beetles, a familiar warm current surged through her body, leaving Chen Yanyan flushed, sweating profusely.
Within seconds, her evolutionary upgrade completed.
Lin Feng glanced over:
"Human, lv2/9"
"Health: 15, Constitution: 11, Spirit: 10"
Her attributes were quite impressive, surpassing his at lv2, mainly due to rapidly accumulating points from killing several beetles.
Watching both women complete their second evolutions, no longer as weak as before, Lin Feng felt relieved. Now it was his turn.
With the last weakened beetle remaining, Lin Feng, adhering to the principle of not wasting resources, let Zhang Yuruo finish it off.
Meanwhile, Chen Yanyan was feeling the changes in her body. She felt incredibly grateful and fortunate that Lin Feng allowed her to kill two beetles, completing her second upgrade.
Chen Yanyan was well aware of her position as an outsider, having just met Lin Feng and not being as close to him as his sister-in-law. That Lin Feng was willing to take her along for leveling up was already more than she could ask for, so she continuously sought to contribute as much as possible to prove her value.
Of course, Chen Yanyan hoped their initial acquaintance could advance further. She needed to quickly become closer to Lin Feng, beyond just friendship.
Lin Feng would risk himself to save his sister-in-law but not necessarily for her.
With the beetles around Building 6 cleared, and only about ten left in the neighborhood, Lin Feng decided it was time to head back home, not wanting to waste bullets.
His shooting skills were reliable within ten meters, but at thirty meters, he could only hit the beetles' exoskeletons, and beyond that, hitting them was challenging.
Even so, he far exceeded the average person.
Thus, Lin Feng decided to conserve ammunition, especially since it was nearing 4 PM, and everyone was exhausted despite the bountiful gains.
Physical and mental fatigue set in after prolonged tension and excitement, affecting everyone's condition.
All three were feeling drained and needed rest.
Lin Feng expertly harvested the red carapaces from seven beetles, with Chen Yanyan assisting.
Zhang Yuruo, nearby, wrinkled her nose at the unidentified stench from the beetle corpses:
"These bodies could attract more bugs, right?"
"They seem to eat their own kind; we tested this outside earlier."
Lin Feng stood, holding a carapace, realizing he'd made a mistake. The last dying beetle shouldn't have been killed so easily; it could have been used to farm more upgrade points.
Although most of the damage was from the handgun, the final blow came from the women's long knives, so the corpses still retained strange, intact organs.
Some even twitched with nerve reflexes.
This indicated remaining biological activity and potential for reuse.
But catching another beetle now required waiting on the balcony, hoping one would come when hungry after finishing its meal.
However, everyone was tired, and with dusk approaching, visibility was affected, making continued combat unsuitable.
Given the situation, Lin Feng decided not to waste time waiting. Even if beetles came later, they wouldn't consume all the corpses at once.
They could check back after dinner.
"Right, so let's leave them here. Maybe there'll be a pleasant surprise after dinner, like setting bait," Lin Feng replied while cutting the last carapace. He collected seven in total, including two large shields from lv4 beetles and five small ones.
He handed the carapaces to Chen Yanyan, who tied them with rope. Though they looked heavy, they weighed only fifty to sixty pounds, manageable for Chen Yanyan with her 11 constitution.
The trio left apartment 201, leaving the key in the door for easy access later, avoiding the risk of losing it.
Back on the third floor, they entered the familiar apartment 302. The sun was setting, casting its glow over the earth and on their faces.
The day's abrupt changes felt surreal, shifting from life to survival. Without Lin Feng, the women couldn't have adapted in time.
After storing their weapons and loot, they collapsed onto the sofa, too tired to move.
After a short rest, Zhang Yuruo got up to prepare dinner. Although the power was out, the fridge's food, especially the meat, hadn't thawed, so they could manage a meal.
The gas was also cut, but they had a small portable gas stove for hotpot, which could last a while. Apart from the lack of lighting, everything else was manageable.
On the sofa, Lin Feng, emerging from a dazed state, drew his handgun, prompted by a mental notification.
"Legendary Handgun lv4/9, White Quality"
"Upgrade Points: 9/10, Damage: 10, Effective Range: 200 meters, Remaining Bullets: 12/600"
"Extra Attribute: Bullet Recovery, 1/1min, New Space Magazine, 600 Reserve Bullets"
"Evaluation: A handgun with rifle-like power, it's a legend among handguns, and you are its legendary creator and owner. Hit targets to gain upgrade points."
Lin Feng snapped awake, springing from the sofa, startling Chen Yanyan, who was stealthily reaching toward him. She quickly retracted her hand, feigning surprise:
"What... what's wrong, did a bug get in?!"
Chen Yanyan, acting startled, withdrew her probing hand.
Lin Feng shook his head, unable to suppress his growing smile:
"It's fine; I won't need you to reload anymore."
Chen Yanyan looked even more puzzled:
"Huh? Are you going to do it yourself... isn't that too slow?"
Lin Feng waved his freshly upgraded, sleek black gun:
"It's a mature handgun now; it can reload itself..."
The extra space magazine attribute had resolved Lin Feng's immediate concerns, alleviating the ammunition and reloading issues, allowing him to farm points freely.
Lin Feng realized that the leap from lv3 to lv4 brought significant change, not only surpassing the handgun's original limitations but granting it rifle-like power.
He also noted that the lv4 beetles differed greatly from lv3 ones, with a noticeably larger size.
It seemed that every three levels marked a mini-tier, with substantial improvements post-breakthrough, resulting in obvious differences.
This made Lin Feng even more eager for his own upgrade to lv4 and the enhancements it would bring!
With a sense of anticipation, Lin Feng initiated his synchronized upgrade, then holstered his gun, heading to the balcony to upgrade the seven carapace materials with a drill.
It would only take a moment to transition from lv3 to lv4...
Warmth from the legendary handgun flowed through Lin Feng.
This time, the sensation was noticeably stronger than the previous three upgrades.
Lin Feng paused his drilling, savoring the experience.
He found the warmth from the legendary handgun far more intense than the lv3 upgrade, and as it cooled, much of it remained circulating within him.
The energy seemed lost.
In a flash of inspiration, Lin Feng instinctively guided the energy into his eyes.
Suddenly, his eyes were enveloped and permeated by this additional energy.
His eye temperature rose significantly.
It felt like wearing a steam eye mask, with burning discomfort as Lin Feng absorbed the energy into his eyes.
As tears tinged with blood flowed from his eyes, Lin Feng slowly opened them, and the world transformed from a blurry 460p to a crystal-clear 1080p.
The world came alive in his eyes.
When Lin Feng focused, he could see dust floating two meters away, and when he looked thirty meters out at the apartment across the street, he could discern the layout of each household and the details on their balconies.
Excitement gripped him, his hands trembling.
Lin Feng took deep breaths to calm down, wiping away the tear stains before returning to the balcony.
He needed to determine the limits of his enhanced vision.
Through repeated experiments, Lin Feng confirmed that his eyes, now free from mild myopia and nighttime astigmatism from excessive gaming, also had powerful scanning and tracking capabilities.
He could now lock onto a ping-pong ball-sized object from fifty meters away, a soccer ball-sized target from a hundred meters, and barely see human figures from five hundred meters.
It was like having a built-in 4x telescope.
With his legendary handgun, Lin Feng's attack range expanded significantly, allowing him to target the remaining ten or so beetles from the balcony.
Understanding the changes in his vision, Lin Feng saw his upgraded attributes:
"Lin Feng, lv4/9"
"Health: 25, Constitution: 20, Spirit: 21"
"New Ability: Eagle Eye lv10/19"