Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Of course, the power of an anti-material sniper rifle is not limited by an individual's skill level, nor can it enjoy bonuses from personal abilities.

This is precisely the key reason Yue Ying once mentioned that the upper limit of firearms will always be lower than that of melee weapons: Bai E cannot use techniques like "Instant Kill Nine Heads" to amplify the basic lethality of his weapon. This causes the inherent performance of firearms to become their limit in terms of causing damage, with the potential bonus from personal abilities being extremely limited.

To achieve a true over-the-limit burst, one must rely on the ultimate archery skills.

However, before the opportunity for a truly fatal shot presents itself, one cannot always rely on archery skills for regular output. Bai E's current Spiritual Energy reserves are insufficient to support continuous bursts; for sustained output, the use of firearms like the anti-material sniper rifle is more enduring.

"Bang!" The narrow bullet skirted the underside of Rose's entangled arm, causing the air to heat up so much that even golden strands of hair began to curl.

"Hum!"

The various energy shields, which are possessed by the more formidable next-generation mechanoids, were naturally not absent in this early generation mechanoid, preventing the bullet from truly reaching the opponent's alloy body.

But clearly, this process was not easy.

In the split second of countering the bullet, not only did the rate of the Minion's punch towards Rose slow down, but the punch itself also lost much of its force, to the extent that Rose was able to forcibly pry open the incoming metal fist. Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire

A mechanical body does not require distance or time to build up force like humans do. Its kinetic energy punches often only start to exert force when in close proximity to the body, somewhat similar to the Inch Punch technique in hand-to-hand combat, and right now...

"His output power is limited!"

This is a core issue that mechanisms can never avoid.

A first-generation mechanoid with a small nuclear reactor may seem to have nearly endless energy, but the amount of energy available at any given moment is limited.

In order to counter Bai E's bullet, the Minion's energy shield system momentarily drew a massive amount of energy, causing the kinetic punch to lose its energy supply and turning it into nothing more than an ordinary punch.

The containment is effective!

Only the firing rate of the anti-material sniper rifle is too slow...

Bai E recalled the skill tree associated with the long-neglected Light Firearms Specialization. The choice of one out of three initial skills was made due to limited experience. Now, with more than ten thousand experience points saved—and with a "Lucky Shot" chance in hand—if he were to blow up this first-generation mechanoid in front of him, his experience storage would nearly reach twenty thousand. A simple skill that doubles experience?

Easy!

[Payment: 2 Potential Points, 2000 Combat Experience.]

[Skill Acquired—Firepower Suppression.]

[Firepower Suppression: Open fire at full force! From now on, you can achieve maximum efficiency when firing any firearm you wield, forcibly increasing the fire rate by 50%, extending overheating time by 30%, improving shooting precision by 30%, increasing output level by +1, and base attack power by +2. Consumption: 10 Spiritual Energy (100 action power reserve)/min.]

This is the perfect skill for using machine guns and similar firearms. Aside from the enhancements to attack speed and overheating time, the added kinetic impact and base attack damage from the skill itself may not seem like much.

However, if it's applied to a machine gun or other high-rate-of-fire weapon, this kind of bonus would amplify the efficiency hundreds or even thousands of times over. Each bullet fired would carry additional damage, becoming frighteningly efficient when mowing down hordes in large-scale battlefields.

There's a reason why the skill tree of Light Firearms Specialization level 4 has three distinct paths.

It doesn't seem quite suitable for the current situation.

To debuff the Minion, Captain Bai needed to be in close range due to the limited range of her Spiritual Energy projection, so someone had to engage in close combat. In a situation where there are more allies than enemies, high-rate-of-fire weapons like machine guns were clearly not suitable, hence the need for a sniper rifle.

The slow firing rate of the sniper rifle clearly can't maximize the effect of the damage bonus, but it doesn't matter... Bai E is only interested in its increased firing rate.

Another skill in the three skill trees—Precise Shooting—would normally be a more suitable choice for sniping, emphasizing armor penetration and range. However, at this moment, these effects seemed somewhat inappropriate, not as substantial as a real increase in rate of fire.

Machine gunning at point-blank, the main appeal was abstract.

Bai E hugged the huge sniper rifle in his arms, firing round after round of scorching bullets at the Minion, who kept moving at high speed.

Dodge? Useless!

The 15% precision bonus from level 5 specialization, combined with the 30% bonus from the activated skill, and the firearm's own 12% accuracy bonus, resulted in a total precision bonus correction that reached +57%. With Bai E's adequate strength and reflex control, each shot was a headshot, hitting exactly where aimed.

[After multiple occurrences of precise shooting at high-speed targets, Light Firearms Mastery experience +21.]（High probability of awakening special attributes.）

[Your "Light Firearms Specialization (Level 4)" has gained a new special attribute bonus: Overload Mode.]

[Light Firearms Specialization (Level 4): Shooting Accuracy +12%, Critical Hit +2%, Arc Shot (Special) +5%, Quick Reload (Special) +1, Overload Mode (Special) +1.][Overload Mode +1: Increases shooting speed by 10%.]

An unexpected delight.

The special attribute that had given signs of awakening a long time ago had finally unlocked at this moment, and the added attributes were brutally simple.

For a while, the firing from the heavy sniper became even more frequent.

Facing Bai E's harassment, if the intelligent machines truly felt human emotions, they would be utterly annoyed.

A more sophisticated analysis system had already pinpointed Bai E; however, the main force responsible for the fight—Rose and Captain Bai with white hair—were not to be underestimated, and the many other team members could also provide a slight diversion, not to mention Bai E himself, holding the heavy sniper and slipping around like an eel.

Simply uncatchable.

Bai E's attacks constantly required it to divert a substantial amount of energy to maintain its shield system.

Then... stop relying entirely on the shield!

The bright crystal-like eyes of the little yellow figure flashed with a dangerous red glint; after the decision made by the intelligent analysis changed, every system within immediately underwent transformation—

[Decision Core Changed: Graceful→Deadly]

[Shield Module's power output limitation reduced to 60%.]

[Armor Self-Repair Module preheating.]

[Lethal Weapon preparing...]

If it could no longer eliminate these humans invading with the most graceful posture... then, let them witness the true power!

...

The fully recovered strongman from Grey Iron City charged again, raising his greatsword and swinging it towards the little yellow figure's forehead.

The opponent's fist was closing in, but it didn't matter, because Bai would intervene.

The bullet from the Blackwater City captain would surely appear at just the right moment, in just the right place, forcing the little yellow figure to split its energy to respond.

The support from his teammates filled his heart with courage, and the lost fighting spirit was surging back!

"Snap!"

"Pfft!"

Two distinct sounds almost synchronized.

The crisp sound of flesh being penetrated occurred right before his eyes, as the strongman holding the greatsword looked down in disbelief at the iron fist that had gone straight through the center of his chest.

It... went through?

Incredible speed! Tremendous strength!

What about the bullet? Couldn't the bullet save him?

Oh, the bullet did hit.

The yellow figure's side helmet was charred black, even revealing slightly perforated alloy helmet beneath which black components lay hidden.

Yet, right in front of him, the scorched, damaged spot was rapidly repairing itself at a visible speed, and in just a few seconds, the damaged area had returned to its original state.

"Pfft!"

With a rip by the little yellow figure, the human body before him split in two, blood raining down from the sky, splashing on the approaching Bai with white hair and Rose...