Chapter 62: The Eye of Death

“Jim, did they really just abandon us like that?” Myron looked at Jim in astonishment, scarcely able to believe it.

“What could I do? That’s just how these military police operate; not even my father can do anything about them,” Jim replied with a bitter smile.

“Let’s not waste words—let’s get out of here quickly,” Daley interjected, glancing warily around their surroundings.

Fortunately, the man with the heavy machine gun had been shot dead earlier, which served as a powerful deterrent; for now, no one came to trouble them. Still, this was the most chaotic part of the city, and none of them wished to linger.

They flagged down a public hovercar and, under the angry stares of many, finally left the territory dominated by the Crows.

“David, I won’t say much, but you saved us today. I’ll remember this. If you ever need anything, just say the word,” Daley said earnestly as he took his leave.

Jim said nothing more; he kept his gratitude in his heart, already resolved to beg his father to take this case seriously, to uncover whoever had targeted David.

As for whether David had dragged them into trouble, no one mentioned it. Considering how selflessly David had helped them in the crisis, there was no need to dwell on origins.

“David, I’ll leave the gun here,” Myron said, setting the ‘Death’s Eye’ replica by the hall, then added, “It’s a shame I didn’t get to join in the adventure with you today!”

“Myron, you didn’t miss anything good—look at De Quincy, he got seriously hurt,” David replied, none too pleased.

“It’s not the same. If only I’d brought my warhammer, I could’ve shown you some moves!” Myron said, clearly envious of David’s exploits that day.

“There’s less than ten days before the new semester starts. Do you have any plans?” David changed the subject.

It was about to be the final semester of their last year in high school. David hesitated, contemplating whether to give up on academics altogether and instead focus on reaching the basic standard for armored warriors.

With his current strength and speed, plus his proficiency with various weapons, he could enter Naan University on merit alone, without Garen having to pull any strings.

“What plans could I have? Just attend classes as usual—my father would never let me be some kind of special case at school,” Myron said, resigned at the prospect of more lessons.

David considered his own skills—literature at 3% proficiency, mathematics at 5%, and general studies at 51%—and felt a pang of regret at the thought of abandoning it all.

Though he hadn’t earned these abilities through his own study, it felt wrong to squander them, as if he would be letting down those who had died in that fateful explosion. Perhaps he owed it to them to take the college entrance exam seriously, as a tribute to the souls who had given so much for him.

Most importantly, his combat abilities had already reached their current limits; ordinary training could no longer improve him, and even his body had hit a bottleneck that couldn’t be broken through in the short term.

For now, all he needed was to practice the Eighteen Forms of Body Art twice a day, leaving him with plenty of free time.

“I feel the same. I plan to work hard on my academics next semester and aim for a good result in the exams,” David said with a smile.

“Are you serious? I know your academic record. Sure, you can pass, but you’re nowhere near top universities. The academic exam will be the biggest stain on your record!” Myron shook his head, laughing.

He’d checked David’s grades before; at best, David could get into an ordinary university, and with his combat talents, Myron doubted he had any aptitude for study.

“How about we make a bet—see who scores higher in the cultural exam?” David challenged, grinning at Myron.

“What’s the wager?” Myron’s eyes lit up, glancing at the ‘Death’s Eye’ replica beside them. The implication was clear, though he didn’t stop to consider that David wouldn’t have issued the challenge if he weren’t confident.

“This ‘Death’s Eye’ replica—if you beat me, it’s yours. What do you offer?” David countered.

“My Gladstone—how about that? It’s a higher model than your Type Three!” Myron replied after a moment’s thought.

“Deal!” David laughed heartily.

Honestly, he no longer cared about owning a Gladstone Six; with his current resources, he could afford an even better car. But this was just a game with Myron—winning or losing wasn’t important.

Myron left with an air of triumph, casting a possessive glance at the ‘Death’s Eye’ replica as if it were already his.

After Myron departed, David summoned the Shadow Attendant.

He had counted the kills outside the city: in total, including those slain by others, there had been thirty-two larva deaths; one was taken out by Myron with a sniper rifle, whose soul he didn’t absorb, but the Shadow Attendant had consumed the rest.

He placed his hand on the Shadow Attendant, feeling a warm surge of energy flow into his soul, though it lasted but a moment.

When the warmth faded, the Shadow Attendant activated the attribute panel, showing an increase of 0.03 points in his spirit, bringing it to 3.43.

He quickly did the math. Roughly ten larva souls granted him 0.01 spirit points; the larva souls were even weaker than those of ordinary humans.

Of course, they couldn’t compare to armored warriors, whose souls could boost his spirit by 0.1 points.

After checking the attribute panel, he examined the Shadow Attendant’s inner space but found no knowledge orbs.

This left David disappointed. He didn’t know what abilities the larvae might have offered, but the thought of acquiring a unique Zerg power was tantalizing.

“Could it be that Zerg souls don’t yield knowledge orbs?” David muttered to himself.

So far, the Shadow Attendant had only absorbed larva souls; he would have to see if higher-level Zerg could surprise him in the future.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen any time soon—with his current strength, encountering a Tier One Zerg would likely mean certain death.

David pushed aside such thoughts of the future and picked up the ‘Death’s Eye’ replica, heading to the machine room.

There, he used a micro-scanner to digitize the structure of the ‘Death’s Eye’ replica into the mid-sized server, then donned his virtual helmet and entered the simulated world.

In the virtual realm, a ‘Death’s Eye’ replica materialized before him.

All its data matched the physical weapon exactly, down to the ammunition.

With a wave of his hand, the virtual ‘Death’s Eye’ replica disassembled into a cluster of data, each piece corresponding to a component.

Drawing on his memory of the real ‘Death’s Eye,’ he began to modify the data: lengthening the barrel, enlarging every part proportionally.

It was meticulous work, but since the replica was already a scaled-down reproduction of the original, it wasn’t too difficult to restore.

After careful adjustments, the data reassembled into a virtual weapon—an exact match for the ‘Death’s Eye’ he remembered.

Now the ‘Death’s Eye’ wasn’t just the right size, it also featured the switch for toggling between standard and tiered rounds, just as he recalled.

Based on the replica’s ammunition, he increased the firepower accordingly. There was no data for Tier One rounds, but that hardly mattered.

In every respect but the ammunition, the virtual ‘Death’s Eye’ perfectly reproduced the original’s appearance, internal structure, and recoil.

David swiped his finger through the air, generating a string of data, and a target appeared a kilometer away.

He lay prone—everything was virtual, yet as his finger touched the ‘Death’s Eye’ trigger, he felt that powerful sense of lethality.

He drew a breath, steadying the muzzle, and used the specially installed T3 sniper assistant to lock onto the target. Ballistic calculations seemed second nature to him now. After two seconds of adjustment, he fired.

The immense recoil shattered his virtual body to pieces, but the fragments promptly reassembled in midair, forming a new self.

David burst out laughing. Though the recoil had destroyed his virtual body, he had relived the familiar sensation of firing in the illusion.

He had succeeded in recreating the armored warrior’s sniper rifle, ‘Death’s Eye,’ in his own virtual world—now he could practice with this near-authentic weapon whenever he wished.

Of course, each shot, lacking the parameters of powered exoskeletons, meant he had to endure the full recoil with just his body, causing his virtual form to shatter every time. But it was not real death, and it allowed him to experience the force of the ‘Death’s Eye’ over and over again.