“We will all die; the only question is whether our deaths have meaning.” Brian Bolton was also covered in blood.

A week later, Buddy Carter died in battle. He used his own mecha to block a high-energy cutting axe from a Bull Demon mecha for Brian Bolton. At the moment of his death, he shouted, “Brother, live on and avenge me!”

Now, seeing his old brother again, Brian Bolton's eyes grew a little moist. He took a deep breath, smiled, and patted David Carter on the shoulder. “Brother, you really need to lose some weight.”

“Born this way, can't lose it.” David Carter waved his hand, then looked at Brian Bolton with shining eyes and said, “I got in touch with Emily Harris, and she agreed to take us on a raid mission. And it's a raid at the elite rank. Are you in?”

“Emily Harris? Why would she agree to take us?” Brian Bolton was a bit surprised. Emily Harris was known as the mecha goddess at Dawn High School—beautiful, and her “Hero” rank was in the upper elite tier. Countless people had their eyes on her, and today David Carter actually managed to get her.

“Ah, you just don’t get it. My cousin is a mecha god at No. 1 High, a top expert in the lower berserk tier. I convinced my cousin to find time to carry her, and the price is that she carries us first.”

“Uh~~ fine then. What time do we leave?”

“I’ve already reserved the machines at the game center. Meet at the entrance at 6 p.m. I won’t talk to you anymore, I need to get ready. Can’t embarrass myself in front of the goddess.”

“Go ahead.” Brian Bolton smiled.

The chubby guy turned and ran off. After a dozen steps, he suddenly looked back. “Brian Bolton, you seem a bit different from before today.”

“Oh, really?” Brian Bolton wasn’t flustered and casually explained, “That’s because my piloting skills have made a huge breakthrough.”

“Tch! Ancient noob!” The chubby guy gave Brian Bolton the finger and ran off.

Chapter 007: A Perfect Starting Point

Since it was a weekend afternoon, all the roommates had gone out to have fun, and the dorm was very quiet.

Brian Bolton first called his father, agreeing to be home at 10 a.m. on Saturday, then closed the dorm door and lay quietly on his bed alone.

The disadvantage of his frail body was becoming more and more obvious. After just a short while, many of his muscles were extremely sore, to the point where even the slightest movement was uncomfortable.

Brian Bolton didn’t rush to experience the berserk points. Taking advantage of the quiet, he once again tried to recall the classified military files he had seen before.

After thinking for a while, he frowned. “It’s been too long; my memory is fuzzy.”

Other than the clue about the mole, he couldn’t recall any more concrete information for the moment.

After more than half an hour of trying, Brian Bolton could only give up. “I must activate the Dark Exploration Mode as soon as possible and make a trip to Pandora Planet.”

With his plan set, Brian Bolton calmed down and studied the strange information in his mind.

“I wonder if these berserk points are actually useful.”

He silently thought, “Use 10 berserk points to strengthen my body.”

“Confirm use?” A gentle voice immediately responded in his mind.

“Confirm!”

Boom~ Brian Bolton felt as if a bomb exploded in his lower abdomen, and the scorching aftershock surged wildly through his body in all directions. Wherever it passed, all sensation disappeared except for the heat.

In his previous life, Brian Bolton had experienced the military’s body-strengthening agents many times, so this feeling wasn’t unfamiliar. He carefully felt the effects. “Hmm, it’s somewhat similar to the Gamma-3 body-strengthening agent, but the heat is much gentler, without any burning pain. It seems the side effects of berserk points on the body should be much less than those of the strengthening agents.”

Currently, all body-strengthening agents on Earth have side effects. While they can temporarily boost physical strength, they also leave many hidden injuries in the body. These hidden injuries don’t affect combat much, but they greatly reduce a warrior’s lifespan and the duration of their physical peak.

Generally, once a mecha warrior is over 35, their physical functions drop off a cliff. By 50, nearly half must use prosthetics to walk, and mecha warriors’ lifespans are about ten years shorter than ordinary people (not counting those who die in battle).

This is the price of forcibly enhancing physical strength—a price that must be paid. Otherwise, humanity would have no chance against the powerful demon armies.

The heat inside his body lasted about five seconds. After five seconds, it gradually faded. Brian Bolton moved his body and carefully felt the changes.

“Hmm, all the joint pain is gone. The minor muscle strains in my hands and legs have all healed. This is really effective.” Brian Bolton was quietly pleased, but he still needed to experience the true effects further.

For this, Brian Bolton had a simple and effective test method.

He stood up and began practicing a set of fitness exercises released by the military in the middle of the dorm.

These exercises were as popular as modern radio calisthenics, but their strengthening effect was a hundred times better. In fact, they had another grand name: “Innate Skill.”

Its purpose was to stimulate the deep cellular potential of the human body, repair the most hidden injuries, and keep the body in peak fighting condition for as long as possible.