Big Data Cultivation

The alarm sounded very abruptly, but after more than a year of war experience, the people of Xiajing were long used to it.

The eldest sister turned around and ran downstairs, shouting, "Little ones, hurry, it’s not safe upstairs, get to the basement!"

"No need," Feng Jun shook his head and refused, "This building has never been damaged, it should be safe upstairs too. Are there any shooting holes?"

"Who told you it hasn’t been damaged?" The eldest sister stopped when she saw he wasn’t leaving, "It’s just that when it gets damaged, we repair it immediately... mainly to boost public morale."

"I know, but after all, the damage isn’t much, so it’s safe upstairs as well," Feng Jun nodded and asked again, "Are there any shooting holes?"

The eldest sister’s instinct was to run downstairs upon hearing the alarm, but seeing this child so calm, she realized: although the basement is safe, for many ordinary families, the ground floor of the building is also considered safe.

So she wasn’t in a hurry to run anymore, instead, she walked over and grabbed Feng Jun, "How old are you, hurry up and go to the basement with me!"

"I want to kill bugs," Feng Jun dodged and avoided her grasp, "If there’s no shooting position for me here, I’ll find another place."

Seeing how stubborn he was, the eldest sister frowned and looked at him unhappily, "You kid... being a shooter is dangerous, you know that?"

"I know," Feng Jun nodded, calmly responding, "If it wasn’t dangerous, could I kill any bugs?"

The eldest sister pointed at him with her finger and shook her head helplessly, "What weapon are you good at using?"

She didn’t ask if he knew how to use a gun, because that question would be insulting to the men on Xingzheng Star; here, boys start live ammunition shooting training from the age of twelve.

In fact, many boys know how to use guns by the age of seven or eight.

"Laser gun, Gauss machine gun, individual plasma cannon..." Feng Jun paused, then continued, "Any weapon is fine, the more powerful the better."

The eldest sister didn’t doubt his words; many boys of his age on Xingzheng Star are skilled with multiple weapons.

However, she decided, "The Gauss machine gun is suppression fire, not suitable for you, it’s too dangerous. The individual electromagnetic cannon isn’t suitable either, it’s for mechas, your body can’t handle it."

On the Frontier Star, not only the boys understand weapons, even the women do, but this knowledge was forced upon them, there’s nothing to be proud of.

Feng Jun didn’t want to use the laser gun, its power was really a bit small, and the electromagnetic gun also had limited power. Finally, the eldest sister was so annoyed that she agreed to let him use the plasma cannon—at least it was more convenient than using the electromagnetic railgun.

Feng Jun was assigned to a combat unit in the mezzanine between the second and third floors, where there were four security personnel, nine combat windows, three Gauss machine guns, three electromagnetic guns, and one electromagnetic cannon.

The plasma cannon was specially found by the eldest sister for Feng Jun, before giving it to him, she repeatedly warned him not to fire indiscriminately.

After she left, an old man with gray hair looked at Feng Jun, "How do you know her?"

"I don’t know the eldest sister," Feng Jun answered casually, "I was just received by her when I entered the mall. Is she the owner here?"

He didn’t believe that the eldest sister was just a cleaner or something; such a big mall making decisions on discounts couldn’t be run by just anyone, moreover, she even wanted to give him a model, so at least she must be the lobby manager, right?

"Eldest sister? You’re brave to call her that," a young guy laughed, "She’s the owner’s wife, literally the boss... his mother."

"Is that so?" Feng Jun was surprised, "I really didn’t think she was that old... well-maintained indeed."

"She’s not actually that old," the gray-haired old man replied, "The owner just finished military service three or four years ago, he’s not even thirty-five yet, the owner’s wife shouldn’t be over seventy, right?"

Feng Jun blinked curiously and asked, "The owner’s wife works as a sales guide herself?"

"Most of the staff in the mall are on leave, getting half their salary," someone answered casually, "Only those willing to sign a death waiver can stay, with one and a half times the salary... that’s already a pretty good deal."

During the war, if someone died on the job, the employer must compensate, but the insurance companies don’t cover it—war is considered a force majeure, but the employer must compensate.

For a mall like this, giving employees half salary even when they’re not working is really considered righteous, in fact, the mall doesn’t want staff to work either—even if they signed the waiver, they still only get one and a half times the salary.

This basically expresses clearly, the danger is so high, but the salary hasn’t increased much, better not come.

"Enough talk," the old man with gray hair interrupted, "The bugs are coming!"

It was Feng Jun’s first time seeing the Insect Race launching a massive attack on a Human Race city, looking up, the sky was filled with countless Insect Race, forming a huge black cloud, reminiscent of a locust plague on Earth Realm.

The black cloud drifted back and forth in the sky, occasionally swooping down, spewing fireballs, ice arrows, corrosive fluids, while also being attacked by various Human Race weapons.

However, despite the large numbers of the Insect Race, most of the attacks from the Human Race still missed. The reason for the black cloud’s existence is the thickness of the Insect Race, not its density.

Strictly speaking, the density of the insects is not too low either. However, the insects capable of flying are mostly above the ’floating dust’ stage. If such Insect Race members do not get hit in a vital spot, at most they would only be injured and withdraw from the battle.

Seeing Feng Jun rubbing the plasma cannon, someone kindly reminded him, "Wait until they’re closer before you shoot; the insects are still far from us."

Even though it looks like a black mass, the insects might be seven or eight miles away from you.

"Understood," Feng Jun nodded, thinking to himself, I’ve killed countless insects, how could I not know this?

A young man impatiently snorted. He was the Gauss machine gun shooter, "Alright, we learned this during military training."

"What I mean is, fire when the insects get closer to us," the gray-haired individual was dissatisfied, "Our task is to protect the mall. We should only provide support elsewhere if circumstances and resources allow. Right now, energy stones are tight, and we can’t recklessly shoot like we did before."

As they chatted, Feng Jun silently observed the Insect Race’s attack for a while before speaking up, "Their primary target is the military department’s perimeter?"

"Of course," the young Gauss machine gun shooter responded, "Attacking the military department directly would be too costly. Attacking the perimeter maximizes the depletion of the Human Race’s energy and ammunition."

Feng Jun was silent, yet inwardly puzzled: why not first eliminate the residential area? Wouldn’t it be better to nibble away bit by bit?

However, he kept these thoughts to himself, not wanting to seem ignorant. Moreover, his performance was already quite high-profile today, and prolonging the conversation might jeopardize the identity of the person he was impersonating.

Initially, he hadn’t planned to be part of the mall’s defense unit, but unconsciously, he ended up in this role. To avoid attracting attention to his anomaly, it was best to go with the flow.

The Insect Race’s attack seemed random and uncoordinated, yet Feng Jun sensed a pattern. They were attacking any potential target randomly, ready to divert their forces or change direction at any time.

It looked aimless, but this strategy constantly created pressure, drew the Human Race’s fire, and could turn a feigned attack into a full assault at any moment.

After observing for a while, Feng Jun’s brow furrowed. This tactic reminded him of the "kite flying" strategy in video games... no, it wasn’t accurate - it was more reminiscent of the Mongolian "Mangu Daly" tactic.

Of course, with the strong fortifications here, the effectiveness of the Mangu Daly would be greatly reduced, but it was undoubtedly an effective tactic.

While he was pondering, a black cloud suddenly descended, surprisingly bringing a large number of Insect Race members to attack the mall.

In an instant, countless attacks struck the building, coming from all directions, causing the entire building to tremble slightly.

Feng Jun and his companions were inside the mall, unable to see the building’s reaction, but the absence of damage warnings indicated that the building’s protective shield was working and the Insect Race’s attack was ineffective.

The four people in Feng Jun’s team remained steady, none of them firing, though sporadic gunshots were heard from other parts of the mall, possibly due to someone losing their composure or genuine threats posed by the Insect Race.

The four of them glanced at Feng Jun without saying anything.

However, before they had time to react further, the second wave of the Insect Race’s attack arrived.

The Gauss machine gun immediately roared to life, while the other three used electromagnetic guns. Clearly, this time the Insect Race’s attack didn’t warrant a full defensive effort, and the other two Gauss machine guns didn’t even make an appearance.

Two muffled cries echoed faintly from within the mall, indicating that someone had been hit.

The four people in Feng Jun’s group didn’t pay any heed to the cries—they had witnessed so much that they couldn’t care about everything.

They all looked at Feng Jun, and the gray-haired elder even asked, "Why didn’t you fire?"

Feng Jun shrugged his shoulders, "You all only used one Gauss machine gun. I felt... it wasn’t necessary to fire."

He tried to display his maturity. It’s normal for a young man to feel this way, but the Gauss machine gun shooter looked at him suspiciously, "You weren’t scared, were you? If you had fired just now, you might have succeeded."

"There are mostly junior-level wasps and moths," Feng Jun patted the individual plasma cannon, responding with a full sense of bravado, "With a plasma cannon in hand, why not take out a colonel-level insect?"

The four of them exchanged glances and remained silent. After a while, the gray-haired elder gave a thumbs-up, "Aspiring!"

Before the words were even fully spoken, the Insect Race’s attack came again, and without saying a word, the gray-haired elder picked up the Gauss machine gun and pulled the trigger.

There was no need for any explanation—everyone knew this time, the Insect Race’s attack posed a definite threat.

Feng Jun released his grip on the individual plasma cannon, reached for an electromagnetic gun, and fired twice with a flick of his wrist, "Bang! Bang!"