Chapter Fifty-Five: Mastery of the Machine Cannon

All two hundred players defending the church were wiped out, and each of the twenty raiders earned a good amount of experience. After breaking through the rear entrance, the players quickly allowed the main force of the Boxers to surge into the church, where they began a brutal massacre of the foreigners and converts inside.

Players could also slaughter the converts for experience, but Chen Hao chose not to do so. Instead, he sought out Lin Heier and said, “Uncle-Master, these converts have also been deceived by foreigners. Why not give them a chance to repent? Perhaps you could persuade Leader Zhao and Leader Yan to spare them and only kill the foreigners.”

Lin Heier flew into a rage. “Those traitors have abused their fellow villagers under the protection of foreigners and committed many misdeeds. How could they possibly be forgiven?”

Seeing that Lin Heier could not be persuaded, Chen Hao gave up trying. Foreign missionaries had come to China to spread their faith, but some local scoundrels had exploited this opportunity. These ruffians, under the banner of the church, had committed all sorts of outrages, infuriating the villagers. This was one of the main reasons the Boxers had risen up. Expecting Lin Heier to give up the slaughter of converts was nothing short of wishful thinking.

Chen Hao did what he could, but after failing to change Lin Heier’s mind, he plunged into the fighting inside the church. However, he did not attack the ordinary converts. Relying on his superior combat skills, he led the charge and was the first to enter some of the church’s hidden rooms.

He rummaged through chests and cabinets, collecting over a dozen silver dollars in his satchel—a tidy little windfall. Once he was sure there was nothing more to be gained, he stepped out of the church and ran into Zhao Sanduo.

Zhao Sanduo greeted him with a hearty laugh. “Brother Chen, you’re truly exceptional! You broke through the church so quickly. Come over here, and I’ll teach you a few moves of the Plum Blossom Fist!”

Chen Hao and Zhao Sanduo moved to an open space beside the church. After Zhao Sanduo demonstrated the Plum Blossom Fist, a system prompt appeared for Chen Hao.

“Player Chen Baxian, congratulations on completing Zhao Sanduo’s quest ‘Assault the Church.’ You have learned the skill: Plum Blossom Fist.”

He opened his attribute panel and saw that the Plum Blossom Fist skill had appeared in the solo combat section. Plum Blossom Fist: Beginner (1/100). One of China’s traditional martial arts, it strengthens the body. At the beginner level, it increases Strength by 1, Combat by 2, and Agility by 5%.

The Plum Blossom Fist was the first martial art Chen Hao had learned, and its bonuses were unusually large. Even if he learned better martial arts in the future, none would offer such significant improvements. Wang Wu’s Basic Blade Technique at the beginner level only increased Combat by 2, and only when using a blade as a weapon—making it less useful than the Plum Blossom Fist.

This wasn’t to say that the Basic Blade Technique was inferior. The Plum Blossom Fist primarily served to strengthen the body. After learning one such foundational martial art, further training in other martial arts would not grant additional base bonuses. Blade techniques, on the other hand, could be trained up to higher levels and would unlock more advanced techniques, which would be more valuable in combat.

After the Boxers finished slaughtering the converts, they set the grand cathedral ablaze, marking the official end of the “Assault on Qinghe Cathedral” regional quest. Every player who participated in the attack gained a level. Having commanded the players in battle and being the first to storm into the church, Chen Hao was rated B by the system, granting him an additional 60% experience—he was now close to level 12.

With the Qinghe Cathedral quest completed, Chen Hao was free to return to Penglai with Lin Heier. As he made his way to the Red Lantern encampment, the fisherman player trailed after him, grinning shamelessly. “Brother Chen, you don’t have any followers yet. Why not take me under your wing? I’ll handle the heavy lifting while you fight monsters, and stand guard while you chase girls…”

Chen Hao was already aware of this fisherman’s antics with Vajra and knew that the sly fellow was trouble. He had no intention of accepting such a follower, so he replied perfunctorily, “I’m used to being on my own and have no plans to recruit anyone.”

The fisherman was undeterred. “Brother Chen, you’re over level 10 now. I’m always browsing the official forums, and I know that after level 10 you need a team to grind levels. I’m the perfect team player—I can be a great asset…”

Chen Hao didn’t believe him. In Qinghe County, the fisherman had a poor reputation among players, who generally considered him useless. If he really were such a good teammate, why did no one want to take him along?

Thinking this, Chen Hao asked coolly, “So, what special skills do you have?”

The fisherman perked up and patted his satchel. “Brother Chen, do you know why I always carry a tripod gun? I put all my free attribute points into marksmanship, but I’m terrible at shooting—because my starting special skill was Machine Gun Expertise…”

“Machine Gun Expertise?” Chen Hao’s interest was piqued. “So you converted your marksmanship into machine gun proficiency right from the start?”

The fisherman nodded with a wry smile. “When I entered the game, I drew Machine Gun Expertise as my special skill. I thought heavy machine guns and mortars were cool, so I converted my marksmanship to machine gun proficiency…”

At last, Chen Hao understood why other players called the fisherman useless. In the game, the marksmanship attribute was extremely versatile. If a player wanted to be a sharpshooter, they’d invest points in marksmanship, and practice with guns, bows, and throwing knives to improve.

Besides pistols and rifles, the game also featured heavy machine guns and mortars. Players aiming to become gunners or artillerymen could convert their marksmanship after entering the game.

Those wanting to become machine gunners would convert marksmanship to machine gun proficiency; aspiring artillerymen would convert it to ballistics. Players who did not convert could still fire artillery, but points gained from marksmanship practice (up to forty points from shooting or archery) would not benefit artillery at all—the two skills were unrelated.

So, a player set on becoming a machine gunner or artilleryman would find practicing marksmanship a waste, since conversion was inevitable. If they didn’t convert early, any experience gained from pistols and rifles would be wasted, as it wouldn’t raise machine gun proficiency. But if they did convert early and used heavy machine guns or mortars to grind, their machine gun proficiency would improve, albeit slowly.

Even so, most players with any sense wouldn’t rush to convert marksmanship, since early on, leveling up required fighting monsters.

After drawing Machine Gun Expertise, the fisherman impulsively converted his marksmanship to machine gun proficiency. But in the early game, firearms were rare—let alone heavy machine guns or mortars. When he discovered that the large tripod gun related to machine gun proficiency, he was ecstatic, thinking he could finally grind. But it turned out to be wishful thinking.

Both heavy machine guns and tripod guns required two people to operate. In the early days, every player was eager to make a name for themselves—no one wanted to be just a gun mount or ammo carrier. As a result, the fisherman could never find a team in Qinghe County. Still, his thick skin and glib tongue helped him convince people to let him tag along for experience, and he barely made it to level six, though his reputation was shot.