Chapter 26: The Reward of the Trial
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(New book uploaded for 10 days without a single vote, as Da Fei celebrates his departure from the island, I ask for votes, wishlists, and recommendations.)
I'm back? Da Fei felt like he'd been in another world. Yeah, back again, but sadly my Anemone Nest is forever left in the World of the Dead. It could've been sold for tens of thousands. Gotta keep looking forward.
— System Prompt: You have completed the trial quest "Assist the Captain in Battle," gaining +20,000 Experience.
— System Prompt: Congratulations! You leveled up to level 15, gaining 1 free attribute point, 1 skill point, +2 Health, +1 Command Power, and a base damage reward of +1.
— System Prompt: You have acquired a B-level strategic treasure, the Captain's Sword.
— Captain's Sword: B-level strategic treasure, quest item, Attack +1, Defense +1, Damage +1, Attack Speed +1. At sea, the sword's effect is doubled.
— System Prompt: You have obtained a Large High-Speed Sailboat Ownership Certificate.
Looking at the barrage of system messages, Da Fei laughed heartily!
Strategic treasure, the quest reward is actually a B-level strategic treasure! Strategic treasures differ from ordinary single-soldier equipment; they can enhance an entire army, and their equipment slot doesn't conflict with normal gear. So even though Da Fei is a gunner who can't wield a longsword, it doesn't affect its use.
Currently, the most accessible and heavily speculated treasure on the market is the C-level strategic treasure "Blood Claw Necklace," which has only one attribute: Troop Damage +1! Yes, the same effect as the War Maniac sub-skill from Attack Skill, Damage +1. Players all know what +1 Damage means for low-level soldiers with only a few points of damage at the start. It often means a hero would need to level up more than ten levels and increase Attack by over ten points to achieve the same lethal effect.
As for the Captain's Sword, the mere attribute of +1 Damage classifies it as a C-level treasure, while it doubles at sea to +2 Damage! It's simply shocking! If it weren't restricted to sea use, it would definitely be A-level! The other attributes, just consider them freebies. A great sword! Truly a great sword! It's practically a Divine Artifact for low-level soldiers!
The arduous efforts of tonight were indeed worth it. Da Fei satisfactorily equipped the longsword. Then, excitedly checked his stats.
Level: 15
Reputation: -160 (3 kills)
Attack: 10 (with 6 free attribute points yet to be distributed)
Defense: 4 (3 from personal defense of leather armor, 1 from strategic defense of treasure)
Magic Power: 0
Knowledge: 0
Basic Killing: 7-9 (Birth 1-3, Anemone Enchantment +1, Achievement +1, every 5 levels system damage reward, 15th level +3, Captain's Sword +1, though only the Captain's Sword's +1 applies to the whole army.)
Health: 48
Attack Speed: Ordinary 11 (Captain's Sword +1)
Move Speed: 10
Morale: 1
Luck: 0
Command Power: 14
Stamina: 100
Skills: Basic Navigation Skill, Advanced Reconnaissance Skill (Stealth, Intelligence Collection), Intermediate War Machine Science (Crossbow Master), 6 skill points unallocated.
...
Looking at his stats, Da Fei was filled with a sense of achievement yet felt somewhat disappointed. After all, he was used to the thrill of the strong hero's leadership, one-shot killing 4th-level soldiers, and now he's back to square one, there was a bit of unease.
Wait a minute! This is the company's sinister plan! It's to let players experience the benefits of the Heroic Legion through a temporary quest, the advantages of an Advanced Hero, so they'd be hooked and spend money for life! Damn it! I'm here to earn money, not to spend it. I'm not falling for the game company's trap!
Now, it's time to check out my ship.
— Large High-Speed Sailboat Ownership Certificate (quest reward bound, cannot be traded with players):
Original Name: Saint Anthony (can be renamed)
Captain: Da Fei
Ship Specs: Large 4-mast 3-deck high-speed sailboat. (Note: High-speed sailboat, also known as Clipper Tea Ship, has a slender beautiful body but small cargo capacity, has excellent upwind sailing ability, and is faster than mainstream Galen sailboats. As for why sailboats can sail against the wind, it involves profound aerodynamics, interested students can ask their PE teacher.)
Ship Special Skill: Divine's Blessing (Sailor Luck +2)
Ship Cargo Capacity: 1000 units
Minimum crew capacity: 30 people (below which the ship cannot perform normally)
Ship Durability: 2357/3754
Ship Age: 10 years
Ship Armor Defense: 80
Ship Speed: 10 (Note: To align with the set speeds in the game, ships speed is not in knots. 10 means a max sailing speed of 10 meters per second. In the nautical age, sailboats of different models varied in speed from 10 to 20 knots, 1 knot = 1.8 km/h. 20 knots is a speed of 10 meters per second, and a hero's Navigation Skill can further increase ship speed.)
Sea God Insurance Level: 0 (Note: Ships are valuable player property, once sunk players will sustain heavy losses. Hence the game sets insurance levels, i.e., to make offerings to the Sea God with huge premiums in large cities with Sea God Temples. If the ship is sunk, the divine power of the Sea God can instantly transport the ship back to its port of departure, though cargo and crew will be lost, and ship durability upper limit will reduce. Effectively ships can be resurrected. Insurance Level 1 can resurrect once, Level 2 can resurrect twice, and so on.)
Current State of Ship: Hull damaged, unable to sail, cursed with Misfortune (Sailor Luck -3).
Da Fei let out a long sigh of relief; finally got my ship sorted. So, this ship can't be sailed away at random, a certificate is required. Without the certificate, it's a black ship and would be confiscated by the navy. Captain, you're so loyal, even gave me a license.
As for now, this captain would of course inspect his ship, there's still a Birdman on board right? Haha, well, too bad, this ship is my territory now, I don't welcome him. Especially the Magic Book boss, no way can it fall into his hands.
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Shipwreck Cabin Corridor. Blood Sea Wave is tirelessly slashing at the zombies swarming in. After a whole day of slaughter, and with the high efficiency of the Master-level sub-skill Cleave, Blood Sea Wave's level has rocketed to Level 10, gaining a system reward of +1 basic damage.
Now it's time to make a move on the boss; if it weren't for being interfered by that trash, probably would've taken it down sooner.
Blood Sea Wave angrily charged towards the boss's room, only to find the zombies had vanished! What's going on? The boss isn't summoning zombies anymore?
And when Blood Sea Wave reached the boss's room, sure enough, the boss was no longer summoning them.
This must be a change in the scene's game process, that trash must have done something! An unsettling feeling arose. But no time to think it over; a boss that doesn't summon is just trash, right? Better seize the Magic Book first.
Blood Sea Wave, covered in curses, began ferociously hacking at the ghost boss. Against such an overwhelming power gap, the boss struggled, the Magic Book shimmering with black light continuously delivered mana to heal it. Eventually, it seemed the Magic Book dimmed as well, the boss could no longer heal!
Haha, finally failing huh! The thought of the dream Magic Book about to be his thrilled Blood Sea Wave, who shouted excitedly: "Die!"
Just then, a familiar paralyzing sensation surged through Blood Sea Wave's whole body!
— System Prompt: You have been maliciously PK-ed by player Da Fei, you may now justly counterattack!
Blood Sea Wave turned in shock to see Da Fei!
Da Fei smirked: "Thanks for the effort! Goodbye!" Another shot followed, sending Blood Sea Wave cursing and turning into a white light.
— System Prompt: You have maliciously killed player Blood Sea Wave; your Reputation -100.
Humph! The ship is mine, the things on it are naturally mine too, trying to take my boss, not a chance. But losing Reputation like this sure hurts.
Today's Da Fei is nothing like a day ago in-game, and the weak boss didn't experience a strange full-health recovery, victory was no longer in doubt. Perhaps, breaking the Curse Space greatly weakened the boss's combat power.
— System Prompt: You killed the Misfortune Ghost, gaining +250 Experience! You obtained "Makar's Dark Magic Skill Book." You received Misfortune Ghost Soul Crystal.
— System Prompt: You have incomplete Misfortune Ghost information.
Da Fei was taken aback! So little experience, not really a boss? Dark Magic Skill Book? Not a Magic Book? What's up with that? Da Fei hurriedly checked the inventory.
— Makar's Dark Magic Skill Book: A Dark Magic Skill Book annotated with the insights of Great Mage Makar, which absorbed much of his Meditation Power during his spell research. Now, the exhausted Magic Book is an ordinary skill training book. Spending 1 skill point will let you learn Basic Dark Magic Skill.
— Basic Dark Magic: Ability to learn and use Level 1 Dark Magic.
— Misfortune Ghost Soul Crystal: Unknown item.
Ah! Da Fei spat a mouthful of old blood! I said, how could a Magic Book, a kind of independently enlightening strategic treasure, possibly appear in a Newbie Village, in the hands of a small ghost! Turns out it was just a charged version of a skill book! Meaning, the book's mana was all spent by this little ghost? Meaning players should've teamed up right from the start to grab the little ghost, preserving as much of the Magic Book's mana as possible, serving as ammo for fighting bosses later?
Sigh, knowing this would've spared the concern over Blood Sea Wave getting the book, it was a needless worry. But what's with this Misfortune Ghost? Wasn't it an Evil Spirit at that time? From the attributes of the incomplete information, it seems slightly stronger than an Evil Spirit, an upgraded form of an Evil Spirit? Elite units like Evil Spirits can continue to upgrade? And what of this unknown Soul Crystal item? A quest item? Nevermind, the myriad March of the Undead isn't worth pondering.
What's key is that skill books, a common commodity, can actually have special versions, that warrants study. Da Fei, interested, began flipping open to the first page of the book.
— Life is unpredictable, filled with chaos, filth, and suffering. Death signifies tranquility, eternity, and the beauty of order!
Damn, this preface note is really different! Turn the page, oh yay, lots of words! Did Makar like messing around in textbooks?
— Life follows God's creation laws, although relatively perfect, yet limits its growth capacity. Conversely, the Undead race possesses limitless growth plasticity. Zombies and ghosts are quintessential representatives of the corpse-based and soul-based undead. They are also the most likely undead race to produce leader units, and to date, no Wizard has managed to manually create leader units, because Wizards know little of the process by which undead evolve from ordinary units to leader units. In my view, it's not a simple process, but rather a span across multiple stages.
Yet ironically, though the growth space for life forms isn't vast and is often scorned by Wizards, an Elf Clan's Legendary Hero can train ordinary Human Archers and Elf Archers into powerful Phantom Archers, entirely different creatures, a leap of biology. Evidently, be it life or undead, it is the domain of gods, we remain amateurs in this area, demanding humility and caution, starting probably with the simplest zombies and ghosts...
Da Fei's eyes widened! Makar had great ambition, aiming to mass-produce bosses? Are those Zombie bosses in the ship cabin his work? Could this book possibly provide God-level skill information?
Just then—"What the hell!" Blood Sea Wave's angry cursing came.
Da Fei laid down the book, and sure enough, that guy hadn't even shed his weakened state and immediately climbed aboard for revenge. Has he gone mad with anger or simply lost his mind?
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