Chapter 704 Instance Dungeon Begins
GOR
Lun Tai nodded his head. A few moments later, he found information regarding the Bug Armour and shared it out through the guild channel.
Bug Armour. [B+] class prop, priced at 6,000 points. It was a parasitic-like organism lodged inside its host and dependent on the energy provided by its host to enhance its host’s combat power. The resulting combat power, however, was dependent on its host’s genetic compatibility with it. The difference resulting from the different degrees of compatibility was very high. Its combat form was dependent on its host’s will, capable of transforming out cells to form weapons and armour. With a sufficient amount of vitality, it could use its own cells to repair the damage suffered by its host.
“This thing… … have you seen it before?” Lun Tai gave Chen Xiaolian a glance. “I myself have never heard of this thing. Without using its name to search for it, I won’t even know it exists. Is it good?”
Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “Back in World’s End, Bluesea got one. Due to his high degree of genetic compatibility with this thing, it displayed quite a good level of performance. Unfortunately, his body there was never enhanced before. Thus, his ability to sustain its combat power was severely lacking. Zhao Yun had mentioned before that it is very rare. I am guessing it is due to how expensive it is. Additionally, there is no guarantee that its full power could be pulled out. Thus, no one would purchase it.”
“You want to make a gamble?” Lun Tai frowned. “The issue is, the possibility of Xia Xiaolei having a high degree of compatibility with this Bug Armour is probably not too high. Otherwise, this thing wouldn’t end up being so unpopular to the point where I have never seen anyone using it.”
“I am mostly interested in its regenerative ability.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and continued, “As long as the attack is not an instantly fatal one, it can automatically heal the wound as long as it has access to a sufficient amount of energy. Xia Xiaolei, what do you think?”
“I… … I have no objections,” said Xia Xiaolei with a hushed tone.
“All right, then we’ll go with this.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “Buy it.”
With a flash of light, a small spike appeared within Xia Xiaolei’s grasp.
“Later on, do not resist it. No need to be afraid. Just stay still and wait for the lodging process to finish.”
Chen Xiaolian had only just finished speaking when several tendrils emerged from the tip of the spike. The tendrils shot toward Xia Xiaolei’s heart area.
Although Xia Xiaolei was feeling somewhat nervous, he obeyed Chen Xiaolian’s words to not be afraid. Clenching his teeth, he stood still and simply watched as the spike pierced his body.
The spike’s piercing action only gave him a brief feeling of pain. However, seeing the spike, which was as big as a baby’s arm drill its way into his body, Xia Xiaolei could not stop a chill from running down his spine. Thankfully, it did not take long before his vision darkened and he fainted.
Everyone there lowered their heads to look at Xia Xiaolei. They watched as he slowly closed his eyes and the expression on his face quickly turned tranquil.
“How many points do we have left?”
Chen Xiaolian turned to Lun Tai and said, “Just now, I sent 17,000 points over to him. 1,000 points were used for Xia Xiaolei’s skill upgrade. As for the Bug Armour, after discount, its price is 4,500 points. There are 11,500 points left. How should we use these points?”
“I’ve thought about it,” Lun Tai quickly replied. “My skill is focused mainly on melee combat. As for Bei Tai, his skill is on crowd control. The two of us have enough power to protect ourselves. Upgrading our skills right now will not give much in terms of performance. What we need to improve now is the amount of power we can unleash in combat. From a guild perspective, I believe it will be better for us to use the points on Roddy.”
“Have you found the suitable items to buy?”
“While you weren’t around, I went through the description for his Mechanical Heart skill in detail,” said Lun Tai as he slowly nodded. “Unlike Xia Xiaolei, who has only differing levels for his skill, Roddy’s skill is different. His skill has four differing branches.
“The first is control level units. By putting more points into this, he can control target objects that are of a higher level.
“The second is control speed units. Putting more points into this, he can further increase the speed at which he hacks the target object. The time it takes for him to successfully take control of the object will be reduced.
“The third is control sync units. The more points he puts into this, the better his level of control becomes. Mm, borrowing the words from one of those great animes, the higher the rate of synchronization, the more power he can unleash.
“The fourth is the control duration units. The more points he puts into this, the longer he can use his Mechanical Heart skill to control target object. The resulting cool down will also be reduced.
“After acquiring the Mechanical Heart skill, the system will randomly assign the four different types of units for him. All the units are kept together. In order to upgrade them, he has to purchase the corresponding skill units. Each skill unit costs 10 points.”
“It’s so complicated?” Roddy stared with widened eyes. “I never knew.”
“You don’t have your own Exchange System after all. It is normal.” Lun Tai smiled. “Now that you have lost the Floater, your personal combat power has decreased greatly. While you still possess a certain level of combat power by controlling the four Sentinel mechs, you are still lacking compared to before. The time limit for the Mech you acquired in the Tokyo instance dungeon is too short. In the past, you can only use it as a last resort. Right now, though… … I hope it can become your standard equipment.”
“So, we’ll be purchasing control duration units, eh?” Roddy’s eyes immediately lit up, seemingly in disbelief that something so good could be happening. “In other words… … I will be able to constantly use the Mech to engage in battles?”
“I doubt you will be able to use the Mech all the time with just these 10,000 plus points.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Besides, we cannot put all the points on you. Lun Tai, Bei Tai, Qimu Xi, Soo Soo, they also need upgrading…”
“Guild Leader…”
Xia Xiaolei’s weak voice rang out from behind them. Chen Xiaolian jerked his head back in shock and disbelief was etched on his face as he looked at Xia Xiaolei. “You… … you’re up?”
“What? Are you hoping he doesn’t wake up?” Roddy snickered. “Xia Xiaolei, it seems Guild Leader didn’t have any good intentions when he asked you to purchase that item.”
“How can it be so fast… … even… faster than Bluesea!” Chen Xiaolian whispered before explaining it to them, “Zhao Yun had said before, there is a simple way to determine the degree of compatibility. It is by seeing how long it takes for it to lodge itself in its host. Back then, Bluesea used around 15 minutes to wake up. That had already earned Zhao Yun’s praise as the fastest time she had ever seen. This…”
“Xia Xiaolei took less than five minutes!” Roddy slapped his thighs. “Doesn’t that mean his adaptability is phenomenal? Come, Xiaolei, show us!”
“Show?” Xia Xiaolei stood up with a lost look. He shook his head and said, “I… … I do not know how to use it.”
“What do you mean? After the Bug Armour’s lodging process is over, didn’t the system give you any prompt?” said Chen Xiaolian with a frown. “Back in World’s End, Bluesea, who was just an ordinary human, could figure out how to use the Bug Armour even without the system prompt. How can you not know how to use it?”
“But I really do not know how to use it!” Xia Xiaolei cried out wretchedly. “After I woke up, I received a system prompt stating… [Bug Armour has been implanted. Genetic compatibility at 97.83 %. Unknown foreign genetic component found. Currently in the process of clearing it. Clearing progress: Unknown].”
“Unknown foreign genetic component?” Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank. “How can there be foreign genetic components in your body?”
“I do not know that either!” Xia Xiaolei’s face was twisted in misery. “I can feel there is something in my body, like tentacles. However, there is no change in my personal system. I also cannot command those things inside my body to do anything…”
“What the Hell?!” After pondering the issue for a moment, Chen Xiaolian pulled out a dagger. “Xiaolei, come here.”
“Whoa! Xiaolian, what do you want to do?” Roddy waved his hands in an exaggerated manner as he cried out. “Even if the Bug Armour is not working, surely there is no need to kill him to vent your anger?”
“Shut it!” Chen Xiaolian threw Roddy a dark look and pulled Xia Xiaolei over. He then gently moved the tip of the dagger across the surface of Xia Xiaolei’s arm. “Don’t be afraid, I am just testing your self-healing ability.”
Xia Xiaolei’s face was contorted and he watched through squinted eyes as the blade of the dagger pierced into his flesh. However, no blood came out at all. It was as though what the dagger had pierced into was not his arm, but dough.
As Chen Xiaolian moved the dagger, cutting a line across his arm, the wound that had just been inflicted on his arm immediately closed up.
While the dagger would cut his arm as it moved, it took less than one second for the inflicted wound to heal up properly. The rate at which he was healing was astounding.
“Guild Leader, this…” Xia Xiaolei, who was still looking at his arm, was thoroughly stunned.
“The dagger wound I inflicted is very shallow, don’t worry.” Chen Xiaolian put the dagger away and looked at Xia Xiaolei. He asked, “Does it hurt?”
“A little…” Xia Xiaolei considered it further before saying softly, “It’s slightly more painful compared to a mosquito’s bite. It is painful enough for me to feel it.”
“Say… … do you want to try a more painful one?” Roddy scratched his chin and smiled at Xia Xiaolei. “Do you dare?”
“Hey, Roddy!” Chen Xiaolian glared at Roddy.
“Guild Leader, I… … I want to try.” Xia Xiaolei bit his lip.
“Hey! I am telling you. Although this kid is not too strong, he has quite some guts.” Roddy stood up and pulled out a laser pistol, which he aimed directly upon Xia Xiaolei’s head.
“Not here!” Xia Xiaolei hastily shrunk his head backward as he gazed dreadfully at Roddy. “What if I end up dying?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I am just joking!” Roddy burst into laughter and he lowered the muzzle of the pistol by a few inches to aim at Xia Xiaolei’s chest. By the time he pulled the trigger, he had already pulled out a Healing Beast Blood with his other hand.
The laser beam easily pierced Xia Xiaolei’s chest. However, the same thing happened. The inflicted wound was swiftly healed up without revealing a single trace of blood.
“Un… … undying body?” Roddy’s jaw fell, nearly hitting the floor.
“His regenerative ability is very strong, even stronger than Bluesea’s.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head in a pleased manner.
“But why can’t I use the other skills…” Xia Xiaolei’s face was despondent. “With only regenerative powers and no offensive powers… does that mean I have become a sandbag?”
Chen Xiaolian grew silent for a moment before slowly speaking up, “The Bug Armour is functioning. However, you are incapable of controlling it. This feels like…”
“It is like an opened computer. All of its resources are used up by certain processes, causing it to hang. No matter how you move or click the mouse and keyboard, you cannot get any reaction from the screen!” Roddy’s eyes lit up and he interjected.
“Yes.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “So, as long as you can terminate the process in question, you can use the computer again.”
“According to Xia Xiaolei, this process is the so-called clearing of foreign genetic component. However… … what is that damned foreign genetic component?” Roddy scratched his head as he wondered aloud.
“Genetic… gene…” Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows. Suddenly, his eyes shone and he said, “Tokyo instance!”
“I suspect that as well.” Lun Tai nodded his head in assent. “Back then, the six of us went for the bio-transformation quest. As for you and Roddy, you two went for the tech quest. In the end, we managed to get the rewards for both quests. The reward for the tech quest is Roddy’s Mech. As for the bio-transformation quest, the reward is the Power Propagation Serum. Xia Xiaolei had injected himself with it!”
“Although there is no way to confirm it, this is most likely it.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “The foreign genetic component in Xia Xiaolei’s body should be that. The Bug Armour is also a prop that enhances its user through genetic means. Just as how a computer cannot run two antivirus softwares, these two props within Xia Xiaolei’s body are disrupting each other.”
“Then… … what do I do?” Xia Xiaolei’s face grew flushed. “The Bug Armour… … is it going to be useless?”
“Not necessarily.” Chen Xiaolian slowly shook his head. “At the very least, your regenerative ability has been elevated to an astonishing level. Judging from that, even though you are unable to use its active functions, its passive functions are still working. The question becomes, how long will it take the Bug Armour to clear out the Power Propagation Serum in your body. Back then, what kind of upgrade did you go with?”
“I upgraded my Physique by one level, from [D-] to [D]…” said Xia Xiaolei. Then, he gingerly looked at Chen Xiaolian. “It… does it make any difference?”
“This is just a speculation. I think, if you had chosen to activate the Unlimited Propagation skill, things would be more problematic.” Chen Xiaolian sighed gently. “At least, the upgrade you chose can be slowly cleared away and the two forces will not continuously battle each other within your body. Let’s ignore that for now. You are now hard to kill. Next up, begin purchasing some more items.”
“All right.” Xia Xiaolei nodded his head.
Following Chen Xiaolian’s instructions, Xia Xiaolei used 8,000 of the remaining 11,500 points to purchase upgrades for Roddy’s Mechanical Heart skill. The 8,000 points were all used to buy control duration units. With his 25 per cent discount, Roddy was able to get a total of 1,066 control duration units.
With those units, Roddy’s Mech operation time was increased from 18 seconds to 5 minutes. Additionally, the cool down time was reduced from 24 hours to 4 hours.
When Roddy saw the huge upgrade in his skill through his personal system, he became so excited he nearly jumped out of the window.
While it still could not be used as a standard weapon, it was at least no longer the same as it was in the past where the operation time was in the seconds.
As for the remaining points, Chen Xiaolian had Xia Xiaolei purchase three defensive props: Guardian Lantern, priced at 1,000 points each.
The Guardian Lantern was a [B] class prop. There was no need to manually activate it. As long as they hold the lanterns, it would automatically activate whenever they receive fatal damage. For 15 minutes, it could negate all attacks of the [B] class or lower.
The biggest flaw of the Guardian Lantern was that it was a one-time consumable. After activating, it mattered not if it was used for the whole 15 minutes or not. In the end, it will become unusable.
Chen Xiaolian handed the three Guardian Lanterns to Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi and Soo Soo. Both Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi were still rookies. As for Soo Soo, despite the prowess of her Blazing Phoenix skill, she had no defensive ability. Additionally, Chen Xiaolian was also worried that her mental state might be unstable. There was no telling when she might switch back to her little loli personality.
After this round of preparations, the 20,000 points that they had just earned were fully used up. However, the might of their Meteor Rock Guild had gone up by one step.
…
The remaining time in the system timer finally drew to its end.
Chen Xiaolian and every member of Meteor Rock Guild stood within the room. They exchanged glances.
“Let’s go, the instance dungeon is starting!”
[TL: Again, if there are any discrepancies in details… … just keep calm and blame magic.]