Chapter Three: Discount! Sixty Percent Off!

A sweet, a mission item.

Type: Special Item
Function: Edible
Description: Not for you.

Hint: Read the description again.
Warning: Never eat it carelessly.
Hint: This item cannot be taken out of the current evaluation space.

...

"If I’m not supposed to eat it, why the repeated warnings?"

Yu Jin looked at the sweet’s description with some exasperation, then bade farewell to the captain and hurried toward the cabin door.

The Juvenile Training Base was a giant ship floating on the ocean. According to the map on the back of the guide sheet, the captain’s quarters were on the deck, the first level of the hold housed the mentor workshops, the second level was the materials depot, the third level was where various combat masters lived, and the lowest level bore no label at all. Yu Jin guessed there was something fishy there, especially since the captain had specifically reminded him about it; that only made it more certain that the lowest deck must hide a secret worth uncovering.

But for now, the most urgent matter was to find the equipment crafter and begin the anomaly weapon forging task.

The ship was huge, its tonnage substantial, so when Yu Jin ran through the hold, he did not feel as though he were aboard a vessel at all. Rather, because the interior resembled Facility No. 19 too closely, he experienced a strange sense of displacement, as if he had returned to the Foundation the moment he first arrived.

Following the map through the passageways, Yu Jin quickly reached the equipment crafter’s workshop.

With a hiss, the door opened by itself, revealing an exceptionally cluttered workroom. Blueprints, materials, tools, and machines of every kind were strewn everywhere. Yu Jin took a few cautious steps before spotting a sturdy woman bent over her desk, angrily crumpling a failed blueprint into a ball and hurling it toward an already overstuffed trash bin, where, unsurprisingly, it bounced off to the side.

"Hello! I am..."

"The Sun Defender! I know. I saw your name in the Foundation newspaper this morning at breakfast." The sturdy woman turned sharply, revealing a fierce and unfriendly face. "I hear you’re here to forge anomaly equipment? Then you’d better be prepared. Your appearance has disrupted my work schedule, so only when the finished effect of the anomaly equipment meets my standards will you get your approval stamp. Understand?"

"Understood."

"Good! Then let’s get to work. I hate wasting time!"

The equipment crafter had a somewhat brisk and fiery temperament, but her directness suited Yu Jin perfectly.

"Now you have two choices: first, use a ready-made weapon as the basis for anomaly modification; second, directly generate an anomaly weapon from active soft tissue cells. But the second method can never meet my standards, so your only real choice is the first. Also, you’d better pray your weapon is suitable, otherwise you’ll have to spend quite a few credits buying the right one."

Hint: You have accepted the special quest "Anomaly Forging."

...

Quest Name: Anomaly Forging
Requirement: Forge an anomaly weapon based on the anomaly item "Active Soft Tissue"
Reward: Approval Stamp, Sweet
Description: Because your appearance has disrupted the work schedule of the equipment crafter at the Juvenile Training Base, the difficulty of obtaining the approval stamp has been increased. You must forge an anomaly weapon that satisfies her standards in order to obtain the approval stamp and a sweet.

Hint: The difficulty level of the anomaly equipment forging task is higher than that of the current quest.
Hint: The sweet cannot be eaten, but it is very important.

...

There it was again.

It seemed the sweet really was important.

Yu Jin took note of it in his heart, then immediately revealed his two weapons and asked, "Do you see anything suitable?"

"Hm?"

The equipment crafter’s thick black brows lifted in surprise. She took the Reinforced Energized Telescopic Staff directly, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face.

"This telescopic staff not only uses the right material, even its enhancement path is a perfect fit. With the remaining two enhancement opportunities, so long as they’re used well, it won’t be difficult for the finished product to meet my requirements. Kid, this one it is—you’re lucky!"

Hearing this, Yu Jin looked even more surprised than the equipment crafter herself. He had never imagined that this telescopic staff could become an anomaly weapon. Truth be told, because its base damage was too low, the enhancement results had inevitably been underwhelming. After learning there was a chance to obtain an anomaly weapon, he had even considered abandoning any further enhancement of the telescopic staff. And now, this weapon that had failed to keep pace might still be able to transform. It was truly unexpected.

"This telescopic staff aside, the lightning-hardened timber used here is really ingenious. Materials that can perfectly match active soft tissue are not easy to find! The weapon’s energy storage stone is also quite standard, so it won’t produce any negative effects on the anomaly weapon, and it can still be used afterward. Looks like you had an expert advising you, and you were already making preparations for anomaly modification long ago."

The equipment crafter’s praise brought to Yu Jin’s mind the control center chief, cold-faced but warm-hearted. He thought to himself that in the future, he absolutely could not keep slandering his superior.

"I already have a plan for the remaining two enhancements, but the soft tissue sent over by the old tailor still needs some time before it can finish cultivating. So, go to the equipment enhancer first and use the Basic Tourmaline to carry out the third enhancement. On the way, get his approval stamp as well. As for the materials needed for the final enhancement, he’ll tell you."

Hint: The Equipment Crafter requires you to find the Equipment Enhancer and use Basic Tourmaline to perform the third enhancement of the Reinforced Energized Telescopic Staff.

"All right, I’m going now!"

Yu Jin put away his weapon and hurried next door to the enhancement room, where he found a small, bespectacled old man.

"Don’t talk. Let me guess who you are..."

Compared with the equipment crafter’s straightforward nature, the enhancer seemed far more unhurried. He studied Yu Jin from head to toe for a full five seconds before nodding with a look of sudden realization.

"The Sun Defender! Good, very good, young and promising..."

Watching the enhancer nod in silence, Yu Jin felt it necessary to speed things up, so he directly stated his purpose. After hearing him out, the old man finally stopped dragging his feet and retrieved the Basic Tourmaline from the materials depot. With a pained sigh, he said, "Originally two thousand credits, and even regular employees with money couldn’t buy it. But because of that incident on Killing Isle, I can only sell it at half price. And since you’re the Sun Defender, I can give you another tenth off. Eight hundred credits. Take it and go."

Forty percent of the price!

There was such a bargain?

Yu Jin finally understood why the gentleman in the suit and the control center chief had repeatedly reminded him to seize this opportunity. He paid at once and took the item, then checked the Basic Tourmaline’s description.

...

Basic Tourmaline

Type: Enhancement Material

Function One: Increases a weapon’s base damage by one hundred percent

Function Two: Grants the weapon a weak paralysis effect

Description: This is a basic companion mineral containing the power of lightning. Because of its remarkable effect and paralyzing trait, it is extremely sought after and very hard to buy.

Hint: Submit this item to a Foundation enhancer to improve your chosen equipment at the cost of a certain number of credits.

...

"This piece of Basic Tourmaline is a real treasure. If paired with a similarly aligned enhancement material, it can even raise the paralysis level."

Speaking of his own profession, the enhancer’s pace quickened noticeably.

"Did that brute tell you to buy it? Show me the equipment you want enhanced... Oh! Lightning-hardened timber. No wonder. These two enhancement materials complement each other perfectly. They can definitely raise the paralysis level to 'weaker.' You’re planning to turn this telescopic staff into an anomaly weapon? Mm, not easy, but absolutely worth it. The original cost of the third enhancement is four thousand credits; after the discount it’s sixteen hundred. Pay up. Today’s been a real loss for me!"

The total enhancement cost had been six thousand credits, but now only two thousand four hundred were needed to settle everything. Even Yu Jin, who possessed a mountain of money, could only praise the evaluation as unusually generous.

Before long, the three-times-enhanced telescopic staff emerged newly forged. Not only had its base damage risen to ten through thirteen, but once the energy-charging effect was activated, its upper damage limit shot straight up to thirty-two. However, the usage requirements had become stricter as well: in its normal state it required three points of Strength, and once energy charging was activated that requirement doubled. Yu Jin had used the final major point he had left, bringing him neatly to six Strength, which meant he could fully unleash the reinforced energized telescopic staff’s maximum effect.

After that, he also used the Dark Pattern Cloth obtained from the Forbidden Zone of Life to enhance the Active Soft Tissue Bio-Suit, spending eight hundred credits, since anomaly equipment costs were doubled. This raised its defense to eighteen. Although the Strength requirement also rose to five, that was no challenge at all for Yu Jin now.

"In terms of equipment, I’m not afraid of anyone. All I’m missing is a matching damage skill! I hope the combat masters on the third level can surprise me too!"

As Yu Jin lamented this, he heard the equipment enhancer announce a quest.

"Getting my approval stamp is actually very simple. My throat’s been a little uncomfortable lately, and I’d like something cool to soothe it. Go to the materials depot and bring me back a basic Eagle-Beaked Turtle Shell. The depot access permission has already been granted to you. Just follow the map and find it yourself."

Hint: You have accepted the evaluation quest "Tortoise Jelly Soup"!

...

Quest Name: Tortoise Jelly Soup
Requirement: Obtain one basic Eagle-Beaked Turtle Shell
Reward: Contribution Points, Approval Stamp, Sweet
Description: The equipment enhancer wants to eat some tortoise jelly soup to soothe his throat, but he is missing an Eagle-Beaked Turtle Shell, so he hopes you can bring this basic material to him.

Hint: Eagle-Beaked Turtle Shells are dropped only by the elite creature, the Enhanced Juvenile Eagle-Beaked Turtle.
Hint: You know that.

...

"You didn’t secretly eat the sweet, did you? Oh! You didn’t. Good! Go ahead, then. With your strength, this quest isn’t difficult, so long as you aren’t frightened by the captain’s little fellow."

"Um... may I ask, what exactly does the captain’s little fellow refer to?"

After hearing repeated references to the sweet, Yu Jin could not help growing curious about the little fellow that liked sweets.

The equipment enhancer adjusted his spectacles and glanced at Yu Jin, speaking with an air of casual indifference.

"Nothing much, really. Just the severed limb avatar of some ancient evil god. It has a fondness for sweets. Quite adorable."