Chapter 80: I Act the Fool Amidst Slaughter, Like Cabbage Growing Under the Twilight
Su Xiao obtained a total of 8 True Attribute Points, one more than he had predicted. Among the numerous notifications, what Su Xiao cared about most was the "Black Abyss Authority." He naturally knew where the Black Abyss was—it was a dangerous location within the Void.
Strangely enough, the major races within the Void would send their young clansmen into the Black Abyss two to three times. According to the female succubus Lilim, the "things" she obtained in the Black Abyss were unique.
Although Su Xiao already had the authority to enter the Black Abyss, this did not mean he could enter immediately. He first needed to obtain an invitation letter, a World Key, or something similar related to the Black Abyss before he could enter it through Reincarnation Paradise.
Having the qualifications to enter the Black Abyss was actually a signal—that Su Xiao was no longer as "frail and weak" as before and now had the preliminary qualifications to explore the Void. However, there was a prerequisite: Su Xiao had to be cautious. The Law Destruction Faction had too many enemies in the Void, and among the known enemies was a Mage Sage named Sefeiliya.
For now, Su Xiao set aside thoughts about the Void. Exploring the Void would definitely be a lengthy process, and there was no rush.
This time, Su Xiao's gains in the One Piece world were considerable. Even before selling any items, his Paradise Coins had reached 593,500.
Although the amount of Paradise Coins seemed large, it was far from enough. After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao decided to first enhance his four main attributes.
Twenty minutes later, inside the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
[Yes/No pay 900 Paradise Coins to activate Enhancement Pod No. 0121.]
After Su Xiao paid 900 Paradise Coins, the Attribute Enhancement Pod opened. He stepped inside, and the hatch slammed shut, locking tightly—it could only be opened from within.
[Welcome to the High-Grade Enhancement Pod. Your current bare-handed True Attributes are as follows:]
Strength: 87
Agility: 87
Stamina: 87
Intelligence: 87
[Available True Attribute Points for the Hunter: 8 points.]
There was no need to overthink the allocation. Su Xiao raised each of his four main attributes by 2 points.
[True Attribute allocation complete. Enhancement begins.]
Buzz...
The Enhancement Pod began to operate. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the floor, closing his eyes to perceive the changes in his body.
Time flew by. When Su Xiao opened his eyes, the body enhancement was complete. His four main attributes had all reached 89 points, just one step away from reaching 90 points in all four. Enhancing True Attributes was more difficult than imagined.
After standing up, Su Xiao let out a long breath, trying to adapt to his significantly strengthened body. He still had many things to do.
Leaving the Attribute Enhancement Hall, Su Xiao headed straight for the Equipment Enhancement Hall. For some reason, Bubu Wang, who usually roamed around as soon as he returned to Reincarnation Paradise, was sticking close to Su Xiao this time.
Noticing the direction Su Xiao was heading, Bubu Wang contacted a certain glutton. Before long, Amu appeared, holding a roasted beast leg in one hand and an oversized cup of juice in the other, and began following Su Xiao as well.
Su Xiao naturally knew why the fool and the glutton behind him were following—they wanted to watch the equipment enhancement process.
When he arrived in front of the Equipment Enhancement Hall, even Su Xiao couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy. Coincidentally, he ran into three acquaintances at the entrance.
Three burly men stood side by side in a row, all staring straight ahead with expressions of grief and determination.
A mournful voice rang out.
"Big Brother, we brothers aren't the type to fear death... ah~ no! Wrong channel, let's start over."
A moment later.
"Big Brother, next world is the promotion assessment to Fourth Rank. Let's go!"
"But... that shattered set of Gold-quality armor..."
"Big Brother, Second Brother, don't say anymore. The more you talk, the more scared I get."
"After we promoted to Third Rank, we used World Keys three times to enter derivative worlds. Combined with the two normal worlds we experienced, we earned the qualification to promote to Fourth Rank, but we're seriously lacking in resources. Enhancement is our only way out."
"That's right. If we don't get stronger fast, we'll end up as three salted fish sooner or later. To spread the sacred flame across the Paradise, we..."
"Second Brother, when did we start spreading the flame?"
"Shut up. I just decided now. It sounds more imposing this way. What do you know?"
"Alright~"
Hearing their conversation, Su Xiao knew who these three were—the Three Brothers of National Football. Their talk surprised him quite a bit.
The National Football team was also about to promote to Fourth Rank, and from what they said, they had used World Keys three times in a row to enter derivative worlds, all for the sake of rapid growth.
The National Football team had performed commendably during the Third Rank assessment. Moreover, they were almost a trinity, with their interests tightly bound together. Such a united team was rare in Reincarnation Paradise.
With their "hammer-and-stun" tactics, they were a nightmare for powerful individuals. They had taken down no small number of big bosses. Even Vini from the Traveling Group was no match for these three.
If the National Football team fought Gulu from the Traveling Group, and Gulu was even slightly careless, that little loli would definitely be hammered into questioning her existence.
Although the National Football team was goofy, they were strong. Trying to kill them was almost equivalent to killing three tanks, three healers, and three control-type contractors at the same time.
Able to fight, heal, and stun—that was the National Football team.
"Isn't this Brother Bai Ye."
The third brother of the National Football team caught sight of Su Xiao in his peripheral vision. The first and second brothers also turned to look at Su Xiao.
All four of them had the Equipment Enhancement Hall as their destination, and all four felt some reluctance about it. The atmosphere was extremely awkward.
"Brother Bai Ye, are you hesitating too?"
"..."
"..."
The expressions of the first and second brothers formed two "囧" characters. The third brother was too straightforward.
"Of course... not."
Su Xiao stepped forward into the Equipment Enhancement Hall. Behind him, Bubu Wang waved his dog paw at the three brothers. Seeing Bubu Wang, the three brothers exchanged winks and gestures.
The goofy National Football team was still hesitating at the entrance, unsure of what they wanted to enhance.
As soon as Su Xiao entered the Equipment Enhancement Hall, he noticed that there were at least several thousand contractors inside. This was rare. Although the hall was spacious, it usually held only a few hundred to a thousand contractors at most.
Every equipment enhancement machine was in use. After waiting for half an hour, Su Xiao finally saw a contractor with a grim expression leave one of the machines.
"Carry him away. Next."
"Is this the sixth one?"
"Seventh."
"There's no helping it. Except for a few lucky ones, everyone's going to be out of luck soon."
Murmurs of conversation came and went. Su Xiao walked over to that equipment enhancement machine.
[Welcome to Equipment Enhancement Machine No. 573. User's Paradise Coins: 592,600.]
Su Xiao took out Dragon-Slaying Flash. As he operated the machine, a tray popped out, and he placed the blade on it.
[Equipment verification in progress... Verification complete. Dragon-Slaying Flash (Legendary), no enhancement level. Each enhancement costs 100,000 Paradise Coins.]
[Title (Good Fighter) effect activated. Facility usage fee -10%. Hunter must pay 90,000 Paradise Coins for enhancement.]
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Paradise offered considerable benefits to the strongest of the Third Rank, directly waiving 10,000 Paradise Coins.
Before enhancing Dragon-Slaying Flash, Su Xiao urged someone to send over more Paradise Coins. With only over 500,000 Paradise Coins, it wasn't enough to cover the enhancement costs for Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Su Xiao was urging the Black Sail Merchant Guild. Before entering the One Piece world, Su Xiao had consigned three pieces of equipment with them. Now that the equipment had been sold, the guild's people would deliver the Paradise Coins soon.
[Yes/No proceed with this enhancement.]
"Yes."
The equipment enhancement machine began to operate. Two minutes later, a burst of steam sprayed out from the machine.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +1 successful. Yes/No continue enhancement.]
Su Xiao chose to continue. With the Paradise Coins he had, he could enhance Dragon-Slaying Flash at least six times.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +2 successful.]
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +3 successful.]
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +4 failed. Dropped to +2.]
Seeing Dragon-Slaying Flash drop to +2, Su Xiao's vision went dark. In an instant, 180,000 Paradise Coins had gone down the drain.
Bubu Wang stared at the equipment enhancement machine in disbelief, his expression saying: "This is way too thrilling. 180,000 Paradise Coins, a high-quality Light Gold equipment? Just gone like that?"
That's right, 180,000 Paradise Coins had vanished into thin air. One step to heaven, one step to hell.