Chapter 81: Investment
[Dragon-Slaying Flash has slipped to +2. Continue strengthening?]
Su Xiao chose to continue. No matter what, he had to strengthen Dragon-Slaying Flash to +10, unless his Paradise Coins ran out.
The equipment enhancement machine whirred to life. Low-level strengthening was fast. About two minutes later, a burst of steam sprayed out from the machine.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +3 successful.]
Su Xiao decisively continued. A few minutes later.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +4 successful.]
Standing within the scalding steam, Su Xiao let out a long breath. After spending 540,000 Paradise Coins, Dragon-Slaying Flash had been successfully strengthened to +4. He only had 52,600 Paradise Coins left.
Su Xiao toyed with a medal in his hand. This was the [Honor Medal], exchanged using a Gold Honor Medal. It had only one attribute: increasing equipment strengthening success rate by 5%.
At this point, he no longer had enough Paradise Coins to continue strengthening. Su Xiao was waiting for the Black Sail Merchant Guild to deliver Paradise Coins. He had consigned three pieces of equipment with them: Spider Empress (Dark Purple sniper rifle), Soul Shadow Hunter (Light Gold crossbow), and Moon God Silver Ring (Gold quality summoner set).
Among these, Spider Empress and Soul Shadow Hunter were weapons Su Xiao had phased out, both with excellent attributes.
Spider Empress was priced at 210,000 Paradise Coins.
Soul Shadow Hunter was priced at 165,000 Paradise Coins (too niche).
Moon God Silver Ring was priced at 700,000 Paradise Coins.
After deducting the Black Sail Merchant Guild's commission, Su Xiao would receive a total of 1,021,250 Paradise Coins.
After obtaining this liquid capital, the Black Sail Merchant Guild naturally wouldn't just hold it for Su Xiao. They would put it to work, rolling it into more profit. When Su Xiao demanded it back, they would gather the funds within a short time.
Admittedly, while the Black Sail Merchant Guild's reputation wasn't great, their efficiency was decent.
After waiting over ten minutes, a man in a black robe and black face mask hurried into the Equipment Enhancement Hall.
"Mr. White Night?"
The Black Sail Merchant Guild member asked tentatively. Although he had seen Su Xiao's photo and used a detector to identify him several times upon meeting, he still needed to confirm.
"That's right."
"Here's 800,000 Paradise Coins. The remaining amount will be delivered within an hour. For every minute late, we compensate 10,000 Paradise Coins."
The Black Sail Merchant Guild member handed over a savings card worth 800,000 Paradise Coins. The card shattered in Su Xiao's hand, and 800,000 Paradise Coins entered his account.
"Alright. Be quick about it."
"Of course, no problem. Sorry for the interruption, and may your strengthening go smoothly."
The Black Sail Merchant Guild member hurried away, presumably to gather the remaining Paradise Coins. Although the Black Sail Merchant Guild's business was considerable, they didn't like storing large amounts of Paradise Coins. Instead, they preferred to stockpile rare resources. This was one point where they differed from all other merchant guilds.
With Paradise Coins in hand, Su Xiao continued strengthening. However, this time, before starting the equipment enhancement machine, he placed two Black Carbon Stones into the tray.
[Pure Black Carbon Stone], each one increases strengthening success rate by 2%. The effect diminishes after exceeding a certain quantity.
Combined with the effect of the [Honor Medal], the success rate was now quite favorable. Su Xiao didn't need excitement; he needed to safely strengthen Dragon-Slaying Flash to +10.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +5 successful.]
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +6 successful.]
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +7 successful!]
Three consecutive successes. Clearly, the combination of Pure Black Carbon Stones and the [Honor Medal] was working very well.
Hot air rose from the equipment enhancement machine in front of Su Xiao. The machine's surface was slightly glowing red.
He still had 9 Pure Black Carbon Stones left. This time, Su Xiao placed 3 into the tray and started the equipment enhancement machine.
Huum~
The equipment enhancement machine began operating. When strengthening to +8, failure would result in one of two outcomes: either the enhancement level would drop to +6, or it would be completely reset to zero. If the latter occurred, Su Xiao wouldn't be able to strengthen Dragon-Slaying Flash to +10 anytime soon.
Pfft!
Steam surged, and the tray popped out. The entire tray looked like a red-hot branding iron, and white vapor rose from Dragon-Slaying Flash as well.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +8 successful.]
Su Xiao clenched his fist. His hand was hot today; the strengthening feel was excellent.
"Continue."
Clack, clack, clack.
Three Black Carbon Stones were placed on the tray. The tray, along with Dragon-Slaying Flash, retracted into the enhancement machine.
After a few minutes of rumbling, Su Xiao heard a crack sound. His heart instantly sank halfway.
"NO!!"
A despairing wail came from not far away. Su Xiao, cold sweat beading on his face, glanced sideways. It was a situation at the neighboring equipment enhancement machine.
A burly man had his head pressed against the enhancement machine, his expression dazed, muttering: "Gone, all gone. Three worlds of effort, five lives."
Bubu Wang witnessed this scene. He looked at Su Xiao: "Master, is it this thrilling?"
"Probably... it's exactly like this."
Su Xiao let out a breath. If Dragon-Slaying Flash's strengthening failed, it would be equivalent to losing one-third of his gains from the One Piece World.
Steam gushed out, and a prompt appeared.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +9 successful.]
Su Xiao was only one step away from achieving his goal. Taking that step would massively increase his combat power. The Gold quality Duke of Annihilation strengthened to +13 was already absurdly powerful, allowing him, as a Third Rank contractor, to one-shot a Fourth Rank contractor.
If Dragon-Slaying Flash could be strengthened to +13, a situation would arise where even if an enemy's strength was a notch above Su Xiao's, he could still break through their defenses and severely wound them.
Although absolute strength gaps couldn't be bridged by a single blade, if Dragon-Slaying Flash was sharp enough, Su Xiao would have a sliver of hope for turning the tables in desperate situations.
For example, earlier in the One Piece World, if Su Xiao had wielded a Legendary +13 Dragon-Slaying Flash, even Garp wouldn't dare to tank his slashes. An unenhanced Dragon-Slaying Flash, combined with Su Xiao's swordsmanship, could already cut through Garp's Haki, though it couldn't seriously wound him.
Only one step remained to +10. Su Xiao could give up now, but he didn't intend to.
From every perspective, the cost of strengthening Dragon-Slaying Flash was high. When Dragon-Slaying Flash upgraded in quality, its enhancement level would decrease. But if he didn't strengthen Dragon-Slaying Flash, could Su Xiao really thrash those early Fourth Rank contractors?
Alternatively, the cost of upgrading Dragon-Slaying Flash from Legendary to the next tier was too high. Su Xiao had yet to even see a Legendary weapon, let alone obtain one.
Therefore, Su Xiao had to balance strengthening Dragon-Slaying Flash and upgrading its quality. The current situation was that strengthening Dragon-Slaying Flash to a higher level was far easier to achieve than upgrading it to a higher quality.
Strength and gains were proportional. Accumulation was good, but if one only accumulated while neglecting current combat power, the rate of accumulation would drastically decrease. This was like rolling a snowball: the heavier the snowball, the more snow it picked up, and the faster it grew.
For this reason, Su Xiao now needed a very large "snowball" to ensure he could pick up more "snow." This was also the main reason he hadn't chosen that Legendary equipment chest.
With a +13 Dragon-Slaying Flash, Su Xiao's chances of obtaining a Legendary weapon would be greater, and Dragon-Slaying Flash's upgrade speed would be faster, forming a virtuous cycle.
For this reason, every time Dragon-Slaying Flash upgraded in quality, Su Xiao would at least strengthen it to +8 or above, ensuring it had combat power surpassing weapons of its current stage.
This was an investment. A necessary investment. If he only focused on upgrading Dragon-Slaying Flash's quality, its current quality would be at most Gold, and Su Xiao himself would be at most Third Rank.
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and exhaled a wisp of light golden smoke. The Lucky King state was upon him.
Lucky King state + three Black Carbon Stones + Honor Medal. After using every method available, Su Xiao started the equipment enhancement machine.