Chapter 45: Discount
People's constitutions cannot be generalized, and it seems the same goes for luck.
Molei's luck was clearly far beyond that of ordinary people, but upon closer thought, it seemed reasonable. Not to mention opening treasure chests, her fortune could be seen in other aspects as well.
When he first met Molei, Su Xiao's plan was to kill her on the spot if she made any suspicious moves. As a Battle Angel of Apocalypse Paradise, her seemingly bewildering behavior might have been a disguise. It wasn't until later that he realized it wasn't, to the point that after handling various matters in the Sand Emperor World, he simply forgot about her.
Subsequent encounters were similar. During the battle with the Blood God, Molei was dragged into the fight in a nearly hopeless situation, yet the Blood God mistook her for an ally.
On the Canglong Continent, Molei happened to run into Huishenshi. As a result, when Su Xiao clashed with Huishenshi, the latter had no time to deal with this Battle Angel.
In the World of Paintings, Molei and Yueshitu became the fleeing sister duo. While other factions were wary and hostile toward each other, no one targeted them. Why? Because Molei's vibe was just too cheerful. Everyone was too busy guarding against other powerful opponents to bother with this fleeing pair.
Thinking about it this way, Molei, who had survived countless dangers and even desperate situations, might have luck far more formidable than expected.
More importantly, Hao Mei had a talent that unconsciously absorbed the luck of her teammates, causing them misfortune. From low to high ranks, Hao Mei had sent countless teammates to their graves, to the point where she drowned her sorrows in alcohol and became somewhat self-destructive—until she met Molei.
Having been ambushed by Molei before, Hao Mei initially refused to team up with her. Not only because of their past hostility, but also because, setting aside that old grudge, she genuinely felt that Molei and Yueshitu were good people. Especially in mission worlds where contractors schemed against each other, having these two as teammates was a great blessing.
Hao Mei didn't want to cause Molei and Yueshitu's deaths. But before they even officially teamed up, after just one day together, Hao Mei changed her mind. Not only did Molei not suffer misfortune, but her luck seemed to improve?
This led Hao Mei to tentatively team up with Molei, and indeed, she didn't bring bad luck to Molei. Moreover, because of Molei, Yueshitu also wasn't affected by Hao Mei's luck absorption.
This made Hao Mei's nose sting, and she poured out her heartfelt feelings. After she vented everything, she found Molei looking at her with an expression that said, "You're so cringey." That was the essence of a close friend and a mischievous friend combined. Seeing this, Hao Mei and Molei had a fight, leaving both bedridden for a morning.
After becoming teammates, Hao Mei was shocked by Molei's wealth. She thought she was already quite rich, but compared to Molei, Hao Mei's finances weren't as impressive. Naturally, Hao Mei humbly asked how Molei earned Soul Coins. The answer was: "Huh? Just mining and opening treasure chests."
Hearing this, Hao Mei felt a bit disappointed, thinking her close friend was brushing her off. But after a moment's thought, she became open-minded—everyone has secrets; even close friends can't share everything. However, Hao Mei soon realized she was wrong. Her close friend really did just mine and open treasure chests to get a lot of resources.
Hao Mei felt this was very abnormal. After learning that Molei had no luck-boosting abilities, she found it even more unreasonable. But one thing Molei mentioned caught Hao Mei's attention: Molei had once possessed a luck-boosting ability, but it soon turned gray in her skill bar and eventually disappeared entirely.
It wasn't that the ability was absorbed into Molei's system; it simply failed and evaporated.
Hao Mei quickly figured out what happened. This involved breaking through the 80-point attribute barrier, a crucial milestone for contractors. Choosing which attributes to break through determined which would become True Attributes.
Some gained True Strength, True Agility, or True Stamina from the 80-point barrier, but Molei gained True Luck.
Learning this, Hao Mei was envious and asked how Molei triggered this promotion task. Molei described it as originally undergoing trials for three main attributes. After entering a mission world, while exploring an ancient ruin, she encountered a young lady trapped in a seal. Out of caution, Molei asked why she was trapped. The lady said she was schemed by three unscrupulous old men and had a small portion of her source blood stolen.
At the time, Molei didn't know what source blood was, but she felt the lady in the barrier looked pleasing, so she decided to help her escape. Back then, Molei was still a big shot, having reached 80 points in three attributes, which gave her a bit of an inflated ego. She attacked the seal with her bare hands, inwardly wailing in pain but maintaining a calm exterior.
Thus began Molei's wondrous journey. Her promotion task actually changed, with the ultimate goal being to rescue this pleasing lady.
After Molei bustled about and learned the locations of the three old men through multiple natives, she weighed the situation. The paradise wouldn't issue a death mission, and doing missions required courage, so she decisively went to confront them.
The result exceeded Molei's expectations. The three old men weren't big bosses. She simply stated her purpose, and they gave her the reverse seal technique. This left Molei a bit disappointed; she had thought she'd have to fight a tough battle, one against three bosses.
What surprised Molei even more was that when the lady in the seal learned that Molei had openly sought out the three old men for a boss fight, she wasn't moved. Instead, after being freed, she grabbed Molei's ear and scolded her for half an hour. Before leaving, she warned Molei never to do such a thing again, then lightly kissed her forehead and departed.
"Tch, it's just occasional overperformance. Luck is something you accumulate by constantly using equipment and items!"
The more Hao Mei spoke, the angrier she got, especially when she saw Molei calmly yawn beside her. Among the Apocalypse Sisters, Hao Mei cared most about her luck. She never missed an opportunity to boost her Luck Attribute and loved collecting luck-enhancing equipment, yet she was utterly outclassed by Molei.
"Bai Ye, I feel Molei opening that chest was a low-probability event. How about this: I'll open your chests for free, okay? Hey! Say something!"
Hao Mei tried to turn the tables. Opening 862 chests—just thinking about it was exhilarating.
"You open them."
Su Xiao looked at Molei, who shook her head repeatedly, meaning she wouldn't open those 862 [Gloomy Chests]. She had only opened one earlier for the chest achievement, choosing an unfamiliar chest to increase the achievement progress by one.
Clearly, the loyal Molei didn't want to rob her friend of the joy of opening chests. However, after a full crate—ten bottles of Elemental Brew—was placed in front of Hao Mei, her hand landed on Molei's shoulder. Her eyes clearly said: "It's time to test our friendship. If you don't agree and make me lose this fine wine, I'll beat you up right now."
Molei hesitated, intending to agree but putting on a reluctant expression to drive up the price. Before she could speak, however—
"I only need Precipitated Glass and soul-related items. The rest is yours."
Su Xiao's offer was generous, but for him, getting more [Precipitated Glass] was a huge win. [Precipitated Glass] could be exchanged for [Primordial Fragments], which he desperately needed.
This offer was too good for Molei to refuse. She ultimately decided to split the profits with Yueshitu and Hao Mei. Yueshitu, who had been playing a handheld game the whole time, looked up in confusion—the windfall came too suddenly.
Molei's method of opening chests wasn't as ceremonial as Hao Mei's. Using her basic permissions, she set up the profit split—[Precipitated Glass] and soul-specific items going to Su Xiao—and opened all 862 chests at once.
[You have obtained Precipitated Glass × 6359.]
[You have obtained Soul Coin Pouch × 21.]
[You have obtained Soul Gem (Origin-level Gem).]
...
A gem, a pile of coin pouches, and a large amount of [Precipitated Glass] emitting a faint black glow floated before Su Xiao. Strangely, upon seeing this translucent gem, Hao Mei froze.
"That looks like a Soul Gem. I've seen it in the illustrated guide. You actually got one."
Hao Mei looked at the gem emitting a soul-blue glow, tapped it with her fingertip, and grew even more envious. But she didn't make an offer—what melee fighter could refuse a Soul Gem? Just like no Undead-type could refuse a [Death Gem].
[Warning: Due to the influence of luck fluctuations, your Luck Attribute will be reduced by 136 points for the next 48 hours.]
[Warning: Your luck is too low. You will be rejected by this world.]
[Hint: Because your Law-Destruction luck has not been reduced to its lowest point, this luck reduction is not fully effective. You will not be rejected by this world.]
...
The prompt appeared suddenly. Hao Mei became alert and said, "Bai Ye, your luck is in a bad state. Molei, do you absorb the luck of your collaborators?"
"I don't think so. I don't know."
Molei looked confused, clearly unaware of what was happening.
"Have you encountered similar situations when opening chests for others before?"
"Uh..."
Molei scratched her head, pondered, and finally frowned. "Come to think of it, I've never opened chests for others before."
"How is that possible! With your luck, you don't use it to earn money by opening chests for others?"
Hao Mei spoke with a mix of envy and frustration. Hearing this, Molei scratched her head again and said:
"I buy chests and open them myself. The rewards are all mine. Why would I work for others for a fee?"
Hearing this, Hao Mei was speechless. Indeed, if you can buy and open your own chests, why work for someone else? And if you encounter someone with ill intentions, they might covet the rewards from such luck.
"Bai Ye, are you okay?"
When Molei asked this, she felt inexplicably guilty. Not for other reasons, but because the luck fluctuations around her were unsettling. Under such fluctuations, there must be a significant debuff.
"I'm fine for now. Just a temporary negative 70-plus Luck Attribute."
"Cough—pfft!"
Hao Mei choked on her drink. She looked at Su Xiao in disbelief, struggling to process such a shocking statement. Negative 70-plus Luck? That would likely get you ejected from the world.
"Well... should I return the profits to you?"
Molei spoke even more guiltily.
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Molei, who fell silent. In Su Xiao's view, cooperation was cooperation—each party bore their own risks. After splitting the rewards, quibbling over the share was beneath him.
At least, that's how it was with Su Xiao and his "good teammates." Once the rewards were agreed upon, whatever risks arose were each person's own problem.
Su Xiao dismissed the prompt. Opening chests with Molei indeed brought high rewards, but also corresponding risks. Or rather, in the paradise faction, rewards always came hand in hand with risks.
Su Xiao's usual Luck Attribute was 62 points. After a temporary reduction of 136 points, it dropped to -74 points. Normally, this would be enough to get him expelled from the world, but his Law-Destruction luck prevented that.
Because Su Xiao carried the Law-Destruction luck, his fortune was always poor, and boosting his Luck Attribute had little effect. The reason was that the "luck container" of Law-Destruction luck was too vast. Even if filled with enough luck to bless someone for a lifetime, it might not even cover the bottom.
Everything had two sides. Although Law-Destruction luck made Su Xiao somewhat unlucky—cough, quite unlucky, cough, sometimes extremely unlucky—it was also hard to break through the lower limit of this vast luck. That lower limit was being rejected by the world.
Take the current situation. Although he would be unlucky for the next couple of days, compared to the rewards gained, it was well worth it.
Having obtained a total of 6359 [Precipitated Glass], Su Xiao activated the Abyss Shop and chose to submit all the [Precipitated Glass]. A prompt appeared.
[You have submitted over 1000 Precipitated Glass to the Abyss Shop. Corresponding permissions have been unlocked.]