Chapter 43: Explosion Needle
Inside the treasure vault, various items were neatly arranged.
Su Xiao walked between the wooden shelves displaying the collections. He only had ten minutes, and four had already passed.
Among the various items, choosing weapons was the safest bet. Even if the weapon's quality was low, it wouldn't result in too much of a loss. If he picked a Gold-quality piece of equipment, he'd hit the jackpot. Moreover, there might be equipment here that surpassed Gold quality.
Although Su Xiao didn't know what quality level existed above Gold, he was certain of one thing: there had to be a higher grade than Gold items. That was beyond doubt.
There was only one chance to choose, yet there were a million items in the collection. No wonder Alice dared to let people freely pick from her treasure vault. With such odds, the likelihood of finding something good was extremely low.
Su Xiao stopped in his tracks because he spotted a familiar item. It was an uneven "ore" with a rough surface and a fiery red overall color.
This wasn't an ore; it was a large piece of solar debris. Solar debris was the main material for crafting Apollo.
In the past, Su Xiao needed about a thumbnail-sized piece of solar debris to make one Apollo. The piece before him now was at least the size of a fist.
Conservatively estimated, this item was worth several tens of thousands of Paradise Coins, or even more.
Choosing a known item carried low risk, but Su Xiao didn't do that. Solar debris wasn't something you could have too much of. Apart from crafting Apollo, it had few other uses. This amount was enough to make nearly a hundred Apollos, but without other materials, it was just a meteorite—useless for creating high-power bombs.
He memorized the location of this large piece of solar debris and continued deeper into the vault.
The wooden shelves in the vault were all identical in design. After just a few minutes of wandering, Su Xiao found himself somewhat lost. It seemed this place wasn't just a treasure vault but also a natural maze.
He pressed on as time ticked away. He had two minutes left.
There were so many different items on the shelves that Su Xiao felt dizzy. He had no idea how many contractors had died inside this castle.
Su Xiao shifted his gaze, quickly scanning a shelf before dismissing it.
But the next moment, he snapped his attention back. A firearm on the shelf caught his eye. It resembled a flintlock pistol, but unlike outdated flintlocks, it wasn't triggered by a hammer. It only shared a similar overall shape.
Under normal circumstances, Su Xiao wouldn't be very interested in this type of firearm. It was clearly a melee weapon, and he rarely used guns in close combat.
However, this firearm—which looked like a flintlock but had an extremely intricate construction—drew his attention. Not for any other reason, but because of a red pattern on the gun.
The entire gun was pitch black, about 35 centimeters long, with a slender barrel. Both the barrel and the streamlined grip were etched with a red pattern. Above the gun, there was a loading port similar to that of a Mauser sniper rifle. Judging by the depth of the port, the magazine capacity was likely between 5 and 6 rounds, and the bullet type was probably rifle or sniper rounds.
After careful observation, Su Xiao realized the bullets for this gun were very special. He noticed the unique firing pin inside the gun. Based on its construction, if ordinary bullets were loaded, this gun would likely explode.
That was indeed the case. Su Xiao found a string of bullets beneath the firearm. There were five bullets in total, fixed in a row by a metal bracket. They could be pressed directly into the loading port above the gun, loading all five at once.
Su Xiao picked up the string of five bullets. Each bullet was about 6 centimeters long, with a completely transparent casing. Inside was a yellow solution, and at the center of each bullet was a metal needle as thick as a matchstick, immersed in the solution.
Based on the bullet's construction, Su Xiao guessed that the real killing power came from the metal needle at the center. The yellow solution was some kind of high-performance explosive liquid, replacing conventional gunpowder.
He put down the special bullets and took an item from his storage space for comparison. After a moment, he stood frozen in place. The patterns on the two items were very similar.
"Time's up."
The Wolf Butler appeared, somewhat stealthily.
"Is that so."
Su Xiao picked up the firearm from the shelf and looked at the Wolf Butler.
"I choose this."
Su Xiao didn't go for the solar debris worth tens of thousands of Paradise Coins. Instead, he chose a melee-oriented firearm.
Holding the grip with one hand, the streamlined handle fit comfortably in his palm. The gun was quite heavy, but for Su Xiao, who had 80 points of Strength, it felt light.
"Are you sure?"
The Wolf Butler narrowed his eyes.
"Absolutely sure. I'll take this one."
"..."
The Wolf Butler was somewhat displeased. This gun was one of Alice's favorite pieces in her collection. But no matter how much Alice liked it, Su Xiao's choice was part of the game's reward phase, and the Wolf Butler couldn't interfere.
The Wolf Butler stepped forward, pulled a blank card from the collar of his clothes, and pressed it against the firearm. A sealing rune appeared on one side of the card. This was to conserve resources—the sealing rune on the gun was very valuable.
As soon as the sealing rune on the gun disappeared, Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[You have obtained: Wild Hunt's Judgment.]
[Wild Hunt's Judgment]
Origin: Any derivative world above Lv.20.
Quality: Dark Purple (Set)
Category: Firearm
Magazine Capacity: 5 (Special Ammunition)
Durability/Attack Power: 10～153
Equipment Requirements: Strength 40, Agility 40.
Equipment Effect 1: Special Ammunition (Passive) – Wild Hunt's Judgment can only use special ammunition. The explosion needle inside the special ammunition is the primary attack method.
Equipment Effect 2: Death Sentence Explosion Needle (Active/Passive)
Passive Effect: When special ammunition hits an enemy, the unstable liquid inside the bullet will explode. The explosion reduces the enemy's total defense by 60% for 0.19 seconds. Simultaneously, the explosion needle inside the bullet is propelled toward the enemy by the kinetic energy of the blast. Due to the extremely close range, the explosion needle is nearly impossible to dodge.
Active Effect: After the explosion needle pierces the enemy's body, it can be detonated at any time via the mechanism on Wild Hunt's Judgment's grip. If not detonated, the explosion needle will become inert after 40 minutes. Each explosion needle deals 80～100 damage to the enemy. If an enemy is hit by five explosion needles and all five are detonated simultaneously, the detonation deals 500 damage and puts the enemy into a Vulnerable state. In the Vulnerable state, the enemy's physical defense is reduced by 35%, healing effects are reduced by 20%, and movement speed is reduced by 10%. The effect lasts for 10 minutes.
Tip: If the enemy forcibly removes an explosion needle before it becomes inert, they will take constant damage equal to 10% of their maximum health.
Tip: Death Sentence Explosion Needle (Active) has no cooldown and no cost.
Rating: 260
Description: One piece of the Demon Hunter Set. Collecting three pieces activates the set effect.
Set Effect 1: Demon Hunter (Passive) – Strength +15, Agility +10, Stamina +10.
Set Effect 2: Melee Expert (Passive) – Melee damage increased by 40%, maximum health +20%.
Set Effect 3: (Visible after equipping three pieces of the Demon Hunter Set)
Price: 73,000 Paradise Coins.
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