Chapter 949 - 401: Fortune Raider (Part 2)
Wu Chang was very satisfied with Eternal Lake; the only problem was...
He gripped Eternal Lake and activated the Lake Light in the Sword.
After a brief pause, a faint glow lit up along the blade, just enough to illuminate half a meter around the edge.
The only problem was, although he considered himself a good person, his bottom line was far too flexible, and that rigid Eternal Lake did not acknowledge him.
He had saved Stilan, even saved the entire Steam Phantom Plane, yet the Lake Light he could draw out was still only half a meter.
Worse yet, although his Will Attribute was powerful, that powerful Will fought only for himself.
Aside from himself, there was nothing he absolutely had to uphold; he would fight because he couldn’t stand certain people, but he wouldn’t take risks for that, much less sacrifice himself.
This kept the Guardian Oath from passing through his heart and forming the corresponding oath.
He clicked his tongue; looks like this Eternal Lake would still have to be wielded by Erin to truly be of use.
Though speaking of which, Eternal Lake’s Skill Set was practically tailor-made for Erin. As the dungeon difficulty rose, the Light of Steadfastness Erin had been using was already falling behind in intensity and needed to be retired and replaced.
For the Saintess archetype—especially paired with Erin’s experiences—wielding a sword really was the only thing that felt right.
Putting away Eternal Lake, Wu Chang continued with the dungeon settlement.
"Player Dungeon Rating has reached Perfect Level. You may select one Rare Item from the current Dungeon Plane as a reward."
"Sword of the King"
"Mechanical World Prototype"
"Julie’s Spatial Magic Research Notes"
Wu Chang had seen the first Perfect Level reward before: it was Olivia’s side sword, a symbol of the royal family, and even more renowned than the Lake Light Holy Sword, Stilan’s First Holy Sword.
The Sword of the King listed as a reward was thrust into a lion-shaped Mechanical Beast lying prone on the ground. Compared to the Mechanical Beasts Olivia had created, however, this reward Mechanical Beast was only half as tall and half as long as the ones in the dungeon.
The three Perfect Level reward options wouldn’t differ too wildly from each other; judging from the other two rewards, this Sword of the King shouldn’t be another growth-type A-Level Item like Eternal Lake.
At most it was an ordinary A-Level Item, plus a scaled-down lion-shaped Mechanical Beast.
The lion-shaped Mechanical Beast in the dungeon used a Differential Machine as its core, fusing dozens of Extraordinary Steam Engine Cores. Even without leveraging Steam Rules to suppress its opponents, the Mechanical Beast was a fierce fighter.
Purely in terms of displayed power, not counting any trump-card Items he hadn’t used, even Cold Mountain might not be a match for the Mechanical Beast.
The reward Mechanical Beast should be a full-spectrum weakened version, but as long as it kept its most basic functions and a bit of Steam Rules embedded, it would still be an extremely powerful summoned creature.
At the very least, Players ranked outside the top thousand in combat strength might not be able to get past even the weakened Mechanical Beast.
If this were before he obtained Peace Envoy, he might have been interested in the lion-shaped Mechanical Beast, but with Peace Envoy in hand, he’d already been able to beat the original lion-shaped Mechanical Beast into the ground. How could he possibly care about this watered-down version?
He paused briefly on the first option, then shifted his gaze to the second.
The second reward option, "Mechanical World Prototype," clearly had something to do with Olivia’s plan just from the name alone.
Use collective consciousness to partially replace individual consciousness in order to reduce conflict between people and thereby construct a perfect World.
The fact that it could serve as a reward on par with the Sword of the King showed that this plan did indeed have some merit.
With only the level of a Differential Machine, fully completing this World would be difficult, but he had the All-Knowing Crystal in hand. Combined with the Primordial Spirit Core, he just might be able to build the Mechanical World.
If he were to integrate the Mechanical World into Erin’s Divine Kingdom, turning it into a Rule that coexisted with the Divine Kingdom—
Then, every time they spread faith to a Plane, that Plane would fall into absolute order. Humans in that Plane would no longer have disputes; everyone would be fused into a collective, striving solely to provide more Divine Power.
It sounded very promising, but the method was too bizarre. Even if he found a balance point between the individual and the collective, people altered by this method, due to their lack of self-awareness, would inevitably become somewhat less human.
In psychology there is a theory called the uncanny valley: when something looks sufficiently human yet differs from real humans only by a tiny margin, it evokes intense disgust and aversion.
If he truly implemented the Mechanical World plan, the Planes he passed through would likely all turn into horror-movie Planes.
He didn’t like this method, and with Erin’s personal charm, she didn’t need it anyway.
Eliminating the first two, Wu Chang was left with only the final reward he could choose.
He had firsthand experience of Julie’s aptitude in Space Magic. In a Steam Phantom Plane where Space Magic did not exist, she’d still managed, by groping her way forward on her own, to play Space Magic like a virtuoso.
Hopefully her research notes would bring him enough surprises.
"Item Name: Julie’s Spatial Magic Research Notes"
"Item Type: Consumables"
"Artifact Level: A"
"Item Description: When the Player’s Energy Attribute exceeds 150 points, Inspiration exceeds 50 points, and Space Magic at Grandmaster Level has been mastered, this Item can be activated."
"Item Effect: Spend 300,000 Rotten Silver Coins to elevate Space Magic to Lord Level."
"Note: In the eyes of mediocrities, these notes are full of unrealistic fantasies and ravings, bringing misfortune or even madness. But in the eyes of a Space Magic Grandmaster, they are a ticket to step into the Spatial Domain."