Chapter 7: An Unexpected Gain

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Exhale... Steadying his mind, Lu Ming took a deep breath, ready to close the chat window. Yet, glancing at the scrolling messages below, he slowly withdrew his finger. Since he had rarely opened it, he might as well read through the chat a bit more.

Scrolling down, the earlier messages were filled with fear and despair over the four people being killed by the scythe owl larvae. Fortunately, Chen Hai, who had left a deep impression earlier, stepped up to soothe everyone’s emotions.

(Chen Hai: Don’t be too negative. At least we now know they can’t kill us easily. After revival, they become even more ferocious. But as initial suppressed monsters, such alien creatures must have fatal weaknesses—otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.)

(Fang Peng: Well said, but it’s all just empty talk. Weaknesses, weaknesses—where exactly are they? If we don’t know their weaknesses, it’s still hopeless. What use is that?)

(Chen Hai: You’re young and hot-headed; I won’t argue with you. When I’m ready, I’ll bring one in and try to kill it. I’ll record the entire process. If I fail, consider it a warning. If I succeed, I hope it’ll inspire you to try. After all, we have no retreat—only to endure fear and keep moving forward.)

There was a five-second silence afterward, clearly everyone was moved by Chen Hai’s words.

Lu Ming felt the same. No matter the current situation or environment, his admiration for Chen Hai was sincere—he even wanted to privately share the weakness of the scythe owl larvae.

But he quickly calmed himself and suppressed this foolish impulse.

Yes, he was selfish. But aren’t jealousy, envy, and admiration born from the inability to achieve what others can?

He couldn’t be as brave and selfless as Chen Hai, so all he could do was silently apologize.

He needed to preserve his own advantage. After all, physically, among all humans, he was merely an average person with slightly better build.

No systematic martial arts training, no boxing or kung fu; his only sword skill came from a lottery reward and was still at the beginner level, never even used once. If he gave up the chance to quickly accumulate resources and widen the gap with the strong, he would be hopeless.

Five seconds later, someone finally broke the silence, surprisingly Fang Peng, who had always been at odds with Chen Hai.

(Fang Peng: If you deliver on your promise, I sincerely apologize for all my previous words against you. If you succeed in killing it, I’ll be the second to try.)

(Chen Hai: Now that’s the spirit of a man.)

(Fang Peng: Hmph, I’ve always been a man. Why do I need to act like one?)

(Bao Zhengcheng: Haha, that’s more like it. We’ve all been mysteriously transferred here. If we don’t unite, our chances of survival grow even slimmer. We must stay positive.)

(Liu Yun: Exactly. We can’t give up so easily.)

(Li Gang: And we have to find our family.)

(Fang Bo: Right, family. We were so tense, we forgot. If this is the Blue Star transmission, our families must be somewhere in this wasteland too.)

(Survive!)

(Survive +1!)

...

The atmosphere shifted instantly from despair to excitement. Lu Ming saw the power of a leader but was skeptical of the team’s survival strategy. Without strong strength and leadership talent, the sandcastle would collapse with the first tide.

As for family, Lu Ming gave a bitter smile.

He had none.

That was why he habitually maintained calm.

From childhood, the only person he could rely on was himself.

If he could solve a problem by himself, there was no need to panic. If he couldn’t, panic was useless.

Closing the chat window, Lu Ming shifted his gaze to the entire shop. With his abilities and knowledge of weaknesses, the only thing missing now was a weapon.

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“Identify.”

The thought formed, the outline appeared—but this time Lu Ming didn’t select any single item, but the entire shop space.

The Ascended Eye of Truth’s effect for spatial identification.

The entire shop was a space; upon activating the skill, all items within the shop instantly received labels in his sight!

“Starry Glow Display Cabinet”

“Synthetic Leather Chair”

“Unbranded Decoration”

“Pirated Huawei 9000 Phone Case”

...

“Repair Toolbox”

Good! That’s it!

“Stainless Steel Machete”

Hmm?

Just as Lu Ming happily found the toolbox, a striking label caught his eye beneath the display cabinet.

“Machete?”

Oh my.

An unexpected gain.

Lu Ming hurriedly crossed the counter to the labeled spot and carefully felt around. Sure enough, he touched something cold just above the iron cabinet bottom.

Pulling it out, it was a gleaming blade, a classic sixty-centimeter-long machete!

Thanks to his basic sword skill, holding the handle felt like wielding a specialized weapon.

A few swings revealed practiced, precise, and elegant swordplay, a testament to skill’s power.

After playing with it until satisfied, he raised the machete and followed tradition to activate identification.

“Identify.”

[420A Stainless Steel Machete] (Tool Grade)

Category: Tool

Description: Purchased by Penge, owner of Innovative Phone Repair Shop in Orange Treasure, used to prevent physical threats from customer disputes.

Condition: Sharpened

Durability: 80/100

Note: Durability below 50 may cause edge curling; below 30 risks breakage. At zero durability, item is completely ruined.

Wow, durability? Isn’t it usually wear and tear? Seems like it’s tied to the game system.

What’s this called? Virtual reality?

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Ahem, no, that’s mixing things up a bit.

Still, even with only 80 durability, it was enough for his current state. After all, it matched his basic sword skill... as a tool?

This thing was classified as a tool, not even a weapon.

In Blue Star’s Huaxia, carrying this around the street would get you invited for a “chat” by the authorities.

Lu Ming sighed, but it didn’t matter much—he still had ultimate ascension.

Right, let’s see what the machete would become after ascension.

“Ultimate Ascension!”

[Prompt: Ascending “420A Stainless Steel Machete” costs 2 “Specialized Crystals.” You have one free ascension privilege. Confirm using this privilege to ascend the “420A Stainless Steel Machete” into one of the following items?]

[Confirm (Consume 2 Specialized Crystals)]

[Confirm (Consume 1 Free Ascension Privilege)]

[Cancel]

With ultimate ascension activated, the upgraded weapons of the machete instantly appeared—three options.

[Straight Sword] [Greatsword] [Katana]

The first was straight, narrow, slender, and elegant, highly aesthetic and suited for piercing.

The second was curved and long, steady and heavy, bold and majestic, suited for slashing.

The last was familiar—the Japanese sword, balanced in all aspects but excelling in none, easily ignored.

Comparing the first two, the straight sword was clearly best suited to his current combat style.

Especially piercing—if precise, penetrating the core, one strike would kill a scythe owl larva each time.

As for second-tier ascension, that required at least 20 specialized crystals, beyond current resources.

He could only prioritize first-tier weapon evolution or his own enhancement of specialized level.

Who to upgrade first required practical judgment.

If the machete alone could kill the larvae without excessive wear, the weapon was sufficient, and quickly saving ten specialized crystals to boost his own strength was key.

If killing two larvae dulled the blade, ascending the weapon first was necessary.

With a plan in mind, Lu Ming canceled the weapon ascension.

Turning his gaze to the shop door, he prepared to begin the first hunt of the alien species.