Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At the Sky Provisions Shop.
Just like how the Brotherhood was the mercenaries’ haven, the Sky Provisions Shop was that to professional Living Job gamers. Everyone knew that joining the provisions shop would promise more than just a well-paying salary, they could gain advanced technical knowledge as well! The most accomplished Potioneers, Potion Maniac and Potion King, as well as the finest Blacksmith, Tsundere Phoenix, were there as well! Recently, a new character had risen to the spotlight, and it was Fire Bomb.
Back when Lin Jie had recruited Fire Bomb, he had only been an amateur Engineer, but he had now reached Middle-Grade. He was capable of mass-producing Silver fire guns that possessed 10% higher attributes as compared to normal fire guns and had the additional effect of boosting aggro. Thus, many Warriors would head to the provisions shop to purchase a gun for leveling-up purposes. Little by little, Fire Bomb grew famous.
“Boss.”
“Hi, boss.”
Several Potioneer apprentices and amateur Potioneers greeted Lin Jie as he stepped into the second-floor potion room. Lin Jie gestured for them to continue their work before entering an empty potion room.
Ding~
“Lin Jie, the map you are referring to is the Winer Town, right? I am here, but the people here look really pitiable, many kids were plucking plants and peeling tree barks for food…” said Bu Yi gingerly as empathy filled her tone.
After leaving the Holy Light Ancestral Temple, Lin Jie had instructed Savage Blade’s members to head to farm at the newly spawned town that was near to Devils Fork. They were told to gather the items required to kill the third Boss. Meanwhile, Bu Yi and Lin Jie headed to Winer Town.
Lin Jie said, “The NPCs in Winer Town have 0 favorability towards strangers. You will have to give them some food and water for it to rise, and after about 4 hours, we can receive the chain missions in the town. I will refine some potions before meeting you there.”
Bu Yi nodded dutifully. “Alright, take your time, I will pass the food to them…”
Lin Jie shook his head with a wry smile as he placed the communication device down. Girls were more sentimental and would usually immerse themselves fully into the game, which was the complete opposite of him. The first thought that would have occurred to Lin Jie when he saw the sight in Winer Town would be ‘Mission, Coins, and EXP’! This depicted the differences between guys and girls.
“Bella, I have a batch of ingredients that exploded from the Frost Dragon. Get me some trustworthy Middle-Grade Armory Technicians, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Enchanters here. I want them to train their proficiency,” instructed Lin Jie.
Dumb Fox had given him over hundreds of pieces of materials, and one of them was the [Frost Dragon’s Rib]! It was lengthy and gigantic. These were all superior-grade materials and had a refinery success rate of almost 100% for those with life skills below superior-grade.
Only Lin Jie would be so prodigal to let middle-grade professional Living Job gamers train their proficiency using superior-grade materials.
However, Lin Jie had looked into the long-term prospect. If one of them was a lucky bastard and managed to reach superior-grade, wouldn’t the shop obtain another money source? Although this metaphor might sound too commercialized, it was the truth that being capable was profitable in The New Age!
Lin Jie let out a deep breath and retrieved three types of ingredients after making all the necessary arrangements.
The Star Soul Grass was a translucent soul-like clover that was adorned with brilliant radiance. This was a rare middle-grade herb that only grew in Level 50 and above maps with rich Undead aura. Only Bandits were able to enter and steal it.
The Violet Algae was a type of lilac vine that had to be soaked in water to preserve its medicinal properties. Its sap was vicious and tasted like honey. Lin Jie had barged into the Dark-Robed Knights protecting the Violet Algae spawn grounds and had been besieged. In a fit of rage, he had eaten all the Violet Algae there and fallen in love with the taste. Thus, he couldn’t help but salivate as he recalled.
Lastly, there was the Gold Crystal Leaf, which was a lustrous and crystal clear maple leaf. Middle-Grade Enchant Masters had some chance of success in creating this herb when they add ground gem powder during planting. It fetched a high price of about 10 silver coins per strain.
Including the prices of Fusion Potions, Decomposition Potions, Reagent Bottles, etc., producing a bottle of Middle-Grade Invisibility Potion would cost approximately 1 gold coin, which was pretty expensive.
‘I haven’t refined potions in a while, I have to clear my mind.’ Lin Jie took a deep breath as he had to concentrate considering the price per refinery. If he was to fail for a dozen times, he would incur a great loss.
There were knacks to potion refinery, which were usually found by players through experiences.
Taking the Violet Algae, for example, the best refinement technique would squeeze out all its sap. If one were to throw the entire plant into the pot, the superficial vines would be useless, which in turn would affect the potion production and greatly reduce the success rate. It was also best to feed some blood to the Start Soul Grass before refinement to draw out its herbal properties…
Lin Jie had kept all those tips and tricks in his mind. First, to draw out the herbs’ maximum capacity, next, add in the Decomposition Potion and Fusion Potion to begin the refinement.
His hands were steady as one must be stable in order to achieve a high success rate.
An inconspicuous and streamlined potion appeared gradually.
Ding~
—”You have refined a [Middle-Grade Invisibility Potion], your proficiency level of Perfect Potion Mastery +2.”
[Middle-Grade Invisibility Potion]: Whenever you enter Stealth Mode, Movement Speed decreases by 35%, and you gain additional 10 points of Invisibility. This lasts for 1 minute maximum. The cooldown time is 5 minutes.
Normal Bandit’s Stealth Mode has a Movement Speed of 100%, additional 40 Invisibility Points, and the skill was able to last up to 5 minutes. It was almost equivalent to unlimited stealth and was much more effective than the potion.
However, Lin Jie was a Warrior! The best part of this potion was that it had no job types limitations.
After getting the feel for refinement, Lin Jie went down to work, and bottles of Middle-Grade Potions begun appearing. Although he was fully focused, his success rate was only 60%.
After 3 hours, he had used up all his ingredients, and in turn, there were 20 over bottles of potions in his hands!
The Middle-Grade Invisibility Potion was uncomparable to Health Potions as care was needed during the refinement process, making it tough to be mass-produced.
Lin Jie teleported to Winer Town and met up with Bu Yi after keeping the potions. Winer Town has been ravaged, and their healthy males had been taken away, leaving behind only the elderly and children to survive on weeds, barks, and animal carcasses.
Ding~
—”You have entered Winer Town, Knowledge +5.”
—”You have discovered this dilapidated town during your travel and found out that there was a lack of youths here. Noticing the oddity, you ought to investigate. Before that, you should gain the recognition of the townsfolk as the disaster has caused them to lose all faith in humanity.”
—”You have accepted the mission [Winer Town’s Disaster]”
Mission Content: Inquire Winer Town’s past.
Mission reward: ???
The mission reward indicated by question marks was the clue regarding the third Boss! The system specifically used question marks to remind players that ‘clues existed here’. If they were attentive, it would not be hard to discover the abnormalities of this town.
To complete the mission, first, they would have to increase the town folks’ favorability. The solution to that was simple—just provide them with food and water and stay within the vicinity of the town. If they were to leave during this period, the townsmen would believe that they harbored ulterior motives and only came for information.
Fortunately, Lin Jie was well-prepared.
“You are here.” Bu Yi was crouching as she waved to Lin Jie. Then she hurriedly fed the loaf of bread with care to the little boy lying on the ground. The little NPC was all bones and had blood on his lips as he puked repeatedly; it seemed like he had eaten something rotten. Bu Yi was worried and frowned as she gave him some water. “Such a poor thing.”
Lin Jie said seriously, “We have an important mission on hand, leave him be and feed the rest of the town folks. Ask about the town’s situation as well.”
“Alright…” Bu Yi rubbed the little boy’s head and was ready to get up.
Bu Yi has been here for 3 hours and was left with an hour to gain their trust. However, girls usually had extra buffs when doing such ‘NPC favorability’ missions. Hence, it was about time.
It came as a complete surprise to both of them when the scrawny kid suddenly spoke.
“Big sister, you want to know more about the town? I can let you know…” The little NPC fella sat up breathlessly and said, “A few years ago, or maybe over 10 years ago, there came a preacher, who was propagating all day…”
The summary of the story was that the preacher was actually a demon that had been killed by the brave adults and youths with their intelligence during the night. However, they soon realized they had gained great strength and soon craved for more. Thus, they had all left the town together to slay more monsters.
Following that was the usual trott of being lured into Devils Fork and brainwashed by the Fallen Holy Light as they became self-righteous and guarded the Holy Light Ancestral Temple.
“I heard that Midden, the strongest Big Brother, went to the hill behind the town and stayed at the mayor’s house when he left. Maybe you guys can ask the mayor as well.” The little NPC collapsed onto the ground as he ran out of breath and energy.
The Mission Content changed: Find the mayor and ask about the town’s secret.
“Let’s head to the hill.” Lin Jie and Bu Yi headed towards the hill.
This was a chain mission. After finding the mayor, he would only reveal part of the secret that would lead to the search for the next NPC, who would assign the next mission, or to kill monsters, or to purchase goods, etc., till the end. There was a chance that after completing a whole day of missions, the final instructions would point to the hill.
Therefore, it was critical to pay attention to the NPCs’ conversations.
In his previous life, Lin Jie had also been fooled by the Winer Town’s NPCs, only to find out that they had already pointed out the mission location at the beginning. This time, he would not make the same mistake again.
The hill was covered with countless corpses and skeletons, just like a mass grave. Dead bodies that were reluctant to go to hell would climb up to the surface again, and they would become the wandering Undead.
[Foraging Undead]: Level 45 Undead, Health Points: 30,000
Hundreds of Undead were wandering around aimlessly, and the bulge on the hill peak seemed to indicate that something was buried there.
