Salamander Crystal Wingman

Chapter 30: Salamander · Crystal Wingman Replica

Salamander, a side-scrolling shooter, is a spin-off of Cosmic Cruiser.

In the game, players can control a spaceship to shoot enemies. Upon defeating enemies, they obtain enhancement components, and targeted enhancements are made based on the number of components currently held.

The number of components consumed by the six fighter enhancement modes—Acceleration, Sidewinder Missiles, Sonic Attack Component, Laser Attack Component, Crystal Wingman, and Shield—increases progressively from 1 to 6.

Among these, the Crystal Wingman has the strongest functionality. Its effect is to perfectly replicate all attack capabilities of the fighter it's equipped with: firing rate, power, missiles, attack components, and so on, all replicated.

Of course, the perfect replication effect of the original version is already of a quality that could be sent to an auction house in Cheng Tian's opinion. Since this thing can appear at a street stall, it's highly likely to have been significantly weakened or have usage restrictions.

At the same time, he's more curious whether this thing is exclusive to vehicles or if a person can use it too.

[Crystal Wingman Replica: Blue Excellent/Lv1, Wingman. Equipment Requirement: Agility + Spirit > 25.

A mass-produced version manufactured using the wingman technology of the Cosmic Cruiser "King of Britannia," usable without a vehicle.

You must ensure your mana bar is above 50% to inject MP and activate the wingman. Once activated, the wingman will perpetually hover beside you, assisting in combat by replicating the form of ranged attacks you emit--

The wingman can only replicate ranged attacks from E-rank skills/talents and weapons/equipment below Green Excellent.

The power of replicated attacks will be reduced to 25% of the original.

Each replicated attack will consume an equivalent amount of internal MP from the user.

The wingman consumes 1 MP per second of operation.

When MP is depleted, it will enter a 60-minute standby state.

The wingman can only withstand two attacks at most. Once shattered, it can only return to storage for repairs.

Your Agility will affect the wingman's floating movement speed, and your Spirit will affect the wingman's MP storage capacity.]

[Price: 12,000 Chosen Coins]

Cheng Tian's first reaction was that this replica had indeed been severely nerfed. His second reaction was, "Holy crap, why is it so expensive!"

Holding the Crystal Wingman, the Deadpool mask on Cheng Tian's face mirrored his troubled expression, showing no attempt to hide it.

"Newcomer, kid?"

The stall owner, who had been idly browsing space news behind the stall, suddenly spoke. Cheng Tian then shifted his gaze to him.

Actually, setting up a stall doesn't require the seller to be present 24/7. They can directly set a price and go do something else. Many stall owners around weren't present either; if you liked something, you could just pay and buy it. The space had rules, so if the stall owner was still here, it meant either they had nothing better to do or they were willing to haggle with customers.

As for the owner's appearance... why did he look like Van Helsing?

Cheng Tian, completely forgetting his own cowboy-Deadpool attire, raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, how did you figure that out?"

Faced with the question, Cheng Tian's direct admission actually surprised the stall owner. He then seemed somewhat disheartened, sighing as he leaned back into the esports chair behind him.

Nowadays, admitting you're a newbie is practically signaling to the world, "I'm easy to scam." But newbies also mean there isn't much profit to be made. At least "Old Fan" wasn't inclined to join the hyenas swarming the plaza.

Old Fan knew his prices were inflated, but even with haggling, the Crystal Wingman was not something a newbie could afford.

To put it simply, this thing was too expensive for newbies and didn't offer much direct combat power improvement. For veterans, it still required significant investment and enhancement to be effective. If they had the same resources, buying better ranged weapons or simply getting new skills would be a much better choice.

But Old Fan wasn't willing to sell it at a loss either, so he was just waiting here to see if any sucker would show up.

"It wasn't that hard. I saw you wandering around earlier, and any newbie with a bit of social skill would gather information like that."

Old Fan didn't say much more. Having already decided Cheng Tian couldn't afford it, he didn't outright ignore him.

"Honestly, it's too expensive."

Cheng Tian didn't dwell on it, instead shifting the focus back to the mass-produced Crystal Wingman.

Yes, he was indeed tempted.

At first glance, the Crystal Wingman seemed to be in an awkward position: neither tasty nor worth discarding.

The high MP consumption made it unaffordable for newbies, and its limited ability to replicate low-level skills and equipment restricted its use for veterans.

But it was different for Cheng Tian.

The MP consumption could be compensated by the newly acquired Extra Skill, "Soul Salvation." As for skill replication, although Cheng Tian's first formal skill was the B-grade "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons," don't forget he also had the Green Gear Polymorph Staff and the "Game Master" talent for template loading!

The template skills with no tier description brought by template loading might bypass the restrictions and satisfy the Crystal Wingman's replication conditions.

"I know I priced it high, but even if I slash the price by half as a huge sale, can you afford it?"

Old Fan wasn't intentionally mocking him, just trying to tell Cheng Tian not to aim too high.

Typically, a pure newbie player who survives their first trial and manages to get around one to two thousand coins is already considered excellent, and that's assuming they didn't slack off in the team Main Quest.

However, as Old Fan finished speaking, he saw Cheng Tian flip through his own panel on the spot, click his tongue, and then decisively turn to leave.

He even muttered as he walked away.

"Even if I sold this thing, I'd still be short eight hundred... Never mind then."

Cheng Tian figured the other party wasn't actually planning to sell it at half price, so he decided not to waste any more time and look at other things.

Most of us Chinese people value discretion with wealth, and Cheng Tian generally adhered to this principle. But at this very moment, being in the Chosen Space, his mindset had completely shifted to the "If I don't show off, how will others know I'm amazing?" and "Investing in myself means doubling my future returns!" show-off mode characteristic of how he approached games.

So, this muttering was intentional.

Although he wasn't sure how much a normal novice player should gain from a Novice Trial, he was very clear on one point: he was definitely a top-tier novice player!

As expected, upon hearing this, Old Fan's eyes widened as he stared at Cheng Tian's departing back. He then sprang up from his lounge chair.

"Only eight hundred short? You earned five thousand from a novice instance!? Are you kidding me!"

Old Fan's unrestrained outburst instantly drew the attention of many surrounding stall owners and customers. After understanding the meaning, they also focused their attention on Cheng Tian.

Everyone is curious, and this was even more so a novice instance that earned a whopping five thousand coins. Anyone with even a little common sense about the Chosen Space would find this gossip ridiculous.

Cheng Tian, the center of the gossip, stopped. He turned back to the side of Old Fan's stall... directly applied for a stall permit, and then, under the astonished gazes of the gossiping players, displayed a complete set of Knight Armor.

Then he heard a near-universal chorus of exclamations from the surroundings--

"Holy crap! It's from Demon World Village!?"