The two upgrade options each had their pros and cons.
The first cost less and took effect quickly, making its upgraded advantages obvious at a glance.
The second cost more and added an electric mechanism that could increase attack speed.
"Which one should I choose?"
Looking at the spear before him, Su Mo hesitated.
Deep down, he actually leaned toward the second option. After all, being able to use an electric mechanism in an era when everyone was still rubbing stones together would definitely be a qualitative change.
But then, "I choose the first one!"
Su Mo clearly remembered the description of the chameleon in the Monster Compendium.
Although this chameleon had gained better camouflage after mutating, it had sacrificed its mobility in return.
Compared with the attack speed gained from spending 40 Survival Points, the first option was obviously more cost-effective.
Besides, if the electric mechanism needed charging, there wasn't even a vent in the base right now. To charge it, he could only generate electricity through friction.
As Su Mo thought, the spear before him gradually took on a new color under the system's modification.
Its wood was streaked with red and yellow. Clearly, the wooden spear hadn't been transformed into metal or stone.
Beech Spear: A brand-new wooden spear with fine overall grain and patterns that seemed to drift like wild geese. Its texture was as tough as iron, and its lethality was quite impressive.
"It's beech!"
Seeing its attributes, Su Mo was both surprised and delighted.
Beech was one of the most valuable types of wood, an excellent and rare material for making Cold Weapons.
Compared with metal, this wood's resilience was even more precious for someone with no combat experience.
For just 5 Survival Points, he could evolve wood to this degree. This transformation once again gave Su Mo a deeper understanding of the system's power.
"Now I'm only missing a set of protective gear. I absolutely can't get injured out in the wild!"
Opening the trading panel, Su Mo began browsing.
It was January 2 on the Doomsday Calendar. After a full day, many people had been forced to venture into the wilderness to seek survival and explore.
Although not many had found treasure chests, with billions of people as the base, there were still some sets of protective gear on the trading panel.
"I don't necessarily need to buy the best. I have the system. Perhaps I can buy one and try evolving it."
As he examined the items, Su Mo pondered to himself.
There was still 100 milliliters of water in stock. By the time he set out at noon, he could probably save up another 200 milliliters or so.
With that water's current purchasing power, he could buy a somewhat crude and bulky Pottery Armor on the market.
Pottery Armor wasn't advantageous against large creatures, but because of its material, it was still fairly decent against some small creatures.
Once he had made up his mind, he waited until noon, when the sun was at its fiercest.
Su Mo first spent 200 milliliters of water on the Pottery Armor, then another 50 milliliters on 300 grams of bread.
After eating the bread and drinking 50 milliliters of water with the remaining Water Pear, Su Mo's condition was completely restored.
Compared with the chameleon squatting on the dry ground and waiting bitterly, Su Mo's timing was perfect for putting the principle of when the enemy is exhausted, I attack into practice.
"Wait. Wait a little longer."
After taking out the Monster Compendium and scanning again to confirm that the chameleon was still there, Su Mo subdued his impatience and began taking out the armor.
Piece by piece, yellow-brown tiles were threaded together with unknown cotton string, protecting the body's and legs' vital areas according to their shape.
Worn Pottery Armor
Upgrade Direction One: Increase defense, upgrade the pottery material, and strengthen overall durability. Requires Survival Points (5 points).
Upgrade Direction Two: Upgrade the overall material and alter its plasticity. The result varies according to the materials invested. Direct upgrade requires Survival Points (60).
Evaluation: This armor should not be worn into battle. A museum might be its best destination.
As usual, Su Mo once again chose Upgrade Direction One.
A flash of light appeared.
The armor, which had been worn and battered, instantly became covered in a glossy sheen, and a peculiar scent wafted from it.
Hunter's Pottery Armor: Excellent material, neat stitching, considerable defensive power, and a unique hidden-grass scent that can mask a hunter's body odor.
After laboriously putting the improved Hunter's Pottery Armor on, Su Mo felt completely reassured.
The importance of weapons and armor in the apocalypse went without saying.
"Let's see where you can run now, you beast!"
Opening the base's gate, Su Mo held the spear in both hands as if he were holding a rifle in a television drama. He strode toward the chameleon's location.
Yesterday's logging had left the shrubbery in a chaotic state.
With withered leaves scattered everywhere on the ground and blocking his vision, it was difficult to see the chameleon's exact location.
However, it didn't matter.
After silently calling for the Monster Compendium to scan once more, a line of information appeared.
A Mutated Camouflage Chameleon has been detected 19 meters from the player. Danger rating: 65. Please proceed with caution.
Uses remaining today: 0/3
At last, Su Mo saw the chameleon's appearance clearly for the first time.
It wasn't lying on the ground. The cunning chameleon was perched right on top of the first tree that had not yet been felled.
If Su Mo failed to notice it today, the chameleon would ambush him while he was cutting the tree, and he would definitely be caught off guard.
After finding the enemy, Su Mo restrained his steps and pretended to look around absentmindedly.
"I don't know whether this beast is intelligent, but there's no harm in being careful."
He walked slowly. When there were only about two meters left, Su Mo suddenly burst forward at full speed toward the chameleon.
The Beech Spear hanging in his hand came up and pointed straight ahead.
The chameleon perched in the tree seemed to realize that its camouflage had been exposed and hurriedly tried to adjust its position.
Unfortunately, its sluggish reaction speed made it impossible to dodge or shift quickly.
Charge, thrust, turn! The sequence flowed like water! Although it was his first attack and his aim wasn't very accurate, so he failed to stab its head, the tip of the Beech Spear still pierced the exact center of the chameleon's body.
He yanked it out! A smear of sickly green blood splashed onto the bark below, releasing a scorched, burnt smell!
Seeing how deadly the poison was, Su Mo pulled out the Beech Spear and decisively retreated.
The chameleon, now pierced by a bowl-sized hole, began to go berserk from the agony.
Its unending blood loss had already caused it to lose all reason, and it began attacking everything around it in rage.
Green venom sprayed continuously from the chameleon's mouth. Within a radius of three meters, the scene was horrifying.
"Hiss, this venom is really fierce."
While waiting, Su Mo lowered his head and took a look. His scalp went numb.
The tip of the Beech Spear was already covered in holes of various sizes, melting rapidly like ice exposed to fire.
After silently setting the Beech Spear aside, Su Mo lay on the ground and used the Game Panel to make another wooden spear, spending 5 Survival Points to evolve it once again.
By the time the evolution was complete, the chameleon on the other side seemed to have become completely exhausted as well.
It collapsed onto the ground and lay motionless, looking as though it were dead.
Lying on the ground in the distance, Su Mo raised his brows and continued waiting patiently.
From the information he had learned in the chat channel yesterday, killing a monster would inevitably cause it to drop a resource treasure chest.
If he hadn't seen that message, he might have foolishly gone up to finish it off.
Now that he knew, the chameleon's act of playing dead was useless.
Sure enough, less than a minute later,
The chameleon on the ground raged helplessly and began convulsing. After spraying venom for another three to five seconds, it flopped onto the ground with a thud.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Mo threw the Beech Spear beside him, which had already been corroded beyond recognition. It landed right next to the chameleon.
The chameleon, making one last desperate effort, tried to spray more venom.
However, when it raised its head and saw that it was only a wooden spear, it let out a sorrowful cry of rage and collapsed heavily onto the ground.
This time, the chameleon was truly dead.
The green venom on the ground was also rapidly disappearing. As the chameleon's corpse burst into a dazzling radiance, a silver-white treasure chest appeared where it had been once the light faded!
"It's a Silver Treasure Chest! I'm really rich this time!"
Looking at the treasure chest before him, Su Mo was ecstatic and wished he could rush over and open it to see what was inside.
I'm mailing out the contract today. The readers who invested are welcome to invest boldly!
Before you continue