Loot Assessment

Iver didn't look for a wheelchair; he simply got out of bed in his pajamas.

He stepped directly onto the soft, dry carpet and couldn't help but exclaim, "It's really clean. I don't see any bloodstains on the floor, and the carpet isn't even dirty... Well done, Shadow Fiend."

As Iver's feet touched the ground, the contract between Shadow Fiend and Iver was established, and the power belonging to Shadow Fiend was activated.

The morning light of the Rising Sun was shining on Iver.

The sunlight wasn't strong, casting only a faint shadow on him. But after the Shadow Fiend activated, the shadow suddenly thickened—like a large dose of ink being dripped into water. The shadow at Iver's feet became like a fluffy black cat.

The entire room grew dim, and countless wisps of black smoke gradually solidified, slowly creeping up all the windows. The increasingly thick shadows resembled dense blood vessels and nerves, or slowly growing tree branches, almost completely blocking out the sunlight.

Now only a sliver of sunlight remains. It's like the dim, barely visible state of the room at dawn.

"It's too dark."

Iver casually replied, "But whatever makes you happy."

"I thought you were going to tear her to shreds. I was prepared to just pick up whatever was useful... I didn't expect her to be so well preserved."

He picked and chose, searching through his spoils.

The more he examined the matter, the more subtle his expression became.

Putting aside the equipment, why is even the underwear so well preserved?... Ah, wait, that doesn't make sense either.

If you have all your gear, but your underwear is missing, that seems like a bigger problem...

After a quick search, Iver concluded that the most valuable item the Assassin Miss had "dropped" was probably her dagger, the handleless throwing knife.

[Eagle Feather *4]

[Extraordinary Weapon (Light Purple)]

[Alien Dagger, Throwing Weapon, Lightweight, Sharp]

[Unique characteristic: Handleless (it requires a special technique to use properly)]

[Module - Poison Gauge: Its poison effect lasts longer and is more likely to poison enemies upon hit]

[Extraordinary Module - Silent Poison: When coated with poison, it will not make any sound before hitting the target]

There are four throwing knives left in this set.

It has no fancy attributes; all its effects are designed for assassination. Among Extraordinary Weapon, it's one of the weakest types—but for an assassin, it's an excellent concealed weapon.

Once coated with venom, it will no longer make a sound as it cuts through the air. If attacked in this way, it can only be dodged through intuition. Some cultivators lacking intuition, even with high levels of transcendence, cannot detect it through perception.

It's a pity the Assassin Miss didn't drop the "skill book." Iver is temporarily unable to obtain Hawkeye's assassin techniques for using this weapon...

—But it's not unusable. Just find a trustworthy blacksmith to attach a hilt to it. That way, it will turn from a hybrid dagger back into a regular dagger.

It might cause a shift in the center of gravity, but it won't affect its properties anyway. If the blacksmith is skilled enough, he should be able to modify it properly.

The Assassin Miss also carries two vials of the poison that come with the knife, both in the form of lipstick.

One of the lipsticks is dark red and called "Love." The poison inside is quite insidious; it causes the person to become increasingly fatigued within a few hours after being poisoned, and then suddenly die without them realizing it.

The other one is pink and called "Moon Mist." It can kill a person within seconds, the cause of death being the rapid corrosion and melting of internal organs, primarily the heart and lungs—clearly the poison used to assassinate the secretary.

Both lipsticks are practically brand new and should last a long time. Iver isn't a poison maker, nor is he a superhuman Path of Adaptation, so he's not immune to this poison. And he clearly doesn't use lipstick either.

Even so, using the lipstick directly as a solid poison is perfectly fine. Hawkeye Organization's poison is quite reliable... Anyway, keep it for now, it might come in handy later.

Besides that, there was a transmitter. It was an emblem that required the infusion of Dark Attribute Mana to activate, and its purpose was to urgently notify one's superiors—either to request help or to commit suicide.

It seems Shadow Fiend was very efficient. She didn't even have time to commit suicide before Shadow Fiend killed her.

Otherwise, this experience will be wasted.

"This can explode?!"

When Iver saw the Assassin Miss's corset, he gasped in shock.

"—Is she really that high up in Eagle Eyes' eyes?!"

Because that is the other piece of equipment in the "Eagle in the Shadow" set, and also the most valuable and core piece: [Sneaker in the Shadows].

[Exceptional Equipment (Purple)]

[Armor - Torso]

[Trait: Increases the ease with which you can successfully enter stealth or invisibility when undetected by enemies (limited to Path of Adaptation trigger)]

[Exceptional Trait: While in stealth or invisibility, your sneak attacks always gain +1 advantage (Shadow) (Triggered only by Path of Adaptation)]

[Set: Eagle in the Shadow (1/4)]

"—Keep quiet, keep silent. The shadow is our mother."

Although its rarity is only purple, it has absolutely no resistances and no enchanted spells...

But this is undoubtedly the most valuable piece of equipment.

It can be purchased in the game, but this particular piece of equipment is not mass-produced. Therefore, the set bonus is actually impossible to collect completely; most players can only obtain three pieces. The fourth piece must be acquired through Special Channel.

Because it brings about an increase in "priority".

The reason why extraordinary individuals in this world use "energy level" to describe their ranks is because, in the event of a conflict of abilities, those with higher energy levels are more likely to succeed. However, when energy levels are the same, the outcome is less certain.

For example, the Path of Authority possesses the Law Spell of "Nothing Can Hide," which can reveal things hidden by supernatural forces within its range. This spell has a +1 advantage (reveal) and can be successfully activated even if the opponent is one energy level lower, but it will basically fail to reveal anything if the opponent is two energy levels lower.

Therefore, those low-level inspectors and Law Mage cannot find the Assassin Miss —they are too low-level, and no matter what they do, they cannot find her.

The +1 advantage (Shadow) means that, thanks to the enhancement of the Shadow Domain, the assassin can gain a temporary energy level when launching a sneak attack. However, if the opponent is immune to Shadow abilities, then this priority enhancement is ineffective.

Based on Iver's assessment, Gordon should be a level 39 Sky Knight. At his age, the old man should have accumulated enough experience. Therefore, he's definitely stuck at the level before advancement—exactly level 39.

He probably failed to advance his level repeatedly, so he decided not to advance anymore.

Failing to advance from the Fourth Level the Fifth Level will cause significant damage to the soul. Death is even possible during the Full Moon Ritual.

Although Gordon didn't bring a mount, the Assassin Miss didn't launch a sneak attack either. As a weaker class, to be able to fight Sky Knight head-on to a draw, and even outrun a griffin, the Assassin Miss must be around level 38 or 39.

This aligns with Hawkeye Organization's strategy: their assassins deployed overseas are primarily Fourth Level assassins. Only assassins at this level can safely evade tracking and detection, operating in unfamiliar and dangerous areas.

If the Assassin Miss can complete the advancement ritual and reach level 40, then Gordon will have no chance of suppressing her. Even though it's only one level difference, it still represents a whole tier.

But if those Fifth Level superhumans with names starting with "Great" actually came, Chloe's stealth would be meaningless to them. They could easily sweep Chloe out and subdue her.

This is energy level suppression. It is precisely because of this strict "hierarchy" system that extraordinary individuals refer to it as "energy level," meaning the priority of Extraordinary Ability.

Path of Adaptation grant the ability to prevent ambushes and sense danger, while others possess defensive capabilities. However, once an assassin dons this cloth armor, which offers absolutely no defensive attributes, they can successfully ambush enemies they couldn't before, pierce defenses they couldn't before, and hit targets they couldn't before.

Even if it's only +1, but it's just a temporary increase of one energy level, it's still extremely valuable!

While the number of priority-boosting stats has increased with each update, which can be considered a form of numerical inflation, even +1 advantage equipment is still rare in the current 1.0 version.

Without any favorable buffs, it's practically impossible to defeat the Fallen Angel at level 50.

Level 50 is already almost impossible to reach in the current version, representing the Sixth Level. It would require all level 49 transcendents from the Nine Paths to gather and potentially advance, with a high probability of death if they failed. Because it's practically impossible to gather enough people right now, advancing to level 50 is very difficult... It won't be until the world descends into chaos and the power of the Fifth Level becomes insufficient that the Sixth Level will begin to emerge in large numbers.

In the current environment, the Sixth Level is undoubtedly the strongest in the world and the number one in the world.

The Eternal Pope of the Theocracy is currently level 50, but she only temporarily gained one level by virtue of her Eternal Pope status. She will regress to level 49 when she steps down.

The Fallen Angel, as an extremely difficult dungeon in Version 3.0, barely even reached the minimum level requirement of 50. In large-scale MMORPGs like this, the most challenging dungeon in a given version is practically inaccessible to players who aren't at the required level and gear score; otherwise, they'll likely wipe repeatedly.

—This is the true value of Greater Phantom Demon.

Just as "higher -Greater Demon" refers to demons of a higher rank than Demon Scholar, the concept of "Greater Phantom Demon" only emerged after the Fallen Angel wiped out the ""Rosy Cross" Society" society. It refers to phantom demons of a higher rank than those in this world—all apostles and celestial officers belong to the Greater Phantom Demon.

The distinction between Greater Phantom Demon phantoms lies in the fact that even if a higher-ranking Greater Phantom Demon is forcibly brought into the Material Realm and its level is capped at the world's upper limit, it is always considered to be a higher rank. This is the main reason for the "Rosy Cross" Society Society's failure—purely due to information asymmetry.

Whether or not it has a +1 unconditional advantage across all areas (divinity) is the distinction between Greater Phantom Demon and a phantom.

Only Greater Phantom Demon can be sealed into great beasts by the Great Sin Scholar.

Therefore, although the Paradox Flame Butterfly's level was low, its status was very high—this premature Little Butterfly, which hadn't fully hatched, was only level 30 at the time, but its classification was based on the Fifth Level. It was almost immune to all control, weakening, curses, armor penetration, and sneak attacks, and could even penetrate the player's resistances and shields.

At the time, players thought this was a standard feature in raids... but then the bosses in the next two major updates didn't have this characteristic. It wasn't until players defeated the Fallen Angel that they belatedly realized... that the Paradox Flame Butterfly was actually the first Greater Phantom Demon they had ever defeated.

Therefore, any equipment with the "+1 advantage" affix should be collected as a top priority. Although only the highest level bonus is taken for each area, there are still quite a few areas with bonuses.

This is also why Iver wanted to go on an archaeological expedition—even the natives knew this equipment was valuable, and it was basically only held by the top powers of each country. In Iris, it's Hawkeye; in Avalon, it's the Arbitration Hall.

The strongest being in Avalon should be Meg the Grand Arbitrator.

Although she is only Fifth Level transcendent being, she possesses three pieces of equipment with a +1 priority, which enhance the "Barrier," "Revelation," and "Resistance" domains respectively. If she were to wield the Queen's Scepter, she would also gain a priority in the "Law" domain; at that point, she would essentially be a Sixth Level supreme being.

It is precisely because of Meg's powerful deterrent that Avalon, with its increasingly chaotic internal political situation and various factions, has been able to survive to this day.

It was because Meg realized the situation in Avalon was becoming increasingly precarious by next summer that she decided to attempt an advancement. If she could successfully advance, Star Antimony would absolutely not dare to attack Avalon.

But during that Promotion Ritual, Meg failed to advance and ultimately died.

Only three months later came the "Cruel Autumn" event in Avalon.