024. Equipment!

And at the same moment.

Just as the Black Monkey sent Merlin flying with a single swipe, black flames silently began to spread across the Black Monkey's body.

And right then, this burly black-furred monkey, a full five meters in length, who had just batted Merlin away, collapsed to its knees, letting out an utterly wretched and feeble howl from its jagged, interlocking fangs.

Its glossy black fur rapidly turned patchy and white in the black flames, while vicious, tearing wounds abruptly appeared across its body.

Bright red blood sprayed out continuously from all around it.

Its body slammed heavily onto the ground, the Black Monkey's mouth emitting constant, agonized roars.

For a moment, the monkey troop in this forest stood frozen in place, at a loss.

And at that moment, Merlin sat up from the ground, gritting his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

On his twisted, broken arms, as the black flames surged, the injuries vanished at a visible rate.

His arms healed completely in the blink of an eye.

In that instant, Merlin let out a heavy breath. Having absorbed the severe injury calamity from his body, his stamina and mental energy were now considerably drained.

Merlin's face darkened, but a lingering fear rose in his heart—thank goodness he had equipped [Lynx], or he absolutely wouldn't have reacted in time.

He stepped forward, walking toward the Black Monkey, now ravaged by the Platinum Lead Calamity and the Pain Calamity.

At this moment, he glanced around. The monkeys in the surrounding trees, upon meeting Merlin's gaze, all showed fear. Then, one by one, they slowly lowered their heads in submission.

Having defeated the old Monkey King, Merlin—this hairless fellow of the same kind—was naturally meant to take the throne.

Arriving before the Black Monkey, Merlin raised his right hand, black flames surging, and punched it in the back of the head. A dull thump rang out, and at the same time, he released the broken-arm and severe-injury calamities he had absorbed.

With a series of cracking sounds, the Black Monkey's thick arms suddenly twisted and snapped, while blood and foam gushed continuously from its mouth and nose.

It became even more listless.

Merlin looked at the Black Monkey before him, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. Then, he walked behind the Black Monkey, grabbed its tail, and dragged it toward the tree hollow.

The tail stretched taut, the nearly eight-hundred-jin body carving a long furrow in the ground as Merlin pulled it with effort into the tree hollow.

At that moment, Merlin suddenly noticed that the tree hollow didn't stink. Instead, a rich, fruity wine aroma faintly wafted through the air.

He looked around. The tree hollow was spacious—ten meters wide and twenty meters high.

And at the far end of the hollow, scattered on the ground, was a pile of stones emitting a hazy, shimmering glow.

This brought a strange, beautiful light to the otherwise pitch-black tree hollow.

Dropping the monkey tail, Merlin followed the scent of wine up a slope on the right side of the hollow. He stopped before a petrified tree wall, where a flat, elongated, irregular blue stone lay on the ground.

The wine aroma was coming from beneath this stone. Merlin's heart stirred, and he bent down to move the stone aside.

Suddenly.

A natural groove, three meters long and one meter wide, appeared.

Inside this groove, various fruits—some fresh, some old—floated above the surface.

At the same time, An incredibly rich wine fragrance hit his nose.

Merlin blinked, and a term suddenly popped into his mind:

"Monkey Wine?"

He knelt beside the groove, reached out to push aside the layer of fruit on top, and ripples spread across the liquid.

Cradling a handful of the wine, Merlin lowered his head and took a sip. It was astringent yet sweet, smooth and mellow on the tongue, incredibly fragrant.

As the wine slid down his throat into his stomach, a warm sensation surged from within his body.

Soon, his whole body felt pleasantly warm and comfortable, and the fatigue from his earlier exertion began to ease.

"I wonder how many years this fruit wine has naturally fermented, with all kinds of nutrient-rich fruits..."

Thinking of the legendary effects of Monkey Wine, Merlin's gaze turned thoughtful. He then looked back at the dying Black Monkey.

At that moment, with a thought, the Lynx in his Equipment Slot suddenly appeared before him, still in a state of unconsciousness.

And as he unequipped the Lynx, the world in Merlin's eyes suddenly felt different.

His vision grew blurry.

His body felt "weaker."

Merlin carried the Lynx over to the Black Monkey and placed his left hand on its head.

Shwoosh!

The empty Equipment Slot was once again filled with an [Equipment].

At that moment, the information for the Black Monkey quietly appeared in the Equipment Slot before him.

[Name: Dying Monkey King] [Effect: Upon equipping, grants you the biological traits of the Monkey King.]

[Synchronization Value: 1%]

[Evaluation: A monkey king with an immensely powerful body, yet afflicted by several "Calamities." A mutant among its troop. After prolonged equipment, there is a chance to permanently acquire this monkey's special traits.]

Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly. A familiar yet somewhat blurry night vision returned, and at the same time, a powerful, explosive surge of strength erupted from within his body.

Sensing the difference between equipping the Monkey King and the Lynx at this moment, he stood up, jumped, and walked around in place. Soon, a hint of disdain surfaced in his eyes: "Though my strength and physique are enhanced, my agility and dynamic vision are far inferior to the Lynx's."

Versatile, yet without a specialty.

This thought surfaced in Merlin's mind. For his current self, the Lynx was undoubtedly the more suitable choice to equip.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, the Black Monkey reappeared in the outside world.

At that moment, the Lynx in his hand vanished instantly, re-equipped anew.

And then, suddenly, Merlin's eyes widened. Because the Synchronization Value for equipping the Lynx, which had grown to 2%, had abruptly dropped back to 1%.

Merlin's mouth opened slightly, confusion in his mind, but he soon instinctively understood why this had happened.

[Once a temporarily equipped "Equipment" is removed, the Synchronization Value accumulated over time will be cleared.]

The corners of his mouth twitched.

But at the same time, there was also a trace of relief in his heart. Fortunately, he had discovered this early. If he had suddenly removed an [Equipment] later on, after building up a much higher Synchronization Value, it would have been cleared in an instant—and at that point, Merlin would have wanted to bang his head against a wall.

Luckily, the loss this time wasn't great.

But then, Merlin's gaze shifted to the trough of monkey wine, and he walked over.

Immediately after, he removed the Lynx, reached his hand into the monkey wine, and the next moment, not a single drop remained in the trough.

At the same time, information appeared on the Equipment Slot.

[Name: Hundred Fruit Monkey Wine]

[Effect: Upon equipping, grants the body a state of all-around nourishment.]

[Synchronization Value: 1%]

[Evaluation: An accidental byproduct, treasured by a powerful wild monkey. It possesses multiple nourishing effects beneficial to living organisms. After prolonged equipment, there is a chance to permanently acquire the special traits of this wine.]

As it was equipped, a warm current surged through his body, nourishing every part of him.

After a while, Merlin noticed his consciousness beginning to feel slightly tipsy.

The negative status effect of the wine?

As his thoughts turned, his understanding of this special equipment deepened.

The next moment, with a thought, the monkey wine returned to the trough, and the [Lynx] was re-equipped.

Merlin stared at the monkey wine in the trough, pondering, recalling the evaluation description from when he had equipped it earlier:

"If the Monkey King is gone, this wine trough might be devoured by the troop."

"Then..."

Merlin thought of the large bamboo grove he had passed on the way here while chasing.

Merlin covered the wine trough with a long stone slab, then walked over to the Black Monkey.

The blade of the katana slashed through the tendons of its limbs. Blood splattered as it was rendered completely helpless.

Then, he retrieved the Platinum Lead Calamity and the Pain Calamity, ensuring it wouldn't die for now.

Merlin strode toward the cave entrance. Before long, he arrived at the bamboo grove.

Using the blade, he cut down a bamboo stalk half a meter in diameter at the root. Soon, two bamboo tubes, each half a meter in diameter and one and a half meters tall, with the nodes sealed at both ends, were produced.

At the same time, a bamboo cup, also cut from the bamboo, appeared alongside them.

Then, on the top of each bamboo tube, he drilled an opening the size of an egg with the tip of his blade.

Not long after, Merlin returned to the tree hollow carrying the wine containers.

He glanced at the Black Monkey, which was sprawled on its side, screeching in pain. He walked over, stabbed the blade into its neck, and slashed a long gash horizontally.

Then, with a flick of the blade, a splash of blood painted a crimson arc on the ground.

Merlin went to the trough, moved aside the stone slab covering it, and used the bamboo cup to ladle the monkey wine into the bamboo tubes.

Time passed quickly. Twenty minutes later, both bamboo tubes were mostly full.

Inside the trough, which was over a meter deep, only a palm's depth of wine remained.

Merlin then looked at the Black Monkey, which had long since stopped breathing. Gripping the katana, he walked over.

He began to skin it.

Merlin had noticed earlier that this monkey's fur was exceptionally smooth in texture, and its size was also suitable for use as bedding or a mattress.

Half an hour later.

Brother Merlin returned fully laden.

Seeing Sister Yol still digging a hole in the tree.

Brother Merlin began processing the hide, spreading it over a large bluestone by the pool.

He scraped off the excess fat and grease with the blade edge, then meticulously polished the skin with coarse stone until the roots of the coarse fur were faintly visible.

He ground the extinguished black charcoal into fine powder, added water, wrapped it in the hide, and rubbed it vigorously to remove the last traces of grease.

Turning the raw hide into tanned leather.

Then he tied the hide to a stone and tossed it into the pool to soak, repeatedly kneading it with sand and mud in the water to soften it.

In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.

Brother Merlin fished the monkey hide out of the pool, washed it carefully, stretched it over bamboo strips, and set it to dry in the weak shade under the tree, occasionally rubbing it with his hands.

Time trickled by slowly. When night fell, Sister Yol came over with Lami, wearing an expression of a job well done.

She smiled at Brother Merlin:

"Our dwelling is finished. Want to come see the fruits of me and Lami's hard work all afternoon?"

At that, Lami said to Brother Merlin with a proud look:

"Brother Merlin, I kept a good watch today, and I even helped Sister Yol out!"

Brother Merlin ruffled Lami's head and said with a smile:

"Not bad, Lami's really something!"

Lami then walked over to the monkey hide, touched the fur with her hand, and exclaimed in surprise:

"It's this soft?"

Sister Yol followed over, examined and stroked it, then turned to look at Brother Merlin, a thick smile rising in her eyes:

"I never expected you to have this kind of skill in making fur!"

Brother Merlin raised an eyebrow at that. "There's plenty you don't know about me.

This is nothing yet!"