"What are you still looking at? Let's get out of here!"
The woman leading the team looked at everyone and said helplessly, "In Mecha World, the places where you log out and log back in inside the Safe Zone are different. Only out in the wild do you return to the same place."
There was no point waiting around here. They might as well think of something else.
"[Mountains and Seas] Guild's subordinate Mercenary Corps is recruiting! Looking for experts with a Training Ground score of A or higher. Let's grow stronger together! [Sand Scorpion's Tail]"
Just as everyone was about to give up, a glittering message appeared in the regional channel.
They looked at the equipment link the person had posted, then exchanged glances. Wasn't that the item the guy had just sold?
"Captain, isn't that your younger brother?"
"Yeah! We've finally found him after all that searching!"
After a brief sigh, the woman led her team to find Lin Hanshi.
"Hanshi."
"...Sis! Look at the new equipment I picked up!" Lin Hanshi looked a little uncomfortable when he saw her, but still spoke ingratiatingly.
Of all the people in the world, the one Lin Hanshi had feared most since childhood was the woman standing before him. She'd beaten him countless times, leaving him with a fear etched into his bones!
But they didn't spend long catching up. Once the woman got the information she wanted, she left.
Meanwhile, after logging out, Wang Qianduo washed up and went to bed. He always kept a regular schedule, going to bed early and getting up early.
Going to sleep after midnight was already very late for him.
Even when he worked overtime, he'd never gone to bed this late.
He slept soundly until eight, then got up, washed, went for a morning run, and ate breakfast. At nine o'clock sharp, he logged in.
Today, he planned to reach level 5, complete the hidden quest, visit the Training Ground, see if he could get a Thruster, and learn to fly...
"There's so much to do!"
Wang Qianduo sighed helplessly as he thought about it all.
But sighing wouldn't get anything done. He could only take things one at a time.
He opened the control interface, tapped the recharge page, and spent 45,000 to raise his VIP level to the maximum, VIP 15.
Raising his VIP level from 1 to 10 had cost only 5,000. Going from VIP 10 to VIP 15 cost 45,000, and the items he received were naturally on an entirely different level.
There were all sorts of materials, money, character-stat outfits, and miscellaneous things, but even setting those aside, the important rewards alone left Wang Qianduo dazzled.
VIP 11 granted a Growth-Type Legendary Equipment Chest. VIP 12 granted a Legendary Active Skill Chest. VIP 13 granted an Equipment Upgrade Stone. VIP 14 granted a Wingman Selection Chest. VIP 15 granted an Epic Equipment Selection Chest.
The only things he could use right now were the Legendary skill, the equipment chest, and the Equipment Upgrade Stone, but he was still thrilled.
With all this, if he still couldn't take off, then all those years of gaming had been for nothing.
"But come to think of it, VIP 11 gives you Legendary Equipment. That first recharge bonus is pretty generous!"
But he'd been eagerly expecting a massive boost when he opened everything, and was soon doused with cold water.
After Wang Qianduo bought all the packs, he awkwardly discovered that he didn't have enough backpack space.
He'd received three sixteen-slot backpacks for upgrading his VIP level, but there were simply too many items in the VIP packs, and they came in all sorts. Even then, his backpack still wasn't big enough, and some of the packs were still sitting in his mail.
"What am I supposed to do?" Wang Qianduo scratched his head. If he didn't have enough backpack space, he couldn't open the packs!
Following his usual principle of asking the internet whenever he didn't understand something, he searched his situation online and quickly found an answer.
He needed a warehouse, but he had to reach Mecha level 5 before he could unlock one from an NPC.
Well, that settled it. Time to level up!
Fortunately, after yesterday's beast tide, he was only a little over 2,000 experience away from level 5.
Wang Qianduo was already leveling up quickly. Even with the main quest, reaching level 3 in half a day was impressive for most people.
Thank goodness for the beast tide!
Wang Qianduo, intent on leveling up, paid no attention to the constantly flashing friend icon. It had been like that ever since he sold the equipment blueprint yesterday.
"What do we do if he won't answer us?" one of the players searching for the Scorpion King's Heart asked helplessly, staring at the silent friends list.
"What else? Nothing we can do! I'll find Hanshi and ask him to contact the guy."
As for Wang Qianduo, although he was much stronger than yesterday, he wasn't leveling any faster. In fact, because he'd leveled up and was getting less experience per monster, he was progressing more slowly.
There were only so many monsters, and people were everywhere. What could he do?
It was sheer torture!
Fortunately, the torture would only last half a day. After half a day of tireless effort, he finally reached level 5.
Then he immediately returned to the city, unlocked his warehouse, and used Gold Crystal to upgrade it to the highest level. He tossed all his unused materials into storage.
At last, he could open his chests.
He decided to start with the lower-level ones.
Wang Qianduo found a quiet spot with few people and opened the Legendary Equipment Chest first.
This time, the equipment wasn't a weapon. Instead, it was one of the six core pieces of equipment.
And unlike the Minghong Blade in his hand, these pieces were all Growth-Type equipment, just like the Phoenix Blood Heart.
It seemed there was still quite a gap between the first recharge bonus and VIP 11!
Among the mecha's six core pieces of equipment—the Reconnaissance Device, Core Engine, Energy Core, Thruster, armor, and shield—the Energy Core was by far the most important.
But Wang Qianduo also had an Epic Equipment Chest, so there was no need to rush. After much deliberation, he chose the Reconnaissance Device, one of the pieces of equipment widely considered the hardest to obtain on the forums.
It looked like a golden eye, and its name was Fiery Golden Eyes.
[Fiery Golden Eyes] (Legendary) LV1 Bound Reconnaissance Device Universal for mecha at level LV1 and above Ignores Defense +10% Critical Hit Rate +10% Vision Range +50% Activates Mechanical Vision Insight: Can scout the basic information of any enemy below Legendary grade whose mecha level is no more than 10 levels higher than your own. See Through: Can detect illusion-type skills used by enemies whose mecha level is no more than 10 levels higher than your own. Weak Point Attack: Your next three attacks are guaranteed critical hits after use. Growth: Mecha level 10, 100,000 experience, Golden Eye Crystal (1/1), Lesser Lord Core Heart (1/1) Note: A Legendary piece of equipment designed after myths and legends, in tribute to the Great Sage. P.S. May literature and sports flourish together.
The Reconnaissance Device didn't increase any of his three core attributes, but it was still extremely important.
Only after equipping it would a mecha truly activate Mechanical Vision. Its radar, imaging, minimap, and other functions would then work properly.
Most people could only get an ordinary-grade version of this equipment from the level 10 main quest. To get a higher-grade one, they had to farm for it, and the drop rate was painfully low.
Wang Qianduo didn't have a main quest right now, and he had no idea what would happen later, so he chose this equipment.
Next was the Legendary Active Skill Chest. It was a difficult choice, so he set it aside for now. He still hadn't decided what path to take.
The Equipment Upgrade Stone could raise an item's level, but it could only be used on non-growth equipment below Legendary grade.
Wang Qianduo hesitated, but didn't choose to upgrade the Minghong Blade.
He now knew that there was a grade above Legendary: Epic. If using this item turned the Minghong Blade into Growth-Type equipment, that would be fine.
But if it became a level 1 Epic item, he'd be in trouble. No matter how powerful a level 1 Epic item was, it was still level 1 equipment. He couldn't use it for his whole life.
Unless it had growth potential—in which case it would be endgame equipment.
He had to save this item for endgame equipment. There was no way he'd waste it here.
He couldn't use the Wingman Chest yet either. Wingmen were for players level 30 and above, and he'd never seen anyone using one.
After putting away everything he couldn't use, Wang Qianduo took out the Epic Equipment Chest.
Wang Qianduo rubbed his hands together, then opened the chest. A flash of red light swept past, and all sorts of equipment appeared before him.
There was no need to hesitate. He went straight for the mecha's most important piece: the Energy Core.
[Source of Magic] (Epic) LV1 Bound Energy Core Universal for mecha at level LV1 and above HP +500 MP +500 Strength +50 Agility +50 Intelligence +50 HP Recovery +100% MP Recovery +200% All Skill Levels +LV2 Skill Attack Power +10% Skill Damage +10% Magic Energy Burst: After activation, restores 10% HP and 10% MP per second for 15 seconds. Growth: Mecha level 10, Legendary Heart (0/1), Rare Magic Crystal (100/100), 500,000 experience Note: When light and darkness entwine, when the stars of the heavens go dark, the world will tremble before me.
"Beautiful!"
After looking over this piece of Epic equipment, Wang Qianduo couldn't help but exclaim. It was genuinely powerful.
Even a mecha around level 20 couldn't match the stats he had now, at level 5 and with no attribute points assigned.
His Epic upgrade was complete. Next, it was time to get to his quests.
Before you continue