Old Luo's way of thinking was beyond Wang Qianduo's reach. Feeling as if he'd learned the game's ultimate secret, he logged off, excited.
Even after logging off, he couldn't sit still. It wasn't until he accidentally punched a hole through his bedside table that he finally calmed down a little.
"This kind of strength is terrifying!"
Wang Qianduo stared at the hole in the bedside table as he spoke.
But then he remembered that even if he were a hundred times stronger, he still couldn't beat an ordinary Mecha, and he calmed down completely.
He washed up and went to bed.
Tomorrow would be another day full of hope!
Because of what had happened the day before, Wang Qianduo unusually skipped his morning run.
After calling his parents, who were far away in Guanzhou, he ate something and logged on.
The previous night, he'd said goodbye to Old Luo and returned to the Homeworld Base.
Today, instead of heading straight out to do his daily cycle of quests, he went to the warehouse and took out the level 10 Perfect-grade equipment chest and Legendary skill chest he'd treasured for a long time.
As usual, he didn't waste time. Wang Qianduo opened the skill chest first, glanced over the options, and immediately chose one.
Photon Ray (Legendary)
LV1
Condenses twenty-two photon energy orbs, firing two rays per second to bombard enemies within a selected 150x150 area for 5 seconds. Each ray deals Light-attribute energy damage equal to 350% of attack power and reduces enemy defense by 10%.
Range: 300
Cast time: 5S (Instant)
MP cost: 500
Cooldown: 60S
Damage type: Energy damage, defense applies
Proficiency: 0/5000
Requirements: Intelligence-type Light-attribute Mecha
Wang Qianduo chose the skill without a second thought. An instant-cast, large-area AOE skill was practically every player's dream.
Especially with damage this high.
It was also the only Elemental-attribute skill among his options with a charge time under five seconds.
After choosing his skill, Wang Qianduo opened the level 10 Perfect equipment chest. It contained all six pieces of equipment and a weapon for a Mecha.
What's more, it was the fabled set equipment. But there was a catch.
Wang Qianduo couldn't replace some of his gear, such as his Fiery Golden Eyes, Source of Magic, and Phoenix Blood Heart.
His level 5 Phoenix Blood Heart was actually inferior to this level 10 Perfect engine, but it came with Future and the already fairly powerful burst skill, "Phoenix Mode."
Besides, this level 10 Perfect engine wasn't much better than the Phoenix Blood Heart.
If the Phoenix Blood Heart reached level 10 and successfully evolved to Rare quality, its stats might not be much worse.
"Forget it. I'll replace the gear I can for now and leave the Phoenix Blood Heart alone."
As he spoke, Wang Qianduo quickly chose the Intelligence-type armor, shield, and propulsion device.
Arcane Wings (Perfect 100%)
Bound
Propulsion Device
For Intelligence-type Mecha, level 10 or higher
Strength +15
Agility +15
Intelligence +20
Movement speed +20%
MP +200
Flight unlocked
Arcane Translocation: Activate to spend 100 Magic Energy and teleport within a range of 500.
Note: Whoosh!
Arcane Adamantine (Perfect 100%)
Bound
Armor material
For Intelligence-type Mecha, level 10 or higher
Strength +10
Agility +10
Intelligence +20
Defense +15
Damage reduction +10%
Cast speed +10%
Note: Using this kind of mana-conductive material for armor—mages really are loaded.
Arcane Shield (Perfect 100%)
Bound
Energy Shield
For Intelligence-type Mecha, level 10 or higher
HP +1000
MP +1000
Intelligence +10
Defense +5
MP recovery: 5 points/second
Arcane Shield (Perfect): Spend 15% MP to gain an energy shield with the same durability for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Passive activation: When the Mecha's HP drops below 10%, it gains an Arcane Shield at no cost.
The three pieces of equipment activated the first effect of the Arcane Set: the Mecha recovered 3 MP and HP per second.
The effect seemed mediocre, but it was better than nothing—and it suited Wang Qianduo perfectly.
That was because the Magic Energy Heart had two attributes: +100% HP recovery and +200% MP recovery.
Once those recovery effects were amplified, the results were something else entirely.
Wang Qianduo's Mecha now had the following attributes:
Lord of the Elements
HP: 2750
MP: 3550
Attack: 339
Defense: 450
Strength: 125
Agility: 130
Intelligence: 185
Attack speed: +2%
Movement speed: +20%
Attack power: +10%
Damage reduction: +10%
HP recovery: +100%
MP recovery: +200%
All skill levels: +LV2
Attack power: +10%
Skill attack power: +10%
Skill damage: +10%
Critical hit rate: 30%
Cooldown reduction: 10%
Defense ignored: 55%
Night vision range: +50%
Cast speed: +10%
Traits: Universal, Elemental Dominator
After changing his equipment, some of Wang Qianduo's attributes had actually decreased rather than improved, such as Strength and Agility.
But he'd already decided to focus on Intelligence, so there was no avoiding that.
He could keep using other equipment to make up for those attributes, but that would be a waste of his invincible core skill, Lord of the Elements.
For the weapon in the Perfect equipment gift box, Wang Qianduo casually chose Arcane Orb, a weapon for mage-type Mecha.
It took the form of two energy orbs floating above one of the Mecha's arms, and it could fire energy shots at enemies.
Unlike energy shots from skills, however, these only dealt normal attack damage, much like energy arrows—though its attacks also carried an attribute.
He chose the weapon casually because its stats were worse than those of the Minghong Blade, and it couldn't replace the bonuses the blade provided.
He also couldn't activate the five-piece set bonus, so it was nothing more than a toy.
Its attack was already close to the Minghong Blade's, but its attribute bonuses were leagues behind.
Once his equipment and skills were ready, Wang Qianduo set off to tackle his daily cycle of quests.
He still had another important task: getting the three experience-hungry growth items to level 10 and evolving them.
Simply gaining levels brought him too little. Evolving equipment was far more rewarding.
He could also put Old Huang's hidden quest on the schedule, and he couldn't let up on his big plan to run dungeons with the Yu Sisters.
He'd already saved enough for his mortgage, but he still wanted to buy a nice car.
"Now that I think about it, I've still got a lot to do," Wang Qianduo muttered.
Zero: "Sir, would you like me to make you a schedule?"
"I wasn't talking to you!"
"Okay!"
╮(╯＿╰)╭
This guy definitely had something wrong with him!
~~~
There were no complications with General Huang. Once he learned that Wang Qianduo's Mecha had finished evolving, General Huang immediately gave him the follow-up to his only hidden quest.
But after looking it over, Wang Qianduo decided to put it aside for now. Although it was a solo quest, it involved a level 10 dungeon.
That meant it was another quest he couldn't complete alone. He'd finish today's cycle of quests first!
"Come run a dungeon! Our first run's about to start!"
Wang Qianduo soon reached the fourth quest in the first round of his daily cycle. He contacted the Yu Sisters and Night Owl.
Night Owl: "Coming! Coming!"
Yu Xiaoxin: "On my way!"
Yu Xiaoyu: "Got it! Got it!"
Not long after the three replied, they showed up at the dungeon entrance.
The Yu Sisters were Wang Qianduo's partners, while Night Owl was the customer.
The guy was seriously loaded. Most people ran Nightmare Dungeons for the gear.
At their level, the drop rate in Nightmare Dungeons wasn't low. A couple of days of running them would be enough, and any longer would make it hard for them to keep up with the Gold Crystal costs.
But Night Owl was running dungeons purely to level up. He was definitely the person Wang Qianduo had met with the most Gold Crystal, apart from himself.
He'd already collected all the gear he needed, but he still paid to run dungeons with them, just for the little bit of extra experience a Nightmare Dungeon offered over a Hard Dungeon.
After all, Wang Qianduo's rates for taking people through dungeons hadn't stayed the same over the past few days. They changed constantly.
As his reputation spread, he started taking bids for dungeon runs. The highest offer had reached 40 Gold Crystals per person.
At the current price of Gold Crystal, that was almost ten thousand yuan!
Spending that much just to run a dungeon was something the old Wang Qianduo could never have understood.
Still, Old Wang was pretty decent about it. He often gave Night Owl a discount because he was a regular.
"Did your Mecha evolve? You're already level 10?" The moment they met, Yu Xiaoyu and the others noticed how much Wang Qianduo's Mecha had changed.
(He'd practically switched to a whole new Mecha. How could they not notice?)
"I hit level 10 yesterday. You know I have a special way to get quests," Wang Qianduo said.
"Impressive!" The three of them said sincerely. They'd only just reached level 8 and had no idea how long it would take to get to level 10.
Then they exchanged glances and nodded, but Wang Qianduo didn't notice.
He quickly called for a customer and led the group straight into the dungeon.
Since the gear hadn't been listed yet, he wouldn't go over its attributes separately.
Thanks to Quietly Don't Think About It, the boss, for two monthly tickets; to Baozi Is Delicious, the boss, for one monthly ticket; to Gale Assault Gundam, the boss, for two monthly tickets; to Route 1876, the boss, for two monthly tickets; and to Northern Autumn Wind Red Leaves, the boss, for one monthly ticket.
Thanks to Happy668, the boss, for the tip.
Thanks to all the bosses for the recommendation tickets and investments.
Before you continue