Epic Equipment

The voice came through Mental Transmission.

Lin An was no stranger to this. This method was much like Team Communication.

However, only beings with Third Order strength could master this kind of Mental Transmission.

There was no one else around, so the only one capable of this had to be Black Snake.

A pleasant surprise, unbelievable.

Could it be that Black Snake had asked the Black-Clad Mutant for the Necklace for himself?

Lin An instinctively reached for the Necklace, completely unconcerned about the mucus on it.

Forget the mucus.

Even if it had fallen into a mountain of corpses, he would have fished out an Epic Equipment accessory that could complete his equipment.

The Necklace felt cold in his hand.

"Beep, you have obtained Blue Equipment (Excellent): Soul Splinter."

"Equipment Attributes: Willpower +5, Mental Strength Amplification +10%, Mental Strength Recovery Speed +30%, Attack Speed +10%, attacks carry Mental Shock (Mental Shock: relies on Mental Strength to harm any creature possessing Mental Strength, dealing damage according to the difference in strength and also applying a stun effect.)"

"Equipment Description: A fragment of a shattered soul. It looks like it can be embedded somewhere. Perhaps you can find its vessel."

"Note: This fragment is incomplete. Fuse it after obtaining the other fragments."

Too powerful.

Lin An's heart pounded wildly.

Even if he did not use the Soul Splinter to complete Skull Crusher's Hand, the effects of this equipment alone were already strong enough.

Especially its effect of adding Mental Shock to attacks—it was undoubtedly the finest of Blue Equipment.

In his Previous Life, Lin An had only seen a few Epic Equipment items with such effects in the Chat Channel, displayed for bragging rights.

Moreover, the special effects attached to those few Epic Equipment items were nothing more than Flame, Frost, and the like.

Compared to a method as impossible to guard against as Mental Shock, they were clearly inferior.

Either of these two Blue Equipment items would be enough to drive Players crazy.

Lin An truly could not imagine how powerful Skull Crusher's Hand would become once completed.

"Quick... fuse it."

Mental Strength from Black Snake urged Lin An on, seemingly somewhat anxious.

It was coiled up with its head hanging low, looking listless.

It no longer possessed the awe-inspiring might it had shown when it transformed into a giant python.

It seemed the battle with the Red-Clad Mutant just now had not been as one-sided as it had appeared.

Lin An came back to his senses and immediately took off the Glove.

"Fuse!"

"Buzz."

The Obsidian on the Necklace instantly burst into dazzling radiance, and the two pieces of equipment merged together.

When the light faded, the previously empty section of the Glove had been filled by Obsidian.

Under the expectant gazes of Lin An and Black Snake, brand-new patterns appeared on the Glove's originally pitch-black surface.

"Beep, you have obtained Orange Equipment (Epic): Soul Devouring Gauntlet."

"Equipment Attributes: Strength +6, Physique +6, Willpower +6, Agility +6."

"Attack Speed +20%, Mental Strength Amplification +20%, Mental Strength Recovery Speed +50%."

"Attack Special Effect 1: Every attack carries Mental Shock, causing a brief stun effect and providing additional bonuses according to the Willpower Attribute of the equipment's owner."

"Attack Special Effect 2: Soul Devouring. After killing an enemy, you can extract the dead soul to replenish Mental Strength."

"Attached Skill: Soul Shriek (B-Rank). Instantly generates a ring-shaped Mental Shockwave that indiscriminately harms all creatures within its range. (Daily uses: 1/1. After use, it enters recharge and recovers the next day.)"

The attributes were incomparably impressive.

Lin An was ecstatic.

Looking at the Soul Devouring Gauntlet covered in intricate patterns in his hands, Lin An was so delighted that he could not speak.

Epic Equipment—truly, it was an existence that could be exchanged for an entire Medium Safe Zone.

All Attributes +6. This was practically equivalent to raising the level of a Second Order Awakened and a Player by two levels out of thin air.

Even an ordinary Player, no matter how weak, could rival an Awakened with these lavish attribute bonuses.

If an Awakened obtained it, they could kill a Second Order existence by force with this equipment alone!

Moreover, attributes such as Attack Speed and Mental Strength Amplification were exceedingly rare.

With Lin An's current Agility, he could slash about five times within a second.

If he equipped the Glove, he could forcibly add another slash on top of those five out of thin air.

In the future, if he fought other Awakened, and his opponent still measured him by the Attack Speed of an ordinary Awakened, they would certainly be caught off guard.

One slash was the difference between life and death!

As for Mental Strength Amplification, it could increase the number of times he could release his Talent Skill.

With Lin An's current Willpower Attribute, his Talent Skill, "Strength Burst," consumed relatively little Mental Strength. He could release it about seven times in succession, lasting just under fifteen minutes in total.

But after equipping the Glove, he could use it about two more times.

That was without even counting the additional uses made possible by the increase in Mental Strength Recovery Speed.

With this, he could perhaps maintain the "Strength Burst" state continuously during battle without interruption, instead of being stingy with it as before and activating it only when danger arose.

However, what excited him most were the attached skill and special effects.

The Mental Shock effect had been greatly enhanced compared to before.

Lin An had witnessed the power of the Red-Clad Mutant's Mental Shock.

Unlike conventional attacks, this method was nearly impossible to dodge. One could only rely on Willpower to withstand it head-on.

Its attached stun effect was even more formidable.

Just imagine: if the opponent lost focus for an instant every time they suffered Mental Shock in battle, how could they fight Lin An?

In a battle between Mutants and Awakened, any mistake would be magnified infinitely.

The slightest opening meant instant death.

And the Soul Shriek skill inherent to the Soul Devouring Gauntlet was practically a divine battlefield skill.

It could damage enemies over a wide area without consuming his own Mental Strength.

This was equivalent to gaining one additional skill use every day and carrying a Mental Strength Awakened with him into battle!

As for the Soul Devouring mentioned in Special Effect 2, Lin An was somewhat puzzled.

Devouring souls to restore Mental Strength.

He had never even heard of such an effect before. Without experimenting, he had no idea what it was actually like.

Still, it seemed that it should count as another method of restoring Mental Strength.

Lin An ran both hands over the Glove. It was cold to the touch yet light in weight.

The pressure of killing the Stitcher that had been buried deep in his heart was swept away.

He felt relieved.

With this Epic Equipment, he no longer had to worry about the gap in strength as he had before.

Just All Attributes +6 was enough for him to crush the Stitcher in pure physical ability.

After all, no matter how strong the Stitcher was, it was only a Second Order existence. None of its attributes could exceed thirty points at most.

Moreover, his attacks carried the special effect of Mental Shock, combining control and damage.

At six slashes per second, the enemy would have to endure six stun effects as well.

With this alone, Lin An was absolutely confident that he could kill the Stitcher in a short time!

And the attached Soul Shriek also made up for his current lack of area-of-effect damage.

He had originally been troubled by the massive number of Zombies inside Wanda Plaza. With this skill to clear the area, the problem would be solved.

Even he could not withstand Mental Shock. How could ordinary Zombies, whose Willpower Attributes were generally only 0–1 points, fare any better?

He wondered why the team that had obtained the Glove in his Previous Life had not completed it.

If they had known that the completed Glove possessed such astonishing attributes, all the survivors in the China Southeast War Zone would probably have exhausted every means to find the missing component.

Lin An struggled to calm his emotions, his heart filled with endless sighs.

Stitcher, I'm coming!

An JingTian, An Xia.

You don't have to wait seven more days in fear and worry.

I can kill the Stitcher and save you now.

The tip of his nose stung.

The siblings were the only people he still cared about. Now, he finally had the confidence to complete the mission.

How could this not excite him?

Beside Lin An, Black Snake's eyes were filled with curiosity.

It could not quite understand why Lin An's emotions had fluctuated so greatly.

Noticing the curiosity in Black Snake's eyes, Lin An smiled faintly.

Human emotions were complex and precious.

"Let's give it a try!"

Lin An impatiently equipped the Glove, eager to test it out.

However, the instant he put on the Glove,

the System's cold, mechanical notification sounded.

"Beep, you have lost the Epic Equipment (Orange) Soul-Devouring Hand."

"Fuck!!!!"