Deep Blue Torso Bone

Connor's box had been reorganized, leaving a total of two items across the five pockets.

Aside from the pocket watch he had just examined, there was also a Soul Tool Ring.

"Gold, Soul Tool Ring"

"Value: 151564"

"Equip"

"0.016KG, 1 slot"

"Special storage equipment. Equipping grants 9 slots of insurance space. Equipment drops after 3 deaths, but items within the insurance space do not."

Without a special title, it seemed this Soul Tool Ring had nothing unique about it; after all, this was the same model Zhang Yang used in reality.

He tucked the ring into his backpack. The remaining three pockets were empty, and further to the right, only a platinum-colored dog tag remained.

Zhang Yang tapped the dog tag's details page and read it word for word: "Connor_Level 53_Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black"

"Game time 0 minutes 0 seconds, Cress used Martial Soul Mountain Fierce Tiger (5th Soul Skill - Sky-Ripping Claw) to eliminate Connor in Haagen-Dazs City - Classified Mode (Equipment value 3457 Haf Coin)."

"(5th Soul Skill - Sky-Ripping Claw)"

The appearance of this information confirmed Zhang Yang's suspicion that the wound on Connor's neck was indeed the fatal blow.

"Hmm?" Zhang Yang's brows suddenly furrowed.

This dog tag was completely different from the ones Zhang Yang had seen before.

The information was far too detailed; it even listed the equipment value.

Just as Zhang Yang was about to study the dog tag further, he suddenly noticed something off.

"Strange, this equipment price... why is there an extra coin?"

Zhang Yang frowned and opened the details page for the [Excellent Warrior Outfit], where the value of 3456 Haf Coin was clearly listed.

"Something's not right." Zhang Yang wrinkled his nose and stated firmly, "Something is eleven parts wrong."

This one-coin discrepancy made Zhang Yang feel that something was amiss.

If the difference had been several thousand, Zhang Yang might have assumed the enemy had taken his headgear after his death—something like glasses, a mask, or a face veil.

But one coin was impossible; how could there be a one-coin helmet?

Could it be that this person had a "Lucky Helmet" perched on his head?

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

Zhang Yang was certain that there must be a secret in this box he hadn't discovered yet.

With that thought, Zhang Yang focused his gaze once again on the 3D projection of Connor.

Zhang Yang had a hunch earlier that the key to this special box lay entirely within this 3D projection of the Spirit Master.

Now, the 1 Haf Coin discrepancy on the dog tag further corroborated this suspicion.

However, Zhang Yang had already spent a long time studying the projection and had truly found nothing from the outside.

At this moment, Zhang Yang was completely at a loss.

"If I can't see it from the outside, could it be further inside?"

A sudden idea struck Zhang Yang, and he immediately discarded the damaged green Level 2 armor on Connor.

The next moment, the 3D projection of Connor changed.

The warrior outfit on the upper body was removed, revealing Connor's clean, muscular torso.

"Hmm?"

The sense of strangeness in Zhang Yang's heart intensified.

The fatal wound on Connor's neck extended from the left side of his Adam's apple to just below it.

Normally, this wound should have continued down to his right chest.

But what Zhang Yang saw now was that the wound stopped abruptly at the collarbone.

On Connor's chest, Zhang Yang could not see a single trace of injury.

This was clearly highly problematic.

A fatal wound caused by a Spirit Master's 5th Soul Skill could not possibly leave behind a gash of less than 20 centimeters.

Unless something much harder had blocked the enemy's 5th Soul Skill, preventing it from continuing to strike Connor's chest.

However, Zhang Yang quickly dismissed this possibility.

"If Connor had such a defensive method, why would he only defend his chest and not his much more fragile neck?"

Zhang Yang muttered to himself, "Therefore, there is only one possibility."

"Connor did indeed possess a very powerful defensive method capable of blocking an enemy's 5th Soul Skill."

"However, his defensive method was very rigid; it could only act upon his chest and could not cover his neck, which was right there but extremely fragile..."

As Zhang Yang said this, a defensive method with a very low probability but one that perfectly fit his deduction surfaced in his mind.

"Could it be... that this Soul King named Connor possesses a torso bone?"

When this speculation surfaced, Zhang Yang's head buzzed with a loud "hum."

It all lined up; everything clicked into place.

First, generally, only soul beasts above the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring level produce soul bones. Connor happened to be a Soul King who possessed a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Second, the reason Connor collected the head of a Rock Mountain Lord and kept it in his home was because that Rock Mountain Lord had provided him with a soul bone.

Finally, it was precisely because Connor had a torso-type soul bone that his torso defense was so high, to the point where even an enemy's fifth soul skill could not inflict damage on his upper body.

Of course, there was also that inexplicable 1 Haf Coin discrepancy.

Although Zhang Yang truly found it hard to believe, in the Douluo Continent, where soul bones were regarded as treasures by countless soul masters and could serve as the grand finale in top-tier auction houses, they were only worth 1 Haf Coin within the system.

Naturally, Zhang Yang ignored the countless ten-year, hundred-year, and Thousand-Year Soul Ring items in his inventory that were also worth only 1 Haf Coin.

After sorting all this out, a new problem arose.

How was he supposed to search for the soul bone?

If this were the real world, Zhang Yang could directly dismantle the soul master's corpse to search for the soul bone inside.

But now that he was in the game, the corpse would turn into a loot box after a soul master died.

He couldn't exactly take this box apart.

Could it still be on that extra 3D projection of the soul master?

Zhang Yang used his spiritual power to probe the 3D projection of Connor repeatedly, but there was no reaction at all.

Could it be that I'm opening it the wrong way? Do I need to close the box and reopen it? Zhang Yang thought to himself.

Just like how computer problems could often be solved by turning it off and on again, Zhang Yang felt that closing the box and reopening it should work.

He needed to let the soul bone refresh.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang immediately closed the box and lowered his head, preparing to open it again.

However, when Zhang Yang looked down at the box again, besides the "Search: Connor" prompt, an extra line of text had appeared.

"Search: Soul Master Soul Bone"

Zhang Yang clapped his hands together: "Sure enough, a restart is all it takes."

Selecting "Search: Soul Master Soul Bone," a 6x6 search interface appeared.

A magnifying glass, still the size of a palm, slowly rotated within a massive 4x4 shadow.

Zhang Yang's eyes lit up, and he moved with lightning speed to clear space in his backpack, waiting for the 4x4 area to refresh.

After a full 3 seconds, a massive torso bone emitting a deep blue light refreshed.

The next instant, Zhang Yang stowed the torso bone into his backpack.

Once the torso bone was in his backpack, Zhang Yang clicked to view its detailed information.

"Red, Torso Bone"
"Value: 1"
"Tactical Equipment"
"1.25KG, 4x4 slots"
"Equip to reveal more information."

The content was very simple, so simple that Zhang Yang couldn't see anything else.

It seemed that, just as it said, he would have to wait until he equipped it to see more information.

Closing his backpack, Zhang Yang let out a long sigh, and his M14 reappeared in his hands.

The drop rate for the first match of the new season was indeed very high.

Even a soul bone had dropped.

It was just a pity that Zhang Yang now had to consider extracting.

No matter how high the drop rates were for the rest of this match, they were no longer meant for him.