He looked down in disbelief, then discovered that the [Large Structures] category not only contained the pirates' original flagship and the coastal defense batteries on Scarlet Lantern Island, but even giant wonders like the "Ring Tower" and the "Wall of Despair."
Only at this moment did he understand what a 200% memory manifestation authority represented...
Of course, the redemption prices for these large structures were extremely high, with even the cheapest "artillery" costing over 5,000 points.
Xia Lun blinked, then looked at the remarks.
[Remarks: Things manifested through memories will appear within your personal dream space. Based on your wishes, these items can be retrieved in the game at any time, much like a space pouch.]
[Warning: The current area of the personal dream space is insufficient to accommodate "Large Structures." If you need to redeem them, please use memory points to expand the area of the personal dream space, or complete more game rounds.]
[Estimated consumption of current upgrade to space sufficient to accommodate "Large Structures": 17,000 memory points!]
Seeing that astonishing price, Xia Lun fell silent at once. He directly cut off the thought of consumption, then looked at the second mountain.
[Cold Weapons]
[Mosu Steel Short Sword "Night Plume" (Owned): An unassuming short sword crafted by a master. Although this sword looks ordinary, it is actually deeply imbued with craftsmanship. Its balance, blade, and grip feel have all been carefully designed, making it a powerful synonym for pragmatism.]
[Required memory points: 500 points (Since it is already owned, only 50 memory points are needed for manifestation.)]
Xia Lun pondered for a moment, then made a decision.
--Manifesting items he already owned was obviously meaningful, as it meant he could retrieve weapons at any time instead of being empty-handed and at the mercy of others at the very beginning of this scenario.
At the same time, putting the weapon into his personal dream space might also play a miraculous role in certain occasions where weapons needed to be inspected.
With this thought in mind, he directly chose to manifest it.
"Hum--"
Accompanied by the crisp hum of the blade, the illusory outline of a sword appeared in Xia Lun's hand, and then the surrounding darkness converged like flowing water, instantly transforming into the short sword Xia Lun had used in the scenario.
He flicked his wrist slightly and slashed forward, and the crisp hum instantly turned into a sharp whistling sound through the air, as if leaving a silver arc of light in the air.
"Night Plume, that's a nice name after all."
Xia Lun's index finger gently brushed across the cold sword ridge, and then with a thought, the short sword turned back into nothingness, returning to the surrounding darkness.
"With the sword, let's look at the guns next."
As he thought this, he looked toward the next mountain peak composed of illusory items.
[Hot Weapons]
Xia Lun's gaze swept rapidly over items like "Gunpowder Barrel," "Matchlock," "Forked-Mount Heavy Firearm," and so on, and then looked toward his target.
[Xia Lun's Single-Action Revolver (Owned): The revolver used by Xia Lun. This gun was individually designed and manufactured by a firearm design company with a huge caliber, reliable structure, and exquisite workmanship. It is a true masterpiece, and at the same time, this gun is also an expensive collector's item in the literal sense. More crucially, due to the sharpshooter's long-term use and accumulation over time, this gun seemed to have acquired some special characteristics...]
[Special Characteristic "Death Precision": Although it is hard to believe, this gun truly makes the user shoot more accurately when aiming at an enemy's vital points.]
[Required memory points: 2,000 points (Since it is already owned and you have used this weapon for a long time, only 100 memory points are needed for manifestation. At the same time, it comes with 12 rounds of special large-caliber bullets)]
[You can redeem special bullets for this weapon at the price of 1 memory point per round, with no redemption limit.]
"Manifest." Xia Lun's thoughts shifted slightly in his heart.
The next moment, the familiar revolver appeared in his hand.
His thumb grazed the familiar gun grip, and then Xia Lun twirled the gun and caused it to dissipate into nothingness.
"1,750 memory points remaining."
Xia Lun pondered for a moment, then spent another 300 memory points to purchase a [Gunpowder Barrel].
Although the gunpowder barrel was not cheap and was limited to one purchase, its power was undoubtedly quite tremendous. If detonated at the right time and place, it could completely turn the tide instantly.
Xia Lun then looked at the next category of items.
[Sundry Items]
[Geliide's Pipe]
[Bosun "Old Man's" Black Eyepatch]
[History of the Civil War: A Study of Borlan's War of the Red Roses]
[Accurate Star Chart]
[The Albowin Dramatic Works]
Xia Lun's gaze swept rapidly over these items, and then he let out an imperceptible sigh.
--If the books in the sundry items category were used properly, they could allow him to make a fortune in reality, since these were cultural treasures from another world.
The problem, however, was that his identity in the scenario was an illiterate. Even if he redeemed them, he wouldn't understand them; and among the redeemable "specialization memories," there were no language-related specializations.
In other words, redeeming these books was entirely equivalent to redeeming scrap paper.
"What a pity." Xia Lun shook his head, then looked at the second-to-last pile of items.
[Anomaly Items]
[Voidwood Box: A strange box of shoddy workmanship. Items placed inside the box can be brought into the scenario without going through memory manifestation. At the same time, this wooden box can also block most detection.]
[Detailed Classification: Paradox Item]
[Required memory points: 3,000 points (Since the item is already owned, only 300 memory points are needed for manifestation)]
"The Voidwood Box saved my life this time," Xia Lun thought. "If not for the wooden box, I'm afraid I would have died directly from the suffocation caused by the disease."
The next moment, as Xia Lun's thoughts stirred, he redeemed the "Voidwood Box."
He continued to look down. All the information that followed was of a glaring crimson red.
[Prayerbook of the Drowned: An evil spirit codex written with blood from corpses and paper made from molten wax condensed from the fat of drowned people. To ordinary people, this is a wordless book, but to the resurrected and the mad, it is filled with blasphemous text. Between these crooked words, bizarre and frantic secret arts are recorded.]
[Detailed Classification: Evil Flesh Codex!]
[Required memory points: 10,000 points! (Since this item has disappeared, if you need to re-manifest it, you must pay the full memory points)]
[Remarks: If you look at it again, perhaps the contents on it will be different once more...]
"So expensive?" Xia Lun blinked in disbelief. "Uh, come to think of it, this book really lives up to the price. After all, the strength of 'Transcendent Regeneration' is truly outrageous."
Xia Lun's thoughts became active again.
"Wait, maybe I can try to sell this book. Other players in reality might have a demand for it. I wonder if memory points can be transferred and traded. If they can be transferred and traded, maybe I can try to profit from it..."
"No, no, no, this game has existed for almost 50 years. The cake of such low-level speculation should have already been divided. I can go ask 'White Line,' the intelligence broker who sold me the game, about this aspect."
He shook his head, suppressed these thoughts, and continued looking down.
[Willow Effigy (Crafted by Geliide): A puppet that looks unremarkable, but in reality, it possesses special potency and can enhance the wearer's abilities. However, this ability to strengthen will only trigger after meeting harsh specific conditions.]
[Trigger Condition: Unknown]
[Detailed Classification: Folklore Accessory]
[Required memory points: 40 points]
"Bought. After all, it was made by Geliide; consider it a memento." Xia Lun sighed, and then a willow effigy appeared in his hand.
"I still have 1,410 memory points now, so my purchasing power should be fine." He thought to himself as he looked at the final pile of items.
[Special Mechanism Items]
[Fantasy Casket: Consume 10 memory points to draw a lottery. The range of prize draws is not limited to the last scenario, but comes from all known worlds. From toxic feces to precious fantasy objects, anything is possible to draw.]
[Remarks: Anything is possible! Only by achieving an A-rank or higher scenario score can this casket be manifested, and it is limited to one redemption after each scenario!]
[We are in an infinitely nested multi-dimensional time loop structure, everything is dazzling, everything is vibrant, a kaleidoscope, shattered prisms! The past is the future, the advanced is the backward! Now, let, let's just pick one at random, final bets are placed! Ya-hehehe, ah-hahahaha, pluck a little flower, and give it to mama--A madman's ravings]
"Hey, my luck has always been pretty good." Xia Lun's eyes lit up. "It's time to draw a lottery."
The next moment, as the memory points decreased, a wooden casket appeared out of thin air in the palm of his hand.
Compared to the tattered Voidwood Box, this wooden casket looked extremely exquisite, and the grain of the wood seemed to emit the faint fragrance of cedar.
"It's time to witness luck!"
Xia Lun put down the wooden casket and rubbed his hands together with great anticipation.
A moment later, he took a deep breath, wore a smile, and then opened the wooden casket--inside was a ruined sextant.
[Damaged Sextant]
[Item Classification: Paradox Item]
[Item Effect: After equipping this item, drastically increase the probability of being hit by stray bullets, while causing slight damage to the wearer's intelligence.]
[Remarks: Good luck will never favor a fool~]
"..."
What on earth was this? Xia Lun's smile froze. It provided pure negative effects after being equipped?
He read the item description carefully once more, then discovered that he hadn't read it wrong, so he speechless placed the thing on the ground.
"From a good perspective, this is a paradox item after all," Xia Lun muttered to himself self-deprecatingly. "My luck is alright..."
He shook his head, then looked at the last redemption in the "Special Mechanism" category.
[Information Panel Enhancement]
[Classification: None yet]
[Effect Introduction: Think the information panel is too vague? Now, a way to make the information panel clearer has appeared!]
[You can enhance your information panel by investing memory points, making it display attributes such as "Strength," "Agility," and "Constitution"; at the same time, it can also make the mental state and physical condition displayed on the information panel more specific and precise; if you invest enough memory points, you can even see the information of items and other people.]
[Required memory points: Customizable, with an investment cap of 1,000 memory points.]
[Remarks: Can also be used outside the game]
Xia Lun blinked, then chose to redeem it without any hesitation!
[Memory points have decreased.]
[Information Panel Enhancement redeemed!]
[Attribute detection in progress, panel upgrading...]
[Detection and upgrade require 18 hours.]
"400 points left. Absolutely unspendable."
Xia Lun shook his head, then summoned the list of learnable "specialization memories."
He looked for quite a while, yet didn't find any specialization memories worth recalling.
The specializations mastered by the characters in the scenario mostly stayed at the entry and basic levels; specializations reaching the proficient level were few and far between, and as for master-level specializations, there wasn't even a single one.
However, as he searched, Xia Lun suddenly frowned.
He actually saw a master-level specialization!
[Faulty Occult Knowledge (Master 2%)]
[Source: Mixed (Killing Bearded Pirate Moen, rot-faced sailor Daolunte, "Mentor" Abyssal Hand, and own identity)]
[Remarks: This is a complete set of occult theories that can neither be falsified nor proven. There may be correct components within it, but most of them are far-fetched and raving nonsense. However, the mentor who invented this flawed occult system actually acquired supernatural powers in the end, transforming himself into the "Abyssal Hand."]
[Available memories 100/100]
[Required memory points: 2,000 points]
"Ah?" Xia Lun was startled.
The amount of information in this passage was so huge that Xia Lun froze for a few seconds before slowly organizing the information into points in his mind.
"First of all, according to the remarks, the monster's occult theories are completely wrong." He closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Yet it gained true power from the wrong occult theories... Is this purely due to good luck, or is there a hidden story behind it?"
"Let's not consider this for now. I'll think about it carefully during the review later. There is definitely something wrong behind this."
"Secondly, according to the source, myself in the scenario, as well as the bearded pirate, the rot-faced sailor, and the mentor all possess this specialization. This means either that this set of erroneous occult theories is widespread, or there is a special relationship among the four of us."
Xia Lun's brows were tightly locked, and the next moment, he thought of what the monster had once said.
"Even if you go mad, you're still a traitor. You might as well die along with this group of stinking pirates!"
"Could it be that my identity in the scenario, aside from being the navigator of the whaling ship, actually has a hidden identity? For example, am I the monster's occult apprentice?" Xia Lun scratched his head, guessing inwardly, "Wait, it seems, roughly, perhaps, this possibility is still somewhat high..."
"If this conjecture holds true, then the normal game progression should have been me under the monster's help..."
"Forget it, forget it. Thinking more is useless. Let's go rest for a bit before reviewing."
Thinking of this, Xia Lun stretched lazily, then turned around and pushed at the half-open wooden door with his hand.
[Scenario cooldown time: 7 days]
"Creak."
Accompanied by his hand touching the door, a strong sense of imbalance struck him once more. Following closely, everything around began to collapse in layers, and within a few breaths, the scene in front of Xia Lun fell into pitch black again.
"Snap."
"Snap."
The familiar cold light passed through his eyelids, shining on his retina and banishing the darkness before Xia Lun's eyes. He slowly opened his eyes, then grabbed the armrest next to the game pod and sat up.
Xia Lun blinked, quietly feeling the constriction of his cerebral blood vessels and the dizziness brought on by the sudden surge in blood flow.
"What a lengthy experience." He muttered to himself.
His voice echoed in the basement, as lonely as a wandering shadow beneath the cold moon, but soon, the voice received a response.
"There are at most 2,159 hours until your death." The mechanical broadcaster replied considerately. "Current time: Frostfall Moon 12th, 1:00 AM."
Xia Lun stood up and glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was still 1:00 AM. The position of the hour hand was completely identical to when he entered the game, and even the minute hand was not off by a single bit, with only the second hand having undergone some slight changes.
Although he had spent a full six days in the game, less than 30 seconds had passed in reality.
The second hand ticked away, and the monotonous, rigid sound also appeared exceptionally lonely.
Xia Lun stood in place, quietly listening to the ticking sound of the second hand. After a long while, he suddenly shook his head, then walked over to the mechanical broadcaster and pressed the shutdown button hard.
His illness was cured; he no longer had any use for this broadcaster.
This sword of Damocles that had always hung above his head had now dissolved, and he no longer needed to keep his nerves strained every day. Now, he was completely safe.
Although his heart was churning with excitement, for some reason, Xia Lun was temporarily unable to express his excitement, and a dream-like sense of detachment surged up instead.
He stepped onto the dim staircase and slowly walked upward.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
Xia Lun walked up step by step, his footsteps appearing exceptionally clear in the surrounding silence. He pushed open the door and entered the first-floor hallway.
The hallway was empty, and a chilling silver moonlight shone in from outside the window. Xia Lun took a light breath, then slowly walked toward the tall pull-style French window.
It was currently winter, and a scene of desolate bleakness lay outside the window: withered and lonely trees, snow-covered dead vines, and crows on the opposite balcony were all shrouded under the monotonous and dull moonlight.
At this moment, seeming to hear Xia Lun's footsteps, a crow suddenly flapped its wings and took flight, then crossed the deserted courtyard, the frosted artificial river, and the wall overgrown with dead vines, before disappearing into the night.
Xia Lun walked to the window and stood still.
Suddenly, a plain white snowflake drifted slowly down from the air, landing on the gray masonry and melting into a trace of dampness.
It was snowing.
Blinking, Xia Lun, who had survived a catastrophe, raised his head to look at the sky.
Countless snowflakes fell in rustling succession, and the long-dormant cold wind suddenly rose as well. The chill seeped through the rattling windows and poured into the corridor.
At this moment, his heart suddenly seemed moved, so he pushed open the window.
"Whoosh!"
The fierce cold wind slammed in abruptly. The coarse ice crystals in the wind scraped against Xia Lun's face, making his skin sting a little, but at this moment, he suddenly felt a strong, living sensation!
In the silver moonlight and silver snow, Xia Lun laughed heartily, his voice turning into silver mist as well.
"I'm still alive!" He clenched his fists, fully experiencing the stinging cold. "I'm still alive!"
The howling wind swept past the treetops, making the silver trees shudder layer upon layer. The rustling sound instantly merged into one, resembling the whale song of a newborn whale in the deep sea.
"Gurgle..."
Suddenly, Xia Lun heard the sound of his own stomach growling, and immediately, that manic ecstasy vanished.
His stomach was hungry; he had to eat.
Before you continue