The Artificer Sequence

When Yang Yong returned to the van, Wang Ying, who had been wiping her blade the whole time, walked over.

"You awakened Sequence Transcendence?"

Yang Yong froze, unsure what to say for a moment.

This was no Sequence Transcendence. It was clearly a "magical artifact" made by the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace.

Should I pretend it's Sequence Transcendence?

As thoughts raced through his mind, Yang Yong stepped out of the van and immediately gave himself a Sequence Transcendence label. "Yes, I awakened the Artificer Sequence."

"The Artificer Sequence?"

Wang Ying frowned, wondering to herself, Is there such a sequence?

But then she remembered Captain Old Cao saying that there were hundreds of kinds of Sequence Transcendence. There were bound to be sequences she did not recognize, so she asked no more.

She held out her hand to Yang Yong. "Hello, I'm Wang Ying, of the Blade Maniac Sequence."

The two shook hands.

"Hello. Yang Yong, Artificer Sequence."

"Welcome to the convoy."

Wang Ying led him toward Captain Old Cao's tent.

It was a fairly large tent, furnished with a camp bed and several crude little stools.

At that moment, Big Lunk Zheng Xiaofeng was already sitting on one of the stools inside.

His burly frame, over two meters tall, nearly crushed the flimsy little stool.

Captain Cao Xianming sat on the camp bed with a notebook in hand, his head lowered as he wrote and sketched.

Besides them, the convoy supervisor and his assistant were also in the tent.

Wang Ying lifted the flap and stepped inside, saying in a low voice, "He's here."

All four people in the tent immediately turned to look at Yang Yong.

The convoy supervisor and his assistant still remembered him. After all, Yang Yong had been following the convoy for four days, riding a shared bicycle, yet had somehow managed not to be left behind by the main group. That alone was memorable enough.

"Hello!" Yang Yong raised a hand in greeting.

All four nodded to him.

Then Captain Cao Xianming spoke first. "I'm Cao Xianming, captain of the convoy. I'm of the Data Analyst Sequence, and my ability is calculating all kinds of probabilities. This is Lao Zhang, the convoy supervisor, and that's Xiao Ma, the convoy assistant."

"Hello!" Yang Yong greeted them again.

"Hey! I'm Zheng Xiaofeng. Everyone calls me Big Lunk! I'm of the Armorer Sequence, currently a Sequence One Stone Armor Master!" Zheng Xiaofeng introduced himself in a deep, muffled voice.

"Hello!" Yang Yong kept smiling politely.

After the introductions, Cao Xianming looked at Yang Yong and said slowly, "Yang Yong, the truth is, I noticed you a long time ago."

Huh?

Yang Yong paused and looked at Cao Xianming.

The man pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and continued, "After entering the Data Analyst Sequence, I calculated the probability of everyone in the convoy awakening Sequence Transcendence."

He stared at Yang Yong and spoke with solemn emphasis, stressing every word. "You. Are. Very. Special! This is the first time I've seen a one hundred percent probability of awakening. I told them long ago to take extra care to protect you while gathering supplies."

As he spoke, Cao Xianming gestured with his lips toward Zheng Xiaofeng and Wang Ying.

Zheng Xiaofeng scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

Wang Ying gave Yang Yong a slight nod.

Yang Yong understood at once.

No wonder Wang Ying had suddenly stepped in to help when the Slit-Mouthed Woman had driven him into a corner.

It turned out that from the moment he had caught up with the group, these Transcendents had no longer regarded him as an ordinary person.

"Thank you!" Yang Yong immediately thanked Cao Xianming and Wang Ying in earnest.

"You're welcome." Cao Xianming waved a hand. "You have Sequence Transcendence now too. From now on, let's all work together to stay alive!"

"All right!" Yang Yong nodded firmly.

Then Cao Xianming added, "The group has rules. Supplies for the Transcendents are distributed centrally. I get thirty percent. Wang Ying is the convoy's strongest fighter, so she also gets thirty percent. You and Old Zheng each get twenty percent. Any objections?"

After a moment's thought, Yang Yong nodded in agreement.

Cao Xianming was the captain, and the Data Analyst Sequence could calculate all kinds of probabilities. Although Yang Yong had never seen him fight, he supposed it was hard to say whether this group could even survive in this eerie apocalypse without him leading the way.

As for Wang Ying, that went without saying. Yang Yong had witnessed her fight with the Slit-Mouthed Woman firsthand. Her strength was definitely above his.

Zheng Xiaofeng was of the Armorer Sequence. One look at his build made it clear that he focused on defense, and his offensive power was probably average. A twenty-percent share was perfectly reasonable.

More importantly, only Yang Yong knew his own situation. He had no Sequence Transcendence at all. He merely relied on the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace, which worked one moment and failed the next.

For now, staying alive with this group was his top priority.

Afterward, Lao Zhang and Xiao Ma got up and left the tent to handle the convoy's daily affairs.

With only the four Sequence Transcendents remaining in the tent, the conversation naturally turned to sequence abilities.

After their discussion, Yang Yong finally understood how Sequence Transcendence worked.

It turned out that there were hundreds of kinds of Sequence Transcendence, each with incredible abilities. At the same time, however, obtaining that power required paying a corresponding price.

Cao Xianming, for instance, revealed a bald crown ringed with hair after removing his wig. Zheng Xiaofeng's thoughtless way of thinking was also a consequence of the price of Sequence Transcendence.

As for Wang Ying's price, she did not say.

Yang Yong himself had no Sequence Transcendence, so naturally, he had nothing to say either.

And so his first conversation with the convoy's Transcendents ended uneventfully.

When Yang Yong stepped out of Old Cao's tent, he noticed something different in the way the people in the convoy looked at him.

It seemed that news of his awakening Sequence Transcendence had already spread.

Yang Yong did not really care. The truth could not stay hidden forever, and people would find out sooner or later anyway.

As long as he had the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace, who could say he was not an Artifact Refiner?

And who could say for sure whether a sequence called Artifact Refiner actually existed in this world?

Yang Yong was about to walk back to his van when he suddenly caught sight of two people out of the corner of his eye-the old woman and the young man.

The two lay on the ground, their wounds only roughly bandaged, glaring at him with venomous eyes.

In the apocalypse, doctors and medicine were scarce. With such sloppy bandaging, even if these two wanted to live, they probably would not last much longer.

But Yang Yong did not care in the slightest. He could even guess that the young man had most likely been duped by the old woman into doing what he had done earlier.

But so what?

They were both adults. Since they had made their choices, they had to bear the consequences. Who would care about the reasons behind them?

Yang Yong ignored them, went straight back into the van, took out a stove burner, and cooked a bowl of noodles.

After eating, he reclined the seat and fell fast asleep right there in the van.

Yang Yong slept particularly soundly, not waking until he did so naturally.

When he woke, he found the people in the convoy already packing up. It looked as though they were getting ready to leave.

Seeing that Yang Yong was awake, the convoy assistant, Xiao Ma, immediately hurried over. "Mr. Yang, you're awake! The convoy is getting ready to leave in ten minutes. Mr. Cao said another convoy was spotted nearby, and we're planning to go meet up with them."