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Song Xiaozhu shook her head. "It's not your problem, these Awakening Stone probably aren't that easy to collect..." She paused for a moment when she said those two words.

Collection!

Leather gloves improve collection efficiency by 10%!

Hmm, does data collection efficiency mean increasing speed?

I wonder if leather gloves have any other gathering-related properties.

Song Xiaozhu decided to give it a try. She said to Liu Huli, "Captain Liu, could you please arrange for someone to go back and tell Madam Xiao to send back as many of the Polluted Beast carcasses as possible, if possible?"

Liu Huli immediately replied, "Okay!" He instructed the Hunter beside him, who had witnessed the whole thing, and then nimbly ran out of the courtyard and headed outside.

Song Xiaozhu continued, "Come on, let's skin and butcher this black bull... um, I mean, the other Polluted Beast. After we find its heart, we'll try to retrieve the Awakening Stone again."

Liu Huli was still somewhat incredulous. "Miss Song, is that really Awakening Stone?"

Song Xiaozhu: "It's not complete, let's just call it Awakening Stone Fragment for now."

Liu Huli: "Fragments... can these... be made into Awakening Stone again?"

Song Xiaozhu said, "I'll try to make it once I've collected the materials."

Everyone heard their conversation, and especially after Song Xiaozhu said they could try making it, everyone became more enthusiastic, and their peeling efficiency increased by two points.

The Black Ox Beast was actually about the same size as the Black Pig Beast, except that its four legs were longer and its tusks had been replaced with bull horns, which were still like sharp steel blades, curving straight up on its head.

After obtaining the animal hide, Song Xiaozhu began crafting leather gloves. As the materials were enveloped in a white mist, she muttered to herself, "No corresponding achievement?"

The notification tone always responded to her unexpectedly, "Insufficient synthesizer level."

Song Xiaozhu: "... Okay."

There's even a hierarchy of achievements here.

For simple hoes and similar items, you can get achievements by using stones and sticks, but why is it that when it comes to armor, leather items are considered insufficient in terms of level?

Speaking of weapons, the barrier to entry wasn't that high; I easily unlocked the "Weapon Master" achievement.

In the blink of an eye, Song Xiaozhu synthesized 10 pairs of leather gloves. The best pair had the following effects: increased gathering efficiency by 30% and increased gathering success rate by 30%.

This is probably the maximum potential for leather gloves; to upgrade them further, you'll have to wait for the advanced gloves available after the Synthesizer reaches level two.

While Qiu Shuyu and the others were cutting up the Black Ox Beast, Song Xiaozhu wasn't idle either. She used all the piles of animal hides to craft leather helmets, leather armor, and leather gloves.

After she finished her work, the Black Ox Beast's blood turned milky white, and they found the location of its heart.

Qiu Shuyu looked at Song Xiaozhu.

Song Xiaozhu nodded to her. "First, peel open the heart."

Qiu Shuyu: "Mm."

When the heart is opened, the Awakening Stone with white liquid, seemingly fused with the heart and connected to a dense network of blood vessels and nerves.

Qiu Shuyu stopped moving. Song Xiaozhu recalled the last operation and said, "Sever the adhesion." This step was fine; Qiu Shuyu only touched it at the last moment, and the Awakening Stone shattered with a bang.

As Qiu Shuyu made her incision, Song Xiaozhu had already put on leather gloves and was staring intently at the Awakening Stone embedded in her heart.

Honestly, when it comes to things involving probability, Song Xiaozhu, who is known as "Unlucky Player," is really worried.

It can be given to...

I'd better do it myself. If I fail twice, Qiu Shuyu will feel bad.

Qiu Shuyu moved swiftly, quickly severing the tissue surrounding the Awakening Stone. Song Xiaozhu reacted quickly, reaching out to touch it...

At this moment, everyone's hearts were in their throats. The seven or eight people in the backyard didn't even make a sound, as if they were afraid of frightening Song Xiaozhu or startling the Awakening Stone, and they all chose to hold their breath.

It's done!

The milky-white Awakening Stone Fragment detached from the Black Ox Beast's heart and landed steadily in Song Xiaozhu's leather-gloved palm.

Only then did everyone dare to breathe a sigh of relief. Luo Liuzi exclaimed excitedly, "... This Polluted Beast actually contains Awakening Stone... no, it's Awakening Stone Fragment!"

Song Xiaozhu examined the Awakening Stone Fragment in her palm. It was noticeably smaller than a normal Awakening Stone, and she wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to shrink even more after it landed in her hand...

It's not an illusion; it really is smaller.

It's likely that there was some loss during the data collection process.

Song Xiaozhu was quite relieved; the leather gloves worked well, at least they could remove things without them breaking at the slightest touch. As for wear and tear... it was better than watching them turn into white mist.

Song Xiaozhu summoned the Workbench and placed the Awakening Stone Fragment on it. A notification sounded, "Corresponding recipe not unlocked. Perform Random Synthesis?"

There is indeed a recipe.

Song Xiaozhu suppressed the upward curve of her lips, her anticipation for the secondary Synthesizer growing even stronger.

What can be synthesized from Awakening Stone Fragment?

It must be Awakening Stone.

What can Awakening Stone be synthesized into?

It must be Breakthrough Stone.

In this way, not only can the "employees" awaken without harm, but they can also level up smoothly, and then there's the thought of those "Awe and Respect" and "Revered Like the Big Dipper" achievement rewards...

Song Xiaozhu saw the Quantum Coin flapping their wings and flying towards her!

Everyone was watching her. Song Xiaozhu smiled and said, "No rush. After collecting more, I'll figure out a way to make them into Awakening Stone."

Her words brought smiles to everyone's faces.

Awakening Stone...

This is an Awakening Stone, worth a fortune even in the Fortress...

I never expected that such a treasure was hidden inside this Polluted Beast.

And Miss Song can even make Awakening Stone!

Song Xiaozhu put away the Awakening Stone Fragment and said to Liu Huli, "Take these back with you. The village chief can decide how to distribute them."

Liu Huli blinked, not too much

He realized, "Take it back? This Polluted Beast..." He didn't finish his sentence, only gasping for breath, and the Guard Team behind him also stared wide-eyed.