Chapter 94: Medium Mechanical Construct
Zhou Ning didn't buy this gun just for the mission progress. Although the effects of this cursed supernatural firearm were practically garbage, it all depended on how it was used. In the hands of a person, it might backfire disastrously—but in the hands of a mechanical construct, it could become a deadly weapon.
Of course, its true effectiveness remained to be tested.
After sealing the Mini Mechanical Warrior back into its card, Zhou Ning took out [Damian's Ordinary Mirror] and chose to enter it.
What appeared before Zhou Ning was once again a series of ruins steeped in ancient elven style.
Following a long corridor for about twenty minutes, Zhou Ning arrived at an expansive ruin.
It was a scene of shattered remnants in elven architecture, with a towering magical tower standing in the middle of the ruins. Wandering between the crumbling stone walls were countless black Mirror Wraiths.
Zhou Ning unsealed the Mini Mechanical Warrior. After a brief thought, he raised the revolver and pulled the trigger at the Mirror Wraith nearest to him.
Regarding the behavior of bullets, Zhou Ning still found it strange. He had originally thought the bullets would behave like they did during his first visit here—changing trajectory—but subsequent tests showed otherwise. He could only guess that perhaps Elvis had mastered a deeper level of using the mirror.
A bullet burst forth in a flash of blazing light, aimed squarely at the Mirror Wraith's head. A glaring "-345" appeared above the wraith's head, and its figure abruptly vanished—only to reappear right in front of Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning activated Evasive Shot, his figure blurring into an afterimage as he abruptly retreated. At the same time, the Mini Mechanical Warrior, under his command, charged forward and opened fire on the Mirror Wraith!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Only three shots were needed to trigger the curse effect. A sizzling sound came from the Mirror Wraith as black smoke started to pour from its body, as if its flesh was melting away. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a skeleton with stark white bones, with a debuff hovering over its head:
[Pirate General Victor's Curse: Transforms the target into a walking skeleton. Defense drops to zero. Becomes afraid of sunlight. Loses fear and pain perception. Duration: 30 seconds.]
"Nice effect!" Zhou Ning felt a surge of joy. This curse effect perfectly complemented his Ripple Shot, forming a powerful combo.
Now, even if he ran into Harrison Rivers again, a bit of luck could deal him a devastating blow in an instant.
With the test complete, Zhou Ning didn't hesitate. He aimed at the now-skeletal Mirror Wraith and pulled the trigger. With a loud bang and a flash of flame, the Mirror Wraith shattered instantly.
[Your Ripple Shot dealt 779 damage to Mirror Wraith (50% damage amplification). You killed Mirror Wraith (Lv25 Spirit Type). You gained 7200 EXP.]
Zhou Ning let out a breath of relief and checked the damage to his Mini Mechanical Warrior. It had been struck twice by the Mirror Wraith, and smoke was already rising from its body. It really was a bit much to ask this basic mechanical unit to handle combat.
He resealed the Mini Mechanical Warrior into its card and returned to the real world. The earlier test had proven the strength of Pirate General Victor's flintlock pistol. As long as he upgraded the mechanical warrior's combat capability, it could absolutely serve as his main force.
After some thought, Zhou Ning opened the control panel. He still had over 70,000 EXP, so he spent 60,000 to raise the level of Wandering Gunslinger by 2 levels.
[Wandering Gunslinger leveled up to Lv4. Agility +3 (plus 0.5 from Extraordinary Physique specialty), Stamina +1, Spirit +1. You gained 2 free attribute points.] ×2
With over 10,000 EXP remaining, he didn't hold back. He opened the Life Skills tab, selected Puppet Alchemy, and chose Formula Derivation. He'd read before that Formula Derivation could fuse Puppet Alchemy with other life skills by consuming EXP to generate new blueprints. The key difference was that this process didn't reset the skill level—it simply required a massive amount of EXP.
Without hesitation, Zhou Ning selected to fuse Puppet Alchemy with Precision Mechanical Crafting.
[Fusion successful. You obtained Blueprint: Medium Mechanical Construct.]
[Medium Mechanical Construct: Click to summon a combat-specialized medium mechanical construct. Duration: 40 minutes. Cooldown: 40 minutes.]
Based on the stats, it was stronger than the Mini Mechanical Warrior and better suited for combat. However, the materials were significantly more expensive. Zhou Ning calculated that the cost would be no less than 60 Veckta Coins—three times that of the miniature version.
Expensive, yes—but if he wanted to boost his combat strength quickly, it was an investment he couldn't skip. Zhou Ning was even considering upgrading Puppet Alchemy to Intermediate level.
The Mini Mechanical Warrior had given 7% proficiency. Usually, proficiency gain was proportional to production cost. He guessed that crafting fewer than ten of these medium constructs would be enough to reach Intermediate level. Any extra cards wouldn't go to waste either—players or the Sunwatchers could easily make use of them.
Having made up his mind, Zhou Ning did a quick wash-up and lay down on his small bed. He pulled out the cube he'd bought earlier and began fiddling with it.
"You said you knew how to use this thing?" Zhou Ning asked in his mind.
"I do, but I forgot," came Molly's amused voice. "I only remember that it's called a Modorik Cube—an artifact used by the ancient Modorik people to store data."
"And I don't know much about the Modorik script. You could try consulting a language expert—maybe they can help."
"Great, that's basically useless," Zhou Ning muttered, tugging at the corner of his mouth. Still, Molly's suggestion wasn't bad—Vick University probably had no shortage of top-tier ancient language scholars.
…
The next day was Sunday. Since Zhou Ning had to attend Fatty Alan's coming-of-age ceremony that evening, he didn't have much time. He planned to buy the materials for the medium mechanical construct and begin crafting in the morning, then purchase a formal outfit in the afternoon for the banquet. His schedule was packed tight.
So early in the morning, Zhou Ning got up right away. After washing up, just as he was about to grab an umbrella, Molly's cool voice echoed in his mind:
"It won't rain this morning."
Zhou Ning: …
He silently put the umbrella back on the stand.
Ever since their relationship improved, Zhou Ning had discovered a new use for his live-in grandma: weather forecasts—and incredibly accurate ones at that!
He took a carriage to the Trade District, deliberately avoiding the Golden Oak Herbal Shop. He browsed various herb shops, alchemy stores, and engineering supply shops. To make the Medium Mechanical Construct, he needed items like spirit-infused silver sheets and yellow crystals. Conveniently, he'd already bought some during a previous trip to the underground market. What he still needed included silver ingots, mithril rods, silver bolts, and various alchemical materials for drawing alchemy arrays. The costs were far higher than he'd estimated—a single mithril rod alone cost nearly 40 Veckta Coins.
By the time he'd scoured the entire Trade District, Zhou Ning had spent 580 Veckta Coins and bought six sets of materials for crafting the Medium Mechanical Construct—feeling the pain in his wallet intensely.
It was nearly noon when Zhou Ning finally returned to the alchemy lab, lugging his large and heavy haul.
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