Chapter 39: Traveling Across the World
Zhou Ning immediately chose to read Windgun's alchemy notes, and a prompt appeared on his panel.
[Reading skill book: [Windgun's Alchemy Experience]. Your Willpower has increased the learning progress of [Puppet Alchemy] by 4% (Extreme Calmness +0.4%).]
[Reading skill book: [Windgun's Alchemy Experience]. Your Willpower has increased the learning progress of [Puppet Alchemy] by 3% (Extreme Calmness +0.3%).]
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried he wouldn't be able to learn the skill, but it surprisingly had no prerequisites. What a great guy that Windgun was!
After more than an hour, a new notification appeared:
[[Puppet Alchemy] Progress 94% (+6%). You have learned a new life skill: Puppet Alchemy!]
[You have mastered a new recipe: [Mini Mechanical Warrior], and a new skill: [Recipe Deduction].]
Zhou Ning opened his panel and saw the new [Puppet Alchemy] skill listed under his life skills.
[Puppet Alchemy] (Basic): You can create an alchemical puppet by properly utilizing your life skills and sealing it in a card.
Seriously? Is this Yu-Gi-Oh now?
Clicking on the skill revealed only the one recipe he had just learned, the Mini Mechanical Warrior, and the [Recipe Deduction] skill. After carefully reading its description, Zhou Ning understood.
The Recipe Deduction skill was similar to Skill Fusion in Apocalypse. It allowed him to deduce new recipes by consuming experience points to fuse [Puppet Alchemy] with his other life skills. However, unlike fusion, recipe deduction didn't reset the skill's level; it simply consumed a massive amount of experience points.
And the cost was truly massive. The first deduction required 10,000 experience points, the second 15,000, the third 20,000, and so on—with a chance of failure each time.
A grin spread across Zhou Ning's face. Unlike the players from his past life, he didn't care about the experience point cost. He was a man who possessed Mysticism and expert-level Precision Machinery. As long as he had enough experience, he could deduce countless recipes.
It wouldn't be impossible to create my own version of a dueling game in the future.
He hadn't forgotten that making a significant impact on the world came with its own substantial rewards.
Creating a Mini Mechanical Warrior required a large quantity of iron ingots, numerous bolts, some gunpowder, a common firearm, a piece of parchment, and several materials for the alchemy array. He didn't have any of those on hand, but they were all common items that were easy to obtain with money. However, this meant the demand for experience points and cash would be greater than ever.
Zhou Ning suddenly felt a renewed sense of urgency.
While waiting for the herbs to be delivered, the momentarily idle Zhou Ning opened the simulator again.
He now had 30 Time Travel Coins. After setting aside money to rent the alchemy lab, he had about 60 Victa left. He thought for a moment, then spent 40 Victa to purchase 4 more Time Travel Coins. This would let him perform a ten-pull, and he'd still have enough left for one more time-travel simulation.
He clicked on the lottery page, only to find that the "Infinity War" prize pool was locked. The reason given was that it would only open after he completed 50 pulls from the "Lost in the Fog" prize pool.
Zhou Ning was speechless.
It's exactly like a low-quality, pay-to-win mobile game, full of scams.
But since it was a seller's market, he had no choice. He selected the "Lost in the Fog" prize pool and performed ten consecutive draws.
[You have obtained a rare item: M1 Garand Rifle (includes some 7.62mm caliber bullets)]
[You have obtained a rare item: Domestically produced "Hanyang-made" Type 88 Rifle (includes some .72 ACP caliber bullets)]
[You have obtained an epic item: Stone Mask]
[You have obtained a rare item: German-made C93 7.65mm Pistol (includes some .45 ACP caliber bullets)]
…
Hmm? Something strange seems to have slipped in.
This ten-pull was quite lucky. He received nine guns—four rifles and five pistols. If sold, they would fetch more than 140 Victors. Zhou Ning was very pleased.
But the one prize that wasn't a gun seemed strangely familiar.
He took the Stone Mask from his inventory and stared at it speechlessly. It was identical to the one from the manga: a ferocious stone mask covered with deep grooves, with two holes for eyes and two fangs in its mouth. It was clearly no ordinary item.
Putting this on should turn me into a vampire, but why would I want that? I'm a perfectly good human being, why would I stop being one?
After some consideration, he decided to save it for future players. It would make a great quest reward for a hidden bloodline. What could be better?
Player: ???
After the lottery, he had exactly 25 Time Travel Coins left. This would likely be his last simulation for a while. Zhou Ning took a deep breath, exhaled, selected the new map Zongheng Sihai (Traveling Across the World), and initiated the time-travel sequence.
[Preparing to travel through time... Time Travel Coins -25]
[Please select the time travel mode...]
[1. Travel directly.]
[2. Use a parallel world template to travel.]
Although he was broke, he checked the templates out of habit. What if one was free?
Obviously not. None of the three templates available were particularly impressive anyway.
The first was the "Returning Villain Zhou Ning" for 15 Time Travel Coins. Cheap, but still unaffordable.
The second template was a two-meter-tall Zhou Ning with a tough face, wearing a Lakers jersey and holding a basketball.
Talent: Athletic Prodigy (Blue)
Skills: Basketball Technique (Expert), Scientific Training Method (Expert)
Personality: Competitive, Paranoid
Title: Basketball Superstar Zhou Ning
Price: 7 Time Travel Coins
The third template was a Zhou Ning in a white coat, holding a bloody scalpel with a sinister look in his eyes.
Title: Demon Doctor Zhou Ning
Price: 15 Time Travel Coins
Bah! Mediocre! Zhou Ning shook his head and chose the first option.
[You have selected Travel Mode 1.]
[Please select three of the following ten talents as your starting conditions:]
1. Mermaid (Blue): You have a great talent for swimming. In the water, you feel like you truly belong.
2. Muscular Man (Green): You are so muscular that you are intimidating.
3. Portable Grandpa (Purple): Your ring contains the soul of a powerful local warrior. Perhaps you could call him a Portable Grandpa? (Note: This works best when paired with the Wastrel style.)
4. Faceless Void (Purple): You have a cucumber growing on your face, but you have a certain chance of turning back time.
5. Sex Addict (White): (The following is paid content.)
6. Stephen Hawking (Blue): Your intelligence far exceeds that of ordinary people, but the price is total paralysis.
7. It's Too Big (White): Your underwear needs to be custom-made.
8. Ghost Back (Blue): The muscles on your back have grown into the shape of a demon's face, making you highly suited for combat.
9. Doctor of Medicine (Purple): You are an authority in the field of medicine.
10. Cthulhu (Purple): Waibiwaibi, waibibabu.
[Please make your selection!]
Zhou Ning stared. The options were surprisingly good this time, with four purple talents! On closer inspection, however, 4 and 10 seemed like obvious traps. After a moment's hesitation, he chose 1, 3, and 9.
[You have selected Talent 1, Talent 3, and Talent 9.]
[Match successful. In this parallel world, you are a playboy, a scientific genius, and incredibly versatile. At the age of 20, you earned a medical doctorate and became a national swimming champion. You also own a simple, antique-style ring you stumbled upon at a street stall.]
[The game will end upon your death in the simulation.]
[Engaging time machine… 1%… 33%… 65%… 95%… Travel complete.]
[You have traveled to the sea in the year 1516. From this moment on, the wheel of history begins to turn.]
1516? According to his historical knowledge, that was shortly after Columbus discovered the Americas. The European Age of Discovery was just beginning.
Zhou Ning felt a surge of relief that he had thought ahead and chosen the Mermaid talent.
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