Chapter 42: Hall of Wonders
"Finally, it's done."
Zhou Ning set down his tools and breathed a sigh of relief. Before him lay two hundred neatly arranged special bullets.
Freshman orientation at Wake Forest University was tomorrow. As the head of the Alchemy Department, he had to be there this afternoon to help set up, no matter how much he wanted to slack off. There was still the venue to prepare, staff to arrange, and a dozen other things to do.
Fortunately, making special bullets was familiar territory. He had sorted through the materials in the alchemy building, left work early, and, after a solid effort, managed to finish the entire order by noon.
The deadline really is the ultimate motivator, Zhou Ning grumbled to himself.
He found a bullet bag, packed all the ammunition inside, and set it aside to take with him later. Then, it was time for his routine lottery pull.
Opening the simulator, Zhou Ning saw he had eight Time Travel Coins remaining, including the two he'd earned from the last two days of minimum living allowance. He clicked the recharge button without hesitation, spending 100 Vectra to buy ten more coins. He then navigated to the "Lost in the Fog" prize pool and selected the ten-pull option.
[You have obtained a rare item: Browning M1906 pocket pistol with .25 ACP ammunition]
[You have obtained a rare item: M1 Garand rifle with 7.62mm ammunition]
[You have obtained a rare item...]
…
The first ten-pull was average, with no surprises. In total, he received three long guns, five handguns, and two useless items.
Zhou Ning then initiated a second ten-pull.
[You have obtained a rare item: M1 Garand rifle with 7.62mm ammunition]
[You have obtained a rare item: Lee-Enfield rifle with .303 British ammunition]
…
[You have obtained an epic item: Flawed Aizhe Redstone.]
[Because you have obtained more than three epic items, the Hall of Wonders has been opened.]
"A hall? What hall?"
The second ten-pull had also been fairly standard, yielding four rifles and three pistols. Just as Zhou Ning was about to review his haul, a new prompt caught him by surprise.
He opened the simulator and clicked the small arrow on the right. Sure enough, a new tab had appeared next to the taskbar: Hall of Wonders, marked with a small red dot.
He clicked on it. The interface displayed an empty room with three display shelves, each corresponding to one of the unlocked maps. The first shelf, for "Lost in the Fog," held the Stone Mask in its first slot and the Aizhe Red Stone in its second. Next to each item was a small "Claim" icon.
Three slots on the first shelf remained empty and unactivated.
This is a classic pay-to-win mobile game tactic, isn't it? Zhou Ning thought. First, they hook you with the desire to collect, then they drain your wallet. It's a standard gacha trap, but I'm smart enough to see right through it.
He clicked "Claim" on both items, and panels prompted [Time Travel Coins +4] and [Time Travel Coins +5].
The second shelf was clearly for "Infinity War" items. It was much taller, with about ten slots. The first slot contained the Super Soldier Serum he had already used. The second, of course, held his Phoenix Man suit. This one also had a claim icon next to it.
He clicked it. [Total Time Travel Coins +10].
The third shelf, for "Zongheng Sihai," was currently empty.
Then Zhou Ning noticed that two item bonds had been activated at the bottom of the screen: Ultimate Creature and Phoenix Man.
[Ultimate Creature: Stone Mask + Aizhe Redstone. A rare item combination from the 'Lost in the Fog' map. Activating this bond increases all attributes by 1.]
[Phoenix: Super Soldier Serum + Phoenix Suit. An item set belonging to Tony Stark, the Phoenix of Earth-83716. Activating this bond grants Strength +2 and Agility +2.]
Zhou Ning was speechless.
Damn, they're good. Suddenly, I have the urge to buy a few more ten-pulls.
He closed the Hall of Wonders and opened his item inventory, clicking on the newly acquired Aizhe Redstone to view its details.
A panel appeared:
[Flawed Aizhe Redstone: A rare and beautiful stone found in nature that can significantly amplify the power of the Ripple. Three flawed stones can be combined into a perfect Aizhe Redstone. When embedded in a Stone Mask, it allows those with the Pillar Man bloodline to evolve into the Ultimate Creature. The effect on humans is unknown.]
"Not bad," Zhou Ning mused, a slight curl on his lips. The only use he could immediately think of for the stone was to make bullets, but the thing was obviously incredibly hard. Whether he could even cut it with his current tools was another question entirely. He would have to look into it later.
After sorting through the guns he'd drawn, he counted a total of seven rifles and eight pistols. Combined with the two hundred special bullets, he figured he could get over 400 Vectra for the lot.
Zhou Ning packed the firearms into a large suitcase and walked out of the laboratory.
The lab was located near Wake Forest University, and for the past few days, the neighboring houses had been vacant. Today, however, as Zhou Ning stepped outside, he saw that he had new neighbors. An old woman with gray hair was moving boxes into the house next door. Parked outside was a wheelchair, occupied by a remarkably energetic-looking old man. His white hair was thick and bristly, each strand standing up stubbornly—a classic protagonist hairstyle.
Zhou Ning blinked in surprise. Aren't these Mr. and Mrs. Tulin?
"Hello, you two. Need any help?" Zhou Ning walked over quickly, tipping his hat in a friendly greeting.
Mrs. Tulin turned in surprise. Seeing Zhou Ning, she broke into a happy laugh. "Hello, little Wayne. We would, if you're willing."
Zhou Ning smiled, set his suitcase aside, and started helping them carry their things.
There wasn't much to move, and they finished in under ten minutes. Old Mr. Tulin, who had been sitting silently in his wheelchair, suddenly asked in a low voice, "Were you just making Oil of Flame?"
Zhou Ning nodded, a bit puzzled. "How did you know?"
"The smell." The old man pointed to his nose with a mischievous smile. "A good alchemist must have a good nose and a good tongue."
By that logic, Zhou Ning thought helplessly, John's dog, Polly, would be a perfect alchemist. She's got a great nose, and she's a total suck-up who'll lick anything.
"Don't you spend all day on your alchemy. One day you'll have to live with the consequences," Mrs. Tulin said, coming out of the room and patting her husband's shoulder in mock admonishment. She handed Zhou Ning a glass of clear liquid. "This is my special iced mint tea. I never sell it to anyone. Would you like to try some?"
After thanking her, Zhou Ning took a sip. The taste was similar to the Sprite he remembered from Earth, only sweeter and more refreshing. It instantly washed away the fatigue from his busy morning.
"This is delicious!" Zhou Ning praised sincerely.
"Then I'm relieved." Mrs. Tulin smiled, watching as he finished the glass. "If you like it, I'll bring some over for you every now and then."
After chatting with Mrs. Tulin for a while longer, he politely declined her invitation to stay for dinner. Zhou Ning picked up his suitcase and walked to the intersection, where he caught a public carriage heading to the west side of the city.
Zhou Ning followed the address to 355 Will Street, finding the Xilin Grocery Store. He set his suitcase on the ground, tucked his left hand into his pocket, and knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened. Zhou Ning was surprised to see the familiar black hair and deadpan face. "You again?"
Sherlock gave Zhou Ning a flat look. "Why couldn't it be me? We need to discuss something later."
Zhou Ning nodded, carried the suitcase inside, and opened it on a table. "Seven rifles, eight pistols. That's 246. Plus two hundred bullets. With a discount, the total is 440 Vectra."
"Why so many all of a sudden?" Sherlock asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Too much for you?"
"No, the more, the better." Sherlock pulled a stack of banknotes from his pocket and pushed it across the table to Zhou Ning. "Here's 500 Vectra. The extra 60 is a deposit for the next batch."
Zhou Ning took out his notebook and silently made a calculation. "You said you wanted to discuss something? What is it?"
When it came to business, Sherlock's expression turned serious. "I hear you're one of the people in charge of the freshman orientation," he said. "We might need your help for this operation."
Just as Zhou Ning was about to answer, a prompt sounded in his mind.
[You have triggered the B-rank mission [Conspiracy]. Accept/Reject?]
Accept.
Zhou Ning took on the task without hesitation.
---
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