Life Dungeon Game

He Ao shifted his gaze from the 'stamen of the eternal flower (replica)' to the next reward.

Then his gaze paused.

'The Butterfly's Dancing Skirt'.

This dance dress appears to be an item related to the Witch of Desire, and its ability description also fits the Witch of Desire's style: controlling others through desire to enhance one's own power.

In He's timeline, the Witch of Desire and the Church of the Witch of Desire are characters who run throughout the entire gene serum storyline.

He Ao first came into contact with the gene serum in the third official instance. The character Roy in that instance was being hunted down by the Church of the Desire Witch. It was in that instance that He Ao killed the Desire Witch's human form with the help of his good friend.

This time, He Ao used the lightning wielded by the Witch of Desire to destroy Wells, who was the mastermind behind the gene serum incident, and pushed the hidden entity behind Wells back into its coffin.

It began here and it will end here.

Perhaps this is why the system is generating items related to the Witch of Desire.

The power of this 'Butterfly Dance Dress' is also ineffective against angels, and it will repel all talent sequences that are not related to desire, causing the holder to go mad.

The previous 'Eternal Flower Stamen (Imitation)' also caused a rejection of the talent sequence, but it was not specified whether it was partial or complete.

It seems that after reaching a level close to that of an angel, the mutual repulsion between extraordinary powers becomes increasingly intense.

He Ao's gaze continued downwards, landing on the 'contaminated mechanical core'.

This mechanical core manifests its power in a way completely different from the other two extraordinary items.

Both the 'stamen of the eternal flower (a replica)' and the 'butterfly skirt' clearly and directly demonstrate extraordinary power, and are ineffective against angels.

This mechanical core is capable of controlling all mechanical objects.

In other words, its power depends entirely on how strong the machinery that can be found is.

If He Ao finds a C-class Seraph Mech, it can display C-class power; if He Ao finds a B-class supersonic airship, it can display B-class power.

Hmm, if we could find an angel-level machine

Mechanical...

He then shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind.

Even in the dungeon world, He Ao had never heard of the Federation creating angel-level machines, which seemed to be a realm beyond the reach of human technology.

However, this mechanical core also has limitations, namely 'artificial intelligence' and 'network'.

The system seemed to be strongly warning He Ao not to expose this thing to artificial intelligence and the internet, otherwise it might cause unknown consequences.

If it were just a simple machine, connecting it to artificial intelligence might have an impact, but He Ao couldn't imagine what problems connecting it to the network would cause.

Since the problem isn't with the 'machinery,' it must be with the 'pollution.'

This extraordinary item is called the 'Contaminated Mechanical Core'.

The main point of the entire item is probably not the mechanical core, but the contamination.

He looked at the three items, pondered for a moment, and made his choice.

You have selected 'Contaminated Mechanical Core'.

The reward has been issued; please check your account.

The reason for choosing the 'contaminated mechanical core' is not complicated.

He Ao just triggered the 'Silent Night Coffin Man' achievement.

Based on the effects of 'Silent Night Coffin Man', the rewards refreshed this time may include prizes of 'higher rank'.

The first two, 'The Stamen of the Eternal Flower (Imitation)' and 'The Butterfly's Dance Skirt,' are clearly of a lower rank than angel. Only this 'Contaminated Mechanical Core' does not explicitly indicate a rank restriction.

This suggests that the mechanical core might be an item of a higher rank, even if it's not an angelic rank, it's definitely higher than a B-rank item.

The fact that mere contamination could elevate this mechanical core to a level higher than B-grade suggests that the source of this contamination may be a being higher than angels.

For example, deities.

This is an item that is inherently corrupted by the gods.

Furthermore, the system specifically emphasizes that overuse of this item may lead to unknown gazes, meaning that, in a sense, this is an item that comes with the gaze of unknown deities.

Then there are many things that can be done here.

As for friends, the more the better.

Of course, this alone is not enough to convince Heo to choose it.

Compared to the previous two items, this mechanical core has a significant drawback: it is limited by the level of technological development in He'ao's location.

After all, although it can manipulate all machines, it first needs machines to operate them.

Given the technological limitations of the main world, it would be difficult for He Ao to acquire powerful machinery. Furthermore, because it cannot connect to the internet, this item cannot perform network processing tasks for He Ao like Eve could.

Furthermore, it is illegal to arbitrarily control other people's machinery.

However, there is one place where these disadvantages can be overcome.

That is, ruins.

As a relic left behind by a destroyed advanced civilization, it is filled with a large number of ownerless and uncontrollable powerful machines. He can use them at will, and he won't care if they break. They are everywhere, and he can just pick up another one.

In this respect, this mechanical core is far superior to the mechs and fighter jets that the system previously produced with such meager resources.

They can't maintain them, and there aren't any useful technological items that can supply energy.

Moreover, the tower in the ruins that He Ao had entered before, which contained items related to hypermemory, seemed to be some kind of powerful machine itself.

He Ao already has a 'Fake Master Bracelet', a B-grade item that can enhance his strength, so he needs a B-grade auxiliary item.

'The Stamen of the Eternal Flower (Imitation)' and 'The Butterfly's Dance Skirt' are both indirectly effective auxiliary transcendental items.

However, the 'Eternal Flower Stamen (Imitation)' takes too long to work and cannot handle emergencies. Moreover, it is clearly an item that is suitable for short-term group buffs or long-term group poisoning. Neither of these effects is of much help to Heo's current situation as a lone traveler.

The 'Butterfly Skirt' requires controlling others through desire to help oneself. He Ao does not like this kind of direct control, which may be illegal. Moreover, this skirt is likely to easily lead to cognitive errors, and the risks far outweigh the benefits.

Therefore, all things considered, the 'contaminated mechanical core' is the most suitable item for Heo at this moment.

Moreover, unlike the previous two extraordinary items, the 'Contaminated Mechanical Core' is just a mechanical core, so it does not have the effect of rejecting talent sequences. The mental influence only comes from the contamination of the unknown god it carries.

He'ao, on the other hand, had some experience and resistance to the corruption of the gods.

The moment He Ao made his choice, a faint gray light appeared in front of him, obscuring his vision.

Then, the radiance receded and turned into an object the size of a thumb.

One half of the object resembled half of a regular dodecahedral machine, entirely black with a faint blue glow, while the other half was encased in irregularly shaped, pulsating flesh and blood.

The shimmering light and pulsating flesh moved in the same rhythm, like an eerie melody played in deep space.

He reached out and touched the object.

A twisted, chaotic murmur, like the friction of machinery, suddenly exploded in his mind. This murmur seemed to come from the distant depths of space, or from every corner around him. It entangled, roared, and urged He Ao to abandon the shackles of flesh and blood and move towards the eternal machine.

He Ao paused slightly, then picked up the object without any hindrance.

He had initially had some expectations for the babbling caused by the pollution, but it seems that things aren't going to work out.

I won't speak of the ravings of my best friend and the enraged witch, nor will I speak of the whispers at the grave of the God of War.

Perhaps due to the distance, the quality of this rambling was even inferior to the chaotic thoughts brought about by the hidden existence in the deep sea in the previous instance.

Well, all things considered, it's really not a good idea.

Sensing He Ao's seemingly unaffected reaction, the babbling that had invaded He Ao's mind seemed to have been provoked, becoming even more distorted and noisy.

He Ao played with the mechanical core in his hand, feeling the information transmitted to his mind from the object.

The information is brief: it can control all machinery and can change shape to some extent.

Regarding the internet, artificial intelligence, and pollution, a little...

nothing.

With a thought, thin, black lines, like tiny tendrils, extended from the mechanical side of the core, swaying and dancing in the air.

These tentacles appear to be the 'interfaces' through which this mechanical core connects to the other machines.

Then He Ao controlled the mechanical core to retract these tentacles. Under his will, the small mechanical core slowly contracted, compacted, and deformed, eventually transforming into a mechanical ring with twisted red patterns on its surface.

The aesthetic sensibilities brought from Wei An's memories led He Ao to adjust some of the ring's structure, placing the flesh and blood portion inside the ring band and the mechanical portion on the outer band, while also adjusting the proportions of the flesh and blood portion to create unique patterns on the ring band.

The portion that could not be compacted at the end formed a mechanical-looking prismatic facet above the ring setting.

The final ring possesses a beautiful blend of mechanics and the bizarre.

This ring is not high enough to fit in a pirate's treasure chest.

He put the ring on the little finger of his right hand.

Because the inside of the ring setting is made of flesh, the ring is quite comfortable and doesn't feel too tight on the hand.

Heo picked up the miracle wand from his waist and applied the 'Disappear' spell to the ring.

The Miracle Wand's 'Disappearance' ability can be used on three extraordinary items simultaneously. The three extraordinary items that Heo has currently chosen are the Pirate Chest, the Miracle Wand, and this Mechanical Core Ring.

At this moment, the polluting power that had been roaring in He Ao's mind seemed to have finally grown tired, and its murmured voices had become much quieter and returned to calm.

He Ao skillfully channeled these contaminants into the cognitive contamination caused by the 'fake master bracelet'.

The two different types of pollution quickly offset each other, relieving Heo's stress considerably once again.

Then He Ao looked into his field of vision, where the last subtitle was displayed.

[Current progress of the Super Exchanger quest: 9/12]

This Super Exchanger mission seems to be based on the number of exchange stars. He Ao has accumulated a total of 9 exchange stars, so the mission progress is 9/12.

I wonder what it will be like after the mission is completed.

The text slowly disappeared from He Ao's sight, signifying the complete end of this settlement.

He glanced at the bottom right corner of his vision, showing the remaining time for the next dungeon run.

161:08:09.

More than 160 hours, with a time interval of seven days.

The system has not refreshed any martial arts-related rewards for the past two days.

He Ao then brought up his personal attribute panel.