Alone and Infinite

"Wait—" The short man opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed his words under Lisa's stern gaze.

Lisa said apologetically, "The person who opened the box was a gambler and didn't know the rules very well. If this shield were put on auction, it would probably be worth around 1.8 to 2."

This is because of the premium on the shield, so if we buy it at 8%, it's 1500 points!

Li Xia nodded. Excluding the 1500 points from opening the box, the net profit exceeded 15,000, which could definitely be described as a huge profit.

If you're just selling boxes, anything over 3000 is considered a sign of a conscientious buyer.

However, recalling the short man's expression and Lisa's actions, Li Xia understood. He weighed the shield in his hand and suddenly said.

"Would you like to buy this equipment?"

Lisa paused for a moment, then finally broke into an unprecedented smile. This kind of partner was truly comforting.

"We'll take it! If you're willing to sell it to us, the 1500 points can be waived."

It's only a little over a thousand points, the Brotherhood of Steel wouldn't even consider it a big deal. But rules are rules, and once the rules for charging for opening boxes are set, they can't be broken.

But Lisa recently took on a task to equip a core seed member who had just entered Tier 2.

That seed member's talent skill is an extremely rare shield-type bonus, and the class template is Magic Shielder.

There are shields that enhance magic conduction, and there are also many shields that refract energy, but it is extremely rare to find a shield that combines both attributes and is also a low-tier shield, especially one that is blue and of the highest quality.

The Shield of Theraine is a perfect fit.

This explains why the short man's expression was a bit off when he saw the shield; he knew about Lisa's mission.

"I wonder what you need, Xia? Is it Hall Points or equipment? Although the guild's equipment is not for sale, exchanging for it is not a problem."

Lisa was in a great mood, and her beautiful face became even more charming.

She waved to the short man, took out her treasured tea from her personal space, and began to brew tea seriously.

The bubbling spring water, as clear as pearls, released a refreshing aroma of tea as soon as the boiling water was poured in.

"Detection equipment—"

Li Xia said without hesitation that this was what he desperately needed. Although Scott was very good, he was obviously much stronger in auxiliary functions than in detection.

If you can see the target's specific attributes and even skills, you will obviously be better prepared for the battle.

As for detection skills, he doesn't really want them, at least not for now. They consume too many resources, and if his detection equipment can't keep up, he can just replace it. It's basically buying and selling at the original price, with no depreciation or anything like that.

"Detection equipment?" Lisa thought carefully for a moment and asked, "Do you have any detection equipment now? Like technological detection equipment, which you could try to upgrade."

Oh? It can be upgraded?

"Yes, the Scott Type 1."

"This is..." Lisa took the combat power detector, somewhat surprised. "You're really amazing to be able to get it at the first level."

Her expression relaxed considerably: "That's much easier. Frieza from Dragon Ball doesn't actually have a very high level of technology, so it's easy to modify."

The problem can be solved by simply embedding the Ellie's mental resonance device and upgrading the system.

We have the relevant team capable of carrying out the upgrade.

Lisa talked on and on, and Li Xia felt a little dizzy, but thanks to her, Li Xia understood the principle of the detection skill.

It roughly involves using mental and intellectual attributes to condense into a beam, inducing the other party to subconsciously recall their own panel attributes, and then reading the panel.

While the characters in the story cannot see their own character panels, the Temple of Light will actually conduct an evaluation and provide an invisible panel.

Therefore, during the detection process, mental and intelligence attributes are compared, and if the incomplete information is not detected, only a fragmented panel will be displayed.

After sending the Scott Model 1 for upgrade, Lisa thought for a moment and continued:

"The upgrade cost is still lower than that blue shield. Here, I'll add this to your setup; you'll definitely find it useful."

After saying that, Lisa handed over ownership of an item.

[Upgrade Scroll]

[Quality: Blue (Tier 1)]

【Origin: Brotherhood of Steel · Big Ben Research Institute】

[Type: consumables]

[Effect: Can upgrade the equipment tier by one while maintaining its attributes]

[Comment: The creativity of the apostles!]

The effectiveness of this thing seems a bit mysterious.

Simply raising the rank? Attributes remain unchanged?

Lisa looked at the expression on Li Xia's face and immediately realized what was going on:

"I almost forgot that you were supposed to have directly advanced to Tier 2 using the Supreme Honor Badge."

After saying that, she sighed and said enviously:

Sometimes I really envy you apostles who are favored by the temple—

She presented an equation, succinctly stating:

"From Tier 1 to 3, when an apostle advances to the next tier, his or her attributes will be compressed. The compression coefficient will be determined based on the evaluation of the advancement trial."

Generally, it is between 0.7 and 0.9. For example, a level 10 stamina has a trial evaluation coefficient of 0.8.

After his promotion, he will have 10 (first tier) * 0.8 = 8 points (second tier).

"Those who directly advance to the second tier like you immediately gain an attribute advantage."

Li Xia then realized just how much convenience the badge he was using had brought him; no wonder it was such a rare reward!

Even with the highest coefficient of 0.9, there is still a loss of 7.5 attribute points, which is comparable to the gain of a normal apostle in a world.

"Equipment also has a coefficient, which is a fixed coefficient of 0.8 within the first three tiers. This means that when you take low-tier world equipment to a higher tier, the various attribute bonuses will be reduced by 20%."

For example, Tier 1 equipment is 20% off when it reaches Tier 3.

As for those above the third tier, that's another world entirely!

Lisa pointed at the scroll in Li Xia's hand: "So you know what this thing is for, right?"

Got it! Good stuff!

————————————————————————

1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

I need to make a list of the settings when I have time.

Are there too many settings? I wrote this with a heavy heart, but I couldn't not write it.

Prediction failed; the next chapter will definitely be a dungeon!

Chapter 82 begins! A new world awaits!

The upgrade for the Scott 1 will take some time, mainly due to the need for firmware updates.

Li Xia then bid farewell to Lisa. He still had about 2 points left and planned to go to the market to buy some defensive equipment.

The mithril ring with +1 magic conduction found in the trial was also exchanged with Lisa for a green quick-draw holster.

The attributes are average; apart from the 10% increase in draw speed, which is decent, there are no other special attributes.

So even though it was only Tier 2 equipment, Lisa didn't hesitate and immediately switched to it.

The so-called "Magic Conduction +1" means that the power conduction loss is reduced by 10% when casting spells. In other words, the spell casting cost is reduced by 10%, which is a very useful attribute.

Unfortunately, the upper limit is only 50%, otherwise it could be accumulated, and the price of conduction attributes would definitely skyrocket.

This is the downside of these top guilds: they basically don't sell their equipment except for trades; they only buy it.

Even when they are sold, it is done in a unified manner by designated personnel after the monthly inventory check.

On the contrary, those guilds of lower or middle level have more freedom.

Li Xia browsed around the street stalls, hoping to find some practical skills.

However, they overlooked the desire and appreciation these low-ranking apostles have for skills, as the output of such skills is already low, and they themselves possess very few.

They learn the skills almost immediately after acquiring them.

This situation will gradually ease in the middle of the second stage, at which point the apostles will try to build their own development system.

However, they still held onto their skills, opting instead to barter for items they could use.

After wandering around for a while, Li Xia finally spotted a stall displaying skills.

After some haggling, I managed to acquire the skill for 9000 points.

[General Driving]

Although this skill includes driving, it is actually applicable to almost any mode of transportation.

For example, horseback riding, horse-drawn carriages, jet skis, submarines, airplanes, and so on are all included.

It's a very practical auxiliary function.

I spent another 5000 to get a level 2 blue leather armor.

It doesn't have any special attributes, but it has a defense tier of 4 and a 30% reduction in blunt damage.

I went to the Skill Hall again and chose the fixed upgrade without hesitation.

Upgrading the (General Driving) passive skill requires 300 Hall Points. Do you want to pay?

Pay!

Suddenly, the surroundings lit up, and a beam of light from the ceiling of the room enveloped him.

Li Xia felt his muscles trembling uncontrollably, which gradually subsided after a few minutes.

[General Driving (Passive Skill) has been upgraded to Rank 2]

Undeterred, I continued making the payment, and soon a series of prompts appeared.

[Upgraded to Rank 3]

[Upgraded to Rank 4]

[Upgraded to Rank 5]

[Further upgrade requires 500 points. Upgrade now?]

Li Xia exited the interface and glanced at the skill's effect.

[General Driving Rank 5]

Most types of vehicles are now in a familiar state, with a 30% improvement in handling.

That's enough. It's roughly equivalent to a novice driver who has driven 50,000 to 60,000 kilometers. At least it's usable.

Not bad! Nodding in satisfaction, Li Xia looked at the remaining four thousand points and headed straight for the training ground.

Please select the trial method.

1. Group battles

2.1v1

Li Xia hesitated for a moment.

"Group battle!"

Please set the opponent's strength.

1. Gradual Progression

2. Evenly matched type

"Proceed step by step!"

Please set the enemy's attack method.

1. Long-range melee weapons

2. Long-range firearms

3. Mixed random type