No strange things are allowed to evolve!

[Overall assessment: The process was completely wrong, but the result was completely correct!]

[Note: Item-type hatcheries do not grant experience points or evolution points; achievements will be randomly converted into enchantments or special attributes.]

Looking at the classic comments that subtly imply personal opinions, Jiang Shu felt she had gotten used to it.

He didn't even have the interest to complain.

The only things that could pique his curiosity now were the rewards he could receive, and the enchantments and special attributes he was seeing for the first time.

According to Shen Mo, if the difficulty level is Nightmare, he will receive a pair of knuckle dusters that will allow him to use his power freely without suffering any backlash or injury.

But now that the difficulty has changed, shouldn't some other powerful effects be added on top of the original?

Jiang Shu turned to the second page.

[Obtained a calamity-level item: Five Poison Lotus]

[Description: A weapon left behind by a powerful figure who could overcome all obstacles with sheer force; it seems to still retain his domineering aura...]

"Lotus...lotus flower?"

Jiang Shu was taken aback: "Could it really be a Xiao Yan template? Giving me a Buddha's Wrath Lotus?"

But after opening the reward and examining it carefully, Jiang Shu realized that the so-called lotus was actually a tiger.

The brass knuckles are also known as Iron Lotus or Iron Fist Gloves. Jiang Shu thought about it and figured the reason for the name was probably because names like Five Poisons Brass Knuckles or Five Poisons Fist Gloves sounded too vulgar and didn't match the high-class status of a calamity-level weapon.

As for why it's called the Five Poisons, Jiang Shu immediately understood after checking the details.

Just as he expected, the Five Poison Lotus indeed retained its nightmare-level characteristics—

Kinetic Energy Absorption (Nightmare): Ignores the impact of reaction force when used.

In addition to this, there are three different levels of entries.

[Indestructible (True): Cannot be damaged by items or skills of a lower grade than this item]

【Indestructible (Calamity): When used, it inflicts true damage equal to 10% of the user's strength, ignoring the opponent's physical strength or defensive skills below the Calamity level】

【All Five Poisons (Calamity): When afflicted with one of the five negative statuses "Curse," "Plague," "Weakness," "Frenzy," or "Charm," the effectiveness of attacks is increased by 20%, and the status can stack up to ten times】

"It turns out that its true strength only begins to manifest at the calamity level."

Jiang Shu immediately recognized the essence of the Five Poison Lotus:

"A monkey show? That's interesting."

The more negative status effects one receives, the more exaggerated the power one can unleash. If one stacks up all the buffs before the battle, the Five Poison Lotus can help the owner unleash 300% of their power. Combined with 10% true damage, if used well, it can easily achieve a one-hit kill against opponents with similar stats, and even opponents of higher levels are not without a fighting chance.

Its shamelessness rivals that of Kaioken.

From this perspective, the seemingly useless [Kinetic Energy Absorption] is actually a prelude to [All Poisons], used to protect the user's prerequisite skills.

If I had to point out a drawback, it would only be that one must be subject to negative status effects.

This means that to unleash its calamity effect, one must act swiftly, because the longer the negative status lasts, the greater its impact on the user. The Five Poison Lotus is a weapon that works in one go, then weakens, and finally exhausts itself.

That's true, at least for others.

Jiang Shu, however, is not included in this list.

Because he possesses the Heart of the Great Wilderness, he can eliminate all negative effects below the level of natural disaster, such as the "weakness" effect applied by the abbot of Yunfu Temple's calamity-level skill, and even the restrictions of the hatchery can be eliminated.

However, the description of the "Five Poisons" entry only states that it can be triggered when "a negative status is applied", not that it is triggered while the negative status is in effect.

In other words, Jiang Shu could completely purchase it for free, stepping on the other's foot and getting the Five Poison Lotus's attributes for free without suffering any negative consequences.

If you stack up the buff to the maximum, and then equip the Five Poison Lotus and punch the abbot, the result will be completely different from last time when you not only failed to hurt the abbot but also broke your own finger.

Jiang Shu felt a great sense of security at that moment.

He decided that once he got out, he would do some research on how to get different kinds of pesticides to carry with him.

Whenever it's time to take action, take a few sips, stack up a few buffs, and with one punch, you'll send your opponent's anus flying!

All I can say is that Popeye eats spinach.

Thinking this, Jiang Shu continued reading.

He hadn't forgotten that achievements were converted into enchantments and attributes.

[Enchantment: Frostbite (True): Attacks have a 5% chance to reduce the target's speed by 5% for three seconds.]

[Enchantment: Joy (True): Each time you attack, your next attack speed is increased by 2%, stacking up to five times. The effect disappears if you do not attack again within five seconds.]

It's another case of the left foot stepping on the right foot, but the value is too low, so the effect may not be ideal, but it's better than nothing.

[Enchantment - Vulnerable (Calamity): After being hit three times within three seconds, the target takes 10% increased damage from all sources for ten seconds.]

This works quite well.

Jiang Shu nodded.

The effect of the Monkey Show can be enhanced by another 10%. Therefore, after stacking all the effects of [All Poisons] and [Vulnerable], a single punch can deal 330% of the theoretical power. In addition, with [Indestructible], it also adds 33% true damage.

Even if the opponent has high physical strength and defensive skills, the effect should still be quite considerable.

Furthermore, Jiang Shu was quite lucky; his final achievement even transformed into a low-level but incredibly popular affix with a catchy name and effect.

[Left punch deals high damage, right punch deals high damage! (Calamity): If you used alternating left and right hands in the previous attack, the left punch will remove 5% of your physical strength in the next attack, stacking up to six times and lasting for ten seconds. The right punch will deal area damage, with the effect decreasing with the distance it spreads, up to a maximum of ten meters.]

To be honest, if it weren't for the slightly low numerical value, Jiang Shu would have thought this stat should be classified as Cataclysmic based solely on its resistance reduction and high-level AOE.

"It would be perfect if it were changed to 15% and 1000 meters." Jiang Shu couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

But life isn't always perfect. Achieving this much is already quite good, and even a little bit is not bad.

After reviewing all the information and entries and confirming that nothing had been missed, Jiang Shu carefully put away the Five Poison Lotus.

He now understood why the entrance fee for the item incubation center of the Bureau of Different Systems was so expensive. An item suitable for an evolver could make up for many current shortcomings, help the evolver undergo a qualitative change, and unleash even greater power.

However, as the owner of the Ancestral Love and Desire Spiritual Root, Jiang Shu did not shift his thinking towards the Courage Spiritual Root just because he obtained this powerful weapon. He still felt it was best not to take action if possible.

On the one hand, he does not advocate violence; at least he himself does not like to use violence, except for letting others use it.

On the other hand, although the Five Poison Lotus can greatly enhance his abilities, it is all in terms of attack power and does not improve his physical strength. If he really gets into a fight, he will be like a glass cannon, with high attack and low defense, which is still risky.

Then, the incident at Yunfu Temple taught him a lesson.

He only knew that Xue Wang came from a large organization, but Xue Wang did not know the secret of Yunfu Temple, so he had a preconceived notion that the big fish should easily eat the small fish.

But unexpectedly, the world of the evolved beings is full of hidden talents. Even in a small, unknown group or gathering place, there is a dangerous person like the abbot.

Therefore, Jiang Shu did not become too arrogant. He only used the Five Poison Lotus as one of his current methods. He did not completely relax and feel that he lacked nothing. He was very clear-headed and knew that he still lacked a lot.

At the same time, he has no intention of changing his strategy, using the Five Poison Lotus as the core to plan his growth path and build his skill set.

He still intends to pursue the charm route.

He knew that if it weren't for his charisma, he wouldn't have had such a smooth journey so far, either in the incubator or in the real world.

Furthermore, now that they have the backing of the Bureau of Different Orders, according to Shen Mo, they don't need to worry too much about being bullied in the future. Relying on the reputation of the Bureau of Different Orders can avoid many unnecessary disputes, and they might even be able to bully others.

At this stage, sufficient military force is enough; what's truly important is the network of connections that come with charisma.

If you can turn all potential rivals into your own dogs, wouldn't that be a kind of invincibility?

If you really encounter a situation where you have to rely on yourself and take action, you can simply save some evolution points in advance, allocate them as needed, and break through on the spot.

"Okay, let's leave it at that." Jiang Shu gathered her thoughts: "Let's break free."

......

Bureau of Different Systems.

It's 6:30 in the morning.

Shen Mo sat alone in the lobby on the third floor of the strategy area, his eyes vacant.

The ashtray in front of him was piled high with cigarette butts.

Around midnight, the medical staff he had called couldn't wait any longer and had to deal with other matters.

Around 1 or 2 a.m., Qin Lang, having finished his work, took a look and said he was going to ask his team members about the situation of the Calamity-level monsters. Then he left with Overlord.

In the latter half of the night, he was left alone to keep watch.

"Boss, it's still not out?"

As Ba Wang delivered breakfast to Shen Mo, he placed the lunchbox on the table beside him and opened it, while constantly glancing at the room Jiang Shu had entered.

"No, but it should be soon." Shen Mo put on gloves, grabbed a leek pancake from the lunchbox and started eating. "The time flow in the incubator is different from that in the real world. The limit is twelve hours. What we can be sure of now is that he has been in there for at least three days, but it's hard to say exactly how long."

Shen Mo hadn't slept all night. Although he wasn't exactly haggard, his mood wasn't as high as usual.

He had a lot of stubble on his chin, making him look somewhat unkempt.

"Have you stayed for three days enough?" Ba Wang asked expectantly, "Then is it possible...?"

"What are you thinking about?" Shen Mo rolled his eyes speechlessly. "This is an incubator that operates on a yearly basis."

"Year?!" The Overlord was startled.

Seeing his reaction, Shen Mo asked in surprise, "You haven't entered the incubator where the time to conquer is measured in years, have you?"

"No...no," Ba Wang replied. "If it's fast, it won't take more than a day; if it's slow, it usually takes one or two days."

"Then you need to be mentally prepared. There are quite a few hatcheries that take years or even decades to conquer. The good news is that if you succeed, the hatchery will restore the evolver's physical and mental state to the time when they entered the hatchery, while preserving the evolver's memories, in order to protect the evolver's mental health."

After saying this, Shen Mo glanced at the Overlord with his Sima-like face with a hint of schadenfreude, and then continued:

"Within three days, the time it takes for the evolved individuals to return will increase proportionally to the time spent in the incubator, but after three days, no matter how many more days they stay inside, the return time will not exceed twelve hours."

"I see." The Overlord nodded dejectedly.

Firstly, the thought of possibly encountering such a torturous hatchery in the future, and secondly, the fact that surviving three days does not mean that Jiang Shu has conquered the hatchery.

“But then again,” Shen Mo changed the subject, “the fact that he could stay for three days at least proves that he’s not bad at dealing with people, and at least he won’t cause me any trouble in the future.”

"How was this determined?" Ba Wang asked, puzzled.

"Qin Lang messaged me this morning. He talked to some of the team members who had failed to complete the strategy and found out what happened."

As Shen Mo cleaned up the empty lunchboxes and the table, he lit a cigarette.

"This incubator is a fantasy world where you start with debt. In the early stages, you need to pay off your debts while cultivating some rudimentary techniques. Only after you have paid off your debts and achieved some success can you begin the main storyline and collect five top-tier techniques."

"And then?" the Overlord pressed.

"And then I don't know, no one successfully completed the first task, so nobody knows what to do next."

All I know is that three team members have gone in so far, all of them incredibly talented and formidable fighters, but they all failed. So you'd better not have too high expectations for him.”

Shen Mo shrugged and said as if reciting a familiar list:

"The first person had a bad temper and got into a fight with the creditor. He was killed with a single blow, resulting in an immediate failure."

The second person managed to deal with the creditors, but because he couldn't earn any money over the past six months, he not only couldn't pay off his debts, but also incurred even more debts. He hadn't even left the starting village, so he had no choice but to commit suicide and return home.

The third person did leave the beginner village and began collecting cultivation techniques. However, because he was on a certain sect's blacklist, he was unable to collect the last cultivation technique. In the end, he risked signing a life-or-death bet with an enemy of that sect and was kicked to death on the arena.

This kid had it the worst. He spent a full ten years inside, and just a hair's breadth away from ruining everything. After he got out and finished writing the strategy guide, he begged Qin Lang to brainwash him, saying that if he didn't forget those ten years, it would be a lifelong shadow.

"Has it gotten to the point where brainwashing is necessary?" Ba Wang asked in astonishment.

"This is normal. If the time span is too large, it's easy for people to confuse reality with the incubator."

Shen Mo disagreed:

"Higher-level evolvers, if given the opportunity, have all been brainwashed to forget some of the incubation site's contents. Don't be fooled by the few lines of text in those guides; the hardships behind them are something only those who have experienced them can truly understand. These things can easily influence, or even distort, a person's mentality."

"Hmm..." Overlord seemed to be deep in thought.

"Alright." Shen Mo glanced at his watch. "It's almost time. He'll be out soon. Go to the medical department and call those people from yesterday over."

"Okay, sure." Ba Wang nodded and left with the trash that Shen Mo had finished eating.

Shen Mo looked towards the strategy room.

He pondered whether to scold Jiang Shu first for his recklessness, or to comfort him first and then scold him.

Chapter Seventy-One: Return

Slowly opening her eyes, Jiang Shu returned to the real world.

He sat up from the huge, soft recliner, equipped with the Five Poison Lotus, and tried to clench his fist.

"Hmm, perfectly fitted, not bad."