Chapter 34 of 100

Chapter 34

16 min read3,901 words

After wandering around for a few rounds, Ma Le learned about the equipment system in Miracle City while also looking for suitable gear for himself.

First, he didn't really need armor. For one, good armor was usually very expensive. Second, with two defensive talents, Ma Le's need for armor wasn't that urgent. Ordinary blue armor only added a dozen or so points of armor, which didn't impress him. Therefore, if he had money, it would be better to use it to enhance his attack power.

So, Ma Le's current goal was a good weapon. He had already realized that this life-and-death trial world had unexpectedly granted him benefits that other adventurers could only dream of. His current strength should far exceed that of ordinary beginner adventurers. Therefore, for close combat, the Iron Fist talent should be sufficient. What he needed was long-range striking ability.

When it came to long-range weapons, the first thing Ma Le thought of was a crossbow. After all, with 120 points of proficiency, it would be a waste not to use it. However, after several rounds, he didn't find a suitable crossbow. Crossbows, in the age of cold weapons, could be considered a powerful weapon. They were more powerful than bows and arrows and much easier to handle. The only drawback was the long shooting interval. However, even with this minor flaw, they were the only weapons that could allow unarmed farmers to defeat knights.

However, with the advent of firearms, the status of crossbows became awkward. They were neither as powerful as firearms nor as fast as bows and arrows, making them a rather useless weapon. Eventually, with the continuous development of firearms, even bows and arrows were completely phased out.

Of course, in Miracle City, powerful cold weapons could rival firearms. However, among weapons that used a string to launch projectiles, crossbows, in the eyes of skilled adventurers with excellent attributes and techniques, were clearly less appealing than bows and arrows. You might say that crossbows were easy to operate and could be used for concealed firing, but it would be better to get a sniper rifle.

Therefore, there were very few crossbows on the market. Most were low-quality white weapons sold in bundles. Occasionally, there were a few blue ones, but none suited Ma Le's needs. He had encountered a decent silver one, but the price was too high... After hesitating for a long time, Ma Le decided to haggle with the seller: "Brother, how much for this Demon Sniper?"

The seller glanced at him: "It's written there, 70,000 credit points!"

Ma Le was in a dilemma: "I don't have that much. Can you give me a discount?"

The seller sighed, pretending to be troubled: "This crossbow's attributes are among the best in silver equipment. 70,000 is already a fair price. But if you're serious about buying, I can give you a discount. Make an offer, and if it's close, I'll sell it to you!"

Ma Le, seeing a chance, thought for a moment and held up one finger: "What about 15,000?"

"Get lost!"

...

Just as Ma Le was feeling disheartened and decided to buy a gun to make do, a weapon caught his eye:

Name: Isaac's Harpoon Gun

Quality: Famous

Type: Crossbow

Origin: Dead Space World

Damage: 110 points

Maximum Range: 870 meters

Effective Range: 200 meters

Loading Method: Manual

Weight: 2.3 kg

Special Effect 1: Power Boost: This harpoon gun has been modified multiple times by Isaac using energy nodes, increasing its damage by 50 points (already reflected in the damage stats).

Special Effect 2: Electric Shock: After hitting an enemy, you can remotely activate the marking gun to release high-voltage electricity, causing secondary damage. The damage type is lightning, dealing 50 points per second for up to three seconds. This effect requires a fully charged marking gun.

Description: This harpoon gun was originally a marking gun used by the Harmonic Mining Company in outer space. It was a tool for marking in outer space engineering operations and was jokingly called a harpoon gun by engineers due to its similar firing mechanism. Later, during the space battle, the area was infected by the Moonlight virus, leading to the appearance of many mutated bodies. The imprisoned original engineer Isaac had to use the available tools to protect himself and escape. This harpoon gun was one of his most powerful weapons.

After being modified by Engineer Isaac, the performance of this harpoon gun was greatly improved, not only in terms of damage and firing speed but also in the strength and duration of the electric shock mode. In a sense, after helping Isaac escape, this harpoon gun had evolved from a tool into a lethal weapon!

...

This harpoon gun was a black-quality weapon. Although it was called a gun and did not use a string to launch projectiles, its shooting feel was very similar to a crossbow, so it was classified as a crossbow.

The harpoon gun was priced at 14,000 credit points, comparable to a silver-level weapon. However, compared to ordinary silver-level weapons, its attributes were slightly inferior. Although Ma Le could afford it, he didn't want to be a fool, so he haggled with the seller: "Can you give me a discount?"

The seller was a man in strange protective gear, his head completely covered by a helmet that looked like a trash can, making it impossible to see his face. Hearing Ma Le's words, he replied indifferently: "14,000, no negotiation, take it or leave it!"

Seeing the seller's attitude, Ma Le knew he was a hot-tempered person, and soft persuasion wouldn't work. So he pretended not to care and started picking through other items. Besides the harpoon gun, the man's stall had many small items, such as small potions that instantly restored 25 points of health and energy cells that could be used as power sources.

After about ten minutes, Ma Le didn't say a word, just touching and looking at things. The seller became impatient and waved at Ma Le: "Are you buying or not? If not, don't block the place and affect my business!"

Ma Le laughed: "Of course, I'm buying, but I'm a slow person. I like many things here, but I don't have enough money, so I'm hesitating about which to buy and which not to."

The seller, impatient, said: "Which ones do you like? Tell me, and if I agree, I'll give you a discount!"

Ma Le pointed at several items, including the harpoon gun. The seller calculated the total and quoted Ma Le: 17,620 credit points. He asked Ma Le: "How much can you pay?"

Ma Le vaguely replied: "16,000..." The seller, without hesitation, said: "16,000 it is, pay up!"

Ma Le, seeing a chance, opened the trading interface. The seller put the items Ma Le had chosen into the interface. Ma Le, seeing everything was there, entered the credit points he wanted to trade and confirmed.

Just as the seller was about to confirm, he suddenly noticed something was wrong and stopped, shouting at Ma Le: "What's this? You said 16,000, but you only put in 12,000?"

Ma Le feigned surprise: "I said 12,000, and you agreed!"

The seller waved his hand and canceled the transaction: "That's not right. Trying to trick me? 12,000 isn't even enough for the harpoon gun!"

Ma Le sighed: "But I only have 12,000. How about this, I don't want the other items, just the harpoon gun. What do you think?" He opened the trading interface again and entered 12,000 credit points.

The seller was taken aback, shook his head, and said: "So you were after this harpoon gun from the start!"

Ma Le laughed: "You have a sharp eye, you figured it out... But I'm serious about buying. 12,000 isn't a small amount, what do you think?" He pointed at the 12,000 in the trading interface.

The seller swallowed hard, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally said: "Fine, 12,000 it is!" He put the harpoon gun in the trading interface and confirmed.

The transaction was completed. Ma Le bowed to the seller: "Thanks for your help! My name is Foodie, stay in touch." The seller also introduced himself; his name was Black K. Ma Le remembered his name and left the stall happily.

In fact, Ma Le had initially felt that Black K wasn't a high-level player. His stall had nothing impressive except the harpoon gun, and the total value of the other items was only a few thousand credit points. Ma Le had wandered around for a while and found that most sellers of such small items were beginner or ordinary adventurers. These small items had very little profit and were troublesome to sell, so those with some means usually sold them to the system store.

However, Black K was different. Among his junk, there was a high-quality item with good attributes, which was worth pondering. Either he was a veteran in urgent need of money, not letting go of even a small profit, or he was a novice who had gotten lucky and taken someone else's benefits. In either case, he was eager to sell his items. So Ma Le pretended to make a mistake in the price, entering the credit points. Money, when spoken, was just a number, but when it appeared in the trading interface, the temptation was overwhelming.

In the end, Ma Le successfully obtained a satisfactory weapon. He then wandered around the square a few more times, bought some food and potions for supplies, and left Miracle Square.

The harpoon gun came with a magazine containing five marking guns. This was a common practice in Miracle City. Unless the ammunition was too precious, sellers of long-range weapons usually included a full magazine. For weapons without magazines, like bows and crossbows, a dozen arrows were usually included.

Five marking guns were clearly not enough, so Ma Le found an automatic vending machine and placed the harpoon gun on it for scanning. This was a magical feature of the vending machines in Miracle City. By scanning a long-range weapon, they could instantly produce suitable ammunition. After all, Miracle City connected to countless mission worlds. If a specific gun from a certain world ran out of bullets, it would be too troublesome to have to find a way back to that world for resupply.

Ma Le spent another 500 credit points to buy four more magazines and twenty marking guns from the vending machine. Each marking gun dealt 60 points of damage, had a sharpness of 6, and was a dedicated ammunition for the harpoon gun. The gun's tail had a marking light, and the gun's body stored a large amount of electrical energy, which could be recharged with a charger or back in Miracle City, costing 15 credit points.

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