Chapter 38

"Wow!~ Is this for me?" Little Turtledove crouched beside the newly installed game pod, curiously peering inside. This red and black game pod, exuding a mysterious aura, was now hers from today onward!

The color scheme was specially chosen by Mufeng because he knew Turtledove would love it. He had placed the order in the morning, and by the time Turtledove returned from school, the game pod for "Skyrim" was already installed in her room. The "Skyrim" game pod cost 100,000 Chinese yuan each, and before the in-game currency could be exchanged for Chinese yuan, the sale of game equipment was the main source of revenue for the Skyrim company.

"Of course, this way you won't be tired after playing games at night anymore!" Seeing Turtledove sleep soundly due to exhaustion in the morning made Mufeng incredibly heartbroken. Now, with the game pod, he didn't have to worry anymore. Mufeng affectionately ruffled Turtledove's golden hair; 100,000 Chinese yuan was still within his means.

After discovering that the improvement of his strength in "Skyrim" could help his real-life strength, Mufeng had devoted himself entirely to training and hadn't earned a single cent in "Skyrim." It was time to consider making some extra money.

"Bro... Brother..." Feeling the warmth of Mufeng's palm, Turtledove turned her gaze from the game pod and slowly looked up at Mufeng. Her gem-like eyes were filled with gratitude and affection. She smiled and stretched out her arms toward Mufeng. She had been very tired these past few days, but also very happy. Finally, she had the power to help her brother in the game. As long as... as long as she became a bit stronger, she could go on adventures with her brother. With this belief, Turtledove, a first-time gamer, completed the hero difficulty class change quest and became a Mage Hero.

"Turtledove..." Turtledove hadn't called him "brother" for a while, and this one call moved Mufeng deeply. He gently picked her up and held her in his arms.

"Brother... thank you... I'm so happy!" Turtledove lightly kissed Mufeng's lips and shyly rested her head on his shoulder, too embarrassed to lift it again. Mufeng was taken aback by Turtledove's bold move but then smiled contentedly, savoring this brief, warm moment that belonged only to the two of them. After their parents' death, he and Turtledove had relied on each other for five years, and the bond between them was something only they understood.

This short interlude delayed Mufeng and Turtledove's login time by half an hour. By the time they logged in, Ye Luochengdie had been waiting for a long time at the Yanlin Farm. Although it was hard to part, Mufeng had to temporarily separate from Turtledove and Ye Luochengdie in the game. Both girls had reached level 25, and at level 25, they needed to return to their main city's guild to accept new class advancement quests. Mufeng was no exception. Not only did he have a class advancement quest, but he also had several other tasks, including upgrading Ball, waiting for him to complete.

In Lionheart City, there was a special place: the underground tunnel. The technology in "Skyrim" was quite peculiar; while there were robots like Ball, people still fought with swords and magic. Mufeng's birthplace, the Elven main city, was on a different continent from Lionheart City, so he had to take a boat. However, Turtledove's Gnome main city had an underground tunnel connecting to Lionheart City, allowing players to travel quickly between the two main cities via a retro mechanical train, which was why Turtledove and Ye Luochengdie could quickly reach Lionheart City.

"We're leaving..." Although she had just called him "brother" with deep emotion, Turtledove felt embarrassed in front of Ye Luochengdie once they logged in. She leaned against the train window, gazing at Mufeng, as if she had something to say.

"Don't worry, we'll see each other soon." Mufeng reached through the window and gently pinched Turtledove's nose.

"Goodbye, great hero, number one! Don't worry, I'll take good care of Turtledove!" Ye Luochengdie said with a smile. Mufeng had appeared on the world and Chinese server announcements several times, and Chinese players already regarded him as a hero. When the global combat tournament was held during the game's stable period, Mufeng would undoubtedly be the main force of the Chinese server!

"Beep beep..." An alarm sounded from somewhere, and the train emitted a cloud of white steam, slowly starting to move. Turtledove kept her eyes on Mufeng, waving until he was out of sight.

"Turtledove..." Seeing Turtledove's expression, Ye Luochengdie seemed to understand something.

"What's wrong?" Turtledove's mood was a bit low after parting with her brother.

"Do you like your brother?"

"Um... yes, I do!" In front of her best friend, Turtledove didn't hide her feelings for her brother.

"But... he's your brother!"

"It's okay, we're not blood-related. Brother was adopted by my parents before I was born. Even though he hasn't said it, I know!" Turtledove replied calmly. When she first learned that blood-related siblings couldn't marry, it felt like a bolt from the blue. Fortunately, she eventually discovered the truth.

"Not blood-related?" Ye Luochengdie said in surprise. "I see... I don't know why, but I feel a bit disappointed."

After parting with the two girls, Mufeng went directly to the auction house in Lionheart City. He planned to create the upgraded auxiliary robot 02 for Ball first. After grinding monsters all night, the junk dropped by the monsters alone sold for over 200 gold, and the useful equipment and materials were all listed on the auction house. With Ball's help, all the drops "fell" into Mufeng's pocket without fail.

Adamantine ingots, mithril ingots... all the materials were smelted from ores found in areas around level 20. Mithril, in particular, was extremely rare, making it impossible for low-level miners to gather. The materials available in the auction house were mostly collected by high-level players while leveling up, and they were very expensive. Mufeng almost spent all his gold to buy the necessary materials.

Five true silver frames, two high-speed mithril gears, two powerful explosives, and Ball. With all the parts ready, Mufeng activated the upgrade blueprint. The process took longer this time, and it was only after 15 minutes that it ended with a golden glow. In front of Mufeng was Ball, successfully upgraded to auxiliary robot 02.

"Whirr~ Click!" Ball's propeller spun, and it flew up again. Apart from being a bit larger, there didn't seem to be much change. Undeterred, Mufeng opened Ball's attribute list to check its stats.

Auxiliary Robot 02: Engineering robot, level 15. Skill 1: Machine Gun Sweep: Fires 10 bullets in 2.5 seconds, dealing 10 times the level in true damage, with a 10-second cooldown. Skill 2: Flame Bomb: Drops a small bomb, dealing 500 fire damage to enemies in a certain area, with a 1-minute cooldown. Skill 3: Auto Pickup: Automatically picks up all dropped items.

Finally, it was worth it... Mufeng was very satisfied with Ball's upgraded attributes. Ball had finally moved beyond the comical single-digit damage and became a useful damage supplement in battles. After one or two more upgrades, it would become even stronger!

After completing Ball's upgrade, Mufeng went to the port of Lionheart City alone and boarded the ship to Azshara. It was time to return. I wonder how Theresa is doing...

PS: I made some changes. Both girls are level 25, not 26. They need to complete their class change quests to continue leveling up.