Translator: AnubisTL
Soon.
Chen Jiang retrieved several dozen one-star items from his pocket and placed them nearby. Scar Dog immediately took a "Source Photo" of them.
Next, Chen Jiang used these one-star items to randomly enhance a shotgun.
The items transformed into streaks of white light, vanishing completely into the shotgun.
"Huff!"
Scar Dog took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with anticipation as he held the Source Photo. He crushed the photo in his hand!
The next moment—
The photo dissolved into a beam of white light that shot toward the spot where the one-star items had been placed.
The light slowly began to coalesce, and before everyone's eyes, the dozens of one-star items gradually reappeared in their original positions.
"It actually works!!!" Scar Dog exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement. "This is an epic-level enhancement!"
Chen Jiang immediately lowered his gaze to the enhanced shotgun in his hand. The enhancement hadn't been lost, and the items had reappeared nearby.
This meant he could enhance turrets using a batch of items and then use the Source Photo's Time Reversal to retrieve them!
The Source Photo could be used twice a day!
This essentially meant that all future enhancement costs would be reduced to one-third!
For example, he could use a million one-star items to enhance the turret, then use the Source Photo to Time Reversal them, restoring the million one-star items. He could then immediately take another Source Photo of them.
Theoretically!
As long as he possessed a batch of a million one-star items,
he could enhance the turret with two million one-star items daily!
The principle was simple!
After using the Source Photo a second time to restore the million one-star items, he wouldn't use them for enhancement. Instead, he would store them until the next day when the Source Photo's usage count refreshed.
He could then use those same million one-star items for enhancement again.
It was like yeast, continuously fermenting until it produced a giant cannon towering three thousand meters high!
"Heh," Chen Jiang chuckled, a slight smile curving his lips. "At this rate, reaching our first-stage goal of enhancing the turret caliber to three thousand meters seems closer than we thought."
"Indeed."
Scar Dog nodded in satisfaction. "And there are many other uses too. For example, with one-time-use items, we can use the Source Photo to rewind time and make them effective multiple times!"
"Of course, it has to be a sufficiently valuable one-time-use item. Otherwise, with only two Source Photo uses per day, using it on something less valuable would be a waste."
"However..."
He rested his chin in his hand and said, "The Source Photo seems to only rewind time, not duplicate items. That means we can't replicate a three-star item."
"Because if the three-star item hasn't been destroyed, even if we rewind time, it will simply revert to its original state."
"This still feels like a roundabout way of weakening the three-star item, the Simple Camera."
"Be content," Chen Jiang said, shaking his head. "It's just a three-star item. The fact that it has this kind of ability already makes it borderline broken. If it could infinitely replicate three-star items, it wouldn't be a three-star item anymore—it would be at least a four-star item."
"Honestly, this ability is far stronger than I imagined. Once the Black Europe Company secures that batch of items, we can start consuming millions of one-star items daily for enhancement."
"I just wonder if your camera can capture all 1.2 million items stacked together."
"Hmm, I'll figure something out. Maybe I can use mirrors or other methods to shorten the camera's focal length and widen its field of view."
"Mm."
Chen Jiang nodded lightly, dropping the subject. He pulled an item from his pocket and handed it to Scar Dog. "Here, this is for you."
[Item Name: Racial Innate Ability Random Card]
[Item Star: Two-Star Item]
[Item Effect: Use this card to randomly obtain the racial innate abilities of three other races. Choose one to replace your current racial innate ability.]
[Item Restriction: Each player can only use this item once.]
[Item Description: Fate cannot be altered, but there are always exceptions.]
[Item Price: 500 Fusion Points]
"Whew!"
Scar Dog rubbed his hands together, his expression slightly tense. "The moment of destiny has arrived! As long as it's not an insect race ability, I'll take anything!"
His human racial innate ability, Phoenix Nirvana, had already been used.
This item would allow him to choose one racial innate ability from three random options.
The only drawback was that this item could only be used once. Even the "Source Photo" wouldn't help in this situation, as the restriction applied to Scar Dog himself, not the item.
Scar Dog took a deep breath, his expression resolute, and crushed the Racial Innate Ability Random Card in his hand.
The next moment—
Three translucent panels floated in the air.
[Please select one of the following three racial innate abilities to replace your current one.]
[Titan Race Innate Ability: Rock-Solid]
[Titan Race Innate Ability Effect: You possess exceptionally high defensive capabilities without sacrificing agility. On land, virtually no one can defeat you in a one-on-one duel.]
[Goblin Race Innate Ability: Cautious and Prudent]
[Goblin Race Innate Ability Effect: You gain extraordinary hearing and vision, allowing you to easily detect enemy movements from over a kilometer away.]
[Lizard Race Talent Name: Silver-Tongued]
[Lizard Race Talent Effect: You possess exceptional underwater combat prowess and the ability to breathe underwater. Your abdominal cavity will be filled with flammable oil, which you can spew out and ignite as an offensive maneuver.]
Three racial innate abilities quickly appeared before Scar Dog.
Scar Dog frowned slightly, studying the three talent panels. None of them seemed particularly powerful.
Take the titan's racial innate ability, Rock-Solid, for example.
It sounded impressive—"Lord of the Land," "Invincible in Single Combat."
But during the global event "Guardian of Kindling City," he had witnessed titan players in action. To put it bluntly, Brother Jiang's artillery fire had reduced them to fragments smaller than a palm.
They died swiftly and cleanly.
With such weak defenses, the description "you will possess exceptional defensive capabilities" in the racial innate ability seemed utterly misleading.
As for the goblin race's racial innate ability, it was essentially a pair of binoculars and a listening device with a range of about a kilometer. Was it useful? Utterly useless. Even without Li Hao's presence, they could use the map's 3D high-definition view to survey the surrounding area!
Brother Jiang's barrel is probably going to be over a kilometer long soon. After all that effort, my clairvoyance range still isn't as long as his barrel. What am I even supposed to scout with that?
As for the last one, the lizard race's innate ability...
It's basically an enhanced underwater combat ability, granting underwater breathing and an extra attack method. The only problem is that the attack method is kind of a joke.
After a moment's thought, he ultimately chose the titan race's innate ability, "Rock-Solid."
There was no other choice.
It was like picking the tallest dwarf in a group of shorties.
The other two abilities were practically useless to him, especially the last one. He even worried that he might spontaneously combust while smoking.
After careful consideration, he decided that boosting his defense was the most reliable option.
As for underwater breathing, the chances of needing it were slim.
"Brother Jiang, I've made my choice. I'm going with the titan race's innate ability, 'Rock-Solid.'"
"Mm."
Chen Jiang nodded slightly. "Good. Have you all used your racial innate abilities yet?"
"No," Li Hao and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
"Alright, I'll buy these items for you now. Once you've used your racial innate abilities and want to change them later, you can just swap them yourself."
He then purchased four Racial Innate Ability Random Cards, tucking one into his own pocket and handing the remaining three to Li Hao and the others.
These cards weren't expensive, costing only 500 fusion points each.
Of course, for ordinary players, they were practically unattainable. After all, earning 500 fusion points required killing 500 alien race players.
Killing 500 aliens was no simple task. Many players had risked their lives, yet by the end of the global event, they had barely managed to accumulate twenty or thirty fusion points.
Chen Jiang stopped browsing the Fusion Shop.
The remaining items were either beyond the reach of his companions or not immediately urgent.
What he needed to do now was retrieve his world tree and see if he could bring it to this satellite city to absorb the flesh and blood of its nearly three million alien race players. Otherwise, all that biomass would go to waste.
The world tree's movement speed was painfully slow.
Moreover, its immense size made it impossible to transport through the phantom gate.
In this situation, whether they could make it in time was truly uncertain.
Soon.
Chen Jiang and his group stepped through the light gate, using Kindling City as a transit point, preparing to head to the original site of the world tree—their main base of operations.
However, the moment they emerged from the light gate, many players who saw Chen Jiang's group wore solemn expressions, their eyes filled with a mix of grief and gratitude as they stared intently at him.
Then, the first human player placed his right fist over his heart in a gesture of thanks.
More and more human players followed suit, pressing their right fists to their chests, their faces solemn and tinged with sorrow as they gazed at Chen Jiang, lips pressed tightly together, not uttering a word.
When Feng Jiutian's global speaker announcement rang out!
Every human player understood one thing!
Chen Jiang had avenged them!
Chen Jiang had driven Feng Jiutian to the brink, forcing him to commit suicide.
And as Chen Jiang's fusion point score rapidly climbed on the fusion point rankings, all human players knew that he must have sent millions of mechanical race players to hell, making them pay for the lives of their fallen kin, friends, and strangers who had perished in the calamity!
They were grateful that during the global event, Chen Jiang had guarded Kindling City for them, never closing his eyes for 24 hours.
They were also grateful that Chen Jiang had avenged them, making millions of mechanical race players pay with their lives for the human players who had perished.
"..."
Chen Jiang frowned slightly, gazing at the scene before him. He didn't speak immediately. Truth be told, he didn't particularly like this sight. He found the weight in their eyes too heavy, a burden he might not be able to bear.
At that moment, the second-generation human guardian strode forward, pulled a white cloth from his chest, and handed it to Chen Jiang. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Millions of human players' bodies have fused with the ruins of Kindling City."
"They can't be excavated, nor can they be buried."
"Kindling City can be rebuilt, but during the reconstruction, the human corpses within the ruins will become permanently fused with the buildings, forever denied peaceful burial."
"There's no other way."
"With the high temperatures, the bodies will decompose rapidly. Given the current unsanitary conditions, there's a high risk of epidemics."
"If we completely clear the ruins of Kindling City and then rebuild it, it would take a tremendous amount of time. If we're attacked again during that period, Kindling City will be utterly destroyed."
"The human players here are preparing to hold a memorial service for their fallen comrades. After the service, the city will be rebuilt—a city forged from the blood and flesh of our people."
Chen Jiang glanced around and noticed that every human player was wearing a white or yellow cloth tied around their head.
The styles and colors varied, as if each player had obtained the cloth independently.
After standing in silence for a moment, he accepted the white cloth offered by the second-generation human guardian and strode into the crowd behind him, heading toward the ruins of Kindling City.
As Chen Jiang approached, the human players in his path pressed their lips tightly, their eyes slightly reddened, and silently retreated a step to make way for him.
Soon, Chen Jiang's group was at the forefront of the crowd, facing the Kindling City ruins, which had already begun to reek of decay.
It was a simple affair.
No obituary, no flowers, and certainly no feast.
The only visible sign was the white cloth tied around the foreheads of every human player.
Chen Jiang stood motionless, gazing at the scene before him. After a moment of silence, he slowly tightened the white cloth around his own forehead and bowed deeply toward the ruins of Kindling City.
A bow carries many meanings.
One of them is regret.
As Chen Jiang bowed, the second-generation human guardian beside him and Scar Dog's group behind him simultaneously tied white cloths around their foreheads and lowered themselves into bows.
Then, like a wave, the human players behind Scar Dog and those further back followed suit, their eyes reddened and faces etched with grief as they bowed in turn.
They knew all too well that this was the Ten Thousand Races Arena, where there was little time for mourning. Once this bow was completed, they would have to cast aside their sorrow and look forward once more.
The only meaning in death, perhaps, was to make those who survived realize the weight of life and continue to live on with unwavering resilience.
(End of the Chapter)
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