Zhou Ning immediately chose to read Windegun's Alchemy insights, and a prompt immediately appeared on his panel.
[You are reading a skill book: [Windegun's Alchemy Insights]. Given your willpower, [Puppet Alchemy] has gained 4% learning progress (Extreme Calm provides an additional +0.4%).]
[You are reading a skill book: [Windegun's Alchemy Insights]. Given your willpower, [Puppet Alchemy] has gained 3% learning progress (Extreme Calm provides an additional +0.3%).]
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried he couldn't learn it, but unexpectedly, there were no prerequisite knowledge requirements. Windegun truly was a good person!
After more than an hour, a new notification appeared on the panel with a 'ding-dong' sound:
[[Puppet Alchemy] progress 94% (+6%), you have learned a new life skill: Puppet Alchemy!]
[You have comprehended a new recipe: Mini Mechanical Warrior. You have comprehended a new skill: Recipe Deduction.]
Zhou Ning opened his panel and, sure enough, there was a new skill called [Puppet Alchemy] in his life skills.
[Puppet Alchemy] (Beginner): You can create an Alchemy puppet by skillfully utilizing your life skills and seal it within a card.
Good heavens, it's really yu-gi-oh!, isn't it?
Clicking into Puppet Alchemy, there was only the newly comprehended recipe for Mini Mechanical Warrior and one skill: Recipe Deduction.
After carefully reading the skill description, Zhou Ning suddenly understood: so that's how it is.
The Recipe Deduction skill works like the skill fusion mechanic in the game "Apocalypse," allowing you to fuse [Puppet Alchemy] with other life skills by consuming experience points to deduce new recipes.
However, one difference is that Recipe Deduction does not reset the life skill level to zero; it only consumes a large amount of experience points.
And this "large amount" is truly substantial; the first deduction requires 10,000 experience points, then the next is 15,000, then 20,000... and there's even a chance of failure.
Zhou Ning couldn't help but show a look of joy on his face. He was different from that player in his previous life; he didn't care about the consumption of experience points. After all, he was a man who possessed Mysticism and Expert-level Precision Mechanical Manufacturing (Expert). As long as he had enough experience, he could deduce countless recipes.
Given time, it wouldn't be impossible to create an otherworldly version of a duel game.
He hadn't forgotten that as long as he could influence this world, he would also receive many rewards.
Creating a Mini Mechanical Warrior requires a large amount of iron ingots, a large amount of bolts, some gunpowder, an ordinary firearm, a piece of parchment, and some materials needed to create an Alchemy array. He didn't have them here yet, but they were all common goods, not difficult to obtain as long as he had money. However, from now on, the shortage of experience points and money would only grow larger... Zhou Ning suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
After finishing his research on Puppet Alchemy, and with the herbs not yet delivered, the idle nouveau riche Zhou Ning once again opened the simulator.
He now had a total of 30 Transmigration Coins. After deducting the rent for the Alchemy Laboratory, he had approximately 60 vikta remaining. Zhou Ning considered it for a moment and chose to spend 40 vikta to recharge 4 Transmigration Coins. This way, he could perform a ten-pull, and still have enough Transmigration Coins for one more transmigration.
He clicked on the gacha page, only to find that the "Infinite War" prize pool was locked. Upon checking the reason, it stated that the next prize pool would only unlock after completing 50 draws from the lost in the mist prize pool.
Zhou Ning:...Damn it, it's exactly like those shoddy pay-to-win mobile games, designed to be as exploitative as possible.
Since it was a seller's market and he had no other choice, he could only click on the gacha page, continue to select the lost in the mist prize pool, and perform a ten-pull.
[You have obtained a rare item: m1 garand rifle, with several 7.62mm caliber bullets included.]
[You have obtained a rare item: Domestic "Hanyang 88" Type 88 Rifle, with several.72acp caliber bullets included.]
[You have obtained an epic item: stone mask.]
[You have obtained a rare item: German-made C93 7.65mm Pistol, with several.45acp caliber bullets included.]
...Hmm? Something strange seems to have snuck in?
This ten-pull had good luck, yielding 9 guns in one go, including 4 rifles and 5 pistols. If he could sell them directly, it would be over 140 vikta. Zhou Ning expressed his satisfaction.
But the only prize that wasn't a gun seemed quite familiar.
Zhou Ning took out the stone mask from his inventory and examined it with a hint of speechlessness.
It was identical in appearance to the one in the comic, with deep grooves crisscrossing the stone, grotesque mask. There were two holes for eyes and two fangs at the mouth. It was clearly no ordinary item.
Putting it on would probably turn him into a Vampire, but the question was, what would he do with it? He was perfectly happy being human; why would he choose not to be?
Thinking about it carefully, he decided to save this thing for players to play with later. As a quest reward for a hidden bloodline, wouldn't that be appealing?
Players:???
After the draw, he happened to have 25 Transmigration Coins left. This would likely be his last one for a while. Zhou Ning took a deep breath, then exhaled, selected the new map across the four seas, and clicked Transmigrate!
[Transmigration preparing... Transmigration Coins - 25]
[Please select transmigration mode...]
[1. Direct Transmigration.]
[2. Transmigrate using a parallel world template.]
Although he didn't have money for now, he still had to check the templates as usual, just in case he could get a freebie again.
However, the result was clearly no. The three templates in this round were not particularly strong.
The first template was the returning Yakuza Villain · Zhou Ning, priced at 15 Transmigration Coins. It was already very cheap, but he still couldn't afford it.
The second template showed Zhou Ning, wearing a Lakers jersey, 2 meters tall, holding a basketball, with a rugged expression.
His talent was Sports Genius (Blue), and his skills were: Basketball Techniques (Expert), Scientific Training Methods (Expert). His personality was competitive and obsessive.
The title was Basketball Superstar · Zhou Ning, priced at 7 Transmigration Coins.
The third template showed Zhou Ning, holding a blood-stained scalpel, wearing a white lab coat, with sinister eyes.
The title was Demon Doctor · Zhou Ning, also priced at 15 Transmigration Coins.
Pah! Mediocre! Zhou Ning shook his head and directly chose option one.
[You have selected Transmigration Mode One]
[Please select three out of the following ten talents as matching conditions]
[1. Mermaid (Blue): Your swimming talent is very high. Every time you swim freely in the water, you feel like a mermaid.]
[2. Muscular Man (Green): Your body is covered in bulging muscles, making you look formidable.]
[3. Old Grandpa (Purple): A soul of a local powerhouse is hidden in your ring. Perhaps you can also call him Old Grandpa? Note: Better combined with a trash-to-treasure trope.]
[4. Void Mask (Purple): A cucumber grows on your face, but you have a certain probability of being able to rewind time.]
[5. Sex Addict (White): (The following is paid content).]
[6. Stephen Hawking (Blue): Your intelligence far surpasses that of ordinary people, at the cost of full-body paralysis.]
[7. It's Really Too Big (White): Your underwear needs to be custom-made.]
[8. Oni Back (Blue): The muscles on your back are unusual, forming a shape like a demon's face, very suitable for combat.]
[9. Medical Doctor (Purple): You are an authority in the field of medicine.]
[10. Cthulhu (Purple): Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.]
[Please choose!]
Zhou Ning:...This time, the options were unexpectedly good; there were actually 4 purple options! However, looking closely, 4 and 10 seemed quite foolish; choosing them would surely lead to no good. After hesitating for a moment, he still chose 1, 3, and 9.
[You have selected Talent 1, Talent 3, Talent 9.]
[Match successful. The parallel world's you are a playboy, a genius in scientific research, and extremely versatile, having obtained a Medical Doctor degree and a national swimming championship at the age of 20. You possess an ancient-looking ring, an antique you accidentally found at a street stall.]
[When you die in the simulation, the game ends.]
[Riding the time machine... 1%... 33%... 65%... 95%... Swoosh... Transmigration complete.]
[You have transmigrated to the ocean in 1516. From this moment on, the wheels of history begin to turn.]
1516? According to Zhou Ning's historical knowledge, that was not long after Columbus discovered America, and the European Age of Exploration was just beginning to rise.
Zhou Ning couldn't help but feel a little fortunate that he had taken precautions and chosen the mermaid talent in advance!