Ch. 325 - Enhancement and the Captured Player

【Regional Channel: Number of Players: 3】 

Yang Yi stared at the number for a long moment before deciding to ask in the Regional Channel. At the very least, he wanted to find out who the third player was.

Anyone who had managed to survive in the Sea of Darkness for this long had to be an exceptionally capable player.

Switching to the title he was best known by, One-Eye, he sent a message into the Regional Channel.

One-Eye: "I'm One-Eye. If any players in the Regional Channel see this, please reply."

Mystic Scholar: "1."

One-Eye: "..."

Yang Yi rubbed his forehead, momentarily at a loss for words. The one who had replied was Suna. Mystic Scholar was her title.

Still, her response made sense. It could encourage anyone else lurking in the channel to leave a message as well.

Yang Yi waited for nearly ten minutes, but the third player never appeared.

That person was either occupied or already asleep.

He checked the time. There was still half an hour before 23:00, so he decided to wait a little longer.

Once the clock struck 23:00, the World Channel would open, and World Trading would become available. When the third player checked the channels, they would almost certainly notice the message left in the Regional Channel.

Time passed quickly.

Yang Yi took out all the equipment he had prepared for enhancement and laid them out on the floor:

Crystal Greatshield

Silver Plague Doctor Mask

Captain's Coat

Sharkskin Swimsuit

These were the pieces of equipment he had selected because they possessed the greatest potential. He planned to enhance each one and see how much they improved.

Ten minutes before 23:00, a system notification appeared.

The enhancement materials he had purchased earlier had finally arrived:

Low-Grade Abyss Soulstones ×6

Craftsman's Inscription Stones ×5

After collecting the materials, Yang Yi immediately began enhancing his equipment one piece at a time.

He started with the Crystal Greatshield.

After the enhancement, the shield's crystal became noticeably purer. It felt like a solid block of ice in his hand, and its attributes changed to:

【Name: Ice Crystal Greatshield】

【Type: Treasure】 【Quality: Rare】 

Description:

A semi-transparent crystal greatshield that grew harder as the temperature dropped, though it remained vulnerable to extreme heat.

It could transform into Tower Shield Mode, expanding into a massive ice crystal shield. While in this form, it became incredibly heavy and was capable of withstanding tremendous impacts. The transformation lasted for 15 minutes and could be activated once every 48 hours.

Next was the Bird-Beak Mask.

After the enhancement, it had evolved into a true Plague Doctor Mask. Its beak had become even longer and sharper, looking as though it had been fashioned from the skull and beak of an unknown bird.

The mask also came with a matching pair of goggles fitted with dark brown lenses.

Yang Yi put it on for a quick test.

His vision took on a faint yellow tint, but aside from that, everything appeared normal. His sense of smell was also well protected. The mask could filter plague miasma and poisonous gases without producing any unpleasant odors.

【Name: Plague Doctor Mask】

【Type: Treasure】 【Quality: Rare】 

Description:

A specialized mask created by plague doctors to protect themselves against all manner of plagues. It provided a certain level of protection while also granting resistance against curses.

The mask continuously filtered the air breathed by its wearer.

Whenever plague particles were present in the air, the filtered air carried an irritating odor, serving as a warning to the plague doctor.

An experienced plague doctor could even identify different types of plagues by their distinct scents.

The Captain's Coat changed very little after the enhancement.

Its Agility bonus increased from +2 to +3.

However, it now required 10 Spirit to be worn for extended periods. Otherwise, the wearer's Sanity would gradually decline.

As for the Sharkskin Swimsuit, Yang Yi had owned it for a long time. It had originally been nothing more than a Common-grade piece of equipment.

This time, he spared no expense, consuming two Craftsman's Inscription Stones to upgrade it all the way to Rare quality.

The results did not disappoint him.

The first Inscription Stone raised it to Fine quality, while the second elevated it to Rare.

Compared to before, the swimsuit's surface had become even smoother, and a dorsal fin-like ridge had appeared along its back.

【Name: Biomimetic Sharkskin Bodysuit】

【Type: Treasure】 【Quality: Rare】 

Description:

An ultra-high-performance one-piece swimsuit that made underwater movement feel as effortless as breathing.

Agility +2

Lung Capacity +200%

Swimming Stamina Consumption -70%

Swimming Speed +65%

Since the swimsuit was troublesome to put on, Yang Yi didn't bother trying it. Instead, he packed away all of his newly enhanced equipment.

The entire enhancement process had consumed four Low-Grade Craftsman's Inscription Stones and one Low-Grade Abyss Soulstone. He intended to give the remaining enhancement stones to Suna.

With the addition of the new swimsuit, Yang Yi now possessed specialized equipment for the sea, land, and sky.

For the deep sea, he had the Diving Suit.

For shallow waters, he had the Biomimetic Sharkskin Bodysuit.

For the skies, he had the Parasitic Wings.

As for land...

He had accumulated so much equipment that he could hardly think of any remaining weaknesses.

Dragging over a wooden barrel, Yang Yi sat down to eat while waiting.

His meal consisted of dried Whip-Tailed Smoke Pipefish that he had caught several days earlier.

After removing the skin and head, very little meat remained, so he simply ate the dried fish whole, swallowing even the black, whip-like filaments.

As for its hair-growth effect...

It definitely worked.

For the past several mornings, Yang Yi had woken up with an itchy scalp, which was most likely a sign that his hair was growing back.

If he continued eating the fish for a few more days, he would probably have a full head of hair again.

Soon, the clock struck 23:00.

Yang Yi first checked the Regional Channel. When he saw that no one had replied, he turned his attention to the World Channel and the trading marketplace.

At the moment, the only items he had listed for sale were the Rat Fur Sets and the Vitality Sardine series.

There were still twenty-three Rat Fur Sets in stock, while his balance had grown to more than 53.71 million Seashell Coins.

That was more than enough to purchase all 30,000 Crystal Diamonds.

He then searched the marketplace for fertilizer.

Recently, the Vitality Sardine Tree had developed a small problem.

The quality of the Vitality Sardine Legs it produced seemed to depend on what it was fed.

After more than ten days of living on kitchen scraps, its appetite had decreased noticeably, and the quality of its fruit had fallen from Rare to Fine.

The effects had weakened considerably, and the fruit no longer tasted nearly as delicious.

For most people, that would have been a good thing.

Not for Yang Yi.

He needed to eat delicious food on a regular basis.

So, he purchased 327 bags of Gourmet Fertilizer from other players, paying an average of around 2,300 Seashell Coins per bag.

He also bought some Delicious Jerky.

It was made by slicing Delicious Meat Chunks into thin strips before drying them.

Yang Yi purchased 100 jin, roughly 50 kilograms (110 pounds).

The price was relatively low because only a small number of players had any use for it, leaving a plentiful supply on the market.

The purchase cost him a total of 30,000 Seashell Coins.

Almost all of the Delicious Meat Chunks Yang Yi had obtained previously had been used to brew Growth Potions.

Just as he was considering whether to buy several other types of fertilizer to see if they would alter the Vitality Sardine Tree's harvest, the Regional Channel finally became active.

He immediately switched over.

The message had been sent anonymously.

The sender either had no title equipped or simply didn't possess one.

Anonymous: "It's actually Boss One-Eye! I'm saved!"

Yang Yi replied with a single question mark, prompting the person to explain.

The anonymous player quickly responded.

Anonymous: "After I was teleported here, I appeared in the Sea of Darkness. At first, there were more than a dozen players in the Regional Channel, but in less than three days, so many died that only a single-digit number remained."

"I had especially bad luck and ran into a group of incredibly powerful natives."

"Every one of them had seven or eight arms and legs grafted onto their bodies. Some of those limbs even belonged to different species. They couldn't even be called human anymore!"

"Those monsters captured me, confiscated my ship, and injected some kind of drug into my neck that knocked me unconscious."

"Right before I blacked out completely, I vaguely heard them say they were going to sell me to the Golden Merchant Association..."

Yang Yi didn't interrupt.

He quietly waited for the man to finish.

If the anonymous player was telling the truth, then he had most likely been captured by followers of the Limb Spider Cult and was now being held aboard one of the Golden Merchant Association's ships, waiting to be sold as merchandise.