043 The Ultimate Synthesis!

Morning Breeze rented the most expensive 36-material synthesis furnace. The next step was arranging the materials; Morning Breeze chose a three-body, two-position synthesis method. Three-body meant dividing the materials into three categories, with 12 items in each. Two-position referred to splitting them into primary and auxiliary equipment. The primary equipment was the Rune Sword, and the auxiliary was the Holy Light Sword. The three categories were Blood materials, Frost materials, and Evil materials. Naturally, there were also supplemental items; for instance, Morning Breeze’s dark gold material, Ghost Antler, was placed in the Evil category, the orange material Diamond was placed in the Frost category, and the dark gold Energy Crystal was placed in the Blood category. Generally, eight relevant items per category suffice, with the rest filled by auxiliary materials.

Meanwhile, Outlas had obtained the final shard of the Storm Hammer. This wasn't because he killed Crazy Virus, but because he had hired an elf thief from an assassination organization to steal the material from his backpack. Crazy Virus never imagined Outlas would resort to such a method; his previous claim of carrying all his materials on his person now appeared to be a setup to invite theft.

It must be said that Outlas always uses his brain first; if that fails, he uses force. This theft couldn't be accomplished by just any high-end thief; it required Outlas to trade his three legendary shards to the thief to make it possible to steal the final one. This was an extreme method designed to protect the final shard from being hoarded. If the thief weren't already missing that specific piece, no amount of skill would allow them to steal it, otherwise, everyone in the game would become a thief solely to steal legendary equipment.

The Steal skill is quite specialized, usually limited to small amounts of gold or supplies. Only when one is missing a specific set item can they collect it from another player. Outlas used this method to hire the elf thief, and because he was acquainted with Shadow Corner, he wasn't afraid of the orange shard being snatched by others.

While Morning Breeze was busy killing Atlan, Outlas had already fused the Storm Hammer, waiting for Morning Breeze to synthesize his gear simultaneously to see if they could produce a super-powerful orange weapon.

System: You have begun synthesizing equipment. Please wait...

After placing all the materials into the furnace, Morning Breeze didn't need to do anything else. This wasn't a forging synthesis, so he didn't need to craft the weapon personally, making the process convenient. He just had to wait here. Since he didn't need to sacrifice the Arcanite Axe for this attempt, Morning Breeze was in a very good mood, hoping for a successful outcome.

"Raven, I think my synthesis will take at least 24 hours, so I’m logging off to sleep!" Outlas said before disappearing offline. His success rate for this synthesis was as high as 80%, so he wasn't worried about failure.

Morning Breeze knew the synthesis would take a long time, so he prepared to log off as well. Before doing so, he had to send instructions for Shadow Corner’s mission; he had already written a file and sent it directly. As for God Sting’s mission, he could only provide a few key points—that was all he knew.

The Magic Ring that dropped earlier was the sixth one consumed by his Blood Magic Ring, yet its attributes didn't improve at all. It was said that significant mutations only occur once nine rings are consumed. This troubled Morning Breeze, as even assassin organizations were now collecting the rings, making it much harder for him to acquire them. The Cobra organization had originally wanted to force him to drop his ring, but seeing the difficulty rise, they began collecting rings from others. The Assassin organization, Acid Rain, and Fire Dragon were all involved; the Magic Rings were no longer just a struggle between ring-bearers, but a target for assassin guilds as well.

If not for this, Morning Breeze wouldn't have rushed to synthesize his gear to boost his strength. If he let someone force him to drop his ring, his previous efforts would have been for nothing. During this time, the Cobra organization had pressured him so much he dared not leave the city, causing him to miss many opportunities to seize rings. Baru currently held the most rings, having pursued ring-bearers in the Africa region, either buying them or killing the players outright. His ring had already consumed 15, resulting in earth-shattering attribute changes.

Outlas and Stan had used similar methods, though they mostly relied on money. Currently, Outlas’s ring had consumed 5, and Stan’s had consumed 4. Morning Breeze had never considered such tactics; he preferred to force others to drop them. But for Outlas, the method didn't matter as long as he achieved the result, and he was highly efficient.

The next morning, Morning Breeze didn't log in immediately. He went for a run and ate breakfast before checking the game. The equipment wasn't finished yet, so he browsed the map. Not in the mood to level up, he went shopping. With so many players gathering at strongholds to set up stalls, District 23, a main city, had a square dedicated to vendors. It was so packed that if the guards hadn't regulated the stall placements, the entire square would have been impassable.

With 300,000 gold coins in his bag, Morning Breeze was a minor tycoon. Even players from wealthy backgrounds didn't have as much gold, so he could buy whatever caught his eye.

[Space Burst Orb]: Explosive item. Temporarily shatters space for 3 seconds. If you're unlucky, it might create a spatial black hole; please use with caution.

At 1,000 gold coins each, Morning Breeze bought all five available. Shattering space alone spoke to their power; though it only lasted 3 seconds, that was enough. Some players used these to check for hidden items in spatial rifts, though the odds were low.

Morning Breeze wasn't gambling on low odds; he truly knew of a place where something was hidden.

After circling the vendor area, he found nothing else of value. Many merchants were hunting for treasures just like him. As he was about to leave, he spotted a ring shimmering with dark gold in a second-row stall.

Dark gold equipment was rare; why was someone selling it? He picked it up and immediately understood why no one wanted it.

[Ring of Sin]
Dark gold, left-hand ring, bound upon equip
Requirements: None
-20% Attributes
Endless Sin: Every player killed in the wild grants the ring 1 point of sin.
Description: One of the Twelve Cursed Items! Crafted by Auckland warriors after slaying the Sin Dragon. Once you wear it, the curse begins. Do not take it off, for you only have one chance to wear it.

Equipment is meant to boost stats, but this ring reduced them by 20%. No wonder it was for sale. Even if someone wanted to collect the "Twelve Cursed Items," the vendor had set an exorbitant price of 30,000 gold coins. Not even wealthy professional players would pay that.

It reduced stats and could only be equipped once—what if you needed to enter the arena? That was why it remained unsold.

Sold! Morning Breeze traded 30,000 gold coins for it. Cursed items were valuable if one knew how to utilize them. If he wasn't mistaken, other players were already beginning to complete their own sets of cursed items.

System: Your attributes have been reduced by 20%.

After swapping out his Ring of Severe Injury, Morning Breeze’s stats dropped, but his damage output remained high; only his defense and health suffered significantly. This was temporary. Once he collected enough sin points, taking off the Ring of Sin would yield a different result.

This was a ring that could turn the tides.

Given his current situation, being targeted by the Cobra organization, he shouldn't have equipped it. But he was determined to wear them down. They would surely track him and know he had equipped the ring. Since they knew he was cautious, they would assume he would stay inside the city.

Morning Breeze intended to continue leveling in the China region. The attribute drop was bait to draw out the Cobra organization’s minions. He was bold enough to lure the small fry out. Besides, he could transform into a Blood Dragon to slaughter on the map, making it easy to accumulate sin points. Even with a 20% penalty, the Blood Dragon’s buffs would offset it, and the Arcanite Axe’s burst damage would remain high.

The equipment synthesis wasn't finished, so he logged off early. At 5:00 AM the next day, a call from Outlas woke him, saying the gear was ready. Morning Breeze logged in, seeing the process had taken 36 hours.

When he accessed the furnace, a system prompt appeared instead of the finished product.

System: Due to your "Lich Body" power, the Rune Sword can trigger a specific mutation synthesis. Do you wish to proceed with mutation synthesis?

Mutation synthesis? Because of that trash god-level skill book "Lich Body"? Morning Breeze felt his past knowledge was insufficient. He had neglected forums and world news in favor of assassination missions. But he knew for certain that mutation synthesis was the strongest possible outcome.

Confirm! Even if it produced trash, he had to see what this mutation would yield.