Chapter 15: The Belt Emerges, The Gauntlets of Fate

As the quantity of Blacksteel increased, just as it was about to reach ten tons, it suddenly became impossible to buy any more.

Noon.

Han Qianyun did a final tally: a total of 9 tons and 900 jin, still 124 jin short of being able to forge a Void-grade item.

The reason for the shortage was that half a day earlier, a high-profile purchase of Blacksteel had caught the attention of Ye Jiu from the Judgment Squad (also known as Haotian's squad, which he later joined). Ye Jiu sensed something was off.

“Haotian, are you sure the Han Crown Squad has Void-grade equipment? You’re not pulling my leg, right? I see they’re almost at nine tons. Can you even lift nine tons? We must've been tricked. She knows we’re targeting her, yet she still buys this material so openly. Is she stupid?”

“Captain Ye! All I know is that woman Han told me you didn’t have Void-grade gear! That means she must have it! Why else would I have been kicked out?”

“Then why is she still buying materials? If she already has the equipment, why not help others farm for gear instead of wasting coins on piles of those brownish iron blocks? We’ve got nearly two tons of that junk already...”

The vice-captain of Judgment suddenly interrupted, “No, I see her running to the master craftsman’s workshop every day. I suspect she has the blueprint, but hasn’t made the gear yet. Ye, she should be out buying materials right now. Whatever she’s buying, we have to stop her. If she really makes Void-grade equipment, we won’t be able to suppress the Han Crown Squad like last time. After what we did and said after the last match, she might pay us back double.”

Ye Jiu thought of their previous prank. “Alright, keep going! Better to be safe than sorry.”

...

In the open space of Han City, Han Qianyun’s anxiety grew. She had acquired the rarest ingredients, but now the most common and abundant was nowhere to be found. She scoured the area, watching her subordinates approach and ask if she had any luck. Most shook their heads.

“Captain, where should we put the new warehouse?”

Han Qianyun turned and looked at him, holding an iron block stained red, a bulging backpack on his back, somewhat puzzled.

“Kuangsha, why do you need a new warehouse? Doesn’t it bother you to carry around that bloodstained iron block? Why not put it in your system backpack?”

“I saw you were annoyed earlier, so I didn’t want to bother you. I just tried out a new skill and got some iron—don’t know the original name, it’s brownish—a total of 150 jin. Mainly, it’s a hassle to carry. The system backpack may have infinite capacity and no drop rate, but it costs a thousand coins a day no matter what you store, and I’m broke. The backpack on my back is already full. Otherwise, I’d have put it in there...”

As Hua Tian and Han Qianyun chatted, she suddenly realized he seemed to have let something slip.

“Wait, what did you just say? What do you mean, ‘already full’?” Han Qianyun’s eyes darted to his backpack, not letting him off the hook.

“Nothing, you misheard. I was just testing my new skill!” Hua Tian looked confused. Is it wrong for me to test skills? Are you trying to squeeze me dry? I really have nothing left—that backpack is fake.

“Oh, you misunderstood, I didn’t mean that. I meant the previous sentence—no, the next one.” Han Qianyun was in a bad mood, but seeing he hadn’t hidden his backpack properly, she wondered if he’d come over just to cheer her up, playing the fool.

“The iron one?” He saw her nod. “Brownish, iron block. What’s wrong?”

“Does it look like this?” Han Qianyun showed him a picture of Blacksteel.

Hua Tian’s eyes lit up. “Yes, that’s it!”

Han Qianyun dropped the pretense and became fierce. “Hand over all of them—every single iron block, and that stuffed backpack too. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Hua Tian took off his backpack and handed over all the iron blocks and the bag.

Hearing her speak, Han Qianyun carried the backpack away.

“You tried to stop me, but I still got all the materials I needed. Ha!”

Arriving at the main city, Han Qianyun handed all the plants and iron materials from her system backpack to the master craftsman, then waited nearby. Casually, she checked Kuangsha’s player backpack, and was amazed—it was completely full. Truly, a lucky star.

...

After Han Qianyun left, Hua Tian, with nothing to do, went to the Han City shop and bought five more player backpacks, switched to solo mode, and entered.

He recalled that last time, as a beginner, he finished this place in half an hour. Now, much stronger, it should take even less.

Upon entering, the familiar castle was the first thing he saw. Everything inside was just as before, and the zombies were unchanged.

Feeling cheerful, Hua Tian soon noticed something different: the zombies’ levels.

Last time, it was beginner mode during the newbie protection period, so the zombies were dumb and didn’t even have proper levels. They only attacked when players got close. Many knew this mode; as long as you didn’t mess around, you could reach level 20. If lucky, you’d find “fighting” zombies and leech experience without being noticed. Above intermediate, you had to kill them yourself—no more leeching.

Now Hua Tian was well past the protection period. Before he even approached the castle, the zombies caught his scent from afar and charged out.

A dense horde of zombies surged forth—excited, ferocious, savage, “delighted,” hungry. Some bared red, barbed tongues and crawled on all fours like first-tier creep zombies; some hunched over, claws evolved into blood talons, grinning like savage beasts—second-tier shifting zombies; some had one arm larger than their bodies, faces twisted with excitement—third-tier walkers; others raised both arms, legs bent outward, drooling long, sticky tongues, their expressions changing from “pleasure” to ferocity—fourth-tier roamers. About ten thousand zombies charged at him.

Hua Tian, seeing the scene, instantly felt his skills weren’t up to the task. He had no area skills; even if he knocked them back, this wasn’t a narrow corridor for playing “knockback pinball.”

Just as he considered giving up and moving elsewhere, he remembered what Captain Han had said: The pro league is even more ruthless than this. If you can’t handle this, how will you win or prove yourself—or save your father?

At that, Hua Tian spotted the fastest six-tier runner-zombie about to strike, and leaped back with all his speed.

The zombie, missing its attack, also retreated to maintain distance.

The lower-level zombies, seeing Hua Tian wasn’t where they expected, glanced around. The higher-level ones grabbed their heads and pointed them toward him.

Hua Tian was about to use a skill when he suddenly heard a call from the castle. Instantly, the horde shifted, dispersing without hesitation to surround and hunt him.

Watching this, Hua Tian wondered if there was a leader zombie.

Dodging their first “dumpling fold” attack, he broke through the encirclement, used his starting shield to push aside a wall of second-tier shifting zombies, flung off a zombie clinging to his arm, and ran toward the castle’s depths.

Running, dodging, he mused: I can steadily kill third-tier zombies—hopefully, not fourth-tier. Otherwise, the lesser zombies will keep swarming and attacking me, and I’ll die here. First floor, nothing; second, nothing; third, nothing—so only the fourth remains.

After circling the castle a few times, he reached the fourth floor and saw a handsome man in blood-stained clothes sitting on the throne, drinking a red liquid, gazing at the spot where Hua Tian had entered, wearing a strange, solitary smile.

Slowly turning his head to reveal a look of enjoyment, Hua Tian checked his information:

Name: Anthropomorphic Zombie
Level: Four (Warrior Realm, just entered)
Class: Zombie
Attributes: 250, 200, 200
Health: 650
(“Just entered” means his power hasn’t stabilized and may fluctuate.)

Hua Tian gave a wry laugh—what rotten luck, to encounter this.

The zombie’s smiling face twisted in anger, and in an instant, it activated [Instant Shift]—vanishing from sight and appearing right in front of Hua Tian, attacking.

Realizing the zombie had disappeared, Hua Tian snapped to attention, barely glimpsing its outline. Trusting his instincts, he guessed it’d appear ahead, raised his shield in counterattack, and gambled. The zombie appeared; Hua Tian was ruthlessly sent flying, losing 123 HP.

Clutching his abdomen in pain, half-lying, he spat out blood and gasped for breath. His passive skill [Lucky Meteor] triggered, and he felt his strength increase by half. Checking his stats: all attributes were now just under 200—originally 130, now 195—with 585 HP.

Comparing stats, the zombie was much stronger, but he resolved to fight: if I die, so be it—bring it on! He raised his fist and began charging [Heaven-Swallowing Divine Fist].

Seeing the zombie charge again, Hua Tian decided to dodge, moving in circles like walking a dog—every second counts.

Bending his knees, he backed up a few steps. The zombie paused, then sped up to attack. Highly focused, Hua Tian heard its breathing at his back, twisted his body, planted his foot, and launched himself in the opposite direction, rolling several times before springing up and running.

The zombie, seeing him veer off, stopped and stared at the wall it nearly ran into. Frustrated, it decided it was done playing, and with a [Greater Instant Shift], appeared behind the fleeing Hua Tian—this time, not even two seconds had passed.

Zombie skill, Instant Shift: Doubles speed under normal effect; in rage mode, [Greater Instant Shift] doubles both strength and speed, and the next attack targets a vital point.

As the blood talon was about to strike, Hua Tian spun and punched without mercy (the blood talon was a basic attack).

-585 (195*3)

“Die!” Hua Tian shouted.

The zombie hadn’t expected this human ant to fight back. Caught off guard, it took the punch to the chest and collapsed.

As he landed the blow, his health was fully restored. Seeing the blood talon about to strike, he hurriedly used his shield to block, lessening the damage. He was sent flying again, spinning in the air, about to crash into the wall, but the shield wedged between his body and the wall absorbed the impact. He slid to the ground, then the shield fell on his forehead with a resounding “clang!” “Damn!” Dazed, he got up, but didn’t stop—items hadn’t dropped, and his skill guaranteed a 100% drop rate. He rushed over and threw a few more punches.

-450 (critical hit), -100 (collision with the wall, mitigated by the shield)

-195

Just as he was about to hit again, an item dropped from the zombie’s body—a sign it was dead. He resisted the urge for more.

Equipment: Destiny Gauntlets
Grade: Purple
Class: Warrior, Berserker Shield
Attributes: Weapon
Skills: Command, Blood Talon
Equipment Skill, Command: Can command a slain target
Equipment Skill, Blood Talon: Targets wounded or killed by the gauntlets (if recently killed or killed outright) will follow the wearer to the death

He realized he could equip it—it was a weapon for him. He tossed aside his basic shield—it was useless now—and quickly donned the gauntlets. Fighting barehanded had been frustrating; now he was armed. “Ha! They fit perfectly...” Reading the skill details, he felt a surge of satisfaction and eyed the sprawling zombies nearby and the horde downstairs with greed...

Half a day later, he pleaded with Captain Han to invite him back.

Arriving in Han City, Han Qianyun eyed him—or rather, the silent, unmoving horde of zombies behind him—lost in thought.

“What did you get this time? Never mind, I won’t lecture you for now. The team’s Sand Python Belt is ready—take a look.”

She took it out, glanced at him, then grinned at the five new backpacks on his back.

Hua Tian muttered inwardly: Seriously? I haven’t done anything wrong. He shifted position, trying to avoid her predatory gaze, but something fell from his stuffed backpack.

“Clang!” The noise was especially loud in the room.

Equipment: Sand Python Belt
Grade: Void-grade
Class: All female classes
Attributes: +20 Strength
Skills: Berserk, Beauty Python Passive, Python Alert, Void

Equipment Skill, Berserk: Active. Above half health, instantly adds 100 Strength, 50 Speed, 10 Defense, stackable up to three times, with a 30-second cooldown. Below half health, instantly adds 300 Strength, 150 Speed, 30 Defense, and doubles all attributes for 10 seconds, triggering a blood-lock ritual.

Equipment Skill, Beauty Python Passive: Immune to all physical attacks from males; all magical damage is halved and the rest reflected. Absolute immunity to all control effects from males. For females, damage decreases with distance (zero at long range), increases as they get closer (max at 10 meters). All physical attacks increased by 0.5x, all magical by 1x. All attacks except absolute hits are affected regardless of gender.

Equipment Skill, Python Alert: Notifies the user of any being within 10 meters, including those with absolute stealth, and provides high reflection damage.

Equipment Skill, Void: Once per day, after use, ignore restrictions to severely injure a target and halve their total power for a day. User cannot attack for three seconds but can defend.

Seeing the item drop, Han Qianyun said, “Wow, a blue-grade item stone dropped from your fifth full backpack. Such luck! Got any more?”

Hua Tian quickly shook his head, thinking, why did I ask her to invite me? Am I looking for trouble? “Why is the belt you made only for women?”

Han Qianyun smiled, patting his wounded head, “Don’t try to change the subject. Five backpacks—tsk, your luck’s getting out of hand. How did you manage to buy even more after the exam? And they’re always full. Did you get something to boost drop rates and not report it? Wait—Kuangsha, you have exactly 10,001 zombies behind you, and your backpack count is exactly 10,000. Anything else you haven’t turned in?”

Feeling terribly wronged, Hua Tian sent his personal info to the captain.

“You’ve got another skill and another piece of gear. Let me see the details of that passive skill—oh, 100% drop rate. Never mind, then. Even so, with 10,000 items and skills, how about I buy you 10,000 backpacks? Free of charge. After that, filling the warehouse will be on you. Should I build a few more warehouses?”

Hua Tian looked at her as if she were the devil. But the promise of a massive bonus made him reply instantly, “No problem.” Honestly, he hadn’t cared about the terms when joining the team. Looking at what rules he’d broken in recent days, he figured this was a special period, after all.