Chapter 157: Mushroom Combo Skill |
Although Bai Mu felt that the hat's effects clashed a bit with his style, he still equipped it to test it out.
The mushroom hat appeared on his head. It rested against his hair with a soft, bouncy sensation. When he shook his head, the cap jiggled twice like jelly in sync with his movements.
The thing looked incredibly fragile, but it was actually quite resilient. It was perfectly suited for defending against blunt force attacks; its medium defense rating was certainly no exaggeration.
Bai Mu faced the mirror and examined his reflection. The massive white mushroom on his head made him look like he was participating in some sort of cosplay. It wasn't exactly ugly—in fact, it was rather amusing—but he had a feeling that walking down the street with it would turn a lot of heads.
"Come to think of it, this thing should count as a living mushroom," he muttered.
Bai Mu suddenly remembered the skill he had recently drawn, so he attempted to communicate with the mushroom.
Mushroom Language wasn't a conventional spoken language; it was more akin to a mental connection.
He felt his mind link with the mushroom hat. It was an incredibly unique sensation. The hat did possess a consciousness of its own, though it was far less complex than a human's.
Bai Mu communicated with the mushroom hat on a conscious level, and soon after, he discovered something astonishing.
The so-called Mushroom Toxin was actually its spores. Whenever it took a hit, it sensed danger and released the toxin in self-defense.
But now that Bai Mu possessed the Mushroom Language, he could command the hat to actively release the toxin through their mental communication.
In that instant, the value of the mushroom hat completely transformed. It was no longer an item that passively dealt damage; it had become a piece of equipment capable of active toxic attacks. It was just like one of those poison-wielding characters commonly found in MOBA games, ready to spread a debilitating plague at a moment's notice.
Having discovered this combo skill, he immediately stored the mushroom hat in his inventory, discarding any thoughts of listing it on the Player market.
Bai Mu checked his Points. After finishing the latest Script, his balance had reached 3436 Points. Having surpassed the 2000-Point threshold, he met the maximum usage condition for the piggy bank. As long as he smashed the bank open, he would gain an additional fifteen to thirty percent in bonus Points. However, he didn't deposit them right away. The bonus was entirely dependent on luck, and he hadn't yet opened his Script chest or browsed the Script shop. There was a chance he might obtain an item that boosted his luck attribute. He decided to clear out his pending rewards first.
He retrieved the Script chest he received for clearing the stage and tapped to use it.
[Do you wish to open the Script Chest (Rare)?]
[Yes/No.]
[You have received a reward: Flaming Sword x1]
[Name: Flaming Sword]
[Type: Melee Weapon]
[Quality: Rare]
[Attack Power: High]
[Attribute: Fire]
[Equipment Effect: Can actively ignite roaring flames, dealing additional fire damage with each attack. This effect has a cooldown of 60 minutes and lasts for 5 minutes per use.]
[Equipment Requirements: None]
[Note: This is a specialized weapon crafted by survivors to kill Doppelgangers. Slicing through a pure-blooded Doppelganger with this blade is as smooth as cutting through butter, and the severed parts will no longer twitch relentlessly like a gecko's detached tail.]
Another piece of equipment with elemental attributes. It seemed that starting from C-grade Scripts, attributed gear was becoming much more common.
He took out the Flaming Sword and placed it on the table. The name sounded like a magical artifact straight out of a fantasy world, but its appearance was that of an unadulterated modern blade.
To be honest, it looked entirely like something cobbled together in a makeshift workshop.
The entire piece was forged from a heat-conductive refined alloy. The blade was roughly 1.2 meters long and slightly curved, bearing visible grinding marks and hammer indentations along the edge. The hilt was wrapped in specialized fireproof cotton, and just above it sat a sealed, spherical heating apparatus. It likely utilized some sort of chemical compound to rapidly heat the blade.
The mechanism functioned via a pull-cord structure, much like starting a chainsaw. Bai Mu gripped the Flaming Sword in his hand and yanked the ring.
Instantly, sparks erupted from the device, accompanied by the sizzling hum of stressed metal. The cold blade rapidly heated up, glowing with a faint crimson hue as if it had just been pulled from a blazing forge.
One glance was enough to know it shouldn't be touched bare-handed. A single slash against a person's body would likely sear the flesh right down to the bone upon contact.
This thing packed significantly more destructive power than his Baseball Bat, and it was far more versatile. After all, a heat source wasn't just useful for attacking; it could also be used to start a campfire or keep warm.
Whether in terms of utility or attack power, the Flaming Sword was undoubtedly top-tier equipment.
As the difficulty of the Scripts escalated, it was about time to retire the Baseball Bat anyway, so this blade arrived at the perfect moment. Bai Mu's technique for hacking apart Zombies was already first-rate. While firearms were effective, the loud gunshots were a massive liability. Unless he found himself in a dire emergency, he generally preferred to quietly clear out the initial wave with melee weapons. Besides, he didn't start off with a gun. Back when he was unarmed, he had to rely on a rusty butcher knife he scrounged from a wet market to hack his way through. Gripping the Flaming Sword tightly, he noted its excellent balance. The fireproof cotton perfectly insulated his hand from the searing heat. And, to be completely honest, the glowing red blade looked incredibly cool. A single glance in the mirror exuded an aura of deadly menace.
Bai Mu decided to make this blade his primary melee weapon. If placed on the Player market, it would fetch a staggering price. Weapon-type equipment always commanded the highest prices and had the greatest demand.
Bai Mu estimated that this blade could easily sell for anywhere between 2000 to 2500 Points, a sum that exceeded the total clear reward of a C-grade Script. Of course, he had no intention of selling it. Staring at the blade, he could almost see the countless hours the survivors had spent enduring trial and error just to stay alive. In truth, he had watched those grueling days play out in their entirety, though time had been severely accelerated from his perspective.
He suddenly realized that the items drawn from Scripts were essentially souvenirs left behind for the Players.
Once the majority of Scripts were cleared, you could never return to those worlds. However, these items, equipment, and skills would continue to accompany you on your journey. Unless absolutely necessary, he refused to sell the Flaming Sword.
He still kept the old butcher knife that had accompanied him as he hacked his way from the south end of the wet market to the north end at home. He had hung that rusted blade on his wall. Every time he looked at it, he was reminded of those deeply memorable days.
Having finished opening his Script chest, he moved on to the familiar shopping phase.
The first page of the shop interface displayed only a single Rare-grade item. It looked exactly like the type of mushroom he had dug up during the Script. Now, through the shop interface, he finally learned its full name.
[Name: Pseudo-Life Mushroom (Sub-Clone)]
[Quality: Rare]
[Note: A mushroom inextricably linked to Doppelgangers, filled with mystery and the unknown. However, this particular one is merely a sub-clone separated from the main body's spores. Both its survivability and its infection capabilities have been drastically weakened.]
The Pseudo-Life Mushroom was priced at 1200 Points. It was the only item on the page that seemed to hold any real value.
Bai Mu had already researched its characteristics. Its most prominent trait was the ability to infect living organisms, mutating them into monsters resembling Doppelgangers.
There was no detailed explanation of the mushroom in the item description. The thing was undeniably hazardous, but Bai Mu bought it anyway.
He had just drawn the Mushroom Language skill, and now there was a mushroom sitting in the shop. Wasn't this the perfect pairing?
He felt like he could piece together an entire hidden skill tree based on mushrooms. Speaking of which, he also had the active skill Plant Care. He couldn't help but notice that his skills and equipment were increasingly leaning toward a plant-based theme.
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