strictlysupreme Chapter 58 Pirate Vault
Chapter 58 Pirate Vault
The rain has finally stopped at the S-level node plaza in the Jiangnan region.
Muddy water mixed with blood accumulated in the low-lying areas. The remaining forces of the Royal Gate Guild were handed over to the local garrison troops who arrived later.
The pieces of the Eagle Empire-style dark gold armor were removed one by one, sealed with high-risk evidence seals, and all were placed into collection boxes.
Xiao Qianyu walked up to Ling Shuang.
Ling Shuang leaned against the deformed door of the SUV. Her silver-white scale armor was badly damaged. The standard-issue long spear that had been with her for half a year was broken at the tip and bent at an exaggerated angle, completely ruined.
Xiao Qianyu took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from the storage compartment. A replica mirror.
The entire Longwei strategic warehouse only has three sides stored in total, which are non-renewable consumables that are used up one side at a time.
She weighed the mirror in her hand, her gaze shifting back and forth between the mirror and her own crimson lotus spear.
She unconsciously rubbed her fingers on the mirror, clenching her teeth. She couldn't stand seeing good things go to waste; this thing would only break even if it was used to replicate S-rank or higher items.
She paused, then slammed the bronze mirror directly onto the Red Lotus Goddess Spear.
The white light flashed and then disappeared. The process was extremely uneventful, without even a sound effect.
The bronze mirror turned to ashes.
Xiao Qianyu now held a Crimson Lotus Goddess Spear that was identical in appearance, attributes, and even the wear marks on the gun body.
"Here you go." Xiao Qianyu tossed the replica to Ling Shuang. "Use this as a spare weapon for now. Don't throw that broken iron rod at the Dragon Guards."
Ling Shuang caught the spear. The unique warmth of the spear traveled through her palm, and rows of exaggerated buffs popped up on her attribute panel.
She didn't refuse, nor did she offer any unnecessary formalities. She stood up straight, feet together, hands holding the gun flat, and gave Xiao Qianyu a perfect ninety-degree bow.
He lowered his waist and held the position for a full five seconds.
After standing up, Ling Shuang turned around and faced Lu Yan, who was not far away. She made the same gesture and bowed at the same ninety-degree angle.
The entire third squad was rescued, and the sixth squad was spared annihilation; she knew exactly where the source was.
The sound of chaotic and heavy footsteps cut into the messy square.
Li Tianshan strode over. Behind him were no longer two attendants, but two full rows of fully armed bodyguards.
The uniformly armored, heavily enchanted black armor, loaded live ammunition, and deployed tactical formations, directly blocking the four high points surrounding the plaza.
The Jiangnan region has witnessed such a blatant ambush, and the Imperial Gate is also involved in the White Eagle Empire's equipment smuggling network. The danger level of the situation has been raised to the red alert level by the higher-ups.
"The higher-ups have issued a strict order: the Ministry of the Interior will take full control of all of the Imperial Guard's locations and accounts. This smuggling route will be traced back to its source; whoever is implicated will be prosecuted for treason." Li Tianshan's gaze swept over the explosion-proof boxes, his tone harsh.
Then, he turned around and looked at the tattered armor of the third and sixth squads, his tense facial muscles relaxing slightly.
"Equipment quotas will be re-evaluated tomorrow." Li Tianshan patted Ling Shuang's cracked shoulder armor. "Everyone's equipment will get better and better in the future; this is just the beginning. Take everyone back to rest."
An hour later, the tactical transport planes took off for their return journey.
Stable cabin air pressure
Lu Yan scrolled through the tactical terminal panel in front of him. It displayed the newly updated internal equipment inventory.
Equipment with high base stats is starting to appear in abundance, but individual pieces with special mechanics and rare affixes are still in short supply.
"Once the production of regular equipment is resolved, are there any unconventional ways to obtain items with special mechanics?" Lu Yan asked.
Xiao Qianyu was reviewing briefings from various places when she heard this and looked up.
"The loot pools in regular dungeons are fixed; the mechanics are set up that way, so they don't drop any extraordinary or unusual items." She paused, recalling some old data in her mind, "If you're looking for special equipment, there is a place that has dropped it before."
"where?"
"Pirate's Secret Realm," Xiao Qianyu announced a place name.
Lu Yan entered these four words into the terminal's search bar, and it displayed "Access denied. Not in database."
"It's a hidden secret place," Xiao Qianyu explained. "It was unearthed four years ago by a civilian exploration team from the Jiangnan region. Everyone who's been inside has a remarkably consistent opinion of the place—it's a den of iniquity."
Lu Yan looked away from the terminal and listened to her continue.
"The mechanics are extremely monotonous. First, it restricts entry to single players; second, there are no combat elements throughout." Xiao Qianyu sat up straight. "The secret realm is a large port. The core gameplay involves finding the NPC pirate captain in the port and paying an extremely high amount of Chinese currency as a deposit for departure. After paying, they set sail to fish for so-called underwater treasure. Players wait on the shore. When the ship returns, they bring back the salvaged blind boxes."
After listening to the procedure, Lu Yan tapped his fingers twice on his knee.
"Purely based on luck?"
"It's not even luck, it's robbery." Xiao Qianyu's tone was filled with undisguised disdain. "The port fees start at several million. Most of the time, the pirate ships return empty-handed. There's a small chance they'll bring back a bunch of useless white-quality junk. There was once an A-level guild in the Jiangnan region called 'Ocean'. The guild leader sold three of the guild's bases and poured 80 million into it to assemble a legendary water-type piece for his main tank. He made 47 voyages. The first 46 were empty-handed, and the last one brought back a silver-level seaweed bracer. The guild's cash flow broke on the spot, and the guild leader canceled his Awakened status the next day and went back to his hometown to farm."
She leaned back in her chair: "Because the rate of return is close to zero, it has a strong gambling element, and the military has long since blacklisted it, strictly prohibiting officially organized teams from going there. Now it's abandoned."
Pay. Go out to sea. Open blind boxes. Settle the blind box transaction.
The logical chain in Lu Yan's mind was rapidly closing.
Isn't this mechanism just the infamous pay-to-win gacha system and AFK farming from the old days of games?
The official teams avoid it because the drop rate is fixed by the system at an extremely low rarity level.
But for Lu Yan, probability has never been an issue.
The core pain point here is the conflict between "solo entry" and "team status". If you enter alone, the aura will not take effect.
"Are the NPC captains in the Pirate Realm considered as party members?" Lu Yan asked this question.
Xiao Qianyu was stunned for a moment.
"The pirates there aren't monsters; they only care about money," Xiao Qianyu recalled the contents of the file. "As long as the money is right, they are nominally employed by the players during their voyages."
"Once the employment relationship is established, the system's underlying determination constitutes a temporary squad," Lu Yan deduced.
Regular dungeons rely on loot drops from kills, while pirate dungeons rely on loot drops from the completion of expeditions.
As long as there is a judgment and a temporary formation is formed, the aura can be fully utilized.
A hundredfold increase in drop rate forcibly boosts two major ranks. This kind of place, which relies purely on luck, is precisely the perfect ATM for professions like his that can modify the underlying drop rate.
"Give me a pass." Lu Yan shut down the tactical terminal. "I need to go to the Pirate Realm."
The air in the cabin was quiet for a few seconds.
Zhao Leiguang, who was wiping the shield, didn't stop. Wen Yue continued calibrating the parts. Shen Xinglin didn't even lift his eyelids. Su Yunqing just quietly watched this side.
There was no dissuasion, no questioning.
If a newcomer made this request, Xiao Qianyu would have simply thrown them out of the cabin to sober them up.
But the person opposite him was Lu Yan.
"Okay." Xiao Qianyu didn't ask him how to overcome the low rate of return, nor did she ask him how to deal with going in alone. "After landing, I'll use the special access granted by headquarters to issue you a pass."
She accessed the funds account: "How many Chinese yuan need to be transferred from the public account?"
"No need," Lu Yan refused. "I have my own."
The gold equipment that was discarded from Eden has generated an astronomical amount of dividends on the trading market in the past few days.
The deposit is not a problem.
Xiao Qianyu operated the permissions panel, and a single-person exploration permit stamped with the official seal of the Dragon Guard Supreme Command was quickly generated.