Chapter Forty-One: Ruin and Fortune for the Sake of Arms

After transferring 250 copper coins to the other party, Huang Yunshuo checked his balance. Including the earnings from hunting little white rabbits for ten minutes earlier, he now had 2,789 copper coins. With this, he could only afford a little over fifty, clearly on the brink of running out.

"Where am I supposed to get more?"

Huang Yunshuo was getting anxious when a sudden thought struck him—he could borrow from others. The girls hadn't left the beginner village yet, so they shouldn't be short on copper coins. Quickly, he sent out a message in the group chat named "Nine Loving Little Melons."

"Does anyone have low-grade Eternal Crystal Fragments or spare copper coins? Hurry and lend them to me!"

His words immediately stirred everyone into action. Of course, some of them were idly chatting while grinding monsters anyway. Huang Yunshuo scrolled up the message box and saw over 999 unread messages, which left him speechless. They saw each other every day, yet still managed to have so much to talk about.

Chen Juanfeng: "Nine out, thirteen back?"

Song Na: "I'm not that stingy, how about 10%?"

Jin Xiong posted a screenshot with two low-grade Eternal Crystal Fragments: "What are you up to, Yellow? Even a big shot like you is running out of copper coins?"

Zhao Shengsheng pouted: "He looks like he needs a lot. Me, with less than fifty copper coins in total, might as well play dead."

Yu Shiyin and Ye Piaoxue sent trade requests. Yu Shiyin offered 200 copper coins, while Ye Piaoxue put up three low-grade Eternal Crystal Fragments and 370 copper coins.

Within five minutes, eight friends had provided aid, totaling nine low-grade Eternal Crystal Fragments and 1,700 copper coins. Now, Huang Yunshuo had over 4,400 copper coins, but was still short by sixty-two fragments. He had enough low-grade Eternal Crystals, but who knew how much more would be needed for fine steel, primary engines, and the cooling matrix. For the first time, Huang Yunshuo felt utterly penniless.

"Frost Eagle, what a demanding profession," he sighed.

A basic weapon, and just one material cost thousands of copper coins. Huang Yunshuo didn't even want to complain anymore; he just hoped the rocket launcher would prove worthy of its price.

Snapping back to reality, he noticed over ten new private messages on the forum. One of them had three units of fine steel, which caught his attention immediately.

"Your Yida? That name sounds familiar," Huang Yunshuo mused. Suddenly, he remembered—it was the tenth-ranked player on the Level Leaderboard, a Berserker.

"Hey, could you tell me what you're using the fine steel for?"

Your Yida asked, clearly unsure what price to set.

Huang Yunshuo replied, "It's a material for crafting special equipment. If you don't have the blueprint, you won't need it."

"Oh, I see..." Your Yida then asked, "Hey, do you happen to have a Rage Gem?"

"A Rage Gem? I do," Huang Yunshuo responded, realizing this Berserker would value rage highly, as their race had a 20% faster rage accumulation. If he pursued a rage burst build, he'd be formidable.

The Rage Gem was valuable, but whether he should trade it depended on the price for the fine steel. Truth be told, the Rage Gem was important, especially with a new weapon coming up—it would be perfect for embedding, and a faster rage burst would be delightful.

But the problem was, he was broke.

"Come on, buddy, trade the Rage Gem for my three fine steel?" Your Yida sent the message eagerly.

Huang Yunshuo pursed his lips and replied, "Are you kidding me, man? The rooster projection drops a heap of materials, but only one Rage Gem. Which one is more valuable? The drop rate for Rage Gems can’t compare to fine steel, can it?"

Everyone knew that materials always dropped more often than gems—this was true in every game.

Your Yida responded, "So what do you want?"

"Add 1,000 copper coins."

They haggled for a while, finally settling on 800 copper coins plus three fine steel for Huang Yunshuo's low-efficiency Rage Gem, and they added each other as friends.

With all private messages dealt with, Huang Yunshuo purchased Eternal Crystal Fragments at fifty copper coins apiece, never higher, and lower-priced fragments were even better. Soon, he had all the materials ready.

"Synthesize."

Eighty-one low-grade Eternal Crystal Fragments merged into nine low-grade Eternal Crystals (Flawed).

"Synthesize."

A dazzling light flared, and a flawless low-grade Eternal Crystal appeared in Huang Yunshuo’s hand, about the size of a ping-pong ball, with eighty-one facets, sharp-edged and exquisitely crafted.

"Primary engine, primary engine, primary engine."

Huang Yunshuo updated his post, now only seeking a primary engine, and rejected all remaining private messages with a single automated reply.

Unfortunately, after waiting for ten minutes and canvassing every system shop, he still hadn’t received any relevant messages about a primary engine.

He did, however, receive about three hundred private messages.

Among them, around one hundred and thirty were from girls asking for protection, friendship, a CP, or even offering to be pampered.

Another one hundred and fifty messages were from people wanting to become his underlings.

Only the remaining twenty inquired about what the materials were for.

"Let’s ask that one called Fourth Cousin," Huang Yunshuo said, sending a window nudge to her.

Soon, Fourth Cousin replied with a voice message: "What’s up?"

"Do you have a primary engine?" Huang Yunshuo got straight to the point.

Fourth Cousin said, "Wait a sec," and left him hanging for five minutes.

"Flat price, 2,000 copper coins. If you’re paying in credit points, sixty thousand. You know everyone’s short on copper coins right now," she told him.

"Good grief," Huang Yunshuo muttered, coughing up metaphorical old blood. He had no choice but to pay in credit points. Luckily, he had seven hundred thousand stashed away, but now his treasury was nearly emptied.

The transaction went smoothly.

"Big boss, love you, muah muah!"

Fourth Cousin giggled sweetly and hung up. Huang Yunshuo cursed under his breath—she made money off him and still had the nerve to blow kisses!

Now he had all the materials for crafting the rocket launcher. As for the cooling matrix, that would have to wait until the launcher was finished and could be taken to the array master for processing.

He arrived at the blacksmith’s shop, placed the blueprint and materials on the table. The burly blacksmith, Wang Big Hammer, whose arms were thicker than most male players’ waists, perked up instantly.

"Good heavens, what a domineering weapon!"

"Is it really that impressive?"

Huang Yunshuo was overjoyed. He had never known how powerful the rocket launcher would be.

Wang Big Hammer’s workshop was bustling, with apprentices churning out equipment from all kinds of materials. Most of the gear was high quality, and it was clear he was a master steeped in the blacksmith’s craft.

If even he said the rocket launcher was domineering, it must be extraordinary.

"Indeed. This flawless low-grade Eternal Crystal is extremely precious, and paired with the primary engine, it will provide tremendous power."

Wang Big Hammer nodded, lovingly handling the Eternal Crystal, a fervent gleam flashing in his eyes.