Chapter 120: Chapter 60 - Chapter 60: Chapter 59: Why Can't I Control This Hand?

Chapter 60: Chapter 59: Why Can’t I Control This Hand?

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

If Jiang Qiao’s head would show a +1 sign every time he gained a bit of Creation Energy, then his head would now be bursting with +700 and +600 numbers.

Right now, Jiang Qiao was mingling with the players at the Tower of Trial, who surrounded Segman as if they were watching a wrestling match.

“The tenth piece of equipment failed to reach eleven; this NPC must be a rigged one from the officials.”

“Would a rigged NPC fail ten times in a row?”

“Whoa! It succeeded! A +13 gauntlet!”

“This is definitely rigged!”

Jiang Qiao listened to the surrounding players’ discussions as Segman put the fifth artifact into the enhancement machine, which clanked and clanged before spitting out a gauntlet radiating a crimson light.

Segman’s face bore a smile that was halfway between delight and mania. He didn’t say anything but took out another artifact, preparing to put it into the enhancement machine.

At this moment, the Gun Knight behind Segman realized he had been seriously negligent! Allowing Segman to continue his entanglement with that bizarre enhancement machine, the entire Flowing Water Country’s artifacts might all turn to slag.

“Prince Segman, stop touching that strange machine!”

The Gun Knight grabbed Segman’s shoulders and stared at him as he spoke.

“Put it on.” Segman didn’t argue, handing the crimson-glowing gauntlet to the Gun Knight.

“Power Bracer, I’ve worn this before. Prince Segman, you must stop throwing precious artifacts into… Wait, what’s happening?”

The Gun Knight put on the Power Bracer handed over by Segman while speaking. He had worn this bracer in his youth, which could enhance the wearer’s strength slightly.

The strength enhancement effect was very noticeable, but the drawback was that it consumed physical strength at an exponential rate over time.

However, when the Gun Knight put on the +13 enhanced Power Bracer, he only felt capable of punching through ten bulls!

If the previous power boost of the bracer was 0.1, now it was 0.7!

“Impossible, this is the Power Bracer number 307. It couldn’t be.” The Gun Knight mumbled to himself, looking at the number engraved by the Artifact Preservation Association on the bracer and the +13 symbol next to it.

“This is the effect of this enhancement machine. If this symbol changes to thirteen, the artifact’s effect is tripled!”

Segman said while shifting his gaze to the crimson spear in the Gun Knight’s hand.

“Kermo, do you want to give it a try?”

“This… No!”

The Gun Knight quickly hid the treasured spear behind him. This was a symbol of his status, a family heirloom passed down through the generations!

If he turned this crimson spear into slag, even committing seppuku on the spot wouldn’t redeem his guilt.

“It won’t turn to slag before reaching ten! It won’t even fail till six, at most consuming some magic stones! Don’t you crave for more powerful strength?”

By this point, Segman was fully possessed by his desire for power, nearly twisted with ambition to rival the strength of those Saint Spirits.

“This… This… No! Your Highness, I can’t take this risk, nor can you!” The Gun Knight resisted the temptation of power but still took out a pendant from his chest. “But if it’s really as you say, the first six enhancements are risk-free…”

Another one had fallen to the addiction.

Jiang Qiao listened quietly to Segman and the Gun Knight’s conversation, while his gaze wandered to other groups of players.

In these three days, many spies sent by other countries had arrived at the Tower of Trial to probe the secrets of the Saint Spirits.

The prophecy of the Flowing Water Country’s doom might have spread among the native world, but not many believed it; they were merely testing if they could ally with the Saint Spirits.

Jiang Qiao didn’t care much about the espionage and attempts to recruit by other countries. If those spies could truly sway the players, Jiang Qiao would be quite happy… because their recruitment meant rewards, and rewards meant the player could become stronger.

The Saint Spirits had a dynamic task system that included dynamic dialogue options.

These were akin to AI-based judgment systems, similar to the dialogue between the Rabbit Doll and Segman earlier, which was based on this dynamic task system.

Whatever stories the players could write in the Holy Spirit World or other worlds in the future, Jiang Qiao didn’t intend to interfere. His role was to guide the overarching direction.

So now, Jiang Qiao needed to prepare for the impending Divine War.

“Hai Lan, let’s go,” Jiang Qiao said.

“Huh? Aren’t you going to entice them to toss in more artifacts? I see quite a few natives here considering it.”

Hai Lan had a keen eye; her sharpness in spotting potential “food” locations almost depleted Jiang Qiao’s hidden food reserves within the half-month she stayed at his house.

This world was no exception. Just floating mid-air, Hai Lan spotted several native spies mixed in with the players, eyeing the enhancement machine’s power with eagerness.

“Enhancing equipment can wait. Now we need to start promoting the Divine War instance.”

Jiang Qiao glanced at the level leaderboard. “Add Milk, No Extra Charge,” the Hero Emperor, had solidly reached level 40. In ten days, she would likely hit max level. Players in the second tier were all at level 38.

The leveling craze brought by the Doll Girl exceeded Jiang Qiao’s expectations. Soon, the Saint Spirits would see a wave of max level players.

Max-level players would undoubtedly desire new content, prompting Jiang Qiao to accelerate the game’s version updates.

“Promote it? How? Like you said before, with something like, ‘Bro, come to Divine War and slash me?'”

Hai Lan’s memory was excellent; she remembered all the “weird talk” Jiang Qiao had said perfectly.

“New instances need players to know what they are; a brief intro of the bosses and the background story is necessary.”

Jiang Qiao left the Tower of Trial and returned to the Astrologer’s Tower in the Saint Spirit World. Hai Lan followed him and understood his intention when she saw Jiang Qiao creating a new “scouting machine.”

“Are you heading to my divine dimension for photos and videos?” Hai Lan was now a bona fide goddess of the twenty-second century, even taking food delivery photos for her social media, though Jiang Qiao was her only friend.

But Jiang Qiao believed… if the Divine War was successful, Hai Lan’s friend list would grow.

“More accurately, it’s to take obituary photos of those bosses,” Jiang Qiao said.