Chapter 144 - 108: Strategic-Grade Treasure, Activating Hidden Attributes

Chapter 144: Chapter 108: Strategic-Grade Treasure, Activating Hidden Attributes

"Mr. Shen, there’s a package for you at the gate. Please come and collect it." A polite voice said over the phone.

"A package?"

Shen Xing was taken aback. ’Weren’t they supposed to be picking up the Stone Eyes?’

’And what’s this package about? Could it be that the Advancement Materials I listed for sale last night have already found a match?’

He opened the trade channel to check. The item’s status still read "Matching," which was a bit strange.

Shen Xing instinctively became vigilant. After all, as a newcomer from the Celestial Star Country who had broken into the top 100 on the leaderboards, he was bound to have attracted a lot of attention.

Zhou Zheng had reminded him more than once that the world was in chaos right now and he needed to be careful.

"Yes, Mr. Shen."

The voice on the phone spoke again: "Additionally, I see you’ve placed a pickup order. I can handle that for you at the same time."

Hearing this, Shen Xing’s wariness subsided a little.

After all, no one besides official personnel from the Anomaly Handling Bureau could see his order information.

He wheeled his chair to the door and saw through the security monitor that the same cheerful young man was standing outside the yard.

He then went out into the yard and opened the gate.

"Mr. Shen, could you please give me the items for pickup so I can register them?" the young man said with a professional smile.

Shen Xing handed over the bag in his hand, which contained 33 ordinary Stone Eyes.

The young man took the items, confirmed the quantity, and placed them in the storage box of his electric scooter.

Then, he took out a package from the box. "This is your package. Please sign for it."

Shen Xing nodded, took it, signed his name, and then returned home with the package.

Of course, he had already sensed that there was nothing dangerous inside; otherwise, he would never have signed for it so casually.

As he slowly unwrapped the package, three items were revealed.

They were a small black box, a document, and a letter.

’What is all this stuff?’

Shen Xing picked up the letter first, tore it open, and took a look.

[Hello, Pioneer Shen Xing.

I am Wang Kun, the Deputy Director of the Jiang City Anomaly Handling Bureau.

First, congratulations on breaking into the top 100 on the leaderboards. This is the best result among this year’s newcomers from Jiang City.

To show our encouragement, the Bureau has sent you a small gift. We hope it will aid your climb up the rankings.]

’Huh? It’s actually from Elder Wang.’

Shen Xing was a bit surprised. "I didn’t expect to get this kind of treatment just for making the leaderboards. I wonder what’s inside."

With a touch of curiosity, he picked up the document first.

Flipping it open, he saw it was a property deed. The location was a detached villa in Jiangxin Yipin—the very one he was currently living in.

Shen Xing’s personal information and name were already filled in, and all the paperwork had been completed.

In other words, the house was now under his name.

"Holy cow, is this the ’small gift’ Elder Wang was talking about?" Shen Xing’s face was full of surprise.

For Pioneers like them, a house might not be a huge deal.

But as the saying goes, it’s the thought that counts. This also showed how much the Jiang City officials valued their excellent newcomers.

Besides, this wasn’t exactly a "light" gift—it was worth a full twenty million!

"Nice. Now I don’t have to pay off a mortgage."

Shen Xing smiled and looked at the small black wooden box next to it.

He picked it up, lifted the lid, and saw a pitch-black ring resting quietly inside.

Its surface had a dull, cold sheen, and it was made of some unknown material. There were also several cracks on it.

’What’s this? Game equipment?’

Shen Xing grew even more curious.

Although the ring was cracked, he instinctively felt that this item was something special.

After a moment of thought, he decided to transfer the ring and the other Stone Eye into the game to check their attributes.

WHOOSH...

The Fog Flower on his arm began to spin slowly, spewing out a thick fog that enveloped the two items on the table.

After the fog dissipated, the items on the table were gone.

Shen Xing took a deep breath and put his glasses back on.

BUZZ...

His vision instantly switched from the spacious, bright living room to the dark and oppressive Land of Mist.

He called up his backpack interface and, sure enough, saw a black ring and a whitish Stone Eye inside.

He took out the ring first and held it up to check its attributes.

[Broken Shadow Magic Ring]

[Quality: Unknown]

[Attribute Bonus: None]

[Introduction: An ancient Magic Ring that seals a wisp of a Shadow Demon Dragon’s remnant soul. However, due to its age, the ring is damaged and has lost most of its power.]

[Effect: Unleash the Power of the Dragon Soul sealed within the ring to summon the Demon Dragon Soul of a Shadow Demon Dragon (Tier Three Leader★★★) to the battlefield for 5 seconds.]

[Uses Remaining: 4]

(Note: This Magic Ring contains limited Energy. After each use, it must be recharged by absorbing a large amount of Dark Energy.)

...

"!!!"

At that moment, Shen Xing was completely stunned!

’What did I just see!?’

’Summon the soul of a Shadow Demon Dragon to the battlefield—and a Tier Three Leader Level monster at that!’

What did that even mean?

As mentioned before, Leader Level creatures were commanders of armies, their combat power far exceeding that of a Boss.

What’s more, this was a legendary creature—a Giant Dragon!

One could only imagine how terrifying the Demon Dragon Soul of the Shadow Demon Dragon summoned by this ring would be.

Even though it only lasted for a brief 5 seconds, that was enough to clear any obstacle in his path.

"I can’t believe Elder Wang gave me a treasure that could be considered a strategic weapon. I owe him a huge favor for this..."

Shen Xing felt a mix of emotions. He had thought the property in Jiang City was the biggest gift.

But compared to this ring, it was nothing.

He couldn’t help but recall what Elder Wang had said at the entrance to the Foggy Void Realm.

’The higher-ups will only funnel resources to a select few geniuses. If you want more resources, if you want to get stronger, then you have to prove you have what it takes.’

"In that case, I’ll give the leaderboards a real shot!"

"At the very least, I won’t bring shame to Jiang City."

Shen Xing solemnly stored the ring in his backpack, a fighting spirit surging within him.

Next, he took out the other eye and checked its attributes.

[Stone Eye Gemstone]

[Quality: Purple]

[Effect: When socketed into a piece of equipment, increases agility by 15 and Hit Rate by 10%.]

(Note: An eye from an Extraordinary Level Stone-Eyed Flea. Can grant equipment additional abilities and seems to hide some sort of special potential.)

...

"This really is good stuff. To think it can increase attributes by so much."

"If I could socket one of these into every piece of my gear, the boost would be terrifying."

Shen Xing mulled it over, planning to socket this Stone Eye Gemstone into Hellish Roar’s [Black Water Axe] to increase its damage.

Just as he was wheeling himself toward the Blacksmith Shop, he suddenly felt something in his backpack vibrate slightly.

"Hm?"

Puzzled, Shen Xing opened his backpack space and rummaged through a pile of items, finding the source of the vibration.

It was the Monocular Telescope—a long brass rod with a metal ring at each end.

He took it out and examined it in his hand for a moment. ’Why is this telescope vibrating all of a sudden?’

He had read about something similar on the forums before.

Apparently, some equipment or items, due to their long existence or the mysterious power they contained, could develop a slight consciousness.

Just like the ring Elder Wang had just given him, which had the soul of a Shadow Demon Dragon sealed inside.

’Could it be that this telescope in my hand is a similar type of equipment?’

Suddenly, Shen Xing realized something and looked at the [Stone Eye Gemstone] in his left hand. "Don’t tell me it’s reacting to this thing?"

Tentatively, he moved the telescope closer to the gemstone.

Just as he expected, the vibration grew stronger.

"Well, I’ll be. It really is." Shen Xing became more and more curious. "But why would this thing react to an eyeball?"

He held up the Monocular Telescope and turned it over and over, examining it.

At the end of the cylinder, a lens seemed to be missing, and the opening was about the same size as the eye.

’Could it be...’

Shen Xing tentatively pressed the Stone Eye Gemstone into the cylinder.

With a soft "CLICK," the gemstone and the telescope fit together perfectly.

At that moment, a golden light flashed across the surface of the Monocular Telescope, as if it had been activated.

[Ding! You have socketed the ’Stone Eye Gemstone’ into ’Captain Jack’s Monocular Telescope’. The equipment’s Hidden Attributes have been activated!]

[Equipment Effect: ’Eye of Insight’ maximum detection range has been increased to 3,000 meters, and the Special Ability ’Insight’ has been unlocked.]

...

"Hidden Attributes!"

Shen Xing’s eyes widened slightly, a sense of disbelief in his heart.

He never would have thought that the eye of an Extraordinary Level monster he had casually killed last night would turn out to be the key item needed to activate this telescope.

’Seriously, who could have guessed that?’

’And the conditions to activate these Hidden Attributes are way too demanding.’

If an anomalous energy point hadn’t appeared near his house, and if it hadn’t happened to contain a monster like the Stone-Eyed Flea, who knows when he would have ever activated these Hidden Attributes.

After complaining internally for a bit, he looked back at the system prompt before him.

He had to admit, the upgrade from this activation was huge.

The detection range had jumped from 1,000 meters to 3,000 meters, a several-fold increase.

On top of that, it had also unlocked a new Special Ability: Insight.

’What does this new ability do?’

He raised the telescope to his eye and scanned his surroundings through the lens.

The scenery in his field of view didn’t seem to have changed much, other than becoming a little clearer.

However, when he focused on a nearby residence, he was surprised to find that he could actually see through its wooden walls to the scene inside.

Several Beastmen were lying on their small wooden beds, fast asleep, completely unaware.

"Eh? This is amazing!"

Shen Xing blinked, then tried aiming at the Blacksmith Shop next door. He saw the Cyclops inside, diligently forging with a hammer in hand.

Like a child who had discovered an incredible new toy, he excitedly continued to aim it around randomly.

However, when he turned the telescope toward a nearby street, his view landed on Reina, who had just woken up.

Through the lens, she had a resolute expression, her red hair tied up neatly behind her head as she draped a cloak over her shoulders with both hands.

Before Shen Xing’s shocked eyes, a snowy-white, voluptuous body with exaggerated curves appeared without any warning...