Chapter 1370 - 81: Investment

Chapter 1370: Chapter 81: Investment

[Dragon Slash has dropped to +2. Do you want to continue enhancing it?]

Su Xiao chooses to continue. Regardless of what happens, he must enhance Dragon Slash to +10, unless his Paradise coin supply becomes critical.

The Equipment Enhancement Machine starts up, and the speed for low-level enhancements is quick. After about two minutes, a jet of steam is released from the machine.

[Dragon Slash +3 success.]

Su Xiao decisively proceeds, and a few minutes later...

[Dragon Slash +4 success.]

Standing within the scorching steam, Su Xiao exhales deeply. After spending 540,000 Paradise coins, Dragon Slash is successfully enhanced to +4, leaving him with only 52,600 Paradise coins.

Su Xiao idly toys with a medal in his hand. It is [Honor Badge], obtained in exchange for the Golden Honor Medal, possessing a singular attribute: a 5% increase in equipment enhancement success rate.

Currently, the Paradise coins are insufficient for further enhancement, so Su Xiao waits for the Black Merchant to deliver more coins. He has consigned three items in total to the Black Merchant for sale: the Spider Queen (Dark Purple Sniper Rifle), Ghost Hunter (Light Golden Crossbow), and Moon God Silver Ring (Summoner’s Gold Set).

The Spider Queen and Ghost Hunter are both weapons Su Xiao has phased out, and both are of excellent attribute.

The Spider Queen is priced at 210,000 Paradise coins.

The Ghost Hunter is priced at 165,000 Paradise coins (due to being too niche).

The Moon God Silver Ring is priced at 700,000 Paradise coins.

After deducting the Black Merchant’s transaction fee, Su Xiao can obtain a total of 1,021,250 Paradise coins.

Once the Black Merchant acquires this fluid asset, they certainly won’t hold it for Su Xiao but will instead use it for compound interest schemes. When Su Xiao requests it, the Black Merchant will gather it promptly.

It must be said that, although the Black Merchant doesn’t have a stellar reputation, their efficiency is passable.

Su Xiao waited for more than ten minutes before a man dressed in a black robe and mask hastily arrived at the Equipment Strengthening Hall.

"Bai Ye... sir?"

The Black Merchant tentatively inquires. Despite having seen Su Xiao’s photo and using a detector several times after meeting him, he still wants to confirm.

"Correct."

"This is 800,000 Paradise coins, with the remaining amount delivered within an hour. For every late minute, we will compensate you with 10,000 Paradise coins."

The Black Merchant hands over a Paradise Coin Savings Card valued at 800,000, which shatters in Su Xiao’s hand, crediting 800,000 Paradise coins to his account.

"Fine, expedite it as soon as possible."

"Certainly, no problem. Apologies for the interruption, and may your enhancements proceed smoothly."

The Black Merchant hurriedly takes their leave, probably to gather the remaining Paradise coins. Although the Black Sail Merchant Group’s business is sizable, they prefer not to store large amounts of Paradise coins, opting instead to hoard rare materials, which is unique among merchant groups.

With the Paradise coins in hand, Su Xiao resumed the enhancements, but this time he placed two Black Carbon Stones into the tray before operating the Equipment Enhancement Machine.

[Pure Black Carbon Stone], each increasing the enhancement success rate by 2%, although the effect diminishes when exceeding a certain quantity.

Including the effect of [Honor Badge], the success rate for enhancements is now quite satisfactory. Su Xiao isn’t seeking excitement; he needs Dragon Slash reliably enhanced to +10.

[Dragon Slash +5 success.]

[Dragon Slash +6 success.]

[Dragon Slash +7 success!]

Three consecutive successes clearly indicate the excellent effects of the Pure Black Carbon Stones combined with [Honor Badge].

In front of Su Xiao, steam rises from the Equipment Enhancement Machine, its surface glowing slightly red.

With 9 Pure Black Carbon Stones remaining, Su Xiao places 3 into the tray and initiates the Equipment Enhancement Machine.

Buzz—

The Equipment Enhancement Machine begins to operate. During enhancement to +8, failure leads to two possible outcomes: a slide back to +6 or a total reset to zero. If the latter occurs, Su Xiao won’t be able to enhance Dragon Slash to +10 anytime soon.

Poof!

Steam billows, and the tray ejects akin to a red-hot iron, white vapor rising from Dragon Slash.

[Dragon Slash +8 success.]

Su Xiao’s fist clenches as his luck runs hot today, offering superb enhancement handling.

"Continue."

Tap, tap, tap.

Three Obsidian stones are placed on the tray, which retracts with Dragon Slash into the enhancement machine.

Following several minutes of roaring, Su Xiao hears a ’crack’ sound, chilling his heart halfway.

"NO!!"

A desperate shout rang out from a short distance away; cold sweat trickled from Su Xiao’s forehead as he glanced sideways, an issue had arisen at the neighboring enhancement machine.

A burly man pressed his forehead against the machine, his expression vacant as he muttered, "Gone, all gone, three worlds’ worth of effort, five lives."

Bu Bu Wang witnessed this scene, looking at Su Xiao: "Master, is this how thrilling it is?"

"Approximately... that’s the situation."

Su Xiao exhaled. If Dragon Slash’s enhancement failed, it would slash his Pirate World profits by a third.

Steam surged, and a prompt appeared.

[Dragon Slash +9 success.]

Su Xiao is but one step from achieving his goal; once attained, his combat strength will significantly increase. The Golden Duke of Extinction at +13 is already absurdly strong, allowing him as a third-tier to one-shot fourth-tier contractors.

If Dragon Slash can be enhanced to +13, a scenario emerges where even if opponents are slightly more powerful than Su Xiao, he can penetrate their defenses and critically injure them.

Absolute strength disparity can’t be bridged by a single blade, but if Dragon Slash is sharp enough, Su Xiao gains a sliver of hope to turn the tables in hopeless situations.

For example, in the previous Pirate World circumstance, wielding a Legendary-level +13 Dragon Slash, Garp wouldn’t dare tank its cleave directly; even unenhanced, Dragon Slash paired with Su Xiao’s sword technique could already cleave through Garp’s Conqueror’s Haki, though not severely injuring the opponent.

One step remains to enhance to +10; Su Xiao could indeed quit now, but he isn’t planning to.

From all angles, the enhancement cost for Dragon Slash is high; its level decreases upon quality upgrade, yet without enhancement, can Su Xiao really trounce those early-stage fourth-tier contractors?

Or rather, Dragon Slash’s upgrade to the next grade demands exorbitant costs; Su Xiao hasn’t encountered Legendary-level weapons, let alone obtained them.

Therefore, Su Xiao must balance between enhancing Dragon Slash and upgrading its quality. Currently, enhancing Dragon Slash to a higher level is far easier than upgrading to higher quality.

Strength must match rewards; accumulation is beneficial, but if accumulation eclipses current combat capacity, its pace sharply falls. This is akin to rolling a snowball; the heavier it becomes, the more snow it gathers, accelerating growth.

For this reason, Su Xiao now requires a large ’snowball’ to ensure more ’snow’ can be gathered, a primary reason he didn’t choose the Legendary Equipment Box.

With Dragon Slash enhanced to +13, Su Xiao’s chance to obtain a Legendary Weapon increases, thus expediting Dragon Slash upgrades, fostering a virtuous cycle.

Hence, with every Dragon Slash quality upgrade, Su Xiao ensures a minimum enhancement to +8 to guarantee its superior combat capacity over current weapons.

This is an investment, a necessary one. If solely escalated in quality, Dragon Slash’s highest grade is merely Gold; Su Xiao himself is just third-tier.

Lighting a cigarette, Su Xiao exhales pale gold smoke, imbued with European King’s State.

With European King’s State + three Obsidian stones + Honor Badge used, Su Xiao employs all available methods to activate the Equipment Enhancement Machine.