Chapter 64

Chapter 64 - Gunslinger's Quick-Draw Utility Belt

The pistol and utility belt's magic particles spun and mixed together in the air, forming various incomprehensible shapes accompanied by magical effects like laser lights and glittering stardust. Eventually, the chaotic display settled into a specific shape before falling back into Mei's hands.

Fusion complete

What rested in her hands was very similar to the Mage's Utility Belt, only it had been given a slightly more modern appearance, reminiscent of a police officer's duty belt.

It was made of black leather with a metal clasp. On the right side was an attached leg holster containing Mei's purple Desert Eagle, while the left side was lined with various ammunition pouches.

Gunslinger's Quick-Draw Utility Belt - (Super Secret Rare)

The combination of a mage's equipment and a gunslinger's weapon.

Effects:

Sidearm Holster: Equip a weapon to this slot to increase its draw speed by 50%.

Currently equipped: Handgun of the Gunslinger

Quick Draw: Automatically draw and fire the sidearm equipped in the Sidearm Holster slot when entering combat. First shot damage is increased by 25%.

Reserve Storage: Stores physical ammunition. Weapons are automatically reloaded with stored ammo when placed into the inventory or the Sidearm Holster slot.

If the reloaded weapon was equipped to the Sidearm Holster slot, increase its damage by 5% each time it is reloaded with this effect.

(Only works if the weapon is empty or near empty when reloaded.)

Currently stored ammunition: None

“Ooh! That's good!”

Mei unclasped the buckle and immediately threaded the belt through the belt loops of her jeans before strapping the leg holster around her right thigh. She was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a white floral-patterned shirt left open to reveal her impressive abs and black bikini top. With the addition of the holster and ammunition belt, she looked like some kind of beachside cop.

Apparently satisfied with her new accessory, she tested the draw speed of her pistol.

Her hand flashed down.

She unholstered the Desert Eagle, aimed, and returned it to the holster in one smooth motion. The entire movement was so fast that it looked like a blur.

“Now I just need to find someone to make me physical ammo.”

“Can Darius not?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I asked. He doesn't have the materials on board.”

Holding out her hand, she demanded, “Give me your Mythic ticket. Oh, and that pharaoh's headdress.”

Adam's Mythic-rarity Item Fusion Ticket had respawned after failing to fuse his gloves and cloak. Since both items were useless to him anyway, he readily handed the ticket over along with the headdress.

“Thanks. I'll give you this as a reward.”

She kissed his cheek before pulling away with a soft giggle.

“That's all I get?”

“The rest of the reward can only be given in private,” she said with a mischievous smile.

She took out her Mythic hat, Ears of Anubis, along with the golden Eye of Ra she had plucked from Hatshepsut's corpse. Without a hint of hesitation, she tore the Mythic Item Fusion Ticket and fused the two items together with the pharaoh's headdress.

Compatibility match! Beginning special fusion. Fusion in progress…

Mei flashed a peace sign. “Double special fusions!” she said excitedly.

“Main Character luck,” Adam said, clicking his tongue.

The three items went through the same process as her pistol and his belt, only this time the display was considerably more extravagant. There was even a full soundtrack.

A melodious tune played as rainbow-colored magical particles rapidly spun around one another, gradually merging into a single mass. Images floated through the air, depicting scenes of animal-headed gods dressed in silks and gold.

There was the hawk-headed Ra, god of the sun. The falcon-headed Horus, god of the sky. The green, zombie-like Osiris, god of the underworld. Jackal-headed Anubis, god of death. The beautiful Isis, goddess of healing. The cat-headed Bastet, goddess of fertility. And many, many more.

The sight was mesmerizing.

Everywhere around them, sailors stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle with rapt attention. Adam, Mei, and Granessa stared just as intently, while even Saya and Naomi had been drawn into the display.

For a moment, nobody said a word.

They simply watched as the gods of ancient Egypt danced through the air in a kaleidoscope of colors, waiting to see what kind of miraculous item would emerge from the fusion.

What appeared might have been the strangest item anyone had ever seen, especially for Adam and Mei, who recognized it immediately as it dropped from midair and landed neatly in Mei's hands.

A shiny black rectangle rested in her palm. There was no mistaking what it was.

It was a cell phone.

Communicator of the Gods (Mythic+)

A special communication device which can connect to the Realm of Gods. Currently, it only possesses communication data for the Egyptian gods Anubis and Ra, but if items related to other gods are added, it can commune with every god that resides in the Realm of Gods.

Effects:

Commune with a God: Allows you to speak with a god whose data has been entered into the communicator.

Summon Godly Avatar: Call upon a god's power to summon a controllable godly golem avatar. The golem's level is determined by the level of the summoner, and its stats are determined by the god's stats. But cannot exceed the summoner's.

Current Models: Anubis Model, Ra Model

(Insufficient stats to summon an avatar. Requirement: SS-Rank Magic)

“A cell phone…?” Adam mumbled.

“Wanna prank call Anubis?” Mei asked with an evil smirk and a laugh.

“Call him and ask him what this new curse does,” Granessa said.

Beep!

The phone chimed.

Data related to the Orc War Goddess detected. Register data?

The robotic monotone voice coming from the phone sounded almost comically out of place compared to the divine artifact they had just created.

“No Siri?” Mei asked. “That's disappointing.”

She glanced at the previously blank screen, which now displayed a small prompt asking for her confirmation. After clicking yes, a laser-like scanning light projected from where the camera should have been and traveled slowly up and down Granessa's body.

Granessa stared down at the phone, seemingly unsure what to make of the strange light.

A miniature model of Granessa appeared on the screen.

Orc War Goddess's data registered successfully.

“You wanna call the war goddess?” Mei asked, handing the phone to Granessa.

Granessa shook her head and pushed the phone back toward her.

“No. I am not worthy to speak with her until I die in glorious combat and meet her in person within the afterlife of the Great Battlefield.”

“Uh… okay.”

Mei frowned as she stared down at the Mythic phone in her hands. Somehow, the most powerful item she'd just obtained had also become the one she was least interested in.

“What? Don't like it?” Adam asked.

“No…” Mei looked at the phone for another moment before sighing. “I just like my hat more.”

“But the hat didn't even have any effects.”

“Yeah, but it looked cool.”

Adam stared at her for a moment before remembering something. “Doesn't your closet let you alter items' appearances? The Ears of Anubis were a headband at first, weren't they?”

“You think I can change a cellphone into a hat?”

He shrugged.

“You can,” Naomi said. “You can even turn weapons into clothing!”

“How would that even work?” Adam asked.

Instead of answering, Naomi simply pointed at his gloves.

Adam looked down at them and frowned.

“...Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

His gloves were classified as weapons, so there was no reason something else couldn't have its appearance changed in the same way.

Still, he wasn't entirely sure how something like that would work in practice. Turning a sword into a shirt, for example, sounded like it would create some rather dangerous clothing.

Really sharp sleeves, maybe?

The thought made him glance down at his gloves again then at Mei.

He wasn't sure whether giving her that information was reassuring or concerning.

Mei summoned her Legendary Magic Closet and disappeared into its space-like interior for several minutes.

When she reappeared, she was wearing a similar outfit, although it had been altered quite a bit.

She now wore a very large black leather pirate-style hat decorated with harpoon-like metal spikes and a skull emblem, with the head of Anubis resting on the brim. Her previously white floral-patterned shirt had been replaced with a bright Hawaiian shirt covered in palm leaves and yellow flowers. It was still left open to reveal her abs and black bikini top, but the top now bore a skull-and-crossbones insignia.

Her jeans remained the same, as did her newly acquired Gunslinger's Quick-Draw Utility Belt. However, the previously Desert Eagle-style pistol had been replaced with something that looked like the bizarre offspring of a pirate's blunderbuss and a revolver.

A leather choker with a large silver ankh rested between her generous cleavage, accompanied by a pair of matching ankh earrings. Black leather bracelets covered in silver spikes adorned both of her wrists.

And somehow, despite her hatred of tattoos, her arms and sides were now covered in them.

“What’s with the tattoos?” Adam couldn't help asking about them over everything else. “Aren’t you afraid of needles?”

Mei narrowed her eyes at him. “That was a secret, Adam.”

“Right… sorry. But seriously, how'd you even get tattoos? Did Naomi do them?”

“I'm over here. How could I have tattooed her?” Naomi said, still standing on the barrel beside Saya.

“Nobody tattooed me. They're fake.”

Mei grabbed one of the tattoos and pulled at it. To Adam's surprise, it peeled away from her skin.

It turned out to be a skin-tight, invisible membrane that hugged her body, creating the appearance of tattoos without ever requiring a needle to touch her skin.

“I sell tattoos, also,” Saya said, bringing up a list of temporary tattoos that granted special effects for a relatively cheap price.

Mei's attention immediately shifted to the list. “Oh, what's this one?”

She leaned over and pointed at an image of what looked like an alien assault rifle, or perhaps something straight out of a video game.

“Good eye,” Saya praised. “That one is gunslinger exclusive. It summons a…”

Warning! Warning! Mythic-class Sea Titan approaching! All hands on deck! Brace for impact!

A loud warning alarm blared throughout Titan's Grave, accompanied by magical red warning lights that began flashing across the ship.

The sudden alarm wiped the amusement from everyone's faces.

Sailors across the deck scrambled to find something to hold onto as a gigantic creature, even larger than Titan's Grave itself, burst from beneath the ocean. Its enormous body surged upward before curving through the air, sending a massive wave crashing over the ship as it came directly toward Titan's Grave's starboard side.

“Mei! Get to the gun deck!” Gracie shouted, pointing toward the magic circle not far from where Mei was standing.

To combat a Mythic-class Sea Titan, they would need Mei's bonus abilities to increase the ship's firepower. Without them, they could only hope to temporarily drive the beast away. Killing it outright would be practically impossible.

Mei didn't need to be told twice.

Without a second thought, she turned and sprinted toward the magic circle. Her hand was already reaching for her ticket, preparing to activate its teleportation function.

She was almost there.

Then, just as her foot stepped into the magic circle, a shadow passed over her.

A smaller, but still massive, Sea Titan suddenly leapt over the starboard railing.

Its enormous mouth opened.

And swallowed Mei whole.

Adam blinked.

For a moment, his mind simply refused to process what he'd just witnessed. The huge fish-like creature sailed completely over the deck, carrying Mei with it before continuing all the way toward the port side and crashing back into the ocean with a tremendous splash.

“Mei!”

He didn't stop to think.

Reacting purely on instinct, Adam charged across the deck and threw himself over the side, plunging into the salty ocean below in pursuit of her captor.

Mei's outfit reference: