Translator: AnubisTL
[Modifiable Option: Form Change!]
[Activating this weapon's Form Change will cause it to constantly have diarrhea, transforming its original fiery blasts into golden-yellow gastric acid.]
[Gastric acid is non-flammable but highly corrosive.]
[Warning: Once activated, this change cannot be reversed.]
"Why would a flamethrower have diarrhea?" Chen Jiang stared blankly at the panel before him, then muttered darkly.
"Uh..." Scar Dog glanced at the panel Brother Jiang had shared, clearly just as bewildered. "I... I don't know either. But if a flamethrower can smoke, I guess diarrhea isn't too far-fetched."
"Still, it could be worse. At least it's just gastric acid."
"..."
Chen Jiang turned his expressionless gaze to Scar Dog. "Enough. I haven't eaten yet."
"Ahem." Scar Dog nodded awkwardly, his eyes darting sideways. "Okay, okay. I mean, a flamethrower spewing gastric acid is pretty absurd, but who knows? It might actually be useful someday. After all, you never know when we might encounter an alien race or mutated beast that can only be killed with highly corrosive liquids."
"We'll talk about it later," Chen Jiang said, shaking his head. He had no intention of activating the transformation for now. What he needed was a weapon that could incinerate those disgusting insect race directly, not one that spewed stomach acid.
He turned to Scar Dog, frowning slightly. "How many semi-scrapped items do you have left?"
"One hundred and thirty-two."
"Hmm."
Chen Jiang nodded. He had one hundred and forty-five himself, bringing the total to two hundred and seventy-seven.
That should be enough to upgrade the Flamethrower to a decent level. After all, it was only a one-star item, so it wouldn't require too many materials.
Upgrading a two-star item required three one-star items for the first upgrade of each attribute, with the cost increasing by one item for each subsequent upgrade.
For a one-star item, the first upgrade of each attribute only required two one-star items, with the cost still increasing by one item for each subsequent upgrade.
The Blazing Flamethrower had four upgradable attributes: caliber, range, ammunition capacity, and recoil.
Chen Jiang planned to focus on upgrading the caliber first.
With a large enough caliber, he was confident that a single burst would send those swarming insects straight to hell.
[Ding! Consuming two one-star items.]
[Upgrading the Blazing Flamethrower's caliber to +1.]
[Caliber increased from 6cm to 10cm.]
One upgrade increased the caliber by 4cm?
Not bad.
Chen Jiang nodded in satisfaction and, without hesitation, continued upgrading.
[Ding! Consumed three one-star items.]
[Upgrading the Blazing Flamethrower's caliber to +2.]
[Caliber increased from 10cm to 14cm.]
[...]
[Ding! Consumed twenty-one one-star items.]
[Upgrading the Blazing Flamethrower's caliber to +20.]
[Caliber increased from 82cm to 86cm.]
"Hmm."
Chen Jiang set down the half-used, semi-scrapped item beside him with a satisfied expression. He gazed at the flamethrower before him, its barrel wide enough to swallow Scar Dog whole. An 86cm caliber flamethrower—that was enough to handle plenty of tasks.
This upgrade had consumed a total of 230 semi-scrapped items, leaving him with only 47. He was running out of supplies.
He needed to gather more soon.
The caliber upgrade to +20 seemed to be the limit. To reach +21, he would need to upgrade the other enhancement options to match the progress.
He didn't have enough semi-scrapped items yet.
"Let's go," Chen Jiang said, glancing back at the now-invisible City 18. "We need to find a place to rest."
He had no intention of provoking the insect race right now. First, the hundreds of thousands of insects were far beyond the capabilities of his Flamethrower. Second, they hadn't slept properly in days.
Though months in the wilderness had taught them to manage their adrenaline to fight off drowsiness, prolonged sleep deprivation could lead to severe symptoms like hallucinations, auditory distortions, dizziness, and blurred vision—a dangerous state to be in during combat.
As for City 18, they would definitely have to return.
While the city had fallen into the massive crater, Chen Jiang had glanced back as he left and noticed that the other wasteland, located farther from City 18, hadn't collapsed. That wasteland contained the semi-scrapped items he needed.
For now, they needed sleep.
Soon.
The two arrived at a ruined mine, another place untouched by the insect race and far from City 18.
They had been here before, but never entered, as a group of human players had been holed up inside.
The wilderness wasn't exactly the best place to make friends.
In the past, they would have avoided this place altogether.
But now, the mine was deserted. The group had just left for City 18, and their fate remained uncertain. All they could do was hope God would protect them.
The ruined mine before them appeared to have been a coal mine.
"Tsk, it's hard to believe that with City 18's advanced technology, they still needed to mine coal," Scar Dog remarked, shaking his head and clicking his tongue as he surveyed the surroundings.
After all, City 18's energy cartridges and blocks were incredibly efficient. Compared to such advanced energy sources, coal seemed almost obsolete.
"That's probably why this place was abandoned," Chen Jiang said casually, then scanned the area. "Let's see if we can find a place to sleep."
"Got it."
Though they spoke casually, their hands gripped their guns firmly, their faces alert as they scanned every suspicious shadow. Neither could be certain if any human players remained hidden, ready to strike a fatal blow from the darkness.
In the wilderness, players being killed by ambushes was commonplace.
Then, they saw it—
A massive truck stood before them!
"Holy shit!" Scar Dog exclaimed, momentarily stunned. "Isn't this thing a bit... excessive?"
Before them loomed a coal-hauling truck of colossal proportions.
But the focus wasn't on the truck itself, but rather what lay beneath it.
Four tires, each roughly four meters tall.
The top of the cargo bed towered an estimated ten meters above the ground.
Scar Dog stood beside one of the tires, gesturing wildly before turning to Chen Jiang. "See? I'm not even half as tall as this wheel!"
He craned his neck to gaze at the driver's cab, which hung six or seven meters above the ground, and his lips twitched slightly. "So, if you don't have some serious skills, you can't even get into the cab?"
This truck was a specialized coal-hauling vehicle used in mines.
It had no special features—its only defining characteristic was its sheer size!
Huge!
(End of the Chapter)
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