Li Fan hesitated.
Giving a guarantee now, and making an effort, might make Zuda believe the team.
But the reality was that what the team intended to do to the steel dragon was much more serious than the other party imagined.
Moreover, they were not completely sure they could defeat the steel dragon, not to mention the mutation was still unknown.
Recalling the cautious attitude of the guild branch in Kala Village towards the thunder wolf dragon and the puff dragon back then, he should have known this approach wouldn't work.
Even the most radical Dragon Calendar Institute, when preparing to deal with Hui Hui, conducted extensive ecological research and only launched an attack after confirming the threat.
Li Fan thought to himself, feeling a sense of helplessness.
"Director Zuda, we are hunters too, please believe us!"
Eudora suddenly spoke, her expression very serious.
"Alas, ancient dragons that hate humans are terrifying... but this is precisely why we need to investigate and track them. I believe in you."
Zuda changed his tone and stamped the investigation contract.
"Remember to conduct ecological surveys and tracking. Do not engage in combat rashly. This is the seal of the Ancient Dragon Observation Team. Present it to the guild master at the branch to obtain the latest ancient dragon movements in the jurisdiction."
As Zuda instructed, he took out two red badges.
"Thank you, Director! We will!"
Eudora promised.
Not long after leaving the Ancient Dragon Observation Post, Eudora suddenly stopped.
"To uphold the hunter's code, I will never attack the steel dragon. I hope you can supervise me."
Eudora informed him.
"Hmm... Honestly, I'm also worried about this. If we cause trouble when there was none, it would indeed be wrong."
Li Fan felt that the team's self-preservation capabilities were sufficient, but the world couldn't withstand destruction.
Every ruin they had set foot in once represented a brilliant civilization.
"But if the steel dragon actively threatens humans..."
Eudora's gaze deepened, and killing intent flashed in her eyes.
"Speaking of threats, the steel dragon is already heavily rusted. Perhaps it might even attack human villages to 'de-rust' itself."
Li Fan speculated.
"Oh! Then our investigation and tracking are perfectly timed."
Eudora immediately became excited.
"What are your plans next?"
"I plan to go to the Guild's Soul Hunting Monument to engrave my father's name."
Eudora informed him.
The Soul Hunting Monument was a stone tablet specifically for inscribing the names of fallen hunters. Upon hearing this, Li Fan quickly advised, "Isn't this something we can do later?"
"One must face reality. Now that I have grown into a chief hunter, there are many things I can no longer avoid."
Eudora sighed.
"Alright then, Dilu, go keep Eudora company. I'll go back to the airship to get my armor for gem crafting."
The team then separated.
The rewards for hunting the Wind God Dragon and the Thunder God Dragon totaled 675,000z.
Although the expenses for the Flame Haven were considerable, they could still afford the cost of gem crafting.
In the crafting workshop, the craftsman Felyne looked at the armor, which was gently swaying without any wind, and asked timidly, "Guest... what kind of armor is this, meow?"
"It's called the Narukami Armor."
"What material is it made from, meow?"
"I'm not sure. It's been passed down from my ancestors. Does it not have any slots?"
Li Fan inquired.
"It does, meow! And the reserved slots are very precise, which requires extremely high craftsmanship."
The craftsman Felyne informed him.
"What if the slots are not precise?"
Li Fan asked.
"Then we can only perform secondary processing on the slots, meow. If that doesn't work, smaller slots can only be forced in, and larger ones can be fixed with casting and burning."
The craftsman Felyne explained.
"I see."
"Please sit, and take a look at the decoration catalog first, meow. I'll go make some tea."
After saying this, the craftsman Felyne quickly left.
Li Fan flipped through the catalog, glancing at a couple of pages.
He couldn't help but marvel that this place was indeed a city-state called the center of the world.
Due to the ample and comprehensive material reserves, most decorations in the game could be crafted, although the prices were a bit steep.
"Here's your tea, meow! Are there any decorations you fancy? I can help you with introductions."
"Five Dragonbreak Jewels, five Expert Jewels, five Critical Jewels, three Windproof Jewels, and a set of decoration removal tools."
The craftsman Felyne, who was holding a pen and ready to record, froze in place.
"Oh, and the removal and installation guide manual comes with it, right?"
Li Fan asked.
"Yes, meow! Please wait a moment, guest!"
The craftsman Felyne ran back to the counter, did some calculations, and then gave the quote.
Crafting 18 decoration jewels and a set of decoration removal tools cost a total of 410,500z.
After Li Fan paid, he decided to have five Critical Jewels embedded into the Narukami Armor.
He then spent another 154,200z to reinforce the defense of the entire Narukami Armor set to its maximum using Armor Spheres.
The only regret was that this crafting workshop was directly managed by the guild, leaving no room for negotiation.
However, the quality and craftsmanship were guaranteed to be extremely high.
In the evening, the reinforced Narukami set was delivered to Li Fan.
After a satisfactory inspection, he took the equipment back to the Flame Haven.
Seeing that Eudora and Dilu had not yet returned, Li Fan began testing in the small training area on the deck.
After putting on the Narukami Armor, his head was still tilted slightly to one side.
It gave off an arrogant aura, as if looking down on everything.
As for why he chose Critical Jewels, it was mainly due to the ability description in the manual.
Unlike other workshops, the manifestation of each decoration's ability here was derived from long-term wear by hunters.
The positive and negative effects were described in great detail on the page introducing the jewel's abilities.
The activated ability of Critical Jewels was Weakness Exploit.
In the game, this translated to increased critical hit rate when attacking a monster's weak points.
In reality, it was similar to Critical Eye, also capable of triggering a slight temporal slowdown.
The difference was that when Weakness Exploit was active, the body could perform more significant movements simultaneously, rather than just minor adjustments like with Critical Eye.
The downside was that the visual distortion of perceived objects would be more severe than when Critical Eye was active.
Only a small area in the center of the vision would appear relatively normal.
The Guild's recommendation for using Weakness Exploit was to focus one's eyes on the monster's weak point before activating it. Otherwise, once the vision was lost, even with the ability to make significant movements, it would be difficult to hit the weak point by instinct alone.
Li Fan faced the training dummy, intending to experiment.
*Whoosh!*
He took a deep breath and raised the wooden training katana.
*Hum!* His vision turned yellow and distorted, like a vortex swallowing the world.
Only in the center of the vortex, through a shrinking circular opening, could he see an undistorted scene.
However, the scene within the circular opening was also abnormal. As the vortex spun, it continuously probed forward.
On the chest of the mannequin, the wood grain, a diagonal slash mark, and a wriggling green caterpillar within the crack...
The fuzzy tips, the segmented, raised green skin surface...
"Damn it! This is going micro, like a microscope..."
*Swish!*
The distorted world returned to normal. Li Fan looked around and, realizing he was back on the deck, breathed a sigh of relief.
He sat down on the deck and recorded the bizarre experience in his notebook.
Something was wrong. Even if reality could break through ability level caps, raising Weakness Exploit, which could only be stacked up to level 3 in the game, to level 5, the effect shouldn't be this outrageous.
Could it be that his super strong assimilation physique made the activation of the decoration's abilities stronger as well?
Let's consider it level 10 for now, but it shouldn't be...
At this moment, Li Fan suddenly recalled the Narukami Armor's activated ability, "Storm and Thunder Unity."
Wait, if Storm and Thunder Unity could break through game limitations and enhance all activated abilities, then the enhancement of a single Critical Jewel would be level 3 Weakness Exploit.
With five pieces stacked together, that would be level 15. If the super strong assimilation effect were to be doubled, then...
Level 30 Weakness Exploit!
No wonder it was like a microscope, able to see clearly even the number of hairs on a caterpillar in the cracks of the training dummy's surface.
"Leaf! Come here!"
Li Fan called out.
Leaf, the one he called, rushed out of the kitchen with a mixing bowl.
"Leaf! Do I look normal?"
Li Fan anxiously tested.
"Hmm... You look okay, meow."
Leaf responded softly.
"That's good... It means there are no serious negative side effects."
With an ability stacked to level 30 activation, Li Fan's first thought wasn't about the strength of the effect, but its impact on himself.
"I'm going back to cook, meow."
As Leaf left, Li Fan sat down to research again.
If Storm and Thunder Unity could make all activated abilities take effect, then the application of decorations could achieve the effect of one being equivalent to three.
No! On me, it's one equivalent to six.
But the excessive intensity of the activated ability had completely lost its practicality.
Just like the Weakness Exploit activation just now, it was probably only useful for flea removal.
Li Fan pondered for a moment, took out the decoration removal tools, and began disassembling according to the manual.
After laboriously removing 4 Critical Jewels, Li Fan restored the decoration sealing caps.
After completing this, he looked at the several embedded parts that appeared and decided to deal with them later.
Now, activating Weakness Exploit on the training dummy again, the experience of the activated ability finally felt normal.
His gaze focused on a certain part of the dummy. Although the vision still probed forward, and there were large areas of distorted blind spots, at least he could judge the target's location based on sight.
Next was the slashing test.
Just as the guild's introduction stated, whether it was significantly changing the slashing direction with both hands, or stepping forward, or rolling backward, the body responded very noticeably.
It wasn't like Critical Eye, which only allowed for minor adjustments.
*Swish! Crackle!*
Li Fan swung out with a single strike.
The wooden sword's blade left a straight cut mark along the center of the wooden dummy.
"If only the Weakness Exploit level could be a bit lower."
Li Fan voiced his feelings.
If the activation intensity of one Critical Jewel were level 6, Li Fan felt that levels 4 or 5 would be just right for his current self.
However, the higher the level, the closer the focus effect, and naturally, more precise slashes could be achieved. He decided to adapt for now.
After all, reducing the activated ability wasn't an easy task.
About half an hour later, Eudora and Dilu returned to the Flame Haven, carrying two large bags.
"We went shopping, meow! We bought thermal cotton clothes, snow boots, and a lot of chili peppers."
Dilu called out.
"Do you still have the mining pick? I heard that Pokke Village has a greatsword that can grow on its own. We'll have to dig around there later."
Li Fan inquired.
"That greatsword is in the tourist area, so you don't need to bring your own mining pick. It seems to cost 5000z to dig."
Eudora informed him.
"After not seeing her for years, the village elder has become more business-minded."
Li Fan said, raising the training wooden sword again.
"I almost forgot, you've visited Pokke Village... I'm a bit tired. I won't eat dinner, I'll rest first."
Eudora said, stretching and opening the cabin door, entering the ship's interior.
"She's not even eating dinner, this is quite serious."
Li Fan said worriedly.
"Burp~"
Dilu, after a full burp, quickly covered her mouth.
"Damn it, you two went out for a big meal, didn't you?"
Li Fan asked.
"No~ Burp~ meow."
"Look at your full belly, and you say no."
Li Fan placed his hand on Dilu's belly and rubbed it.
"Only I ate, meow! Eudora didn't eat... She said watching me eat makes her feel very comfortable."
Dilu's cat ears drooped.
"Is the name engraving on the Soul Hunting Monument finished?"
"Yes, meow... but..."
"What's wrong? Did someone try to stop you?"
"No, meow. Eudora not only engraved her father's name but also her own."
Dilu said helplessly.
"This mindset is a bit off."
Li Fan said worriedly.
"But Eudora is very calm, meow. She said that if one can die for a worthy cause, it is also a pursuit for a hunter."
Dilu sighed and informed him.
Li Fan understood the source of Eudora's pain.
Logically speaking, the team was already capable of fighting the steel dragon head-on.
However, for the safety of the entire world and the duty of a hunter, the team absolutely could not act.
In the plot, the steel dragon did attack Dondruma, but from the current timeline, it was impossible to estimate the exact time.
There was another potential factor that solidified Li Fan's decision to actively investigate the steel dragon.
That was to try to avoid or prevent the main storyline, as both protagonists had mysteriously disappeared.
After Li Fan had dinner, his training to adapt to the activated abilities continued until late at night.
The next morning, Li Fan woke up and went to the deck, only to find Eudora already training.
"Morning!"
Eudora greeted him energetically.
"Morning! Oh, by the way, I have some good news about the Stormwind Armor to tell you."
"What is it?"
Li Fan explained the activation principle of Storm and Thunder Unity.
"One is equivalent to three! Previously, each piece of equipment only had one level 2 gem slot. I thought this armor set had poor expansion capabilities."
Eudora was deeply surprised.
"No! I need to go to the workshop to embed decorations quickly."
"Cough cough..."
Li Fan coughed twice and picked up a toolbox with a diamond logo.
"Hmm... What do you mean?"
Eudora was still confused.
"This is a decoration removal and installation toolbox. With me here, there's no need to go to the workshop."
Li Fan explained.
"That's amazing... Wait for me!"
Eudora ran into the cabin and soon brought out the Stormwind set.
"First, three Resilience Jewels... One is enough!"
"No problem, leave it to me!"
Li Fan picked up the pliers and hammer and immediately got to work.
*Clang! Clang! Ding! Ding!*...
Dilu on the cabin's hammock was awakened by the noise.
The cooking team also rushed out to observe the deck.