Chapter 60: Wasteland Tinder Ring

"Everyone, open your ability crystals now, and then... let's go home!"

Spear Like a Dragon's words were surprisingly uplifting. Although we were only temporarily staying in Xicheng, we had lived there for quite a long time, and the environment outside the city was so brutal. After killing bugs all day long, anyone thinking of life in Xicheng would feel a warm sense of comfort.

Indeed, for a group of wandering people like us, Xicheng was home.

Everyone lowered their heads and began opening their ability crystals.

I opened the Sonic Beast's ability crystal first. Following a flash of light—

[Congratulations, your [BOSS Ability Crystal] has been successfully opened. You obtained the item: [Wasteland Cloak] (Quality: Blue)!]

...

A cloak?

I felt a slight surge of joy. Cloaks and capes were items that players loved and found extremely cool. As a player, venturing into the wilderness with a longsword in hand in the future, you wouldn't even have the face to step outside without a swaying cape behind you.

In the extra-dimensional storage space, a tattered cloak emitting a faint blue luster lay quietly. Although tattered, the hood was intact and could be pulled down to cover one's face, creating a low-key, luxurious, and reserved aura on some level.

Taking it out to inspect, its stats were standard among blue equipment.

[Wasteland Cloak] (Quality: Blue)
Grade: Tier 2
Defense: 25
Strength: +20
Specialty: Evasion +15
Required Strength: 100

...

A wave of wild joy washed over me. Although the stats of this Wasteland Cloak were quite ordinary, I previously had no equipment in the cloak slot whatsoever. Therefore, all the enhancements provided by the Wasteland Cloak started from zero—it was an absolute windfall!

"Whoosh~~~"

A gust of wind blew, and the cloak was already draped over my shoulders. Instantly, an air of a true master spontaneously radiated from me.

Next, I took out the purple BOSS ability crystal. Feeling somewhat excited, I opened it directly, and immediately a very loud ding-dong sound echoed in my ears!

[Congratulations, your [BOSS Ability Crystal] has been successfully opened. You obtained the item: [Wasteland Spark Ring] (Quality: Purple)!]

...

Purple? A ring?!

In that split second, my heartbeat almost stopped! Was this the reward for the main contributor to the purple BOSS world-first kill? This reward was simply too generous!

Feeling deeply exhilarated, I quickly pulled out the Wasteland Spark Ring. The ring itself was not delicate in craftsmanship, exuding an ancient aura overall. Its centerpiece was a ruby so small it required a magnifying glass to see clearly. Upon closer inspection, however, one would realize it wasn't a ruby at all, but rather a wisp of flame—likely the so-called "Wasteland Spark."

Pausing my gaze for a moment, the ring's stats drifted into view—

[Wasteland Spark Ring] (Quality: Purple)
Grade: Tier 2
Strength: +30
Agility: +27
Blessing: Critical Strike +4%
Blessing: Lifesteal +4%
Burst Skill: [Wasteland Spark], summons the Wasteland Spark within the ring to guard the body, granting oneself invulnerability for 3 seconds. Consumes 50 points of Source Energy, cooldown: 2 hours.
Description: A magical ring crafted by ancient master artisans, sealing within it a wisp of the Wasteland Spark.

...

"Op..."

I stood dumbfounded; these stats were truly peerless!

In *Star Abyss*, ring slots could potentially roll two fixed blessing attributes: one for critical strikes and one for lifesteal. For purple equipment, the range for these two attributes fell between 1% and 4%. As it turned out, both attributes on the Wasteland Spark Ring were maxed out directly—without a doubt, top-tier gear.

In addition, it actually came with a burst skill that summoned the Wasteland Spark!

This was earth-shattering!

An invincibility skill, as the name implies, makes you invincible once activated...

Although the invincibility duration was a mere 3 seconds, a true expert could accomplish a lot in 3 seconds. For instance, I could unleash a bio-electromagnetic pulse within those three seconds to blind the enemy's eyes, and then enter a bio-optical stealth state to escape safely. This actually had the same miraculous effect as an invincible Hearthstone!

In short, the appearance of the Wasteland Spark Ring undoubtedly gave me a foundation of confidence—the confidence to attend a solo banquet. At the very least, I could activate invincibility and escape; and in the flush of youthful vigor, I could activate invincibility and kill!

This ring was extraordinary, unquestionably the strongest piece of equipment in *Star Abyss* at present, bar none!

Moreover, its stats were so top-tier that even for a long time to come in the future, it was hard to imagine any purple ring surpassing it.

However...

I did not equip the Wasteland Spark Ring immediately. The purple light was too conspicuous and couldn't be concealed.

...

"What did everyone else get?" Spear Like a Dragon looked around at the group.

"A blue spiritual-power robe, not bad," Milk Tea Life-Extension Immortal laughed with a smile.

"Blue equipment means no loss."

Spear Like a Dragon said, "The purple ability crystal I opened also yielded blue equipment—a ring with +2 critical strike, pretty good."

The rest of the group also chimed in, mostly getting blue equipment.

Thus, everyone's gaze soon fell upon me. I was the one who dealt the highest damage to the Thunder Snake, so my purple ability crystal had the highest probability of dropping ultra-top-tier gear.

However, I had no intention of letting the group know I had looted a purple piece.

"A blue cloak, adds evasion."

I spun around and said, "See, I've already put it on."

"Ahem..."

Spear Like a Dragon said, "A blue cloak is pretty good too. With you wearing it, it's like adding wings to a tiger."

The rest of the group actually cast sympathetic glances at me.

True enough, having spent so much ammunition and effort only to end up with a blue cloak was somewhat underwhelming. But the mechanics in *Star Abyss* were just like that—dealing more damage greatly increased the chance of dropping top-tier items, but it didn't mean a 100% guarantee of top-tier gear.

"Let's head back."

Spear Like a Dragon took a deep breath and led the group back.

I clutched my submachine gun to my chest, maintaining full vigilance. As for why I didn't publicize the purple ring, the reason was simple: never test human greed with your wealth. Most of my current equipment was blue, which was enough to make many people green with envy, but not quite enough to make them take desperate risks.

However, if people knew I possessed a purple ring, and such an ultra-top-tier one at that, it would be hard to say.

Leaving the Wailing Bug Nest and boarding the vehicle, the dump truck jolted along on the return journey.

At this time, the setting sun was dipping below the horizon. By the time we returned to Xicheng, it would probably be pitch black.

"Ding Han."

Spear Like a Dragon asked, "How many demolition grenades did you use in total?"

"Four in total, not many."

"Alright."

He quickly gathered four grenades from the other members, handed them over to me, and smiled. "This cooperation was very pleasant, hope we have another chance to collaborate next time."

"Alright, thanks a lot!"

I accepted the grenades.

"We should be the ones thanking you."

Spear Like a Dragon said, "To be honest, if we hadn't invited you this time, a successful raid would have been nearly 100% impossible. We severely underestimated the strength inside the Wailing Bug Nest, underestimated the Thunder Snake's combat power, and never expected that we'd have to deal with a double-BOSS lineup in the end."

I smiled and nodded, saying no more.

The members of the Scarlet Heaven Alliance cast relatively friendly glances my way. No other reason—though raiding the purple Thunder Snake seemingly made me the biggest beneficiary who captured the top-tier Wasteland Spark Ring, in reality, the biggest beneficiary was the Scarlet Heaven Alliance.

Spear Like a Dragon was an ambitious man. Accepting missions from high-level NPCs, serving as the behind-the-scenes boss of Xicheng's player black market, and rallying player forces were all done to strengthen the Scarlet Heaven Alliance. At this moment, the Scarlet Heaven Alliance had secured the world-first kill of a purple BOSS, and this news would soon spread across the dark web. For the Scarlet Heaven Alliance, this kind of boost in popularity couldn't be bought with money. That was why Spear Like a Dragon was so grateful to me.

...

"Ping!"

A WeChat message came from Lu Xiaobei: "You're still not back yet? I'm already starving..."

Followed by an emoji of a little girl rubbing her sleepy eyes.

I replied: "On the way back, but it'll take at least two and a half hours to reach Xicheng. I'll probably be at the internet cafe around 7:30. Are you waiting? If you wait, I'll treat you to hot pot."

"Of course I'm waiting..."

She sent an excited voice message: "Waiting for you until the seas run dry and the rocks crumble!"

I was speechless. Was all this really necessary just for some food?

Bouncing along the road, everyone spoke very little.

Only Milk Tea Life-Extension Immortal looked up at the sky and said, "The weather here is still so nice, but the weather forecast says the weather in Xicheng won't be great these next few days. Typhoon 'Ginkgo' is about to make landfall."

"Don't worry too much."

Another Scarlet Heaven Alliance player said, "Ginkgo won't make landfall until tomorrow afternoon. Since we're heading back to Xicheng today, let's just not go out tomorrow. We can stay in bed, cuddle our girlfriends, and play on our phones."

"You have a girlfriend?" Spear Like a Dragon asked.

"No..."

That player looked at everyone in utter astonishment: "We players descended into the Star Abyss world, and in many aspects, it's a dimensionality reduction strike. Is it really that hard to pick up chicks, big brothers?"

Milk Tea Life-Extension Immortal rubbed his nose: "I don't have one."

Spear Like a Dragon was speechless: "I don't have one either."

I sheepishly kept quiet—of course I didn't have one either; I only had a 23-year-old female boss and a very aloof female tenant.

Speaking of the female tenant, it seemed I hadn't seen Lin Qingying in quite a while. She got off work late and went to work slightly later than me, so our schedules seemed to have missed each other entirely.

...

Around 7:00 PM, we arrived in Xicheng.

Only then did I switch back to my ordinary human state and casually equipped the Wasteland Spark Ring. Instantly, my comprehensive combat energy level surged directly to 1502 points, far surpassing other players at the current stage. The massive surge in combat energy was likely related to the 4% critical strike, 4% lifesteal, and the 3-second invincibility effect!

Night had fallen, and the wind was picking up.

The howling wind outside rattled the internet cafe's signboard, making it sway continuously.

"Lu Xiaobei, let's go eat, hurry up!"

"Coming!"

She had been prepared for a long time, wearing a white overcoat and a red scarf, looking breathtakingly pretty. She dashed out in a "swish" and said, "I've been waiting for you forever!"

"Let's go, order all the beef you want!"

"You said it!"

Soon after, the two of us rushed into a beef hot pot restaurant and feasted heartily. After filling our stomachs, I escorted Lu Xiaobei back to the internet cafe before finally returning to my own residence.

...

At night, the living room was pitch black.

Lin Qingying hadn't come home yet. I glanced out the window; wind and rain were already starting to lash against the glass.