Chapter 147: Magical Flashlight
Translator: Pika
Faced with this undodgeable spear thrust, Zu An suddenly shouted out, “Whatcha looking at!”
At the same time, he tossed his dagger straight toward Jia Zhengjing.
“I’m looking at you, shithead!”
Jia Zhengjing was stunned. He finally understood why Yuan Wendong would actually respond to Zu An’s remark at that critical moment during the Clans Tournament. It turned out that Zu An’s taunting ability had already risen to the level where it could be considered as a true weapon!
But it was all too late. Watching as the dagger sink into his chest, Jia Zhengjing closed his eyes indignantly.
Goddamnit, how did things turn out like this!
You have successfully trolled Jia Zhengjing for +1024 Rage!
Meanwhile, Zu An wasn’t faring much better himself either. While Jia Zhengjing’s momentary lapse in attention allowed Zu An to adjust himself to dodge the fatal blow, he was still left with a deep puncture in his chest.
With laborious movements, he pried open Zhen Liumang’s hands and shook off his body before staggering over to Jia Zhengjing’s fallen corpse to retrieve Poisonous Prick. He made sure to confirm that the two of them were indeed dead before heaving a sigh of relief.
It was not his first life-and-death battle, but this was the first time it had been so gruesome.
Ah, just what sins have I committed to suffer such a fate? How great it would have been if I was still in my air-conditioned room, enjoying a cool cup of cola while playing my games? Why the hell did I have to transmigrate into this horrible world and fight desperately for my life?
Zu An lay on the ground, panting heavily. It took him a while before strength finally returned to his body. With a deep sigh, he began applying some recovery medicine on his wounds to stop the bleeding.
It was fortunate that cultivators in this world had incredibly resilient bodies. Had it been in his previous life, that deep puncture in his chest would have probably taken his life even before he could be transported to the hospital.
Zu An bandaged his wounds messily before beginning to sweep the battlefield. Just as he had expected, there weren’t much money or any ki stones on the remaining two assassins too.
It was also then it dawned on him that it was meaningless to death soldiers like them to build up wealth. They were forced to take on dangerous missions where they could very well lose their lives, so it was meaningless for them to accumulate material possessions. So, they opted to trade whatever they had to raise their fighting prowess instead. At the very least, that would increase their chances of survival.
In the end, to Zu An’s dismay, he only found some dry rations and recovery medicine. He had spent so much effort and resources on the traps he had constructed—he wasted his precious armor-piercing arrows and hidden weapons Ji Xiaoxi had given him—but he got hardly anything in return. Heck, he didn’t even earn much Rage points either!
Just thinking about it made Zu An greatly aggrieved. He ran over to Jia Zhengjing’s side to strip off his soft armor. There were a cut and a hole in it, both caused by Zu An in the earlier battle, but the other parts were still working fine. It was still barely usable.
Considering how a pinnacle fourth rank cultivator was using it as a defensive tool, it should be of fairly decent quality. Just to be safe, Zu An grabbed another sword and tried hacking at the soft armor, and to his relief, it couldn’t pierce through it at all.
His first thought was to wear the armor backward since the cut and puncture was only at the front of the armor. This way, he would get full protection for the front of his body.
However, on second thought, he felt that if it ever came to a point where he would need this soft armor, it was highly likely that he would already be running away. In such a case, it would be more important for him to protect his back instead. So, he flipped the armor around and wore it the proper way.
Following that, he leaped into the pit and recollected the armor-piercing arrows that hadn’t lost their lustre yet. All in all, there were four of them which were still usable.
Other than that, he also noticed a miniature hand crossbow in the pit which appeared to belong to Zhen Liumang. It probably dropped from his arm while he was falling into the pit.
Zu An attached the hand crossbow onto his wrist as his feelings of aggravation finally soothed a little. At least he managed to loot two usable pieces of equipment after that difficult fight, so it was not all that bad.
After taking whatever he could, Zu An headed over to a quiet location to take a look at the Rage points he had amassed thus far. He was initially planning to save up his Rage points so that he could use them up all at once. Perhaps, he might just get something good that way. However, after the near-death experience he just had, he finally came to understand the danger he was in, and he dared not to remain complacent anymore.
Just like the death soldiers, he ought to convert all available resources he had into tangible strength so as to increase his chances of walking out of this dungeon alive.
To his astonishment, he actually managed to amass a hulking 75,873 Rage points!
There was no place to wash his hands and face right now, so he chose to rub on the bloodstains on his body instead, consoling himself that red is the color of auspiciousness.
He began drawing the lottery. The light marker quickly shot across the keyboard before eventually stopping at the letter ‘D’.
Ding!
Congratulations, you have won a ‘Magical Flashlight’!
Zu An’s eyes slowly widened in disbelief. He never thought that he would actually manage to draw an artifact right away. Is Lady Luck finally shining on me now?
He quickly took a look at the description of the item.
Magical Flashlight: The greatest work of a bald scientist in another world.
Artifact Effect: It’s able to light up in the presence of light without requiring any energy sources at all. Of course, this also meant that this flashlight would never light up in the absence of light. It’s rumored that this flashlight harnesses an incredible effect, but no one has been able to figure out its use for the past thousand years. Could you possibly be the exception? Uses: 3
“...” Zu An.
His mind was completely blown after reading the description. For a flashlight to light up in the presence of light instead of the absence of it... What is bloody wrong with that scientist’s mind?
He was really wondering if that bald scientist was named Haw Kar-ying![1]
And what shocked him more was that there was actually a use limit on this lousy piece of shit! Even if there was unlimited use for this, he wouldn’t be able to find a place to put it to use at all!
What was even worse was that the description hinted at an incredible effect, but it refused to elaborate on what it was. What the hell? You might as well not say anything at all!
Zu An tried thinking deeper into it, but he couldn’t figure a use for this flashlight at all. So, he decided to just continue on with the lottery.
Perhaps it was because he used too much of his luck on drawing the first artifact, but the next 18 draws gave him a ‘Thanks for playing’!
Zu An’s eyelids twitched, wondering if he had used up his luck. When he finally pulled a ki Fruit on his nineteenth pull, he heaved a sigh of relief.
All he got were ‘Thanks for playing’ and Ki Fruits afterward, to the point that he was getting numb. It was like an endless repetitive cycle.
But all of a sudden, the light marker stopped on the letter ‘Y’. Zu An froze for a moment, wondering if he was seeing things. When was the last time I managed to draw two items simultaneously?
He was too used to having horrible luck that this sudden outburst of fortune caught him off guard. He hurriedly checked on the details.
Congratulations on drawing ‘Befriend a Rich Man’!
Befriend a Rich Man: When you reach a certain level of wealth, appearance, age, personality, and all of those superficial traits will be rendered meaningless. Everyone will think of you as an amicable man overflowing with charisma.
Artifact Effect: Every time you spend 100,000,000 coins, you’ll be able to make a target view you as a friend. The effect lasts for an hour.
1. This is a character from ‘From Beijing With Love’, a 1994 Hong Kong spoof of James Bond. There was a scientist in the film (named Da Vinci but transliterated to Cantonese) who created a solar-powered flashlight, which lights up in the presence of light.