Chapter 682: Splurging on upgrades
Michael arrived back in the Nation of Reborn, near the Lamia District. There, he saw Serena, Nixie, and the other mermen playing around in the rivers.
He approached them and immediately asked Serena for help.
"Serena, can I purchase Soo drops from you?"
She immediately saw the serious look on his face and immediately changed her attitude. "Of course. How many do you need?"
"I need six," he said, giving her a bag of Sand Dollars containing exactly 60,000 Sand Dollars.
Serena immediately accepted the bag and waved her hand, gesturing a unique set of stances as she commanded the water around her to part and create a half-dome indentation on the water.
"Drop the bag here," she said to Michael. "Once the water has verified the amount, then it will return the appropriate amount of Soo drops that you have purchased."
Michael did as she said and gently dropped the bag into the water. And suddenly, like there was a vortex underneath the water, the bag was sucked into the half-dome indentation in the water.
The bag seemed to have disappeared off into another location, as it was nowhere to be seen on the bottom of the river.
A couple of seconds later, the half-dome suddenly churned and created a whirlpool before small green vials began to burst out of the water, landing directly in Michael’s hands.
He got six vials in total, each containing a drop of Soo just as Serena said.
"I do not keep Soo drops on me. Everything is still stored in the deepest vaults of Atlantis," Serena explained. "I am merely a middleman that allows humans to purchase Soo drops from Atlantis."
It made sense. If she brought Soo drops with her, then it would have been extremely dangerous for her to keep walking around in the Surface world. Even the corporations would get tempted to take Soo drops from her, much more if they were just smaller companies.
"Thank you," Michael said to Serena.
She then dipped her hands in the water and flung drops towards him. This was a custom for mermen as a way to express their wishes for someone to become successful.
"I wish you good luck in whatever you’re trying to do," she said.
Even Nixie mustered up her strength to shout towards him.
"...good luck... big bro!"
He nodded with a smile, appreciating their gestures.
And just as he was about to transport himself back to Metropolis, he suddenly felt someone grab his arm.
He turned around, only for him to see an old Mermaid with a hunched back and eyes that resembled unblemished pearls.
He had never met her before, but he knew who she was. Reed talked about her, saying that she was very instrumental in convincing them to journey in the surface world to find a cure for Nixie.
She was called the Old Seer.
"Victory over monsters lies not in becoming one, but in refusing to."
After saying those vague words, the Old Seer let go of her grip on his hands and walked back into the water, as if nothing ever happened.
Was that a prophecy?
However, he didn’t have any time trying to decipher her words. The more time he wasted, the more people could become in danger.
He nevertheless thanked the Old Seer for her advice with a nod of acknowledgement before transporting himself back to the Nation of Reborn.
...
...
...
He began pouring each drop of Soo into his Drone, which slowly got absorbed into its surface.
[Mithril Artifact: Drone]
[Spirit of Old: 6 drops]
[Vision]
—Camera
——Drone Vision ><
——Shared Vision ><
——Maugnetic Vision = 3
——Beastfolk Vision = 3
——????
[Weapon]
—Unity Firearms
——Unity Gun ><
——Unity Gun (Mk. 2) = 2
——Unity Grenade ><
——????
—Aubility
——Switch inventory = 1
——????
[Propeller]
—Stealth
——Muffled Propeller ><
——????
—Speed
——Double blades = 1
——????
[Frame]
—Stealth
——Camouflage = 1
——Invisibility ><
——Phase-Through = ><
——????
—Defense
——Unity Shield = 1
——????
[Expansion]
—Drones
——Mini drone ><
——Drone Hive = 2
—Morph
——Reduce = ><
——Enlarge = 1
——Shape-Shift = 2
[Pocket Dimension]
—Subspace ><
—?????
Surprisingly enough, he seemed to have unlocked a new option after his previous upgrades.
[Beastfolk Vision: this upgrade is a counterpart to the Maugnetic Vision upgrade, allowing you to see a Beastfolk’s cultivation and a description of their power.]
This upgrade was very much perfect for the mission against the Purist Vampires. If he purchased this upgrade, then he wouldn’t need to wait until the Vampires showed him his power to start preparing himself on how to defeat them. He could stalk them, and find out their weaknesses just through his Drone.
Back then, he wanted to buy the [Maugnetic Vision] because of his frequent run-in with Maugnetics. But it seemed that that upgrade would have to wait. His focus right now was on the Vampires.
As for the next upgrade, he was debating on two options.
First would be the [Unity Gun Mk.2] upgrade.
[Unity Guns Mk. 2: This upgrade will double the barrels for the current Drone. The reload time will also be reduced for more damage per second. Any mini drones that you have purchased will also be equipped with their own barrel for a single Unity Gun.]
[Cost: 2 drops]
Since it was very probable that they’d find multiple Vampires in their lair, having his mini drone finally be able to shoot a Unity Gun would be a tremendous help.
However, another option he could go with was the [Drone Hive] upgrade. This would allow him to purchase as many Drones as he could as long as he had enough Soo drops to spend, effectively creating a true ’hive’ of Drones at his disposal.
Hmmmm... but having more drones won’t actually do anything unless they all had their own Unity Gun barrels.
Having more mini drones would only mean a better field of vision, and more batteries to charge simultaneously.
After some deliberation, Michael decided to go with the [Unity Gun Mk.2] upgrade. After all, the mini drones basically had no offensive capabilities unless he purchased the gun upgrade first.
With no time left to waste, he purchased the two upgrades, spending 5 drops for it.
More nanoparticles emerged from the drone, starting the upgrade process once again. And this time, even the mini drone was involved as a gun barrel started to form at its base, finally having some offensive capabilities.
While he was waiting for the upgrade, he and Guillermo set out in search of the Purist Vampire’s lair.
"They’ll be hiding in plain sight, somewhere where there will be a lot of people for them to target."
Guillermo took charge of the investigation, scanning every nook and cranny of the streets of Metropolis.
It wasn’t long before they stumbled upon a dark alleyway that seemed to be a dead end.
"This is it. They’re here," Guillermo said, his nose twitching from the faint smell of human blood in the air. The Purists have undoubtedly captured a few victims by now.
This alleyway looked to be completely empty, with no windows or doors leading to anywhere, but they could hear the sounds of a busy market just over the side of the walls. If the Purists Vampires were going to be anywhere in Metropolis, then they’d be here.
And as a Vampire himself, Guillermo could see faint evidence of blood power surrounding the place, making it seem normal to the eyes of normal people.