Chapter 44: Black Rose
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Blood Tooth Knife (Stiletto)
Grade: Rare
Attack: 450
Attack Coefficient: D+
Material Coefficient: C−
Strength +12
Agility +8
Bonus Effects: Deals 600 extra damage on the flesh of the target. (Cooldown on the same target: 10 minutes.)
Level Requirement: 45
Overall Evaluation: Excellent
For Scouts, the most important weapon was actually not the submachine gun but the short weapon used in close-quarters combat: the military knife or stiletto.
That was because, in many situations, the Scout would function similar to a thief cla.s.s in normal games, undertaking infiltration and scouting jobs. If one were to use guns for combat, the sound of the weaponry would be a big problem. Moreover, the damage of submachine guns in War was not comparable to sniper rifles and machine guns, so the mid- to long-range killing ability of the Scout was not all that great. By contrast, in close-quarters combat, since they had a high short-range weapon bonus, Scouts specialized in melee combat skills that might not even lose out to Light Armor Warriors. So a good close-quarters weapon was definitely something that was close to a Scout’s heart.
This Blood Tooth Knife was, without a doubt, a great melee weapon since its Rare-grade attribute greatly supplemented the weaknesses of weapons like stilettos. In War, stilettos and knives were categorized as two kinds of weapons (while, in reality, stilettos would have been categorized as military knives). The main difference between the two was that the average attack of a military knife was higher, and stilettos had bloodletting grooves on them that inflicted a continuous “Bleeding” effect.
Due to the existence of the Bleeding effect, the damage of stilettos was not lower than military knives. The additional damage over time might even be higher. The only thing was that the initial damage output was slightly underwhelming.
The Rare-grade attribute of this Blood Tooth Knife remedied the weakness of the stiletto. 600 bonus damage was pretty much one-fifth of the HP of “gla.s.s cannon” professions like Gunners and Manipulators.
Feng Luo was confident that Dan Hen would like this stiletto because, apart from the attributes, its appearance was just as impressive. Through the 360-degree virtual image on the Exchange page, one could see that the Blood Tooth Knife was 35 centimeters long, with the edge of the blade being 25 centimeters. Its shape was much like the M1 trench knife used by the US military in the Second World War. The entire blade was covered by a layer of dark red coating. It looked like it was the acc.u.mulation of blood after killing multiple people. Hence the name: the Blood Tooth Knife!
Of course, this stiletto was not cheap. The buyout price was 198,000 credits. For a non-a.s.sembly type Rare-grade piece of equipment, it was definitely expensive. However, Feng Luo did not hesitate to bid and buy it. After all, compared to the possibility of earning a million credits from the Hurricane Controller, a mere 190,000 credits wasn’t much.
Feng Luo genuinely wanted to befriend Dan Hen. Although he had already grown used to working alone, it never hurt to have one more friend.
“Mr. Lightwind, over here!” After Feng Luo bought the Blood Tooth Knife, Red Wine Coffee stood up and waved at someone at the door to make a signal.
A player wearing a white suit whose profession could not be determined from his outfit walked over. He was in this thirties and emitted a penetrating gaze.
“Red Wine, is it just me this time?” He first greeted Red Wine Coffee, then sat himself down beside the table. He glanced at Feng Luo, giving off the vague sense that he was evaluating him.
Red Wine Coffee grinned. “No, there’s another buyer. He’ll be right over. Apart from that, another nine buyers are bidding through the terminal. So, Mr. Lightwind, it is unfortunate, but you have quite a number of compet.i.tors.” Then, after he checked his communicator, Red Wine Coffee extended his neck and looked toward the entrance before signaling to two people. “Look, the second buyer has also arrived.”
This time, the person walking inside was a female Scout player. She wore a yellowish-brown camouflage combat uniform and high black military boots. A fine silver pistol hung from at her waist. She was at least 1.75 meters tall. Paired with her ear-length short hair and light brown complexion, she exuded a heroic aura.
Upon seeing the person who arrived, Mr. Lightwind looked surprised. “I’d never have thought that it would be you.”
“Humpf!” The new arrival glanced at Red Wine Coffee coldly and, without uttering a word, walked over to sit down in the seat opposite Feng Luo.
“This is the owner of the equipment, Mr. Feng,” Red Wine Coffee said, still smiling. His demeanor did not change due to the att.i.tude of the female player; instead, he introduced Feng Luo to the other two first. He did not reveal Feng Luo’s full ID because the Starry Sky Company strictly forbade revealing a buyer’s information before the deal was struck. In truth, Feng Luo did not reveal his full ID anyway.
After introducing Feng Luo, Red Wine Coffee began introducing the two buyers.
“This is Roaring Dragon Mercenary Club’s Minister of Logistics, Mr. Roaring Dragon Lightwind. He’s responsible for the procurement of equipment for their mercenary group, as well as an important business partner of our Starry Sky. And this is the scouting team captain of the Veterans Tribe, Black Rose. The Veterans Tribe is another of our huge clients!”
Feng Luo instantly understood the reason behind the sour mood of the female Scout. Feng Luo snuck a glance at Black Rose and noticed that she was already preoccupied with gazing at the staff on the table.
“Decent staff,” said Black Rose. She picked up the Hurricane Controller from the table and had a feel of it. “With this attribute, it must have burst out of a Commander-grade monster over Level 50, at the very least.”
“It is very good indeed,” said Roaring Dragon Lightwind. His tone was calm, and his facial expression did not change because of Black Rose’s att.i.tude. “A Rare attribute that increases the casting distance by 20 percent can be considered the ultimate attribute for Wind Manipulators. But… The attack of this staff is just too low. Even a Level-45 staff’s attack won’t be below 500. As a Level-50 main weapon, this staff’s attack is only around 600. This will definitely lower its value!”
Roaring Dragon Lightwind seemed calm and composed. The first half of his a.s.sertion was quite on point, but the second half was, without a doubt, bullsh*t! The average attack of a Level-45 Fine-grade Staff was around 400. Only the very best Fire Staff had 500 attack, and the attack power of Wind Staff was one-fifth lower than a Fire Staff, on average. Moreover, the attack power of the Hurricane Controller was not 600; it was 660. Its attack was not on the low side!
However, Feng Luo did not say anything. Negotiating was always about trying to lower the opponent’s price.
He was initially worried that Red Wine Coffee would find a.s.sociates who would try to pressure him to lower the price, but now, seeing that one buyer was from the Veterans Tribe while the other was from Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group, the worry dissipated from his heart.
As expected, Black Rose confronted Roaring Dragon Lightwind. She did not so much as try to mask the ill intent in her tone as she said, “If the attack is low and it has no value, why are you here? I, for one, do not think that this staff has any weakness. It’s a complete and ultimate item.”
Roaring Dragon Lightwind was stunned speechless.
His words had, of course, simply been an attempt to lowball Feng Luo. He never would have thought that he would be paired with an “a.s.sociate” who was so clueless in business as to actually praise the seller’s item without holding anything back.
Gah, what a rubbish teammate! Thought Roaring Dragon Lightwind. Big b.r.e.a.s.t.s and no brains…
If he hadn’t been striving to maintain his dignity, he might have spoken the words on his mind out loud.
“If I remember correctly, Roaring Dragon Invincible is a Wind Manipulator,” said Black Rose. “I haven’t seen him in a while. He’s probably out somewhere hunting monsters to get to Level 50, right? Then does this mean you’re buying this staff for him?”
Black Rose was clearly not brainless. After a few simple deductive statements, Roaring Dragon Lightwind’s face dropped.
“All right,” said Red Wine Coffee to ease the increasingly tense atmosphere. “Since both of you have seen the equipment, please make your bids.”
Roaring Dragon Lightwind did not continue with the chatter and calmly made a bid. “700,000.”
“800,000!” Black Rose said, increasing the bid by 100,000 credits in one go.
“820,000!” Roaring Dragon Lightwind frowned and added another 20,000 credits.
“920,000!” Black Rose said.
It seemed like she was targeting him on purpose, adding another 100,000 credits. Roaring Dragon Lightwind’s face changed color. This time, he did not continue increasing the bid. He hesitated. It seemed like the price had already reached his limit. Seeing the situation, the heroic eyes of Black Rose emanated a sense of pride.
“Uh… That…” Red Wine Coffee suddenly interrupted. “I’m sorry, but there’s another player bidding 940,000 on the terminal!”
Since the number of buyers was not limited to the two of them and had another nine people on the other side, Black Rose’s bid was not even higher than that of someone else, making her bid a voided bid.
Black Rose’s expression seemed strange. At first, she stared angrily at Red Wine Coffee. Then, after a short moment of hesitation, she bit her lip and increased the bid again. “One million.”
One million credits!
Feng Luo sat back, looking relaxed, but the number made his heart skip a beat. 1,000,000! Just how many zeros was that? (And how many people were counting them?)