Chapter 98 - 97: Post-Battle Conversations (Part 1)

Pei Guang was full of resentment about getting hit by the train, but looking at the new skills added to his system made that resentment fade away somewhat. First off, his system was more refined now. What used to feel like a completely self-guided exploration now seemed more structured. There were quest logs and team info. In addition to the teleportation function, new features were unlocked, including a mini-map, party editing, member info access, crafting info and learning progress tracking. The only thing Pei Guang still couldn't help but complain about was how unrestrained the skills page was. It still just recorded the 'skills' he had used, instead of offering points to allocate, which really annoyed him. Although Pei Guang liked exploring, sometimes he wanted to take it easy too! Now, since everything still required his manual exploration, his head was buzzing. Besides that, the inventory space had increased by fifty shared slots. Along with unlocking the teleportation function and the weapon enhancement through the Stellaron, Pei Guang also noticed that the mini-map was up and running: the mini-map would mark every place he had personally explored and, based on his thoughts, it could automatically flag enemy locations in those areas. The crafting function now had its own category, like a dedicated crafting table, listing all the machinery and items Pei Guang had learned to make. He also received a title, 'Trailblazer,' but he wasn't sure what it did. However, based on his days of experience, he knew he still had more to explore. As for party editing, Pei Guang took a glance and saw his current party members: himself, Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng. With the detailed party system unlocked, the members within a certain range of Pei Guang could use shared storage to store things. Whether they were in the active team or backups, they had between zero and two teleportation chances depending on their recognition level. Seeing the teleportation count without any mention of the number of people gave Pei Guang a sharp glint in his eyes. As a player, he knew that if a skill like this didn't specify individual limits, it was likely a group teleportation skill. He made a mental note to test that theory later. Currently, March 7th and Stelle each had two teleportation chances, while Dan Heng and Seele had one each. Pei Guang figured that as he explored more areas, the number of teleportation uses would increase. Plus, with daily refreshes, there was a lot of room to play with this feature. Now, as long as someone was recognized as a party member, they would have at least five storage slots, and more slots would unlock as their 'recognition level' increased. Stelle and March 7th had unlocked the most, with thirty slots after Pei Guang got hit by the train. Dan Heng, on the other hand, had just unlocked one. And Seele? Even as a backup member, she had five slots unlocked! There was no personal privacy in the team info page—aside from name and gender, everything recorded was information Pei Guang already knew. The good part was that Pei Guang could check if his teammates were in battle or if they were healthy. Looking at all these updates, big and small, Pei Guang felt very happy. While Pei Guang was busy researching his new skills and abilities, March 7th and the others rushed over. "Pei Guang, Stelle, are you guys... okay? Why did... the Stellaron disappear after you touched it?" March 7th's voice was full of worry. Pei Guang felt like a long time had passed, but to March 7th and the others, it had only been about ten seconds. They had seen Pei Guang and Stelle defeat Cocolia, then after a brief exchange, Pei Guang touched the Stellaron, and Pei Guang froze in place. Pei Guang shook his head: "I'm fine, totally fine. I got the boss rewards, and I'm checking what's been unlocked. Honestly, for a tutorial village boss, it's really stingy. Just one orange item and two classes? So stingy... But, hey, March, our future adventures might be much more convenient after this." March 7th: "Huh?" Pei Guang: "I'll explain when we get back. By the way, Dan Heng, the Stellaron has become the upgrade material for my weapon." Pei Guang's gaze made Dan Heng pause for a moment: "Huh???" The Stellaron became weapon enhancement material? Wait, what? Can this thing even enhance weapons? Dan Heng's mind was filled with question marks. He had seen Pei Guang do plenty of strange things before, and though Dan Heng could rationalize most of it, using a Stellaron as weapon material... While he was deep in thought and confusion, everyone's phones rang. Himeko: "How are things going?" March 7th: "Himeko~~~ We've got good news: the Stellaron issue is resolved." Himeko: "That's great! Welt is heading down to seal it up now~" March 7th: "Might not be necessary, Himeko. The Stellaron became Pei Guang's weapon enhancement material." Himeko: "What?" Welt: "?" Pei Guang: "Heh, yeah, seems like it! My weapon got an upgrade after defeating the boss~~~" Welt was silent for a long time before finally responding: "It's fine. Whatever works, as long as it's sealed. By the way, could I borrow that weapon? I want to make sure the seal is stable." Pei Guang: "No problem~~~" At this moment, Dan Heng decided to leave this headache-inducing problem to Welt. He just wanted to get some rest after everything was over. Meanwhile, Welt, now on the snowy ground, stood there in deep thought. Why did I rush down here so quickly? It's freezing... But as he pondered, he received a private message from Pei Guang. Pei Guang: "Old Yang! Check this out!" Pei Guang sent over a photo of an Engine of Creation. Welt pushed his glasses up and asked, "Where is it?" Pei Guang: "I've sent you the coordinates." Pei Guang: "This giant robot is completely intact. Do you think you can get detailed materials on it? I'm thinking that as long as I have the parts, I could assemble one myself." Welt: "Assembling it? That would require a lot of materials for such a large machine." Pei Guang: "From what I've gathered, there are probably a lot more of these scrap machines around the beginner village. I bet I can salvage enough from the wreckage to piece together one or even two functional ones!" Welt considered Pei Guang's unique abilities, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?" Pei Guang: "Join me in some archaeology, of course!" Welt: "I do have some expertise in that field."