Chapter 1054: Odds

Translator:

Hellscythe_

Editor:

Vampirecat

Chapter 1054 – Odds

Shi Feng was astounded when he looked at a tall and thin youth named Burning Abyss.

On this young man, Shi Feng noticed a lion head emblem that was giving off a golden glow. This emblem was none other than the symbol of Lifestyle Masters, the Master’s Insignia.

Aside from being a symbol of one’s status in God’s Domain, the emblem also had some good additional functions.

Among them, one function increased the wielder’s production success rate.

Although the Master’s Insignia was not comparable to the Blacksteel Insignia Shi Feng obtained through a quest, it still provided a 3% increase in success rate. In addition, when producing items of the same level, one’s production would be 10% faster. When producing items of lower levels, the increase in one’s production speed would be 30%.

Due to the existence of this Master’s Insignia, the role of Master Lifestyle players became even more important.

“Guild Leader, you couldn’t have imagined it, right? Burning got promoted into a Master Engineer some time ago. Moreover, he is God’s Domain’s first Master Engineer. We planned to surprise you with this news, so we didn’t tell you all this time,” Melancholic Smile said softly.

In reality, she, too, was very shocked that Burning Abyss was actually the first player in the Candlelight Trading Firm to become a Lifestyle Master.

She had expected it to be Cream Cocoa. However, like a dark horse, Burning Abyss improved by leaps and bounds as soon as he entered Titan City. He was able to create new items and tools one after another, shortly becoming a Lifestyle Master. On the other hand, she and Cream Cocoa were still researching the properties of various raw materials. It would still be awhile before they could get promoted to the Master rank.

Regarding the surprise Melancholic Smile prepared for him, Shi Feng did not feel annoyed by it at all.

A Master Lifestyle player!

In Shadow of the past, Lifestyle Masters were pivotal existences in the Guild. Not to mention, Burning Abyss’s talent was simply too awesome. He might have the potential to reach the Grandmaster rank. If he did, even Super Guilds would be helpless against the Candlelight Trading Firm.

“Right, what about the task I previously assigned to you all?” Shi Feng asked.

In order to fulfill his agreement with the Secret Pavilion, Shi Feng had Melancholic Smile and the others ceaselessly produce Strengthening Devices and Bronze Engineering Locomotives. Even if the Engineering Locomotives cost a lot of materials to make, they still had no choice but to manufacture them.

“We’ve already completed it. We have to thank Burning for this. Without him, we really wouldn’t have been able to produce the ten Bronze Engineering Locomotives in time,” Melancholic Smile explained.

Shi Feng could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief when he heard this. “Very good. From now on, Burning Abyss will be the Candlelight Trading Firm’s Chief Engineer and will enjoy benefits equal to that of Zero Wing’s Elders.”

Although there was still some time before he had to make the first payment to the Secret Pavilion, he did not know when the Blackwater Guild would make a move right now. If he could meet the stated quota ahead of time, the following matters would be much easier to deal with.

Following which, Shi Feng used his identity as Black Flame to announce Burning Abyss’s promotion to the Candlelight Trading Firm’s Chief Engineer. In the future, the youth could also use the trading firm’s Basic Meditation Room anytime he wanted.

Immediately, many Advanced Lifestyle players inside the meeting room looked at Burning Abyss with envy.

Not only would he get to use the trading firm’s Basic Meditation Room anytime he wanted, but he would also enjoy the status of an Elder in Zero Wing. As such, he would be able to choose a private room for himself in either the Candlelight Trading Firm or Zero Wing’s Guild Residence.

What was more, the Candlelight Trading Firm’s private rooms were located on the Shop’s seventh floor, providing a view overlooking the entire Trade District of White River City. That was a treatment that many people dreamed of obtaining.

“Since everyone’s already here, I’ll tell you what you all will be making next,” Shi Feng said. He then took out a very large design from his bag and placed it in the center of the circular wooden table.

Everyone’s jaws dropped when they saw the design, their breathing becoming a little ragged.

A Miniature Ballista!

This item might not be as popular as the Bronze Engineering Locomotive among the masses, but to a Guild, its value was not one bit lower than that of the Locomotives.

The Miniature Ballista boasted an extremely long attack range of 3,000 yards—an attack range that no player could achieve. Most monsters did not have such a long attack range, either. Thus, the siege tool was the perfect weapon to raid towns. Moreover, it was very simple to operate, requiring only three people to move and use it.

“Guild Leader, are we really going to make this item?” Melancholic Smile asked in surprise.

The Miniature Ballista was a considerably advanced tool. Even with Advanced Lifestyle players like themselves manufacturing it, the production success rate would still be frighteningly low. Meanwhile, the production cost for the siege tool was quite high.

After a cursory look of the materials required, Melancholic Smile estimated that a single Miniature Ballista would cost at least 1,000 Gold to manufacture. Meanwhile, she judged that their production success rate would be less than 20%. Even with Burning Abyss handling the ballista’s core component, it would be fortunate if he could achieve a 20% success rate. In other words, there was a chance that they might not even produce a single Miniature Ballista after spending 10,000 Gold.

Ten thousand Gold!

Even Super Guilds would have to think carefully when spending 10,000 Gold. If they lost this kind of money, it would greatly hamper their development speed.

“Of course. Burning will be responsible for making the engineering portion of the core component of the Ballista, while I’ll personally handle the forging portion of the core. Finally, Burning will handle the assembly of the Ballista as well. If there are no problems, you all may begin working now. If you succeed in producing five Miniature Ballistas in ten hours, depending on your personal performance, you might get another chance to visit Titan City. Hopefully, you all can seize the opportunity!” Shi Feng said, chuckling.

A single Miniature Ballista could deal with only a lone Boss.

Among the monsters the Blackwater Corporation controlled, there was no lack of Boss-ranked monsters. A single Miniature Ballista would not be able to make much of a difference.

If they had five Miniature Ballistas, however, the siege tools would be able to affect the war situation to a certain extent.

“Guild Leader, will we really have another opportunity to visit the Holy City of Titan as long as we perform sufficiently well?” many Advanced Lifestyle players asked excitedly.

At this moment, even Burning Abyss, who had already become a Master Engineer, looked at Shi Feng in astonishment.

After experiencing the benefits the Holy City provided, it was impossible for Lifestyle players not to look forward to enjoying the plentiful resources of the Holy City again. Moreover, the benefits they had sampled on their visit was only the tip of the iceberg of Titan City’s offerings. There were still many places that they had not gotten to see.

“Of course. However, I’ll say this first: the slots are limited!” Shi Feng replied, smiling. He then left the meeting room.

Only after Shi Feng was gone did everyone finally snap out of their daze. Immediately, every one of them rushed to check what tasks they were assigned to do, blood rushing to their eyes. Like maniacs, they then ran to their respective workshops to start working.

As for Shi Feng, he entered a Special Workshop himself and directly used God’s Blessing to become a Master Forger.

Through the aid of his various forging tools, it took Shi Feng only a little over an hour to produce 15 core components that required forging.

Fortunately, I have Icarus’s Heart. Otherwise, I really would be finished this time.

Shi Feng breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked at the core components.

He had wasted nearly 40 sets of materials in order to produce these parts. Had he made them as an Advanced Forger instead of a Master Forger, his success rate would’ve been less than 10%. In that case, wasting over a hundred sets of materials would not have been surprising.