mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 17: Forge a Weapon for Yourself
Chapter 17: Forge a Weapon for Yourself
Less than six hours after the White Eagle Empire's announcement was posted, the official response from China arrived.
Li Tianshan himself, dressed in his crisp military uniform, sat in the news studio of the Longwei Command, facing the cameras broadcasting simultaneously worldwide.
The background is a red flag.
He didn't read from a script, or even look at the teleprompter.
"China's equipment upgrades are based on the breakthroughs and optimizations made by our outstanding Awakened Ones. Any rumors circulating internationally that we obtained equipment through improper means are false, and we do not involve any forbidden methods."
He speaks slowly, pausing between each word.
"We refuse to respond to these baseless accusations."
He paused, then looked directly at the camera.
"If you have any complaints—the frontline secret realm will prove your worth."
The live stream chat froze for three seconds, then exploded like a dam breaking.
"Damn! That's what soldiers should say!"
[The real test will be revealed! Three words are enough!]
[The White Eagle Empire wants to investigate? Fine, come on over! Let's talk face-to-face once we're inside the front-line secret realm!]
The number of reposts across major online platforms exceeded 80 million within 20 minutes. "The truth is revealed in the front lines" immediately became the number one trending topic globally.
When Lu Yan saw this message in the workshop, he was squatting on the ground organizing the remaining engraving stones.
The Frontline Secret Realm will open in a week. China now holds equipment ranked among the top four in the world, and its confidence is completely different from what it was half a month ago.
Lu Yan stood up, walked to the worktable, and unfolded the holographic projection.
The first squad's three core pieces of equipment have arrived.
Lin Chuxue's boundless firepower, Wen Yue's grenade bombardment, and Zhao Leiguang's dump truck charge—everyone's combat effectiveness was raised to an unprecedented level.
He alone was empty-handed.
It's true that Aura Masters don't have offensive skills. But support doesn't mean they don't have weapons.
He accessed the equipment affix database and typed "friendly fire" into the search bar. The results page displayed hundreds of affixes. Lu Yan sifted through them one by one, and ten minutes later, six affixes were selected and arranged in a row.
Increased damage dealt to nearby friendly units.
[Increased critical hit rate for nearby friendly units]
[Nearby friendly units' critical hit damage increased]
[Nearby friendly units' shield regeneration speed increased]
[Maximum shield strength of nearby friendly units increased]
[Nearby friendly units' movement speed increased]
All six are group auxiliary affixes.
He smashed into a scepter. Standing in the team, he didn't need to do anything; just breathing would boost the entire team's attributes.
Combined with his War God's Blessing and 100x Drop Rate Aura—
Lu Yan tapped the table twice on the projection board, interrupting his deduction. "Don't think about the effect yet, let's see if we have enough materials."
He opened the inventory list of the Dragon Guard's engraving stones and scrolled through it from beginning to end.
No.
The inventory quantities of the high-level engraving stones corresponding to the six affixes are: zero, zero, zero, one, zero, zero.
"Aura Amplification" affixes are ridiculously unpopular. Awakened players worldwide are all pursuing the ultimate in personal combat power; who would specifically collect affixes that buff teammates? There's simply no demand for this type of equipment on the market, and naturally, no one refines the corresponding engraving stones.
How obscure was it? Lu Yan searched the public trading market and found only seven "Friendly Buff" engraving stones listed for sale globally. Four of those seven were of the lowest quality, making their stats negligible when used.
Conventional procurement channels have been blocked.
The only way is to do it yourself.
Lu Yan quickly searched the map of the secret realm and locked onto a coordinate.
【The Silent Abyss】, a level 45 dungeon. It is rich in various "buff-type" equipment drops and is one of the few high-difficulty dungeons in the world that can reliably drop raid buff affixes.
The problem is that the first squad is unable to free up their resources.
Forty-eight hours remain in the frontline dungeon. Xiao Qianyu has already meticulously planned the upcoming training schedule—Lin Chuxue needs to adapt to the rhythm of spellcasting without cooldowns, Wen Yue needs to readjust to the trajectory of grenade launchers, and Zhao Leiguang needs to master the attack methods of the new equipment. Every minute is tightly scheduled.
Lu Yan took out his communicator and dialed Li Tianshan directly.
"Sir, I need to borrow some men."
What kind of manpower do you need? I can help you coordinate it.
"I need someone who doesn't need to enter the secret realm for the time being, whose combat power is online and can quickly kill monsters, and preferably someone who is easy to communicate with."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. "The third squad has a patrol mission tomorrow. I'll transfer them out. When do you need them?"
"Now."
"OK."
The communication was disconnected.
Twenty minutes later, at the Longwei Base Assembly Site No. 2.
The group consisted entirely of girls, and Lu Yan's eyes widened in amazement.
Five beautiful women stood in a row.
The woman at the head of the group was 1.75 meters tall, with short hair reaching her ears, and her entire body was covered in the scale armor of a heavily armored knight. Her long spear was slung over her shoulder, the tip pointing backward, her posture relaxed but her back ramrod straight.
Ling Shuang, captain of the third squad.
Lu Yan glanced at the remaining four people.
To Ling Shuang's right, a slender woman was gently flexing her ankles. She wore light armor, and a long, thin rapier was tucked into her left hip. This was Liu Yiyi, an agile knight, skilled in high-speed movement and flanking attacks.
Further on, a giant square shield, half a head taller than her, stood on the ground. Behind the shield stood a round-faced girl who looked harmless.
Jiang Xiaorou, the guardian knight.
Lu Yan opened her battle record. Jiang Xiaorou had single-handedly withstood forty-seven consecutive attacks from an elite-level boss in a high-difficulty dungeon raid. The dents on her shield were like washboard marks, but she herself was completely unharmed.
On the left wing stood a woman clutching a thick book, glasses perched on her nose; her refined appearance seemed out of place on the battlefield. Su Qian, a priest. The second-ranked healer in the Dragon Guard system, second only to Su Yunqing of the first squad.
At the very end, a girl carrying a longbow leaned against the iron railing of the assembly area, head down, disassembling the fletching of an arrow for fine-tuning. Mo Li, archer, specializing in long-range sniping.
These five individuals typically carried out low-secret patrol and reconnaissance missions, and their presence within the Dragon Guard was always very low. However, after reviewing their mission reports from the past six months, Lu Yan discovered something—this team had a 100% mission completion rate, with zero casualties and zero serious injuries.
An all-female task force with no weaknesses.
"Captain Ling." Lu Yan walked over.
Ling Shuang took the spear off her shoulder and planted the butt of it on the ground. "Chief Li said you have a targeted farming mission. Just tell me the specific dungeon and what you're farming."
There were no formalities, no small talk.
Lu Yan directly shared the task document on the communicator with the five people via screen mirroring.
"The Silent Abyss, level 45. You guys are responsible for clearing the area and dealing damage, I'll stay with the team and provide auras. The target is specific raid support/buff gear. I've made a filter list, so anything with these affixes will be recycled, and everything else will be discarded."
Ling Shuang glanced down at the list, then looked up at Lu Yan.
"Hello, you're Lu Yan, a new member of our Zhenguo Dragon Guard, right?"
"Yes, nice to meet you ladies."
Ling Shuang put the list into the pocket inside her armor plate and turned to face her team members.
"I heard you all. The dungeon we're going to fight is the Silent Abyss, level 45. Liu Yiyi, you're in charge of luring the monsters and keeping the pace; Jiang Xiaorou, tank the damage and protect Lu Yan; Su Qian, heal, also prioritize Lu Yan's safety. Mo Li, you—"
"Okay, okay, call out the elite monsters." Mo Li, leaning against the railing, put the adjusted arrows back into the quiver and straightened up.