Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

"Brother Wu, we’ll need your help again today..."

Lin Fan greeted Wu Haitao with a grin. The skilled craftsman had really been a huge help to him.

"Not at all, not at all. I’m not much help when it comes to killing zombies, so being able to make weapons for you guys is my way of contributing to the fight, right?"

Wu Haitao quickly bowed and replied courteously. He was speaking the truth. After all, the group’s spears and tools were all his handiwork, so he had certainly made a significant contribution. This was why Liu Bin treated him so generously.

"What did you call me over for? Does that spear from last time need to be modified?"

He looked at the three of them and asked in confusion.

"Not modifications. I was hoping you could help me cut something, Brother Wu."

As Lin Fan spoke, he grabbed the spear that was leaning against the nearby RV.

"This one..."

"Huh? I’ve never seen this spear before..."

Wu Haitao took the spear from Lin Fan, utterly astonished.

"Whoa! This thing is heavy!"

"You’re just going to cut up such a fine weapon?"

Liu Bin, standing nearby, had never seen this spear of Lin Fan’s before. At first glance, he’d mistaken it for some cosplay prop, but now, seeing it up close, he realized it was the real deal.

But now Lin Fan had brought Wu Haitao over to cut it up. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it and asked doubtfully,

"Is it not a good fit? You want to modify it?"

He knew Lin Fan had gone to great lengths last time just to get a suitable weapon, even hauling equipment from Wu Haitao’s shop to get it made.

Even Su Qing and Chu Zhaozhao, standing beside him, looked at Lin Fan, completely baffled.

The four of them had all seen this spear of Lin Fan’s before, but they had grown accustomed to him producing all sorts of new things, so they never asked.

After all, if it concerned them, Lin Fan would tell them. If it didn’t, then it didn’t.

But after the recent battles, Su Qing and Chu Zhaozhao knew it had nothing to do with the spear being a poor fit. The power it unleashed in Lin Fan’s hands was enough to one-shot a Mutated Zombie that stood over two meters tall!

’Is he doing this to make weapons for us?’

Su Qing and Chu Zhaozhao both recalled their earlier conversation with Lin Fan. Seeing what he was doing now, they grew anxious and rushed to stop him.

"Little Brother!"

"Big Brother!"

...

The two women spoke at the same time, but hearing what the other called him, they couldn’t help but chuckle.

After a brief pause, Su Qing spoke first.

"Little Brother, I just need a shield. I’ll find a pot lid later and make one myself. This spear... aren’t you getting good use out of it?"

Chu Zhaozhao quickly chimed in.

"Yeah, Big Brother! We can barely even lift that thing. Just shortening my current spear is fine. It’d be such a waste to ruin a great weapon like this..."

Meanwhile, Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian, who were standing to the side, had no idea what was going on and just watched the others with looks of confusion.

Hearing their protests, Lin Fan couldn’t help but laugh.

He knew they thought he was going to dismantle his own spear to make weapons for them.

They weren’t wrong, exactly, just a little conservative in their guess. They’d only figured out half of it.

"Don’t worry, I have a plan. Do I look like the type to sacrifice myself for others?"

Lin Fan pinched both of their cheeks, reassuring them.

He wasn’t sure why, but in the past, whenever he pinched Chu Zhaozhao’s cheek, she would always frown and glare at him. This time, however, she suddenly blushed.

"Zhaotian, you two go start the vehicle and hook up the power cables."

After ordering the two spectators to get to work, Lin Fan pressed the spear onto the base of the angle grinder, adjusted its position, and pointed to the spot where the blade met the shaft.

"Brother Wu, cut it right here."

Seeing how confident Lin Fan was, the others stopped trying to dissuade him. Only Wu Haitao, holding the grinder, hesitated to make the cut.

’This sharp blade, this keen point, the streamlined joint, and the uniform texture of the shaft... you can tell at a glance it’s made from an extremely high-grade alloy. It’s a work of art...’

’Forget its value now; even before the apocalypse, as a purely decorative piece, it would’ve fetched at least a hundred or two hundred thousand.’

’Just cut it like this?’

He didn’t make these kinds of high-end crafts, but he was still an artisan. Being asked to personally commit such an act of sacrilege—destroying a masterpiece—made him hesitate.

He looked up, casting a pleading glance at Lin Fan, Su Qing, and the others. But when he saw that even Lin Fan’s closest companions weren’t objecting, he gritted his teeth and brought the grinder down.

SCREEECH—

A piercing shriek filled the air. Unlike cutting regular steel pipe, this time Wu Haitao had to move very slowly, as if it took immense effort. The sparks erupting from the cut weren’t the usual orange-yellow, but a brilliant, dense cascade of golden-white fire, like a waterfall of fireworks.

Each spark crackled as it flew, bursting into even smaller pinpricks of light.

Even the sound of the grinding was deeper and more strained than usual, as if the blade wasn’t cutting mortal steel, but something forged from the stars.

The onlookers watched with rapt attention, their eyes reflecting the brilliant shower of sparks.

It took nearly ten minutes to cut through the four-centimeter-thick shaft.

With a CLANG, the blade was severed from the shaft and fell to the concrete ground. The cut surface was as smooth as a dark red mirror, still radiating scorching heat.

"That was really tough, Brother Lin. What is this spear made of?"

Wu Haitao set the grinder aside, wiping the sweat from his brow. He picked up the fallen spearhead, feeling its heavy weight through his gloves.

"Uh..."

The moment the grinding stopped, the sparks vanished, and Lin Fan felt his vision dim. He was still a little dazed when he heard Wu Haitao’s question.

"I don’t know either. I just know it’s really sturdy..."

As he spoke, he picked up the spear with its head now severed—effectively a long staff—and examined the attribute values that only he could see.

[Item: "Unnamed"]

[Durability: 79/100]

[Crystal Interface 1: Impact Crystal (Lv. 1) (30% Fine)]

...

While it was being cut, Lin Fan had discreetly touched the spear’s shaft and noticed that the durability was decreasing in a linear, predictable way. Only then did he feel confident enough to let Wu Haitao proceed.

Based on the remaining durability, he could conclude that the durability of a weapon made from a module blueprint was evenly distributed throughout its structure, just as he had guessed.

’For example, by any normal person’s evaluation, this staff would have completely lost its value as a spear.’

’If the durability was judged based on its function as a spear, it would probably only have ten or twenty points left.’

’But the evaluation system for module-based items was clearly different.’

’Wear and tear on the blade would certainly reduce durability, but even with the entire head removed, the drop in durability was still manageable.’

’The reason, he suspected, was that this hadn’t damaged its fundamental nature. It was still an "item" capable of channeling the crystal’s power!’