Player Reload

The fact proved that the popularity of the Star-casting Anvil and the drive of the core players in the killing field were even higher than Li Cheng had expected.

The customer notice was updated at 7 PM, and not even an hour later, players formed circles around the Star-casting Anvil, waving relics they had, um, ’borrowed’ from the Script World...

Ahem, Han Lai’s relics.

Previously, customers wanting to customize fine quality and above items at the Star-casting Anvil had to provide their own relics. Sometimes when supplies ran short, they had to buy from the black market, losing Game Coins to middlemen for nothing.

But now, with the Assemble Device service, players could directly use the forum’s group chat function,

get into private groups according to their needs (whether they wanted to create equipment or just invest for a cut of the relic’s value), and discuss partnership details in the group.

Thanks to the well-developed legal consultation services in the slum, all contracts were readily available.

Essentially, not many would actively breach these contracts. Many come with magic attributes, and violators would be struck by lightning falling from the sky for a week, or all attributes would decrease by five points for a month—

This point made Li Cheng quite curious; the Charm Attribute for ordinary people ranges between 4 to 6 points,

points would be considered low charm, either looking unattractive or having a peculiar personality difficult to communicate with, like Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory";

points of charm... generally, orcs, goblins, and gnolls in literary works couldn’t even reach that level.

Li Cheng was genuinely curious about what image a player with four Charm Value would transform into if their attributes were decreased by five points for violating the system contract, causing it to become negative.

They might enter a Script Task, just reading that the goal is to help villagers kill demons in the mountains,

only to be kicked to death by a terrified passing Righteous NPC who mistook them for a demon spirit.

"Stop pushing, give a little space."

Li Cheng reined in his wandering thoughts and shouted to maintain order.

"According to your agreed groups, put the relics into these baskets, along with the contracts on which you’ve collectively signed and stamped."

He pulled out several metal baskets and placed them on the counter, then saw all sorts of bizarre... objects.

Fourth-century BC saddles, Han Dynasty stirrups, the Six Steeds of Zhaoling stone carvings, the bronze horse head statue from the Old Summer Palace, and Horse Racing Girl figurines.

"Hold on, stop."

Li Cheng raised his hand to halt the baskets, his eyelid twitching, and said, "I get the first few items, but what’s with this Horse Racing Girl figurine?"

"This isn’t just any Horse Racing Girl; it’s from a never-before-seen, breakout-level nationwide celebration, the pony opera that created Hajimi, Ohma, and Gilliman’s genius invention."

A young man dressed in anime merchandise coolly adjusted his glasses and calmly stated, "In the contemporary era, Manbo was just an isolated case of subculture unexpectedly going mainstream.

During its spread, the symbolic imagery was quickly deconstructed, reconstructed, and vastly differed from the original.

But in a certain Script World, Manbo’s cultural symbol unexpectedly spread 40,000 years into the future, with the rulers of an interstellar federation ruling over 500 planets naming their children ’Ohma Gilliman Bo’."

I beg your pardon if this is supposed to be orthodox Manbo. I inquire respectfully.

"So you guys want to create a perfect quality biological type vehicle, and all the relics have horse elements,"

Li Cheng sighed, suddenly noticing a large package under the Horse Racing Girl figurine, his eyes twitching, "WTF?!"

"Oh, this,"

The anime shirt youth nonchalantly took a package from the metal basket, the contents included, but were not limited to, the League of Legends S8 championship trophy, a random trash can, and fresh pomegranates.

When opening the package, one could faintly hear chants like "The horse is big, the horse is coming, the horse is awesome" echoing in the wind.

It’s all about horses, is it? Message received.

Li Cheng rubbed his brow. League of Legends, as a once globally top-rated e-sports game, its related items should, possibly, maybe, be refined into value by the Toy Factory... maybe?

Besides this basket of horse element relics, other customer submissions included an iPhone 4S from the ’sell a kidney for an iPhone’ representing a materialistic culture;

fossils of ancient net traces representing the cognitive boundaries of contemporary humanity;

the first photovoltaic panel representing earth civilization’s energy transition;

and a wild bird’s nest made of combat drone optical fiber, representing 21st-century hybrid warfare;

it showed that these players had gotten smarter—compared to the untouchable relics like the Yue King Goujian Sword and Lanting Preface, modern relics were easier to handle,

some items that no one specifically protected could also be refined into immense historical value, like the source codes of popular global mobile games, early internet devices, famous lubricants, etc.

"I’ll take everything, and you’ll be notified by text once the items are crafted. Remember to check your phone."

Li Cheng vanished from the slum, and after he left, many customers remained, taking out foldable stools from their Backpack and sitting down.

The average price of Perfect Quality items is ten thousand Game Coins, and those with excellent Special Effects can soar to twenty or thirty thousand.

Converted into cash, it’s worth several billion. Such a big business is worth the players waiting in place.

"Boss Pi is really a loyal person."

"Without the Star-casting Anvil, who knows how those forging shops would rip off us Lone Wolf players without backgrounds. Boss Pi must live a long life, stay healthy, and not have accidents in Script Tasks, nor close shop and leave."

"If he leaves, what will we eat?"

"Yeah, what will we eat."

Players on site started chatting casually.

The unwritten rules at the Toy Factory are that B-level concepts depend on the Mechanical Servants’ mood for withholding, A-level concepts have selective withholding, and S-Class and above concepts have hundred percent withholding.

Can’t even say it’s plucking a bird in flight; they directly keep the bird and return the feathers to the customer.

Even so, after meticulously calculating costs and returns, the Star-casting Anvil turns out to be more conscientious than many big-name equipment forging stores...

At least you don’t need to sign a harsh contract akin to a slave contract to get Perfect Quality items and Skill Scrolls that are absolutely suitable for you.

Players on site even brought out small wooden tables to play board games and role-playing games to pass the time,

they placed Red Bull and coffee on the table, ready to stay up for two days straight, but unexpectedly, a few hours later, Pifu appeared from the street corner dressed in a Daoist robe, walking slowly.

Ignoring the enthusiastic greetings, he poured a pile of miscellaneous items onto the table at his own pace.

"This is yours."

Li Cheng took out a Tang Sancai horse head statue, "[Meteor Warhorse], can summon a Perfect Level Extraordinary Creature warhorse, an effect that carries the rider, turning into a meteor, charging forward at five Mach speed."

The group of players who received the Tang Sancai left joyfully,

Li Cheng then took out a semi-transparent wooden stick, "[Ancient Net Rolling Wood], Perfect Quality item, effect includes a Reverse Meme Force Field, greatly reducing the presence of the holder, akin to invisibility."

The player who paid for customization already had a plain, unremarkable face; after receiving the wooden stick, they instantly lost their presence, as if disappearing on the spot.

"Hey, where did he go? Oh well, as long as the money was paid in advance."

Li Cheng scratched his head and took out a large pile of miscellaneous small items,

"[This War of Mine], a series of Fine Quality armors, can greatly increase the wearer’s survival probability in a hail of bullets. The first fatal bullet will be blocked by the medal given by dad,

The second bullet will be blocked by the pendant given by his wife, then the pocket watch given by mom, the lucky coin from his son, the helmet from a comrade, the canteen from grandpa, the wallet from a classmate...

Once the wallet explodes, the medal’s cooldown is reset."

Li Cheng casually introduced the item’s special effects,

This time, when visiting the Toy Factory, he invested the accumulated 100,000 exotic points into upgrades, raising the Analysis Room, Design Room, and Reforging Room to Second Level, putting them on par with the Shredding Room.

A higher Level represents faster manufacturing and turnover efficiency,

The Cylinder and Square Robot Servants were full of drive, singing Erica on one side and Arirang as labor songs on the other, completing the new batch of Assemble Device orders in less than half a day.

Considering the improved work efficiency, Li Cheng overlooked the Cylinder Machine Servants’ little idea—they plan to remodel half of the Design Room,

transforming it to resemble the headquarters of Porsche, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW, under the pretty name of "modern trends."

But... all these companies are famous German enterprises from World War II.

The specific decor style can be imagined, a hundred percent red and black scheme with HLA brand flags hanging.

Click, click.

Around the Star-casting Anvil, the crowd of onlookers and journalists crazily pressed the camera shutters, flashlights flickering nonstop.

This scene of wholesale high-quality items and Skill Scrolls, akin to selling goods at a market, is too shocking.

"Been holding back for so long, and finally came out with big news. Shouldn’t this hit the forum headlines now? More customers mean more cultural relics. More cultural relics mean more wool to shear...

By then, I’ll upgrade the Refining Room, Collection Room, Security System, and Employee Dormitory all to Level Two, and then unlock Level Three permissions..."

Li Cheng thought to himself, just as he blissfully imagined the future, suddenly... a solemn and dignified system broadcast echoed in all players’ ears.

[Attention all Summoners]

[Slaughter Field Game’s third phase, large-scale event "Song of Kings" officially begins]

Oh damn, system, you’re stealing my headline?!