Chapter 463: Mask of the Prince of Lanling
With the help of the maid Paula, Zhou Ning cleaned and tidied the place, and finally had a home of his own in Nathaniell.
After watching Paula head back to Viscount Hall's estate, he exhaled, feeling a surge of excitement. From now on, this would be his base as he officially began his life in Nathaniell.
The house was still bare, furnished with nothing but simple bedding and sheets. He would need to buy many everyday necessities.
After putting down his luggage, he went straight to the standalone workshop on the left side of the house—his main reason for choosing this property.
He pushed open the door and entered. One look around made him shake his head slightly. Considering the Hall family's background, this place must have been an alchemy workshop, but most of the materials inside had expired and everything looked worn and dilapidated.
In his ideal plan, the workshop should have included engineering stations capable of forging firearms, bullets, and mechanical puppets, an independent alchemy lab, and an area for making mystic gear. He would need to buy large amounts of equipment to remodel the whole place.
He also planned to craft the Prince of Lanling mask, a piece of mystic gear that required highly complex materials. Zhou Ning didn't expect to succeed on the first attempt and would need two or three full sets of ingredients.
So he spent the entire day making a massive shopping run, visiting various alchemy shops, engineering shops, and herbal stores to buy herbs, equipment, and all kinds of materials. In terms of commerce, Nathaniell was far inferior to Darkland; he had to visit at least ten shops before getting everything.
The total cost shocked even him—it was equivalent to the price of a house, nearly 4,000 Vecktas!
Around six in the evening, he hauled everything into the workshop. Without resting, he headed straight back to the Horizon Inn.
As expected, Richie Burke and Ignatius Woods had also returned.
The moment Zhou Ning stepped into Richie Burke's room—or rather, before he even entered—he froze.
The room was packed with burly men and women, all with fierce expressions and brutish faces. Even the northern woman sitting on the far right was towering and muscular, built like a female version of Dwayne Johnson.
Zhou Ning wondered if he'd accidentally walked into a WWE arena.
Richie Burke hurried over when he saw him and led him to Ignatius Woods' room while explaining, "These people are my operatives who stayed behind in Nathaniell. They're responsible for selling off stolen goods. They're the ones who handled our magic brocade cloth and mithril puppets."
As he spoke, he pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Ning. "All the magic brocade cloth has been sold. Including your share from before, there's 98,000 Vecktas on this card. The mithril puppets are still being sold—if we dump them all in one place, they won't fetch good prices."
"Not bad." Zhou Ning couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up. The right people should handle the right jobs. If he had done it himself, getting even two-thirds of that price would've been a win.
With this windfall, Zhou Ning's cash reserves jumped to a staggering 350,000 Vecktas—wealthy enough to be called a true rich man. Converted to traversal points, that was 35,000. Even the 28,888-point Silver Superman was now well within reach—he could finally turn his back on mediocrity and embrace power.
He could barely hold himself back. Once he got home later, he had to open the Traversal Simulator and splurge on only the most average options!
"As for the shop, I scouted around the 9th District today. I think I've found a suitable place—an existing alchemy shop on nearby Carnaby Street. It's ready to open anytime. When do you want to look at it?" Richie Burke asked.
"Tomorrow," Zhou Ning said after thinking. Tomorrow he also planned to stock his personal shop with more items; with the preliminaries done, the first official round of the Pro League would start in three days. The sprouts were ready—perfect time to harvest another batch of player wallets.
The two chatted for a bit longer, during which Zhou Ning told them about his new home on Golden Law Street. Then Richie Burke returned to his room, while Ignatius Woods impatiently laid a thick contract on the table and said in a deep voice:
"Take a look at this contract. You'll be responsible for ensuring my safety until I reunite with my companions. In return, I'll work for you for three years. During that time, I'll repair and craft extraordinary items for you free of charge."
"But one thing—the materials can't come from me. Otherwise, I'd go bankrupt."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Very reasonable."
He picked up the contract, read it carefully, and after confirming nothing looked off, signed his name.
At once, he felt a strange, mysterious power descend around him.
Ignatius Woods stored the contract away as if it were a priceless treasure, then handed Zhou Ning a thick stack of bills. "This is the 5,000 Vecktas I promised you earlier. As for the extraordinary item… I'll cover the materials this time. Do you have any requests?"
"A revolver. A powerful one."
Zhou Ning answered without hesitation. Even with "Retribution," he still needed a strong revolver to completely replace Ebony and Ivory.
"It'll take about half a month to craft a weapon. Due to material limitations, the finished product will still have dark attributes. Is that acceptable?" Ignatius Woods asked.
"No problem." Zhou Ning's tone was calm. Judging from that Silent Pendant, the so-called dark attribute wasn't a big issue.
After returning to 129 Golden Law Street, he spent nearly three hours organizing the workshop and making several firearms he planned to use the next day. Then he took a deep breath and began crafting mystic gear.
He lit a large alcohol lamp he took from a drawer.
According to the basic principles of crafting mystic gear, these items originated from alternate timelines and couldn't be forged with ordinary fire.
So Zhou Ning guided his Ripple energy, infused with spirituality, into the flame.
Whoosh!
Golden fire roared to life.
He placed a silver tray over it, then set a piece of krysilver on top along with materials brimming with spiritual power and began heating them.
A faint golden glow rose from the tray, and under the fire's heat it grew scorching hot.
After about ten minutes, the krysilver began to melt. Perhaps it was his imagination, but silvery bubbles surfaced on it and drifted upward.
As he added ingredients one by one according to the proper order, the krysilver finally melted entirely into a pool of radiant, five-colored liquid. He could faintly hear ethereal chanting from within.
This marked the completion of the first step of crafting the Prince of Lanling mask. Next came step two… shaping!
Though it was his first time making one, Zhou Ning's agility ensured he could execute every step with flawless precision, perfectly recreating the procedures.
About an hour later, he looked with delight at the silver mask in his hand.
Mystic Gear: Mask of the Prince of Lanling.
Attributes: All stats +5, charm checks +3.
Effect: Grants immunity to fear. When activated, dispels all negative statuses from the wearer and the team, with extremely high priority. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Note: Each person can equip only three pieces of mystic gear at a time. Choose carefully.
He put the mask on. A cold sensation pressed against his cheeks. He checked the mirror—handsome with a hint of mystery. Not bad at all.
For him, looking good was a lifelong mission. Never to be taken lightly.
Since he had prepared three sets of materials, he crafted two more—one success and one failure. The successful one would go into his personal shop for sale.
In team battles, this item could easily determine the outcome—like a premium artifact from a Tencent game's recharge event. Naturally, the price wouldn't be cheap.
By the time he finished everything, it was already late at night. After washing up, Zhou Ning eagerly opened the Traversal Simulator, ready to spend.