Hua Yi had initially wondered if he should hide the light blue greatsword he brought from the ME Corp branch somewhere in the outskirts. He was concerned that if ME Corp managed to track the location of the stolen item, they would come looking for him.
On second thought, however, while ME Corp was indeed a large enterprise, it was ultimately just that a company. It had no power to influence the administrative departments of Nagazora.
In the Far East, the greatest authority had once belonged to Schicksal's Far East Branch. Now, it belonged to St. Freya Academy, which had broken away from Schicksal and was under the control of Theresa. In a world ravaged by Honkai, only those capable of directly confronting the threat and protecting the world held true authority.
ME Corp, which hid the existence of Anti-Entropy and presented itself to the public as an unremarkable company, possessed no special privileges.
Since ME Corp could not possibly conduct a door-to-door search of the entire city, Hua Yi carefully inspected the blade once more.
After confirming there were no additional tracking devices on the greatsword, he brought it back to his dormitory. To be honest, if he had hidden it in the wilderness, he would have been more worried about someone else stumbling upon it and taking it.
Though he knew his actions toward ME Corp were morally questionable, Hua Yi could only offer a simple apology in his heart. As for guilt... he knew a fair amount about the hidden circumstances surrounding the Third Honkai Impact.
ME Corp had not played a virtuous role in those events. Besides, he planned to find a way to change the origin point of the Honkai eruption in the future, which would save even more people in Nagazora, including those at the ME Corp branch. Therefore, he felt there was no need to feel guilty.
Now, it was time to admire his spoils.
A light blue blade, a black hilt, and a length and weight comparable to a human body Hua Yi had recognized it the moment he saw it.
Nitro Crystal. In the game, it was a weapon that started at three stars and could reach a maximum of four stars. Although it wasn't a true divine artifact, Hua Yi was already very satisfied.
After being "baptized" by the Friendship Supply for so long, even if he had walked away from ME Corp with a one-star starter weapon, Hua Yi was certain he wouldn't have felt any negative emotions.
But now, he was pleasantly surprised. Beyond the decent strength of the Nitro Crystal itself, he noticed something new when he inadvertently summoned his Virtual Interface. A new button had appeared on the weapon's display: Enhance.
His Virtual Interface was actually capable of enhancing weapons that already existed in this world. Did this mean that in the future, he could also enhance a Valkyrie's Stigmata? Compared to simply strengthening a Valkyrie's power,
would there be other benefits? After all, unlike natural Stigmata that existed within bloodlines, the Artificial Stigmata commonly used by Schicksal came at the cost of a Valkyrie's life force.
In an instant, many possibilities flashed through Hua Yi's mind.
Taking a deep breath to pull back his wandering thoughts, Hua Yi focused his intent and tried to click the Enhance button.
At this moment, the Nitro Crystal was in a level one, three-star state. To enhance it to its maximum level required a total of forty thousand Coins. Hua Yi didn't have enough, but that was expected. The enhancement cost for weapons seemed consistent with that of Stigmata.
At the same time, the fact that the Nitro Crystal was at level one suggested something else to Hua Yi: the weapons and Stigmata that existed in this world were all in their initial states. If he was willing to spend the Coins, he could strengthen and evolve them once again.
Currently, he didn't have enough samples to prove his theories, nor did he have enough Coins to strengthen others while his own power was still insufficient. Hua Yi quickly turned his focus back to the Nitro Crystal and gave it a few experimental swings.
The weight, which far surpassed that of a bamboo sword or the custom metal swords he had used later, brought a satisfied look to his face. Since learning that he could absorb Stigmata without limit to continuously improve his physical attributes, Hua Yi had decided on his future path: a road of unreasonable violence and overwhelming strength.
According to the game's weapon classifications, compared to Dual Pistols and Cannons which relied more on the weapon's own performance, or even Katanas which were too light to fully utilize raw strength,
Hua Yi's preferred weapons were those that focused on power Gauntlets, Greatswords, and Crosses. Now that he had obtained the Nitro Crystal, a fairly strong greatsword, he was very content.
In Hua Yi's heart, a greatsword was even better than gauntlets or a cross. After all, he had already systematically learned a swordplay style from Raiden Mei and had reached an excellent level of proficiency.
Applying the principles he had learned from mastering the Katana and adapting them to a greatsword was not an impossible task. A greatsword didn't need flashy tricks; it just needed the fastest speed and the greatest strength to cleave through the enemy's weakest point.
In a great mood, Hua Yi's eyes roamed around his room. After a moment of thought, he hid the Nitro Crystal under his bed. Given its size, he didn't have many other options.
At the same time, he used the gadgets he had purchased earlier to set up a simple warning device. If someone broke into the room through the front door or the window, or even caused a vibration from extreme destruction, Hua Yi's phone would receive an alarm message.
With the technology of the Honkai world, constructing such an alarm system was easy, and the necessary components had no purchase restrictions.
Having spent a considerable amount of time finishing these tasks, Hua Yi installed and concealed the alarm system. Once he was sure that the Nitro Crystal could not be discovered unless someone crouched down and stuck their head under the bed, he wore an expression of accomplishment.
Although he really wanted to explore the unique ways of using a greatsword, the night was far gone. It was already past three in the morning, and the sun would be rising soon. Even though it was a weekend and he didn't need to get up early, Hua Yi didn't intend to pull an all-nighter.
Beyond the fact that his body needed rest, he also planned to wake up early after dawn to see if ME Corp would take any action regarding the theft. If they did nothing, that would be for the best; if they did, he needed to make preparations early.
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).