Book One, Chapter 34: Another Major Crisis? Why Does Major Trouble Have So Much Time on Its Hands?

"But there is a chance of failure." Zhang Tao found it difficult to understand Zhang Wei's approach.

Lin Qianying’s eyes flickered with the same hesitation.

They both focused their gazes on Zhang Wei, waiting for him to clear up their confusion.

Zhang Wei took a deep breath and spoke calmly: "While using it to reinforce equipment guarantees success, it is a waste. Meteor fragments can also be used for reinforcement; if used to upgrade the quality of equipment, even a failure will increase the success rate of the next upgrade attempt."

Listening to Zhang Wei's explanation only solidified Lin Qianying's judgment of him: this man definitely knew far more than he let on.

"Big Brother, what is a 'meteor'?" Zhang Tao was full of questions.

"There are meteors, red stars, and purple stars that can reinforce equipment and raise its quality. You'll learn about them later," Zhang Wei explained briefly.

"There are so many? Big Brother, why are you so knowledgeable?"

Zhang Wei glanced at Zhang Tao but ignored him.

He then laid the thermal greatsword flat on the ground. Holding a red star about the size of a basketball, he pressed it into the sword with a single finger.

Everyone stared at the thermal greatsword, not daring to blink.

Waves of red light erupted from the blade. The sword, which was already hot enough to melt steel, now radiated a suffocating, intense heat.

Zhang Wei and the others stepped back a few paces.

Honestly, even Zhang Wei was feeling a bit nervous. If the thermal greatsword could be upgraded from Excellent to Epic, its combat power would at least double.

Fortunately, the wait was not long. After half a minute, the scorching red light suddenly receded like a receding tide, condensing back into the blade.

Immediately after, a surge of heat rolled outward like the breath of a fire dragon, sweeping across the surroundings. Under the force of the heatwave, the broken ice on the ground melted instantly, and even the biological tissues mixed within the ice vanished into nothingness.

"It worked! Luck is on our side!" Zhang Wei’s voice was filled with pleasant surprise.

Hearing his shout, Zhang Tao and Lin Qianying immediately looked at the thermal greatsword on the ground.

Thermal Greatsword (Epic)
Combat Power +200
Possesses extreme high heat.

"So strong!" Zhang Tao felt a pang of envy the moment he saw the sword's attributes.

His entire mech didn't even have 100 combat power combined. Yet, this single weapon provided a boost of 200. How was he supposed to compete or even keep up?

However, the moment he realized that once Zhang Wei upgraded to a new weapon, this one would be his, his mood brightened instantly. Picking up hand-me-downs wasn't so bad after all.

"Are Epic weapons really that powerful? Doesn't that mean things above Epic are even more incredible?" Lin Qianying felt a bit envious as well, as even with her Excellent weapon, her total combat power couldn't match this single greatsword.

"Legendary weapons, you mean? You'll find out if you ever get one." Zhang Wei didn't elaborate.

In his past life, he hadn't obtained a Legendary weapon in ten years of struggle, though he had seen them. All he could say was that Legendary and Epic were simply two different concepts.

Furthermore, there was a huge gap between low-end and high-end equipment. His thermal greatsword was considered low-end equipment. Low-end gear had no requirements, but high-end gear had base combat power requirements. If your combat power wasn't high enough, you couldn't use the gear; the mech simply wouldn't be able to drive it.

"Big Brother, when are you going to change weapons? This thermal greatsword, I..."

"It’s yours once I swap it out."

"Heh, hehe, Big Brother is the best to me." Zhang Tao was satisfied. It didn't matter when Zhang Wei swapped it out; as long as he got it eventually, that was enough.

"If you're finished packing up, let's go." Zhang Wei picked up the greatsword and signaled to Zhang Tao and Lin Qianying. The morning wasn't even over yet, and they needed to continue clearing out mechanical creatures.

Zhang Tao was eager to try, and Lin Qianying’s fighting spirit was soaring. After spending time with Zhang Wei, they felt that this mechanical apocalypse didn't seem so terrifying after all.

However, just as the three of them were about to set off again, the butler came running out in a panic.

"Young Master! Young Master!"

Hearing the butler’s call, everyone turned to look at him as he rushed over.

"It’s bad! Something terrible has happened!"

"Something terrible again?" Zhang Tao exclaimed. *Why is disaster so free? It’s only been a morning, and it’s already popped up twice?*

Zhang Wei, however, felt his eyes light up. The first "disaster" had brought him an Epic weapon; what would the second one bring? As expected, Zhang Tao was a lucky charm.

"North of the city! Our people say the mechanical rats in the north are rioting!" The butler’s voice was trembling with fear.

"A mechanical rat riot? How many?" Zhang Tao didn't have much of a reaction. Before they returned, they had cleared out plenty of mechanical rats; to him, the little things weren't scary at all.

Lin Qianying didn't grasp the scale of a mechanical rat riot either.

Only Zhang Wei grew tense. In his previous life, there had been many disasters caused by mechanical rat riots. While individual mechanical rats were weak, their collective destructive power could exceed that of a super behemoth if they appeared in a swarm. As for the extent of the damage, it depended on the size of the swarm.

"I'm not sure, but they said there are at least tens of thousands of them." The butler could imagine the sight of tens of thousands of mechanical rats gathered together. Forget mechanical rats; even tens of thousands of ordinary rats rampaging through the streets was an unimaginable sight. And these were mechanical ones.

"Tens of thousands?" Zhang Tao was stunned.

"How many people will die?" The righteous Miss Qianying thought of the people first.

"Tell our people to return as fast as they can," Zhang Wei commanded. Tens of thousands of mechanical rats were not something ordinary mechs could withstand. Anything—people, buildings, mechs, other mechanical creatures—would be crushed under the impact of such a swarm.

"Yes, yes, I'll notify them right now!"

Zhang Tao had sent quite a few people out to collect source crystals. If they couldn't make it back, he stood to lose more than half of his men and mechs.

"Right, tell them to hurry back! Big Brother, will those mechanical rats come here?" Zhang Tao looked at Zhang Wei, completely lost. Having never experienced something like this before, anyone would be terrified and at a loss.

Zhang Wei shook his head slowly. "I don't know. We're in the south of the city, but it's highly likely they will head this way. Among these mechanical rats, a Rat King has likely already been born."

"What is a Rat King?" Lin Qianying reached for her notebook again.

"A variant among variants, evolved from a mutant. I didn't expect a Rat King to appear so soon. It must have had some stroke of fortune. Ordinary mutants can rule their own kind, but not in such large numbers. A swarm of tens of thousands of mechanical rats must have a Rat King."

After saying this, Zhang Wei felt a strange sense of excitement. What level of source crystal would a Rat King drop?