Chapter 61: 60: "Guardian Grave of Life, Burial of the Underworld.
"Tomb Guardian?"
Having just finished their showers, Hungry Monkey and the others saw Miao's power invitation and came over, with Hungry Monkey barely containing his excitement as he asked, "Is this our own power, Miao?"
"This name is great."
"Guardian Grave of Life, Burial of the Underworld."
Yuan Buping and the others nearby couldn't help but grin, as Miao had invited them too, which meant they likely wouldn't be discarded for some time. Initially, they followed Miao purely because of his promise, but after tonight, they realized something—if they could keep following Miao, the future held boundless possibilities.
No one understood better than they did how important it was to be with a powerful leader in today's world.
Of course, this also meant a lot more danger.
But opportunity is always hidden beneath that danger; security harbors mediocrity. Everyone has their own choices to make. He didn't want mediocrity; he would rather burn out than fade away, leaving a mark on this world.
"Guardian Grave of Life?"
Chen Miao nodded thoughtfully, feeling that this phrase seemed quite fitting for the name of the power, and then quickly clicked a few options on the panel.
Soon enough.
The power's slogan was set to: "Guardian Grave of Life, Burial of the Underworld."
The power's logo was set to: "A simple sketch of tombstone lines."
The uniform for the power was unified as: "A solid black suit, with he and Hungry Monkey wearing black wool coats over deep brown suit vests."
Perfect.
Creating the uniforms was quite cheap at only 20 Star Coins each, and soon 17 brand-new black suits were made and distributed among Yuan Buping and the others, Yuan Buping's suit distinguished by a faint dark red trim around the collar.
Different by just a hint from the rest.
He also made for himself and Hungry Monkey two sets of black wool coats, deep brown vests, and white undershirts, adding a touch of leisure and comfort beyond what the others had.
The logo was printed on the wrist area of the inner sleeve cuff of everyone's shirt, visible only when the arm moved, subtle and not easily noticeable.
"Not bad."
After all was done, Chen Miao nodded with satisfaction, glad to resolve one more thing—this would also enhance everyone's sense of unity, a nice touch indeed.
There was little of value among the remaining five prop rewards.
Three of them were Free Attribute Exchange Coupons.
One bottle of magic pills.
One "Magician" class change Legacy Book, worth around 70,000 credit points on the market, a profession even more costly than that of a fighter.
But whether it was the expensive fighters or magicians, neither could outspend the gunners in terms of cost.
This was the entirety of his rewards for killing the boss.
It was a bit regrettable that there were no experience points or Star Coins awarded.
A person could use Free Attribute Exchange Coupons up to five times, and he had already used three. He placed two of the coupons in his backpack and casually handed the remaining one to Hungry Monkey.
Meanwhile, Hungry Monkey was looking at the panel for the bottle of pills with a slightly bizarre expression.
"Prop Name": Throat Medicine.
"Prop Level": F.
"Prop Effect": A bottle of 10 pills; taking one pill, for 30 minutes, the user will not have a gag reflex and can freely control the movements of their throat lining.
"Prop Restriction": None.
"Prop Function": 'For the great cause of changing the world, we must do some small things.'
"This..."
Hungry Monkey hesitated oddly for a moment before asking, "So... how do we use this prop?"
"It's useful at certain moments."
Chen Miao said with a smile, tossing the bottle of pills into the air and casually throwing it into his backpack, "For example, when a half piece of Sichuan peppercorn shell gets stuck in the mucous membranes inside your throat, you can use this prop to automatically dislodge the peppercorn."
"Believe me, no one can stand the feeling of a Sichuan peppercorn stuck in their throat."
He had experienced it himself.
The sensation was not exactly harmful to the body or particularly uncomfortable, but it was like a speck of fly excrement, not deadly but constantly nauseating.
"By the way."
Chen Miao stopped talking about that and turned to Hungry Monkey to ask, "How are those three fighter skills I bought for you coming along?"
"Not enough time, I haven't trained for too long."
Hungry Monkey scratched the back of his head and said, "All three skills are basically close combat attacks. The first one, 'Silent Strike,' is a close-range heavy blow that silences the opponent; the second and third are attack skills."
"The second one, 'Skull Split,' allows the fighter to unleash 10 times the strength in their next punch as a fixed damage value, increasing to 20 times when striking the head, and as skill proficiency increases, the multiplier for this skill will increase even more."
"The third, 'Hell Suplex,' is about getting close to an enemy, locking them in, then smashing them to the ground with great force. The damage is high, and when level suppression is in effect, there is a certain chance of instantly killing the enemy, and as skill proficiency increases, the damage also becomes higher."
"It's just..."
Hungry Monkey hesitated, "Right now, the proficiency of these three skills is basically in single digits. To increase proficiency, I must constantly use the skills, but these three are all for use against an opponent. Practicing alone in an empty space is also possible, it's just that the speed is too slow."
"It might take more than a dozen attempts to count as a successful one."
"Fighters generally improve their skill proficiency by going to martial arts gyms, where there are special dummies for them to practice on to increase proficiency, but we don't have that option at the moment, so proficiency growth will be slower."
"Dummies?" Chen Miao frowned thoughtfully and did not speak. It was indeed a problem. The cost of attending a martial arts gym was not cheap, with the cheapest being 500 credit points per hour, mainly because the wear and tear caused by fighters was incredibly high.
A dummy wouldn't last too long.
Moreover, living in a tomb and commuting to the gym every day was not convenient. They could consider buying a few dummies to use as punching bags, but...
He quickly had an answer, looking up at Yuan Buping, "Exhume the corpses of Zhou Yiming and the other two we buried last time, stand a post behind the woods, and tie the bodies to it."
"We might as well use these things in a pinch."
"Make do with it for now."
"After a while, I'll get you a few dummies."
In this world, there's no such thing as trash, only people who don't know how to utilize what they have.
...
After finishing all that, Chen Miao didn't bother with Hungry Monkey and Yuan Buping anymore. Instead, he washed up himself, entered the tomb, sat cross-legged on the carpet, leaned against the coffin, and took a deep breath.
He looked at the black-and-white Rubik's cube in front of him.
The classless prop 'Decayed Glory.'
It could help him draw a city-state effect, allowing him to enjoy the benefits of two different city-states at once.
"Jingjiu, Jingjiu, Jingjiu..."
"I'll trade Hungry Monkey's lifelong singleness for a Jingjiu."
"I'll trade all of Yuan Buping's remaining years of life for a Jingjiu."
"Give me a Jingjiu, give me a Jingjiu..."