After Kelly left, Qin Lun returned to his room and sank into deep thought.
Besides the most important questions, their conversation earlier also covered topics about Apostle ranks and how the Star Void assigned Quest Worlds. From his previous experience and guesses, Qin Lun had speculated that when the Shattered Starry Sky assigned Quest Worlds to Apostles, it based the assignment on the civilization the Apostle originally came from and their personal combat level.
This conversation with Kelly confirmed that speculation. Before she became an Apostle, the Female Martial Artist came from a human world similar to the Earth Federation. Its technology was not as advanced as Earth’s, but its level of individual evolution surpassed Earth’s.
Even after becoming a High-Rank Apostle, Kelly had not experienced many Quest Worlds dominated by non-humanoid creatures. The few times she did were because her team had some non-humanoid members.
According to Kelly, worlds dominated by non-humanoid creatures did not seem to be the key focus of the Shattered Starry Sky’s conquest of different worlds. This could also be seen from the fact that most Apostles were transformed from humanoid intelligent beings.
As for the relationship between Apostle rank and world difficulty, from Kelly’s explanation, low-rank Apostles corresponded to Low Magic Worlds, mid-rank corresponded to Mid-Magic Worlds, and high-rank and Legendary Apostles corresponded to High-Magic Worlds. Specific calculations had a certain floating range and considered the team’s overall strength.
For example: Qin Lun’s own strength was not enough to enter a peak Mid-Magic World like Toril. Even the Fortress Team, with as many as three mid-rank members, was not actually qualified. Only the Lost Novices barely met the threshold, and this was mainly because Kelly alone raised the overall strength evaluation.
However, the Fortress Team happened to be undergoing a title assessment for the Silver Team at that time, which indirectly raised the Star Void’s evaluation. That was why they tragically entered the highly risky Toril World.
In other words, given the Fortress Team’s strength, they should not have insisted on maintaining the Silver Team title. Looking back, it was purely a suicidal act, truly a case of ‘no zuo no die’!
Of course, there was another exceptional situation that could cause a weak or a powerful Apostle to enter a Quest World that did not match their strength well, and that was the extremely rare World Token.
Items that belonged to World Tokens, in most cases, only occurred when an Apostle’s Plot Identity had significant connections and bonds in a specific Quest World. This made the Shattered Starry Sky believe that the Apostle’s Plot Identity could continue to obtain unexpected Exploration Rate and World Origin in that world. Only then would it specifically consume some World Origin to leave the Apostle a token for re-entering that world.
In other words, besides serving as a space-time coordinate, this kind of World Token also allowed the Apostle to inherit their original Plot Identity. Unlike what Qin Lun had imagined, most World Tokens could not be transferred or sold. They could only be held and used by the original Apostle, and they had a time limit. If the Apostle did not enter that world for a long time, the token would automatically disappear.
Gaining this new information made Qin Lun a bit unsure about whether he should still turn Didi into an Apostle.
The little Goblin had always dreamed of becoming an Apostle and going on adventures in Quest Worlds. This was also the common racial pursuit of the Lu-Lu Tribe. If Didi could become an Apostle, even if he only changed his class to a low-rank one later, the resources he would have would basically be enough to elevate the Lu-Lu Tribe from their status as Scavengers.
But, putting aside the cost of 50 points of Soul Life Limit, Qin Lun’s title had already reached the second grade, third level. Judging by his strength and title, he would probably enter a peak Low Magic World or an initial Mid-Magic World, which were full of dangers. It would be really impossible for him to take care of the little guy.
If Didi became an Apostle and then the Servant Contract was terminated, allowing him to undertake Otherworld Missions on his own, the difficulty would decrease somewhat. But even though the little guy was clever, Qin Lun still had no confidence that he could survive the first few Quest Worlds. The extremely low survival rate in the Shattered Starry Sky was not just for show.
“Would it be better if he formed a team with Frank and Sif?” Qin Lun muttered to himself in the room.
Although Sif had not returned yet, he wasn’t too worried. That Little Mute had survived alone in Atlantis for several years; her self-protection ability was much stronger than Didi’s and Frank’s. She should come back once she realized the villa’s alarms were deactivated.
“Hmm? Who’s outside… Didi!” Qin Lun suddenly looked up. The black and red target in his left pupil flashed and vanished. After a moment’s thought, he said in a deep voice, “Come in!”
“Master!” Didi lowered his small head, looking dejected as he pushed the door open. He hesitated at the doorway for a while before carefully walking into the room. Qin Lun’s room was never lit, always dark. The little guy always felt a bit scared whenever he entered.
“Did you hear my conversation with Kelly?” Qin Lun asked in a gentle tone.
“No, Master, Didi did not eavesdrop. The big guy told me about it, the part about how to turn a servant into an Apostle!”
Even though Qin Lun’s tone showed no hint of fluctuation, Didi shuddered all over and hurriedly explained. For some reason, the longer the little Goblin followed Qin Lun, the deeper his awe and fear became. He no longer acted spoiled and cute as freely as before, especially when he was alone with Qin Lun.
“You don’t need to be so afraid of me…” Qin Lun sighed and said softly, “Since you heard, then I respect your wishes, Didi. Do you still want to pursue your dream of becoming an Apostle?”
“But, Master, the 50 points of Soul Life Limit… won’t it affect you?” Didi asked hesitantly.
“Don’t worry, I can afford 50 points of Soul Life. But even if I pay the Soul Life Limit, there’s a high chance the Apostle transformation will fail. Even if it succeeds in the end, you cannot join me on missions. That would be too dangerous. You can only form a team with Frank and Sif.”
Qin Lun shook his head faintly. Compared to the 50 points of Soul Life, losing Frank, who was close to being a low-rank tank, would have a bigger impact on him. But there was no need to tell Didi this. Besides, Frank also hadn’t undergone a Class Change yet; experiencing a few more primary Low Magic Worlds was necessary.
“Yes, Master, I am willing to become an Apostle!” Setting aside his worries, Didi finally lifted his head, his eyes shining with a firm light. For a moment, it even seemed dazzling to Qin Lun.
“Very good!” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up, and he looked somewhat surprised at his little servant.
A short while later, Qin Lun’s door opened again. Didi hopped out, his pointed green ears perked up high, his face beaming with a radiant glow. “Frank! Big guy! Didi became an Apostle! Didi surpassed Grandpa! Didi is the pride of the Lu-Lu Tribe!”
Listening to Didi’s excited shouts outside the room, a faint smile appeared on Qin Lun’s slightly tired face. He stood up from his armchair and suddenly pulled open the curtains. A beam of bright sunlight shone through the window, and for the first time, a warmth rose within the dark, cold room.
“Didi’s soul strength is stronger than Frank’s!” Recalling the little Goblin’s transformation process, Qin Lun felt very lucky. When Frank was transformed into an Apostle, the success rate was only one-third. For Didi, it was one-half, much better than the hunchbacked servant.
After Didi left, Qin Lun began taking stock of the resources and items in his Storage Space. After returning from the Hunter World, due to the unexpected incident with the Chaos Team, he hadn’t had the chance to sort through his Storage Space. Now he finally had some free time.
To resolve this trouble, Qin Lun became a peripheral member of Lost and immediately paid fifty thousand Shattered Crystals. He also owed favors to both Rand and Kelly.
Because he did not choose Shattered Crystals for this mission settlement, he now only had thirty-five thousand Shattered Crystals left. He was completely broke and needed to sell some things to exchange for Shattered Crystals.
One reason was to prepare Black Iron Team badges for his three servants. The other was that he had obtained several types of rare equipment materials in the Toril World; it was time to craft that integrated Weapon Case.
Among the things he obtained in the Hunter World, the Pakunoda Figure and the Scarlet Eye were the most precious. Then there was the Accompany Card given by Firecracker Rand, and the Iron Cross Medal obtained by exchanging the Big Bang Impact. Among these, the Scarlet Eye and the Accompany Card had already been used. The other two items were important auxiliary tools; he didn’t need to sell them.
Taking stock of the items in his Storage Space that could be sold, Qin Lun found it hard to decide. As the missions he participated in became increasingly intense, the items he obtained were also very precious.
These included a Gold Evaluation Card from a Mid-Magic World, the Undead Sacred Artifact staff, the World Tree Longbow, eleven Mithril Magic Arrows, the World Tree Heart Ring, the Frost Gem dug out from the Undead Centaur, and the Starfall Iron and Elemental Burst Bead given by the Red Robe Mage Angelo.
Other more special items included a book on advanced Nen Ability application techniques, the Pakunoda Figure, Vima’s Token (a communication jade), the Synchronous Space-Time Instrument used only once (2/3 remaining), the Toril World Token (unidentified), the extracted World Treasure (unidentified), and so on.
“Besides equipment materials, the only thing I can sell is a single Synchronous Space-Time Instrument!” Qin Lun shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Huh? Wait, it seems like there’s one item missing. Where is that Serthel magic octagonal sword?” As he looked over these items, Qin Lun suddenly had a thought. His gaze swept towards that special World Treasure that emitted a faint light but whose shape was hard to make out clearly. This was the equipment he drew during the mission settlement.
“Please, no!” Qin Lun lamented inwardly.
Among the three items – the Undead Sacred Artifact, the World Tree Longbow, and the Serthel magic sword – the quality of this sword was clearly the lowest. The other two were definitely Legendary Equipment. Only the Serthel magic sword did not reach that level; it should belong to the Dark Gold Equipment category.
Back when he chose to draw a World Treasure instead of the Faerûn Dark Gold Equipment Box, he had hoped to get another piece of Legendary Equipment. If it was just Dark Gold, the Faerûn Dark Gold Equipment Box could provide two or more pieces, which was much better than a single Dark Gold sword.
“I hope the Shattered Starry Sky doesn’t make me suffer too much!” Qin Lun reluctantly reached out and grabbed the glowing mass of the World Treasure.
As Qin Lun made contact, the unidentified World Treasure slowly lost its glow and gradually solidified into a sword-shaped piece of equipment. Its appearance was that of the Serthel magic octagonal sword. However, the blade faintly emitted a mysterious purple light, which the original magic sword did not have.
“This sword…”
