Chapter 545: Is This Your Reason for Giving Me Something Broken?

Chapter 545: Is This Your Reason for Giving Me Something Broken?

“Young boy, I see you have extraordinary bone structure, a spiritual light is spurting from the crown of your head, you are talent once in a thousand years… blah blah blah, the future of this world rests on you. Here, take this ring first.” Zheng Yichen, wrapped entirely in black, said to the blond little boy before him. The little boy looked up at Zheng Yichen with a dull gaze. He didn’t know who Zheng Yichen was. Coming from a commoner family, his understanding of Professionals was limited to idle chatter.

Things like how some great Adventurer sliced open a mountain with one swing of his sword, or how some Mage blew up a city with one spell. Basically, all sorts of impressive tales. But what did those have to do with him?

He would never meet such people anyway. As for dreams? Well, for someone from a commoner family, they were simply too distant. But today, that no longer seemed so distant. This man in black robes, holding a strange disk, had come to him and rambled a bunch of things that sounded profound and impressive, even if he didn’t really understand…

“Are you a Prophet?” the little boy asked timidly. He had yearned for Professionals before, but actually meeting one was a different matter. He heard Professionals were all brutal. They would just draw their weapons and fight at the slightest disagreement, or use some method ordinary people couldn’t understand to quietly kill someone.

“No, I’m just a passerby. Anyway, keep this safe, don’t lose it.” Zheng Yichen slipped the rather plain-looking ring, which resembled a simple metal band, onto the boy’s finger. The ring, which didn’t quite fit at first, automatically shrank a bit, becoming a perfect match.

After Zheng Yichen disappeared, the boy was still bewildered. He looked at the ring on his finger, then around. Hmm… people passed by, but no one seemed to notice what happened. It must be a legendary Professional, right? Just like the strange encounters some adults talked about, which filled his heart with longing. Now he had actually experienced such an encounter himself!

Although the ring looked very ordinary, almost crudely made, it could shrink on its own. It must be something amazing, right? Should he show off to his friends? Uh… better keep it a secret.

He scratched his little head, trying to find Zheng Yichen’s figure, but couldn’t spot him anywhere. Feeling both confused and a bit excited, he left the place.

Zheng Yichen, in another location, stared at the Luopan in his hand and muttered. This thing really was useful. After all, it contained Dan Marina’s mana. Even if it worked passively and seemed unreliable at times, one absolutely couldn’t deny it had no effect at all.

On the contrary, when it coincidentally activated, its effect was quite good. Besides finding people, another trigger condition was when someone was entangled with a large number of Threads of Fate. Hmm… entanglement with Threads of Fate could go two ways: good or bad.

The little boy’s case belonged to the good side. Under heavy entanglement with Threads of Fate, if leaning towards the good direction, these Threads acted as a kind of protection. With this protection, when encountering dangerous situations, those entangled Threads of Fate would come into play. Zheng Yichen had studied knowledge related to fate… he understood this point. People without many Threads of Fate wrapped around them, once they encountered danger, would just be done for. Those with connections through Threads of Fate would receive help at critical moments.

From the perspective of fate, being able to receive help was due to this connection through Threads of Fate, the so-called ‘luck’. As for Zheng Yichen, his was just genuine luck… He wasn’t entangled with this world’s Threads of Fate, which allowed him to avoid being found by Prophecy Art. Back when he met Loris, besides his own true luck, there was no other good explanation.

In short, to put it simply, good luck and misfortune for people in this world were basically tied to Threads of Fate. How could some Prophets see a person’s luck? They judged it by observing the Threads of Fate.

So this little boy’s future achievements wouldn’t be low. To be entangled with many Threads of Fate leaning towards the good direction… even causing this unreliable Luopan to react, his future potential was limitless.

Consider it forming a good connection. As for that ring, it wasn’t anything special. Besides having some small spells attached—these spells were fixed; in gaming terms, effects like HP recovery +5, MP recovery +4, defense +3—basically enhancing his recovery and some stamina, with zero increase in things like strength.

After all, if it were made too good, people would definitely pay attention. This level of enhancement was the best Zheng Yichen could manage. The effect was low, making it extremely unlikely for anyone to sense it was a Magic Artifact.

Its biggest function, besides that, was an effect similar to a Magic Weapon Contract, allowing a connection to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. Of course, it was a one-way connection, only controllable from Zheng Yichen’s side. This was like an additional backdoor. When Zheng Yichen developed any new features later, he could link them through this backdoor.

For example, the Nightmare Realm under development.

Casting a wide net… this was something Zheng Yichen learned from Dan Marina. For things that could be prepared easily, don’t consider it a bother. Doing them as you go benefits you. Even if not useful now, decades later, it might come in handy at some crucial moment.

Dan Marina had explained it reasonably and with evidence; she had walked this path herself. Zheng Yichen naturally had nothing to say. Such a good habit, of course, should be learned well. As for the ring’s backdoor being discovered? It’s a one-way link; without activation, discovering it was impossible. Once activated, it would be like an established Magic Weapon Contract, taking effect directly on the target, and the ring as a medium would lose its function.

Zheng Yichen had never been careless about hiding his identity.

“Should we retrieve that thing?” the bodyguard said to Oro by the street. Others didn’t notice what happened with Zheng Yichen, but they could… well, Oro didn’t notice either. His power level was too low. The moment Zheng Yichen cast that interference magic, he was affected. In the end, he was slapped awake by the bodyguard to see.

“Your Quest is to protect me. Why think so much?” Oro said casually. Seeing his annoying demeanor, the bodyguard remained silent for a moment.

“Sometimes I really doubt if you are from The Church.”

“Relax, I am definitely from The Church.” Oro shook his head, holding his chin. “Anyway, keep an eye on that little boy… We’ll check it out tonight!”

“…Alright, I misunderstood you.” The bodyguard was silent for a while before speaking.

“You view things too casually, too one-sided!” Oro chuckled lightly, stroking his little moustache, and glanced at the bodyguard. “Our team has Spellcasters, right? Find one… forget it, I’ll go find one myself. We’ll bring them along.”

The bodyguard nodded. He also realized the problem. Oro’s power was too low; he could be affected by Zheng Yichen’s interference magic. He himself was a Warrior, not a Spellcaster, so his ability to identify Magic Artifacts or curios was not high. If the two of them went, even if they got the ring, they wouldn’t gain anything.

As for taking the thing away?

People from The Church wouldn’t stoop to stealing a child’s belongings, let alone with Zheng Yichen possibly watching. So it was better to examine it on-site, determine what it was, then decide. If harmful, take it; if harmless, leave it.

After all, during these days of finding people, Zheng Yichen had already handed out quite a few small items.

Hmm… how come it’s useless again? Zheng Yichen shook the Luopan in his hand. After the little boy left, it still showed some new reactions, but then became like a dead fish, giving no response. The core pointer hung limply. No matter how Zheng Yichen shook it, it was useless. After fiddling for a while, he tossed it directly into his Personal Space.

Tch, before, even when it found nothing, this thing would at least twitch feebly. Now it wouldn’t even move. What’s the point of keeping it? Finding a tea house, Zheng Yichen walked in, casually ordered a cup of plain water, and sat down. Shifting his attention to the Containment Zone, he placed the Luopan in front of Dan Marina amidst her confusion and waved his hand grandly. “A gift for you!”

“…Is this your reason for giving me a broken thing?” Dan Marina was silent for a moment, fiddling with the Luopan that looked quite mystical. Though it looked fancy, it was actually broken!

“Broken? Impossible!” Zheng Yichen took the Luopan and examined it. The Magic Rune Array patterns weren’t broken, the mana inside hadn’t disappeared. How could it be broken?

“Though it looks normal, this thing is indeed broken.” Dan Marina said, narrowing her eyes slightly. Her main body was asleep, her abilities limited, but some characteristics remained. Such as Clairvoyance Spire EX… ahem, the characteristic of directly seeing Threads of Fate. After Zheng Yichen decided not to use her mana to do anything starting from himself, seeing Threads of Fate again became impossible. So while he couldn’t see changes in the Luopan, she could.

A few agitated Threads of Fate were entangled around this Luopan. Clearly, it had been used somewhere previously and stepped on a landmine. Zheng Yichen wasn’t affected; he only used this Magic Artifact, so the landmine was stepped on by the artifact itself. It basically took the bullet for Zheng Yichen. Under these agitated Threads of Fate, even if it looked intact, it was broken.

Not to mention, it wasn’t a finished product to begin with. Things like Threads of Fate aren’t something ordinary objects can actively accept. Threads of Fate that get entangled from stepping on a landmine are basically never good; they are all negative. Therefore, this unfinished Luopan couldn’t withstand the pressure of the Power of Fate… and broke.