Chapter 13: Unexpected Harvest in the Copper Piece

Things that could catch the system's attention were few and far between. At least up until now, including this one, Su Tan had only encountered two such items, which proved it was absolutely a good thing.

"CLATTER!"

Su Tan rummaged through the large sack. The items the village chief scavenged were always carried back in massive sacks. Without his sight, he had to rely on his hands to feel around little by little. After digging through more than half the sack, he finally found the Token that had appeared in his mind. He could see its general shape in the system interface, and as he traced the outline of the bronze plaque in his hand, it felt almost identical to the image in his head.

"This is the one!"

His slender fingers tightened around the bronze plaque, gripping it in his palm. As expected of an item favored by the system, even though the bronze fragment was covered in rust and looked on the verge of decaying, it was incredibly sturdy. Su Tan was quite strong, yet he couldn't even bend it. This was no ordinary object.

"DING! Scanning... Scan successful! This is an ancient Extreme Armor Fragment. Grade: Legendary. Once equipped, it can greatly increase the host's Defense Power, with a chance to obtain the residual special abilities of the Treasure Armor!"

"Ancient? Extreme Armor Fragment? Legendary? Treasure Armor?" he wondered. "Wasn't it just a bronze battle suit? Could a mere decayed fragment really draw the system's attention? What would the armor look like when it was complete?"

These keywords immediately made Su Tan realize what this bronze fragment was. This time, he had truly struck gold. To others, perhaps no one could unlock the secrets of a bronze fragment left behind from ancient times, but for the system, it seemed nothing could be hidden from it.

"I thought it was some kind of rare treasure, but it's just battle armor," Su Tan thought, feeling slightly disappointed. What he wanted wasn't battle armor, but a Cultivation Method Manual. Didn't all the books say that some people, by sheer luck, could pick up a stone by the roadside and obtain the lifelong teachings of a hidden expert? He had thought he'd hit the jackpot. Why was the plot different for him? What the hell was an Armor Fragment anyway? At best, it would just add a bit of Defense Power.

"DING! Detected that this item is a Treasure Armor fragment. The host has previously equipped a Treasure Armor (hemp) type item. It is recommended that the host spend 100 Energy Points to fuse the two. This way, it will not occupy a new slot in the Inventory. Do you wish to fuse and equip?"

Su Tan checked the system interface. The system meant he could fuse the newly acquired Treasure Armor fragment with the hemp garment he had equipped earlier to create a new piece of clothing, avoiding the need to take up a third slot in his Inventory. Since both fell under the Treasure Armor category, they could be fused together.

Of course, Su Tan could also reject the system's suggestion and directly equip the Treasure Armor fragment into his third Inventory slot. Alternatively, he could choose not to equip it at all and just kick the so-called fragment away, completely ignoring this ancient Extreme Armor. However, unless Su Tan had been kicked in the head by a donkey, he would never choose the latter. Any normal person knew how to make this choice.

The system, much like a computer program, typically analyzed the best possible plan and presented it for Su Tan to choose. But it was not a dictator. It didn't interfere with the host's choices, didn't guide his path forward, and completely lacked emotion. All its communications were numb and mechanical. It was more like a small auxiliary device—a tool!

Such a system was quite boring, yet Su Tan liked this kind of emotionless machine. It gave him a greater sense of security. He was the one in control, rather than a puppet manipulated by the system.

"Fuse!" Su Tan didn't think too much before merging the Extreme Armor Fragment into the Treasure Armor in his first Inventory slot. Lately, he had been able to collect 100 Energy Points from the system every day, so spending a mere 100 points was something he could easily afford.

"DING! Consuming 100 Energy Points to fuse the (Extreme Armor Fragment) into Inventory slot—Treasure Armor...

"0%... 1%... 2%...

"100%...

"Fusion complete!

"Physical Defense Power +100. Magic Defense Power +100. Warmth +100. Mental Defense +100... Triggering Treasure Armor's special ability: Life Recovery +100 (Note: Can be used on oneself or other life forms. The higher the level of the life form, the lower the healing effect)..."

A warm, fuzzy energy suddenly appeared, wrapping around Su Tan's entire body and washing over him.

Even though he lacked sight, he felt just like he was leveling up a character in an online game from his past life, imagining flashes of light bursting from his body as his level skyrocketed. It was exactly that kind of feeling. As Su Tan acquired this ability, he didn't feel any discomfort or unfamiliarity. It was as if he had been born with it and had wielded it for decades. Of course, the SWISH SWISH sounds and the like were just scenes he made up in his head. In reality, whether there were actual flashes of white light or surging energy, he couldn't see them anyway.

"I can understand physical Defense Power and Magic Defense Power, but what does Life Recovery mean?" Su Tan pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Naturally, the system didn't give him an answer either.

He connected it to the equipment from games in his past life, some of which indeed had the effect of recovering Life Value. When a unit took damage, its health bar would decrease. Equipping armor with Life Recovery could restore Life Value at a certain percentage.

"Could this thing be just like the Life Value recovery gear in online games? Wouldn't that make me a top-tier healer!" he thought. "Is this the Treasure Armor's special function? Understanding it literally from the system's text, this thing only cares about how much it increases, regardless of the reason why the target lost Life Value in the first place.

"Meaning... it could cure any illness? It's only a matter of how long it would take? That's simply too overpowered. With this thing, I would effectively become an omnipotent medic."

But this was merely Su Tan's literal interpretation of the system's words. Whether it was actually true still needed to be verified. But how?

Su Tan fumbled his way to the kitchen, took out a sharp paring knife, unsheathed it, and pressed the blade against his index finger. A simple slice of the knife would prove whether it truly worked or not.

"Hiss..."

Su Tan drew in a sharp breath. The knife rested against his finger for a long time, but he just couldn't bring himself to slide it down. He admitted that he was being a bit of a coward. Finally, he set the knife down.

"I don't necessarily have to test it on my own body. I can use something else, like plants... or a wounded little animal," Su Tan muttered. There was no need to take a knife to himself.

With that thought, he walked out the door.

Outside, it was pitch black, so dark he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. It was late at night. The weather hadn't been great lately; the sky was constantly overcast with thick clouds. However, to a blind man, day and night were exactly the same—there was no difference. Plus, having just fused the bronze fragment which increased his warmth by 100 points, he didn't feel cold stepping out into the late night.

He fumbled his way with practiced ease until he reached the flowerbed in the yard.

"I remember... there should be a flower here that was nearly snapped in half." It had been stepped on by some unknown person when the villagers had come in to gawk at Su Tan not long ago. After discovering it, Su Tan had used a twig to splint and secure its stem. Flowers with damaged stems rarely recovered well. Even if straightened out and saved, they remained half-dead and sickly, devoid of vitality. It would serve perfectly as a test subject.

Fumbling in the dark, Su Tan searched through the flowerbed with his hands.

RUSTLE...

Before long, he bumped into the flower that was on the verge of death. He felt its stem, its leaves, its petals...

"This is it!" After confirming it, Su Tan willed the Life Recovery energy within his body to flow into the flower's stem. He didn't need anyone to teach him. Having fused with the Armor Fragment, he naturally knew how to do it without instruction.

Su Tan felt a surge of energy rush from his body into the flower. He wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, but he felt the flower gradually regaining its vitality...

"It might actually be working!"

An unknown amount of time passed before Su Tan felt that the vitality radiating from the flower was roughly equal to his own. He pulled his hand back. This meant the flower's vitality had reached a healthy level, and its injuries were fully healed.

When he touched the stem again, he made an astonishing discovery.

"It's really... healed?"