Chapter Twenty-One: Mass Production of the Triple Defense Hand Shield

“Sir, could you take a look at this and see if it’s any use?” Huang Yunshuo took out a turtle shell and handed it to the old blacksmith.

“This is the shell of a small stone turtle. It can be used to craft finer armor, shields, or plated skirts.” The old blacksmith’s eyes lit up. “How many of these shells do you have?”

“Fifty,” Huang Yunshuo replied, but he didn’t take out more from his pack, realizing he didn’t have extra copper coins for the crafting fee.

“Excellent! I can craft a piece of armor for you for free, using forty shells, but I’ll need the other ten as my payment. What do you think?” the old blacksmith asked eagerly.

Huang Yunshuo’s expression darkened. Ten shells as payment, and he still called it free? What kind of logic was that?

“Does it really take forty shells to make one piece? And what will its stats be?” Huang Yunshuo asked skeptically. Given his current high defense, he didn’t feel a strong need for even sturdier armor.

All he wanted now was a custom alloy battlesuit, one of the three pieces required to officially activate the Frost Hawk class—far more important by comparison.

“If I make a chestplate, it’ll have twelve defense,” the blacksmith replied honestly.

“Then that won’t be necessary,” Huang Yunshuo said at once. “Sir, do you know how to craft from special blueprints?”

He took out the alloy battlesuit blueprint for Frost Hawk and handed it over. The alloy suit, rocket launcher, and propulsion unit were all special equipment, so he’d been given not just the materials list but also simple blueprints.

“This is complicated—an integrated suit that protects the whole body, built in sections. You’ll need much more than just turtle shells—a lot of other materials, too.”

Huang Yunshuo frowned. Where would he find those other materials now? He was already level seven and would soon leave the novice village. He might as well wait until he reached the city to get the battlesuit made.

“So the turtle shells can only be used for those three armor pieces? What about smaller items, like bucklers?” he asked. He was already planning to get rid of the shells.

Though the armor made from these shells had good stats, his own were already sky-high, and he’d likely get better equipment later. Trading them for credit points was clearly the better deal.

“A buckler the size of your head, with three defense points, takes five turtle shells—one of which is my fee,” the blacksmith replied, smiling.

“Make me ten,” Huang Yunshuo said without hesitation, handing over all the shells.

A shield with three defense? Huang Yunshuo grinned.

The novice wooden shield only had one defense, was bulky, and broke easily—nowhere near as convenient as this buckler. Its small size made it easy to carry, and its high durability meant it could be repaired often without fear of it breaking by accident.

At the blacksmith’s rate—three pieces of armor with one stat for twenty copper coins—a buckler would go for around sixty copper coins. You’d have to kill twenty chicks to earn that, so its value was clear.

Charging into the level two monster zone, Huang Yunshuo, equipped with an iron shield, found that the stone turtle’s slowing effect was reduced by seventy percent. Now, a bite would slow him only by twenty percent, and since their attack couldn’t match his defense, he only suffered the forced minimum of one point of damage.

-19!
-18!
-8! (combo damage)
-20!

He cut through the stone turtles like a knife through butter. With his quick reflexes and thirty-six agility, he only gave each turtle a single chance to attack. From the moment he spotted to when he slew them, not more than ten seconds passed, and any lost health was quickly restored by his cloak.

At level seven, he only got a third of the experience for each stone turtle: three gave him fifteen experience. Fifty-five minutes later, his pack held two hundred turtle shells and his experience bar was two-thirds full toward level eight, just shy of level nine.

Looking back, it felt like a lot of experience had been wasted.

He took all the shells to the old blacksmith, shamelessly insisting on five extra bucklers, and the blacksmith relented. While waiting, Huang Yunshuo sat down and opened a chat with Ye Piaoxue, then the trading interface.

He put eight bucklers and a hundred copper coins into the trade window and hit send.

“Give them to Sister Yin, or hand them out one by one yourself—I’m too lazy to bother,” he messaged.

Even though Ye Piaoxue knew Huang Yunshuo was doing well, she was still startled by so many fine bucklers.

“These shields are really high quality. Maybe we shouldn’t take them? Why not sell them in your livestream?” she suggested, well aware of his tactics for selling gear and coins.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty. I made a killing this time.” Huang Yunshuo replied with a mysterious smile.

“When you log off, remember to sleep,” Ye Piaoxue reminded him, sending an emoji warning.

Huang Yunshuo clicked on That Night, That Year, That Sea’s avatar.

“Idiot has sent you a nudge.”

That Night, That Year, That Sea, in the midst of slaying chicks with her group, was startled and left the raid.

“Are you logging off soon?” she asked.

Huang Yunshuo could hear the lively sounds of monster hunting on her end. “Do you have a guild?”

“Yes, I found some members in the novice zone, and we’re leveling up together.”

Huang Yunshuo made a note of it—the guild seemed sizable. Even a guild with millions of members, divided among millions of novice villages, would barely have one person per village. From the noise on her end, she must have dozens of players with her.

Since every player entering the Second World was assigned randomly, it meant That Night, That Year, That Sea’s subordinates could number from a few to several dozen per village—making the total quite formidable.

“Eleven hundred copper coins, packaged for two hundred thousand credit points,” he said, keeping some coins for himself.

“So many?!” That Night, That Year, That Sea’s eyes widened in surprise, deeply curious how Huang Yunshuo managed it.

“Already level seven…” She checked his level, and a flash of fervor crossed her eyes as she clenched her fists.

“All right, let’s trade now.”

Seeing her straightforwardness, Huang Yunshuo was satisfied. “No rush, I have more good things—just hope you have enough credits.”

“What is it?” she asked, excitement in her voice.

“These bucklers—I’ll be giving some away in my stream at noon tomorrow. If you want to buy privately, name your price.” Huang Yunshuo placed a buckler in the window for her to inspect.

“Three defense, twenty durability! How many do you have?” she asked, her voice tinged with excitement.

“Name your price, and I’ll decide how many to sell you,” Huang Yunshuo replied. Her offer would determine how many he’d sell on stream tomorrow.

“Ten thousand credits each—I’ll take as many as you have!” she said without hesitation.

In their trade, copper coins were valued at 181 credits each. Each buckler was worth sixty copper coins, and with her offer of ten thousand credits per buckler, Huang Yunshuo wouldn’t be losing out.