Liu Zhenghong was only slightly surprised by Ye Zhongming’s sudden return, but she quickly guessed his intentions.
“Little Ye, you didn’t think that transferring space genes into life eggs would be as easy as I made it sound, did you?”
Ye Zhongming was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t really considered this issue and had instinctively assumed it would be a straightforward process.
“If you want more, you’ll have to wait. I estimate that I can give you five more eggs in five days.”
Ye Zhongming felt slightly disappointed, but he also knew that science couldn’t be rushed. Liu Zhenghong had already done an excellent job.
Just as Ye Zhongming was about to leave, Liu Zhenghong stopped him. After hesitating momentarily, she said, “To implant space genes into suitable life eggs, the eggs need to undergo a special treatment. We don’t have ordinary eggs available now, but one of the level-nine life eggs you brought back has already been treated. Do you… want to use it?”
After saying this, as if reluctant to part with it, Liu Zhenghong quickly added, “But you should think carefully. After all, there’s a chance of failure in crafting. If that egg stays in my lab, even though it’s just an experimental subject, the likelihood of achieving significant results is high. At the very least, based on my preliminary research over the past few days, I’m confident that we can hatch it. Cloud Peak will definitely gain a few level-nine lifeform offspring.”
Ye Zhongming was torn.
He wasn’t confident that he could successfully craft something with this egg, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure whether a level-nine offspring would be more beneficial to Cloud Peak or if a space equipment piece would be more valuable. After all, there were too many uncertainties during the growth process of a level-nine offspring—it could die in battle or fail to reach level nine.
After careful consideration, he finally decided to take the egg.
As a smith, a top-tier craftsman, how could he give up crafting out of fear of failure? That would be ridiculous.
Ye Zhongming adjusted his mindset, smiled, and took the level-nine life egg with him. Liu Zhenghong glared at him from behind but then smiled as well.
This was how a leader, especially a leader in the apocalypse, should be!
Take what you need, use what you have, and be selfish when necessary!
In fact, Liu Zhenghong thought that if Ye Zhongming were more ruthless, Cloud Peak would have already become a true war machine.
But simultaneously, she admitted that she preferred following someone like Ye Zhongming. No matter how strong she was, she was still just one person. The feeling of having a strong shelter to rely on without fear of betrayal was something she cherished.
Ye Zhongming took out the egg in his room and shook his head slightly.
These level-nine materials had been handed over to Liu Zhenghong for research before being returned to him for crafting. Due to the low success rate, Ye Zhongming felt that materials of this level were still too scarce.
He couldn’t help but entertain a thought.
Should Cloud Peak start attempting to hunt level-nine lifeforms?
Once this idea took root, it became hard to suppress. In his mind, Ye Zhongming recalled the presence of a certain level-nine lifeform. Perhaps that one would be a suitable target for Cloud Peak.
Setting aside these thoughts, Ye Zhongming pondered for a while and decided to continue crafting accessories. As for whether space genes were only compatible with accessories or not, he would figure that out later.
This time, Ye Zhongming chose to craft a jade pendant, one for which he had a blueprint.
Originally, this was a blueprint for a piece of green-grade equipment called the Dust Sand Pendant. Once crafted, it would grant three abilities: increased speed when walking on sand, a sandstorm attack (a ranged skill with low damage but a unique cooldown mechanism—the first five uses had a one-minute cooldown, but after the fifth use, it entered a five-day cooldown period), and the ability to condense sand into a tower.
After performing a sandstorm attack, if enough sand remained on the ground, it would automatically form a sand tower that launched solid sandballs at enemies. After ten shots, the tower would explode, scattering multiple sandballs in a ranged attack.
Among green-grade equipment, the Dust Sand Pendant didn’t have many skills, but they were practical. However, due to its overall low attack power and the relatively high cost of materials, Ye Zhongming didn’t mass-produce it. He had only crafted a few for those who needed them.
But this was one of the few accessory blueprints he had that was relatively high-grade.
Ye Zhongming didn’t start crafting immediately. Instead, he made a regular pendant to familiarize himself with the process. Only then did he begin the formal process of embedding the level-nine life egg with space genes into the pendant.
The entire process was far less difficult than Ye Zhongming had imagined. It felt almost effortless, as if everything fell into place naturally. After embedding the egg, the modified pendant showed no instability, making Ye Zhongming wonder if accessories were inherently compatible with genetic lifeforms.
At the same time, the process took a while, and Ye Zhongming’s mental energy was significantly drained. But in his eyes, this was a good sign—it matched the status of level-nine materials.
At one point, the entire room was bathed in golden light, spilling through the windows. Those outside could tell that the boss was crafting equipment, and it seemed to be a gold-grade piece.
Indeed, Ye Zhongming now held a gold-grade jade pendant in his hands.
“Unhindered Dust Sand Pendant.”
This was the name of the equipment. With just a glance, Ye Zhongming knew that the space genes had successfully left their mark on it.
Looking at its abilities, Ye Zhongming’s face lit up with joy.
The first ability, which originally only increased speed when walking on sand, now had some characteristics of Phase Shift, though the teleportation distance was only one meter. Each teleportation had a ten-second cooldown, and after ten uses, it would enter a five-day cooldown period.
The second ability had changed significantly. Originally, the sandstorm attack was a large-area attack that started in front of the wearer. Now, it was launched one meter in front of the target. Since it was an area attack, it was almost impossible to dodge at such close range.
Moreover, this attack could now only be used once per day. When activated, it would move back and forth over the target’s area peculiarly, with each directional change starting one meter in front of the target.
It relentlessly attacked the target, no matter how they moved or dodged!
Ye Zhongming wasn’t sure about the exact power of the attack, but given that it was now gold-grade equipment, it should be formidable.
The third ability was somewhat complementary to the second ability. The sand tower would appear randomly when the second ability was activated, attack once, and then disappear. It would reappear randomly, repeating this process ten times. Finally, five sand towers would appear around the target, all exploding into sandballs for a ranged attack!