The pig and the dog lived together, and Mike casually tossed the cat in as well.
After all, they were all animals.
“Keep the ore production steady, but prioritize higher-tier materials,” Mike instructed, changing the initial production plan.
Humanity had just finished a major battle, and the demand for ore would plummet to rock bottom.
Moreover, this time, humanity had reaped significant rewards from conquering the three major Abyssal Planes, including a substantial amount of ore.
In other words, the price of ore would continue to drop in the foreseeable future, making it less profitable.
More importantly, Ares had been ‘persuading’ a master smith from the demon race for some time.
After this major battle between the two races, that master smith would surely come around. Mike wanted to forge SSS-grade equipment for himself, and high-tier ore was essential. Besides the Mysterious Mine, Mike’s private space now included a Mushroom Forest.
Previously, to avoid any mishaps, the Mushroom Forest was off-limits for exploration. Now that Mike had some free time, developing the Mushroom Forest was naturally on the agenda.
“I’ve drawn a simple map of the Mushroom Forest.”
With that, Mike handed a map with 99.999% accuracy to Teemo and instructed, “Today, bring back the S-grade resources marked on the map. Ride this pig and take the other vampires with you.”
“Consider it done!”
Teemo stood up straight, but he was only slightly taller than Pig Vladimir.
The castle’s vampires, with their unlimited resurrection ability, were perfect for exploration.
With Pig Vladimir around, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble.
Teemo, Pig Vladimir, and the infinitely resurrecting vampires made the S-grade resource points a breeze; it would just take some time.
After assigning the tasks, everyone went to work with high spirits.
The initial investment had already paid off, and Mike’s generous rewards made him well- loved by the werewolves and miners.
As for the vampires?
The words “love” and “admire” weren’t in their vocabulary; only “fear” was.
They feared power, not virtue.
The more Mike punished Vladimir, the more loyal the vampires became.
Putting aside the matters of the private space, Mike now had time to sort through the spoils of this battle.
In terms of loot, Mike had gained a lot, most of it collected by Shadow Seven and then passed on to him.
Altogether, the loot was worth over 1000 Battle Lord merits!
However, Mike wouldn’t sell these items.
If he could use them, he would.
If not, he’d keep them as mementos.
One-third of the Fourth Demon God was technically Mike’s loot as well.
But he had given it to Maxen to express his gratitude for covering the Wolf’s Den bill.
Besides these spoils, there were also returns on Mike’s earlier investments.
Fifty thousand [Wind’s Reach] skill books had earned him one-third of humanity’s gains from this battle.
The Mystic Market was already calculating this income, and the results would be available
soon.
Once Mike received today’s SSSS rating, he would likely get this huge sum.
Mike couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.
Three major Abyssal Planes, three demon gods defeated-he was probably not far from becoming Earth’s richest man!
“And this!”
Mike held a hammer in his hand-Thunderclap Hammer!
The Thunderclap Hammer had residual will attached to it. Completing the residual will would unlock a stronger state.
In the previous battle, Mike had used the Thunderclap Hammer to slay a Battle Chief-tier demon creature, fulfilling the first residual will!
**Equipment: Thunderclap Hammer (Lv.108)**
**Tier: SS**
**Attributes: Strength +1620, Constitution +810**
**Physical Attack: 3600**
**Perks:**
– **[Armor Penetration]:** The first physical damage dealt to an enemy ignores Physical Defense. The same target will only suffer Armor Penetration damage once every 6 hours.
– **[Everlasting]:** Durability always remains at 100%, never taking damage.
– **[Wrath of the God]:** When fighting with the Thunderclap Hammer, enemies within a 500-meter radius have all attributes reduced by 8%. The user’s attributes increase by 1%-20%, depending on the number of affected enemies, reaching a maximum of 20% when affecting 100 enemies.
– **[Providence]:** When the Thunderclap Hammer is the only weapon equipped, its attributes are doubled.
– **[Residual Will]:** Use this weapon to sever the main weapon of a Battle Chief-tier
demon creature.
**Residual Wills to Fulfill: 8**
**Residual Wills Fulfilled: 1**
In addition to the previously enhanced perks, a new perk, [Providence], had been added.
Triggering [Providence] would increase the Thunderclap Hammer’s Strength attribute by 3240 and Constitution by 1620.
Moreover, [Providence] would enhance [Wrath of the God], turning the 20% attribute boost
into 40%!
Clearly, among SS-tier equipment, the Thunderclap Hammer was top-tier.
When Mike left the Forest of Truth, he had taken two pieces of equipment.
The Battle Damaged Version of Nightmare’s Breeze and the Thunderclap Hammer.
Strictly speaking, the Thunderclap Hammer was the strongest piece of equipment in the Forest of Truth, absolutely overpowered.
Repairing the Battle Damaged Version of Nightmare’s Breeze would cost enough to forge a new SSS-tier piece of equipment!
Only someone with Mike’s resources, owning two mines, could afford such extravagance.
Mike didn’t spend much time studying it and put the unsealed Thunderclap Hammer away
again.
His task today was to achieve SSSS ratings in three instances.
The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth levels of the Tower of Truth were interconnected.
To get an SSSS rating, he had to clear them all in one go.
The eighteenth level’s instance was related to the thirteenth level, and Mike probably
wouldn’t have time to tackle it today.
Time was tight, and the task was heavy.
Mike took out the map of the fifteenth level and began studying it.
“Sailing?”
Looking at the map’s information, more prompts appeared before Mike’s eyes,
[In this instance, you will be the captain of a ship, leading your crew across the sea.]
[You can transport goods along fixed routes, fly the pirate flag to plunder, or search for the
legend of the mermaids.]
[Protect your crew and collect more treasures to increase your Exploration Rate.]
[The sea will randomly generate various events and storms.]
[The enchanting sea is full of the unknown and mystery.]
With the [Eye of Truth], Mike essentially had the ultimate navigation tool.
Unknown and mysterious?
For Mike, that posed no challenge at all.
When the Tower of Truth first appeared, many people treated it like an online game.
Some levels were indeed instances, full of fun.
The fifteenth level was one such place.
Many people, even after conquering it, would return to the fifteenth level from time to time
to relive the experience of being a captain, sailing the blue seas.
Following the [Eye of Truth]’s guidance, Mike prepared the necessary materials and left his
private space.
In the Core City of Truth, he summoned the core crystal of truth.
Although he had only been away from the crystal for a day, it felt like a year had passed.
The major battle had been incredibly intense.
Of course, the most intense part was the time Mike spent with Apollo.
“Choose the level you wish to go to.”
“Fifteenth level!”
Placing his hand on the crystal, Mike pursed his lips, unable to hide his excitement.
“Tower of Truth, I’m back!”
A familiar prompt sounded in Mike’s ear,
“Wishing you an early conquest of the Tower of Truth!”