Bale: I'm Finally Standing Up

After taking the list from Liu Xuan, he prepared to pay a visit to the leatherworker first.

Zhang Meng went with him, since they still had some unfinished business to discuss.

“Fourth matter.”

“.....”

“While clearing out the city, we discovered quite a few places that had been locked up. The noble district in particular—almost every household has a secret chamber. Most of them had already been ransacked, but even inside the ones that were looted, there are still some locked chests.”

Liu Xuan remembered the Orenburg Master Key in his bag. So that was what it was for.

There should be plenty of good stuff in the noble district’s secret chambers and treasure chests, right?

“Leave this to me.”

“You have a way to deal with it? All right, then. But wait until the defensive battle is over before handling it. You need to hurry out of the city and spread that aura. Everyone’s waiting to level up.”

As they discussed matters, the two arrived at the leatherworker’s shop and met the senior leatherworker.

He appeared to be a man in his sixties. When Liu Xuan and Zhang Meng arrived, he was hunched over a workbench, concentrating on crafting equipment.

Zhang Meng introduced them. “This is Old Zhuang, Zhuang Changxu. When we were looking for people to switch to life professions, he had the most outstanding talent among the volunteers, and his proficiency rose the fastest. Old Zhuang, I’m here. This is Liu Xuan.”

When Zhuang Changxu saw the two enter, and realized that one of them was the Liu Xuan he had only heard about, he quickly put down his tools and came over to greet them.

“Hello, hello.”

Liu Xuan greeted him as well, secretly thinking, So that’s why he didn’t want to fight. He’s already in his sixties. He probably didn’t come here of his own free will in the first place.

Being forcibly dragged onto the battlefield must have been quite helpless.

As soon as they met, Zhuang Changxu repeatedly thanked him. Clearly, he knew who had provided the money he had spent to become a senior leatherworker.

“Um, thank you so much. I really don’t know how to fight monsters. When I saw those mad dogs at the farm, my legs went weak. Fortunately, Brother Zhang arranged for people to escort me. Now that I can be... what was it called? A life-profession player, I suppose I can at least make a modest contribution.”

Liu Xuan smiled. “It’s nothing. Everyone has a different role to play, but we’ve all made our own contributions. Today, I happen to have something I need to trouble you with, Uncle Zhuang.”

Zhuang Changxu hurriedly replied, “Just tell me what you need. I’ll definitely do it.”

Liu Xuan took out several pieces of Monster Salamander Hide. “I’d like to use these hides to make some backpacks. Is that possible?”

Zhuang Changxu took the hides and examined them. “It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve made plenty of different kinds of bags over the past two days, and crafting items from the same category can increase proficiency. The Salamander Backpack only requires learning the blueprint. Once I’ve done that, I can start right away. Since it’s my first time making them, though, I may not be able to produce the highest quality.”

“That’s fine. Just make them.”

What Liu Xuan valued was the automatic-pickup effect.

As for the backpack space, losing a few slots here or there was no big deal.

“Got it!”

Zhuang Changxu immediately went to find Parker and learned the blueprint for the Salamander Backpack. After returning, he placed one of the hides on the workbench and began cutting it with intense concentration.

Liu Xuan asked from the side, “How long does it take to make one?”

“Just a few minutes.”

That was pretty fast. Liu Xuan simply decided to wait there until they were all finished.

While he waited, he suddenly noticed through the Insight Eye that there was a buff with a star icon in Zhuang Changxu’s status bar. It was called Star Aspirant.

Effect: +100 maximum health.

“Could this buff be the effect of Sun and Moon’s Star?”

Apparently, meeting the title’s requirement of “sincere reverence” was not easy.

Liu Xuan glanced at Zhang Meng beside him. That guy didn’t have it.

You’re not even willing to call me godfather!

So merely having a good relationship wasn’t enough. The person had to truly “revere” him.

Before long, Zhuang Changxu stood up, interrupting Liu Xuan’s thoughts.

A translucent white backpack had taken shape in his hands. Zhuang Changxu shook his head regretfully. “It’s my first time making one, so it only has twenty-eight slots. What a pity.”

“Twenty-eight slots is already pretty good.”

The backpack’s maximum capacity was thirty slots. For Zhuang Changxu to make one with twenty-eight on his first attempt was beyond Liu Xuan’s expectations. He had assumed it would have only the minimum of twenty-five.

No wonder they said Old Zhuang had such remarkable talent.

The next few backpacks were completed in quick succession. Zhuang Changxu didn’t make another mistake, and each one had exactly thirty slots.

Four hides, four backpacks—for a total of 118 slots.

Including the twenty slots provided at the start, Liu Xuan now had 138 slots, which was already a considerable amount.

After all, most materials could be stacked, and equipment was what mainly took up space.

Besides, the Salamander Backpack came with two special effects.

Effect One: Grants the ability to breathe underwater.

Effect Two: Automatically picks up drops within a radius of five meters. The range stacks with each backpack equipped.

Picking things up would be much more convenient from now on.

After thanking Uncle Zhuang, Liu Xuan left the shop and was about to deal with the clues on the list.

Suddenly, he spotted someone extremely familiar on the street.

The man was wearing a set of battered armor and leading a huge white dog taller than a person, attracting the attention of quite a few onlookers.

Well, wasn’t that Bell?

The last time they met, he had said he was going to look for a mount. Had he already found one?

After checking Bell’s level, Liu Xuan saw that he was level eighteen—he had improved quite a bit. He was more or less keeping pace with the warriors in their group.

Liu Xuan walked over and greeted him. “Bell, what are you doing here?”

Bell turned around. When he saw Liu Xuan, his face lit up with delight. “Warrior, it’s you! I heard that a lot of survivors had gathered here, so I came over to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

Liu Xuan glanced at the enormous white dog beside him. “Is this the mount you found? Not bad.”

He wasn’t merely being polite. The dog really did look quite formidable.

Whenever he talked about his mount, Bell couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“Yes. I went through a lot to get it. After we parted ways at that muddy little village, I couldn’t stop thinking about where I could find a mount. Then I accidentally fell into a river. The current carried me to a strange place—a room that was glowing. There were nine doors inside. I couldn’t push open the first eight, but I never expected the last one to open as soon as I touched it.”

Bell’s face was glowing with happiness. “I think Bread and I were simply meant to be together. Oh, Bread is the name I gave this dog. Don’t underestimate it just because of its name. Bread is actually very powerful.”

Liu Xuan: Is it possible that the ones behind the first eight doors were even more powerful...?

He hadn’t expected Bell to have such an adventure. It even made him want to go take a look.

“Do you remember where that place was?”

“Not really. After I pushed open the door, there was only a ball of light inside. The moment I touched it, I was immediately teleported somewhere far away. Bread appeared beside me afterward.”

Liu Xuan was only slightly disappointed. After all, he had no idea what was behind the first eight doors either.

Maybe every door contained a dog?

It couldn’t possibly be a dragon, could it?