The living room was familiar. Upon returning home, the first thing Li Ang did was scan his entire body to ensure he hadn't brought back any strange objects (like miniature surveillance equipment, seeds, or bacterial strains). Then, he let Miss Chai out to play with her cellphone.

Meanwhile, he rushed to the bathroom, stored his broken Bulletproof Vest in his backpack, and took a shower.

At the final stage of the mission, the Stone Nails created by William had successfully penetrated his Bulletproof Vest, leaving behind numerous deep, bone-deep wounds.

But under the effects of the Miniature Life Potion, these wounds healed instantly, leaving no trace of scars.

"This stuff seems pretty good for cosmetic use," Li Ang mused as he meticulously cleaned his entire body. "It's a pity there's only one bottle of Miniature Life Potion left."

After finishing the shower, Li Ang wrapped himself in a bathrobe, returned to the bedroom, lay on the bed with his eyes closed to recuperate, and started to calculate the gains and losses of the mission.

[Reward calculation in progress]

[Player's overall performance: S+, Game Coin and Experience Points increased to 160%]

[Mission Reward 1: Excellent-quality random item*1]

[Mission Reward 2: 300 Experience Points]

[Mission Reward 3: 600 Game Coins]

The difficulty of this mission lay in the fact that the Abnormal Organs, like the heart and limbs, were merely prerequisites. The real challenge was the Abnormal Embryo controlled by William, Li Ang thought.

He continued his silent assessment. The standard approach would have been to first clear all the Abnormal Organs in the above-ground structures, collect memories, and understand parts of the world-building. Then, go underground, find Mrs. Lesley's head, and gather enough information. After that, return to the surface, use esoteric knowledge to find the conduits William was using to extract power from the mansion, and cut off his Magic Power supply. One could even go a step further by introducing toxins into the conduits to disrupt the resurrection Ritual Track.

He thought about his teammates. Unfortunately, Forest Cat and Stonemason's grasp of esoteric knowledge was half-baked; they weren't capable of such advanced maneuvers.

This S+ evaluation, Li Ang mused, was primarily because I collected all memory fragments, achieved a comprehensive understanding of the world-building, and interrupted the resurrection Ritual Track early, taking down William.

His resurrection Ritual Track progressed over time, Li Ang considered. This means the earlier all clues were gathered, the world-building understood, and William found, the less advanced his resurrection would be, making him easier to eliminate.

He scratched his head. But... if he was this tough without being fully resurrected, how strong would he be if he had completed it? Just imagine those sky-blotting vines and countless Stone Spears... He'd be a walking terrain remodeler.

Forget it, Li Ang decided. Let's check the mission rewards first.

After the 1.6x multiplier, the Mechanism Mansion mission provided Li Ang with 480 Experience Points and 960 Game Currency.

His previous Experience Points were Lv11, with his Experience Bar at 1,033/1,100.

He chose to level up, becoming Lv12 with his Experience Bar at 413/1,200.

His Game Currency increased from 5,446 to 6,406.

Li Ang didn't use the free attribute point given after leveling up but waited for the harvest of this mission.

[Considering the player's overall performance, a new Trait has been triggered]

The System projected three images: one of Li Ang performing a Cricothyroid Membrane Puncture Surgery on Forest Cat with a Tactical Dagger; the second, Li Ang collecting Polyp Fragments from the lungs and Forest Cat's throat; and the third, Li Ang with intestines draped around his waist, pretending they were a belt.

[Organ Collector: +50 points to Sanity Value limit]

A new Trait triggered by collecting organs can also increase Sanity Value?

Li Ang rubbed his chin. Hmm... Although both were unconventional plays, I didn't trigger a Trait during the Misty Territory mission last time. I wonder how the System determines this.

Increasing the Sanity Value limit was undoubtedly a good thing. Not only could it extend the duration for using the Origin of Life, but it also prepared him for using items that consumed Sanity Value in the future.

The last item harvested was a piece of Excellent-quality random gear.

It's time for the much-anticipated unboxing segment!

Since it was guaranteed to be at least an Excellent-quality item, it couldn't be too bad. Rubbing his palms together, Li Ang closed his eyes, concentrated, and slowly clicked open the treasure chest.

Inside the chest was a cloak woven from some black animal fur, with a gold-edged collar. It resembled a traditional long cloak, though its hem was slightly shorter.

[Name: Dusk Cloak]

[Type: Armor]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Defensive Power: Medium]

[Special Effect 1: Silence of the Night. Passively enhances the user's stealth abilities in nighttime environments.]

[Special Effect 2: Moon Trim. Absorbs moonlight to repair the cloak and enhances the wearer's Self-healing Ability.]

[Consumption: None]

[Equipment Conditions: Physical Attributes must be at least 7 points.]

[Note: The night is deep, the wind is still, the water's surface smooth as silk. My little boat drifts from here, to spend a lifetime on river and sea.]

Li Ang stood up and took the cloak out of his inventory.

The cloak felt quite heavy. It was unclear what material it was made of, but it weighed almost as much as Metal Armor, a good twenty-plus kilograms—not that such a load was significant for players.

The black fur on the outside of the cloak was extremely soft and warm. Pressing a hand down could easily leave a handprint, which would disappear as soon as the hand was lifted.

Medium Defensive Power, huh, Li Ang muttered.

Muttering to himself, Li Ang stretched out his hands and gave the Black Cloak a tentative pull, finding that even with his 11-point Strength attribute, he couldn't tear it.

This sturdy?

Li Ang took the cloak to the Automated Pet Box and conducted various tests on it.

He found that the cloak was not only warm, soft, and well-fitting but also aesthetically pleasing (especially the gold trim around the collar—simply splendid).

Its Defensive Power was also quite good, easily deflecting close-range shots from small to medium-caliber bullets. With Ripple Energy enhancement, its Defensive Power could be boosted even further.

The only catch is that its two Special Effects require a nighttime environment to activate. Still, it can serve as a Bulletproof Vest during the day, Li Ang mused.

Li Ang was quite satisfied with the mission rewards. The Mechanism Mansion's objectives stated that an S Rank Completion Evaluation would grant an Excellent-quality random item, while A Rank and B Rank completions would only yield Rare or Ordinary-quality items.

Li Ang himself had achieved S+, but his teammates were likely not as fortunate—especially the unlucky Ur Wunnian and Dong Fengpo.

They had not only failed to personally retrieve any Abnormal Organs but also hadn't contributed significantly in the final battle against William.

However, according to a theory on the forums, the difficulty of System-issued missions increased over time and had little direct connection to player levels.

This meant that deliberately aiming for a lower mission completion evaluation to gain minimal experience, keep levels low, and acquire more reward items was completely ineffective. Instead, players attempting this would fall behind in attributes early in the game and be continuously overwhelmed by the escalating mission difficulty, eventually leading to their demise.

Striving for perfection in every mission, ensuring one's strength surpassed the mission's difficulty, was the key to survival.

Moreover... excelling in missions also brings many hidden benefits, Li Ang thought.

Li Ang quietly opened his inventory, browsing the various Organs arranged in the slots.

Heart, Lungs, Kidneys, Limbs, Embryo...

Li Ang had collected all the Organs originally required for the Ritual Track.

He didn't actually know what use these items had. For now, they were collected, and he figured he would take them to the Forging Furnace later to see if they could be crafted into any equipment.

Fortunately, he had cleared out his inventory earlier, moving some less-used items into the Magic Box or the Breeding Box, which had barely freed up enough inventory slots.

The more missions I complete, the more stuff I need to carry, Li Ang thought with a growing headache. I wonder if the System has any pay-to-win options, like increasing inventory slot limits or something.

Many settings in this "slaughter game" were still not user-friendly. If he were the game designer, he could easily come up with dozens, even hundreds, of microtransactions, aiming to squeeze every last Game Coin from the players.

After all, how could one possibly get stronger without spending money?