CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 69: DECEITFUL EQUIPMENT AND SUITABLES

"...Alright, then tell me, how can I get you to trust me?"

"First, take off your helmet and mask," Sun Hang said.

Without much hesitation, Ye Jiu did as Sun Hang said, removing the helmet and mask to reveal a handsome face.

His features were quite similar to Ye Xuan’s, making it apparent that Ye Xuan’s model for disguising as a man was likely her own brother.

However, Ye Jiu appeared very worn out, his face adorned with heavy dark circles, looking more like an overworked corporate slave.

This guy, could it be that wine and lust have hollowed him out? Sun Hang secretly thought to himself, continuing, "Also, tell me what deceitful equipment and adept candidate mean? These concepts I’ve never heard of before, so how can I be sure you’re not just making things up on the spot?"

"Border barbarians, it’s normal for them to be ignorant," Ye Jiu looked at Sun Hang with some disdain, "But I really didn’t expect your understanding of mysterious objects to be so lacking."

"Just one more word and I won’t return this saber to you," Sun Hang flicked the blade of "Frost Cutting," causing a humming sound to accompany the blade’s tremor.

"Don’t, don’t flick it!" Ye Jiu’s expression swiftly changed from disdain to pained, "I’ll tell you, won’t I?—The so-called deceitful equipment is actually akin to the ’exclusive weapons’ issued to mysterious creature hunters. However, deceitful equipment is entirely composed of mysterious objects, and the selection criteria for adept candidates are much stricter than for Hunters."

"Can non-infected also become adept candidates?"

"Yes, the primary condition to become an adept candidate is the synchronization rate between oneself and the deceitful equipment, 25% is considered qualified, 40% is excellent, and it has no direct relation to being infected or not," Ye Jiu explained.

"What about you? What’s your synchronization rate with this set of deceitful equipment?"

"53%, among the historical adept candidates of ’Killing,’ my synchronization rate ranks in the top three, therefore I can wield most of its power," Ye Jiu’s tone carried a hint of pride.

"Are all deceitful equipment self-type mysterious objects?"

"Most are, but not absolutely," Ye Jiu shook his head, "To my knowledge, there is an adept candidate codenamed ’Puppet Master,’ her deceitful equipment consists of several ’puppet corpses’ without self-awareness."

The concept of "puppet corpses" was not unfamiliar to Sun Hang, as Yang Qi had explained it to him when he just became a mysterious creature hunter.

"Puppet corpses" are one of the ultimate outcomes for human infected—aside from death, absorption by other mysterious objects, or transformation into a new mysterious object.

Puppet corpses lie between bodies and fully transformed infected, resembling zombie-like "living dead" seen in thriller genres, but unlike zombies, they aren’t infectious and retain part of their "life memory" and a small amount of self-awareness... as well as special abilities belonging to mysterious objects.

Puppet corpses are also a hunting target for mysterious creature hunters. Although they do not infect normal humans, their behavior completely follows biological instincts, potentially leading to vicious attacks on humans if left unattended.

"I’m still very curious, can ordinary people truly control mysterious objects?" Sun Hang scrutinized Ye Jiu skeptically, "What if you’re accidentally controlled by the mysterious object instead?"

"A synchronization rate that’s too low or too high is dangerous, but staying between 25% and 75% is relatively safe," Ye Jiu said, "Those with too low a synchronization rate aren’t qualified to become adept candidates, while no one has ever reached above 75%... the Federation’s research on deceitful equipment has exceeded a century, and instances of deceitful objects retaliating against adept candidates are few and far between."

"Few and far between, meaning not zero."

"But that’s just an extremely rare case," Ye Jiu stubbornly stated.

"Then how can you assure you’re not that unfortunate case?" Sun Hang toyed with the Tang Saber in his hand, "Since you think ’Night Slayer’ has a risk of losing control, should I also see you as a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment?"

"Are you questioning my capability?"

"I’m a bit curious, when using deceitful equipment, isn’t there any side effect?" Sun Hang asked.

Human contact with any mysterious object carries risks, including the possibility of infection by the deceit virus, along with various strange "side effects."

For example, the Christmas snow globe that enhances memory might cause users to develop hyperthymesia, and according to Sun Hang’s own experience, it also possesses a strong "addictive" quality... the feeling of having a clear mind was simply intoxicating.

"Of course, there are side effects, can you guess why this set of deceitful equipment is called ’Killing’?"

"Use it too much and become a crazed mass murderer?"

"Pretty much," Ye Jiu nodded, "This deceitful equipment originates from the Golden Age of Tang’s Mysterious Armor Brave Cavalry, its first owner was a Ye-named Captain who single-handedly killed hundreds of Wolf Fang Army during the Anshi Rebellion, dying of exhaustion afterward. Since then, anyone wearing this armor gets infected by its strong killing aura, losing themselves in constant slaughter and becoming a complete killing machine."

"How did you solve this problem?"

"The first ten adept candidates relied on psychological suggestions, hypnosis, physical stimulation, and other means to prevent their brains from being completely overtaken by murderous intent, but in my view, their approach only treats the symptoms rather than the root cause," Ye Jiu said.

"So your method is...?"

"Playing video games," Ye Jiu responded calmly.

"Huh?" Sun Hang was slightly stunned, almost thinking he’d heard wrong.

"In virtual games, I casually become the fourth apocalypse, annihilating tens of billions of people—I use orbital bombardments to wipe out an entire civilization, destroy entire planets with star-annihilating weapons, and turn alien intelligent species into canned goods for sale... Once I get used to these playstyles, slaughtering in the real world, even if it’s hundreds or thousands, feels flavorless to me," Ye Jiu shrugged, saying.

"It sounds... kind of reasonable," Sun Hang nodded in agreement.

He suddenly thought that this method might be worth trying for himself.

Just as Sun Hang wanted to ask something more, an extremely powerful mysterious object aura suddenly surged from underground!

"Quick, get out of the way! Something is approaching!" Ye Jiu shouted at him, "I can sense it, it’s a very strong mysterious object!"

In the gap between Ye Jiu’s words, Sun Hang had already leaped using mycelium to the top of the giant "M" logo of the Golden Arches Restaurant, staring cautiously at the road below.

Sun Hang instinctively swallowed a gulp.

Not out of fear, nor out of tension, but out of that intense craving for tempting food...

This was an unprecedentedly lavish feast, but being so lavish also meant... it might choke the "feaster" to death.