Book 7: Chapter 62: Trade

Release Date: 2026-05-19 11:22:45

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“A pity, I can’t use this thing!” After a long silence, Hansen said with some difficulty.

The Disciple’s combat class was called Viking Warrior, with a skill system geared towards weapon mastery, focusing on becoming proficient with all common melee weapons. The “Big Bang Impact” belonged to the unarmed martial arts category and did not fit his skill system.

However, an A-rank skill was exceptionally powerful after all, capable of serving as a trump card. Hansen’s ability to resist this temptation showed his strong willpower and commitment to his chosen path.

Qin Lun had originally planned for Frank to learn the “Big Bang Impact,” circulating this A-rank skill internally. But on one hand, considering the next Quest World might be a highly dangerous Mid-Magic World, he needed to strengthen himself as much as possible.

On the other hand, Qin Lun had reconsidered during the time he possessed the “Big Bang Impact” whether it was truly suitable for the Hunchbacked Servant.

The “Big Bang Impact” was an A- rank skill, and the higher the skill rank, the stricter the requirements for Apostles became. Even if given to Frank, he wouldn’t know when he’d actually be able to use it.

Just like Qin Lun’s own Clock Eye and Tree World Descent: the former, at the B-rank skill stage, could only use three clock hands, and only upon reaching A-rank did it unlock an offensive ability like “Stellar Black Hole.” As for the A+ rank Tree World Descent, not only was it sealed, but even without the seal, attempting to use it without meeting its requirements wasn’t just impossible, it was life-threatening.

Furthermore, as Qin Lun became more familiar with using Nen Ability, he vaguely sensed that Frank’s Law Body might reject this Nen Ability skill. The reason was simple: Nen Ability was, in essence, Life Energy, whereas Frank’s bloodline was that of an elementary Necro.

Could an undead entity truly learn a martial art based on Life Energy, whose power depended precisely on the abundance of that Life Energy? Analyzing it this way, Qin Lun realized his initial idea had been overly simplistic. If the Hunchbacked Servant used the “Big Bang Impact” skill scroll, it would most likely be beyond his capability to handle.

Qin Lun’s reason for bringing out the “Big Bang Impact” scroll in this setting actually had only one target: Clown Grant. Grant possessed the Parasitic Virus Bloodline. Though an equally bizarre bloodline, it had one extremely obvious characteristic: incredible resistance to damage and powerful regenerative abilities.

In other words, the Parasitic Virus Bloodline’s greatest advantage was the extremely abundant and active Life Energy it generated, potentially making it even better suited for the Nen Ability system than a human bloodline.

Actually, Qin Lun was unaware that this judgment was remarkably accurate. The Hunter World he had just visited would soon experience a biological catastrophe that threatened the entire world.

An alien Chimera Queen, through consuming humans, gave birth to a powerful army of humanoid ants. Not long after, when these humanoid ants learned Nen Ability, people discovered, almost overnight, that these newly initiated ants surpassed the strength of numerous Nen Ability masters who had trained for decades.

This wasn’t because the ants were smarter than humans—their intelligence fundamentally stemmed from the humans consumed by the Queen. Rather, it was because the ants’ physical constitution far exceeded that of humans, and their bodies brimmed with vastly more Life Energy. This was why they surpassed their original human teachers in strength almost immediately upon learning Nen Ability.

“Name your price, whatever you want! Except for my mask, anything else is yours!” It had to be said that these Serial Killers had sharp instincts. After listening to Qin Lun’s explanation about the Nen Ability system, Grant immediately grasped the immense significance the “Big Bang Impact” held for him.

Clown Grant’s career class was called Colony Master. He could use his own parasitic viruses to form an exoskeletal colony armor and various bone blades and spikes. Coupled with the “Joker’s Gift” skill of his Human Skin Mask, his close-combat prowess was formidable.

In this regard, even The Disciple, Hansen, dared not engage him in close combat while “Joker’s Gift” was active—doing so would be pure self-torture.

However, Grant’s weakness was also glaringly obvious. The Human Skin Mask, a Life-Taking Relic at the Thousand-Kill Slayer quality, had slowed down its advancement speed. After all, reaching Ten Thousand Slayer wasn’t something easily achieved.

The activation time of “Joker’s Gift” remained very brief, making Grant’s combat capability highly unstable. During its short burst, he could unleash power that surpassed his rank, but once the “Joker’s Gift” effect expired, his offensive options became extremely limited and monotonous.

Although the Colony Master class was an MT (Main Tank) profession, Grant could never resign himself to being purely defensive. That would only invite contempt from his Serial Killer comrades. Thinking this through, the importance of the “Big Bang Impact” scroll became paramount.

For Grant, this wasn’t just an A-rank skill. If he could master the “Big Bang Impact” completely, it would likely allow him to develop an entire lineage of Nen Ability martial arts techniques. Just like Qin Lun’s “Clock Eye,” which served both reconnaissance support and could simulate martial techniques, developing offensive skills like “Stellar Black Hole,” evolving from a single skill into a comprehensive Eye Technique system.

The “Big Bang Impact” was not only immensely powerful. Because it was based on the Apostle’s own Law Body, its adaptability was broad, certainly more versatile than pure magic skills across various foreign worlds. In this aspect, its value even surpassed that of “Tree World Descent.”

Having grasped these points, Grant straightforwardly abandoned any haggling. He shamelessly hogged the entire Projector screen, adopting an attitude that said he didn’t care about any consequences. Essentially, he signaled: This thing is mine, brother! As for the payment? Well, this is all I’ve got, so take it or leave it!

Seeing Grant act so shifty, a sharp glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes.

The Clown definitely had good items, but Grant believed that since their combat professions were entirely different, items other than the Human Skin Mask might not suit Qin Lun. Offering him free choice was really just an attempt to secure a better deal for himself.

But the Clown had forgotten one thing: that Qin Lun wouldn’t have offered the “Big Bang Impact” unless he had already decided exactly what he wanted to trade for.

“Ahem, are you sure?” Qin Lun lowered his head for a round of coughing, masking the smile playing on his lips. “Alright then. I want… your medal!”

“What medal?” Grant was momentarily stunned, asking uncertainly, “You don’t mean the Iron Cross Medal, do you?”

“Exactly, your First Class Iron Cross!” Qin Lun nodded, his expression entirely innocent.

Grant felt a surge of frustration rise within him. His face turned green then white. Unable to contain himself, he roared at the Projector screen: “Don’t you have one yourself?!”

Grant and Qin Lun had once cooperated in a World War II World. They had served as German Army superhumans, earning military merits during the war.

Qin Lun had possessed a Plot Character – the legendary sniper Captain Gerthard, already highly decorated. Building on this, he had obtained the Sub-Legendary item – the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Grant, possessing a lesser-ranked Plot Character, had only obtained the First Class Iron Cross.

When discussing the trade earlier, Grant hadn’t remembered the Iron Cross Medal because he assumed Qin Lun, already possessing the superior Knight’s Cross, wouldn’t be interested in the lesser First Class.

The problem was, Qin Lun no longer had the Knight’s Cross. Back in the Nals World, Forest Goddess Anna Artemis had taken advantage of his situation and seized it.

Since Qin Lun’s interaction with Anna Artemis had been telepathic, he had never mentioned the loss of the Knight’s Cross to Hill or Hansen afterward. Consequently, no one knew he had been missing a Sub-Legendary medal.

The Iron Cross Medal possessed two powerful passive abilities: “Honor Aura” and “Iron Will”!

The former increased overall physical attributes (excluding equipment bonuses) by 10%, based on the Apostle’s Law Body, and enhanced the power of one active skill randomly during combat.

The latter allowed the Apostle to resist or partially negate certain mental control skills (effectiveness based on the user’s Perception and the skill’s rank level).

Qin Lun’s Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross had also had two additional sealed skills. He never discovered what they were before losing this Sub-Legendary item, but that didn’t lessen his value for and nostalgia towards the Iron Cross Medals.

Back when Qin Lun first got the Knight’s Cross, he hadn’t undergone his Class Change yet. His Law Body attributes were weak. A 10% increase across his Explosive Power, Agility, Constitution, and Perception only amounted to about seven or eight attribute points at best.

But now, everything was different. His Elf Bloodline had evolved; combined with the Class Change enhancement and gains from subsequent Quest Worlds, the old quartet of physical attributes added up to nearly 200 points even excluding the recently added Mental Consciousness and Protection attributes. Ten percent of that would be a significant increase, roughly 20 points!

“Mine is lost!” Qin Lun blinked slowly and began recounting the events of the Nals World.

“So, you set your sights on my Iron Cross Medal!” Grant forcibly swallowed his anger. Yet, upon recalling the immense value of the “Big Bang Impact,” he couldn’t help but slump, disheartened. “Can’t… can’t we trade for something else?”

“Certainly,” Qin Lun said calmly, radiating unflappability, “as long as you have an equivalent item that I can use. Otherwise, I’d rather hold onto the ‘Big Bang Impact’ and trade it later!”

He wasn’t worried at all about being stuck with the “Big Bang Impact,” unable to sell it. Trading with his allies was good, but not if it meant he personally took a loss.

“Fine…” Grant weighed the options back and forth before ultimately wilting down like a frost-beaten plant and agreeing to the trade.

However, Qin Lun wasn’t about to let him off that easily. The young man felt the trade still disadvantaged him and demanded Grant throw in something extra.

“No! The value of the Iron Cross Medal is no less than the ‘Big Bang Impact’! I absolutely will not add anything else!” This time, Grant’s stance was adamant. He rolled his eyes dramatically and projected an image of his medal onto the screen. “Did you think that after all this time, I hadn’t upgraded my Iron Cross First Class?”

Qin Lun’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw the First Class Iron Cross on the projection. This medal, previously just a purple-gold quality item, had been advanced by Grant to Sub-Legendary status!

While it didn’t possess the two sealed skills of the Knight’s Cross, the original second-tier Honor Aura had been upgraded to first-tier, boosting the attribute increase from 10% to 15%. Furthermore, the “Iron Will” passive ability, which had only resisted some mental controls, now also offered partial resistance against physical control effects like Stuns, Knockouts, and Paralysis.

“Deal!” Qin Lun ignored Grant’s resentful glare and finalized the transaction on the spot.

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