Apocalypse: I Can See the HP Bar, Killing Monsters Drops Loot

So in total, the Sixth Legion must pay out 2.1 million to settle the matter. Although this sum might not seem too high, for the Sixth Legion, it was a significant expenditure, as they were the poorest among the legions. Furthermore, most of their assets were tied up in weapon equipment; they did not have much cash on hand. Most importantly, they had previously spent a considerable amount of money on opening meteors! Though the meteors were obtained for free, the cost to release the Crystal Cores from them was quite literal. Additionally, the Sixth Legion had suffered some minor losses in their meteor ventures… Therefore, Cheng Yiyi was contemplating whether the debt owed to Wang Tao could be settled with meteors instead. "The current selling price for a fourth-order meteor depends on the value of the Crystal Core required to open it. We assume that a meteor of the same level is opened with a Crystal Core of the same level…" Cheng Yiyi went on to explain the pricing of meteors. It is commonly accepted that Ordinary Crystal Cores open Ordinary Meteors, and Epic Crystal Cores open Epic Meteors. The price of a meteor is equal to the price of the Crystal Core used to open it. That means, to open a Level 4 Ordinary Meteor, two Tier-4 White Crystal Cores are needed, and if these two White Crystal Cores are valued at 2,000, then the meteor's price is also 2,000. A Tier 4 Epic Meteor requires ten Orange Crystal Cores to open, and if these ten Orange Crystal Cores are worth 50,000, then the meteor's price is also 50,000! The gap between these prices is quite absurd. However, this pricing was not set randomly but was derived from countless people's bloodied experiences. Inexpensive meteors almost always result in losses, even when using Orange Crystal Cores to open them, such as Wang Tao's record of summoning an Iron Beetle from an Ordinary Meteor, which remains unsurpassed to this day. Whereas with expensive meteors, even if they result in losses, they won't be as severe, allowing for some recoupment of HP. So, the price for a fourth-order White Meteor is 2,000, a Blue Meteor is 8,000, a Purple Meteor is 18,000, a Red Meteor is 24,000, and an Orange Meteor is 50,000… Of course, these are standard prices. In actual trading, these figures can fluctuate—the smaller and uglier the meteor, the cheaper it is; the larger and more aesthetically pleasing, the more expensive. This is a sort of mystique associated with meteor opening. As for the price of Level 5 Meteors, it is naturally lower than the standard price, even halved in some cases. Currently, since there are no Level 5 Crystal Cores, the prices for meteors are significantly discounted… Cheng Yiyi owes Wang Tao 1.14 million, of which 600,000 is from fourth-order meteors, a total of 30 pieces, comprising 6 Epic Meteors and 24 Superior Meteors. The remaining 540,000 is from Level 5 Meteors, in total 5 pieces, exactly one of each quality. It must be said, Cheng Yiyi has offered meteors of quite high quality. However, such high-quality meteors consume more resources to open, and Wang Tao has a preference for using Epic Crystal Cores for meteors of any quality… Wang Tao quickly calculated that if he wanted to open all the fourth-order meteors given by Cheng Yiyi, he would need over two hundred and fifty Tier 4 Epic Crystal Cores. Converted to Crystal Coins, that would be around 1.23 million! "..." He had managed to save up only 1 million. Was he supposed to give all of that away? "Mr. Wang, are you satisfied with these meteors?" Cheng Yiyi looked at Wang Tao and asked. "Satisfied! Very satisfied!" Wang Tao nodded with a smile. Seeing that he seemed genuinely pleased and not just offering a polite response, Cheng Yiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although these meteors were valued at this price, they were not easy to sell. If Wang Tao didn't take them, she would have to find a way to sell these meteors, which would be rather troublesome. It saved her a lot of hassle that Wang Tao was satisfied. As for the idea of keeping the meteors to open them herself… she swore, she would never open another meteor again! Just thinking about it brought tears! After personally delivering the meteors to Wang Tao, Cheng Yiyi didn't leave but chatted with him about various topics. Suddenly, as though remembering something, she blurted out: "Oh, I heard that Mr. Wang has brought back a few fourth-order serpentine monsters? Is that true?" Wang Tao knew Cheng Yiyi would not come over in person without asking about the fourth-order Black Snakes. "True." Wang Tao nodded. "Ah? Then… may I see them? I have never seen a fourth-level organism that obeys human commands…" Cheng Yiyi looked forward with anticipation. "Sure, please follow me." Wang Tao led Cheng Yiyi to the backyard of the villa. The weather was nice today, with bright sunshine, and several black snakes were basking in the sun in the yard. At the sight of these snakes, Cheng Yiyi's pupils shrank in an instant. It's so similar, too similar! These black snakes bear an eighty percent resemblance to that catastrophic serpent in appearance! The only difference is the huge size disparity between them. The colossal body of the catastrophic serpent is almost as thick as a car, emanating an extremely oppressive presence. On the other hand, these smaller black snakes are only about as thick as the mouth of a bowl, similar in size to large pythons. Upon hearing that Wang Tao had brought back several fourth-order black snakes, Cheng Yiyi started to suspect whether these snakes might be related to the disaster-class giant serpent. After all, they were both serpents, both black, and the timing was such a coincidence... Of course, it could really just be a coincidence; the apocalyptic world is full of them, so Cheng Yiyi wasn't too certain. But having seen this giant serpent in person today, she felt there was a 70% chance these black snakes were related to the earlier catastrophic serpent! However, Cheng Yiyi didn't ask further. After all, if there was something Wang Tao was intentionally hiding, it would be somewhat awkward if she brought it up outright. To her surprise, Wang Tao took the initiative to explain. "Guess how these snakes came about?" Wang Tao said with a smile, motioning her to come closer. Immediately, Blacky led the other four black snakes towards Wang Tao. The fourth-level aura of these snakes couldn't be concealed; feeling the gaze of these snakes, Cheng Yiyi felt as if her hair was standing on end! It wasn't that she was afraid of these snakes, but seeing them reminded her of the disaster-class giant serpent with its terrifying and eerie abilities. Every time she thought about it, she felt a chill. If it hadn't been for Lan Yulian, the super healer, they wouldn't have known how many of them would have died... But then Wang Tao's words brought her back to reality. "How did these snakes come about? Don't tell me they were..." Cheng Yiyi looked at Wang Tao incredulously. "It seems like you've guessed it. That's right, these black snakes all hatched from the eggs laid by the catastrophic serpent." Wang Tao didn't mention where he got the snake eggs from but clarified the relationship between Blacky and the giant black snake. "They're really related to the catastrophic serpent!" After hearing Wang Tao's acknowledgment, Cheng Yiyi expressed her amazement. Then, without waiting for Wang Tao to speak, she quickly said: "I know! You found them inside the stomach of the disaster-class giant serpent!" Without needing Wang Tao's explanation, she concocted a plausible explanation for him. Wang Tao just shrugged, which was as good as a confirmation. Cheng Yiyi was first filled with envy, then suddenly felt regret. If she had known that such treasures were in the belly of the catastrophic serpent, she would have definitely searched thoroughly! However, because the serpent's corpse was also afflicted with [Life Drain], no one dared to stay near it for long. So, they quickly searched for spoils of war before hastily leaving. When Wang Tao asked for the serpent's body, they were very happy to agree... In hindsight, they were at a great loss! But this was a deal that had already been made, agreed upon by everyone. Despite her regret, she wouldn't go back on it. "I'm envious, your luck is truly good..." Cheng Yiyi sighed. She thought that Wang Tao might not have known about the snake eggs inside the giant serpent because she had been there the whole time and Wang Tao hadn't performed any dissection. Including Wang Tao, no one could stand the effects of Life Drain... So all she could say was, Wang Tao was lucky. What was thought to be something of little value and hard to deal with turned out to be fourth-order black snakes that recognized him as their master... "Haha, my luck is not bad, right!" Wang Tao chuckled, and then comforted her, "Your luck isn't bad either! With a 50% chance, you successfully awakened and won a Secret Key." These words were meant to comfort her, but Cheng Yiyi's expression suddenly turned strange. "I had someone use another Secret Key... They awakened too." "..."