Chapter 942: Execution Needle

Inside the treasury, various items were neatly arranged.

Su Xiao walked among the wooden shelves displaying the collection; he had only ten minutes, and four had already passed.

Among all items, choosing a weapon was safest—even if low-quality, weapons wouldn’t result in major loss; if he found a gold-quality piece, he’d strike it rich, and moreover, items beyond gold quality might appear here.

Although Su Xiao didn’t know what quality lay above gold, he was certain one thing: there definitely existed a higher tier than gold—this was unquestionable.

He had only one chance to choose, yet over a million items filled the treasury; no wonder Alice dared let others freely select from her vault—under such odds, finding something valuable was extremely unlikely.

Su Xiao halted his steps, for he spotted a familiar object: a lumpy, uneven “ore,” its surface jagged and overall glowing crimson.

It wasn’t ore—it was a large fragment of solar debris, the primary material used to forge Apollo.

In the past, Su Xiao needed only a thumbnail-sized piece of solar debris to craft one Apollo; the fragment before him now was at least fist-sized.

Conservatively estimated, its value hovered around several hundred thousand Paradise Coins, possibly higher.

Choosing a known item carried low risk, but Su Xiao didn’t do so; solar debris wasn’t better in larger quantities—it had little use beyond crafting Apollo, and this amount could produce nearly a hundred Apollos. Without other materials, it was merely a meteorite, useless for constructing high-power explosives.

Memorizing the location of this large fragment of solar debris, Su Xiao pressed deeper into the treasury.

The wooden shelves were all identical; after merely a few minutes of wandering, Su Xiao had almost lost his way—this place wasn’t just a treasury, but also a natural labyrinth.

He continued forward as time slipped away; Su Xiao had two minutes left.

The shelves overflowed with countless items, overwhelming Su Xiao’s senses—he knew how many contract holders had died within this ancient castle.

Su Xiao shifted his gaze, swiftly scanning one shelf before ignoring it.

Yet in the next instant, his eyes snapped back—a firearm on the shelf caught his attention. It resembled a flintlock, but unlike primitive flintlocks, it didn’t use a hammer to fire; its overall shape merely bore a resemblance.

Under normal circumstances, Su Xiao had little interest in such firearms—they were clearly close-range weapons, and he rarely used guns in close combat.

Yet this firearm, though outwardly resembling a flintlock, possessed an intricately precise construction that drew Su Xiao’s notice—not for any other reason, but because of a red pattern etched upon it.

The entire gun was jet-black, about 35 centimeters long, with a long barrel and a streamlined grip adorned with red markings. Above the weapon lay a loading port resembling that of a Mauser sniper rifle; judging by its depth, its magazine capacity was likely five to six rounds, probably rifle or sniper bullets.

After close inspection, Su Xiao realized the bullets for this gun were highly unusual—he noticed the gun’s internal peculiar firing pin. Based on its construction, firing standard ammunition would likely cause the weapon to explode.

Indeed, beneath the gun, Su Xiao found a string of bullets: five rounds fixed in a row by a metal bracket, designed to be pressed directly into the loading port above, allowing all five to be loaded at once.

Su Xiao picked up the five linked bullets. Each was about six centimeters long, with a completely transparent casing filled with a yellow liquid. At the center of each bullet lay a metal needle, the thickness of a matchstick, submerged in the yellow fluid.

Based on the bullet’s structure, Su Xiao deduced the true lethal component was the central metal needle; the yellow fluid was a high-performance explosive liquid, replacing conventional gunpowder.

Setting down the custom bullets, Su Xiao retrieved an item from his storage space for comparison. Moments later, he froze in place—the patterns on the two objects were strikingly similar.

“Time’s up.”

The Wolf Steward appeared, elusive as ever.

“Is that so?”

Su Xiao picked up the firearm from the shelf and looked at the Wolf Steward.

“I choose this.”

Su Xiao did not select the solar debris worth hundreds of thousands of Paradise Coins—he chose a close-range firearm instead.

Holding the grip in one hand, the streamlined shape fit perfectly; though heavy, to Su Xiao with 80 Strength, it felt light.

“Are you certain?”

The Wolf Steward narrowed his eyes.

“Absolutely. I choose this.”

“...”

The Wolf Steward was displeased—this gun was one of Alice’s favorite artifacts. Yet no matter how much Alice favored it, Su Xiao’s selection was part of the reward system; the Wolf Steward could not interfere.

The Wolf Steward stepped forward, withdrew a blank card from within his collar, and pressed it against the gun. One side of the card revealed a sealing formula—this was to conserve resources; the sealing formula on this gun was extremely valuable.

The moment the sealing formula vanished from the gun, Su Xiao received a notification from the Lunhuileyuan .

【You have obtained Hunt’s Judgment.】

【Hunt’s Judgment】

Origin: Any world of level 20 or higher.

Quality: Dark Purple (Set)

Category: Firearm

Magazine Capacity: 5 (Special Ammunition)

Durability: 62/62

Attack Power: 10～153

Equipment Requirement: Strength 40, Agility 40.

Equip Effect 1: Special Ammunition (Passive)—Hunt’s Judgment can only use special ammunition; the explosive needle inside is the primary offensive mechanism.

Equip Effect 2: Execution Needle (Active/Passive)

Passive Effect: Upon striking an enemy, the unstable liquid within the bullet explodes, reducing the enemy’s total defense by 60% for 0.19 seconds. Simultaneously, the explosive needle inside the bullet uses the explosion’s kinetic energy to pierce the enemy—due to the extreme proximity, the needle is nearly impossible to evade.

Active Effect: Once the explosive needle penetrates the enemy’s body, the trigger mechanism on Hunt’s Judgment’s grip can detonate it at any time. If not detonated, the needle will deactivate after 40 minutes. Each needle deals 80～100 damage. If five explosive needles strike the same enemy and are detonated simultaneously, the explosion deals 500 damage and inflicts the Vulnerable State: enemy’s physical defense reduced by 35%, healing effectiveness reduced by 20%, movement speed reduced by 10%—duration: 10 minutes.

Tip: If the enemy forcibly removes the explosive needle before it deactivates, they take fixed damage equal to 10% of their maximum HP.

Tip: Execution Needle (Active) has no cooldown, no cost.

Rating: 260

Description: One piece of the Hunter’s Set. Collect all three to activate the set effect.

Set Effect 1: Hunter (Passive)—Strength +15, Agility +10, Stamina +10.

Set Effect 2: Close Combat Expert (Passive)—Close combat damage increased by 40%, maximum HP increased by 20%.

Set Effect 3: (Visible after equipping all three Hunter Set pieces)

Price: 73,000 Paradise Coins.

……