Universe Infinite Canteen

Final score—2112.

Thanks to the Golden Blessing worth 1000 points that he successfully grabbed at the last moment in pursuit of his dream, his score for this round was doubled once again.

Adding the 46 points left from last time, Ma Lu now had 2158 points in hand, marching from modest wealth towards tycoon status.

So this time, he purchased two Strange Objects in one go—the [Work Plan Book] and [Little Piggy Bank].

The function of the Work Plan Book is to select an existing blessing, increasing the chances of subsequent blessings related to the chosen one by 50%.

Beneath that is a line of small print: Once a blessing is chosen, it cannot be changed within the same game.

At first glance, Ma Lu was captivated by this Strange Object.

Although the effects of the Work Plan Book were somewhat vague and, true to its name, intended to plan, the actual work might not go according to the plan, only increasing the probability by 50%.

But if Ma Lu's guess was correct, this item could speed up the construction of a playstyle. It belonged to the highly valuable, key items in the Meat Pigeon game.

As everyone knows, the most vulnerable period for a team in a Meat Pigeon game is when the playstyle has yet to take shape.

And nothing is more frustrating than finally overcoming a powerful enemy only to find that none of the blessings that drop are the ones you need.

The Work Plan Book could alleviate these troubles to some extent and also further enhance the value of the Heartbeat Lottery, making the blessings obtained from it more useful.

Reducing the chances of inexplicable blessings like [Corpse Bomb] from appearing.

The function of the other Strange Object, the Little Piggy Bank, is much more straightforward.

—Every time you pass a game round, you'll earn an extra 20% interest on the points in hand.

20% interest is not a lot, but it's not a little either.

Ma Lu had just unlocked the Strange Object Store and was still in the phase where he needed to quickly enhance his strength, so he rarely kept points in hand.

However, after getting this Strange Object, it could be worthwhile to save up a bit when there's nothing of particular interest in the store, to earn some interest.

This time, the Work Plan Book cost Ma Lu 999 points and the Little Piggy Bank 499, leaving him 614 points remaining.

After buying the Strange Objects, Ma Lu used the Sticky Web to retrieve the Designated Divine Skill: Charge On Hit.

But he did not rush to activate the effect of the Work Plan Book.

Instead, he first slaughtered those 15 Red-Bellied Rattlesnakes, planning to see what blessings he got before deciding which playstyle direction to choose next.

Now that Ma Lu had money, he began to complain that accumulating blessings had been too slow before and that if danger struck right after his arrival, he might not have time to react.

So he simply had Boggy help buy some fresh ingredients in advance on the market for the direct farming of blessings.

The reason he chose Red-Bellied Rattlesnakes was because they were cheap enough, lightweight for easy transport, and they were 2-star ingredients.

The price for a live Red-Bellied Rattlesnake was around 90 Electric Degrees, and even dead ones could be taken back to sell to restaurants, with a recovery price of about 60 Electric Degrees.

Purchasing 15 Red-Bellied Rattlesnakes cost Ma Lu only 450 Electric Degrees, but in return, he could get 15 Blue Blessings, or even Purple Blessings.

In Ma Lu's view, that was quite a bargain.

Boggy, upon hearing his plan, even took the initiative to suggest that this sum of money should be counted as a team expense.

The reasoning was very simple: Ma Lu's Meat Pigeon Ability ultimately benefited the entire Hunting Group, so it was only fair that the team, rather than Ma Lu himself, should bear the cost.

Of course, Ma Lu thought it was better to have the expenses reimbursed by the team, and he did not decline the offer.

And now, it was time for the much-anticipated face-betting segment.

From the 15 Red-bellied Rattlesnakes, Ma Lu ended up with 2 Purple Blessings and 13 Blue Blessings in the end.

Among the 2 Purple Blessings, one was a replacement after triggering a lottery-like upgrade effect, and another was due to the small probability of receiving a Purple from a 2-star ingredient.

Luck was on his side, Ma Lu thought as he looked at the 2 Purple Blessings in hand.

[Headshot: Team members have a 33% chance to aim at the target's head during long-range attacks.]

[Resurrection: Team members have a 33% chance of resurrection after death.]

There wasn't much to say about the first blessing, Ma Lu didn't even know what type of weapons Sadie and Seta, the newly-joined siblings, were accustomed to using; regardless, the blessing suited his Small Hand Crossbow quite well.

However, Ma Lu knew he wasn't the main damage-dealer of the team, nor did he wish to become the main damage-dealer—too dangerous for his liking.

So he had no plans to build around that blessing.

As for the second blessing, it left Ma Lu deep in thought.

A 33% resurrection rate might seem high at first glance, but there was still a 67% chance of it failing completely, and even if those odds were reversed, no one would dare gamble with life and death at stake.

It seemed like aside from being an unreliable fallback, the blessing didn't have much practicality.

However, it did oddly seem to connect with the Golden Blessing [Corpse Bomb] he had obtained in the previous round.

But Ma Lu quickly cast aside this terrifying thought.

As always, when life and death were concerned, it was better not to fool around.

In the end, Ma Lu chose a Blue Blessing, [Poisoned Waters], to activate the work plan's effect.

[Poisoned Waters: Team members with Water-Series Psychic Power have a 15% chance of adding poison to their abilities upon use.]

Mai Mai's Psychic Power could only be used once, and it was already powerful enough without the boost from a blessing. Since Seta and Sadie were new and Ma Lu didn't know much about them yet, he decided to prioritize enhancing Boggy's strength.

He would only consider choosing a blessing that could benefit the others when there weren't any suitable ones for Boggy.

Seta watched coldly as Ma Lu slaughtered the Red-bellied Rattlesnakes, and thinking that his money was also involved, he couldn't help feeling a pang of distress.

However, having been warned once by Boggy, he stayed silent this time, though the expression on his face still betrayed his thoughts.

Then he saw Ma Lu walk over to Boggy and Mai Mai, shaking hands with them in turn, before approaching the siblings and extending his hand again with a slight smile.

"You wanted to know what my Psychic Power was, right? Then join my team and experience it for yourself."

Perhaps worried her brother might say something to offend the two leaders again, Sadie shook Ma Lu's hand first, stammering, "Please, please teach us."

Seeing this, Seta had no choice but to shake hands with Ma Lu, albeit reluctantly. His expression then turned serious as he felt his body become somewhat lighter.

Among those 13 Blue Blessings were ones that increased basic attributes; as soon as Seta joined the team, he immediately started to enjoy the benefits of these Blessings.