Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu first sacrificed ten Red-bellied Rattlesnakes to test his luck.

The result was not a single Purple Blessing, and to make matters worse, he triggered two downgrades consecutively, in which two options for blessings turned from blue to white under the influence of the "Heartbeat Lottery" effect.

Fortunately, there were still other blessings to choose from, so it wasn't a big issue.

Ma Lu scanned through the ten Blue Blessings he had obtained; some of the more useful ones included:

[Loyal Companion: Increases all four basic attributes of animals and puppets in the team by 20%]

[Silence is Golden: Attacks by the whole team have a 15% chance to trigger silence status, lasting 3 seconds. Targets under silence status cannot use Psychic Powers]

[That's a Trap: There's a 15% chance for Earth-Series Psychic Power users in the team to create a quicksand pit nearby when using their abilities]

[Invisibility Cloak: Reduces the probability of team members being detected while in stealth by 15%]

Ma Lu scratched his head; these blessings all had decent effects but seemed to be doing their own things, with no synergy or clear sign of a strategy emerging.

Therefore, he decided to change his luck, using two Sand-Spray Qiangs as an initial trial, then sacrificed another ten Bloodsucking Tail Weasels for another round of ten.

As per the Conservation of Luck, Ma Lu finally struck it big this time, opening 3 purple and 7 blue blessings in one go!

The three Purple Blessings were:

[The Last Rampart: There's a 33% chance that the shields of team members will block one instance of damage completely when damaged]

[Backstab: When a team member attacks from behind the target, there's a 33% chance to speed up by 40% and inflict double damage]

[Ban on Noise: During battle, any combatant, friend or foe, that exceeds a volume of 60 decibels has a 33% chance of entering a paralyzed state for 3 seconds]

Acquiring [The Last Bastion] again, along with the previously recovered [Charge with Hits], Boggy's defense and counterattack strategy once again took shape.

Additionally, [Backstab] was quite practical, ideal for launching initial attacks and could also be used in tandem with the previous Blue Blessing [Invisibility Cloak].

However, Ma Lu's attention was fully drawn by the last Purple Blessing [Ban on Noise] at the moment.

Is this... a new type of blessing?

Ma Lu had never encountered a blessing like this before; it impartially affected both enemies and allies, feeling somewhat like a Field Magic effect in Yu-Gi-Oh.

Looking at this Purple Blessing, Ma Lu couldn't help but stroke his chin again.

This thing seemed fair, emphasizing equality under a single rule; however, knowing the rules in advance and being unaware of them could lead to vastly different challenges.

It's like a basketball game where one team doesn't know about defensive three seconds, traveling, or carrying before the game starts—how could they possibly win when the game begins?

Ma Lu realized the value of this thing in team battles might be greater than that of regular blessings.

And unlike the Field Magic in Yu-Gi-Oh, which can only have one on the field at a time, there's no upper limit for this kind of blessing.

Despite being tempted, Ma Lu remained cautious and sacrificed twenty more Red-bellied Rattlesnakes, obtaining 2 Purple Blessings and 18 Blue Blessings.

Out of these twenty blessings, Ma Lu primarily focused on Attributes and also chose any that had a high compatibility with his team members' Psychic Powers.

It wasn't until he was left with nineteen Red-bellied Rattlesnakes and four Bloodsucking Tail Weasels that Ma Lu activated the effect of the work plan, targeting [Ban on Noise].

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He finally obtained five similar blessings, one purple and four blue, in addition to one purple blessing that enhanced his reaction speed.

Feeling that he was sufficiently prepared, Ma Lu changed into his hunting clothes and set off with Boggy and the others toward the direction where Jinjian was located.

Three hours later, the four of them met up with Seta, who was responsible for keeping watch, and noticed something odd about her expression.

Boggy sensed there might be a problem and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Jinjian and his group have disappeared," Seta answered.

"Disappeared, as in they went somewhere else?"

"I don't know. Their motorcycles and supplies are still here, but the people are gone," Seta said with disbelief.

Upon hearing this, Boggy took out a telescope, climbed atop a sand dune, and looked in the direction Seta had indicated. Indeed, he could still see traces of human activity, yet now there was not a single person in sight.

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"Probably about half an hour ago," Seta replied. "The guys from Black Horn are very alert. I was worried about being discovered, so I usually wouldn't get too close. I mainly relied on the tracker to follow them from a distance. I would only get closer to take a quick look when they stopped."

"You know how to track?" Ma Lu asked, surprised.

"Yeah, yeah," Seta nodded proudly. "Vice Captain, don't underestimate me because I'm young. My tracking skills are at least top ten in the Giant Curtain."

"Really? So where is Jinjian now?"

"This…," Seta replied, looking somewhat embarrassed.

At that moment, Boggy asked again, "What were Jinjian and his group doing here? Hunting?"

"No, although they did kill a few prey, it seemed more like they handled them as they came across them. Plus, they didn't bring any bait, so they weren't here to bait-fish. Instead, it seemed more like... they were looking for something?"

"Looking for something?"

"Right," Seta recalled again and affirmed, "They must be looking for something. As soon as they left the city, they headed straight here and have been wandering around this area for two days."

Mai Mai shook her head, "Once you lose something in the desert, it's very hard to find again. The winds and sands bury everything. Jinjian isn't a fool; he wouldn't be unaware of this."

"I want to go over and have a look," Boggy said.

"Could it be another trap?" Sadie, who had been mostly silent, worried aloud.

She had watched as her brother was stabbed in the heart with a dagger and had not slept well for the past week due to frequent nightmares.

"Then let's go together."

Ma Lu's original plan was to ambush Black Horn, preferably ending the fight before Jinjian and his people could react or causing heavy losses on the other side. However, he wasn't worried even if it turned into a head-on clash.

After bringing Seta into the team, Ma Lu spent some time explaining the upcoming battle tactics, especially the prohibited actions and the consequences of violating them, insisting that everyone must remember them clearly.

Many of these prohibitions sounded strange, but after witnessing events like coming back from the dead, including Seta, no one doubted Ma Lu any longer and made a mental note of his words.

Mai Mai even considered the broader implications, "In that case, during the battle, can we deliberately lure enemies into violating these prohibitions?"

Ma Lu nodded, "Yes, utilizing these prohibitions effectively can make the fight much easier."

Once everyone was familiar with the tactics, they hid their motorcycles behind the sand dunes and then carefully approached the area where Jinjian and his group had disappeared.

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