Chapter Eighty-Six: Armament

"Captain, why did you call us here?" Xing Ye asked, feigning ignorance, though his lively, jet-black eyes were already fixed on a dagger inside the box.

Dao Wanqian and the others were already rubbing their hands together, grinning as drool nearly dripped from their mouths, their faces filled with anticipation.

After all, inside that box were the national treasures of the Great Xia Dynasty!

Artifacts that had survived for millennia!

And more than that, they were all kinds of ancient weapons!

It wasn't hard to guess what Lin Fan intended to do. After all, during yesterday’s live broadcast, the Empress herself had said:

"If possible, let me commune with the other national treasures, and I shall awaken them."

Just pondering those words and looking at the pile of relics Lin Fan had gathered, anyone could tell what was about to happen!

“Amitabha, I’ve been saying for a while, it’s time to change our equipment,” the Compassionate Master fixed his gaze on a rusty monk’s staff and a tattered kasaya. “How fortunate! If I’m not mistaken, that is the Nine-Ringed Staff and Brocade Kasaya used by Master Xuanzang himself during his journey to the East.”

The Nine-Ringed Staff and the Brocade Kasaya!

Legendary treasures said to have accompanied Master Xuanzang on his western pilgrimage.

Historically, Master Xuanzang truly existed and did indeed travel to the West.

And these treasures, which accompanied him on that journey, were believed to have absorbed immeasurable merit. In the Compassionate Master’s eyes, their merit rose like clouds, billowing upward!

Dao Wanqian’s gaze was locked onto a rusty Daoist sword, his expression shocked: “The supreme treasure of the Three Purities, the Immortal-Slaying Sword of the Lord of Spiritual Treasure!”

Gongshu Ming could hardly believe his eyes as he stared at a battered wooden saw in the box, muttering under his breath, “The Luban Saw!”

The saw, in the history of Great Xia, was invented by Luban—also known as Gongshu Ban—the very patron saint of carpenters.

This was, unmistakably, the Luban Saw!

A tool crafted and used by Luban himself—a treasure beyond compare!

Gongshu Ming’s hands trembled with excitement.

“Haha, you all look so excited. Next…” Lin Fan began, but suddenly stopped, staring at Gongshu Ming in disbelief. “Your hand…”

Lin Fan remembered clearly that, faced with the Phoenix Society president, who wielded the power of the phoenix, Gongshu Ming’s left arm had been utterly incinerated.

But now—

Gongshu Ming’s left hand was still there, nimble as ever, even trembling slightly from excitement—a living, breathing hand!

Though gloved, it looked no different from a real arm.

Noticing Lin Fan’s gaze, Gongshu Ming waved it off. “It’s nothing. I’m a carpenter, after all.”

“Carpenters make things, but they also fix things.”

“My hand was ruined, so I fixed it. Simple as that.”

As he spoke, Gongshu Ming rolled up his sleeve, revealing a finely crafted wooden arm, full of intricate mechanisms, precise beyond belief.

As if to prove his point, he flexed the hand, making a fist and then releasing it, the five fingers moving naturally.

Lin Fan was dumbfounded. “You can do that?”

“It’s not bad. Actually, I find it convenient—some tools are a hassle to carry around…” Gongshu Ming said as he popped open the tip of a wooden finger, revealing a miniature screwdriver, while another finger concealed a small pair of scissors.

Then—

A click.

With a mechanical sound, Gongshu Ming’s entire fist contracted, and his whole arm transformed into a massive hammer!

From his shoulder, a hook and cable suddenly extended.

Bang!

The cable shot up and anchored into the ceiling. At the same time, gears whirred inside his arm, and Gongshu Ming was hoisted up to the ceiling before slowly lowering himself back to the ground.

Everyone stared in astonishment.

“I’ll have to think about adding some weapons to the arm—throwing darts, gun barrels, that sort of thing…” Gongshu Ming muttered with a frown, dissatisfied as he glanced at his other arm. “And modifying just one arm isn’t enough. Maybe I should cut off the right one too. Next, I’ll probably get rid of both legs—no use keeping them…”

Lin Fan was speechless.

Why did it feel like you’d embarked on a very unorthodox path of technological advancement?

Is this really the work of a carpenter?

Watching Gongshu Ming deep in thought, Lin Fan suddenly recalled a saying:

The flesh is weak; ascend through machinery.

At this rate, Lin Fan genuinely worried that one day, on a whim, Gongshu Ming might replace his entire body with mechanical parts.

“I don’t think you belong in the First Squad of the Godslayers. One day I’ll find an excuse to send you to a construction site instead.”

“Oh, and remind Elder Chen not to worry about your lost arm anymore. He’s still working away, trying to develop a prosthetic for you.” Lin Fan scratched his head, then said, “Alright, everyone, pick out the item you truly need. It must be something you need!”

Before he’d even finished speaking, everyone charged forward with a roar.

Dao Wanqian seized the Immortal-Slaying Sword he’d been eyeing, clutching the rusty blade and laughing heartily.

“This one’s mine! Don’t even think about taking it!” the Compassionate Master declared, one hand gripping the kasaya, the other wrestling for the Nine-Ringed Staff with a brawny superhuman. With a helpless look, he persuaded, “My friend, I know you’re strong. Why not take that ding instead? It’s much more useful than the staff—anyone you hit with that will end up with broken bones!”

The strongman thought it over and decided it was true. He set down the staff and hefted the massive, man-high bronze cauldron from the Shang Dynasty with both hands.

Elder Jin watched the chaotic scene with a smile, then glanced at Lin Fan. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry. I already picked mine.” Lin Fan patted his waist.

A rusty short blade hung there.

The blade was unusually large, nearly two hands wide, and when slung at Lin Fan’s side, almost brushed the ground.

Its shape was wild and bold; through the rust, a coiled azure dragon could be faintly seen, its visage fierce and roaring.

The hilt seemed snapped, and all these features together made it look less like a short blade and more like a fragment of a long saber.

Elder Jin, not well-versed in artifacts, frowned. “What is that?”

“The Azure Dragon Crescent Blade,” Lin Fan replied, caressing the blade at his waist as if it were a treasure.

Elder Jin inhaled sharply. “Guan Yu… The National Chairman actually brought this here for you?!”

“Not bad.” Lin Fan put on an air, nodding. “The Chairman knows that only a blade like this befits my status. I’ll have to ask him later if the bones of Red Hare are still around…”

Elder Jin couldn’t take any more, giving Lin Fan a sidelong glance and grumbling, “Red Hare, my foot. I’ll get you a rocket launcher instead, how about that?”

“Heh heh…”

As the two bantered and laughed, over a hundred members of the Godslayers had already chosen their equipment.