Chapter 23: A Weapon Delivered to the Doorstep

It was past 4:00 PM when the sky turned a gloomy, leaden gray. The wind howled so fiercely that one could barely stand, casting the entire highway in an atmosphere of desolation and loneliness.

Yu Jiang had already spotted two abandoned vehicles along the way. Sighing in appreciation of the highway's "bounty," she stepped out of her car, clutching her claw hammer. Everything of value had long been scavenged from the wrecks, and the windows were shattered. She hadn't expected to find anything useful anyway; her goal was to deplete their health bars to salvage materials. When it came to scavenging, she was a professional.

Shortly after, she gathered some Sanchi in the vicinity, followed by Hairy Agrimony and Bull Thistle further ahead. Her collection index hit 88%!

[Player has achieved the title 'Level 3 Alchemist.' You are the first alchemist to obtain the handbook and reach an 80% collection rate.]
[Reward: Cold and Flu Powder (Level 2 Crafting Scroll)]
[Intermediate Hemostatic Powder (Level 3 Crafting Scroll)]
[Effect: Restores 30 HP upon use; additionally provides pain relief and clears the bleeding status.]

[Intermediate Handbook unlocked. Player has met the requirements to upgrade a skill. Choose one of the following paths:]
[A. Light of Healing: Restores 10 HP to the target.]
[B. Upgrade Poison Rain: Damage increased to 20; inflicts a 10-minute bleeding status, causing the loss of 1 HP per minute.]

Poison Rain, obviously! She had already committed to the path of a poisoner. A healing skill that only restored 10 HP was hardly worth it; better to focus on one specialization.

The requirements to upgrade Poison Rain: Mutated Snake Venom * 20, Aconite * 5, Mutated Spider Toxin * 25.

Yu Jiang went silent. Her world turned dark. She could still gather Aconite, but the other two ingredients were far too demanding. She didn't even know where to find spider toxin; no one had even mentioned it yet.

Sighing, she climbed back into her car and pushed forward. This was a parallel highway, and she hoped to clear it before darkness fell at 6:00 PM. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but it felt like the parallel highways held more resources.

As she drove, a tricycle overturned in the middle of the road appeared before her. She was about to step out to salvage it, but as she drew closer, she realized it wasn't an abandoned vehicle—there was a person trapped underneath. It appeared to be a woman in her late twenties, her leg pinned beneath the frame.

Seeing a car approach, the woman waved frantically. "Help me... please!"

Yu Jiang rolled her window halfway down, hesitating. One must always be guarded. "What happened?" she asked.

"The wind was too strong, and I swerved to avoid another vehicle. The bike flipped over, and I think my leg is broken." The woman was soaked to the bone, struggling to rise, her eyes filled with a desperate, pleading gaze directed at the interior of the car.

"Did you see two abandoned cars on the road when you came this way?" Yu Jiang asked.

The woman seemed taken aback by the question. "Yes, but there was nothing in them, so I kept going." She groaned, "I'm trapped and can't move, and I don't have any weapons. Please, help me! I can give you two loaves of bread as a reward. That's all I have."

Yu Jiang couldn't tell if the woman was acting, so she decided to play along, stepping out with an expression of complete trust. She held the 'Unknown Thorny Plant' in her hand. The weakness debuff only worked once, but the plant was incredibly tough, nearly impossible to cut even with a knife.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you so much!" The woman's face was full of joy, though a flicker of malice crossed her eyes. Her profession was 'Bandit,' and she had ranked eighth in the last regional instance—a title earned by stealing Wish Stars.

Yet, just as she prepared to strike, Yu Jiang didn't move to lift the tricycle as expected. Instead, she circled around, saying earnestly, "You said your leg is injured. It's hard for me to lift it alone. If I’m not careful, I might make your injury worse. Let's wait for the next person to come by, and we can lift it together."

The woman’s expression faltered for a second before she masked it. "No, the bike isn't that heavy. It's fine. You just need to come over and lift it a little, and I can get out."

Yu Jiang feigned hesitation, but her eyes had shifted. Something was wrong. In this place, a worsening injury meant a skyrocketing mortality rate. If she were really that badly trapped, why wasn't she more worried? And if it wasn't that bad, a tricycle like this was something an adult could easily crawl out from.

With that thought, Yu Jiang walked over, looking apprehensive. "Fine, but if it falls on you, don't blame me."

"Don't worry, I'm not an ungrateful person."

As she spoke the last few words, the woman's tone shifted sharply. She suddenly produced a gleaming, prism-shaped stiletto and lunged at Yu Jiang.

Yu Jiang had been ready. As the woman rolled over, she swung the thorny branch, weighted with a stone, toward her. Did the woman really think she would just walk into striking distance knowing something was off?

If she had been a second slower, she would have been stabbed; that blade looked lethal! The advantage of reach was no joke!

The woman let out a scream as the stone struck her head. Taking advantage of her pain, Yu Jiang applied the hallucinogenic powder, grabbed the stiletto, and stabbed at the woman's neck.

What Yu Jiang didn't expect was the woman's high combat stats—her defense was impressive. The moment the blade pierced the skin, the stun effect vanished. The woman reacted quickly, raising her arm to block the lethal blow, leaving the blade embedded only in her arm. Yu Jiang followed up with a poison needle, applying a paralysis debuff.

For a moment, the woman tried to roll away, but her movements were jerky and awkward, like a jammed tape. The woman’s eyes widened as she watched Yu Jiang pursue her with the blade. Hearing the notification of her HP dropping, she gnashed her teeth and cursed, "Damn you!"

Even after stealing her blade, the attack only dealt 30 damage. Her attack power wasn't high, but she had so many debuffs!

The woman decisively activated a protective shield from her inventory. Yu Jiang's next strike was blocked, and the impact sent a tremor through her hand. Not bad—the woman had high-level defensive gear, too.

"You're quite the actor," the woman said, her face hardening as she stood up. "Stronger than the last two trash heaps."

"You've lost your chance to kill me. Let's step back. Give me the medicine you used and my knife, and we'll pretend nothing happened."

Yu Jiang quickly analyzed the situation. "Step back"? That was just a ploy to buy time while she looked for another opening. Since the element of surprise was gone, Yu Jiang acted decisively. She swung the thorny branch, slamming the stone into the woman's headlights and windshield.

[Tricycle durability -5]

Seeing this, the woman retreated to her vehicle, extending the range of her protective shield to cover it. "Trying to wreck my ride? In your dreams!" she sneered. Her vehicle looked like a fragile tricycle, but the frame had been heavily modified with reinforced defense.

"Just testing if that thing can actually protect the vehicle," Yu Jiang said with a shrug, stepping back and climbing into her own car. She hadn't shut her door when she stepped out, which allowed for a quick retreat.

Yu Jiang slammed on the gas, ramming her heavy electric pickup truck directly into the woman and her protected tricycle. A Level 3 vehicle was built for this! If she couldn't smash her way through, she could always run.

[Electric pickup shield -5%, durability -5]

A few cracks appeared on the woman's protective dome.