2017 Free System, Free Harvest

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Luke tested the new module.

Naturally, the test subject was Basic Firearms, an ability which he already had for a long time.

He had already upgraded to Elementary Combat Proficiency, and shouldn't be far from the intermediate level.

On the other hand, Firearms had only become elementary in the last two years, and there was still a lot of room for improvement.

After all, he only had one body, and he could cultivate at any time; cultivating the Kunlun Chi Refining Technique could increase his combat experience.

On the other hand, he couldn't take out a gun to use anywhere and anytime; plus, there were too many types of firearms.

Including alien weapons, there was no end to them.

Fusion was very simple. He just needed to 'throw' the abilities together with a thought.

Also, after the free ability module was activated, it became much easier to operate.

Whether it was 'fusing' all the basic abilities together or fusing dozens of them together, all it took was a thought.

Luke planned to combine all his Basic Firearms abilities into a 'perfect' version.

At that moment, a distant memory suddenly flashed through his mind — it was of a certain rookie, who had just obtained the system, adding three points to each stat at one go.

Recalling the painful experience of adding three points in a row, he resolutely stopped courting death.

What would happen if an ability created from fusing thousands of Basic Firearms was stuffed into his head?

Would his head explode? Probably not.

However, it was very possible that the overload might cause permanent brain damage.

Luke came back to his senses and didn't dare mess around anymore. Instead, he adopted the most scientific approach.

It was simple, safe and efficient to progressively combine 2, 4, 8, and 16 Basic Firearms abilities one by one.

Was it a waste? No way.

There were still a lot of basic abilities on the list that could be used for testing.

Besides, it only cost 10 credit points for each ability in a fusion.

In other words, it cost Luke no more than 100,000 credit points to fuse thousands of Basic Firearms abilities together.

Luke smacked his lips. Daddy System, are you really that conscientious?

In the end, his brain felt a little uncomfortable at 16 into 1, but only for a few seconds.

By a conservative estimate, 64 into 1 wouldn't be a problem, and 128 into 1 wouldn't kill him.

This also had yet to take into consideration how much more his brain would be able to tolerate once his stats reached 100.

The effects of fusion were pretty good. Most of the common and repetitive knowledge of Basic Firearms was removed, and only some knowledge that Luke hadn't touched on was left behind.

Clearly, the 10 credit points was the cost of 'garbage disposal.'

After fusion, the basic abilities were simplified tremendously and saved time and effort; it was possible that Elementary Firearms would see a significant boost.

Exchanging tens of thousands of points for a substantial increase in an elementary ability was undoubtedly worth it.

He stopped here with the initial tests. The remaining complement and disassembly functions couldn't be comprehended in a short period of time. He would take his time experimenting with them later.

After calming down, Luke checked the second main thing: When the host reached level 40, the free stat module was activated.

After a quick look, he realized that leveling up wasn't important anymore, since he could now adjust his stat points, including for his clones.

The three attributes could 'lend' each other up to 10% of their points.

In other words, his clones' stats weren't limited to fixed increments of 10 or 20; instead, their stats could be adjusted to turn them into strength-type warriors or sorcerers focused on mental abilities.

However, what was more important was the impact on the stats.

The 10% limit might not look like much, but after Luke added the extra stat points, his stats would exceed 100.

At that time, he would be able to transfer 10% of his Dexterity and Mental Strength to his Strength, which would be enough to break through another 20-level threshold.

The actual effect of 120 Strength should be 144% of 100 Strength, which was an increase of almost 50%.

This boost wouldn't apply to just the strength of his attacks, but also to his physique and abilities.

For example, what would happen if the effect of Self-Healing was increased by 44%?

120 Strength might even meet the condition for upgrading Self-Healing to an advanced level.

After his Strength reached 80, Luke would definitely be able to learn Intermediate Self-Healing.

After fusion, he might be able to obtain Advanced Self-Healing.

By the same logic, adjusting his other two attributes to exceed the upper limit of 120 might yield similar gains.

These ideas all came from the word 'free' from the system.

However… Hm, the consumption for the free stat module was also very 'free.'

Different from the fixed consumption for fusing abilities, adjustments to stat points could be predetermined. The system would give Luke the required points, and Luke would decide whether or not to make the adjustments.

Thus, he simply set a plan for breaking 80 in Strength.

From 72 to 79, each extra point only cost 1,000 credit points, but when it reached 80, it turned into 100,000 credit points.

Also, when he asked, the system replied that he would be charged a fee each time he adjusted the stat points.

He had to make full use of these adjustments. Otherwise, he would have to pay on both ends.

For example, his Dexterity and Mental Strength had dropped under 60.

If he wanted to break past 60 again in the future, he would have to pay the corresponding price.

Also, Luke's stats would exceed 100 in a few days. When that happened, one of his stats would drop by 100, and if he transferred it back, it would probably cost more than 100,000 credit points.

The credit points required to break past 120 Strength would also be wasted.

After taking stock of these two most important gains, Luke relaxed.

This was quite different from his previous conjecture, but it still followed a similar line of thought… As if.

He had thought about it occasionally in 2023, but had never relied on the notion that it would be 'free' at all.

After all, it was only at level 20 that the system determined that he was no longer a novice, though it had released a free module at levels 30 and 40 respectively.

The last preset message was even more straightforward: At level 50, you're free.

The person who had left this message didn't sound reliable at all.

Wasn't it a bigshot's fate to eventually surpass the system? Why expose this point so early? This was as bad as spoilers!

That was because while it sounded like he was only 10 levels away from level 50, the day he could reach this max level was actually quite far away.

Based on the rules, ten billion experience points were required to level up from 41 to 45, and the experience points required to level up from 46 to 50 were hundreds of billions.

For example, in this mission to kill Thanos and save the entire world, even if Luke obtained a 100% contribution rate and more than 100 billion experience points in one go, he would still need to complete 17 to 18 missions to reach level 50.

Were there 17 to 18 other figures like Thanos in this universe? Maybe.

When it came to forces that had enough power to crush Earth, like Thanos, there would probably be even more.

But who would have nothing better to do than vow to destroy Earth?

There were no absolutes in the world, but could there be 17 to 18 weirdos like Thanos who wanted to 'purge the universe,' and come to Earth one after another to give Luke points?

This… It was better to wash up and go to bed. At the same time, he prayed that this nightmare wouldn't happen.

One Thanos had already caused so much chaos among the 2023 Avengers. If another dozen or so appeared, there was basically no hope for this universe. It would be easier for everyone to wait for death.