Luna was still playing around with the shaft of his guandao and another shaft from his spear collection, but he could not find a way to connect the weapons. The main problem was that he just could not find a way to modify the Itak Tagalogs in any way. He could disassemble his weapons, but not the System equipment.
As he was pondering a solution, Hana walked over to him and sat in front of him, and the set of equipment he had laid out on the ground. "What do you plan on doing?"
"I am trying to see if I can somehow retrofit these weapons. If I could straighten the handle and somehow attach an extended handle onto it, I could turn it into something that more resembles a naginata, with the blade being heavier than a traditional naginata. With that, I believe your combat prowess would rise. Similarly, I would like to make mine similar to a guandao." Luna shared his thoughts and then continued to ponder.
Hana was quite surprised. "I had merely mentioned my preferred weapon type in passing, but to think he actually picked up on that and remembered it. This man is worth following," she thought to herself.
Luna then continued sharing his theory. "I believe that you might prefer the heavier blade, actually. It would make slicing off zombie heads relatively easier." He knew for a fact that the tougher fights against zombies would be when they eventually faced hordes of them. To him, having something similar to a guandao with his newfound strength would be perfect for mowing down the horde. This modernized Itak Tagalog's length and weight were perfect for his plans.
Seeing as there was not much he could do, he returned the two Itak Tagalogs into his inventory. He was looking at them and still trying to figure out a solution when he suddenly remembered something. Whenever he wanted to equip the weapons, he would will them to come to him, and they would always leave his inventory, so he wondered if he could move them around while they were still in there.
The first attempt, he willed it, and the blades flew up.
He instructed them with his mind to disassemble. "This Cannot Be Disassembled."
Luna could not help but be surprised. He did fail, yes, but he received new information from this. That statement proved that while these Itak Tagalogs could not be disassembled, some equipment in the future would be able to.
Hana noticed the change in his expression and asked, "Did you figure something out?"
"I think so. Give me some time. Nobody disturb me for a bit." As soon as he gave out those instructions, Luna went back into his consciousness and decided to try something different.
He focused on the two blades again and issued a command. "Upgrade."
"Upgrade Options," a notice suddenly appeared in front of him. His smile could not help but get wider. Everybody could not help but notice this, but they did not dare disturb him. Boni, who was conversing with Elise, noticed this smile. "He only usually has that huge smile on his face if he discovers something absolutely game-changing. Looks like Luna is going to have good news for us soon." Elise nodded in agreement. After all, any good news for Luna would be good news for them as a whole, whether directly or indirectly.
For now, they decided to review the current information they had about world events. Sharing opinions, possible plans, and ideas that they would bring up to Luna later on. There was never really any formal vote or agreement. Even before Luna created the Sovereign Nation, everybody just naturally saw him as the leader.
"Upgrade Options"
1.) "Fusion": Combine two of the same type, pay VIS Coins, or a lower cost of both combined to strengthen further weapon damage and bonuses, or armor defense and bonus stats.
Requirement: Purchase Rank 1 Upgrading Station from the Nation shop. Would you like to do this now? Y/N
2.) "Equipment Modification" Modify specifications on desired equipment or add allowed components.
Requirement: Purchase Rank 1 Equipment Modification Station from the Nation shop. Would you like to do this now? Y/N
"It looks like progression in this new world is heavily tied to the Nation system. What do these Gods have in store for us? Never mind that for now." Luna chose the YES option, and it automatically revealed a futuristic-looking table labeled "Rank 1 Upgrading Station."
Luna chose the option to pull up more info.
Item: "Rank 1 Upgrading Station"
Has the ability to upgrade items up to 3 times.
Can only be installed within a territory owned by your Nation.
You may purchase more than one.
Price: 1,000 VIS
He checked the one for adjusting equipment, and it was basically the same price and the same conditions. The good news was that it was relatively cheap to buy one. He went ahead and checked the other stuff in the shop. It had a myriad of things that would help him set up their defenses, such as automated turrets, barricades, wooden walls, stone walls, and metal walls.
One could either start by buying metal walls or start with wooden walls and upgrade from there.
He noticed that there were a lot of grayed-out areas as well. It seems these items were locked. It seemed they required more VIS Coins to open.
As for offense-related things like tanks, there were no categories for those.
Luna decided to stop here for now. There was not much he could do without owning a territory yet. After he was done, he called everybody over and explained what he just discovered. Everybody was excited, but the next topic was regarding conquering a territory.
Nobody knew how tough the challenge would be. At first, Luna felt that if the rest of them somehow got to level 10, he would have confidence in dealing with it easily. But while he was looking over the Nation shop, everybody was bouncing ideas off of each other, and the question that had stumped them was, "What is the basis for the difficulty besides territory size?"
Good question. Did the game set the difficulty to be for level 10 players? If it did, how many level 10 players was it difficult for? Usually, they would love a concept like this, where they could discover and learn things for themselves, in an actual MMORPG. But this was real life, albeit with a system similar to MMORPGs added to it. If they somehow miscalculated and it cost them the lives of their friends, it would be too late for regret.
Luna could feel a headache coming when he felt someone grab his arm and put their hand on his shoulders. He looked over to find out that it was Sura. "Whatever your decision, I will support it."
"Yeah, me too!" A couple of others chimed in.
"Luna dono, you have saved not only my life but my dignity as well. I am at your disposal." Hana added as she stood up and bowed slightly.
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum! And I am all out of bubble gum!" Elise enthusiastically added. "Hey, I know that movie reference! Oh, and needless to say, I will support you all the way, bro!" Boni replied.
Yujin and the rest nodded in approval. Luna could not help but smile. It was always a good feeling to know that people are willing to have your back. He then gave an extra meaningful look at Boni. It seems this guy just might have found love in the apocalypse. Which reminded him, he still had to talk to Sura about his "accidental proposal." He thought back to the awkward moment they both had, and could not help but laugh bitterly in his mind.
Sura had never shown even an ounce of anger towards him. As a matter of fact, the next day she even went out and experimented on something that would not only end up benefiting him but saved lives as well.
"Alright then. Everybody rest up for now. I acknowledge your trust in me, which is why I will not risk your lives unnecessarily. Tomorrow is grind time, so sleep well tonight."
Tomorrow, his goal was to reach level 20 and look for more survivors.