Inside the Astral Express car, Stelle, still shaken by the previous events, patted her chest.
"That was close... for a moment there, I felt like I was about to be roasted alive."
Just as Duke Inferno broke free from his rigid state, both of them could sense the overwhelming power of the enemy. Whether it was Stelle or Pei Guang, both felt that defeating him with their current strength would be extremely difficult.
Although Pei Guang did have ways to escape and defeat him, the problem was that they were about to head to Penacony.
He had to keep some trump cards: who knew what kind of trouble they might run into there? What if they encountered some monster that was at a plot-killing level?
If they didn't have enough trump cards, it would just be asking for a team wipe.
Looking at Stelle, still clearly shaken, Pei Guang waved his hand dismissively. "It's not a big deal. Just aggro the enemy, then teleport away. Classic move. By the way, I marked this guy. When he gets new equipment, we can go back and farm him."
This time, they both had gained quite a lot.
Although they hadn't killed Duke Inferno, they'd stripped him of all his gear. Pei Guang briefly inspected it and noted that the equipment quality was excellent, with a strong fire resistance.
Such gear with elemental properties didn't come by often, it would be a shame not to farm it.
However, when he mentioned marking the enemy, Stelle frowned and looked at the mini-map. "Huh? You marked him? But I don't see any mark for him on the planet we were just on?"
Pei Guang: "Hmm?"
Pei Guang checked the mini-map again. Indeed, Duke Inferno's coordinates were no longer visible, which left him scratching his head.
"Did he despawn? Or maybe someone else took him out? But that can't be right… It's only been a few minutes, and he's a boss-level enemy. Could someone have stolen our kill? But that would be strange, right? A huge boss like him couldn't have just been randomly defeated by some passerby after we left."
Stelle: "Who knows?"
As they bantered, Pei Guang began to examine the rewards they had obtained.
The clothes, pants, and shoes Duke Inferno had dropped were damaged since they had been cut open by Stelle's attack. Although damaged, the fire resistance was still intact. Pei Guang decided to use his synthesis pot to see what he could craft from them.
He placed the damaged clothes inside the pot and started the synthesis process, hoping to see what kind of quality item would come out.
After a moment of waiting, Pei Guang was pleasantly surprised. The synthesis produced a purple-rarity item.
He first looked at the wand. At first glance, it seemed quite cute, but Pei Guang's face quickly turned serious as he examined it more closely. The cylindrical shape and the two spheres on the end gave it a certain... suspicious look.
Anyone familiar with gaming would recognize it immediately: this had the same vibe as a certain Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.
Pei Guang couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
How had this turned out to be such a powerful wand?
He took a deep breath. Was he really this dirty-minded? As a responsible player, how could he think of something like that?
[Exchange Wand: After use, allows you to swap positions with an ally within a certain range. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
Despite its purple rarity, the description of the ability left Pei Guang with a comical expression.
Stelle, curious about the item, asked, "What's so special about this wand?"
Being pure and innocent, Stelle didn't think much of it. After all, it was just a staff with two little spinning balls on it.
They didn't even seem fixed, and the whole thing looked pretty cute.
Pei Guang: "It allows you to swap positions. Want to give it a try?"
Stelle: "Sure!"
Pei Guang activated the item, and in an instant, he and Stelle swapped positions.
What surprised Pei Guang, though, was the added effect.
The moment the wand was used, two beams of light shot from its tip and into the bodies of both Pei Guang and Stelle, instantly swapping their positions.
The light was purely a special effect—there was no delay, and the action was instantaneous.
But the effect...
Looking at Stelle's clear yet slightly confused expression, Pei Guang forced himself to suppress any further inappropriate thoughts.
Instead, he focused on asking, "How does it feel?"
Stelle: "I felt like... whoosh—the position swap happened so fast, I almost didn't react."
Her reaction was entirely natural. The position swap was so quick, even though she had prepared mentally, it still startled her a bit.
But soon, a smile spread across her face. "This... seems like it could be fun! But why did using his clothes result in this item?"
Pei Guang shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Duke Inferno had teleportation abilities, and his gear inherited some of that power. Whatever the case, it's useful and fun. This is definitely a good find!"
The ability to swap positions instantly with no delay—Pei Guang thought this item was essentially a game-changer.
With this new gear, if their fragile teammates are targeted by assassins, they can use the item to instantly swap positions, leaving the assassin thinking they've attacked a squishy target, only for the "squishy" to turn into a warrior.
That would definitely be a pleasant surprise.
Pei Guang: "This item is great! We still have some materials left. Let's try synthesizing and see what else we can make."
This time, Pei Guang decided to add some premium items to the synthesis pot, such as various useless weapon effects, sound effects, or materials from the Xianzhou Luofu.
If a single piece of damaged clothing could result in such a good item, Pei Guang couldn't imagine what might come from adding better materials.
Since the base item was already purple rarity, wouldn't more valuable materials result in something golden?
With that thought, Pei Guang loaded the items into the pot and set it to synthesize! This time, the result was indeed a good one.
When Pei Guang opened the pot lid, golden light flickered from within. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Glowing light? Uhm, a golden item?"
Along with the golden light, a pair of red sneakers appeared in the pot. The heels of the shoes had a large blunt angle structure, and Pei Guang couldn't figure out why a pair of sports shoes would need such a design.
How were they supposed to help with movement?