Chapter 136 Essence Stone
It was edible.
Speaking of the edible function of the Essence Stone, its discovery in the previous life was a complete accident.
It all started when a warrior wielding a weapon embedded with an Essence Stone fought a fierce battle. The weapon was ultimately destroyed, and the Essence Stone shattered and was discarded on the battlefield.
Later, a starving survivor, unable to find anything to eat, mistook the rice-sized fragments of the Essence Stone for food and ate them. Unexpectedly, he survived and his body underwent changes.
His strength became immense.
This attribute was precisely the property of the Essence Stone he had consumed.
As the news spread, people realized that Essence Stones could not only grant weapons and equipment additional attributes but also bestow humans with the abilities of the Essence Stone itself when consumed.
In the previous life, this discovery caused a sensation. The Essence Stone, which had always had a stable price and was mostly traded among craftsmen, suddenly became highly sought after, with its price skyrocketing. By the time William was reborn, the price had reached an absurd level, so high that even someone like William, a six-star Evolving person, found it prohibitive.
However, at this moment, the alternative use of this item had not yet been discovered. If everything proceeded as it should, the Essence Stone would remain obscure for at least another four or five years, with its true value still unknown to mankind.
The more William thought about it, the more excited he became. He felt that this was another opportunity for him. He could stockpile Essence Stones while others were unaware of their use.
Of course, this was just a plan. Even before the alternative use was discovered, Essence Stones were quite valuable and relatively scarce. Although they occasionally appeared on the roulette, the chances of encountering them were still very slim. Whether he could find them in the future would largely depended on luck.
Essence Stones were powerful but had their limitations, particularly concerning evolutionary levels.
After the function of Essence Stones to enhance human attributes was discovered, people conducted an in-depth research on these stones. Survivors gradually found that Essence Stones also had levels, which correspond to the level of the roulette from which they were produced.
In other words, Essence Stones could be produced by wheels from level one to level nine. The difference was that a level one roulette produced a level one Essence Stone, while a level nine roulette produced the highest level nine Essence Stone.
Essence Stones had an effect on all humans when consumed, but the effect was most noticeable on ordinary people. This was because ordinary people were not Evolving persons and had the lowest physical aspects.
Any improvement would be particularly significant. For Evolving persons, the effect of Essence Stones led survivors to gradually discover a theory called "minus one."
Subtract the Evolving person's star level from the Essence Stone's level. If the result was not negative, the Essence Stone would have an effect. The larger the result, the greater the effect of the Essence Stone.
For example, if a level one Essence Stone from a level one roulette was consumed by a one-star Evolving person, the result was zero, so the Essence Stone will have an effect. If consumed by a two-star Evolving person, the result was negative, so the Essence Stone will not have an effect.
Similarly, if a level two Essence Stone from a level two roulette was consumed by a one-star Evolving person, the result was one, so the benefit to the one-star Evolving person was much greater than consuming a level one Essence Stone.
This theory was not difficult to understand and was common in many aspects. People just used this specific way to express the effect of Essence Stones.
Although, it was like this, according to this theory, a one-star Evolving person would benefit the most from consuming a level nine Essence Stone. But in reality, this was not the case because it involved the issue of body balance.
Imagine a one-star Evolving person possessing the strength of a nine-star Evolving person. Could he really withstand it? His bone hardness, skin toughness, brain reaction speed, etc., couldn't keep up. The result of possessing such strength would be death.
Therefore, people usually wouldn't consume Essence Stones more than two levels above their own because it would be a waste and could be dangerous.
Additionally, the consumption of Essence Stones was not without limits. The same attribute Essence Stone could only be consumed once.
For example, if an Evolving person had already consumed an Essence Stone that increases speed, even if he found a better Essence Stone later, as long as it increases speed, it will no longer have an effect on him.
This also prevented some strong individuals from infinitely enhancing themselves through Essence Stones.
As all the information about Essence Stones flashed through his mind, William smiled. He was now a one-star Evolving person, with a maximum limit of consuming a level three Essence Stone. The level two roulette was just right for him. He had to admit, he had a good luck.
Undoubtedly, the most valuable item on the level two roulette was the two-star Evolution Elixir, followed by the unremarkable Essence Stone. With the number of level two Magic Crystals he had, he could spin the roulette seven times.
But since he also wanted to make Human puppetry, he needed to keep at least five level two Magic Crystals, so he could only spin the level two roulette six times. If he could get one of these two items in those six spins,he would consider himself extremely lucky!
Suppressing his excitement and nervousness, he cautiously looked around. After confirming there was no danger, he took out the level two Magic Crystals he had obtained from Landon Coleman from his space crystal and placed them on the roulette's control panel.
With power, the level two roulette emitted a faint startup sound, beginning its first mission since it descended from the sky.
William stared intently at the pointer, hoping it would land on the Evolution Elixir or the Essence Stone.
Unfortunately, even with the use of a basic Exclusion spell, the pointer landed on a useless barrel of gasoline.
Grimacing, William continued to spin.
In the night sky of Hope Base, the light from the spinning level two roulette kept flashing.
At this moment, at the entrance of the sewer leading outside of the East District, two men cursing were climbing up. If William and his group were there, they would recognize these two as the Evolving persons, Garrett and Desmond, who had forcibly taken a woman from the market during the day.
"Damn it, that woman's body was so weak. I barely got to enjoy her and she's already running out of breath, making us go out in the middle of the night to dispose of the body," Desmond complained, slapping at his clothes stained with some filth.
"Well, there's no other choice. It's not cold yet. If we leave the body in the base, it could cause an epidemic, and the smell would be unbearable. Tossing it directly outside the walls might attract some crazy zombies, so we gotta make a trip out," Garrett explained.
Garrett's words made Desmond agree. He was just venting. Scratching his itchy crotch, he was about to suggest finding another woman to satisfy their desires when his gaze was drawn to the light on a distant rooftop. Desmond was stunned for a full five seconds before reacting, and then his loud scream echoed through the base.
"Someone is spinning the level two roulette!!!" Desmond yelled in excitement.
