10: Chapter 10: Opening a treasure chest, another Hextech rarity.

Lin Yan took the Second Lieutenant nameplate from his waist. The metal plate was slightly hot in his palm; it wasn't an illusion. The closer he got to the iron door, the higher the temperature became. On the right side of the door frame was an inconspicuous groove, the size of which matched the nameplate perfectly.

Lin Yan pressed the nameplate in and heard a slight mechanical clicking sound. Immediately after, the patterns on the surface of the nameplate, which he had thought were rust, suddenly lit up with a faint blue light, spreading along the guide grooves on the edge of the recess to the entire door panel.

The iron door emitted a dull boom and began to open slowly inward. The rusted hinges rubbed against each other, and the sound echoed between the triangularly arranged buildings, sharp as if someone were scraping a blackboard with an iron nail.

Lin Yan subconsciously turned his head to scan the ruins behind him; there was no movement. The corpses of the twelve Rift Wolves he had cleared earlier were still piled up in disarray in the open space. The heavy smell of blood itself acted as an invisible cordon, enough to make most low-level monsters detour.

He withdrew his gaze and squeezed sideways through the gap in the door.

Behind the iron door was a concrete corridor sloping downward, about two meters wide. The ceiling height was less than 2.2 meters, so Lin Yan needed to slightly lower his head to pass through.

Embedded on both sides of the walls were several emergency lights that had long since gone out, their covers covered in cracks. The air was dry and cold, carrying a musty odor peculiar to enclosed spaces, but there was no smell of blood, nor the rank body odor typical of monster dens.

At the end of the corridor was a basement of about twenty square meters, with bare concrete walls and no decorations. In the corner were piled several rotten wooden crates, the faded markings still remaining on the planks.

In the center of the floor was embedded a half-person-high metal storage box. The box body was dark gray, with a fine anti-rust coating on the surface. A blurred military emblem was printed on the coating, completely consistent with the mark on the Second Lieutenant nameplate.

The storage box was not locked.

Lin Yan squatted down to check it thoroughly. After confirming there were no trigger traps, he hooked his hands onto the edge of the lid and lifted it open with force.

A blast of cold air mixed with the scent of metal and a faint medicinal smell surged out from the box. After the lid was fully opened, Lin Yan saw the supplies neatly stacked inside.

On the left were five intermediate health potions, each bottle sealed with wax film, the bottle bodies crystal clear. In the green light orb on the right was a pair of legguards, dark green in color, with a fine scale-like pattern on the surface and thickened edging at the knees. Next to the legguards were two intermediate mana potions of the same specification.

Lin Yan picked up the legguards, and a system prompt sounded in his mind.

[Obtained Equipment: iron scale legguards · Level 5]

[Quality: Green Excellent]

[Effect: Max HP +900, Physical Defense +45, Movement Speed +15%]

[Wear Condition: Level ≥ 5]

Green equipment. Lin Yan looked it over twice, confirming he hadn't misread it. This was the first piece of green-quality equipment he had seen in the Dungeon, a tier higher than the white iron bone breastplate, and it was also 4 levels higher.

A 900 HP bonus, 45 points of physical defense, and an additional 15% movement speed effect. For him, following a pure tank route, movement speed meant space for kiting, and space for kiting meant a higher error tolerance rate. The only problem was the level 5 requirement; he was currently only level 3.

He first put the green light orb into his backpack and then picked up the potions.

[Obtained Item: intermediate health potion × 5]

[Obtained Item: intermediate mana potion × 2]

Five intermediate health potions, plus the two left in his backpack, made seven in total. The two intermediate mana potions were useless for now; his mana had not moved from start to finish, as normal attacks consumed stamina, not mana.

But these kinds of potions could sell for quite a few star coins back on Blue Star; bringing them out meant profit. He could also keep them, as he might learn skills later.

Lin Yan searched the storage box again. At the bottom was a small bag of low-rank dimensional crystals. He opened it and counted: thirty pieces, slightly larger than those dropped by the Rift Wolves. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Just as he finished putting away the crystals, two notification sounds rang in his mind simultaneously. The first was from the Dungeon system.

[Hidden Side Quest Completed: Find the 7th Frontline Camp Supply Box]

[Obtained Reward: low-rank dimensional crystal × 60, intermediate health potion × 2]

[Bonus Reward Triggered: Additional evaluation score added upon Dungeon settlement]

Adding the 30 pieces and five potions obtained from the box, the total profit from this side quest was 90 crystals and seven potions, plus one piece of green legguards.

The second notification sound rang in Lin Yan's ears, cold and unique—it was a separate prompt from the hextech system.

[The hextech system detected that the host completed a hidden side quest, obtained an extra hextech selection chance × 1]

[This extra selection comes with a 20% high-quality probability bonus]

[Generating hextech options...]

Three huge light screens glowing with brilliant silver light appeared out of thin air in front of Lin Yan. Every character on them was as clear and sharp as if carved into the air with a knife.

It was the same ritualistic feeling as the first three-choice hextech selection when entering the Dungeon. Although there was a "20% high-quality probability bonus," it was a pity that this one was silver.

[Current hextech quality: Silver Tier]

[Available hextech:]

Hextech 1: Might — Increase physical attack by 20%

Hextech 2: Escape Plan — When HP is below 35%, gain a massive shield equal to 65% of max HP and 150% movement speed for 10 seconds, with a 75-second cooldown.

Hextech 3: Heavy Hitter — Your attacks deal additional physical damage equal to 5% of your max HP.

Lin Yan's gaze swept over the three hextech options quickly, his breathing slightly rapid.

He hesitated almost not at all and directly chose the third one.

Might increases attack power by 20%. He currently has 20 points of physical attack, so adding 20% makes it 24. Four extra points of damage—directly ruled out.

Escape Plan triggers a shield equal to 65% of max HP and 150% movement speed when below 35% HP. He currently has 2861 HP, so 35% is 1001 points.

The trigger condition is having your HP beaten down to the danger line near three digits, and then giving you a shield equivalent to over 1800 HP.

The essence of this hextech is preventing sudden death, giving one a chance for a comeback in a desperate situation. It is indeed stable and has tactical value. But with his current HP, it is basically very hard to trigger.

Heavy Hitter synergizes perfectly with his high HP, making up for the blank period where he has to wait for Heartsteel to cool down and has no damage.

Lin Yan moved his mind, and the third option on the silver light screen suddenly lit up, while the other two extinguished simultaneously.

[Successfully selected Silver Tier hextech: Heavy Hitter]

[Effect activated: All your normal attacks deal additional physical damage equal to 5% of your max HP.]

A steady and heavy power surged into his limbs and bones, feeling completely different from the last time he obtained a Golden hextech.

The power of Heartsteel was like opening a window for his consciousness, allowing him to see through an enemy's flaws. But the power of Heavy Hitter felt more like an attachment, as if something heavy and invisible had permeated his palms, wrists, and forearms, depositing itself between every tendon fiber along the bone seams.

Lin Yan looked down at his hands; there were no changes on the surface, but when he gripped his dagger, he felt the balance of the dagger seemed a bit heavier than before. It wasn't that the dagger had become heavier, but his hands had become heavier. Every swing of the blade now carried greater inertia than before.

Lin Yan casually slashed at a piece of concrete rubble nearby. The dagger sank an inch into the stone, debris flew, and the cut was smooth. This strike was just a simple normal attack, but the resistance to cutting the stone was significantly less than before.

He flexed his fingers, loosened his grip, and then tightened it on the dagger again. Heartsteel was responsible for true damage and stacking HP, while Heavy Hitter was responsible for converting his constantly expanding HP into physical output.

Two hextechs, from burst damage on flaws to growth, and then to constant output—every link was positioned in the most suitable place.

Lin Yan stood in place for a few minutes to digest it, waiting for the fluctuations of the hextech power to completely subside. Then he opened his attribute panel and looked through it from beginning to end.

[Current Level: 3]

[Current Attributes: Constitution 9, Strength 1, Agility 1, Spirit 1, Luck 1]

[Current HP: 1485 / 2861]

[Current Mana: 100]

[Physical Attack: 20]

[Spell Attack: 10]

[Physical Defense: 55]

[Spell Defense: 45]

[Speed: 10]

[Talent: F-Rank Weak Constitution]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: iron bone breastplate · Level 1, standard issue dagger, standard issue set (excluding breastplate)]

[Current EXP: 92 / 400]

[Items: intermediate health potion × 9, intermediate mana potion × 2, some food, low-rank dimensional crystal: 220, Rift Wolf skin fragment × 12, Green Skill Book · Rend, iron scale legguards · Level 5 (not worn), broken officer nameplate × 1 (used)]

[Hextech: Heartsteel (1761 stacks), Heavy Hitter]

Nine intermediate health potions, nearly two hundred low-rank dimensional crystals, one unworn green legguards, and one unlearned green skill book.

Plus the two hextechs, this configuration was enough to dominate in a one-star Dungeon. As long as he survived and brought all these things back to the Safe Zone, let alone an F-Rank trash talent, even an Awakened of the same level with a B-Rank talent could be crushed by him just by throwing resources.

Lin Yan closed the panel and checked the basement one more time. After confirming there were no omissions, he turned and followed the corridor back to the surface. The corpses of the Rift Wolves on the open ground remained as they were.

Lin Yan stood in place for a moment. He didn't rush to leave immediately, but instead performed a set of simple physical tests: jumping in place, quick shuttle runs, and switching between forward and reverse grips on the dagger. The wound on his left forearm no longer affected his movements at all, and his body had good adaptability to the newly added attributes.

The muscular firmness brought by Heavy Hitter did not affect his flexibility; instead, it improved his core stability by a notch.

Lin Yan looked up at the sky; it was already very late, and the day's fighting had left him extremely exhausted. He needed to rest now. Although many things in this world had been digitized, people still needed to eat, drink, and sleep normally.

Lin Yan looked around and decided to lie down and sleep in the corner of a balcony on the second-floor platform of the camp. The view was open here, and he would be able to detect any movement immediately.

The reason he didn't choose the basement was that it had no other exits; if he were to be blocked at the door by someone else, he would have nowhere to run.