Chapter 143: The Effect of the Scourge Rune (Plague)

"The next piece of equipment is the Plague Armor."

Leiming paused slightly and pasted the equipment's attributes into the channel.

Plague Armor (Epic / Deep Purple)
Equipment Type: Plate Armor
Requirements: Constitution 200, Strength 200
Base Attribute: Defense +25
Extra Attribute: All Damage Taken -30
Extra Attribute: Magic Resistance +25%
Skill/Passive: Plague. Each time you are attacked, there is a chance to inflict a random curse on the enemy, lasting for 60 seconds.
Skill/Active: Plague Aura. Upon activation, summons a Plague Aura with a radius of 30 meters, dealing negative energy damage to enemies within the range equal to the user's maximum attribute multiplied by 1, and randomly inflicting a curse or disease every 15 seconds, lasting for 2 minutes.
Evaluation: The power of the plague flows through this armor.

"Top-tier armor! Starting bid is 200 gold. I'll bid 200 gold first."
"This thing is good, 250 gold."
"Count me in, 280 gold."
"Truly top-tier, 300 gold."

Among the few people placing bids were even ranged classes, and their bids were made quite casually, almost as if they were intentionally driving up the price.

In reality, that was not the case.

No rule stated that one had to be suited for the equipment to bid on it. In a gold-based loot run, money did the talking—as long as you could afford the price, you could bid.

Regardless of whether you were driving up the price, if you bid and no one else wanted it, you were stuck paying that amount. As long as you could afford it, it wasn't considered malicious price-gouging.

Furthermore, this plate armor dropped by the Scourge Knight was indeed top-tier. Weapons, armor, shields, and accessories were naturally more expensive than other parts. With such exceptional attributes, its final value would definitely exceed the Mark of Death Chu Cheng had just acquired.

Even if others couldn't use it, if the auction price failed to reach their psychological valuation, they might as well take it out and sell it themselves to pocket the price difference.

Therefore, in such joint raid auctions, it was virtually impossible for items to go for a steal far below market value. Unless the value was astronomically high and nobody else could afford it, only then could the highest bidder secure a bargain.

After a back-and-forth bidding war among several people, the price finally stopped at a staggering 500 gold, ultimately won by Wang Jing. He was a Berserker Fighter and could equip this item.

While the auction was underway, Chu Cheng suddenly received a private message from Zhang Chaosheng:

"Brother Chu Cheng, are you interested in acquiring the Scourge Rune?"

Chu Cheng replied in surprise:

"Not really. If you want it, you can bid for it."

"Here is the thing: the normal market value for the next Scourge Rune is extremely high, over a thousand gold. But aside from Leiming's team, the rest of the people in our group probably can't scrape together that much money. My personal estimate is around five or six hundred gold at most. Letting him take something worth over a thousand gold for just five or six hundred gold is a huge loss."

"I'm thinking of borrowing some money from a few people to drive the price up to a thousand gold. Brother Chu Cheng, would you like to cooperate?"

"Hmm..."

"You should ask around a bit more first, and see how much we're short by later."

"Don't worry, it might not even be necessary. If I push it to a thousand gold and Leiming's team still wants it, I'll just let him have it."

"Alright, sounds good."

Chu Cheng agreed.

Indeed, he wouldn't be reconciled to seeing an item worth over a thousand gold being snatched away for five or six hundred gold.

At this moment, Leiming had finished the transaction with Wang Jing and then produced the final item, pasting its attributes into the channel.

Scourge Rune (Plague): A mysterious rune imbued with the primordial power of the Undead Scourge. Embedded into equipment, it grants the gear miraculous powers.

Leiming laughed heartily:

"Our luck today is fantastic! The drop rate for the Scourge Rune is pitifully low, yet it actually dropped. If those other guys found out, they would regret themselves to death."

"Everyone knows what this thing does, so I won't go into details. Let's start the auction."

"Plague Scourge Rune, starting bid 500 gold. I'll put in a bid of 800 gold first."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Zhang Chaosheng stood up and said:

"Let's not drag this out with small increments. Straight to the top: 1,000 gold."

"Whoa!"

Even though he had anticipated it, seeing it actually happen still made Chu Cheng draw a sharp breath. Puzzled, he leaned over and whispered to Fang Xi:

"Senior sister, what is the Scourge Rune actually used for? Why is it so expensive?"

Fang Xi immediately explained:

"This is one of the components for the Divine Word set: Scourge Power. All four Scourge Knights have a chance to drop a Scourge Rune: Plague, Slaughter, Curse, and Death. When all four Scourge Runes are combined and embedded into a weapon, it becomes the Blade of Scourge; embedded into armor, it becomes the Body of Scourge. Its attributes are even more powerful than average Legendary-tier equipment."

"Oh!"

No wonder it was so expensive; Chu Cheng understood now.

The moment Leiming saw Zhang Chaosheng's bid, he knew this was the ceiling, but there was nothing he could do and nothing to say. Put in the same situation, he would have done the exact same thing to push the price up.

"1,001 gold."
"Pass."

Leiming smiled bitterly:

"This run has completely cleaned out the entire team."

Zhang Chaosheng curled his lip and said:

"Be content! It's just that I'm short on cash. If I had the money, I'd definitely fight you for it."

Leiming burst into hearty laughter instantly, sweeping away the forced bitter smile he had just put on.

"Come, come, come! Let's tally up the earnings and split the gold."

"Two rare equipment pieces for 32 gold, two purple gems for 30 gold, Plague Aura for 50 gold, Nightmare Warhorse for 265 gold, Mark of Death for 400 gold, Plague Armor for 500 gold, and the Scourge Rune for 1,001 gold. Added together, that's a grand total of 2,278 gold."

"10 gold subsidy for Feng Lingxing, 15 gold subsidy for Fang Xi, leaving 2,253 gold. Split among 16 people, that's 140 gold and 81 silver per person. Correct?"

"Correct."
"Alright then, let's trade one by one."

The trades were completed swiftly. Chu Cheng and Fang Xi netted a combined total of 299 gold and 62 silver, meaning they managed to acquire a top-tier accessory for only about a hundred gold out of pocket.

By now, Chu Cheng had 337 gold in funds, and Fang Xi had 448 gold. Combined, the two of them possessed 785 gold—quite a tidy sum.

While they couldn't compare to veteran teams like Leiming's, their personal capital surpassed that of ordinary individuals.

This was the advantage of a team. With just two people now, once they gathered a full five-person roster in the future, their collective funds would be even more massive, giving them the purchasing power to acquire even more wonderful items.

However, gathering five like-minded teammates who were completely trustworthy was no easy task.

Especially for Chu Cheng, who possessed an Immortal-grade hero class. Combined with his cheat-like golden finger, the heights of his future strength were beyond ordinary imagination. Becoming his teammate was no simple feat.

At the very least, candidates needed to be Upper-tier hero classes or possess extraordinarily powerful talents like Fang Xi.

Anyone possessing two or more of these traits would almost certainly stand out easily—either forming their own teams or getting scouted and recruited by other groups early on. Solo actors were exceedingly rare.

On top of that, they had to be compatible in temperament and personality.

If someone had a poor personality...

"Better to have none than to settle!"

If he truly couldn't find suitable candidates, he would never casually pull a few random people together just to fill out numbers.

At this moment, Leiming clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention and spoke loudly:

"Brothers, the Plague Knight has been dealt with. Next, we continue hunting down the other Scourge Knights. Do you all want to press on?"

Zhang Chaosheng laughed heartily:

"With gains this big, of course we continue!"
"Which direction is our next stop?"

Leiming pulled out the map once more, pointing his finger further north as he said:

"Northward, to the Fortress of Death."