Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

I currently have quite a lot of food, especially potatoes, catfish, honey, and rice.

According to the explanation of the maze game, the amount of life essence contained in different foods in the maze varies.

The foods I consume, ranked from lowest to highest in terms of vital essence content, are: potatoes, rice, catfish, and honey.

Lin Mo successfully extracted all the refined iron in the underground cave and currently possesses 15 units of refined iron.

If you have 5 extra refined iron, you can use them for exchange.

I have enough wood and refined iron. I'm currently short 3 fire elements and 1 unit of copper. Trading shouldn't be too difficult.

Opening the exchange panel, Lin Mo directly selected the trading information of explorers from the Dragon Kingdom, the Battan Kingdom, and the Bear Kingdom. These were either compatriots or countries with good relations with the Dragon Kingdom.

Fire element is a hard currency; basically, you can exchange fire element for anything you need on the market.

At this moment, many explorers from the Dragon Kingdom are using fire elementals to purchase what they want.

[Li Weigang from Dragon Kingdom (Level 8): Exchange Fire Element for Honey (only applicable to your own country or friendly countries), 1 Fire Element for 50 grams of honey.]

Honey is known for its ability to enhance vital energy, and more importantly, it is also a component of some detoxifying remedies, leading to strong market demand.

Lin Mo wasn't in a hurry to redeem the information and continued browsing.

[Fatima Javid, Batan Kingdom (Floor 5): Injured and unable to advance during recovery; needs food to sustain herself. Exchange Fire Elementals for food; rice and potatoes are both acceptable. 1 Fire Elemental for 500g of rice or 4 potatoes. I have 2 Fire Elementals.]

This place is okay. There are only 300 grams of rice left, so it can't be traded. You can exchange 8 potatoes, which is 4 jin, for 2 fire elements.

Place 8 potatoes in the transaction and click "Trade".

[Transaction successful: You have successfully exchanged 8 potatoes for 2 fire elements. Current potato quantity: 28, Current fire element quantity: 4]

As long as one's conditions meet the other party's transaction settings, the transaction is completed immediately. Lin Mo's personal space has 8 fewer potatoes and 2 more fire elements.

We're still missing one copper and one fire element.

【龙国秦晓（6层）：出售2单位铜矿，1单位换鲶鱼肉400克，或100克蜂蜜。】

This was the only shop selling copper. Lin Mo originally intended to keep the catfish meat and honey for himself, as they contained a significant amount of life essence.

But when I thought about how I was about to enter the second floor, where there might be even higher-grade ingredients, and since I had enough food, I decided to make the armor first, as that was what I needed most right now.

Take out a 400-gram piece of catfish meat, place it on the plate, and select "trade".

[Transaction successful: You have successfully exchanged 400 grams of catfish meat for 1 unit of copper. Current quantity of catfish meat: 6350 grams.]

6350 grams. Lin Mo smiled slightly. This number was reassuring. In short: extravagant!

Lin Mo was still missing a fire element, so he finally decided to exchange 400 grams of catfish meat for one.

Lin Mo was surprised that these explorers who had reached the 5th, 6th or even 10th floors were exchanging for food. Was there really such a shortage?

Lin Mo thought of a possibility: frequent injuries!

In the maze, battles are inevitable, and those explorers who lack the ability to understand the clues often find themselves in combat.

Combat injuries have become commonplace, which is why wound medicine is so popular in the trading market.

After being injured, health will drop to a low level, requiring a combination of rest, food, and medication to recover.

Otherwise, with low health, combat effectiveness is low, and they won't dare to take a single step forward.

What do you eat when you're resting for a long time? So the need for food becomes very large.

With the increase in life level, metabolism becomes faster, and you can eat more.

Having grasped the underlying principle, Lin Mo stopped thinking about it and directly began crafting the "exquisite alloy armor" through the system's manufacturing interface.

[You have chosen to craft "Superior Alloy Armor". You have the blueprints, all your materials are ready, and the crafting is in progress...]

In the personal space, there are 10 refined iron, 2 wood, 5 fire element, and 1 copper.

A hammer appeared on the virtual panel in front of Lin Mo, and a progress bar next to it indicated that it was being manufactured.

Ten seconds later, a notification sound came.

Congratulations on successfully crafting the "Superior Alloy Armor". Equip it?

"equipment!"

The next second, light began to shine through every inch of Lin Mo's skin, outlining a precise and powerful geometric silhouette.

Immediately afterwards, a subtle yet clear metallic vibrato rang out, as if an invisible craftsman was striking it beside him.

The shank is the first to respond.

On either side of the ankle, a dark, saturated iron and brass alloy light appeared out of thin air, "forging" two curved armor plates from the void. They precisely conformed to the curves of the calves, one on the left and one on the right, and snapped together with a heavy texture with a "click".

Immediately afterwards, the same stream of light spread upwards, covering the knees and forming intricately structured leg armor. The brass-colored protective rings at the joints rotated slightly, adjusting to the optimal angle, with a faint glimmer of fire element light flashing briefly at the seams.

The creation and covering of metals has never stopped.

On the waist, back, and chest, patches of black and yellow armor plates materialized, extended, and snapped together as if they were alive, emerging from the light.

The process was not a simple covering, but rather full of intricate mechanical beauty: a larger piece of breastplate solidified first, covering the heart.

Then, the shoulder armor and arm armor "grow" out from the upper and side edges, with the edges of the armor plates sliding into the pre-set slots, making a pleasant and short "clang, clang" sound.

The wrist is wrapped in a lightweight yet sturdy wrist guard, and finally, the five fingers are delicately protected by metal gloves with matte black fingertips to ensure flexibility and tactile feel.

As the core armor of the torso and limbs completed its connection, the last rays of light converged on Lin Mo's head.

Smaller, more delicately curved armor plates appeared out of thin air, splicing and riveting together from the forehead to the back of the head, and from the sides to the top of the head, like rivers flowing into the sea, ultimately forming a complete, majestic, and smoothly sleek full-coverage helmet.

The faceplate is dark gold, and the eyes are two deep observation slits that blend perfectly with the neckplate, creating a seamless whole.

"Clang!"

The final, heavy, and resonant metallic closing tone echoed in the space.

At the same time, the armor even uttered a line in Earth's language:

Τα αρχαία κείμενα μίλούν γία μία

Translation: I will attack in my alloy armor form!

The voice was firm and powerful, but Lin Mo blushed: This is a bit too childish!

At this moment! A suit of alloy armor, combining futuristic aesthetics with classic forging techniques, has been erected.

It quietly covered Lin Mo's entire body, each piece of armor seeming to be an extension of his body, close yet not suffocating.

[A sophisticated alloy armor is equipped. Under normal circumstances, you can choose between 'visual display' and 'visual concealment' modes. When threatened, the armor will automatically activate its protective defenses.]

Lin Mo's mind stirred slightly as he selected "Hide Appearance".

All parts of the armor instantly turned into countless tiny points of light, like stars played in reverse, and quickly disappeared.

"Show appearance." With another thought, light points surged out, and layers of metal armor plates emerged and interlocked, once again completely covering his entire body with handsome armor.

"Holy crap, I thought it was armor, but you've given me the feel of a mecha?" Lin Mo never expected that such a high-quality alloy armor would be so cool.

Even when equipped, its appearance can be hidden, and it will automatically take effect when attacked.

I glanced at the information on the alloy armor. It's currently in brand new condition with 100 durability. During battle, the armor will wear down, but it can be repaired by consuming refined iron, which isn't difficult.

"6!" Lin Mo was excited. Entering the second floor was truly a game-changer.

At the same time, Lin Mo also posted a message on the trading market: to help fellow countrymen forge alloy armor for free, all you need to do is provide the materials.

It's perfectly normal to forge armor for one's fellow countrymen without charging a fee, because their performance affects the fate of the entire Dragon Kingdom.

For example, with this armor, wouldn't their chances of dying be reduced? And wouldn't it save them the national fortune points needed for resurrection?

With armor, wouldn't the probability of injury be lower, saving on the food needed for recuperation, and giving us more opportunities to find supplies and return food to the Dragon Kingdom?

The national fortune points accumulate gradually, and the return rate will increase in the future, which is a good thing for the entire Dragon Kingdom.

Having set up the transaction, Lin Mo prepared to continue exploring, looking at the four passages around the cave, somewhat impatient.

…………

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap? This is so cool! What kind of equipment is this? Other explorers from China also had armor before, but none of them were this stylish.]

[Chinese netizens: That line was so cool! "I will charge into battle in my alloy armor form!" Holy crap, that's awesome!]

[A netizen from the Free Nation: This is just ignorance. This is high-quality armor; it must be useful. Our country's explorers also have it, several in fact, because one of our explorers had the blueprints and helped them forge a few pieces.]

[Chinese netizens: Who asked you? That's unnecessary.]

[A Chinese netizen commented: "This is awesome! Brother Lin got such good equipment before entering the second floor. His skill level and health level are both very high. Will he have a chance to challenge the maze boss on the first floor? That thing is guaranteed to drop resources and national fortune points."]

[A netizen from India: Are you kidding me? This dungeon boss has never been defeated.]

[A Pakistani netizen commented: Haha, that's because you guys are useless, and you won't allow others to kill you?]

[A netizen from the Rising Sun Kingdom commented: "Back then, our strongest player, Tanabe Ichijo, also had armor and weapons on the first floor, and his health level was 2, but he failed in less than 10 seconds."]

[Free Nation Netizen: What's wrong with you guys? The Dragon Nation wants to challenge us, you should cheer them on! Go, go! Don't chicken out!]

While the live stream was still debating whether Lin Mo could defeat the boss and clear the maze, Lin Mo had already seen some incredible information.

He himself couldn't believe that such a good thing could happen.

[You are about to reach a sand dune. There is nothing there, but there are four level 1 sandworms. Your aura is too strong, and they may not dare to show themselves.]

Good heavens, the creatures in the maze can avoid battle? Lin Mo hadn't expected that.

According to the explanation of the maze game, when your level is 2 levels higher than the monster, the maze creature may be afraid to fight. This is only a possibility, and the specific situation will vary depending on the type of maze creature.

[There's a nest of rodents living in the passage behind you, 11 in total. Two are level 2, the rest are level 1. They just discovered 2000 grams of rice and are overjoyed. Want to go and rob them?]

Eleven? Lin Mo felt he could manage, so he checked the passage behind him first.

The passage to your left leads to an underwater cave, where four man-eating catfish reside. They lurk beneath the surface, waiting for their chance to strike. These level 3 creatures have been living here for an unknown period of time.

Three? There's pressure, and they're underwater.

[The scene in the passage on the right is spectacular. An explorer from the Great Cold Kingdom climbed a tree to pick edible wild fruit, only to find himself surrounded by seven level 1 hyenas. He was too afraid to come down, but the hyenas had made their home right under the tree. The stalemate has lasted for eight hours. I think this explorer from the Great Cold Kingdom will probably never come down.]

Haha? There's such a thing?

Not only did I get a lot of beast cores and life essence from killing 7 hyenas, but there was also a player from the Great Cold Kingdom that I could kill to get national fortune points and his fruit. I had to go and join in the fun.