Chapter 423: Bazett's Calendar is About to Be Plundered by Cheng Tian
The drop rules for the 'King of Fighters '97 MUGEN' dungeon are somewhat unique compared to other dungeons.
Strictly speaking, most fighting game dungeons don't have monster units that can be casually cleared and killed. All interactions are based on NPCs from different factions, either fighting in the arena or engaging in deathmatches outside of it.
And the drop rules for this type of fighting dungeon naturally have specializations related to combat.
Simply put, kills can drop items, and defeats can also drop items.
The former generally yields higher quality drops, but once a killing act is exposed, it will cause varying degrees of faction turmoil, affecting both allied and enemy factions.
Although the quality of drops from the latter is generally lower, it is one of the rare ways to 'normally obtain drops from allied NPCs without being hostile.'
As long as it adheres to fighting rules, whether in an arena match or a street fight in the wild, winning has a chance to drop a treasure chest. However, theoretically, it can only drop once, with only a very few BOSS-level units that have shape-shifting capabilities having the possibility of being repeatedly farmed.
At the same time, losing in a fight does not affect the probability of a treasure chest drop in the next victory.
Cheng Tian's extra skill, 'Soul Salvation,' has the attribute of collecting innocent souls by killing evil dark units or destroying candlesticks and torches.
However, in the previous 'Armored Warriors' dungeon, the probabilistic drop from destroying mechs and cyborgs changed from 'innocent souls' to 'steel souls,' indicating that the potential of this skill goes beyond that.
Thus, in this place where martial artists are everywhere, it transformed into the attribute: [Defeat evil dark martial artists, high probability of dropping 'Martial Artist's Soul'].
Previously, he had almost shattered the Great Cthulhu's yolk, yet nothing dropped. However, Bison contributed both a treasure chest and souls.
Normally, these dropped soul fragments would require Cheng to be present to pick them up. However, The World automatically picked them up and even gave a thought-provoking prompt: 'Does not conform to the extremely evil attribute.'
Cheng couldn't help but ponder.
A Stand is a materialized product of high-level spiritual and even soul resonance with the user. Furthermore, damage taken by a Stand is synchronously reflected on the user. Therefore, compared to so-called summons, a Stand is more like an extension of the user's limbs and soul. Theoretically, it can indeed pick up items for the player.
However, compared to other Stands, Cheng Tian's The World has a more unique aspect in its original setting: it has a clear evolution path and related conditions, one of which is '36 extremely evil souls.'
Perhaps this is the main reason why his Stand, The World, can absorb souls on his behalf?
But then again, the soul fragments dropped by Bison don't conform to the 'extremely evil' attribute?
...It seems that this guy truly is the one furthest from the word 'evil' among the Four Heavenly Kings of Shadaloo.
Needless to say, Vega, the leader, his crimes are too numerous to count and he should be one of the existences that most fits the 'extremely evil' description.
However, apart from the leader, the other Four Heavenly Kings are all 'pure' in their own ways.
Sagat, who has already left the organization, is a pure martial artist who, like Ryu, pursues the pinnacle of martial arts.
Balrog, who pursues beauty and detests ugliness, despite being constantly surrounded by muscular, ugly men, hasn't collapsed into a murderous rage, which is commendable.
F.A.N.G, who uses poison, is somewhat mysterious. He himself is more inclined to be a researcher; he hadn't even joined when Vega was causing trouble.
As for Bison, he is a pure existence who lives for money.
He joined Shadaloo for money, became a Heavenly King for more money. Although he was later portrayed by Capcom as a brainless brute with only muscles, he's not truly a pure villain. He even raised a Vega clone, similar to Terry.
Of course, saying that, aiding and abetting evil is not something to praise. It can only be said that they certainly committed evil, but they do not meet the criteria of 'extremely evil.'
"Should I try to kill the Great Cthulhu?"
This thought suddenly popped into Cheng Tian's mind, and if nothing unexpected happened, the other party should still be lying in the organizer's hospital.
Through synchronization with The World, Cheng Tian and Bazett exchanged glances and nodded.
Bazett immediately rushed towards another direction where his own members were, while The World, holding a treasure chest and the badly beaten October of the Praetorian Guard, quickly returned.
Cheng Tian still remembered December's request, but because the Stand itself has a skill cooldown, it's better to gather people together for brainwashing.
As for Bison?
He had completely merged with the night, achieving a sweet, baby-like sleep... The orange-golden figure flickered constantly around the laboratory, and each flicker meant that at least one Praetorian Guard member fell under The World's fist, also meaning that Cheng Tian's cage for the super-powered dinosaurs gained another unfortunate soul.
Except for the initial Bison, who was dealt with incidentally because it was so convenient, he then focused on capturing the Praetorian Guard, and almost all of them were subdued within three moves.
They believed they were well-hidden, but under the Stand's radar, there was nowhere to hide; they might as well have had labels on their heads.
Additionally, although The World can only appear near Cheng Tian, it can be dismissed directly while in remote control mode. This means that dismissing and re-summoning it at appropriate times can save the Stand long distances of travel. Moreover, its ghostly figure constantly appearing and disappearing in the vicinity also successfully interfered with the battles of the other Four Heavenly Kings.
The World indeed didn't attack the remaining Four Heavenly Kings and Juri, but just by standing there, you simply couldn't ignore its presence. You had no choice but to divert some of your energy to constantly monitor The World's movements; any slight disturbance would draw attention away.
At the same time, Bazett, now free, also rushed directly to where Irene and Mina were, beginning a strong assault on Balrog and F.A.N.G.
But just at this moment, Cheng, who was sitting in the center collecting Bazett's calendar, curved his lips into a smile.
"You really couldn't resist, could you?"
Looking at the familiar large silhouette that appeared on the Stand's radar, Cheng Tian showed an expression that confirmed his suspicions.
This familiar large silhouette was naturally Maxima, who had appeared once in the morning and left his Stand puppet mark. This time, he brought more cyborgs, and also a figure distinctly different from the surrounding cyborgs—
A man who, even on a summer night, chose to wrap his body in a coat, revealing only half of his face.