Discovered an upgradeable component. Would you like to upgrade?

　　Upgrade.

　　As soon as William Carter confirmed, a faint glow appeared on the military knife, then quickly returned to normal.

　　Breathing heavily, William Carter finally realized that the physical energy required for upgrading was at least twice as much as for extraction.

　　As the saying goes, destruction is easy but construction is hard. The extraction and upgrading of military equipment is no different.

　　Item: Military knife.

　　Grade: Ordinary item, common, tier three.

　　Attributes: Sharpness +3, Hardness +3, Durability 3.

　　Seeing the military knife’s hardness increase a bit more, William Carter couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, so happy he couldn’t close his mouth.

　　Stimulated by the sight of the military knife, William Carter felt his body fill with energy. He pressed on, extracting the attributes from four damaged military knives in succession, then tried to stack them onto this one.

　　However, to his disappointment and regret, when he began the upgrade process, he could only upgrade two attributes before he hit a wall.

　　A wave of intense fatigue washed over him, and William Carter’s body swayed slightly, as if he might collapse at any moment.

　　He stopped immediately. This situation was just like what he had encountered in the military equipment order—his mental and physical strength were nearly depleted, and he could no longer keep going.

　　Sensing the two small purple light clusters still present in his mind, he looked again at the brand-new military knife in his hand.

　　Item: Sharp military knife.

　　Grade: Ordinary item, common, tier four.

　　Attributes: Sharpness +4, Hardness +4, Durability 4.

　　A satisfied smile appeared on William Carter’s face. Although each attribute of this military knife had only increased by one, it was definitely a rare, high-quality piece among all the military knives.

　　Unfortunately, his strength was already exhausted. Otherwise, if he could stack the other two attributes from his mind onto this knife, it would surely reach an even higher level.

　　When a child accomplishes something big, he’s bound to want to show off.

　　William Carter shook his head, and the slight dizziness seemed to vanish in his excitement. Then, holding the military knife, he strode off at a run toward Old Craftsman.

　　He wanted Old Craftsman, the person closest to him, to see the results of his hard work.

　　“Old man, old man…”

　　William Carter burst into Old Craftsman’s private forging room in a flurry.

　　Inside, Old Craftsman was using military equipment to repair a fine steel shield. Being interrupted by William Carter made him instantly irritable, and he nearly failed the repair.

　　He glared fiercely at the boy and said, “So reckless—can’t you be a bit more steady?”

　　William Carter gave an embarrassed smile, but immediately tossed the awkwardness aside. He shouted, “Old man, this is the military knife I just repaired. Please take a look!”

　　Old Craftsman said, half amused and half exasperated, “Where did you find this thing, kid?”

　　William Carter replied excitedly, “I just picked one at random from those abandoned tents.”

　　Old Craftsman frowned and said, “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You just learned how to use military equipment and you’re already using it repeatedly. Don’t you know haste makes waste?”

　　William Carter scratched his head and said, “Old man, I just thought I could handle it, so I gave it a try.” He thought to himself, I didn’t just use it twice—there were several times, actually.

　　Old Craftsman was taken aback, looking at him suspiciously. After a moment, he said, “Strange… Could it be… you have a talent for mental power?”

　　William Carter asked in surprise, “Old man, what’s that?”

　　Old Craftsman explained, “For ordinary people like you, using military equipment consumes physical strength. Even if you’re strong, you can’t last long. Only those who have achieved martial arts mastery can extend that time. However, some people are born with powerful mental strength. They can use mental power instead of physical strength to fuel the equipment. Hmm, since you mastered it so quickly and can use it repeatedly, you must be one of those people.”

　　William Carter nodded, half understanding, but urged, “Old man, hurry up and take a look!”

　　Old Craftsman said grumpily, “What’s the rush? So impatient—who knows if you’ll amount to anything in the future. Huh, this military knife…” His tone suddenly paused, and his expression turned to one of surprise.

　　After a moment, Old Craftsman put down the knife, looked at William Carter, and said seriously, “Kid, impressive. You can even repair a knife of this quality. I underestimated you.”

　　William Carter chuckled. In front of Old Craftsman, he had nothing to hide.

　　However, just as he was feeling elated, a pair of sinister eyes suddenly flashed in his mind, and his expression fell.

　　Old Craftsman, noticing the change, asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

　　William Carter let out a long sigh and said, “Sigh, I’m in trouble.”

　　He recounted how he had gone to the provisions camp and then to the big house with Brian Bolton and his nephew, and said with a bitter face, “I got the military equipment, so they must hate me to the core. Sigh, I’m afraid I won’t have any good days ahead…”