Translator: AnubisTL
"You've certainly found a clever use for your innate ability," Scar Dog remarked, glancing at Li Hao with a slightly odd expression.
By now, they had entered the mine.
The mine was pitch-black, and their only source of illumination was Li Hao's innate ability: map manifestation.
Strands of white light floated in mid-air, not only displaying the surrounding map but also illuminating their surroundings.
The brightness wasn't particularly strong—about the intensity of a few smartphone flashlights—but it was still quite useful.
"Heh," Li Hao said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "Just a little trick, nothing special."
It had to be said, the map manifestation ability was truly remarkable.
Following the path shown on the map, they had navigated directly to the three-star item chest deep within the mine, without wasting a single step.
Soon, they spotted a chest embedded in the wall, surrounded by excavation marks.
[Item Name: Three-Star Item Chest]
[Item Effect: Upon opening, choose one of three three-star items.]
[Opening Condition: Complete either of the following tasks:]
[Mission 1: Bloodlust Across All Realms. A single player must kill 100,000 alien race members to open the treasure chest.]
[Mission 2: Guard One Realm. A single player must gather 10,000 fellow race members to open the treasure chest.]
[Previous Player: Wang Gun'er.]
[Status: Deceased.]
"Wang Gun'er was the leader of that group of players. I was recruited by him too. Everyone called him Brother Gun'er," Scar Dog explained.
"He took on the second mission, Guard One Realm, but now... he's dead."
"Did he use his racial innate ability, Phoenix Nirvana?" Scar Dog asked, his curiosity piqued.
"No, he didn't," Li Hao replied, nodding. "None of them used their Phoenix Nirvana abilities, but for some reason, not a single one returned. Logically, they should have been able to resurrect at the location where they were 24 hours prior."
"Something unexpected must have happened, something beyond our understanding," Chen Jiang murmured, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the two missions displayed on the treasure chest.
This was practically a free item being handed to him.
Which mission to choose? Was there even a question?
He had already met the requirement of killing 100,000 alien race members long ago. Without hesitation, he accepted the first mission.
[Ding! Player Chen Jiang has accepted Mission 1: Bloodlust Across All Realms.]
["Defeat 100,000 alien race members to open the treasure chest."]
["Current progress: 0/100,000."]
"Hmm?"
Chen Jiang frowned slightly. Did his previous kills not count? Did he have to start killing alien race members from the moment he accepted the quest?
What a waste.
He should have accepted this quest before bombing City 18.
But before bombing City 18, he hadn't known there was a treasure chest here.
Oh well.
An insect race member suddenly appeared nearby. This batch of insect race players should be enough to let him open the treasure chest.
Then he turned to look at Li Hao, his eyes narrowing slightly as he hesitated.
He was tempted by Li Hao's innate ability, which would be extremely useful to them.
What was it equivalent to?
A treasure-hunting rat + real-time map display + secret infiltration and assassination weapon + a weaker version of a flashlight!
This three-star item chest had been discovered by Li Hao using his innate ability, map manifestation.
If he drove an armored vehicle around the wilderness with Li Hao, wouldn't he be able to collect all the possible treasure chests in the wilderness?
"With your innate ability to find hidden treasure chests, haven't you explored the wilderness yet?"
"Huh?"
Li Hao blinked, a bitter smile flickering across his face. "Who in their right mind would wander the wilderness? That's just asking for death."
"True." Chen Jiang nodded slightly, glancing around at the dusty air. "Let's rest outside for the night and move out tomorrow."
"Give him some food."
"Got it." Scar Dog casually pulled several bags of bread and bottled water from his chest pocket and handed them to Li Hao. "Here, blueberry filling. Ironically, blueberry's the one flavor I hate most."
"Still, it's better than I expected. At first, I thought the mechanical race would make bread filled with machine oil."
Soon, Chen Jiang's group reappeared outside.
Chen Jiang lay on the armored vehicle's roof, gazing up at the night sky, his expression calm as he mentally reviewed his plans.
This treasure chest required the lives of 100,000 alien race players to unlock—the insect race players' lives were a given.
Li Hao's innate ability to find hidden treasures in the wilderness warranted further investigation; it might yield pleasant surprises.
Acquiring a larger space bracelet was also on the agenda.
Finally, he needed to carefully consider how to maximize the value of his merit points in the human merit shop. Which items would provide the greatest return?
He also needed to retrieve the semi-scrapped items from the wasteland.
In truth, his true plan wasn't to slaughter all of City 18.
After all, his innate ability, unrestrained modification, required vast quantities of items for enhancement.
And the mechanical race's racial innate ability was item creation.
His true ambition was to enslave a large number of mechanical race members, seize their factories, and force them to produce massive quantities of items for him around the clock. This would allow him to rapidly increase his power!
Unfortunately, the remnants of City 18 had been devoured by insect race players.
Chen Jiang sighed softly before admiring the beautiful scenery above. But it didn't matter; he would inevitably encounter more mechanical race members and new mechanical race cities.
When an entire city's population was producing items solely for him!
He believed his turret's caliber would soon surpass three thousand meters!
Below, Scar Dog, sitting in the passenger seat, lit a cigarette and casually glanced at Li Hao, who was sitting on a nearby rock. "Why such a weird name?"
"Every time I call your name, it feels like I'm greeting you," Scar Dog remarked.
Li Hao's face flashed with a hint of embarrassment. "When my father was naming me, he originally wanted to give me the single-character name 'Tian,' meaning 'Heaven,' so I would have been Li Tian."
"But later, after consulting a temple, the monks advised against using 'Tian' for boys from ordinary families or 'Xian' for girls, as it could attract misfortune rather than blessings."
"My father found this reasonable, but he still wanted to incorporate the concept of 'Heaven' into my name. Eventually, he chose the character '昊' (Hao)."
"昊' describes the vastness of the sky and serves as a substitute for 'Heaven' itself."
"This way, we avoided the taboo of using 'Tian' directly while still retaining its meaning."
"Ah, I see," Scar Dog nodded in understanding, flicking his cigarette ash carelessly to the side. The crimson ember glowed faintly in the night, like a comet streaking across the sky. He clicked his tongue in admiration.
"That's clever," he said. "Worried your son couldn't handle being named 'Heaven,' so you just named him 'Sun-Heaven' instead." (TL/N: Doesn't translate well.)
"So, it's like, 'If you can't handle it, just conquer it'?"
"What line of work were you in back on Blue Star?"
"Well, roughly speaking, it involves integrating Blue Star's most advanced scientific and technological principles to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy, then mechanical energy into hydraulic energy. This system distributes the energy to various components, enabling the working machinery to rotate 360 degrees and achieve maximum value with minimal energy consumption."
"Speak plainly."
Scar Dog expressionlessly crushed his cigarette butt under his boot and flicked it aside.
"Ahem." Li Hao's face flushed with embarrassment as he mumbled, "I trained at Lanxiang."
"Got it. You're an excavator operator."
Scar Dog's face twisted with disdain. "Operating an excavator and acting all coy about it? I used to work as a waiter, and I didn't earn any less than you do."
But just then—
A deafening screech suddenly tore through the night sky. Scar Dog startled, swiftly drew his shotgun, and aimed it skyward.
The next moment—
He stared up at the colossal flying beast, its body nearly a hundred meters long, blotting out the moonlight and casting a massive shadow. Frozen in shock, he muttered in disbelief, "What the hell is that thing?!"
"Could there still be members of the shanhai race?"
"An entire race based on the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"
(End of the Chapter)
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