Chapter 75: Childhood Treasure

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Childhood Treasure

"Lord Jomoya, you’re finally out."

"We lost contact with you earlier. We were planning to enter the city to provide backup, but we just kept going in circles, completely unable to get inside."

Chen Qi had just walked out of the Chaotic City when he ran into Leiteri and his men.

Judging by the anxious and hurried looks on their faces, they were clearly very dedicated to their job.

"The city’s magnetic field was experiencing some issues earlier. It’s mostly back to normal now."

"You’ve come at the perfect time. Take this corpse to the Royal Capital for me. Here are the specific delivery coordinates."

Chen Qi didn’t bother explaining the inside story of what happened in the Chaotic City.

He casually tossed Najir’s body to Leiteri and issued a new order.

Just a moment ago, he had briefly reported the mission details to Plum Blossom 10.

In Chen Qi’s telling, he was just a bystander the entire time and ended up profiting like the proverbial fisherman, simply stumbling upon Najir’s corpse.

As for who ended up with the [Xiaowang] Card, he claimed he never saw, only that it had mysteriously vanished.

Presumably, those who knew the truth of what happened in the Chaotic City could easily guess the final winner.

Perhaps from the moment Najir decided to enter the Chaotic City, the [Xiaowang] Card was destined to fall into the Game Monarch’s hands.

Plum Blossom 10 didn’t say much in response to Chen Qi’s report, only instructing him to deliver Najir’s body to headquarters as soon as possible.

Once the mission was confirmed as complete, he could go to headquarters at any time to finish the final "contract signing" ceremony.

But Chen Qi had no desire to visit the [Order Keeper] headquarters before completing his Spirit Awakening.

After this mission, he had come to understand one thing clearly: at this stage of the game, only strength mattered. Everything else was just noise.

His Spirituality had just skyrocketed, making it the perfect time to achieve his Spirit Awakening in one fell swoop.

······

"Sir, rest assured. We will deliver the body to the designated location at top speed."

Wisely, no one from the Hummingbird Squad asked any questions about the corpse.

Their only job was to follow their employer’s orders.

Soon, Chen Qi sped off in his maglev supercar and vanished into the moonlight.

Leiteri and his men, meanwhile, drove toward the Royal Capital, striving to deliver the body before dawn.

······

Beneath the bright moon, a silver streak of lightning zipped through the low altitude.

Although the previous battle hadn’t lasted long—certainly not the hundreds of rounds described in epic novels—

Chen Qi had been walking a tightrope the entire time. He had only managed to secure the final victory thanks to his quick thinking.

Now that the great battle was over, he finally relaxed, and a deep exhaustion washed over him.

Fortunately, Chen Qi didn’t have to worry about crashing; the autopilot handled the driving perfectly.

The supercar sped along, its speed soaring to 200 kilometers per hour.

If everything went smoothly, Chen Qi would be back in Talin City in two hours at most.

However, as he passed a small city, the speeding streak of lightning "stalled"!

Chen Qi sat quietly in his car, gazing at the small city, speechless. He remained in a daze for a full half hour.

Songyuan City—or rather, the Songyuan City orphanage—was where Chen Qi had grown up.

Chen Qi had spent his less-than-pleasant childhood and adolescence there, only leaving for good after starting middle school.

If his childhood memories hadn’t been stirred up by the [Steel Warrior], Chen Qi truly would have preferred not to think about that place ever again.

If he hadn’t encountered the King’s Game, and had simply used his Wish to become a tycoon, Chen Qi might have genuinely staged a glorious homecoming to show off and shut up his old critics.

But now? He had no such inclination.

Chen Qi’s [Steel Warrior] and some other special items were hidden in a secret spot at the orphanage.

He had originally thought those things would be buried along with his memories, but now... it seemed they weren’t so useless after all. They now had a reason to see the light of day again.

The items themselves weren’t any great Treasures; they were just some of Chen Qi’s "formative educational materials" from his childhood.

But Chen Qi hadn’t been interested in them back then. Compared to the incomprehensible concept of "stars," he thought the Sun was just a big ball of fire.

Seeing Chen Qi’s resistance, his father didn’t force the knowledge on him. Perhaps those materials were always intended for his future.

It was just a pity that disaster struck unexpectedly. Chen Qi’s fate took a sharp downturn, and those things were rendered useless.

After he grew up, Chen Qi came to understand the value of those books.

They were likely some foundational knowledge of astrophysics from the [Deep Space Sect], or what was known as the Society for the Exploration of Extraterrestrial Civilizations.

Unfortunately, that knowledge couldn’t help him find a job in the Lanyu Kingdom that paid over 5,000 a month.

So, Chen Qi had cast them to the back of his mind.

But things were different now. Since the [Deep Space Sect] was mentioned in the [Spirit Realm Declaration], it meant their "knowledge" wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.

Given Chen Qi’s current thirst for Extraordinary knowledge, he naturally wouldn’t pass up the chance to dig up his own hidden Treasure.

After his emotions settled, Chen Qi cranked his Biological Radar to its maximum range and quietly entered Songyuan City.

This wasn’t Chen Qi being overly dramatic or cautious. Rather, after his experience in the Chaotic City, he had become a "qualified player."

If a player wanted to survive long-term, the most important thing was to ensure they didn’t unknowingly wander into someone else’s attack range.

Everything went surprisingly smoothly. After returning to his old stomping grounds, Chen Qi successfully found his hidden "Treasure."

Touching the [Steel Warrior] with his own hands again, Chen Qi felt a long-lost sense of warmth.

Without lingering, Chen Qi sped away from Songyuan City. He made it back to Talin City before the Sun rose and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

······

What Chen Qi didn’t know was that while he was sleeping soundly, news of Najir’s death had already spread.

The Kingdom’s state television was the first to react, announcing to all citizens that the assassin had been captured.

Unfortunately, the internal struggles within the Prime Minister’s party were too intense, and the appointment of a new Prime Minister was long delayed.

According to analyses by experts on major television networks, the most likely outcome was an early general election.

"What? The [Xiaowang] Card actually fell into the Game Monarch’s hands?"

"That guy is too mysterious. There’s no way to even try to steal it from him."

This was the reaction of players who still held out hope for the [Xiaowang] Card!

"As expected. The [Xiaowang] Card ended up with the Game Monarch."

This was the reaction of players who knew the inside story of the Chaotic City.

But regardless, everyone knew that snatching the Card back from the Game Monarch was practically impossible.

Thus, the storm sparked by the "Prime Minister’s assassination" quickly subsided within the player community.

For a time, the player community seemed to return to its former tranquility.

But everyone knew this was just an illusion. Beneath the calm, a turbulent undercurrent was surging.

······

Chen Qi, who had been sleeping like a log, didn’t leisurely wake up until a full day later.

He had been pushing himself too hard for too long, especially since joining the King’s Game. This was a rare opportunity to rest and recuperate.

After washing up and enjoying his breakfast, Chen Qi began to review the "work report" sent by Taruno.

[Fadir Mine is calm. No new spies detected.]

’Not bad. That’s great!’

[Dream Creation Studio is making impressive progress on development. No other contact with the outside world.]

’That’s also good. Yu Dongcheng is a good man.’

[The intelligence network continues to expand to surrounding cities. The intelligence framework in the Dark Web World has been established.]

’Taruno really is ’qualified.’ My eye for talent is truly impeccable.’

[Suspected trace of the Dog of Death spotted in Jiuyuan City, 400 kilometers away.]

’That mutt really takes advice. It’s actually staying far away from me.’

[Red Falcon Sect Master Yu Hongwu has mysteriously disappeared. The sect is in a state of panic.]

This piece of intel, however, made Chen Qi pause for a moment.

’I’ve only been gone for two or three days, and Yu Hongwu has already disappeared?’