Chapter 683 - 144: Contact Again

He saw several pigeon’s-egg-sized Crystal Stones, meticulously cared for and nestled in the case’s soft padding. They resembled enormous, top-grade gems and shimmered with a captivating, dense Spiritual Light. The sight made Zhang Deming’s pupils contract sharply, just as an ordinary person would react to seeing a case full of flawless diamonds.

A dense Spiritual Qi emanated from them, and Zhang Deming could clearly feel his Experience Points beginning to increase. He could no longer hide the joy on his face.

This case was actually filled with Spirit Crystals!!!!!!

It was designed to hold a full fifty of them, but two slots were already empty, presumably having been used. The remaining forty-eight slots were all filled with Spirit Crystals.

He had actually stumbled upon forty-eight Spirit Crystals!!! That was the equivalent of 480,000 Spirit Stones, which meant over four million Experience Points!!!

’Hahaha... My luck is incredible! I’ve struck it rich...’

Even with all twelve of his shops up and running, it would take him three to five years to save up such a huge sum of Spirit Stones!

Once Zhang Deming snapped out of his daze, he flipped his hand, storing away both the briefcase and the severed arm. Then, blood-red vines began to sprout throughout the cabin, their roots spreading everywhere.

After Zhang Deming collected a small vial of blood, the vines swayed and disposed of all traces of the body. He made sure to leave no DNA behind, guaranteeing the unlucky fellow had vanished completely. Only then did the ruby-like vines dissolve into a shower of Spiritual Light and disappear into the air.

Zhang Deming quickly scanned the surroundings. After confirming that no one had seen him and no cameras were around, he flew back up into the sky. He looked around one last time before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Such a huge amount of Spirit Stones, let alone Spirit Crystals, was no small sum. The original owner would surely come looking for it once things settled down. But now that it was in Zhang Deming’s pocket, he had no intention of giving it back.

After confirming he hadn’t been discovered, Spiritual Light flickered in Zhang Deming’s eyes as he searched the cabin for a moment more. He found no other similar cases. Just then, he felt that faint fluctuation again.

Zhang Deming looked up again toward the fallen trees. After a moment’s hesitation, he raised his hand and left a few conspicuous array markers on the airship to guide him back.

Then, with a slight movement of his wings, he flew off in the direction of the flattened forest.

「...」

The forest terrain was uneven, but this tunnel carved through it was unnaturally smooth. In some places, only trees had collapsed. In others, a layer of topsoil had been scraped away. And in some spots, the mountainside itself had been pierced clean through.

The wide path looked as if it had been blasted open by a Quantum Energy cannon. Zhang Deming followed the tunnel for a great distance before finally reaching its end.

At the end of the tunnel lay a small, crashed airship. It looked like an escape pod from the larger airship, but its luck had been terrible. Instead of ejecting clear, it had been blasted down this path.

The escape pod wasn’t completely destroyed and was still vibrating continuously, but the tremors only produced black smoke and electrical sparks.

Zhang Deming frowned slightly; he couldn’t see a single person around. He hesitated, then prepared to move forward and investigate. But after just a few steps, he froze, his mind going blank for an instant. When he came to his senses, the world around him had completely changed.

’An Array?’

’How did I not notice any trace of an Array just now?’

As his thoughts raced, Zhang Deming got a clear look at his surroundings, and his expression darkened.

A giant, faintly pulsing hexagram filled his vision, covering the sky and the ground. The power of an Exotic Realm Magic Array permeated the entire space.

No wonder he hadn’t detected any traces of an Array before. This was an Exotic Realm Magic Array, something Zhang Deming was completely unfamiliar with; it was only natural that he failed to notice it.

It was like a makeup expert looking at a beautiful woman who’d had excellent plastic surgery. Without knowing the circumstances, they might confidently determine she wasn’t wearing makeup, but their conclusion that her beauty was all-natural would be incorrect.

Within the space enveloped by the hexagram Magic Array stood numerous robots—the same kind he had seen before in the Geng Metal Secret Realm Core.

There was a dense crowd of them, at least several hundred strong. All of them possessed the might of a Duality Cultivator. Although their skill was somewhat subpar, their energy levels were definitively at the Duality stage.

The robots were currently split into two groups. One group of several dozen was relentlessly attacking Dang Ketao. Under the siege of so many opponents, Dang Ketao, who was not accustomed to close-quarters combat, was in a sorry state.

The other group was attacking a massive, incandescent white, hemispherical shield. The shield was opaque, so Zhang Deming couldn’t see what was inside. For now, he couldn’t see anything else within the Magic Array.

Seeing these robots, Zhang Deming’s expression turned grim. He was now quite certain that these things were the handiwork of the metallic sphere.

The sphere’s owner was likely researching a fusion of robotics and the Puppet Dao, with the goal of mass-producing combat units. Moreover, they had already achieved some success. He just didn’t know if this was the result of the past half-month since the "Fusion," or if it had been accomplished long before.