Chapter 79: The Treasury Gates Are Slowly Opening

Chapter 79: The Treasury Gates Are Slowly Opening…

Cao Xing nodded. "Yes, the location shown by the coordinates is right around here."

Hearing this, everyone looked around.

However, there didn't seem to be any treasury gates here, only massive boulders that had slid down from the hillside.

After observing for a while, they found no clues.

Cao Xing fell into deep thought.

Because the system wouldn't make a mistake; according to the coordinates on the key, it was definitely around here.

Yet they couldn't find it.

That meant this Goblin Treasury was very likely a hidden area as well.

So, Cao Xing ordered, "Search around here, everyone. See if there are any hidden passages or something similar."

Andrew, Assam, and the others received the order and began searching all over.

As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. They quickly searched every corner of the area.

A moment later, Sarah was the first to make a discovery.

She stopped at the foot of the hill, in front of a pile of collapsed rubble.

"I sense faint magical fluctuations here."

Hearing this, Cao Xing's eyes lit up. He controlled the Tracked Robot, which chugged and clattered over to Sarah's side.

Perhaps because Cao Xing's level wasn't high enough, he didn't sense any magical fluctuations here.

But Sarah wouldn't lie.

So, he called the Forklift Robot over and ordered, "Shovel this pile of rubble away for me."

The Forklift Robot immediately complied.

Whirrrr!

The energy core began running at full power.

The massive bucket scooped up the rubble and carried it aside.

As chunks of rubble were shoveled away, the scene behind the pile was gradually revealed.

Vaguely, Cao Xing seemed to see a corner of a gray gate.

Once the rubble was completely cleared away,

Cao Xing saw a limestone-gray gate, about five meters high and three meters wide.

[Goblin Treasury Gate]

[Armor: 500]

[Durability: 100,000/100,000]

[Bonus Effect 1: Intermediate Damage Reduction (Reduces magic and physical damage taken by 20%)]

[Bonus Effect 2: Chain Detonation. If breached by force, it will cause the treasury passage to collapse.]

…

"Holy crap, 100,000 durability and 500 armor? This gate is seriously tough!"

With the strength of Cao Xing's current subordinates,

aside from Sarah and Dabai, the attacks from the others wouldn't even deal much damage.

Just breaking this gate would take a very long time.

And because of the second bonus effect, this gate couldn't be broken by brute force.

Forcing it open would cause the passage inside to collapse.

Fortunately, Cao Xing had come prepared.

He pulled the [Goblin Treasury Key] from his backpack and approached the treasury gate.

[Do you wish to use the Goblin Treasury Key to open the treasury gate?]

"Yes."

The next moment, the key in Cao Xing's hand disappeared.

Creak! Creak!

The sound of a key turning echoed in Cao Xing's ears.

A few seconds later, everyone felt a vibration beneath their feet.

"Rumble! Rumble!"

Cao Xing saw the treasury gate slowly rising.

It faintly revealed a dark passage behind it.

As the vibrations continued,

a system prompt appeared.

[The treasury gate is slowly opening…]

Rumble!

The ground vibrated continuously.

After about thirty seconds, the gate had fully risen.

[You have discovered a hidden area: Goblin Underground Palace]

(Map Description: A group of goblins who worshiped ancient gods once lived here. They offered many treasures as sacrifices to the deities they believed in. Until one day, their sacrifices brought upon an unknown calamity. To contain the spread of this disaster, the goblins inside chose to seal the entrance of the palace.)

After reading the map description, Cao Xing was stunned.

"So it's not a treasury, but an underground palace?"

[Note: The Goblin Palace is a high-level area. It is recommended to form a team of at least 4 Survivors with Tier 2 strength to explore.]

Hearing this system prompt, Cao Xing frowned.

Requiring a team of four Tier 2 or higher Survivors meant that the levels of the monsters inside were likely very high.

"Counting the robots and Dabai, I have a total of ten Tier 2 creatures under my command."

"Moreover, they all have my buff bonuses, so their actual combat power is much stronger than ordinary Tier 2 creatures."

"Calculating it this way, my combat power should be even stronger than a team of four Tier 2 Survivors."

At this thought, Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

According to his calculations, his combat power should be enough to challenge this area.

Cao Xing made up his mind: they were going in!

However, before entering, he could still boost his strength.

So, he pulled out that scroll.

[Do you wish to use the Charr Shaman Recruitment Scroll?]

"Yes."

The moment Cao Xing clicked confirm, a burst of choking thick smoke appeared before him.

This thick smoke felt as if it were emitted from a great furnace, carrying a scorching heat.

Meanwhile, as the thick smoke billowed, a robust humanoid creature nearly two meters tall could be faintly seen within it.

Intense magical fluctuations emanated from this humanoid creature.

Once the smoke cleared,

a creature with a black leopard-like head, wearing a robe printed with Windflowers, and sporting a long tail, suddenly appeared.

"War never ends. Iron, blood, and flame…"

"These are the main melodies of war, turning everything to ash."

"We embrace peace, yet war leaves us homeless."

"My Lord, Charr Shaman Priest: Blot Brimstone, reporting to you."

This was the Charr Race, which Cao Xing had seen once before.

He stepped down from the back of the Tracked Robot, walked up to this tall Charr, and said solemnly, "Welcome, Blot. Let us build a peaceful territory together."

This time, Cao Xing did not say the wrong thing.

Upon hearing the word 'peace', this Charr's eyes immediately lit up.

"Respected Lord, do you also advocate for peace?"

Cao Xing shook his head. "Blot, no one likes war, not even those powerful knights."

The Charr Shaman asked excitedly, "Then, noble Lord, I would like to know, can our territory's future development lean toward technological research or agricultural cultivation?"

He spoke very sincerely, but this plunged Cao Xing into deep thought.

The Shaman's meaning was for him to focus on farming peacefully in the future and avoid fighting often.

But obviously, this Shaman's thinking was too naive.

In this world where monsters roamed everywhere and danger was ever-present, not fighting was impossible.

Cao Xing shook his head. "Blot, you are wrong. The prerequisite for peace is having the power to crush your enemies."

"If you don't even have the power to defend your territory, you will eventually be trampled under the hooves of invaders."

"Perhaps past wars caused you to lose your home, your family, and everything, even making you begin to loathe power."

"But you must know, power itself is not terrifying; what is terrifying is its master."

Hearing the last sentence, Blot Brimstone's feline eyes suddenly widened.

"Power itself is not terrifying… what is terrifying is its master…"

"Power itself is not terrifying…"

He murmured incessantly, seemingly having realized something.

Blot Brimstone said excitedly, "You are right, Lord!"

"If only I had the strength of a Tier 6 hero or even a Legendary powerhouse back then, I could have fought against the entire Blood Legion and prevented all the tragedies from happening!"

"I want to possess even greater power, power enough to shake the entire Charr Empire!"

"Thank you for your guidance, wise Lord!"

[Your territory member, Blot Brimstone, was moved by your words. His loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 71]

Cao Xing was taken aback. Looking at the surging battle intent in this Charr's eyes, his expression turned odd.

He stroked his chin and thought, 'Why does it feel like I just turned this peace defender into a war fanatic?'

Shaking his head, he realized this wasn't a bad thing for him either.

Then, he checked the Shaman's attributes.

[Black Smoke Shaman: Blot Brimstone]

[Race: Charr]

[Level: 15 (2,731/50,000) (Tier 2 Boss-level creature)]

[HP: 6,720/6,720]

[Attack Power: 537–551]

[Armor: 131–142]

[Attributes: Strength 217, Agility 204, Spirit 253, Physique 237]

[Skills: Black Smoke Totem (Places a Black Smoke Totem. Every 10 seconds, it casts a thick smoke that inflicts a brief Blind status on enemies in the surrounding area. The totem lasts for 30 seconds, with a cooldown of 90 seconds.)

Resonance Totem (Places a Resonance Totem, increasing the critical rate and hit rate of all allies by 20%. The totem lasts for 100 seconds, with a cooldown of 200 seconds.)

Smoke Blast (Condenses a cloud of smoke, dealing 144% damage to a single enemy. If used on an ally, restores HP equal to Spirit * 1.5. Cooldown: 60 seconds.)

Black Smoke Storm (Unleashes a violent Black Smoke Storm. Enemies within the storm take 88% attack damage per second, and their Agility is reduced by 50 points. The storm lasts for 10 seconds, with a cooldown of 300 seconds.)]

[Talent: Natural Selection]

[Satiety: 68]

[Loyalty: 71]

…

"So strong!"

Cao Xing praised sincerely, "As expected of a Boss-level Shaman!"

Unfortunately, all four of this Shaman's skills leaned toward damage or totems, lacking any continuous buff skills.

As for the two totem skills,

the first one, [Black Smoke Totem], clearly did not count as a buff, so it probably wouldn't benefit from [Eternal Power].

the second one, [Resonance Totem], although a buff, was an area-of-effect skill, meaning its effects were only active within the totem's range.

Thus, Cao Xing wasn't sure if this thing could be made permanent.

But on second thought, even without the buff extension, it was still very good. After all, the Black Smoke Shaman's base attributes were right there.

Moreover, he now officially had four Boss-level creatures under his command, which could be described as a massive surge in strength.

Then, as was his custom, he cast [Ice Armor Technique], [Ice Healing Art], and [Frost Magic Shield] on Blot Brimstone.

He then had Liu Muxue cast two buffs on him as well.

Like the other territory members, Blot expressed his gratitude to Cao Xing, and his loyalty increased by 6 points.

Just like that, his loyalty reached 77 points.

"Thank you, great Lord and beautiful Lady."

"Your power is as magnificent as that of the gods."

Cao Xing nodded and checked the time.

[Time until nightfall: 5 hours and 32 minutes…]

[Current Temperature: -52°C]

With over five hours left before dark, it was more than enough time for him to finish exploring this Goblin Treasury and return to the territory.

So, Cao Xing ordered, "Well then, let's head in!"

…