Open the locked treasure chest, legendary materials! (5600)

A greedy thought couldn't help but surface in Cao Xing's heart; he wanted to take control of this powerful alchemy for himself!

One must know that the position of [Mithril] in the forging industry is almost unshakable. With its powerful ductility and magical conductivity, it is an essential material for crafting Epic equipment or other items.

However, every material has its limits.

This is true for Mithril as well.

To meet the forging requirements of some higher-tier equipment.

Therefore, those Legendary blacksmiths used their exquisite forging skills and rich experience to create a special material called [Enhanced Mithril Ingot].

The Enhanced Mithril Ingot possesses ductility and magical conductivity several times greater than ordinary Mithril, making it one of the essential materials for crafting certain Legendary weapons and equipment.

And the [Strange Metal] developed by the Asura civilization has effects almost equivalent to [Enhanced Mithril Ingot].

It has the same strength and excellent magical conductivity.

However, [Enhanced Mithril Ingot] is an Epic-quality material that requires at least a thousand pieces of Mithril and other precious materials to craft just one.

By comparison, what are the raw materials for [Strange Metal]?

Iron, stone, and plant fiber—three materials that couldn't be simpler.

If he could master this technology, it would be almost equivalent to being able to mass-produce [Enhanced Mithril Ingot]!

Thinking of this, Cao Xing couldn't help but exclaim in his heart: "Through the descriptions of some items, I already knew that this civilization called 'Asura' was extremely proficient in alchemy."

"At the same time, they also possessed extremely powerful golem manufacturing technology."

"In other words, this civilization truly combined the powers of magic and technology, researching them simultaneously."

"And they achieved quite powerful results."

This made him even more interested in this Lost Royal City.

Just as Cao Xing was pondering these things, his subordinates had already finished looting the entire perimeter of this building.

They handed their loot over to the Lord one after another.

[Obtained: Strange Metal Fragment * 17525]

[Obtained: Strange Metal * 34]

[Obtained: Damaged Mechanical Part * 5]

[Obtained: Expert-grade Energy Crystal (Used) * 12]

[Obtained…]

After a series of system prompts, Cao Xing's inventory was filled with a pile of miscellaneous items.

Among them, the most abundant were naturally those [Strange Metal] pieces and fragments.

Added together, there were nearly two hundred of them.

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction and said: "The harvest is not bad."

After all, in the outside world, the price of an [Enhanced Mithril Ingot] is somewhat unimaginable.

He had essentially picked up over two hundred of them for free.

Then, Cao Xing's gaze began to sweep the surroundings again.

Their current position was effectively in the main hall of this building.

Deep within the hall, there was a large metal door that appeared to lead to another room.

That iron door seemed to have been violently smashed open from the inside.

A faint light seeped through the edges of the twisted door frame, as if something was hidden inside.

Seeing this, Cao Xing gave another order: "Let's go, let's go take a look."

Upon hearing this, everyone began to move.

Braum took the lead as always, holding his large shield and walking at the very front of the group.

The others followed behind him.

Soon, they entered through that door, and a metal corridor about four or five meters long appeared before them.

The walls and ceiling of the corridor were also covered with many magic runes, emitting a blue glow.

Everyone walked while curiously observing the runes all around.

They seemed to have some kind of pattern.

But after studying them for a while, they couldn't figure anything out.

Before long, they passed through the metal corridor.

In front of them, another wide hall appeared.

Compared to the outer hall, this place looked even more chaotic.

Various metal fragments and remains of instruments were scattered on the floor, and there were craters on the walls caused by impacts.

It looked like the scene caused by some behemoth waking up and rampaging inside.

Cao Xing scanned the area and quickly said: "Everyone, let's do it the old way. Scour every corner of this hall and take everything that can be carried away."

"If you can't carry it… then dismantle it and take it."

Before the words had even faded, the Minotaur Chieftain raised his totem pole and smashed it into a seemingly intact instrument.

Although Kane Hoofblast had only joined the territory recently, he had quickly grasped the corporate culture of this territory.

The others also immediately took action, knocking on floors, dismantling equipment, their movements very practiced.

Even the mature and steady Qinong quickly mastered the essentials, tapping on the walls as if trying to pry the runes off.

Only City Lord Oran and Bai Zhi stood there feeling a bit awkward.

After all, they did not belong to Cao Xing's territory. As outsiders, while they wanted to participate in this 'looting' operation, they felt a bit embarrassed.

Cao Xing didn't know their thoughts.

He was also carefully searching every corner of the hall himself.

As he walked, Cao Xing suddenly noticed that in a dim area ahead, there seemed to be something different.

Looking closely, it was actually a large, pitch-black metal box!

This metal box was a full meter high and a meter and a half wide.

Because the lighting there was very dim, it was easy to overlook.

"? Such a big box, what could be inside?"

He immediately became interested and walked quickly to the side of the box.

Then, a system prompt appeared.

[Discovered a locked loot box, requires entering the corresponding password to open…]

Cao Xing paused, surprised: "It actually requires a password?"

One must know that this was the first locked box he had encountered since entering this world.

Although the treasure chests he had opened before could be locked, he hadn't encountered a single one so far.

Cao Xing stared at the metal box in front of him and pondered in a low voice: "Then… where should the password be entered?"

The next moment, a faint light flashed across the surface of the box.

Then, a digital interface appeared on it.

"So that's how you enter it? It looks quite similar to the combination locks on our Blue Star."

Although he knew how to enter it, there was still a problem.

That was, he didn't know what the password for this box was at all.

After thinking for a while to no avail, Cao Xing called everyone else over to think together.

However, everyone stared at the numbers on the large box, but had no clue.

At this moment, a special thought suddenly surfaced in Cao Xing's heart.

"Why don't I have Sarah try to hack this treasure chest open with one slash?"

Under normal circumstances, the Bronze, Silver, and Gold treasure chests they encountered in the wild could not be forcibly opened.

Even if you had the power to destroy the chest, after forcibly breaking it open, the items inside would be damaged by the laws and disappear into a spatial rift.

Cao Xing didn't know if this loot box had the same mechanism.

But there was no better way right now.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter if I try; at worst, I'll just lose a box."

Even if there really were some treasures inside, he hadn't seen them anyway. So, even if he lost them, he wouldn't feel any heartache.

Cao Xing gestured.

Sarah, who was behind him, immediately understood what he meant.

Then, she raised the Blade of the Reaper.

This short blade emitted a cold glint in her hand, as if it could even cut through the air!

Just as she was about to slash down, the War Golem behind them suddenly made a mechanical, synthesized sound.

"Master, these loot boxes… cannot be forcibly opened…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing quickly said: "Sarah, wait."

The Legendary assassin's movements paused.

Cao Xing turned his head and looked at the golem behind him, seemingly realizing something.

This golem had run out from here, and this box had also appeared inside the building.

In other words, this golem was very likely the guardian of this loot box.

Cao Xing asked: "Golem, Golem… do you know how to open this treasure chest?"

The golem's mechanical voice sounded: "Master… Entering the corresponding password will open it…"

Cao Xing gave the golem a speechless glance and said: "I know I need to enter a password, but it's precisely because I don't know the password that I'm asking you."

The golem's eyes flickered, and it continued to explain: "The password is recorded on those instruments in the two rooms, the inner chamber and the outer chamber."

"You only need to activate the programs of these instruments in order to obtain the correct password…"

"I can tell Master… the order of instrument activation…"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the golem in surprise.

They didn't seem to expect it to be able to provide such detailed information.

This was equivalent to someone giving you the formula for solving a problem during an exam; you just had to copy it.

A flash of pleasant surprise appeared in Cao Xing's eyes, and he continued to ask: "Then what is the order?"

The golem's eyes flickered slightly again, as if it were thinking.

A moment later, it replied: "Master… I can no longer provide you with the correct activation order…"

"The instruments in the inner chamber and outer chamber… have all been destroyed."

At this moment, everyone was slightly stunned, and then they realized this point.

Just now, when they were searching outside, they could truly be said to have plucked the feathers off every passing goose and dug three feet into the ground.

So they had incidentally dismantled those glowing special instruments, obtaining some [Strange Metal] and [Energy Crystal].

It turned out that these instruments were actually related to the password for opening the treasure chest.

Cao Xing rolled his eyes.

He asked helplessly, "Can't you just tell me the password directly?"

Upon hearing this, the Golem's oval-shaped head flickered with one red and one blue light from its two eyes.

Its mechanical body emitted a "click-clack" whirring sound, as if it were undergoing some intense internal program confrontation.

"Attempting — to break through the password protection protocol —"

"Core instruction conflict, unable to output directly —"

The Golem fell into a strange state of lag at this moment.

It seemed that Cao Xing's command had conflicted with the Golem's underlying programming.

"Beep — beep —"

Along with a series of urgent alarm sounds, the Golem's body twitched from time to time and began to vibrate violently!

Elisa whispered, "Is Tie Yi going to self-destruct again?"

Tie Yi was the name she had given this Golem, having learned Cao Xing's naming style.

Hearing this, the others also became a bit nervous.

Fortunately, after only a moment, the Golem returned to normal.

Its two eyes also restored to their blue glow.

"Cracking complete —"

"Master, the password is 8724… 2452… 3552… 2451 —"

It quickly reported a sixteen-digit password.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Cao Xing's lips once again.

Because this indicated that his control authority over the Golem even exceeded the existence that created it — the Asura Civilization.

Thus, he had directly broken through the underlying defense program and obtained the box's password.

After all, strictly speaking, this Golem had actually been converted through the power of the System.

No matter how strong the Asura Civilization's technological power was, it could not compare to the System.

Meanwhile, Tong Chuchu, who was standing to the side, had already crouched next to the box after hearing the numbers and began to input them quickly.

With the last digit entered, the box let out a crisp "click."

Then, the lid slowly opened.

"Big Brother, it's open!" Tong Chuchu shouted in surprise.

Upon hearing this, a smile also appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Well done, Little Chuchu."

He walked forward and glanced at the contents inside the box.

At a glance, he saw a large pile of dark blue metal at the bottom.

This stuff was Strange Metal.

It looked like there was quite a lot of it, estimated to be no less than a hundred pieces.

Besides this Strange Metal, there were also a dozen palm-sized Energy Crystals and some special materials.

Among them, the most eye-catching item was a peculiarly shaped cylindrical device.

It also combined the powers of magic and technology, with its metal surface covered in magic runes.

Cao Xing waved his hand, collecting all these items into his backpack.

[Obtained: Strange Metal (Gold) * 112]

[Obtained: Expert-grade Energy Crystal * 15]

[Obtained: Delimo Steel Ingot (Orange) * 32]

[Obtained: Ancient Wooden Plank (Orange) * 35]

[Obtained: Ancient Weapon · Short-Range Teleporter (Gold) * 1]

Seeing the items in the box, a look of surprise gradually appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"? There are actually two Epic-quality materials?"

Among them, [Delimo Steel Ingot] was something Cao Xing had encountered before; that was a material for crafting Legendary weapons!

At that time, in order to gather the materials to forge that Legendary Giant Rhinoceros Horn, he had paid a price on the market to obtain it.

As for the [Ancient Wooden Plank] that followed, Cao Xing had never encountered it before.

With an expectant look, he checked the attributes of these two materials.

[Delimo Steel Ingot (Orange)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Item Type: Special Material]

[Item Description: A reinforced metal processed from Iron Ingots, Steel Ingots, Eternal Gold Ingots, and Mithril, possessing extraordinary hardness and near-perfect magic storage properties.]

[Item Effect: Can be used to craft core components for some large Golems, high-tier mechs, and even Legendary equipment.]

(Note: Forging "Delimo Steel Ingot" requires Legendary-grade forging technology.)

[Ancient Wooden Plank (Orange)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Item Type: Special Material]

[Item Effect 1: 100 Ancient Wooden Planks can be synthesized into 1 Ancient Hardwood (Legendary)]

[Ancient Hardwood (Legendary): Hardwood containing powerful spiritual energy, with unimaginable hardness; it is one of the main materials for some Legendary-level buildings.]

(Note: After the Lords Castle reaches a certain level, if you want to continue upgrading, you will also need Ancient Hardwood.)

[Item Effect 2: Can be used for the construction of some high-level Epic buildings, such as the Mage Tower, Fearless Knight Hall, Heroic Warrior Camp, etc.]

After reading the attributes of these two Epic materials, a look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Not bad, the effect of this Delimo Steel Ingot is about what I expected."

"It's equivalent to a super-reinforced version of the Eternal Gold Ingot."

"As for this Ancient Wooden Plank, its effect is somewhat beyond my expectations."

100 [Ancient Wooden Planks] can be synthesized into one [Ancient Hardwood].

And this kind of Hardwood is a necessary material for upgrading Legendary buildings.

Clearly, the items opened from this loot box were quite good.

This also made Cao Xing develop a strong desire to explore the other buildings in this ruin!

After all, just by entering one building, he had obtained so many high-level materials.

In his view, this ruin was equivalent to a production site for high-level materials!

If he could explore a few more buildings along the way, it would truly be a trip well spent.

With an excited expression, Cao Xing checked the attributes of the last item.

[Ancient Weapon · Short-Range Teleporter (Gold)]

[Item Type: Special]

[Magic Energy Reserve: 1000 / 2000]

[Item Effect: Consumes 500 points of Magic Energy to instantly teleport yourself 5 ~ 20 meters forward (adjustable), Cooldown: 25 seconds]

(Item Description: One of the research achievements of the Asura Power Academy; due to its low manufacturing cost and ease of use, it is deeply loved by many Asura people.)

"A small teleporter?" Cao Xing muttered thoughtfully.

This thing could indeed play a small role in certain special situations.

However, Cao Xing also had an item with a similar effect, which was the [Dark Crystal Ball] that the old witch gave him last time in the Witch Forest.

This crystal ball could open two short-range portals, allowing them to quickly pass through some barriers or dangerous areas when needed.

However, later on, as Cao Xing's strength rapidly increased.

They hadn't encountered a situation where they needed to use it, so this crystal ball had been sitting idle.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing satisfiedly put the teleporter into his backpack.

"Not bad, there are indeed quite a few good things in the treasure chest."

Meanwhile, the others had also finished looting the hall inside.

They all handed their loot over to Cao Xing.

As a large amount of materials were collected into Cao Xing's backpack, the harvest here was about the same as in the outer hall.

There were also over ten thousand [Strange Metal Fragments] and dozens of complete [Strange Metal].

Plus some Energy Crystals.

At this point, everything inside this building had been completely looted by him.

Cao Xing clapped his hands and said with satisfaction, "Let's go, let's head out and continue looking for other buildings."

After saying this, he prepared to lead everyone away from here.

Just then, City Lord Oran asked suddenly, "Lord Cao Xing, how long has it been since we entered the ruins?"

Cao Xing stopped and looked thoughtful.

He replied, "About two hours or so."

"Then it should be close to midnight now, right?" City Lord Oran asked.

Upon hearing this, Cao Xing looked up and checked the time displayed overhead.

[Current Time: 23:13]

Just as City Lord Oran said, it was indeed close to midnight.

Cao Xing told him the current time.

Upon hearing this, City Lord Oran continued, "In about forty minutes, the mist in the inner city will erupt, and the mist within will soon cover the entire ruin."

"You know that kind of mist; it's quite strange and terrifying. Even Legendary powerhouses would get lost in it if they entered."

He paused and asked tentatively, "Should we rest here for a while and continue exploring tomorrow?"

Cao Xing pondered it in his heart and felt that City Lord Oran's suggestion was very reasonable.

Compared to the last mist disaster, Cao Xing's strength had indeed seen a huge improvement.

But he didn't dare say he had absolute confidence in dealing with the terrifying creatures in that heavy mist!

He nodded and said, "Alright, let's rest here."

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped walking.

Cao Xing continued, instructing, "Braum, go and close the door."

According to the experience from last time, during the period when the heavy mist disaster covers everything, one must close the doors and windows tightly and avoid making obvious noises.

Otherwise, even if you stay in the room, you might attract the attention of those strange creatures in the mist.

They might even rush into the room and drag you away, which is quite eerie.

"No problem, Lord!"

The big guy responded loudly and rushed to the door in a few steps.

"Roar —"

With a low roar, he entered the [Primordial Giant] form directly, and his already strong body began to swell and grow larger abruptly!

Like an inflatable balloon, it expanded to over ten meters in the blink of an eye.