Chapter 368: The Black Candle Keeper

【Manufacturing successful, Mechanical Manufacturing Proficiency +20】

Current Mechanical Manufacturing Level: Lv. 5 (2060/3000)

Scritch, scratch, scratch—alloy components connected, mechanical units assembled. In front of Lin Xian, an "Ant-7" construction robot finished manufacturing. As the system started, the robot's information screen lit up, the system began loading, and then the robot's tracks began to rotate, heading into the distance, lining up neatly with the other 10.

"Build 50 more, and Mechanical Manufacturing should be able to reach level 6."

In the No. 13 munitions carriage, Lin Xian was operating at full horsepower for manufacturing upgrades. At the same time, these robots would also be of great use later. For every one he built, the productivity and combat power he could control and command would increase by one point. And this combat power, under the nuclear power energy plus his Superstring Reactor Phase Rainbow Ring, was almost equivalent to infinite.

Lin Xian looked up. In the air of the carriage, 40 Lei Sun 2000 drones were already floating. These drones flew neatly in the air, moving according to Lin Xian's commands, their pulse-ray weapons slowly gathering energy, bursting with a powerful momentum.

"Building some more with special functions like 'Thunder Prison' or 'Ice Waterfall 166' to combine and match should make it more flexible. Right, and 'Iron Rain' and 'Iron Curtain' for physical strikes and defense..."

"As for this 'Destroyer'... forget it."

Looking at the blueprint library, Lin Xian didn't plan to build this for the time being, mainly because the cost was a bit high. At a time like this, building more functional drones might have a higher cost-performance ratio than weapon drones. The more he had, the more he could have Grace operate these construction, maintenance, and production robots according to his vision to directly modify the interior and exterior of the Infinite, or even replace him in performing part of the manufacturing work.

Because he had to focus on manufacturing, Lin Xian put the sleeping Kiki to one side to let her rest. After all, with this little girl hanging on him, Lin Xian would inevitably have some wandering thoughts.

Now was a great opportunity to improve his manufacturing power and level up. With this little girl hanging on him, he wanted to kiss her from time to time, which really lowered his manufacturing efficiency!

"Try building two different drones at the same time..."

Lin Xian was in high spirits. He started manufacturing with both hands simultaneously, sinking his whole body and mind into the operation of the Mechanical Heart. He felt his soul merge into the thousands of materials, dancing in the air, casting and forming according to the blueprints—those computing units, integrated circuits, those ducted fans, micro-turbojet engines, those high-density battery arrays, lidar...

Countless precision machines and systems made Lin Xian yearn for them. This moment reminded him of the first time he touched the Mark I in the Terakama Ice Valley, feeling the shock brought to him by the powerful mechanical structure of humanity. This indescribable sense of romance made people passionate.

Zzz.

At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from the communicator.

"Boss Lin, Boss Lin~"

Every time Hu Lushou called Lin Xian, it reminded Lin Xian of the feeling of a pimp shouting smilingly at a street corner in an old movie. He immediately pressed the communication key and responded:

"What is it?"

"I found a good thing for you. Interested?"

"What thing?"

Ding, ding~

An information pop-up window appeared. Lin Xian looked at Kiki, who was sleeping to the side, and reached out to click it.

At this moment, Hu Lushou appeared in a small holographic light screen with a fawning smile, his gold teeth showing. He rubbed his fingers and pointed behind him.

"See this big guy? Isn't it beautiful!?"

Lin Xian focused his gaze and saw the camera move back. Hu Lushou was currently standing in a parking area for aircraft, with a large transport ship docked behind him.

Lin Xian recognized it immediately—it was a Dragon-class transport ship he had seen in Qingshui Town before. However, the difference was that this one was clearly intact.

"You got a Federation transport ship?" Lin Xian frowned and asked.

"No!" Hu Lushou introduced seriously: "Federation decommissioned, proper military-to-civilian conversion, not black-market assembled junk! The hull frame is all titanium-tungsten alloy; it didn't fall apart even after being hit by Star Abyss artillery! Of course, the outer armor has some small scratches, but these are minor problems. Federation standard 'Dragon-class' Mk-III heavy transport ship, 11,000 tons, solid, no false labeling. The cargo hold volume can fit three football fields!"

"Decommissioned? Dawn City is crazy to decommission such a heavy transport ship?" Lin Xian said with a smile. "Spit it out if you have something to say; I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Hu Lushou hurriedly stopped, leaned in with a sneaky expression in the holographic screen, and whispered to Lin Xian: "Boss Lin, didn't you ask me to help you recycle mechanical vehicles? The owner of this thing is a tough guy. He wants to use this aircraft to trade for an underground city quota from the Federation. Damn, I was stunned at the time. I told him, 'Kid, are you crazy? You're taking Federation stuff to trade for benefits from the Federation. Do you think you're a fool, or are the people in the Federation all fools?' He didn't say anything. I could see that this group of people wanted to trade this aircraft for blood crystals. But this kind of thing, nowadays, besides the Phoenix Society and a few big organizations, who dares to want it? And who can afford it?"

"But I thought, maybe Boss Lin would dare to want it, so I came to find you... hehe."

Lin Xian paused after hearing this, thinking that he wasn't asking Mochizuki Shinjin to help him, so could Mochizuki Shinjin have outsourced it to this profiteer Hu Lushou?

However, he immediately understood. As soon as Hu Lushou entered Silent City, he acted like a ghost on drugs. He took a bunch of things he had scavenged from somewhere in Baicheng and publicized them in the Silent Metropolis as treasures brought out from the "Star Abyss." With a flowery tongue, he even blew the Gatling gun his men brought out into a special product with 【Star Abyss Enchantment】. He even started an auction in several survivor gatherings in the Silent Metropolis. In less than a night, he had gotten hundreds of blood crystals, earning even more than the road tolls he collected in Akse...

Then Mochizuki Shinjin notified Lin Xian of the situation. Perhaps in Mochizuki Shinjin's eyes, Hu Lushou basically belonged to half of his joint train team, so Mochizuki Shinjin told Lin Xian that he was prepared to punish Hu Lushou in the name of speculation and then levied an 80% speculation tax on him, which instantly sent Hu Lushou back to pre-liberation times.

Lin Xian guessed that Mochizuki Shinjin had handed the task of recycling mechanical equipment directly to Hu Lushou, probably because he didn't want to reveal the stance between Silent City and Lin Xian to the outside world. As for whether he was worried about Silent City being implicated by the Infinite or the Infinite being implicated by Silent City, that was another matter.

Thinking of this, Lin Xian calmed down and said directly to Hu Lushou:

"What's the price?"

Hu Lushou solemnly held up a palm toward Lin Xian.

"50,000 first-level blood crystals, no cheating, you couldn't buy it for double that on the black market! Includes a three-year warranty!"

"Goodbye." Lin Xian indicated.

"Wait!"

Hu Lushou hurriedly stopped Lin Xian from closing the holographic call and said seriously: "Boss Lin, I haven't finished yet. 50,000 first-level blood crystals... I, Old Hu, will pay for it myself!!"

"What do you mean?" Lin Xian frowned.

Hu Lushou patted his chest hard, almost choking himself, and then hurriedly put on a righteous expression toward Lin Xian: "I, Hu Lushou, have known the principle of repaying a drop of water with a gushing spring since I was a child. This transport ship is just a little bit of repayment from me, Old Hu, for Boss Lin's life-saving grace. Just a little gesture, absolutely no other meaning!"

Lin Xian laughed directly. He immediately understood Hu Lushou's intention and said:

"Fifty thousand blood crystals?"

"Not one less."

"Giving it to me for free?"

"Not one wanted."

"Good, thank you." Lin Xian said a perfunctory thank you and then made a move to hang up.

Hu Lushou's expression changed immediately, and he hurriedly said: "That, that, that Boss Lin, do you remember what I did before?"

"Collecting road tolls."

"No..." Hu Lushou gestured toward the transport ship with his hands and feet: "You forgot, I drove that thing before. I'm familiar with it, I have experience, and I know exactly how many toilet squatting pits are on each deck."

Lin Xian's eyes flickered. It looked like Hu Lushou thought Lin Xian was recycling vehicles to expand his team, so he had been putting on a show for half a day just for this.

"Good, then every deck will be under your management from now on." Lin Xian responded seriously.

Hu Lushou's eyes lit up when he heard this, but before he could speak, Lin Xian's next sentence came.

"Deck Manager."

After saying this, the communication was hung up.

Hu Lushou looked at the holographic light screen disappear, and he was stunned.

Deck Manager?

How come this official title sounds both big and small?

"Deck Manager... what does that mean?" Hu Lushou looked at Sun Chang to the side and asked.

Sun Chang lowered her head to count the blood crystals in a large box and said in a dull voice: "Didn't you say you knew exactly how many toilets were on each deck? He's making you responsible for the hygiene and cleaning of each deck."

"What the hell?!!" Hu Lushou almost split apart on the spot.

On the other side, in carriage No. 13, a cold voice came to Lin Xian's ear.

"This guy is trying to hug your thigh."

He turned his head to look and saw Kiki, who didn't know when she had woken up, lying on the ground with her hand supporting her head, looking at him indifferently.

"I know. 50,000 blood crystals—this guy is bragging without a draft, his face is thicker than the sky. If he really had 50,000 blood crystals, Silent City would have to give him a City Lord position."

"Then why don't you want it?"

"Want it, why wouldn't I want it." Lin Xian smiled. "It's free; this kind of cheap favor isn't common."

An intact 10,000-ton transport ship, even in the doomsday where the airspace is more dangerous than the ground, had extremely high value. As long as the luck was good enough, one could fly directly from here to the Dawn Center in this thing. Of course, the premise was not to be confiscated or shot down by the Federation, and at the same time, not to encounter any weird entities or be marked by darkness.

"He wants me to owe him a big favor, and then take him along for the ride."

"He's in Silent City now, relying on such a big backer. Are you so sure?" Kiki twirled her long hair with her fingers and looked at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian shook his head, continued manufacturing drones with both hands, and said:

"This guy isn't stupid. Mochizuki Shinjin in Silent City doesn't like him, and he doesn't dare to bet everything on Dawn City, so this is leaving himself a way out."

"Oh, then why did you put me down?"

"Hu Lushou, this person..." Lin Xian stopped halfway through his sentence, only then realizing that Kiki had changed the subject. He turned his head and found Kiki sitting up, looking at him with her arms crossed in questioning: "Am I in your way?"

"..."

Lin Xian secretly thought it was bad and explained: "I saw you were asleep; I was mainly afraid of disturbing you."

"Tch~" Kiki said unhappily: "Lying~"

She said this and got up on her own, muttering to herself: "I don't want to hug you either; it's uncomfortable."

Lin Xian lowered his head when he heard this: "How could that be? I didn't react this time, okay."

After saying this, he felt something was wrong. How did this explanation sound like slapping himself in the face...

Kiki saw Lin Xian's action, bit her small teeth instantly, rolled her eyes at him, and said: "What did you say?!"

Lin Xian felt his trigeminal nerve swelling. Just as he wanted to explain something, an urgent voice suddenly came from the communicator.

"Lin Xian, there's a situation with Zhou Lei!"

The voice came from Mo Mo Nika. Lin Xian and Kiki became serious upon hearing this. A few minutes later, the two arrived at the area where the Queen Mo was parked.

At this time, they saw that all the members of the Queen Mo were fully armed and guarding both sides of the train. Outside the No. 1 carriage, several team members in power armor were using detention electric guns to fork a man. Mo Mo Nika stood to the side, playing with a strange instrument in her hand.

Seeing Lin Xian walk over, Mo Mo Nika walked up to meet him and threw the instrument in her hand directly to Lin Xian.

"A very interesting machine. If I'm not mistaken, the other party used this to find Zhou Lei."

Lin Xian reached out to take it and swept his gaze over the man on the ground. He found that it was a man in his thirties who looked very thin and pale. His whole body was filled with a gloomy taste from living in dark corners for too long. He seemed to want to lift his head when he heard footsteps, but he was firmly pressed to the ground by the Queen Mo guards holding electric guns behind him. The high-voltage arc of the electric gun made the man's whole body twitch violently, and then he fainted directly.

"Are you saying he's from the Divine Revelation?" Kiki crossed her arms and looked confused. "How did Silent City not notice when he got to this place?"

"Because this guy is the same as Zhou Lei..."

Lin Xian scanned the instrument in his hand quickly and frowned: "The radar light and shadow can't find him at all."

While speaking, Lin Xian raised his hand to control the searchlight on the roof of the Queen Mo to move away from the man. He saw that under the shadows of several team members, the man actually appeared as a phantom, presenting a state of semi-disappearance.

"That's right, but this guy should be a novice. When he got close, his heartbeat was incredibly fast." Mo Mo Nika said indifferently.

Lin Xian finished scanning at this time and found that the design of the instrument in his hand was somewhat similar to a Spirit-Oscillation Detector. He disassembled it and found that besides a blood crystal as a dark detection source, there was also a tiny vacuum diode inside, which was filled with a black liquid that emitted an ominous feeling.

Lin Xian held the diode at his fingertips and whispered: "This is indeed some kind of detection device, but the principle is unclear. I checked Zhou Lei's body; there are no tracking devices or similar equipment, so..."

"Could it be that black candle, which can track Zhou Lei's location?" Kiki said boldly at this time.

"Possible."

Lin Xian looked at the fainted man: "Then the problem comes: this person is the same as Zhou Lei. Could it be that there is more than one black candle, or can it be used on multiple people?"

"Just ask him directly."

Mo Mo Nika turned toward the train at this time and said: "That guy noticed something; his emotions seem a bit nervous now."

After saying this, she led Lin Xian and Kiki onto the Queen Mo. In one of the carriages, Zhou Lei was locked in a transparent isolation room. The room was not big, with only a floating single bed and a simple bathroom. The whole room was monitored 24 hours a day. However, before the situation just now, Zhou Lei's emotions were still calm; after all, this guy hadn't been monitored for just one day, and his mentality was very seasoned. But after the Queen Mo mobilized all its forces just now and caught the man who had sneaked in, Zhou Lei's emotions became obviously anxious, pacing back and forth in the room.

At this time, seeing Lin Xian and the others walk into the carriage, he immediately leaned forward and said eagerly: "Lin... Team Leader Lin, did they find us?!"

"Do you recognize this?" Lin Xian displayed the instrument in his hand. Zhou Lei's face changed instantly when he saw it, and he backed away two steps in horror: "It's them... they are people from the Divine Revelation. This thing is used to detect Forbidden Items!!"

"Looks like the guess was right." Lin Xian handed the instrument to Kiki and said to Zhou Lei: "So you brought trouble to us and Silent City?"

"No..."

Zhou Lei opened his mouth and hurriedly said: "I didn't do anything, heaven and earth are my witness, Team Leader Lin. I'm watched 360 degrees even when I'm taking a dump here; how could I bring trouble to you?"

"Then do you know what their purpose is in looking for you?"

Lin Xian leaned back and said coldly: "Don't tell me that the Divine Revelation and the Deep Red World people specifically arranged for someone to sneak into this Silent City for a useless pawn who has already betrayed them, just to save you?"

Lin Xian was not surprised at all that people from the Divine Revelation or the Deep Red World sneaked into Silent City, but the fact that the other party first looked for Zhou Lei made Lin Xian have to suspect that Zhou Lei had other secrets.

Hearing Lin Xian's words, Zhou Lei waved his hand immediately.

"Impossible, they... they couldn't possibly come to save me."

"Then there must be a reason." Lin Xian looked at his watch and said: "Now that we've caught that guy, maybe it's enough if one of you can talk, right?"

Zhou Lei's face turned pale when he heard this: "Team Leader Lin, I really don't know. Ever since I was taken away by the Divine Revelation people, I haven't seen a few of them in total. I only know that the keeper of the black candle is called Old Ghost, a piece of trash who likes to hide in the shadows and peep at women. Besides that, I know that I was in the Baicheng research institute, monitoring those clones with mental consciousness disorders..."

"You inferred that the Deep Red World and Dawn City high-level officials are colluding just from a group of mentally disordered clones?" Kiki frowned: "What basis could this have..."

"No!"

Zhou Lei waved his hand hurriedly: "I saw it with my own eyes, on the night I was sent into the Star Abyss, in Jinhai!!"

Zhou Lei poured it all out directly at this time: "At that time, I was locked in an iron cage. Before getting on the transport ship, I saw a group of people get off another transport ship with my own eyes. Among them was a person who was the former general manager of Jinhai City Investment Company, Wen Dong. This guy... I would recognize him even if he turned to ash. And Wen Dong is a member of the Wen family, the second-in-command of the Linglong Group. Now many people know that the Linglong Group has defected to Dawn City, and that Wen Hui even became a new Federation councilor. Wen Dong appearing in the territory of the Deep Red World must mean there is collusion between them!"

"Wen Dong, such a familiar name." Lin Xian frowned.

Kiki leaned over to Lin Xian's ear: "Tang Yun's husband at the Yijin Zero-Element Center, my... second uncle."

"Your family is truly full of loyalty." Lin Xian said seriously.

"I don't acknowledge it." Kiki said with disdain.

"So you're saying that the Deep Red World has a distribution of power in Jinhai?" Mo Mo Nika, who was to the side, caught another key point at this time.

Zhou Lei's eyes widened when he heard this.

"That's not just a distribution of power; I think the Deep Red World is in Jinhai!"

"Why?" Lin Xian frowned and asked.

"Team Leader Lin, think about it. I was transported to the Star Abyss in Jinhai. That place is a military base, and those clones were also transported in batch after batch there. And Jinhai is in front of Dawn City, it's the bridgehead for Dawn City facing the No. 5 Star Abyss, and it's also the Federation's most important production line now. The Deep Red World being able to operate under Dawn City's nose not only shows that they had collusion before, but also shows that the Deep Red World's lair is very likely under this nose!" Zhou Lei said his judgment.

"That sounds like it makes some sense." Kiki nodded.

"Military airport..." Mo Mo Nika pressed the mobile terminal on her arm, and a holographic screen was projected. Soon, more than a dozen light dots appeared on the map: "There are quite a few military airports around Jinhai. Which one are you specifically talking about?"

"This... I don't know." Zhou Lei shook his head.

"Then how do you know it's a military airport in Jinhai?" Lin Xian asked sternly.

"Because after the transport ship took off, I saw the Jinhai Star-Gazing Tower in the air!" Zhou Lei's eyes widened and he said with certainty: "That airport and the main city of Jinhai absolutely didn't have a flight distance of more than 10 minutes. I guarantee it!"

"Ho, you guy are cautious enough. You knew you couldn't get out of the Star Abyss, yet you still had the mood to pay attention to these." Lin Xian examined this fatty with great curiosity.

Zhou Lei looked at him desolately when he heard this and said with some self-mockery: "In this world, people like me have no resources and no abilities. If I want to live, I can only be a bit cunning..."

Lin Xian ignored him and turned to discuss with Kiki and Mo Mo Nika in a low voice.

"What do you think?"

"Does he know too much?" Kiki was suspicious.

"Perhaps the Deep Red World also thinks he is a pawn who must die and couldn't possibly get out of the Star Abyss. And to enter the Star Abyss, consciousness must remain clear. This point can explain why he was able to pry into some things during this process."

Lin Xian shook his head: "I'm not thinking about this. Whether what he said is true or false, these don't have much to do with us. Besides the Deep Red World possibly being in Jinhai, as for whether Dawn City has any collusion, what does that have to do with us? I only care about the reason why the Divine Revelation people set their sights on him."

"Simple." Mo Mo Nika said leisurely: "Just let the guy outside say it himself."

"By the way, Lin Xian." Kiki said to Lin Xian at this time, holding the instrument that searched for Forbidden Items.

"The detection method of this thing is similar to the Spirit-Oscillation value. Have you noticed that according to the energy scale of this blood crystal, its detection radius will not exceed 3 kilometers."

Lin Xian's face changed when he heard this. He hadn't noticed this problem just now.

Mo Mo Nika crossed her arms and looked at Lin Xian.

"3 kilometers. According to the docking distance, it's in the Silent Metropolis. It looks like as soon as the No. 2 city returned, Zhou Lei was discovered. This shows that this guy..."

"Has been staying inside Silent City all along!"

At this time, Zhou Lei in the isolation cabin behind saw that the three ignored him, and asked anxiously:

"Team Leader Lin, can you tell me who you caught? Did he... did he confess anything?"

"Oh, almost forgot." Lin Xian looked at Mo Mo Nika.

Mo Mo Nika understood and immediately ordered her men to carry the man in.

Ssh.

The door opened. When Zhou Lei saw the face of the thin man being carried in, his pupils shrank violently. He pointed at the man and opened his mouth wide.

"He... he is Old Ghost!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 369 =====