Chapter 286: The World Channel Says: I Saw a Meteorite

The door-in-the-face technique.

This psychological tactic involved making an initial, outrageously large request. Once that request was inevitably rejected, a much smaller, more reasonable request would be offered as an alternative.

Faced with the stark contrast between the two, most people instinctively agreed to the smaller goal, thus allowing the person who proposed it to achieve their true objective.

And just now, Chu Yuan had played them all using exactly this method—first offering to sell materials, then pivoting to sell information.

"Damn it! Next time I see him, I am absolutely kicking him."

"We can't let him off that easily. At the very least, he needs to be stripped naked and paraded through the streets."

"Exactly! Let's ruin his reputation."

"Let it go, let it go. Compared to us, he is a politician. He definitely needs some capital and power to back him up. As long as the information arrives, we can consider those five bottles a gift."

Listening to the conversation take an increasingly strange turn, Nemo stepped forward to placate the group.

"The Pope is always so serious."

"True."

"Enough chatter then, we should slip away too. It's time to head back and craft our Evolution Items."

After exchanging a few more jokes, the remaining members gradually said their goodbyes to their host, Jiang Lan, and departed.

"Hmm?"

Once everyone else had left, leaving only Jiang Lan and Frena behind, Frena suddenly tilted her head at Jiang Lan in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Forgetting something... Oh! The food!"

Jiang Lan suddenly remembered.

"That's right, the meal isn't even finished yet! I need to contact the Emperor right now!"

Reminded by Jiang Lan, Frena instantly realized what had slipped her mind. She swiftly pulled out her Lovers Card and prepared to send a message to Gu Xiaobei.

"Forget it. Judging by her disheveled state when she left just now, she probably won't have any free time for the next few days."

Jiang Lan shook her head.

Gu Xiaobei currently had tens of thousands of cocktails to shake. Let alone cooking, it was highly questionable whether she would even have time to eat.

...

"Sir, you have returned."

"Mm."

Meanwhile, after leaving Jiang Lan's Shelter, Chu Yuan directly teleported back to his office.

"I will be conducting some research shortly. Please postpone all my meetings for the next few days."

Upon returning to his office, Chu Yuan instructed his secretary before ducking into a small laboratory situated next door.

This laboratory was his dedicated space for attempting to craft Evolution Items.

Stepping inside, Chu Yuan brought out the seven portions of blood he had acquired and immediately began his research.

To be completely honest, he was genuinely tempted by Shang Chuan's earlier proposal.

If he could obtain an entire Jörmungandr hatchling for himself, his power would undoubtedly skyrocket.

Even though it might mean sharing the spoils with the other members of the Tarot Villa, it was still infinitely better than sharing them with his enemies, right?

Taking a brief break from his research, he stepped out to make the necessary arrangements for that matter.

On her end, the moment Lan Qingyou returned home, she sequestered herself in her Alchemy Workshop and retrieved her vials of blood.

From Huang Xingming, she had obtained a single flask containing exactly five hundred milliliters of Jörmungandr blood.

She had then traded five hundred milliliters of Star Dragon King's Blood Essence with the High Priestess in exchange for one thousand milliliters of Platinum Dragon King blood.

During the final distribution, she secured an additional five portions, amounting to two thousand five hundred milliliters of Jörmungandr blood.

Combined with the remaining Star Dragon King's Blood Essence she had on hand, Lan Qingyou could currently produce roughly one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty thousand doses of Witch's Potion.

Although it sounded like a massive quantity, in reality, it was still far from enough.

Furthermore, their current habitat completely lacked housing. She still needed Shang Chuan's faction to handle the planning and construction.

Otherwise, managing a sprawling city with a total population of one to two hundred thousand people, including various outsiders, was simply beyond her capabilities.

While Lan Qingyou and the others returned to labor over their Evolution Items, completely ignoring the World Channel, a massive debate was erupting across the public chat.

Of course.

This grand discussion primarily centered around a seemingly minor incident that had occurred earlier that day.

"I'm serious! A meteorite fell from the sky in our region and smashed out a literal mushroom cloud."

"The guy above me is right. I was pretty far away, so I couldn't see it clearly. I just felt the whole world spin before a deafening crash echoed out, followed immediately by that mushroom cloud."

"Yes, exactly! I saw it too."

"What is wrong with your region? Did you suffer divine retribution or something?"

"Wait, hold on. It's a meteorite, right? Maybe it's some kind of ultra-rare crafting material!"

"True! Don't novels always talk about mystical meteoric iron from outer space? I bet if you go pick it up and sell it to that Alchemist, the Tower Witch, you could make an absolute fortune."

"Heavens above! Why didn't I think of such a genius idea? It's getting dark now, but I'll head out first thing tomorrow morning to scavenge it."

"Huh? Bro, aren't you afraid of the time curse?"

"Time curse? What the hell is that?"

"Uhh... don't tell me you aren't in the Cursed Corridor region?"

"Nope, I'm from the Golden Plains."

"Well alright then. We've been chatting all this time, and it turns out we aren't even in the same zone."

"I'm honestly impressed you guys managed to keep this conversation going."

"That meteorite of yours is absolutely nothing. Let me tell you, today I watched a monster movie that rivaled the best summer blockbusters."

"Oh? A movie? Do tell."

"This afternoon, I was planning to head home early to handle some errands. But right on my way back, I ran into a colossal beast made entirely of steel. The thing must have been well over a hundred meters tall."

"A steel behemoth?"

"Yeah, exactly like the kaiju you'd see in the old monster movies back at the cinemas."

"Interesting. And then what?"

"Then that steel behemoth started attacking a Shelter. It was the main base of a small local faction in our area. I have no idea why they were targeted, but under the relentless assault of a steel beast over a hundred meters tall, their Magic Shield couldn't hold on for long."

"If even their Magic Shield couldn't withstand it, they were probably wiped out in the end."

"Yeah. However, the people in that small faction didn't just sit around waiting to die. They organized a counterattack while the steel beast was smashing their base. Regrettably, even though they finally managed to bring the monster down using some ability I couldn't recognize, a massive giant showed up right after."

"A giant?"

"Yes. Or rather, that giant was the pilot of the steel beast. After his machine was defeated, he directly transformed into an enormous giant and resumed the attack, slaughtering everyone without sparing men, women, or children."

"That's brutal. It sounds like he had a deep-seated blood feud with that faction."

"Who knows? But all this talk of steel beasts and giants definitely reminds me of Orff from our region. He's a giant himself, and an incredibly outstanding mechanic at that."

"Do you think there's any chance that giant actually was Orff?"

"Who knows."

"Good heavens, between a giant and a steel behemoth, isn't that level of destructive power a bit excessive?"

"It really is. If they can effortlessly tear through a Shelter's Magic Shield, who will guarantee our safety if those giants ever go berserk?"