Chapter 184: 『Dogtail Grass』 Ben, Internal Sacred Artifact, Opening the Door?

When the three members of the Bostafa Family all turned their heads to look at the Wild Priest of the God of Strength, this Dwarf, who had never had much of a presence, was stunned for a moment.

He shifted his position and discovered that the three Humans were indeed staring right at him.

"Me? What about me?" he asked his companions in the Dwarven Language.

Although the old Dwarf still had a headache, his mind was sharp; he immediately smiled and guessed, "Could it be that they think the God of Strength you worship, Ben, happens to be the deity whose faith is used by the Sacred Artifact inside this underground vault? We Dwarves worship thousands of gods; how could such a coincidence exist?"

The three Dwarves chuckled together in low voices, mocking the greed and ignorance of the Humans.

But Jier looked in the direction the three members of the Bostafa Family were gazing, and seeing the Dwarf known as Ben, the Wild Priest of the God of Strength, Jier smiled: "It couldn't be him, could it? Everyone, perhaps you don't know, but this person is not a priest of the Dwarf church; he is a Wild Priest who was recognized by the god spontaneously without any training from the church. Aside from being able to cast a Prayer of Divine Art that doubles a believer's strength, he isn't very capable of anything else."

But even though Jier said this, the three members of the Bostafa Family still had burning gazes, and the Baroness smiled and said, "Why not let him try?"

"In any case, there's no harm in trying, is there?" Mr. Kasi said, waving his hand.

Mr. Bogete rubbed his hands together and, while walking toward the Dwarf Wild Priest named Ben, muttered to himself: "After all, who knows how long it will be until we run into another Dwarf priest again..."

Mr. Bogete stepped forward to bow politely and sincerely implored the Dwarf Wild Priest of the God of Strength to sit near the wall of the Secret Vault and try to see if he could shut down the most troublesome Protective Magic of the Secret Vault using the 'Faith Synchronization' method they had just heard about. As long as this thing was gone, the opening of this Dwarf Secret Vault would be just around the corner.

Jier stepped forward and leaned into the Wild Priest's ear, pretending to help with the translation. This scene amused the Baroness; she had already learned that these Dwarf mercenaries could speak the Human Common Language, and seeing Jier putting on such a show of translating, she couldn't help but snort.

"Cunning young man."

The Dwarf Wild Priest named Ben looked at the old Dwarf, and since the old Dwarf didn't think it was likely that a Sacred Artifact of the Dwarf God of Strength was being used as a permanent energy source inside the vault, he nodded in agreement.

Thus, the group approached the Protective Magic covered in cracks. Watching the entire wall of Protective Magic cracked but not shattered, Jier reached out and knocked on it, discovering that the Protective Magic felt like a real, solid object; he threw a punch at it, but there was absolutely no reaction.

"Truly formidable," Jier praised, then pointed at the Double-handed Heavy Weapon embedded in the metal wall inside the Protective Magic, and mocked 'Shishou' in a low voice: "So, what about your weapon? Just going to leave it behind like that?"

'Shishou' looked dejected and retorted grumpily: "Why don't I just borrow a temporary Double-handed Heavy Weapon from the other companions?"

He looked at the handy weapon he had lost due to his own reckless actions through the thick Protective Magic, his face full of helplessness.

The Dwarf Wild Priest of the God of Strength, nicknamed 'Dogtail Grass', sat leaning against the Protective Magic, his legs crossed and his eyes closed, but his hands were restless, constantly performing bodybuilding movements, which looked quite strange.

Strange as they were, these movements displaying his muscular physique were the 'trigger' that had originally drawn the god's gaze toward this Wild Priest, and he himself regarded them very seriously.

The others stood by, watching Ben's peculiar and ridiculous movements, but no one at the scene laughed; instead, as time passed, the atmosphere gradually became serious.

"It seems... it's not working?" the Baroness said with some regret.

Mr. Kasi snorted with disdain, but he didn't say much, merely feeling that since this 'Faith Synchronization' could not be verified, the old Dwarf mercenary who proposed this principle might just be a fraud.

Therefore, he secretly decided that after a while, he would just give Jier and his group some money to send them away, at most giving a bit more for the agreed-upon confidentiality fee. This was only because 'Shishou' really did have the ability to make his weapon pierce the Secret Vault's Protective Magic, even though he hadn't actually broken the thing or pierced the thick metal wall of the Secret Vault itself.

Mr. Bogete, meanwhile, was slightly regretful and whispered to Jier, asking if he knew any other Dwarves, especially Dwarf teams that had Dwarf priests other than those of the Dwarf God of Strength.

Jier didn't know anyone like that and immediately told him no. Therefore, if they really wanted to use the 'Faith Synchronization' method to open this Secret Vault, the Bostafa Family would have to go find relevant Dwarves themselves. Or, they could look for the documents and books in Suishi Cheng that weren't taken away by the Dwarves back then, and try to find out which was the largest faith church of the Dwarves here a hundred years ago.

Finding and judging the faith of the Dwarf community here based on the scale should be helpful in finding the correct 'Faith Synchronization' priest.

'Dogtail Grass' Ben tried for quite a while, but he couldn't perceive anything; perhaps it was because he hadn't undergone the complete, formal training of the Dwarf God of Strength church, and all his skills were things he had figured out on his own.

Everyone present was very discouraged, especially the people from the Bostafa Family, who felt that their impulsive action was a waste of time, and perhaps the 'Faith Synchronization' method Jier spoke of was nothing more than nonsense.

Jier looked at the dejected Wild Priest, stepped forward, and patted his shoulder: "Don't be discouraged, it has nothing to do with you; perhaps this Secret Vault simply doesn't use a Sacred Artifact related to the God of Strength."

At this moment, 'Shishou' had been 'caressing' the slightly stinging Magic body through the almost impenetrable Protective Magic, bidding farewell to his weapon. This was a way of confirming the bitter price he had paid for his recklessness, and he secretly warned himself in his heart that he must never recklessly use powerful strength in the future.

Otherwise, strength would control him, rather than him controlling strength. This time, he had almost hurt the old Dwarf and had indeed lost his weapon, which served as a heavy blow to his somewhat reckless personality.

But just at this moment, 'Shishou' felt a stir in his heart; it seemed he felt something faint and familiar inside the Secret Vault ahead, softly calling to him?

His first thought was that it might be a hallucination, so he ignored it, but when he turned to leave with the others, he stopped for some reason.

It was a feeling that was different from the Divine Power directly bestowed by the god in his body due to favor, yet it was slightly similar.

Therefore, he didn't care about anything else and shouted to the few people who were leaving in the Human Common Language: "Please wait a moment! Something seems wrong!"

Jier turned his head and saw that it was 'Shishou' speaking in the Human Common Language. His mouth twitched, then he turned to look at the three members of the Bostafa Family and found the Baroness smiling with an 'I already knew' expression, while Mr. Kasi and Mr. Bogete were slightly displeased.

However, as the main managers of the lord's family who handled guests, their composure was quite good. Ignoring Jier's 'deception', they directly asked 'Shishou', who was standing still: "What is wrong?"

'Shishou' gestured, not knowing how to describe it: "I'm not quite sure, I just feel that inside this thick protection, there seems to be something calling to me. And it has a familiar feeling."

The old Dwarf didn't pretend anymore and asked directly in the Human Common Language: "The same feeling as the Divine Power of the god in your body?"

'Shishou' nodded.

Seeing that the people from the Bostafa Family were a bit bewildered, the old Dwarf communicated directly with these three for the first time: "This subordinate of mine, 'Shishou', not only worships the God of Strength but is also quite favored by the god, who bestowed upon him some Divine Power with special strength. That is direct power from the god, capable of unleashing strength beyond imagination; that violent impact just now was a similar situation."

Once this was mentioned, the three members of the Bostafa Family felt lingering fear, but their eyes quickly lit up, and they looked at 'Shishou' with burning gazes.

"Then, Mr. 'Shishou', could you please try to perceive it as well? Perhaps something that the priest just now couldn't perceive, you might be able to!" Mr. Bogete said excitedly.

"Perhaps it is because the Sacred Artifact has a high Divine Status, and only Mr. 'Shishou', who has directly received the god's Divine Power, can perceive it due to similar perception? And that thing is calling to you, please try to respond to it and see?" The Baroness excitedly reached out, urging 'Shishou' to quickly try responding.

Mr. Kasi didn't speak, just stood there with his arms crossed, feeling that this might be another useless experiment, so he didn't hold much hope.

He had seen similar things too many times in his earlier years; every time the family invited someone to open the Dwarf Secret Vault, every capable person invited would be full of confidence beforehand, patting their chests and saying it was no problem, but after trying again and again, these people would wilt. Most would leave dejectedly, while some would complain about the Bostafa Family, feeling that inviting them to such an unsolvable problem was simply damaging their reputation!

Such people often required the Bostafa Family to go to great lengths to compensate and appease them before they could be sent away.

Returning to the present moment, 'Shishou' looked at his own people, seeing Jier raise his hand with slight embarrassment to urge him to try, the old Dwarf nodding at him, and the Wild Priest of the God of Strength looking the most embarrassed, head bowed in frustration, reaching out to touch the Statue of the God inside the Leather Bag at his waist, seemingly seeking comfort from the god.

'Shishou' gave a slightly apologetic look to 'Dogtail Grass' Ben, who had led him to the faith of the God of Strength, then turned and sat cross-legged on the ground just as the former had done, facing the thick Protective Magic and the huge metal wall before him.

He felt the call from the other side of the Protective Magic and the metal wall in his heart, and after this feeling of being called became strong, he also responded from his side.

The Divine Power bestowed upon him by the god became active, turning him into a small, golden-shining person.

But this Divine Power of the god was not consumed; instead, it seemed to have grown slightly.

"How is it? What's the situation?" Mr. Bogete asked in a low voice. He was afraid of disturbing 'Shishou' and didn't dare to ask loudly, but he was itching with curiosity and had to ask.

However, 'Shishou' did not respond to Mr. Bogete's question.

When the old Dwarf asked the same question, 'Shishou' kept his eyes closed and whispered: "I perceive a vague object; it seems to be giving me power, but..."

"But what?" Jier asked.

"But, it doesn't seem to be in an activated state. Its power is full; it doesn't look like it's releasing power every day to activate the Secret Vault's Protective Magic," 'Shishou' said, weighing his words.

The few looked at each other, the members of the Bostafa Family being the most discouraged, feeling that their excitement had been for nothing.

But the old Dwarf waved his hand at this time and said: "Then activate it!"

"Activate?" The members of the Bostafa Family were a bit surprised and were about to voice their conservative opposition, but the old Dwarf had already stated his reasoning: "Just as I judged, there should be at least two Sacred Artifacts inside the vault in charge of different areas; one is responsible for releasing the Protective Magic every day, and the other is responsible for opening and closing the thick, huge vault door. The former needs to release it constantly, so that Sacred Artifact serving as the energy source must be in an activated state."

"And now, my subordinates did not notice that the Sacred Artifact he sensed was activated; it is very likely that the Sacred Artifact is the operating system responsible for opening the vault door."

Hearing this, the three members of the Bostafa Family no longer obstructed them.

It was unclear how Shishou managed to 'connect' with the Sacred Artifact inside the vault through the Protective Magic and the thick metal walls, but when Shishou stood up and spread his hands to indicate he had activated the Sacred Artifact—

The entire Dwarf Secret Vault remained motionless.

Mr. Kasi came back to his senses and snorted coldly, feeling that he had once again been led by the nose by these people; he said disdainfully, "What Sacred Artifact, what sensing, what Faith Synchronization."

The distrust in his words was already overflowing.

In his view, the aforementioned things might exist or might not, but in all likelihood, they did not; it was just these visiting Knights and alien Dwarves joining forces to try and swindle a bit more money from their family.

Of course, the strength of these people was genuine, and in consideration of their formidable power, if the other party 'swindled' them like this, their family would likely go along with their wishes and provide some extra gratitude fees—which would still be given even if the vault failed to open—as well as hush money.

At this moment, Jier was holding a peculiar, inconspicuous pendant that resembled an eyeball, staring motionlessly at the massive Dwarf Secret Vault before him. Just after Mr. Kasi finished speaking, Jier said, "Wait, something seems to have started!"

With a flip of his hand, he inconspicuously put away the Yamila no Me and pointed at a square door on the metal wall that was three meters high and three meters wide.

At first, the others thought Jier was talking nonsense, but then, the metal door of the Bostafa Family that had never been seen in motion actually began to move, slowly but firmly retreating inward—rather than outward.

"The vault door is opening!" Mr. Bogete screamed excitedly, dancing about, his face full of madness, overjoyed!

Meanwhile, the Baroness subtly brushed the Magic Bracelet on her wrist and stepped back a few paces, guarding against any untoward incidents. She even felt a bit of regret that she should have just let Kasi go up to the castle to call for a squad of guards earlier.

They had not seen the strength of Knight Jier and did not know how it was, but that Dwarf named Shishou possessed extraordinary strength! Although the other party had lost his main weapon, once strength reached a certain level, the difference in combat effectiveness between having a weapon and being empty-handed was actually not significant.

Whether it was because the mechanisms made by the Dwarves were precise or because the facility had not been eroded by time, the Dwarf Secret Vault door, which had not been opened for nearly a hundred years, moved inward silently, and after retreating more than a meter, it moved laterally, revealing a doorway three meters high and three meters wide, with walls on both sides nearly a meter thick.