Chapter 71: The Might of the Star of Calamity and the Aftermath

"Actually, this really had nothing to do with me."

"That disaster from out of the blue came at random. As for the other stowaways and those three mechanical evil cultivators dying, it was purely because they were too greedy; they never imagined that trackers had been placed inside the smuggled curios and treasures, and they foolishly thought they could escape back to Wanfu City."

"I reckon they were also thinking of hiding in other districts after escaping back, but unfortunately, they didn't get their wish."

"People die for wealth just as birds die for food; it is nothing more than that."

As Li Yu silently excused himself in his heart for potentially being a jinx.

He and Hongdou happened to cross a small frozen hill, the cold mist immediately thinned, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A primitive and massive city, with mottled walls stretching for a great length, and every single city brick engraved with a distorted "Fortune Pattern," lay sprawled upon the earth like an ancient giant beast.

If one were to count carefully, this was the first time Li Yu had observed Wanfu City from the outside.

Even though he had been thinking of escaping the whole time, at this moment he had to admit:

"Judging by the scale, it already looks a bit like a super-metropolis from my past life."

"The person who built this city back then, even if they weren't a True God, must have been at least a demigod, right?"

"A true spectacle; it is breathtaking."

Roughly the hour of the Rabbit!

At the South Gate of Wanfu City, that incomparably towering and massive mottled stone gate, engraved with all sorts of eerie Dao patterns, was slowly opening.

There were many people queuing both inside and outside the city, some leaving, some entering.

Those returning to the city were mostly "adventurers" who hadn't managed to return in time the day before and had spent the night outside.

The three great forbidden zones outside the city were indeed incomparably dangerous.

But the outskirts of the forbidden zones, and the vast land connecting the forbidden zones to Wanfu City, were quite safe and also produced quite a few resources.

Where there are resources, there are naturally corresponding gatherers.

For example, those who hunt strange entities, gather spiritual herbs, or kill others to seize their goods.

Li Yu's two neighbors from back then, Hong Sanquan and Sikong Nian, were considered such adventurers, and they both engaged in the business of killing to seize goods; they were often not at home, spending the night in safe areas outside the city, and only returning to the city to sell their loot after making a haul.

Before long, it was Li Yu and Hongdou's turn.

Both of them were wearing masks, and there were significant changes to their external bodies. Although it was mechanical puppets responsible for guarding the city and collecting the entry fee, and there were many people entering the city together, being careful and cautious was never wrong.

After Li Yu "paid the coin," they were let through directly.

He casually flagged down a monster bus and began the usual detour.

Half an incense stick later, Li Yu appeared on the old street, pretending to be out for a stroll and about to return. He even specially bought a few breakfast specialties from the Qian, Li, and Jing kingdoms before returning to his own quiet residence.

Upon seeing the familiar beauty willow and human-face peach tree in his courtyard, Li Yu finally couldn't hold it in, and a look of helplessness and resentment appeared on his face.

"Round and round I go, only to end up back here. What kind of mess is this?"

"I finally found a way to smuggle myself out of the city, and not only did I almost lose my life, but this path will likely be completely cut off now."

"Am I a Star of Calamity, or a jinx? Is my power really that great?"

The urge to vent in Li Yu's heart was simply impossible to suppress.

This trip was indeed a total loss for him, and extremely frustrating.

The hope that had just appeared was cruelly snuffed out just like that.

The most critical thing was that after such an incident, this smuggling route, which had been mature and maintained for many years, would one hundred percent be scrapped.

Of course, it wasn't without consolation and gains.

"The comforting thing is that I didn't leak any information or traces. Even those in the know who were aware that there was a passenger like 'me' on that smuggling airship are all dead, not a single one left. Even if the Holy Nest has heaven-reaching means, it is absolutely impossible for them to track it back to me."

"As for gains?"

With this thought, Li Yu immediately turned his head to look at Hongdou.

At this moment, his maid had already removed her disguise and was checking the various pieces of good equipment she had newly acquired one by one.

And he didn't know if it was just an illusion?

Li Yu felt as if he had rarely seen a trace of a smile on that pretty fox-girl's face.

Chainsaw sword!

Melt-flame gun!

Bolter gun!

Psionic stone!

All of the above were high-end goods that Li Yu, as her master, couldn't afford in the past; Hongdou had practically upgraded from a bird-gun to a cannon.

Previously, she could barely manage to contend with a "Sequence 8 cultivator" who had fallen into a severe negative state.

Now, with a full set of high-end weapons, ordinary Sequence 8s probably wouldn't be enough for her to hack through; her combat power had skyrocketed significantly.

Compared to his maid, Li Yu had gained nothing at all, and had even used up a [Sword Fiend Pill].

Of course, these items were all things she had picked up in order to save Li Yu's life.

While Hongdou was checking these extraordinary weapons one by one, Li Yu was also carefully observing her.

Along the way, he had been replaying everything he experienced last night in his mind.

There was nothing else to say about the others; it was just bad luck.

But the performance of his own maid was something even a dull and stupid person like Li Yu could notice as extraordinary.

"Although that pile of high-end weapons from the Heavenly Craft Sect each possessed terrifying power and could indeed split and shatter those two mechanical zombies."

"But it also depends on whose hands they are in. An ordinary mechanical puppet that is nothing more than an empty shell would never be able to do it, even if given these weapons."

"Yet Hongdou handled them with ease and grace."

"And that very strange high-level authorization of hers... even though her internal secret core was destroyed and her authorization module was damaged, she could still wiretap the flesh-mechanical factory used to modify the [Three Saints], and could even destroy and modify trackers?"

"What exactly is her background?"

"Even if a Sequence 7 [Puppet Maker] racked their brains and used their connections to install a top-tier Heavenly Craft secret core for her—one that could be used on a so-called Bell-Frame Colossus—would they be able to achieve this level?"

Numerous doubtful thoughts emerged from Li Yu's mind.

After pondering the last question for a moment, he slowly shook his head.

Although he didn't know much about the Heavenly Craft Sect, Li Yu still felt that Hongdou was somewhat abnormal.

If he hadn't already peeked once before!

At this moment, Li Yu really wanted to use a Truth Bubble to peek into Hongdou's true background.

Just as he was lost in thought, Hongdou's mechanical fox face suddenly leaned over, her pair of gem-like eyes flickering, seemingly burning what little "intelligence" she had left.

Finally, she made an unauthorized conjecture about Li Yu:

"Master has been watching Hongdou for over thirty breaths; is there any order you are hesitating about?"

"Is it still that [Spirit-Replenishing Great Method]?"

"Do you want to issue a related bounty?"

"Replenish what replenish? Hurry up and check that mechanical box again, confirm there's no danger, and then open it for me to see what kind of treasure you snatched!"

"Yes, Master!"

Li Yu suddenly felt a bit nostalgic for the Hongdou from before her secret core was slightly repaired; stupid as she was, she wouldn't do anything brainless, nor would she speculate about her master.

However, she didn't discount the execution of orders at all.

As soon as she spoke, a red light burst from Hongdou's brow, and she began to scan the mechanical treasure chest she was holding, which looked extraordinary at a glance.

That accident scene!

In the smuggling ship under the Holy Nest, there were many kinds of treasures, and no matter which one, the value was extremely high.

But they were also all very large and very conspicuous.

If it had been just him, Li Yu, at the time, he would have turned around and fled, not taking a single thing.

Li Yu was both greedy and not greedy.

So, he had a flash of inspiration and chose to let Hongdou pick.

Since they were all "Heavenly Craft Sect creations," the ones she chose must be the most valuable curios on the smuggling ship. And the feedback that followed seemed to be confirming this, but Li Yu didn't feel happy at all.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

"Scan complete... confirmed, no risk factors present for now."

"Opening... due to damaged authorization module and the target's authorization being too high, unable to open... initiating forced decryption mode, secret key deduction in progress..."

"Determined that the time to deduce the relevant secret key is unknown."

"Can the secret key be successfully deduced? Unknown."

When these mechanical sounds rang out.

The look of anticipation on Li Yu's face gradually faded, and he stared at his mechanical maid with a speechless expression, asking:

"So, Hongdou, you can't open this mechanical box?"

"Yes, Master, at least for the time being."

"Then why did you snatch it?"

=9+Shu_Ba

"It was the most precious and convenient-to-carry curio under your authorization scan... according to Hongdou's scan, this item was the curio with the highest value in the cabin at that time."

The last sentence that rang out was Li Yu's own voice from the past, a playback from Hongdou.

Li Yu was directly choked up.

But there was nothing he could do; this really was his order.

And looking at it now, Hongdou had done a good job.

Since even her residual high-level authorization couldn't open this mechanical box, it was enough to prove how precious this thing was.

"According to those three mechanical evil cultivators!"

"The Sacred Nest has already completely colluded with the Heavenly Craft Sect; the large quantity of curios and weapons unique to the Heavenly Craft Sect found inside the smuggling ship seems to confirm this point."

"So, this box inside likely also contains high-grade curios unique to the Heavenly Craft Sect?"

"Looking at it this way, I really did pick up a super bargain."

"It’s just that this thing is the same as the 'suspected high-sequence recipe for the Spirit Venerable Path' sealed inside my fifth bubble—I can see it, but I can't eat it."

"What could it be? A high-grade Heavenly Craft secret core? A legacy of the Artisan God Path? An artificial intelligent brain?"

With a great secret and great benefits placed right before his eyes yet impossible to discern, Li Yu’s peculiar habit of prying into secrets showed signs of flaring up again.

Once again, he wanted to use up his seventh bubble, which had already reached perfection.

The power of this bubble could not handle a high-sequence recipe, but there was a high probability it could forcibly decipher the so-called "secret key."

However, doing so seemed a bit extravagant; it wasn't a life-or-death crisis, so how could he easily waste this greatest trump card?

Just as he was pondering, the bronze chicken in the courtyard, which hadn't been seen all night, abruptly let out a plague-stricken squawk.

Following that was the sound of a mechanical motorcycle sputtering smoke outside the gate.

The person delivering the newspaper didn't care at all whether there was anyone in the courtyard and shouted directly:

"The new issue of the Wanfu Daily is here!"

"Additionally, our newspaper office is launching a promotion where you can get twenty percent off for a full-year subscription; interested customers can contact nearby promoters at any time."

As the voice fell.

A roll of newspaper was thrown in from across the air.

The movements of the bronze chicken and the newspaper delivery boy directly pulled Li Yu out of the mood of fleeing the city and pushed him back into his past daily routine.

Even Hongdou joined in the fun, saying: "According to the alarm clock set in advance by Master, it is now time for Master to head to the City Lord's Mansion to check in for work."

Upon hearing this, Li Yu was immediately filled with helplessness.

Tossing and turning all night!

Not only did he fail to successfully escape Wanfu City, but just after clearing all potential troubles and returning home, he was immediately urged to go to work.

Moreover, he could not refuse.

"The path of smuggling is temporarily blocked."

"If I want to find other routes, I still have to rely on those six people from the Ninth Reclamation Team."

"This shift, I must work."

After his thoughts turned a few times, Li Yu figured it out.

He took the newspaper from Hongdou's hand and instructed:

"Watch the house well!"

"Once there is anything unusual, follow my predetermined order: set off a big firework to notify me, and then try your best to run for your life."

"Understood, Master!"

As Li Yu spoke, he took the opportunity to glance at the bronze chicken that was strutting proudly back into its coop.

The big firework, composed of a large amount of gunpowder and a Flame-Burst Pill, was precisely this plague-stricken chicken.

Although Li Yu reckoned that hiding in this old street without leaving any traces or revealing his whereabouts would not lead to any future trouble.

But he still prepared quite a few methods to cope!

If something really went wrong, he still had the leeway to escape.

If he couldn't hang around the South District, he would go to the East District.

If that really didn't work, the North District and West District were also options.

With this thought, Li Yu turned and went out the door, heading toward City Lord Street.

……

Because of Zhan Kui's special instructions when they parted yesterday, Li Yu thought he would be working all alone in the camp today.

But who would have thought that just as he arrived at the camp, and the camp robot's nagging warnings about "excessively high wear rates" began to echo in his ears.

Suddenly, accompanied by a roar, the steam airship belonging to the Ninth Reclamation Team flew over from afar.

Before it had even landed properly, Zhan Kui, Zhu Wugou, Sang Zhu, Shu Fu, and Mi Wuniang jumped down one after another like dumplings into a pot.

After landing, none of their expressions looked very good.

Li Yu went up to meet them, but before he could actually ask, he just wore a look of confusion at the right moment.

The leader, Zhan Kui, couldn't hold back his words and sprayed angrily:

"The Sacred Nest and that so-called [Three Saints Gang], I don't know what kind of madness they've caught."

"They sent a huge pile of mechanical dogs, as well as those neither-human-nor-ghost demon daoists, to search everywhere on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Ghost Frozen Plains, and they specifically targeted those weak wild folk."

"With this mess, a large number of wild folk tribes are fleeing everywhere, causing the Qi flow within the frozen plains to become chaotic and the ghost essence to be too disturbed, startling some powerful forbidden ghosts."

"How are we supposed to reclaim anything? If we're not careful, we'll lose our lives in there."

"I must go to the higher-ups to file a complaint; if we can't do anything to the Sacred Nest, can't we at least make that shitty Three Saints Gang suffer?"

Hearing these words from Zhan Kui, Li Yu immediately understood.

It was the aftermath of last night's incident!

It was just that the scale of the response was something he hadn't expected.

And before he could ponder more, the two-headed elder Luo Sheng, who hadn't appeared earlier, suddenly appeared in the camp riding the steam elevator, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he brought news that was more definitive and made Li Yu's heart tremble:

"I've found out clearly!"

"It was last night; a smuggling ship under the Sacred Nest accidentally collided with a stowaway ship."

"Those daring stowaways even looted the high-end curios inside the smuggling ship, and although they were all killed in the end, it seems that because of their meddling, an extremely rare treasure fell into the hands of those frozen plain wild folk."

(End of chapter)