HBWnovel Chapter 334: Major Breakthrough, Core Stone Slab!
Chapter 334: Major Breakthrough, Core Stone Slab!
"What?""Redstone powder?"
Cheng Ye froze for a moment, staring at the pitch-black pile of powder on the ground. He simply could not connect it to the Energy-Gathering Redstone embedded in the heads of the Stone Sunflower People.
This stuff looked no different from ordinary iron powder. How could it be the legendary Redstone?
"Yes, this is absolutely Redstone powder!" Yin Ruofeng nodded firmly, confirming it once again.
Cheng Ye simply sliced open the entire tarpaulin bundle. Packet after packet of the exact same powder tumbled out, numbering exactly fifteen bags—no more, no less.
Each bag utilized a double-layer sealed packaging. The inner layer was a plastic film, and the outer layer was a Waterproof Bag. The openings were even wrapped tightly with tape, clearly indicating they had been carefully stored.
"Inspector Cheng, can I open a bag to test it?" Yin Ruofeng picked up one of the packets and pulled a lighter from his Backpack.
"Alright, go ahead and test it," Cheng Ye quickly nodded.
Calculating at roughly thirty grams per bag, fifteen bags amounted to nearly half a kilogram. To gain such an unexpected harvest from scavenging was truly beyond his expectations.
He watched as Yin Ruofeng tore open the packaging, ground out a pinch of powder onto a stainless steel plate, and used the lighter to heat the underside of the metal.
Within just two or three seconds, the clump of black powder actually began to change color. Cheng Ye stared intently, watching it slowly shed its black hue to become an interwoven shade of black and red.
About a minute later, Yin Ruofeng cut the flame. As the steel plate's temperature dropped, the powder did not revert to black. Instead, it grew increasingly red, ultimately settling into a deep crimson.
Judging solely by the hue, there was still a significant gap between this Redstone powder and the Energy-Gathering Redstone. However, it was already completely different from ordinary metal powder; anyone could tell at a glance that it was extraordinary.
"It is Redstone powder, and the purity is very high. It is on par with the top-tier Redstone ore mined in the Red River Gathering Place back in the day," Yin Ruofeng explained, carefully scooping the powder back into the bag and sealing it.
"Could it have been smuggled out of the veins by private mining teams back then?"
Cheng Ye frowned slightly, recalling the scene he had scouted that morning. The mine's entrance and exit were up to twenty meters high, and there was even a dedicated inspection platform. Smuggling Redstone ore out would have been no easy feat.
He simply took out the stone slab embedded with Redstone from his Shadow Box and sprinkled a little powder on its surface.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of fusion. It was unknown whether the Redstone on the slab was already saturated, or if the grade of this powder simply was not high enough.
"It is hard to say. The Redstone ore was indeed completely mined out back then, but there might still be undiscovered scraps left in the veins." Yin Ruofeng scratched his head, unable to give a definitive answer.
Cheng Ye's heart suddenly stirred, a hypothesis popping into his mind.
Perhaps the Redstone ore really had been depleted back then, but Shi Province possessed unique terrain capable of extracting the Vitality of plants to nurture mineral veins.
After so many years, could a considerable amount of Redstone have regenerated inside the mine?
'Hmm, that theory does not quite hold water,' he thought.
'If cultivating mineral veins by extracting plant Vitality was a viable path, the Red River Gathering Place would have cultivated plants on a large scale to assist in the vein's growth long ago, rather than opening it up to private mining teams to drain the pond to catch the fish.'
"Now is not the time to study this. Let's take it back first; we will have plenty of time to figure it out tomorrow."
Putting aside what he could not figure out for the moment, Cheng Ye waved his hand. "Let's go check the other shops and see if they have any hidden Redstone!"
With this major discovery, he dragged the cabinet out and impatiently rushed to the neighboring shop.
After rummaging around, although he did not find any more Redstone powder, he did fish out a bundle of supplies from the ceiling's mezzanine.
It actually contained three rolls of high-strength stainless steel wire rope, along with an assortment of miscellaneous escape equipment.
Four pairs of wear-resistant rock climbing gloves with non-slip silicone pads on the palms, two bags of alloy pitons with carabiner loops, two rolls of wide heavy-duty webbing, hollow expansion bolts, nuts, washers... a whole pile of gear, all meant for rock climbing.
Because they had been stored in the mezzanine and properly waterproofed and protected against dampness, all the supplies remained perfectly preserved to this day.
"This guy was smart. He knew that when danger struck, climbing directly up the Rock Wall to escape was the safest option."
Cheng Ye sighed softly. "It is a pity that no matter how thoroughly prepared he was, it could not make up for a lack of information."
"When surviving in the Wilderness, intelligence is always the top priority."
Liu Bi nodded in deep agreement. Looking at the recovered supplies, a smile inevitably rippled across his face.
"Taking these back will not only reinforce the shelter, but they will also come in handy if you want to explore the mine."
Entering the third shop, they indeed found scattered Redstone powder again, confirming that the harvest in the first shop was no fluke.
The fourth, the fifth...
As Cheng Ye dug out more and more items, the expression on Liu Bi's face slowly shifted from initial satisfaction to sheer astonishment.
'Good heavens, does he have an innate holy physique for scavenging?'
He was supposed to be a greenhorn Scavenger, yet his eye for valuables was incredibly seasoned, and his scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel techniques were becoming increasingly proficient. More importantly, scavenging consumed a massive amount of Stamina.
Most Scavengers needed a breather after tearing apart a single room. There was no way they could excitedly tear through several rooms in a row like Cheng Ye, acting like a tireless machine.
By the time they had completely scraped all nine shops in the Gathering Place, the items piled on the ground would likely take four flatbed carts three round trips to transport completely.
Aside from the materials to reinforce the shelter, the sorted high-value items were as follows:
1. Redstone powder (1.3 kilograms)
2. Happiness Coins and Guanghong Coins (Totaling 16,850 coins)
3. Various rare raw Metal ores (15.7 kilograms)
4. A complete Map of the Red River Gathering Place before it was destroyed by the Infection Tide
5. Complete Maps of the three other Gathering Places that competed with the Red River Gathering Place
6. Three complete Maps of the underground mining tunnels. "What a bountiful harvest!" Cheng Ye sighed in satisfaction.
The money did not matter; over ten thousand coins converted to merely two thousand Contribution Points, which was no longer enough to satisfy Inspector Cheng's appetite.
The Red River Gathering Place occupied the Core of the entire mineral vein, situated right within the grand canyon; the other three Gathering Places were distributed around peripheral mining spots, and they too had tunnels leading straight underground.
The mining tunnel Maps in his hand were exactly for those three locations: Wanshi, Qingya, and Daliuxi.
It was a pity that while the person who collected these Maps had great ambitions, they failed to include the tunnels of Red River, which was slightly regrettable.
However, as long as he obtained the Red River Gathering Place's mine Map from Yin Ruofeng, he would completely grasp the distribution of all the surrounding mineral veins and underground passages. Subsequent exploration could only be described with one word:
Thrilling!
"You guys rest, I will handle the packing! I ought to lend a hand with these small tasks."
Cheng Ye directly took on the job of packing the flatbed carts. He had already rested plenty in the mine during the day, whereas the three guarding the temporary shelter had been busy non-stop. If he could save them some Stamina, the shelter could be built faster.
Once the first cart was properly packed, the four of them chatted and laughed as they pulled the cart out of the Gathering Place.
Ever since he transmigrated, he had either stayed in the shelter city or operated under the identity of an Inspector. He had never experienced the life of an ordinary person in the Wasteland.
The novelty of attempting to scavenge for the first time inevitably excited him.
These days of adventuring outside and encountering new things every day were what truly made one feel alive.
However, Zhang Daping, who had stayed behind in the Armored Vehicle, had a completely different mindset.
Ever since the three of them left, the surrounding deathly silence had put him on pins and needles, causing cold sweat to pour down his forehead.
It was not until he saw the flashlight beams returning that he finally let out a long breath of relief, though he still did not dare open the door and step down to greet them.
Who knew if what returned were humans or ghosts?
If this was an illusion created by an Infection Source, stepping out of the safe vehicle into the Wilderness would be seeking his own doom.
"Whoa, the progress today was pretty fast!"
From afar, Cheng Ye saw that a simple observation watchtower had actually been erected in the small Camp. A Camping Lamp hung from the platform, acting like a seaside lighthouse that brought an inexplicable sense of peace.
Upon drawing closer, he realized the Camp's ground had been shoveled flat. All the turf had been stripped away, and it had even been carefully leveled.
An entrance and exit were left open at the front, and the Armored Vehicle was parked right in the center of the Camp.
Although they were currently using a crude Camp to protect the sturdy Isolation Alloy, this was inherently how building a shelter worked.
Eat rice one mouthful at a time, walk roads one step at a time.
First, lay a solid foundation, then slowly expand outward; once more materials were gathered, add various facilities.
Even though this trade route was currently completely abandoned, there was no guarantee that merchant caravans would not resume traveling through here in the future.
With more people coming and the construction progress catching up, this place might very well develop into a Small Gathering Place.
A place for travelers to rest and caravans to temporarily halt.
No matter what, it would ultimately be much safer than pitching a tent out in the Wilderness.
"In... Inspector Cheng..." Seeing Cheng Ye open the rear trunk and take out nutrient paste to settle dinner, Zhang Daping finally poked his head out of the car, his voice still trembling slightly.
"My leg is ruined, so I have no way of helping you guys do the heavy lifting."
"It's fine, just lie down and recover. Sometimes, not holding us back is a form of help in itself."
Hearing his teasing, the unease on Zhang Daping's face slowly faded away.
The biggest taboo in a team was becoming a burden. Fortunately, he was following an Inspector's squad rather than a passing merchant caravan.
If it were a merchant caravan, they would likely have genuinely left him behind to bring up the rear the moment they encountered danger.
Cheng Ye intermittently drank fifteen packs of nutrient paste, let out a burp, and finally made up for the appetite he had neglected yesterday.
The four of them rested for a moment before making two more round trips, transporting all the dismantled supplies back to the Camp.
After that, they divided the labor: Cheng Ye stayed behind to continue dismantling, while Liu Bi led the other two back and forth for transportation.
Time slipped past eleven o'clock at night before he realized it. Only under Liu Bi's repeated urging did Cheng Ye finally lie down in the Armored Vehicle to cultivate his sleepiness.
Perhaps it was because he had figured out the patterns of the Stone Sunflower People, or perhaps he was looking forward to manifesting a new stone slab tomorrow.
That night, he slept incredibly soundly.
Let alone having dreams, he was even woken up by his alarm clock in the morning. His biological clock was nowhere near as stable as that of the Stone Sunflower People.
Looking out through the front windshield, the stone slab he had placed on the dashboard last night was already flashing with a bright light.
Cheng Ye first glanced at the time; it was only 6:35 AM. Pressing his Pendant against it to measure, the power output had actually already reached 5.5kw.
"Today is another bright and sunny day. Not bad. If it rained, things would be troublesome!"
After stepping out of the vehicle, Cheng Ye tilted his head up and gazed at the clear sky. It was entirely cloudless, and the sun hanging on the horizon was already emitting a blinding light.
Drawing water to wash up and quickly finishing his breakfast, he stored all his miscellaneous items into his Shadow Box, mounted his Flying Wings, and flew back toward Mine No. 1.
A busy day started with waiting for the Stone Sunflower People to clock in for work.
Cheng Ye leaned lazily against the mine entrance, watching the sun inch its way above the horizon. The golden rays, resembling molten metal, blanketed the entire desolate Gathering Place.
When the time reached 7:55 AM, he finally stood up, riding his Flying Wings to station Little Flame in its spot from yesterday.
Thud.
Thud.
Less than two or three minutes later, the muffled sound of hopping echoed from within the mine.
Immediately after, the very Stone Sunflower Person whose three Redstones he had gouged out yesterday slowly appeared in his field of vision.
"Huh?"
"Its injuries recovered?"
Cheng Ye was startled. He saw that the Spiral Light Path on the Stone Sunflower Person's face had completely regenerated. Even though the embedded Redstones were missing, it did not look discordant in the slightest, as if those sockets had always been completely empty.
"That is quite the resilience. A self-repairing constitution... Good thing there has not been a large-scale infection outbreak..."
Cheng Ye silently rejoiced.
The Red River Gathering Place was located in a remote Forbidden Land where Humans rarely passed through. These Stone Sunflower People were likely brought about directly by that Transcendent Creature dwelling underground.
Currently, there was no way to analyze their method of infection. But if the conditions for infection were not strict, an astonishing number of Stone Sunflower People could easily spawn.
When the time came, thousands or even tens of thousands of Stone Sunflower People absorbing sunlight Energy at once—the scene would be simply unimaginable.
Of course, Cheng Ye had not forgotten about those tiny eerie green dots underground. If those were all Stone Sunflower People too, then his assumptions might have been a bit too optimistic.
"Time to strike!"
Withdrawing his gaze, Cheng Ye stood up and quickly donned his combat armor.
Merely prying off the Redstones would not allow him to collect its Traits; he had to completely kill the Stone Sunflower Person to finish the analysis.
Riding his Flying Wings to the space below Mine No. 2, he replicated yesterday's attack pattern.
Relying on the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse's Blink Ability, he instantly closed the distance to the sunbathing Stone Sunflower Person and immediately switched to his Blazing Eagle Symbiotic State.
Shaping his hands into claws, he latched onto the Stone Sunflower Person's neck before it could react.
It felt like grasping a clump of sticky matter. He immediately exerted explosive force, sinking all ten fingers deep into the Stone Sunflower Person's throat.
Following that, he yanked backward viciously.
Although the Stone Sunflower Person retained a human body, he still could not be sure if the heart was a weak point. Therefore, completely severing its Head from its body was undoubtedly the most direct method of killing it.
An indescribable, viscous resistance came from the neck, as if an immensely strong tether linked the head to the torso.
"Break for me!"
Cheng Ye let out a low roar. The formless flames on his arms abruptly surged, and the Little Flame insignia between his brows grew ever more searing.
As his ten fingers clamped down, the Stone Sunflower Person's Head was actually torn forcefully from its body. The immense momentum dragged Cheng Ye three steps backward, nearly causing him to fall to the ground.
Buzz.
A slight tremor transmitted to his hands, and Cheng Ye hurriedly looked down at the Stone Sunflower Person's Head he was holding.
He saw its mouth curl upward bizarrely. Its originally stiff smile gradually transformed into an expression bordering on serenity.
Right up until it dissipated, there was surprisingly not the slightest trace of agony, causing Cheng Ye to pause in momentary shock.
"Farewell, brother. I have freed you."
He sighed inwardly, watching the stone head crumble bit by bit into flying sand, caught by the morning breeze and scattered over the ruins of the Gathering Place below.
Perhaps the kill was too swift for the Stone Sunflower Person to release its Biological Deconstruction Ray. Its other companions sensed nothing, continuing to face the sun and quietly absorb Energy.
Over ten seconds later, the Head had completely dissipated, leaving only nine fingertip-sized Redstones dropping to the ground.
As for the Stone Sunflower Person's remaining torso, it was as though it sensed the destruction of its Core. Even without being touched by the flames, it followed suit, turning into drifting sand.
However.
Clack.
A circular stone slab lost its support and rolled out from where the body's heart had been, spinning a few times on the ground before coming to a stop at Cheng Ye's feet.
A stone slab?
Cheng Ye's breath caught in his throat, wild joy instantly flooding his mind.
He had searched high and low for this very thing, only to have it fall right into his lap!
So the stone slab was actually the Core of the Stone Sunflower People, and he could obtain it just by killing them?
But why did the Stone Sunflower Person he supposedly killed yesterday leave no stone slab behind?
'Wait...'
Cheng Ye instantly realized the catch. Although he had gone to where the Stone Sunflower Person had been sitting last night, he had found absolutely nothing.
'But did it really die?'
The last scene he had witnessed was that Stone Sunflower Person sitting up and firing a Deconstruction Ray toward the mine. He never actually saw it die with his own eyes.
'Could it be that the Stone Sunflower Person did not die at all, but simply retreated into the mine to heal?'
Before Cheng Ye could delve deeper into the matter, the mine behind him suddenly vibrated, and the familiar Energy Fluctuation appeared once more.
His heart tightened. Not daring to linger a moment longer, he snatched up the stone slab and the Redstones, mounted his Flying Wings, and swiftly retreated to a safe zone.
In less than ten seconds, the familiar pillar of red light erupted from the mines. Even the mine entrance where this Stone Sunflower Person had just been standing was not spared.
And the beam shooting out from this very mine struck dead-center at the spot where a Stone Sunflower Person stood on the opposite cliff face.
As Cheng Ye watched in stunned disbelief, that Stone Sunflower Person, who was smiling as it absorbed the sunlight, was directly annihilated.
'What kind of indiscriminate friendly-fire attack is this?'
'The Biological Deconstruction Ray can actually directly annihilate a fellow Stone Sunflower Person, another Infected Body?'
In the very next moment, the Energy-Gathering Redstones bound within the annihilated Stone Sunflower Person's head's Spiral Light Path trembled slightly and fell to the ground in their entirety. After its body was wiped out, a stone slab actually materialized at the position of its heart.
Visibly, the transmission of the red light was forcefully blocked in part by this stone slab, preventing it from continuing its trajectory to the opposite side.
"So whoever tied the bell must untie it. The only thing capable of blocking the deconstructing particles is the Core stone slab of the Stone Sunflower People!"
Cheng Ye came to a sudden realization, his suspended heart finally settling back into his chest.
He never expected such an explosive discovery first thing on the second day. Not only had he found the source of the stone slabs, but he had also indirectly discovered the key to defending against the Biological Deconstruction Ray.
Excellent.
Truly excellent!
However, with another Stone Sunflower Person destroyed, the massive entity underground seemed to grow even more furious. Yet another beam of light shot out from the deceased Stone Sunflower Person's mine.
Fortunately, there was no mine directly opposite this time. Otherwise, it might have triggered a chain reaction, completely wiping out all the Stone Sunflower People.
The elongated pillar of light persisted for two full minutes before gradually subsiding. Just as Cheng Ye was about to ride his Flying Wings over to the opposite mine to check the situation, the Stone Sunflower People inside the mines seemed to receive a summons, simultaneously releasing their Deconstruction Rays.
Although the trajectories of the airborne rays had not fully locked on, taking the risks into consideration, he piloted his Flying Wings to retreat back to Mine No. 1.
Nine Redstones, one stone slab.
Opening the System Panel, the Trait collection for the Stone Sunflower Person progressed without any surprises. The sunlight absorption maxed out again at 200%.
Energy-Gathering Redstone also hit 200%, boasting an improvement margin as high as 170%.
Flame Energy Conversion likewise maxed out, unable to accumulate any further.
The Biological Deconstruction Ray reached 57%, and the rarest Sun Flame also broke past the 15% mark.
Phew.
Cheng Ye plunked himself down. Unlike yesterday's wild ecstasy when verifying the power surge, he now felt nothing but endless satisfaction.
This was just too satisfying.
His right hand grabbed the manifested stone slab, and his left hand held the newly dropped stone slab for comparison.
Unexpectedly, the manifested stone slab was more than double the size of the newly dropped one, and its Spiral Light Path was even more intricate.
Even more miraculously, when he stacked the two stone slabs together to compare their sizes, a situation akin to the Redstone fusion occurred.
The small stone slab in his hand literally melted straight into the large stone slab, merging the two into one.
The single Redstone that was originally exposed on the surface also went swoosh, shrinking straight into the stone slab to be completely assimilated.
"Holy crap, they can automatically splice together?"
Cheng Ye rarely cursed, but this thing was challenging his Cognition over and over again.
An enlarged stone slab and fused Redstone—could it possibly provide an even greater power output?!
Cheng Ye quickly placed the stone slab beneath the sunlight, pressing his Pendant close to observe it.
It was only just past 8:00 AM right now, nowhere near peak sunlight hours, yet the stone slab's energy supply rate had already reached 13.1kw.
More importantly, two dim areas had appeared on the stone slab's light paths once again.
Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly brought over a piece of Redstone and pressed it onto the spot. As the entire Redstone sank in, the power output spiked again.
16.9kw...
Whoosh.
The instant he calculated the numbers, Cheng Ye completely zoned out.
Numbly, he pinched up piece after piece of Redstone, stuffing them into the stone slab. Only after the third piece did the fusion phenomenon cease.
The System Panel lit up, the charging notification in the upper right corner blinking incessantly:
[Detected dissipating Energy. Commencing Energy recovery...]
[Current energy replenishment efficiency: Weak (Lv.1 Energy Source)]
[Estimated charge time: 25.6H]
For no apparent reason, Cheng Ye could not help but shudder.
With a deficit of roughly 680 kilowatt-hours, the charge time had actually plummeted to 25 hours.
Did that not mean... this single stone slab in his hands could actually provide a preposterous output of 26.5kw?!
"What if I fuse even more stone slabs? What effect would that have?"
"Could I infinitely fuse them, stacking the power output straight into the hundreds or thousands?"
A crazy thought exploded in his mind, making it utterly impossible for Cheng Ye to maintain his Calmness.
Suddenly.
He turned his head, whipping his gaze toward the mine entrance where the Stone Sunflower Person had just been caught in the crossfire... up above, at the very peak!
That Stone Sunflower Person with a small half of its face covered in Redstone finally moved.
It suddenly stopped firing its Deconstruction Ray and ceased absorbing sunlight. Instead, it turned around and walked toward the depths of the mine.
Turned around?
Cheng Ye was sharply taken aback.
Three minutes later, that large Stone Sunflower Person actually walked out from the deceased Stone Sunflower Person's mine entrance.
It did not hop; it was "walking"!
Cheng Ye's eyes widened. He had not expected the Stone Sunflower People situated higher up to not only possess a stronger Essence, but also exhibit far more human-like movements.
He watched as it bent down, completely ignoring the Redstones on the ground. It merely leaned over to pick up the stone slab, then turned and headed back into the depths of the mine.
Within a span of ten minutes, the large Stone Sunflower Person returned to its own mine entrance, once again releasing its rays and absorbing Energy.
Another five minutes passed, and from the deceased Stone Sunflower Person's mine, a brand-new Stone Sunflower Person came out hopping.
It stiffly threw itself to the ground, rolling its face over the scattered Redstones, and then popped straight back up to stand at the cave entrance.
Releasing rays and absorbing Energy—the entire routine was executed flawlessly to standard.
"So, the Energy-Gathering Redstone is not the key. These stone slabs capable of absorbing sunlight are the true Cores!"