Chapter 123: Opening the Treasure Chest

After a brief exchange, Ji Cheng had Shana and An Chan assist him in calculating the current state of nuclear contamination in the outside world.

He needed to figure out at least an approximate time for when he could make a run for it; otherwise, if he delayed too long and got cornered by Yao Lun again, that would be problematic. He truly could not handle Yao Lun in his current state. A wise man knows when to advance and when to retreat—it was time to pull back.

After waiting for over ten seconds, Shana came over to report. She said that this might require more time. The blast point was not particularly precise, a fact Ji Cheng had realized during his fleeting glance from above. Without satellite assistance, the aim of those unreliable ability users had been abysmal, increasing the difficulty of the calculations. Furthermore, one had to account for topographical shifts, weather conditions, and the climate. It was just like a meteorological forecast: a random, chaotic system, and highly complex.

While the two of them chattered away calculating the data, Ji Cheng toured the other rooms of the underground safe house to inspect them.

His first priority was to see if there was anything worth taking. This was, after all, the home of Councilor Zhang, a proper Tier 3 ability user. If even someone like Yao Lun possessed high-end gear like a mech-suit, Councilor Zhang would naturally be even wealthier.

The good news was that he did indeed find a storage case in a room filled with instruments he had passed on his way in.

The case was not very large, roughly the size of a violin case. The latch was a crystal clasp, and there was a rectangular transparent observation window in the center of the lid. On the left side of the case wall, there were irregular cutting marks.

"Isn't this the outer packaging for a Tier 3 gene prototype?" Ji Cheng was taken aback.

This storage case was, in fact, the packaging provided by the Imperial Ministry of Industry when selling Tier 3 gene prototypes. It was a slight disappointment, however, that through the transparent lid, one could see the contents were a jumble of items, with no Tier 3 prototype to be found.

"This probably wasn't produced by the Ministry of Industry, just an imitation of their official design..."

"The decorative pattern on the case is a spiral disk, and the nameplate is inscribed with the word 'Blue Algae.' It’s the box for Councilor Zhang's first Tier 3 prototype."

"These people really are terrified of poverty; they actually repurposed a packaging box as a safe, and it looks like they didn't even use the proper method to open it back then."

It was much like getting a bottle of mineral water, not knowing how to unscrew the cap, drilling a hole in the bottom to drink the water, stuffing a bunch of random items inside, and finally plugging the hole with a crumpled piece of paper.

In truth, one couldn't really blame Zhang Sheng. In the circle of ability users on White Mountain Planet, such behavior was not considered shameful; rather, it was quite trendy.

*Snap.*

With a light click, the crystal used to latch the case was flicked by Ji Cheng's finger, emitting a trembling glow. At the same time, a strange force caused the crystal to vibrate at an extremely high frequency for a few seconds. Had he not been staring intently, he would likely have missed the subtle change.

"The unlock code is 696140." Counting the rhythm, he noted the frequency of the crystal's vibration and began to rotate the crystal a full turn clockwise.

Twelve mysterious symbols gradually appeared around the crystal, lighting up like torches and emitting a faint burning sound. The twelve symbols were evenly distributed in a ring, dazzling to behold.

"This is why I've always felt that half the price of a gene prototype goes into the packaging," Ji Cheng muttered to himself, gripping the crystal again. "How many light tubes must they have crammed in here?"

That ring of brilliant symbols was, in fact, text from an extinct civilization in the universe, the Photonic Essence civilization. Because the font was elegant and mysterious, the Ministry of Industry had used it as a marketing gimmick. Its true meaning was far less profound than it appeared, representing zero through nine, as well as "backspace" and "confirm."

Using the tip of the crystal as a pointer, he entered the unlock code as if turning the dial on a safe. The crystal began to glow, emitting a steady, focused laser that formed an equilateral triangle in the air. Through the triangle, Ji Cheng could vaguely see what appeared to be a horizontal lake floating in the air, with a large amount of blue-green algae drifting in its center.

Outside the triangle appeared a bright white ring of light, followed by a golden ring, and then a blue ring on the outside. Just as human civilization was filled with various forms of body language, the Photonic Essence civilization used various "light-symbol" languages, which were applied throughout the Galactic Empire.

For instance, the outermost blue ring symbolized progress, the golden ring represented preciousness, and the innermost white light signified life. With three rings in total, the specifications were relatively low-grade, and when combined, the meaning was clear: the container was meant for a precious item used to evolve life—a Tier 3 gene prototype.

Of course, this was essentially no different from labels like "fragile" or "moisture-proof" on a shipping box.

An expert looks at the skill, while a layman watches the show. In any case, Ji Cheng, a layman, didn't understand much of it. He felt no sense of historical weight, only the joy and anticipation of opening a treasure chest.

As he pressed the glowing triangle, the box opened. Two rows of delicate spotlights illuminated the interior. One could imagine that if a gene prototype were inside, those liquids, as brilliant as a starry sky, would look incredibly expensive under the lights.

However, the contents now lacked any sense of aesthetics; the items were numerous and chaotic. Although they were placed with extreme neatness and even labeled with slips of paper and notes, it still looked like a mess. Most of them were items Zhang Sheng considered valuable, such as rubbings of special numerical patterns, control chips that clearly had been stripped from mechanical soldiers, analysis papers from the South Port Research Institute regarding energy crystal ores, and a small amount of mechanical weaponry damaged beyond repair.

After rummaging for a long time, there were only two usable items, and he did not find the remaining half of the prototype mentioned in the diary.

One of them was a whistle-arrow, the same model as Huang Long's. This signature mechanical weapon of South Port was 37 centimeters long, metallic throughout, with a red, feather-like light segment at the tail. It was exquisite, sharp, and cold, radiating a strong sense of technology. It was clearly something Zhang Sheng had withheld using his authority as a councilor long ago; it was even covered in dust.

"According to the diary, that 'Mr. Jian' who manages the operations of the entire South Port New City might actually be a data ether entity belonging to Zhang Sheng..."

Thinking about it, the power he could wield was even greater than he had imagined. Ji Cheng pondered, basically guessing the truth of the matter. This whistle-arrow was likely something Zhang Sheng had prepared for his two daughters to defend themselves once they became ability users, only to forget about it later due to the impact of rejection reactions on his brain's memory.

"I've secured Tier 2 prototypes for your two daughters, so it shouldn't be a big deal if I take one of your unremarkable pieces of mechanical weaponry."