Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1423 - 1416: Simple Device

Chapter 1423: Chapter 1416: Simple Device

"You’re the one," don’t act tough. If you can’t beat them, retreat inside. We’ll stand against the enemy together," Cheng Ziang said.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Cheng Ziang and Feng parted ways, and then Cheng Ziang began to enter the Treasure House of the Yichuan Mansion. It had to be said that the memories from the Shadow Edict were of great help to him; they made him as familiar with the place as if it were his own home.

Thinking of this, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but admire Liseya. He had not expected that she not only obtained the intel on the antidote from the Shadow Edict’s mind but even directly copied all his memories and shared them with him.

Clearly, Liseya was well aware of the predicament Cheng Ziang and his companions were facing at the time, thus providing the best solution. According to Fulajie’er’s experience, even while asleep within the crystal, demigods could still sense what was happening outside.

In other words, Liseya had witnessed everything they had gone through along the way. However, she was exceptionally disciplined, not appearing and disappearing like Fulajie’er. If Cheng Ziang didn’t let her out, she would honestly stay inside the crystal and not emerge.

After passing through three doors and unlocking the sealing mechanisms, Cheng Ziang successfully entered the Treasure House of the Yichuan Mansion. The first thing that caught his eye were the Magic Crystals embedded within, glowing with fluorescent light and illuminating the entire interior of the building as if it were daylight; the golden utensils shone with dazzling and entrancing reflections.

When he first saw these Magic Crystals, despite being mentally prepared, Cheng Ziang was still inevitably shocked. According to his traditional impression, Magic Crystals emitting light were a specialty of the Western Continent; he never expected that the people of the East Continent would also know how to make Magic Crystals shine.

He approached one Magic Crystal for a close examination and discovered tiny runes etched upon it. Familiar with runes, he immediately recognized that these were the runes capable of making Magic Crystals emit light.

This also indicated that magic, and even runes, might not be exclusive to the Western Continent. Xia Yue had already said that all runes and spells were created by their ancestors as a universal language of symbols. Whoever could grasp these symbols could glimpse the true essence of the Magic World.

Next, Cheng Ziang began searching inside the room, and following the memories of the Shadow Edict, he quickly found the needed antidote. Having secured the small porcelain bottle, he looked around at the room filled with precious treasures and a large number of Magic Crystals and suddenly had a bold idea.

Cheng Ziang casually picked up a Magic Crystal and rubbed it slightly on the ground, confirming that the friction of the ground could leave marks, he nodded in satisfaction.

After all, Cheng Ziang was a college graduate from Haiya Academy; while his talent for magic was so-so, it did not hinder his theoretical foundation. And in the present circumstances, Cheng Ziang’s theoretical foundation proved to be of great assistance.

He began to draw a magic array with a radius of about one meter on the ground using the Magic Crystal. This was a very simple magic power guiding array, without any particular purpose, belonging to the introductory moves of Rune Magic Circles. But Cheng Ziang had learned from books that by bending certain lines of this array, the array could be made to lose order.

Such beginner-level arrays were very convenient to draw. It took him only two minutes to sketch out a rough prototype, and it was not necessary to pay special attention to whether the shape was complete. Then, he also drew several input arrays in order to connect to the Magic Crystals.

After completing this step, Cheng Ziang found several heavy Magic Crystals with dense magic energy. He began to engrave Output Symbols on them using a Kedal metal dagger, then connected them to the input arrays, so that the magic power within the Magic Crystals would be guided out to charge the dysfunctional array.

It took him roughly ten minutes to complete the connection of the four Magic Crystals; the last Magic Crystal was only the size of a fist. After drawing it, he directly connected it to a delayed input array. The magic power of the delayed input array would be transmitted to the Main Magic Array in about five minutes or so, thereby causing the entire array to activate.

In fact, this was a simplified bomb setup in the Magic World. In principle, such a device should only be crafted by experienced mages. For Cheng Ziang, an Earthling, to do such a thing always felt oddly out of place.

After completing everything, Cheng Ziang stood up and nodded in satisfaction. Now, unless those four large Magic Crystals were moved, the disordered explosion was almost inevitable. Though the treasure in this room was tempting, it was just that—a temptation—to Cheng Ziang.

After all, being part of a modernized military force, Cheng Ziang naturally wouldn’t casually take others’ possessions, even if they were the enemy’s. Even if it were allowed, their moral principles wouldn’t permit it.

He had just stood up to stretch his body when he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He quickly bent down; a horizontal slash of sword energy then swept past his back, leaving a deep gouge in a pillar.

"Shit, there’s someone inside. I’ve been careless," Cheng Ziang gritted his teeth, breaking out in a cold sweat.

He abruptly turned around and saw a figure already blocked by the doorway, eyeing him with a predatory gaze. It was none other than Yichuan Yong, whom he had met once before. Despite his delicate and weak appearance, it was unexpected that he was actually a master of the Royal Dao.

"Who exactly are you, and what do you intend to do in the Treasure House? Also, is the commotion outside your doing?" Yichuan Yong asked expressionlessly.

"What do you mean, Young Lord? I’m just a petty thief, taking advantage of the chaos to make a quick score. I have no idea what you’re talking about," said Cheng Ziang, wearing a hood and a mask. Although Yichuan Yong felt he looked familiar, he couldn’t immediately recall where he’d seen him before.

"Stop playing dumb. The fact that you bypassed four great masters shows that you’re no petty thief," Yichuan Yong rebuked sternly.

"Ha, are you talking about those idiots outside? They’ve already run off," Cheng Ziang gambled that Yichuan Yong was unaware of the situation outside and began to bluff.

"Run off? Impossible," Yichuan Yong was initially shocked but quickly regained his composure, positioning his long sword in a chopping stance, clearly ready to unleash his sword energy again.

"If you don’t believe it, you can go and see for yourself," Cheng Ziang said with a shrug.

"Before I go out, I will slaughter you first. No matter who you are, those who enter the Treasure House unauthorized will be killed without mercy," Yichuan Yong declared, a thick murderous aura emanating from him.

"Wait, wait," seeing that Yichuan Yong was about to make a move, Cheng Ziang immediately knelt down, pleading, "I am just an insignificant thief, please do not kill me. Take me away to be a slave, anything, just spare my life."

Displaying weakness to the enemy was a tactic commonly used by the Advance Team. Previously, Luo’er had used this method to kill the foreigner who tried to assassinate Feng in Meila Village.

"I have no need for such a groveling wretch like you," Yichuan Yong said decisively.

When one plan failed, Cheng Ziang tried another. He widened his eyes and looked surprisedly behind Yichuan Yong, exclaiming, "Lord Shadow Edict, what brings you here?"

"Shadow Edict?" Upon hearing this name, Yichuan Yong instinctively hesitated for a moment before swiftly turning around.

And in that instant, Cheng Ziang saw his opportunity to act. He skillfully pulled out his Yuanzi pistol, aimed briefly, and fired twice.

The first shot unsurprisingly hit Yichuan Yong’s Dantian, exploding his Inner Core. The second struck his sword-wielding right hand, blasting his forearm into a bloody pulp.

Yichuan Yong did not expect to be attacked like this. With an exclamation, he fell backward, his long sword dropping to the ground, losing any chance to resist.

Seeing this, Cheng Ziang holstered his gun, stepped forward quickly, and pressed down on Yichuan Yong. He squinted and asked, "Now tell me, was it your father who sent Shadow Edict to assassinate your sister?"

"My sister? Yichuan Ying? Are you from Shadow Edict?" Though Yichuan Yong was in so much pain he could barely speak, he still fell into a state of shock upon hearing this news.

"So you did know. Yichuan Ying is your biological sister, and yet you went through with it," Cheng Ziang said, his expression turning grim.

"Was it Yichuan Ying who sent you to take revenge? Ah... bastard, that bitch!" The agony made Yichuan Yong grow irate.