Chapter 373 - : 373
Chapter 373: 373
The group walked for a while longer when Ephemeral Bloom spoke up, “There’s indeed a doorway up ahead.”
A surge of joy surged in Li Yao’s heart; he did not expect to reap rewards so quickly after his arrival. This was an excellent beginning.
“What’s the state of the doorway? To what extent have the Goblin Engineers opened it up?” That was the question Li Yao was most interested in.
Since each Titan doorway was quite unique, once many of the doors were opened to a certain extent, they became invincible. Moreover, in these kinds of ruins, those who opened the doorways often obtained some inheritance information.
Though it was called inheritance, in reality, it was simply some Titan language and some basic information about Titan technology, which would allow people to understand some knowledge about Titan technology.
Many Mechanical Gnomes, upon acquiring these cores, would often create such doorway challenges to guard their underground cities.
In reality, most Mechanical Gnomes were not particularly intelligent. The unsealed Mechanical Gnomes, though they had gained freedom, preferred life in the underground cities rather than the chaotic surface world.
For those with a lack of expertise in engineering, these fragmented pieces of information were of no use, and could easily muddle them. A large quantity of information needed to be sought out before being pieced together into useful data.
In reality, whether Goblins or Gnomes, their creativity was not particularly high. They were continuously using and unlocking Titan technology to elevate their own level.
In his past life, Li Yao had also spent the last two years collecting such information, but he had not collected much useful in the course of it. Now that there was such an opportunity, there was no way Li Yao was not going to cherish it.
“Strange, they appear to be two different teams led by two Goblins, the two Goblins are laughing and talking, and they haven’t opened up the challenge stage.” There was a hint of confusion in Ephemeral Bloom’s voice.
“How many of them are guarding it now?” asked Li Yao.
“Roughly forty or so. Both Goblins are level seventeen intermediate bosses,” Ephemeral Bloom replied. “Their team is too large, and their high-end combat power is also stronger than ours. I think we should take a detour.”
“Master, I also don’t think we should go head-on. We’re too few in number, we won’t be able to protect you,” War Horizon suggested.
Li Yao fully understood their intentions. It wasn’t that they were afraid they couldn’t protect him, they simply didn’t want to take the risk.
“You protect me? Don’t be ridiculous. If it weren’t for Miller’s refusal to take no for an answer, I wouldn’t have hired you in the first place. Since you’re scared, you should stay here. I alone can deal with them.” With the high-quality golden Mechanical Puppet on hand, and on top of that being of boss-level status, Li Yao had nothing to fear.
Even if outnumbered in the end, it wouldn’t be so easy for them to detain him.
Moreover, with both Goblins and Gnomes currently exploring these ruins, to think that one could secure the desired treasures without any conflict was pure fantasy.
Since battle was inevitable, why avoid it?
As Li Yao said these words, he quickly bypassed the others and ran to the front.
“Damn,” War Horizon cursed under his breath. The team exchanged glances before quickly advancing to catch up.
They had landed this mission after several rounds of screening. The rewards were very enticing, but in turn, the penalties for failure were equally severe.
Moreover, Miller had made it clear before they left, that any decisions made underground were up to Li Yao, and if they disobeyed the orders and were reported by Li Yao, it would count as their mission’s failure.
“Oh, the pups of the Light Faction, you sure took your sweet time getting here,” a male Goblin sitting atop a puppet said in a shrill voice as Li Yao and his team appeared at the mouth of the corridor.
“It’s not so much about who comes early as who comes at the right time. The challenge stage hasn’t been launched yet, has it?” Li Yao eyed the situation inside the main hall.
True enough, there were two Goblins. One was the Goblin who had just spoken, perched atop a Mechanical Puppet, while the other was seated on the neck of a huge humanoid monster.
The monster was equally massive, looking like a great ape, but more ferocious and larger. It had glaring eyes that emitted a blinding crimson light.
Moreover, there were aplenty of explosives and landmines hanging from the body of the monster, it was clear from sight that this creature was no kindred spirit.
Surrounding them, four to five teams were positioned for protection.
In comparison, Li Yao’s team seemed too meager, and War Horizon noticed that his face was looking pretty grim.
Even though they were strong, the players on the other side were clearly elites too; they could handle two to five opponents each, but surely not ten.
“Just having one of you is not enough,” the female Goblin said. Clearly, she did not regard the gamers accompanying Li Yao very highly.
“If one is not enough, then I’ll add one more.” As Li Yao whistled, the Reaper 4000, sporting its new image, appeared at his side.
With a sniper rifle on one side and a hand cannon on the other, both weapons, aimed at the opponents, were potent deterrents.
“So you are also a Mechanical hunter, and a Mechanical Hunter who uses a warrior’s puppet, how interesting.” The male Goblin pointed at the large door and said, “Check out this challenge stage, if you can identify what kind of door it is, we may consider a partnership. If you can’t, well then I am sorry; you will be worth nothing.”
Li Yao was startled. He noticed the implied threat and held back on his initial thought of launching a surprise attack. Li Yao then slowly walked to the giant door and laid his hand on it.
A series of arcane symbols appeared before Li Yao. If not for his experiences in his previous life, Li Yao would have definitely been perplexed. However, with his accumulated knowledge from his previous life, Li Yao quickly understood the obscure meanings expressed by these Titan languages.
“So it turns out to be a twin gate; no wonder you’ve been waiting here patiently without taking any action.”
The so-called twin gate required two experts in engineering to unlock it simultaneously. If both individuals knew the correct steps, there was no risk.
However, if the correct procedures weren’t known, and one person unlocked half of it, the other person would be sacrificed.
It was one of the less common challenge stages and could not be unlocked by someone who did not understand engineering. This was the wisdom of the Titans.
“Looks like you have indeed identified it accurately. So tell me, do you dare to unlock this challenge stage with me?” The male Goblin moved next to Li Yao and asked.
“That’s quite a trick,” Li Yao noted as he saw the confused expressions of the gamers, who had no idea what was going on.
This was the current state of the players. Their knowledge was too limited at this point, they could only watch from the side and were far from participating.
“The two of you opening it means one must die, so I’ll do it. That way, if one of you dies, the other can kill me and get the challenge stage.”
“Enough with the chatter, I just want to know if you’re bold enough or not,” the male Elf retorted.
Li Yao scoffed and said, “Even if I know it’s a trap, I’ll still jump in to check.”
Although he said so, Li Yao had no other choices. If he couldn’t find another expert in engineering, he couldn’t open this challenge stage on his own…