Chapter 39: Looting Someone Else's Treasure Vault
Standing before the metal door, Su Xiao began examining its structure.
The entire metal door was tightly sealed, covered in numerous gears and mechanisms.
"It seems that guy wasn't lying."
Su Xiao set down the young girl on his shoulder, lifted her slender arm, and placed it into an opening on the metal door.
Clatter, clatter, clatter...
The gears on the metal door began to turn, and a few seconds later, the door slowly rose.
This wasn't just a simple door; it was a vassal artifact.
A vassal artifact was a counterfeit of an imperial artifact, imitating the craftsmanship of the latter. However, compared to imperial artifacts, vassal artifacts were far inferior in capability.
Four hundred years after the creation of imperial artifacts, an emperor attempted to forge new ones, but the resulting pseudo-imperial artifacts were nowhere near as powerful as the originals.
Ashamed of this failure, the emperor sealed away all vassal artifacts. Centuries later, during a time of war, the empire unearthed them for use.
The door before him was one such vassal artifact, named Morsennia's Eternal Gate. Only its designated user could open it.
The young girl Su Xiao had kidnapped was that user. Without her, opening this door would be extremely difficult, requiring brute force.
Sensing his surroundings, he found them safe, but he didn't rush into the Revolutionary Army's imperial artifact storage room.
Su Xiao squinted, crouched down, and peered into the basement. Countless barely visible metal threads crisscrossed the entire space.
Taking out a pouch of powder, he scattered it into the basement.
A red mist spread through the room, gradually settling on the ground, revealing hundreds of red threads.
Touching these threads would likely trigger an alarm. They could probably be deactivated, but the small-time leader he had captured knew nothing of their existence. Su Xiao had only just discovered them.
It was already fortunate to have learned about Morsennia's Eternal Gate; he couldn't be too greedy.
Carefully observing the threads in the basement, Su Xiao found gaps between them.
At the center of the basement was a wooden table holding several imperial artifacts.
Crouching low, he navigated through the threads. One wrong move, and he would be exposed.
Time passed slowly as Su Xiao inched toward the wooden table. This was a delicate operation.
Ten meters, five meters, three meters.
Su Xiao reached the table. Now, threads surrounded him densely; even a slight movement could trigger them.
He could reach out and grab the imperial artifacts on the table, but things weren't that simple.
The artifacts were wrapped in numerous threads. Picking them up carelessly would definitely set off the alarm.
This didn't stump Su Xiao. He had navigated rooms filled with infrared beams before, let alone these metal threads.
Before entering Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao had a habit of carrying small tools, and now he had his storage space.
He pulled out a palm-sized pair of pliers and various other tools, beginning to dismantle the room's alarm system.
The alarm system was triggered by these threads. He had tested earlier that as long as he didn't pull them too hard, it was fine.
The root of the alarm system was inside the walls, which he couldn't reach. So, he had to work on the metal threads themselves.
One by one, he snipped the threads and secured them. Five minutes later, the first imperial artifact was in hand.
Without checking its function, Su Xiao stored it away. There were five artifacts on the table, including a biological one, which lifted his spirits.
As long as he made no mistakes, he could gather all the materials needed for the blueprint today.
Su Xiao's fingers moved nimbly and steadily as he collected the artifacts into his storage space.
Two, three, four.
He looked at the last artifact—the biological one. It was submerged in a medium-sized test tube filled with a pale green solution.
Due to its size, this artifact had the most threads wrapped around it. He had tried opening the test tube to retrieve it directly, but it was sealed shut.
The other artifacts had at most a dozen threads, but this half-meter-tall test tube was covered in dozens.
Flexing his sore fingers, Su Xiao took a deep breath and continued.
This was the Revolutionary Army's imperial artifact storage room. The guards outside might change shifts regularly, and he had already been in the basement for an hour.
He planned to stay no more than two hours at most.
He could take risks, but not recklessly. Sacrificing his life for a single biological imperial artifact wasn't worth it.
Snip by snip, he cut the threads, time slipping through his fingers.
Half an hour later, only three threads remained on the test tube.
Snap. He cut the last thread and secured it. His hand pressed against the test tube, and it vanished.
Su Xiao slowly retreated from the basement, the dense web of threads no longer an obstacle.
Reaching the basement entrance, he let out a long sigh. This was more exhausting than a battle.
Rubbing his slightly throbbing forehead, Su Xiao had been simultaneously disarming the basement's traps and sensing his surroundings. The multitasking had drained him.
His perception began to blur. He knew this was the aftermath of overexerting his mental energy. It had happened before; rest would restore it.
As his perception recovered slightly, Su Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.
Someone was coming, heading straight for the basement. Worse, the only passage to the basement was a single corridor with smooth steel walls—nowhere to hide.
He glanced back at the basement and shook his head. Returning there would be like being trapped in a jar.
Fight his way out! And fast.
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand. Su Xiao looked up the stairs. The enemy was closing in.
A white-haired mature woman stepped out from the corner, accompanied by several Revolutionary Army officers.
Su Xiao rushed up the stairs. Not a second could be wasted.
"Najeshitan?"
Running, Su Xiao looked at the white-haired woman. He had unexpectedly encountered the leader of the Night Raid unit, Najeshitan.
Najeshitan froze at the sight of Su Xiao, her eyes widening.
"Bai... Bai Ye!"
Her teeth clenched. Just as she was about to shout, Su Xiao had already charged forward.
At this moment, there was no time for words.
"Com—"
Najeshitan barely got half a shout out before Su Xiao's long blade swung toward her. She instinctively stepped back.
Pfft.
Blood splattered onto Su Xiao. The Revolutionary Army soldier blocking Najeshitan had been cut down.
The other soldiers instinctively rushed forward to protect her. A flash of silver light, and limbs flew. They were slain instantly. Su Xiao reached Najeshitan, who moved slowly, seemingly weakened.
Dragon-Slashing Flash cut through the air, the blade's gleam stark under the moonlight.
Pfft.
Najeshitan was cleaved in two at the abdomen. Su Xiao stood on the stairs, so the strike only reached her waist.
Severed at the waist, Najeshitan thudded to the ground.
"Ah!!"
She wasn't screaming in pain but deliberately shouting to alert other Revolutionary Army members. Under Su Xiao's blade, she had no chance to speak.
Su Xiao strode over to her. Though she was already doomed, he couldn't let her keep shouting. He had to finish this quickly.
Boom!
A loud crash came from above. A naked man smashed through the ceiling and leaped down—the humanoid biological imperial artifact still in its debugging phase, Lightning Flash: Susanoo.