198: Chapter 198 The Resonator of the Fragment Buried for Thirty Years

Shen Wanbing ignored the secret bickering between Jiang Jiuyou and Yi Chang.

She walked over to the broken corpse of City Lord Yan Xiao, pulled out the crystal key stained with flesh and blood, and inserted it directly into the temporary decoding console of the Ghost Fortress.

The moment the data connected, a logo suddenly jumped out on the holographic screen.

A Gray-White gear. An inverted cross.

Mio, floating in mid-air, became instantly alert, her holographic projection zooming in abruptly: "Stop! This is high-risk encryption!"

Golden light swirled in Shen Wanbing's eyes. Not only did she not stop, but her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard like phantoms, forcibly peeling back the decoding layers one by one.

"This is not an ordinary distress signal." Shen Wanbing stared intently at the jumping data stream: "There is a hidden protocol in City Lord Yan Xiao's key."

After just over a dozen seconds, a giant 3D perspective view of the underground crystal veins of Meteor Crystal City popped up before everyone's eyes.

At the very bottom of the bottomless main vein of Star Core Crystal Sand, a palm-sized grayish-white device was stuck tightly to the core of the ore vein.

Like a greedy parasite, its body was covered in miniature gears, rotating at an extremely slow frequency.

[Fragment Resonator.] [Status: Running.] [Upload Cycle: Once every three hours.]

Shen Wanbing's voice lowered, permeated with a chill.

"Meteor Crystal City is not some proxy point at all; this is a huge Fragment trap mine."

"As long as the Interstellar Fortress Fragment approaches this area, this resonator will automatically record the fluctuations and send out our coordinates."

Mio's expression changed completely.

She zoomed in on the microscopic structure scan of the device, her voice trembling: "This damn thing wasn't buried recently... Look at this oxidation layer, it has been running here for at least thirty years!"

"Thirty years?!"

Jiang Jiuyou crossed her arms in front of her chest, her silver-white low ponytail moving without wind, her eyes sharp: "In other words, the Gray-White Mechanical Holy Court had already set up a dragnet in the Level 3 Map long ago, and we have been led by the nose the moment we entered?"

Mio's speaking speed became faster and faster: "They might not know we would land precisely here. But as long as you carry the Fragment and move within the Level 3 Map, as long as you approach any trap mine, the fluctuations will be locked! Meteor Crystal City is just one of their hundreds of eyes!"

Blood Rose leaned against the sofa, her slender fingertips gently turning a goblet, letting out a soft scoff.

"They really know how to fish."

In the corner, Shen Wanxing, who had just spread out her blanket and was preparing to take a nap, heard the word "fishing" and shuddered, her head shrinking directly back in.

"Don't call me, I'm not here..."

Chen Chen ignored the shrinking turtle and looked directly at Shen Wanbing: "Can you trace the signal back to them?"

The golden light in Shen Wanbing's eyes burned like fire: "Yes!"

She paused for half a second, her gaze slowly shifting to the trembling ball of blanket in the corner: "But we need Wanxing to go over... and touch that resonator."

Shen Wanxing froze.

She covered her head tightly with the blanket, protesting in a muffled voice: "I'm really not here..."

Su Xiaoqi curiously leaned over and poked the blanket: "Big Sister Wanxing, your feet are sticking out."

"Swish!"

Shen Wanxing retracted her fair, slender calves like lightning, forcibly saving face: "Not here anymore!"

Chen Chen strode over and picked her up, blanket and all.

Shen Wanxing was forced to poke a pitiful little face out of the blanket, her long hair messy and bent, her light amber eyes looking at him with watery, accusatory gazes.

"Chen Chen... I've already arrived at the Level 3 Map, you clearly promised to let me sleep for three days..."

Chen Chen's large palm covered her messy head, rubbing it casually.

"After you touch it this once, I'll open a separate temperature-controlled soft bed rest pod for you."

Shen Wanxing's eyes instantly brightened, and even the strength of her struggle lessened: "Really?"

"Mm."

She immediately pushed her luck, holding up a fair finger to add conditions: "I want hot water at any time!"

"Okay."

"I want high-end aromatherapy!"

"Okay."

"And... you are not allowed to suddenly wake me up in the middle of the night to work!"

Blood Rose on the side really couldn't hold it in, laughing so hard she slumped against the sofa back. Jiang Jiuyou gave a low cough, forcibly turning her head away. Shen Wanbing couldn't help it either, giving Chen Chen a deep look.

Chen Chen remained expressionless, spitting out three words: "We'll see."

Shen Wanxing immediately got anxious, her legs kicking wildly in the air: "You're saying 'we'll see' again! You big liar!"

Chen Chen didn't give her a chance to continue protesting, carrying her by the back of her collar and walking towards the depths of the ore vein.

"Work first."

...Deep in the crystal chamber where the Fragment Resonator was located.

All around were dense crystal sands wrapped in layers. Mio controlled the micro-cutting beam, forcibly cutting through the several-meter-thick natural protective layer, finally revealing the main body of the grayish-white device.

The surface of the device was engraved with extremely complex and fine gear patterns, which were flashing with a faint, cold light, continuously recording the frequency resonance of the Fragment.

Shen Wanxing stood in front of it, her hands tightly tucked into her long sleeves, her face full of resistance.

"It has so many gears on it... it won't bite me, right?"

Mio rolled her eyes, her mechanical voice full of helplessness: "Mechanical devices don't have teeth, they don't bite!"

Su Xiaoqi, holding a large piece of roasted meat, stared at the resonator with anticipation: "Then can it be roasted and eaten?"

Mio turned her head abruptly, nearly collapsing on the spot: "It can't be eaten either! Is there nothing but sleeping and eating in your brains?!"

Shen Wanxing then slowly and hesitantly extended a finger, holding her breath, and lightly touched the cold shell of the resonator with her fingertip.

The grayish-white light had just lit up a little when blinding golden light exploded from her fingertip like a volcanic eruption!

Immediately following, noble purple streamers followed the flow of the underground ore veins, illuminating the entire dark crystal chamber as bright as day!

[Lucky Critical triggered.] [50x multiplier activated.] [Anti-tracking signal quality limit jump.] [Obtained: Distribution Map of Gray-White Holy Court Proxy Nodes in the Central Zone.]

In front of the main console, the golden light in Shen Wanbing's pupils instantly climbed to the extreme.

Swish!

A huge holographic star map spread out in mid-air.

With the Central Zone of the Meteor Star Barren Rock Realm as the core, seven skull gear markers flashing with grayish-white light appeared simultaneously in the surroundings.

Among them, the stronghold closest to them was located only 120 kilometers away from Meteor Crystal City.

More fatally, next to that stronghold, a glaring red real-time transmission line was dragging behind it, sending Chen Chen's exact coordinates to the distance with extremely high bandwidth.

[Target: First Fragment Holder.] [Upload Object: Rift Star Hunting Group.] [Order Taker: Tier 6 Hunting King.]

Jiang Jiuyou's reaction was extremely fast, instantly cutting into the combat channel, her silver hair flying: "The nearest stronghold is broadcasting our coordinates!"

"Chen Chen, we must pull it out immediately, at least to interrupt the signal and make that Tier 6 Hunting King lose the precise navigation route!"

A cold murderous intent flashed in Chen Chen's eyes without any hesitation: "All troops prepare, set off immediately."

Shen Wanxing, who had finally completed the task, immediately raised her right hand high, eager to claim credit: "Then my soft bed rest pod—"

Chen Chen turned his head to look at Yi Chang on the side.

Yi Chang's fingers swept across the data board at high speed, directly opening a separate instruction: "Internal affairs sequence highest priority, temperature-controlled soft bed pod is ready, 24-hour hot water supply, top-tier aromatherapy ignited, independent soundproofing fully engaged."

Shen Wanxing's furrowed little face finally relaxed, and she smiled sweetly: "Big Sister Yi Chang is the best after all."

Jiang Jiuyou glanced at Yi Chang coldly: "You really know how to use the territory's resources to buy people's hearts."

Yi Chang didn't even raise her head, her voice as calm as water: "This is not buying; this is routine maintenance of key human resources."